“Explain.” Eun Ae said firmly as soon as they entered what seemed to be a lounge two floors up from where they had encountered Teen Top.

 

“Sit.” Their manager replied even more firmly. Lovely might be bold and stubborn, but he was still in charge of them and he needed to make sure no more conflicts happened between Teen Top and Lovely, for everyone’s sake.

 

Lovely followed orders, looks of disdain in varying degrees across each of their faces. It occurred to him how different they were in reality than their names suggested. They settled themselves on the many cushioned couches and chair in the room and faced him expectantly.

 

“This is complicated-”

 

“Don’t treat us like children.” Chung Ae spoke, cutting him off before he could make another excuse.

 

“I’m not.” He sighed. he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, trying to think of the best way to explain their situation.

 

“You were all brought into the company for specific reasons.” He began, saying his words steadily. “Teen Top was the first group to officially debut under Top Media. Before them, Top Media was...struggling. The previous artists had trouble and only released two songs before disbanding. Teen Top were trainees at the time, so the pressure was put on them to make a strong debut and do well for the sake of the company.

 

“You put that much pressure on a group of teenagers?” Cho Hee asked incredulously.

 

“That’s how this business works. They get to make music and travel the world and we have to handle everything else. We handle clothing, venues, publicity, marketing, performances, make up, hair, management, housing, money. This is still a business, and unless we make enough of a profit there is no way to continue producing music. We felt very apologetic but they were the only hope.”

 

Lovely sat in silence for a moment, glancing at each other but not making any comments.

 

“So why not introduce them to us?” Jae Hwa spoke, breaking the silence.

 

“We thought it would be better to keep you under wraps until we made a final decision about you. They’re good boys and very responsible, but they’re young and knowing you would have put the company at risk.”

 

“What do you mean at risk?” Ae Sook asked. She couldn’t see how a new girl group could be damaging to the company.

“We weren’t sure you were going to debut.” He said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. The reality of that settled in, and Lovely sat in momentary shock, eyes fixed on their manager.

 

“What?” Mi Hi was the first to break the silence.

 

Their manager sighed and stood up straight, pressing one hand to the side of his head. He knew he would have to tell them eventually, but he had overestimated their ability to politely interact with their seniors. If things had worked out better, they would have accepted their sunbaes and none of this difficulty would have arisen. Still, it was better to handle it now, before their disagreements got more public.

 

“Teen Top’s debut did well for the company. They made a steady income, so we believed it was okay to bring in a new set of trainees. However, they wanted to guarantee that they would have a successful group to fall on should Teen Top not do well enough.”

 

“How do you guarantee that?” Jae Hwa asked.

 

Their manager looked down, his face a mix between embarrassed and apologetic.

 

“Our careers.” Eun Ae spoke for the first time since their manager had started speaking.

 

Mi Hi’s mouth opened in surprise, Jae Hwa’s eyes widened, Cho Hee closed her eyes, Chung Ae scoffed, sitting back in her seat, and Ae Sook sat frozen, a look of utter confusion on her face.

 

“That’s why you said we were brought in for specific reasons.” Eun Ae continued calmly, although the tension in her stomach made it hard not to shake. “You needed our individual success to make sure Lovely did well; we became the ultimate group for you.”

 

“Yes.” Their manager replied simply.

 

“So our auditions? What was the point of that? This had nothing to do with our talent?” Jae Hwa almost yelled, frustrated. She had expected critics. She had expected doubts of their abilities. She had even expected hate. But she had faith that their auditions into a company would be proof against that. If she couldn’t depend on that, if the critics were right and they weren’t successful based on their talent, then what was the point of this? She could tell from the tension in the other member’s bodies that they were thinking the same thing.

 

“Of course you’re talented!” Their manager yelled back, as if insulted by the very idea. “You are still idols. You still sing and dance and do it just as well, if not better than other groups. Some of you have been involved with music for most of your life! The only difference is that you were personally selected because you were already talented and we needed your individual talents to make you what you are today.”

 

“I call bull. You’re covering your .” Chung Ae spat.

 

“You used us.” Mi Hi replied angrily.

 

“I’m sorry.” He replied calming down. “But we needed to ensure your success. it was in everyone’s best interest.”

 

“What does that have to do with Teen Top?” Ae Sook asked.

 

“You were a backup, in case they didn’t do well. Because they promoted against groups like Infinite and many other rookie groups, their success wasn’t as great as it needed to be. We decided, for the benefit of the company and the individual groups to assign you six as Teen Top’s ‘sister group’ to help with publicity and fanbase. Combining that with your careers we hoped that there would be a greater chance for success of all parties.”

 

“That’s why there was so much anticipation for our debut.” Cho Hee said, making the connection.

 

“It was necessary. You were our secret weapon.”

 

Eun Ae sighed, putting her head in her hands. This was a lot of information to take in, and even though everything made sense now, she wasn’t sure she liked knowing all of this.

 

“Does Teen Top know?” she wondered aloud, raising her head in sudden realization. They seemed genuinely confused earlier. She felt a pang of guilt for being so angry at them.

 

“I told you they didn’t know about you.” he replied, going back to lean on the wall once again.

 

“No, I mean about them.” Eun Ae responded. Did they know why they were under so much pressure?

 

“No.” he answered after a moment of hesitation. “We couldn’t very well tell them they weren’t good enough so we had to bring you in. They’re talented, but the company’s situation wasn’t easy to fix.”

 

“Is it fixed now?” Cho Hee asked.

 

He didn’t reply.

 

“So what happens if we fail?” Mi Hi asked. Her stomach felt like a million knots had suddenly appeared.

 

Silence.

“You won’t.” He finally replied.

 

Lovely looked at each other. What were they supposed to think? They hadn’t expected to hear something like this.

 

“I told you this because I believe in you. I know you are capable of success. You’re professionals and I know you’ll use this information to help you, and keep it to yourself.” The edge in his voice sounded more like a threat than a statement.

 

Eun Ae pressed her lips into a line and stood up. The rest of Lovely looked over at her, unsure of what she was doing. She looked directly at their manager with the fiercest look of determination any of them had ever seen.

 

“We won’t fail.”

 

She her heel at moved toward the door. Lovely followed their leader, stumbling out of chairs uncertain of what they felt.

 

“You have an interview tomorrow morning.” Their manager called as they reached the exit.

 

Eun Ae shot a sideways glance in his direction before disappearing out the door.