~2 week’s ago~

Nayoung yawned in boredom as an extremely muscular guy purposely stretched in front of her. “Look at that guy embarrass himself.” One of the members laughed.

“Can you hurry up.” Nayoung hissed. “Huh?” he stuttered. “It’s your turn” she rolled her eyes and pointed to the cashier in front of her. “Idiot” she said under her breath.

3 girls hysterically laughed behind her. They all sat around a table waiting for their drinks to arrive. Since Nayoung lost to rock paper scissors, she was forced to order them drinks and bring them all to the table.

“Creeps.” Nayoung sighed as she put the tray of drinks down.

“Common Nayoung, that guy was kind of hot.” Youngmi said pushing her shoulder lightly.

“Hot? He could be the hottest guy on earth, what do I want with a guy that has an ego as big as his? Makes me want to puke.” She said sticking her finger in .

“He looks rich though! He’s wearing all brand name clothes!” Soojin observed.

“I mean, you could have asked him to take you out to 5 star restaurants for a few weeks and then break up with him.” Youngmi proposed. The rest of the members laughed at Youngmi’s proposition. “Typical Youngmi. That’s why I love you, it’s cause you’re smart.” Soojin said wrapping her armss around her beloved Unnie.

“Ok , enough small talk. We need to get down to bu-si-ness” their leader articulated her last word slowly.

“Do we have to Unnie? Every time we talk about our careers, half of us end up drowning in alcohol, the other half in chocolate truffles.” Soojin pouted, taking a sip from her hot chocolate.

“Well, we have to. This time we actually have something to talk about! We actually have a second chance here.” Their leader said optimistically.

“Really Sunhee? It’s too sketchy. I mean common, our past horrid CEO’s sister is scouting us? She could be just as bad as he was!” Nayoung said, making a point.

“True… we don’t even know who she is. And if she comes from the same family as that disgusting person who was our boss for the past 4 years, I’d say we skip out.” Soojin said.

“No, we can’t do that.” Youngmi refuted. “Think about it, who the hell is going to take a group who already debuted? and a failed debut at that? I mean yeah, some flop company with no money may take us, but that’s about it. We know one thing’s for sure; his sister is loaded with money. I say we take this chance! We have nothing to lose at this point.” Youngmi reasoned.

“I agree with Youngmi. Don’t you find it interesting how she’s promising us quality songs and music videos? Who does that in this industry to a failed girl group who have 0 fame? She’s making us feel like we have the upper hand for some reason...” Sunhee added. “She could easily go find 5 other girls and debut them but she chose us. Isn’t it obvious?” Sunhee paused. The members all leaned in with interest.

“I think I see what you’re onto” Soojin said.

“Revenge” the 4 girls said in unison.

“God, I hope you’re right!” Soojin chimed. “If that’s the case, she must be totally motivated and serious about making us big!” Soojin cheered.

“Okay, it’s final then. I’m accepting her offer.” Sunhee declared. “Get ready girls, it’s back to that good ole’ trainee life.” Sunhee smiled as her members sighed in agony.

~~

“Well, this is it, our last day before we start training again.” Soojin said digging her spoon into a tub of chocolate ice cream. “No more ice cream, no more spicy rice cakes, no more life” Soojin sighed. The members all laughing at her gloomy expression.

“Hah, as if we ever stop eating. Even with that nut job watching our diets we found ways to sneak in fried chicken and black bean noodles. Nothing will stop us.” Youngmi chuckled.

“That was only because you were dating someone who worked for our CEO. Now what are you going to do? Date someone under this company too?” Nayoung giggled.

“Uhh, yeah? What’s to lose?” Youngmi smiled, the members all laughing at her.

“If only I was as smart as Unnie when it comes to boys” Soojin pouted.

“Are you still chasing that Chansik guy?” Youngmi said pinching Soojin’s cheeks.

“He’ll see the light soon.” Soojin said confidently.

“Why don’t you just ditch him? He’s clearly not worthy for you if he doesn’t even show any interest in you?”  Sunhee said, annoyed at her fellow member. “Easy for you to say Unnie, maybe you don’t fall hard for guys but I do! I can’t let him go yet.” Soojin said, stuffing more ice cream in .

“Enough with this boy talk, let’s order some food and eat away our stress.” Sunhee said picking up her cell phone. “Okay what do you losers want to eat?” their leader asked.

“Fried chicken!” Nayoung yelled. “Black bean noodles!” Youngmi shouted over her. “No, NO, Seafood noodles!” Soojin whined.

Sunhee shook her head and began to relay what the members wanted “Okay.. so we’ll get fr-?”

“fried chicken, black bean noodles, and seafood noodles? Anything else?” a man said over the phone. What the heck Sunhee thought, stunned. “Uhh…"

“And 3 bottles of soju please” Youngmi said grabbing the phone from Sunhee’s hand. “And don’t be late, we’re hungry” Nayoung said grabbing the phone from Youngmi. “Hello, hello?? What the hell did this guy just hang up in my face?”  Nayoung said angrily. “He better not expect a tip.”

After waiting 30 minutes, the doorbell of the girls’ dorm finally rang. “Took you long enough” Sunhee said opening the door. She met eyes with a boy with dark black hair and eyes just as dark. He looked to be around 20 years old. “You’re 15 minutes late!” she said, annoyed.

The guy didn’t seem to care and handed her the boxes of take out. “Are you not going to say sorry?”

“Ajumma, that will be 20 dollars.” He said with an impatient expression.

“Ajumma!?” Sunhee let out a puff of laughter, “ is going to go down” Soojin whispered, her eyes wide open in anticipation.

Sunhee took out her wallet and threw 10 dollars at the boy in front of her.  “That’s all you’re getting” she smiled coldly.

The boy’s expression quickly went from blank to pissed off as his eyes followed the money that fell to the floor. He picked it up angrily and approached Sunhee in annoyance “Ajumma, you really have a lot of nerve, huh?” He sneered. He looked down at his hand’s to see the amount “What the hell, you’re paying me half!?” he said, raising his voice a little.

“This food is cold!” Youngmi yelled. “aish, fuc-“ Soojin quickly grabbed Youngmi's arm, since she knew how quick Youngmi's temper was. “Ya, let go of me!” Youngmi said shaking Soojin's hands off of her.

As soon as she got out of Soojin's grip she stormed towards the boy fearlessly. “hey you, who do you think you are huh? You look like a ing high school student and you’re talking badly to Sunhee? hah, if I wasn’t an idol I would totally beat you up right now!” Youngmi spat at him.

She grabbed his T-shirt and read his nametag. “Kim-Jong-in, I’ll remember that name. You better find a new job because your will be fired real soon.” Youngmi hissed. 

The boy was surprised at how easily she approached him. He didn't know how to react so he just laughed at them “idol? Are you kidding me? you girl’s are idols? What kind of idol eats fast food at 2AM in the morning?” he said letting out a laugh. “Girl’s who can beat you up that’s who” she said about to grab him by his hair until Nayoung wrapped her arms around her, disallowing her to move forward.

“Baek Nayoung! you better get your hands off of me!” she shouted. “But Unnie, I love you~” she said trying to calm her down. “aish” she let out, giving up.

“Consider yourself lucky you jerk.” Sunhee said pushing him out of their dorm and slamming it in his face. “What a total piece of !” Sunhee fumed.

“I was about to throw my one and only Michael Jacobs purse at him!” Soojin raged. Sunhee let out a laugh at her commentary. “Whoa, you know Soojin is pissed when she feels the need to throw brand name objects.” Nayoung chuckled.

“Hey, I worked hard for my few brand name possessions. They’re all I’ve got in this cruel world.” She joked.

“Let’s hurry and eat this trash he brought and then go to sleep. Tomorrow we have to get up early.” Sunhee sighed, the other members sighing with her.

“Back to torture, I mean, trainee life.” Youngmi groaned.

“We’re so screwed!” Soojin said to her fellow members who were running towards the car. “Ugh I knew we’d be late, I just knew you dummies wouldn’t wake up!” Nayoung ranted.

“Shush and get your in the car!” Youngmi said pulling her in the van. Sunhee got in the drivers seat and began to drive. “Pray we don’t get into an accident because I won’t be abiding to the speed limit today” Sunhee said, preparing the members.

“It was nice knowing all of you” Soojin joked, although she didn’t know if she was actually joking.

“You’re all late” a tall woman with medium length brown hair shook her head at them.

“Are you the CEO? We’re so sorry.” The four girls’ gave the women a 90-degree bow while apologizing several times.

“No, I’m your manager.” The women gave the girl’s a small smile. “My name is Kim Jungah. It’s nice to meet you trouble makers. Now follow me,” the women said, walking away before the girl’s could say anything more.

“Troublemakers? Is that what we’re known for?” Soojin mumbled to her members as they followed their manager. “Well it’s not like we’re known for our flop song “candy” so I’m assuming, yes.” Nayoung mumbled back.

“Sit here, the CEO will come to greet you soon.” Their manager said before she left the room.

The girl’s waited a few minutes before someone finally walked in.

“Hello girl’s” a woman greeted, making the girls all stand up. “Hello” they greeted, bowing slightly in respect. The woman was tall and had long dark hair

“I’m the CEO of this company, Lee Jeena. It’s nice to finally meet you all.” Her beauty shocked the members, “she looks nothing like that gremlin” Youngmi whispered. “shut up” Nayoung whispered back.

The CEO laughed at Youngmi’s commentary. “Oops, sorry.” Yougmi apologized.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. You only stated the truth”. Their now CEO smiled at her brightly. “Now what’s going to happen is that one by one I’ll be interviewing you in order to get to know you individually and also to see what skills each of you have. After that, I’ll be able to see who will specialize in what. Does that all make sense?” Their CEO asked.

“Yes.” The girl’s said in unison.

“Okay great, then Lee Sunhee, since you’re the oldest, you’ll be first.” Sunhee quickly followed her to a separate room beside the waiting room the other members were sitting in.

“Lee Sunhee..." Ms. Lee looked down at the portfolio that sat in her hands. Sunhee's nerves began to grow. "you have the same name as the popular singer from the 80’s. I was a huge fan of hers when I was a teen.” Ms. Lee commented.

Sunhee’s nervous expression suddenly turned bright “She’s my role model." Sunhee told. "Although I’m the groups main vocalist, I am nowhere close to as good as Lee Sunhee sunbaenim.” Sunhee pouted.

“Sunhee-ssi, that’s an extremely hard goal to reach. Don't be too upset about that." Ms. Lee comforted. "Still, with the proper vocal coach, your voice will improve immensely.”

“Actually, when I first joined your brothers company I wanted to be a soloist, but he said I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t have the look, the personality, or the voice. He wasn’t wrong though…” Sunhee confessed.

“Just forget everything that bastard has said to you.” Ms. Lee said, gaining a bright smile from Sunhee.

“Kim Youngmi, you were raised in Seattle so I’m assuming your English is very good?”

“Since I lived there during my childhood i am completely fluent. I moved back to Seoul when I was 12 and have only went back to Seattle during vacation so my Korean is still a tad better than my English.” Youngmi explained.

“So I’m assuming you have experience rapping in both languages then?” Ms. Lee asked.

“Yes, I practice in both frequently, since even in Korean music you often here English being use. I started training to become a rapper at 18, but as you can tell, me and the girl’s got screwed over, like most people trying to make it big in this industry.” Youngmi voiced.

“Jung Soojin, you’re position in the group isn’t very specific…”

“Well…truthfully…." Soojin paused for a moment. "I-I was kind of ignored by our past CEO." Soojin hesitated. “Since I wasn’t specifically amazing in anything, he didn’t train me at all. He just made sure I was looking pretty all the time, that’s it. It really angers me when someone says “she’s only good at being pretty” because that’s not true. I know I’m a talented performer, I just never got the chance to excel in anything.” Soojin expressed, feeling frustrated.

“I like that you’re confident, without that a performer will fail whether they have skill or not. It’s usually the most underestimated people that excel the most, so don’t worry too much and instead focus on improving. ”

“Baek Nayoung…I’m going to have to ask you a personal question; you have a boyfriend, don’t you?” Nayoung froze at her sudden question, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t expecting her to bring it up but she didn’t think it would be brought up so soon.

“Uhh…yeah. I know there are strict rules in every company about dating but… My boyfriend and I were close friends before we dated so I can’t just cut him out of my life. I promise to keep it a secret.” Nayoung confessed.

“I won’t tell you to break up with him for now, but just be aware that no one can find out. Only the members and I can know. Imagine a new group debuting with a member that is known to have a boyfriend, it would ruin the group’s reputation.” Ms. Lee set straight.

“Understood, I’ll be extra careful.” Nayoung assured, feeling relieved.

“So how did it go?” Soojin asked Nayoung as she walked back into he waiting room.

“Uh… she asked about my boyfriend” Nayoung replied.

“Eh!? She asked about Daeseok?” Sunhee exclaimed.

“What did you tell her? Did you lie? How does she even know?” Youngmi asked, bombarding her with questions.

“I told her the truth, I mean, I’m not going to lie to her. This is our last shot, and plus, she seemed okay with it as long as no one finds out.” Nayoung explained.

“Break up with him!” Youngmi ordered. “I’m not breaking up with him!” Nayoung reused. “But what if it gets out?” “it won’t get out.” “I swear if it gets out you are so dead” Youngmi threatened.

“But how the heck did she even find out? Not even her brother was that smart.” Sunhee said, confused.

“Ehhemm.” The girls looked up to see there CEO standing at the door. “Ms. Lee” the girl’s all said at once. “shut up, all of you” Sunhee whispered to her fellow members.

“I wanted to alert you girl’s that all your positions will be the same as they were when you were known as “Sugar Girl’s” BUT I have decided on a few other things.” The girl’s listened intently to what their CEO had to say.

“I think Nayoung will do well on variety shows, so I will try to get you on as much as possible. Soojin is the visual of the group so if we ever get any CF offers, Soojin will take the lead. Since Sunhee has the best voice among you, I’m going to try to get her on immortal song, and lastly, Youngmi, you’ll be in charge for international activities since you’re the only member fluent in English. Of course, this all only applies when you debut.” Their CEO laid out to them.

“About that, w-when will we debut?” Sunhee hesitated.

“When you’re all ready to. I think you girl’s already know what I want from you. I need you all to be the best in order for that to happen.” She explained. “Oh that reminds me, I’ve already decided on your groups name.”

“Huh? Already?” Youngmi asked, disappointed. She wanted to pick out a name together with the members.

“Amazons.” Their CEO stated.

“Ama what?” Nayoung asked, confused.

“It means a group of female warriors, which is exactly what you girl’s need to be to make it in this industry." Ms. Lee Clarified. "You girls are probably well aware that the success rate of girl groups to boy groups is much less.” she alerted. “No more playing around, tomorrow starts the real training so be prepared to be made into the best. You need to shine so bright that my brother becomes blind, understand?” their CEO said, her eyes filled with determination.

The girl’s expression slowly became uneasy. They suddenly realized the burden they were holding and knew, that this time, they had to make it.