Noh Eul wasn't involved in the actual negotiations, but he was hit hard by the aftermath of it all.

Then again, he reflects as he traipses down the oddly quiet halls of Label SJ, who wasn't?

SM had mostly been turning a blind eye to Label SJ's managerial decisions, which was maybe why it had taken over a year for them to notice that the label was signing trainees But when they had found out the reaction had been swift.

Noh Eul didn't know all of the details, only that some of their newest trainees had been transfered into SM, and that some of the oldest had been put on a time limit - they wouldn't be allowed to renew ther contracts once they expired. The result was fewer people travelling the halls, and fewer schedules for him to coordinate.

One of the other managers had joked that he should be happy for the lighter workload, but Noh Eul hadn't even been able to chuckle at the attempted humor.

Truth was, despite the increasing number of late nights that had come with the increasing number of trainees, it had been nice to see so much life in the halls of SJ. When it had first opened, the Label's area had always been dishearteningly quiet, with most members out on schedules or in the military. The rush of trainees brought a sense of movement and purpose to the halls that had been missing.

Now the halls were echoing with crushed dreams.

He almost laughs at his own mellodrama, but he's hesitant to break the heavy silence blanketing the air around him.

A light coming from one of the practice rooms gives him pause, and he checks his watch in confusion.

3:04 am

No one else should be here this late, not since the trainee numbers had diminished. Hesitantly he moves towards the room, and can distinctly hear several voices beyond it.

He recognizes them immediately - he would know Jung Su's voice anywhere honestly.

He knocks lightly before letting himself into the room. The six men inside show no surprise at his entry, and he feels a rush of nostalgia seeing them sitting in a circle on the floor.

"Meeting of the minds?" He guesses. It wasn't uncommon in their early years to see the six older members holding hushed meetings while the younger ones slept, though it had been some time since they'd last held one of these gatherings as far as Noh Eul knew.

"Trying to figure out what to do with the new restrictions. A lot of the people we're losing are skilled and deserve a chance at debut, but most of them will be done with their contracts by next year." Dong Hee sounds frustrated, a rare emotion coming from the dancer.

"Any luck with the brainstorming?" Noh Eul asks, leaning against one of the mirrors. While he enjoys being involved with their chats he knows he's still an outsider to the group.

"Nothing so far." Young Woon's voice is flat, as it usually is these days. Noh Eul nods and falls silent as he listens to the six continue their discussion.

He knows they'll think of something. They always do.

Author's Note
Urgh what even was this mess I can't. Anyway hopefully the next teaser will be better than this pile of garbage OTL Also I'm thinking of setting the deadline for March 2 or 3, would that work for people? It's a ways away but since I'm not really getting any apps I thought a longer apply period woud be good for this story...