"So annoying." the brunette huffed, swiping the locks of hair away from her side. 

The short-haired girl who heard of it turned to the brunette with raised eyebrows, but decided against saying more than that. 

"What else is annoying for you today, Choseung?" 

"It's too quiet." Choseung said, pouting. The short-haired nodded, noticing the lack of people in the dorm. It seemed like Yoonbyul had practically eat, breath, and sleep at the same studio the past three days, Jiyoo's usually mia somewhere, Hana was in her hometown, and Shinae's usually hanging out with her friends (something that was a little concerning for the two oldest members, especially in that situation). 

Aowen had left for Taiwan since last month, so that made only her the only foreigner in the dorm now. But even she had planned to leave for Hong Kong by mid-August and wouldn't be back until the end.

"You could do something, like practicing." Sammi shrugged. That's kind of the only thing that they've been doing since they stopped doing anything. Other than having more Korean and English lessons for her, not a day has been spent without meeting Heeyeon or Gayoung.

It felt like trainee days, but without the life-or-death stake of monthly evaluation. Sammi just shook her head at that notion. 

"Like I haven't been doing it for the last month," Choseung said. "I'm boooorreedd."

"I guess." Sammi chuckled. Usually she would've just been a bit annoyed with the youngest's constant whining (and just how much the word 'annoying' has totally lost its meaning on the Hong Konger at this point, honestly), but Sammi's just mildly entertained/amused.

"Since you're bored anyways," Sammi said. "wanna grab coffee with me?" 

"I like smoothies more." Sammi frowned.

"Fine," Sammi said. "how 'bout we go for a run and get smoothies later?"

"But... it's hot outside."

"It's either that or no smoothies," Sammi huffed. "don't be a jobless bum."

"But I like being a jobless bum sometimes." Choseung groaned. 

"You don't like being bored though," Sammi said, standing up. "let's go! It'll make you feel better."

"This is annoying." Choseung groaned, letting her dead weight being pulled by Sammi. 

—
 

"Hey, really appreciate you coming here." the blonde smiled. 

"No, thank you for giving me this opportunity to be part of this song, Yoonbyul-unnie." the black-haired girl said, nodding. They both were sitting in the sofa at the larger recording room, with the clock past one.

"No worries, I think your voice really suit the mellow acoustics." Yoonbyul shrugged. 

"I appreciate that." Aowen said. Then, there was a bit of silence between them both. Aowen wasn't sure if it was because she's tired and Yoonbyul notices and decided to be a bit more considerate, or that it's just a bit more awkward the past few months and she hasn't seen anyone of them, but Yoonbyul just didn't continue.

"Ah, it's been three days since I slept, so you mind if I take a nap right now? I'm kind of sleepy so sorry for this and I hope I'm not -"

"No, no, it's really fine." Aowen shook her head, smiling. Yoonbyul smiled brightly, and leaned on the other side of the couch, sleeping. 

Aowen breathed a heavy sigh. So Yoonbyul was going to sleep after all - not something that Aowen could easily catch away from her (but then again, when has listening to Yoonbyul been easy?). 

She looked at her phone's watch, and noticed that it was almost five p.m. Jisoo would've come soon, but there was a sudden change of plans and now the two of them just waited around in the studio. They could just come back to the dorm, but then it will be a hassle too, and Aowen's not willing to go back and forth just for such a short period of time.

So she's there, waiting with folded hands and occasionally glancing at the clock. Time seemed to have moved a lot slower than usual. She's slightly annoyed that they had to wait when there are other things that they could've done at the moment, such as maybe... practicing. Again. This is the first time in a really long time that she would've been doing something, finally being productive, but she needed to wait. 

Aowen blinked twice, and shook her head. After coming back to Korea it felt like she's always doing something, and must be, or else she's just wasting time and opportunity that her parents (and Yoonbyul and the company, to a certain extent) had given. 

Yoonbyul pretty much told her that things are already perfect, but then she still feel like it's not enough, mostly on her English pronounciation. Normally it would've been natural on Aowen to ask for another retake, but Yoonbyul finally getting her sleep made her think twice.

Aowen just sighed, and leaned her head back at the couch. Alas, she could only wait until the producer come (and secretly, kind of, Aowen wished they can do another retake).

—

Sammi's lips remain tightly pursed. There's Hana's increasingly apologetic look, but Sammi could barely look.

"Sammi, I'm sorry, it just felt like this idol life was not meant for me." Hana said.

Sammi wasn't quite sure where she needed to start. "You fought and worked hard for this, you're more than just talented enough to get through with us."

"It has been a blessing to be with you girls and there's nothing more that I could ask for, but I'm almost 25 and I have waited for too long."

"But the company hasn't disbanded us yet! Just wait for a bit more, I'm pretty sure we're going to still get a comeback."

"It's not even about the comeback or not, Sammi," Hana said. "I just don't think I can last in this kind of industry. I'm almost too old to debut to begin with and I've failed to debut the first time. There's just no third one with people like me. People will literally destroy you for the smallest things."

Sammi sighed. In a sense Sammi's also almost the same age as Hana, and she has quit another industry beforehand to join another (as a dare, even). The fact that she'd made it somewhere like this felt like it was godsend, but alas there are things that are too good to be true.

But Sammi gets it. She used to be a lot more bright-eyed about being a presenter and as a journalist, and even she's understood quite well the hardships of being in the entertainment industry, Chinese or Korean. 

Maybe having an early fame and being in a relatively 'nicer' company allowed her to turn a blind eye to those who cracked under pressure, and this was kind of that moment.

"If that is what you think is the best for you, then I can't really stop you, can I?" Sammi chuckled bitterly. 

"I'm sorry, I'm just not the best leader for EMANON... I'm not even a good older sister." Hana smiled, but her eyes were full of sorrow. 

"It's alright." Sammi said, but it barely sounded convincing. She's sure the company would've prepared to get through with the whole idea of members leaving (since they're opening the contract termination without any normal repercussion), but she kinda wished it was from the younger members.

Not from those who are 'old' and have been going through so much to get where they are.

"I just hope you'll announce this to the group later."

—

"Hana-unnie... left?" Yoonbyul asked, slightly agape. 

Shinae weakly nodded. The other five sat in a circle in their living room, with some takeaway Korean food that Shinae and Sammi had ordered. No one had spoken up until Yoonbyul did.

Yoonbyul only slowly nodded, quickly turning away from the others as she finished up her meal. Sammi winced at that moment, because even if they'd just known each other for a few months, certain things about Yoonbyul are just not easily ignored.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Shinae looked at Sammi with uncertainty, and full sadness in her eyes. Sammi shook her head. In her mind she's wondering about the same thing too, but unless they could physically contact Hana to explain herself - not the best thing to do in that moment - they wouldn't know.

"Even right now it is already difficult for us to tell you." Sammi said.

"But we don't get to say goodbye to her." Choseung said.

And she couldn't answer that either. 

"Maybe she didn't want to." Shinae said. She had seen so many trainees come and go, many who were close friends when they depart, but had no longer heard about. 

Goodbyes are painful, but in the end, Shinae felt like she'd grown a bit more numb to it. It wasn't until Hana had left that afternoon that the little sting in her heart seemed to grow a little bigger.

"Does that mean we'll see her again?" Choseung said. 

"Not as a trainee or an idol." Sammi said. She kinda understood that explaining things would've hurt her and the other members too (as departing should've hurt them), but it would've given them at least some closure.

Not like this.

—

Or like this.

"So your room is going to be with... Choseung and Jiyoo." Shinae said, pointing towards the other room at the corner. 

The brunette nodded quietly, and moved her luggage inside. Sammi had instructed both Choseung and Jiyoo to clean up their rooms beforehand (although looking again, there was a lot of doubt that they understood what the oldest meant). 

Behind them, the new manager came in, picking some of the heavier stuff like bed sheets and another suitcase - although he was very straight-faced, Sammi could feel that he was just as confused as she is on where to put the new items at.

"Will it be okay to put some of the unused items on the lower bunk bed?" He asked. 

"Yeah, it's totally fine." Shinae said. Sammi raised her eyebrows. It wasn't the notion of putting items that was interesting (in fact, Sammi agreed), but the way Shinae respond seemed quite different compared to how she usually react with their old manager.

But that's really none of her business anyways. Sammi turned around, and looked at the other girls, who had a range of expressions from indifference to trying-to-hide-dislike-but-they're-really-bad-at-it (or is Choseung even trying? She's not very sure). 

"Let me help you with that too." Sammi said, watching as Yoriko struggle to move other things on the top bunk. Maybe it was a bit of a tiring day, and it was a day with a lot of news and things to do, so Sammi's... not very surprised.

"Will it be possible to remove the lower bed area in the future?" Sammi asked. 

"Since the beds are built in, unfortunately no," Jung said. "the space right now is already quite cramped to begin with... except if you're willing to move."

"I see." Sammi said, nodding. Shinae just came out of the room, looking at both of them with confusion. Sammi just shook her head.

"If you need any help, you could move some of the bigger items to my place for the time being." 

"Thank you, but for now I think this is quite good." Sammi said, and Shinae nodded.

"Alright. If there are anything else that needed to be done, do let me know so I can help the arrangements."

"Yes, thank you very much." Shinae said.

author's note : this one involves a lot more about the introductory chapters + dynamics you might have not really seen (and rehashed from previous chapters too). i guess this recap is more about the things i kinda missed out on but turns out really important for them?

some things are definitely not written or indicated in the previous teaser so this kinda tries to straighten up some things that i felt is kinda weird the first time around lol (i'm also writing from memory so yea).

some changes ->

1. the room is now 2 4/4 bunk bed dormitory (previously it was 3 rooms)
2. the manager change happened after they had a new member (previously it was before the sudden hiatus)
3. sammi actually came back from hong kong sometime before hana departed

(as a side note i feel like hana (in here bp's jennie's step-sister) could've had a really interesting story of her quitting the industry and her dynamic with jennie, who undergoes a lot of hate although she's one of the most famous idols in the industry).