"So for next week you'll perform twice. On Wednesday you'll be performing in Busan for a mini festival, so Tuesday will mostly be used up preparing for that. And then next on Friday you will be performing on The Show, so Thursday will be pre-recording and practice as well. Other days are still the same, you'll be practicing both in the compound and company." Jung said, looking over his phone.

"Other than that for the vLIVE yesterday it seems like the reaction was positive; it seems like people are curious and wanted to know more about you guys."
 

"Does that mean we're going to do more lives as well?" Yoonbyul said.

"That's a given, but how frequent will depend on the situation as well. It's good to see you're excited about it." Jung nodded, smiling. 

"Otherwise, this will not be recent, but I'll just say it so you guys could prepare. EMANON will be having their first fanmeet in two weeks."

"Really?!" Shinae said. 

"Yes. Details will be announced by the end of next week, but the company thinks that you seemed to gain a lot of support from both old and new fans, so it might be a good thing to try and hold a small fanmeet."

When Jung looked up, he felt that the room seemed to brighten up considerably. Even the normally reserved Aowen seemed a little more giddy than usual.

Whether it was the fanmeet or the positive reaction from their fanbase, he was still quite relieved that regardless, the mood has been a lot better compared to the past few weeks and months. 

"Hopefully nothing too troublesome will happen." Jiyoo said, nodding. At that, it seemed like the happy mood in the room dampened so abruptly. The others weren't directly glaring at the girl or whatnot, but Jung could feel the brewing unhappiness behind their neutral faces.

"Don't hope for it, but all of you will be fine." Jung said, sighing. 

⇔

Idol Radio was mostly uneventful as well, with most conversations relating back to their comeback and how other people think about their songs (or hobbies, or ideal types, or things going around that circle). And all those things are great things of course, because truth being told people still pay attention to them and not as willing to kick them into oblivion.

But Jiyoo found herself only smiling and nodding away at the MC's comments, feeling a little numb by the minute. Sure they had a script, but it wasn't anything terribly specific and most of the guidelines are just the types of questions that she can expect. The speaking ratio was mostly fair for all of them.

Yet as it goes on, it became a little more obvious that the louder members would've gotten more chance at speaking. People like Yoonbyul seemed to really enjoy her time - loud, funny people would tend to attract the MCs. 

"That's very cool to hear! So, someone is asking Jiyoo about what she likes to do as well?" 

"Yeah, I actually like working out." Jiyoo said, jolting a little from her seat. In the middle of her thoughts, she didn't quite expect her time to come so soon. And the stares from other members made her uncomfortable.

"Oh, what kind of workout do you usually do?" 

"Hm, I like dancing?" 

The MC paused for a little. "Well, that's kind of like your routine, is it?" He said, smiling with confusion.

"She's really good at it! Of course she will work out like that." Yoonbyul said.

"I enjoy it, so I do it." Jiyoo said, chuckling. 

"Ah, do you usually do it with someone else?" 

"Yeah... Yoriko helps me around a lot." Jiyoo said, casting an unassured glance to the older. Has she been doing that? She couldn't quite remember. But she knew Yoriko hasn't really spoken up the past few minutes as well anyways so it might be good that people knew about their main dancer.

"That sounds exciting. Are you planning on releasing something in the future as well?" The MC asked.

"Well, not one for now," Jiyoo said, shrugging. But Yoriko looked at her, seemingly brightening up at the notion.

"but I'll consider it."

"That's great! Then hopefully, all the other fans will also consider looking forward to their release~" The MC said. Jiyoo smiled, nodding away. 

⇔

"Jiyoo-unnie, come with me!" Yoonbyul said, waving at the older. 

"What's happening?" Jiyoo said, coming closer. 

"Let's take a selfie!" Yoonbyul said, pulling over a white phone. Jiyoo raised her eyebrows, but calmly followed the younger's antics. 

"What's this for?" Jiyoo said, eyeing Yoonbyul with slight wariness.

"It's just for the social media, so you don't need to worry." Yoonbyul smiled.

"Hm, it's just interesting that you're doing these kinds of things nowadays." Jiyoo said.

"What do you mean?" Yoonbyul said, tilting her head.

"Well, seemed like you really like interacting with our fans and stuff." Jiyoo said, shrugging. 

"That's good, right?" 

Jiyoo paused, briefly made contact with her eyes, and looked away. 

"What are you trying to say, unnie?" 

"Well, it's good that they know you care for them, that's all."

"You're trying to say something else here, unnie."

"Look, I really don't care about the stuff you do, whether it's going on insta and doing vLIVEs. In fact, I think it's cool that you like it."

"Do you not like it?" Yoonbyul said, seemingly shocked by that notion.

"I like dancing. Going on stage, looking good and people thinking you're perfect... kinda like they're idolizing you, no pun intended."

Jiyoo chuckled at herself. Yoonbyul raised her eyebrows.

"...did you just laugh at your own joke?" 

"Hey, it was pretty smart."

"No one ever admits their own joke is cool."

"Fine. Anyways, my point is that fans will demand things so that you're still a perfect being in their image. If you don't keep up with their demands and stuff they'll just leave."

"But that is normal, I'm not delusional  about what fans are like." 

"Good to know, good to know," Jiyoo nodded. "I guess I'm just wondering why you're so willing to do these things for them?" 

"Well, I know it's temporary, even this whole idol thing is not going to last long," Yoonbyul said. "but I appreciate the fact that they do like us now, and just want to give back that appreciation. There's nothing wrong with that."

"And as I will repeat again for the last time, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I just don't want you to be too attached with their affection."

"Don't need to worry about me, Jiyoo-unnie. Thank you for your concern, but I'll be okay." 

"Cool. Then just enjoy your time, then." Jiyoo said, walking away.

When she started walking out, she saw that Sammi was entering their dressing room. The latter quickly noticed the two younger girls, and stared back at Jiyoo.

"Whatever you say to her, it better not be discouraging to her."

"You're overthinking it." Jiyoo scoffed.

"When it comes to you, I probably won't." Sammi said, frowning. 

I wish Jiyoo wasn't always so cynical.

"I just wanted the best for Yoonbyul." Jiyoo said, sighing at the end of her sentence. Sammi scrunched her eyebrows, but before she could respond, the younger left.

That was probably a lot less neutral than what she wanted, but she didn't really want to hear Sammi's thoughts to begin with.

⇔

To be able to perform well, there's the necessity for all of them to be able to train well. And for them to train well, they need to work hard.

In all of the glitz and glamor of the idol world, most of their work is just practicing and training. EMANON counts no different from their peers as well... mostly. Heeyeon noticed that their dance training hours have been cut shorter than usual by the company - much to his dismay, because now the training sessions gets more intense.

But certain things changed. They seemed to be able to complete each routine with considerable ease, even members who were not trained dancers in the beginning. No breath ran wasted, and it seemed like nothing could tire them out at this point. 

Standing over the chair, Heeyeon overlooked the girls' practice. Yoriko and Jiyoo's footwork was good as usual, while Yoonbyul and Sammi came through most of the practice decent. Shinae and Aowen could follow through okay, and Choseung...

"You improved a lot." Heeyeon said,  nodding at the youngest. 

"Thanks." Choseung said, lowering her head. 

"Yeah, you did really well!" Shinae said, patting the youngers' back. Choseung only nodded, slowly shrugging Shinae's hands, and walked away from the two.

"Did something happen?" The dancer turned to the leader. 

"No, not a lot of things." Shinae said. Heeyeon only scrunched his eyebrows at that moment.

"Cool, I expected more from all of you by the next performance, then." 

"Thank you very much." Shinae said, smiling. But she also realized that Choseung was still within the earshot of Heeyeon, and she seemed to stop a little. 

Shinae wasn't sure whether that was intentional (after all, Heeyeon could be a little harsh), but she could notice from the corner of her eye that Choseung was balling her fists, and she walked away.

"I'm impressed," Heeyeon said. "Choseung actually is much better now." 

"Well, she worked really hard." Shinae said, rubbing her head. At the corner, she saw that Choseung was with Yoriko, who was as patient as ever teaching the youngest the more difficult moves. 

"I'm just wondering what you guys have been up to since your comeback - since I assume you're not really taking time dancing."

"Oh, we had some workouts the company asked for us to do." Shinae said. At that moment, Aowen - who was around them - jerked up her head in concern, but quickly turned away.

"Huh, those must be some good workouts, what is it?" 

"It's confidential, we weren't supposed to say it." Aowen said, scooting closer to Shinae and grabbing the latters' shoulder tightly.

"Alright, alright, as long as you guys are performing well," Heeyeon chuckled. "it's cool." 

Once the man is gone though, Aowen cast a wary glance at Shinae, saying, "I don't think it's very wise of you to do it like that."

"Yeah, sorry. It was not my intention at all," Shinae said, clearing . "thanks for reminding me."

Aowen sighed, and looked away. She saw that Yoriko and Yoonbyul were helping Choseung out with another difficult move, while the other members were just relaxing.

It felt almost normal. A little almost too normal. 

"You know," Shinae said. "it'll be nice if you can help Choseung as well with singing and dancing."

"She didn't really want to."

"Well, it seems a bit different now." Shinae smiled knowingly. Aowen pressed her lips thinly. She knew what Shinae meant.

"It'll just hurt her pride even more. I did my part already."

"So I guess it's not really just an issue with her performance, hm?" 

"It just makes sense for anyone." Aowen said.

"It doesn't hurt for you to try." Shinae said.

Aowen paused for a little. "I don't see the purpose of something that is bound to not work."

Shinae looked at her, and glanced at Choseung, and then at her again. "Fair, I think it's too soon to be able to do this right now,"

"but I'd like you to keep an open mind in the future as well. It doesn't hurt to try." Shinae said, ever so gently. Aowen looked at her, and then at Choseung. 

"I might consider it later. I appreciate your concern, unnie." Aowen said, leaving the older. 

Shinae smiled, but she could feel that Aowen's heart beats a little faster to tell the truth during their whole conversation.

author's note : trust me writing seven main characters can be something else. also i feel like out of the seven jiyoo would be the least affectionate to her fans? like she appreciates them but doesn't trust them lol. also i really can't imagine shinae being angry because she's such a happy bunny but we'll see. 

also trust me writing shows are the least enjoyable part of these stuff :") this chapter is 2 weeks late because confession time i thought winter break would be great but tbh things happened. i'm pushing through this one.