'"So, as for today, you'll be recording a bit of an interview with the MCs. Take it as your first 'variety' show, since you'll be talking with them. Remember, be nice and kind, try to interact with them as much as you can, and if you really can't, hopefully you can just smile through the rest of the segment."

Jung said, pulling his phone. At the last sentence, he shot a sharp look at both Choseung and Aowen, something that Yoriko did not (and unfortunately) miss.

"Yes," Shinae said, smiling, but Yoriko noticed her lips seemed to quiver just a little bit. "so basically, it's mostly going to be Yoonbyul and me talking?" 

"Yes. And then it's power training for the rest of the day and the following. Then Yoonbyul and Aowen will have a bit of a VLive for tomorrow night, and then Idol Radio for Saturday. Details of the script for these will be sent out soon."

"What day is it?" Yoonbyul asked. 

"Tuesday."

"Free Thursday?" 

"You wish," Jung chuckled, but his face immediately deadpanned. "but no. Thursday is the pre-recording for Inkigayo, so be prepared."

"Okay." Yoonbyul nodded, pouting. 

"You should be grateful that we're pretty booked," Jung said. "the comments and ratings from critics and public are actually quite positive."

"Oh, really?" 

"Yeah, you can check them out later," Junghyuk nodded. "but right now we need to get going." 

⇔

"Hi, welcome everyone! I'm Jaehyun, your MC for today." One of the guys smiled, waving at the camera. Next to him, a slightly shorter guy smiled too, nodding.

"And I'm Dino from Seventeen! We're back at MNetCountdown, where we want to meet our lovely girls over here from EMANON!" 

The camera shot over to the girls, who are standing at the back of the stage, almost a little frozen. But at that moment, Shinae broke into a smile and said, "Hi, we are the lovely EMANON!"

While she's at the top left  and couldn't really see anyone else but the camera, she could feel that Sammi's skin crawled a little, even if she's waving calmly right at her side. 

"Yes, really lovely girls indeed," Jaehyun said. "and one you would want to know more! Would you mind introducing yourself and a bit more about this comeback?"

"Yes! So our song is called 'Chase Me', which is about someone who is trying to do different things and surprises people about it." Shinae said, smiling. Sammi turned to see the younger, and noticed that her other hand was shaking.

"Ooh, sounds interesting, but what about the 'Chase Me' part?" 

"Hm, in our M/V it was about life and trying to escape from death from a terrible disease..." Yoonbyul suddenly blurted, and suddenly it felt like there was a record scratch in that busy set. Some of the members are even more frozen.

"...but honestly we just want you to know us more! Just like these days I just chase after good food! And of course, our fans~"

"Ah, what do you mean by that, Ion-ssi?" Dino said. 

"Well... I like our fans as much as I like good food." The members noticeably relaxened, and Yoriko slowly nodded. Choseung giggled a little.

"Interesting," Jaehyun said, nodding. "if you have to choose just one, who will you choose?"

"Hm, that's too hard, actually," Yoonbyul said. "but of course, our fans."

"That's really cool! So for people watching EMANON now for the first time, come and see in Inkigayo with their song 'Chase Me' ! So, do you want to say anything more to your fans?" 

"Yeah, we really appreciate all of your support for EMANON, and we will do our best to shine even brighter for our fans!" Yoonbyul said.

"And we'll 'chase' after your hearts." Jiyoo said, pointing at the camera with a smirk. Ion and Choseung roared into laughter, Sammi rolled her eyes and Aowen just shook her head,  while Shinae and Yoriko just chuckled.

"Alright, thank you!" Shinae grinned.

Frankly, it wasn't a total disaster.

The director signals over, and the cameras were turned off. The girls were hurriedly ushered away from the set, with production staff and people yelling over instructions and commands on what to do (or not to do) with the set. The MCs were a little more free, talking with a few staff, before Jaehyun noticed Shinae and Sammi.

"Hi Shinae-noona! Congratulations for EMANON's comeback. I think you all look really cool." Jaehyun said, approaching the two.

"Thank you very much, we really enjoy the time with you and Dino as MCs too." Shinae said, nodding. Sammi only smiled next to her, nodding back.

"That's great to hear, I hope you enjoy the filming." He said, rubbing his neck. 

"Oh, it's good! The members had fun filming. Thank you for helping us a lot." Shinae said.

"Yes, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask either me or Dino," Jaehyun nodded, pointing to the younger blonde male, who was talking with a staff. "anyway, I need to go. See you!"

"Did you know about him beforehand?" Sammi asked.

"Yeah, he's quite popular among the trainees. I talked to him a few times before this too." 

"It seems like he knows you well though." Sammi said. 

"Haha, no... he's just... a senior, really. A bit weird when some people younger than me are debuting earlier nowadays." Shinae said, rubbing her neck.

Sammi nodded. She knew all too well; someone younger and prettier than them getting the better end of the job, and how their dreams were nearly crushed and now it's back but with weird things that they didn't expect (also known as superpowers)... but at least, they're still here.

If she thinks about it clearly, she's truly gambling her own life now.

"It's alright, you tend to learn a lot when you're older. Nothing wrong with debuting a little bit later." Sammi said, patting Shinae's back.

"Thanks, unnie."

"Yeah, you did a good job today."

⇔

One of the girls are really funny ... haha

This group looks really interesting.

Their concept is a bit weird. What's with idol these days... always trying too hard.

"What are you looking at, unnie?" Yoonbyul said. 

"Hm, some comments. There's the post about our first segment." Sammi said, tapping on her fingers. The pages automatically scrolled at the rhythm, something that was pretty cool for her.

"Ooh, what did they say?" 

"Well, the usual. Some good comments and some not-so-good ones," Sammi said, when she suddenly noticed one of the comments and locked her phone in that instant.

The blonde is such a tryhard.

"but anyways, people think you're funny, actually."

At that, Yoonbyul seemed to brighten up. She grinned widely, and said, "Really?" 

"Yeah, you did pretty great, in my opinion." Sammi nodded.

"Do you think I should be an MC too?" 

"Oh, why?" Sammi said.

"Well, I kinda like what we did just now, and want to do it more." Yoonbyul said. 

"Well... there's a lot of things people want when you be an MC. I think there's a lot more than what we think of when you're hosting."

"But I want to learn too. And it's not like we never get demands from other people."

"And you will," Sammi said. "but for now, let's just focus on the expectations that we already have. Then, you can try suggesting these things to Shinae or the company."

Yoonbyul pouted. "It'll be so long by then, and I'll be old."

"You're the one to talk." Sammi chuckled, playfully nudged Yoonbyul's shoulder. But in that moment too, she locked eyes with Jiyoo at the distant, who looked at her with disdain.

Sammi sighed. She glared at Jiyoo, who immediately looked away.

⇔

"Did you hear about the scary story in the dressing room we were in?" Yoonbyul said. She sat at the wooden floor boards, noticing the other girls were already either practicing their powers or just cooling down and chatting with each other. She could hear the occasional grunts and blasts downstairs, which must have been the youngest.

"Um, no. But if you want to talk about it, sure." Jiyoo said, landing another punch at the sand bag in front of them.

"Right, you can read my mind." Yoonbyul said, awkwardly rubbing her neck. At that, Jiyoo almost stopped punching, looking even more displeased. 

"You can tell it, I don't mind." 

"Right, right," Yoonbyul said. "so apparently if you stay at the room overnight you'll hear weird ringing sounds. Also apparently if you see it from the outside area there's always a person even at like, three a.m."

"Did you hear the weird ringing sounds?" Jiyoo said, hitting the bag.

"No."

"Did you see the people?" 

"No."

"Did you stay over at three?" 

"No." 

"Well then," Jiyoo said, stopping, catching her breath. "it should... be... okay. We don't stay in that dressing room anyways.

"But what if... the ghost follows us?"

Jiyoo swore she really wanted to roll her eyes. Looking away from Yoonbyul's eyes, she said, "What makes you think that way?" 

"Since we have a horror concept too... what if they listened to it and then they decided to follow us because of like that?" 

"First things first, ghost don't exist. Second, they don't listen to our music either. Third, you're never going to be alone if you're in EMANON."

"Really?" 

"Yes. If anything, you should be more afraid of the people."

"What do you mean?" Jiyoo widened her eyes. She'd just took off her gear, and wasn't open, but Yoonbyul looked at her with confusion.

"Well... people sometimes say things that are not what they really meant." Jiyoo said. 

"That's... true. You know about that well, Jiyoo-unnie."

"Yeah, and it'll be nicer if you try not to ignore my weird thoughts. Anyways, I'm done, you can use them now." Jiyoo said, packing her items, and she walked away.

"Okay. Thanks, unnie." It must be hard to be Jiyoo unnie. 

Jiyoo almost stopped at her tracks. She turned again to Yoonbyul, who's now fixated on the punching bag. When Yoonbyul noticed Jiyoo was staring, the blonde smiled.

Cheer up unnie! You can do it.

Jiyoo slowly looked away. She saw that same glint when Yoonbyul talked with Sammi... even when Jiyoo could clearly hear from Sammi's sharp glare.

"You understood what I meant, so you better treat her nicely." 

She hated that.

⇔

"Hi, Aowen. I apologize for the outburst yesterday." Yoriko said, holding a hand out to the younger girl.

"It's alright. Is Choseung still upset?"

"Not really," Yoriko said. She winced, noticing that the tone was still very neutral. "but I feel like I wasn't explaining myself that well either."

Aowen tilted her head. "Why?"

"Well, I understand where you're coming from, and sometimes it can be frustrating when certain people... don't really understand you, but there are better ways to talk to her, rather than just commanding her to do this and that."

"But it's like she doesn't really care about anything, and I don't see the point of catering to her when she's already in that state to begin with." Aowen said.

"Well, people change, and sometimes it takes people different ways to get to that point," Yoriko said. "I'm not asking you to love her, I just want you to be more loving."

"I see," Aowen said. "I respect where you're coming from and what you felt, but my opinion will still be the same."

"That is?"

"Choseung still has a long way to go."

"Can you stop that?! I worked hard enough already! Why are you so annoying?" Before Yoriko could even continue saying anything, she heard the loud yell, and when she turned, she saw Choseung, red-faced and eyes glossy.

"I'm annoying? You're annoying! Giving up so easily when things just get a little bit harder, always asking for help, and acting up all the time! Grow up." Aowen said, her voice getting higher.

"Grow up and be like you? You're just a stuck up who gets to do whatever you want because you're acting all nice and Sammi-unnie defended you all the time!"

"Enough! Quit it, both of you!" Sammi yelled. Yoriko looked around, and she realized the other members were at the same room (just how thin are the walls?), including Junghyuk.

"What happened?" Shinae said.

"I'm just doing my own things and then Aowen kept on insulting me! She's been doing this for so long now and I'm supposed to understand her?" 

"Well, if you weren't being so stubborn to begin with —"

"You guys should just fight it out at this point." Jiyoo scoffed.

"What do you mean by fighting?" Shinae said.

"They have powers... it'll be good to let out their frustrations, since apparently talking  kindly to each other didn't work at all." Jiyoo said.

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea. I'm tired of being trash-talked." Choseung said.

"To be frank, it sounded like a good idea for someone so stubborn like her." Aowen said.

"What if they get injured?" Shinae said, turning to Junghyuk.

"If you think it's appropriate, I can talk to the coaches and we'll set up a date. There's a clinic that can quickly treat your injuries." Junghyuk said. 

"You agreed to this?" Sammi asked, incredulous.

"I found it dumber if communication breakdown happens because of something so small," Junghyuk said. "and ruin the rest of your promotion period. If both you and Shinae agree to do this, then I don't see the point of not doing it."

"I don't have any problems." Shinae said. 

"As long as they will be okay, then I don't have a lot of options," Sammi sighed. "so, when are you going to do this?" 

"Tomorrow?" 

"Should be good," Junghyuk said. "anyways, we're almost done at this point, so pack up your bags and let's go."

author's note : okay the inkigayo section was painful to write. i... don't think it's meant to be like that, so i apologize for the lots of inaccuracies that is in there. also the puns here are definitely english, not korean... but whatever this is an au anyways.

(also if you guys don't know everything here is operating at a normal level lol. also forgive me bc some of the korean suffix are a bit suitable so that's why i use it.)