The media consists of nothing but absolute bull, complete and utter lies.

Who said that YG doesn’t care about looks?

Lee Hayi sighed as she sat herself in the empty seat at an isolated table off to the side, separated from the rest. With her chopsticks, she lifelessly poked at the five small pieces of walnuts on her plate, the neighbor to her lonely banana to the right. She could hear the cheerful chatter of the fellow trainees that filled the other tables and the clanking of their busy utensils as they freely stuffed food into their mouths, unlike her.

It was her first day in that particular branch of the facility since signing with YG and she knew no one, understood nothing about how things worked. All that was evident was the fact that she looked nothing like the other girls casted. She knew it and so did the company.

There was this one girl in particular, Kim Jisoo, who looked like the exact representation of what every girl imagined to be. She was tall and lean, but was still blessed with the right amount of curves. And from the whispers of rumours Hayi heard, this Jisoo girl even had a voice of an angel. But more so than anything, Hayi envied the fact that she had a plateful of mouth watering goodness she could freely eat, while Hayi’s platter before her was nothing more than a snack.

Hayi loved YG nonetheless. It was a company that stressed the importance of music and bled the idea of enhancing their artists’ creative mindset. They would educate her and challenge her to reach new heights she never knew of.

However this food, or lack there of, was going to definitely kill her.

She buried her depressed self into her hands and wondered what kind of deliciousness her friends, Baek Ayeon and Park Jimin were devouring over at JYP.

But her jealous thoughts sauntered off when the sudden jangle of hustling hands fiddled to her side. She kept her head settled down, but glimpsed at the cause of the noise.

“Hey there~” his voice was light.

He was dressed in an oversized t-shirt, likely two sizes too big and had lens-less glasses on.

“I’m Kim Hanbin,” he pronounced in between mouthfuls of him nibbling at his treat, “I’m also known as B.I”.

He was the first person to greet her who wasn’t one of the producers, or stylists, or managers...he was like her, a normal trainee. She was thankful for the hamster-like guy, for Hayi was never quite accustomed to opening up first.

“Hi…” she cautiously replied, still somewhat reserved.

“Want some?” he casually asked, extending his arm out and offering what was considered a prized possession of his.

It was a green package of sour cream and onion Pringles.

Hayi hated that kind, absolutely detested the flavour as it always left an unsettling aftertaste lingering on her tongue. She contemplated whether or not to reject the kind kid’s offer, but what kind of a would that make her out to be?

The new trainee thinks too highly of herself to accept an offer. Don’t even bother with her…

Lee Hayi really didn’t want to embody such a cold demeanor.

“Thanks…” after much deliberation, she carefully grabbed a single chip.

“Want some...walnuts?” she was regretting asking the guy once she saw the arch of his brow curl upward. He definitely thinks I’m crazy.

But he only let out a soft chuckle before plopping one happily into the air and precisely catching it into his mouth, finishing it with a slight smile.

“I gotta go now,” he was rushing to leave, “I heard that there’s this cheeky new boy that’s gonna be training with my team,” he laughed.

“B-But this!” Hayi called out after him holding the Pringles container in her hand.

“You can have it!”

“I’m on a diet though,” she pointed down at her tray.

“Well, I took a walnut right?” he winked, “besides, you don’t even need to be on a diet~”.

And like that, he was gone.

Lee Hayi remained standing there, watching his baggy shirt flap in the air as he dashed off. Unconsciously, her hand placed the single chip she had still firmly held along her fingers into . And to her surprise, it was delectable, enticing her every taste bud. It was no where near bad as she had remembered it to be, but more so, it was like heaven on earth in .

Hayi may die with YG’s cruel ‘meal’ proportions set out for her, but she realized that if available, she just may be able to survive with these precious Pringles.

And that was when it became her favorite.

That was when she first encountered Kim Hanbin, the normal trainee.

So it was actually five times they had met thus far, but their initial moment would not be remembered by the hamster-like boy.

If only, she had mentioned the key detail that particular day years ago, ‘My name is Lee Hayi…’

---

She first heard about B.I’s ‘man-’ ways from Koo Junhoe, that cheeky boy.

Hayi wasn’t sure if her dongsaeng ever caught onto her constant interest about the leader, as during their meetings she’d put on the best poker face but kept her ears completely open. Initially, she laughed at the thought, thinking that Junhoe was brilliant in stirring up things, but then it began to scare her, how June’s stories about the friendly Hanbin became repetitive and FRIENDLIER towards the opposite as time passed.  

Then there was the one incident where she got a phone call from her friend in the middle of the night because June couldn’t catch some shut eye due to the of a female visitor back at his dorm.

Was Hanbn always like this? Such a promiscuous boy?  

But she still gave him the benefit of the doubt.

---

Lee Hayi doesn’t quite remember when her fond thoughts of the affable boy turned sour.

Maybe it was the time when she finally saw him in person after a few years. It was their second encounter.

Hanbin had graduated from the XL shirts, but was still dressed confidently in the hip hop style that he so greatly owned. He had a stupid bandana wrapped around his head, a failed attempt of what she believed was suppose to be swag attire. She walked into the tension filled practice room, her steps light as a feather and she kept her head held low, hoping that the butterflies that obviously crept in her stomach didn’t showcase upon her face. But the WHO IS NEXT cameras caught on. She found her spot on the bench and kept busy by fiddling along the panel she held in her small quivering hands while other staff continued to fill the room.

She was certain that if she even glanced over at Kim Hanbin, she’d burn herself into a bright red tomato. So she looked at everyone else except him.

But she heard the words that escaped his mouth that stabbed at her heart and made her want to run away as much as she equally wanted to then rip him apart.

“Why the hell is Lee Hi here? Is she even qualified to be judging us? She can’t even sway Yang CEO for a comeback”.

It was true.

Why was she assigned this awkward position of having to judge the boys’ performances?

When she finally decided to look upon her past saviour, his murderous glare frightened her beyond anything she’s ever witnessed. Her recollection of his friendly self in the past were wiped clean by this strange boy who was the complete opposite of what she remembered him to be. He looked at her as if she was dirt, not worthy to be in his presence.

One thing that would always get her stirred up was when anyone would disregard her with no respect. She made up her mind that she will have that boy pay for his careless choice of words. She decided right away to then vote for team A; although, she did feel sorry to June. It wasn’t