"Good evening, Kwangya! It's Giselle Uchinaga here to deliver you the freshest updates tonight at Kwangya!

 

All is well at Synk Avenue after the crowd's favorite Icy Winter has successfully prevented The Nuthead from wreaking more havoc at Kwangya University.

 

The Nuthead isn't the only thing you should be looking out for! Watch out for inflation rates rising higher than The Nuthead could ever dream of flying!

 

Nothing too interesting tonight, sorry folks! 

 

Oh, but wait! Our reliable sources from La Maison Park are trying to tell us something about a fuzzy figure roaming around the night skies of Kwangya!

 

Is it a bird? Is it a meteorite? No, it's your friendly neighborhood superhero Speckled Feline! The feline hero swooshes past the Sunny Statue and arrives just in time to save an elderly woman from falling to her demise into the Sea of Shondy! Up to this day, we're not quite sure how a cat hero can fly but felines have their own ways!

 

And that's all for tonight's updates, folks!"

 

"How are we gonna be sure that the Speckled Feline thing isn't a villain?" asked Choerry as soon as Giselle finished her broadcast. Giselle huffed, fixing her necktie.

 

"She was there with the AOJS, she wouldn't be with them if she wasn't a part of them or if she wasn't an ally, at least."

 

"But what if she is a traitor?" Choerry wondered out loud, munching on a ladyfinger biscuit. Giselle sighed.

 

"I dunno, I just- she doesn't give off 'evil' vibes, okay?" Choerry nodded absentmindedly, reaching into the can of biscuits for another ladyfinger as Giselle looked on, a disgusted expression on her face.

 

"You know what, Choerry? I really don't get why you like ladyfinger biscuits."

 

Choerry lets out an affronted gasp, hugging her can of biscuits tightly.

 

"You better apologize to her, Gigi."

 

Giselle was about to retort with a smart insult for the gross biscuit when they hear a knock on the door. The door opens and a rather enthusiastic Irene enters with a smile on her face.

 

"Hey girls, you ready?"

 

The almost identical-looking girls share a confused look with each other.

 

"...Ready for what?"

 

The smile on Irene's face drops and she gives them a disappointed look.

 

" POS-itive Awards tomorrow! The most important event of the year!"

 

"Hard to be excited when we don't even win anything every time we attend," Choerry muttered darkly and Giselle had to stop herself from snorting.

 

"Sort of. I do want us to win something this year though," Giselle answered and Irene tensed.

 

"...Right."

 

"We'll make sure we can finally win 'Article of the Year' , boss," Choerry declared, pumping a fist in the air. Then she points at Giselle, who was startled by the action. "Especially now that we've got the best journalist in our team aka Giselle!"

 

Irene nodded, a fiery expression of determination plastered on her face. She walked towards Giselle and pats her on the back with a smile.

 

"I know for a fact that you are getting that award. LNA News, IZ*Press, all those other bull companies, they won't stand a chance against you!"

 

Giselle turned a dark shade of red at the compliment. It was rare for Irene Bae to smile at you, and it was even rarer for her to compliment you. So for Giselle to receive both, it made her heart swell with pride. 

 

Jimin would be envious if she saw me interacting with her favorite sunbae right now, Giselle thought smugly.

 

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Irene cleared , eyes trained on her wristwatch.

 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta run to Queens Mystic to get my suit-"

 

 

It was the day.

 

It was the day where they'll find out if they can bag an award at the POS-itive Awards for The New Evo. 

 

Giselle wasn't hopeful. She never sets her hopes up for events like this. And she learned this the hard way. It was harder to accept defeat when you hoped for the best outcome but ended up getting the worst outcome.

 

Although she was on the list of nominees for 'Most Outstanding Correspondent of the Year' and 'Article of the Year' , she didn't want to be complacent. There were other topnotch journalists other than her, she thought to herself grimly.

 

Tonight, she was dressed in something even fancier than the one she wore at the press conference. She shuddered. If she was being honest, it seemed more like a celebratory party than a press conference. Why did Irene even forc- ask them to wear all of those fancy outfits at what was supposed to be a normal press conference anyway? When everyone else was wearing their normal business attires? To stand out? Brownie points to at least win the lowest, most unimportant award at the POS-itive Awards ? It's been a while since the infamous presscon but she still didn't get it. Irene's mind worked in an… interesting way.

 

Of course, she had to get dressed into something way better than the one she wore at that damned press conference. And it was totally because she herself wanted to look great , and absolutely not because Irene kept on bugging everyone about looking as extravagant as they could because apparently, it was the POS-itive Awards , for God's sake!

 

Ningning had helped her with doing her makeup and, just as Minjeong had said, the girl was a natural! Giselle was very pleased with the outcome that she promised to buy the young journalist lunch next time, much to the redhead's delight. 

 

"I doubt that Miss Bae actually rented a limo."

 

Giselle looked up from looking at herself in her tiny mirror. She snorted. Irene could buy 20 awards from the POS-itive Awards herself if she wasn't too righteous. 

 

"She's Irene Bae . Everything's possible with her around. We're also in Kwangya, a place where everything is possible ," Giselle says in a bored voice.

 

"If everything is possible, then every single villain, including Black Swan, would've been put behind bars by now," said Choerry dreamily. Choerry sat down on Giselle's desk – a habit that irked Giselle to no end.

 

"Will you get off my desk?" hissed Giselle through gritted teeth. Choerry shrugged, hopping off, the hem of her purple dress brushing against the neatly-stacked stack of papers on Giselle's desk that she almost fainted when she saw one sheet of paper sliding off the stack. "Look at what you've done!"

 

"Calm down, it's not like I burnt them or something," Choerry laughingly said as she picked the sheet of paper up, returning it to the neatly-stacked sheets of paper Giselle perfected. Throwing her straightened hair back, she faced Giselle. "Anyways, are you sure that seven of us – oh wait, are there seven of us? Jimin, Vivi, Jiwoo, you, me, Minjeong, Jinsoul, Chaeryeong – oh, eight. Are you sure that nine of us can fit in there?"

 

"It's a limousine , Choerry, not a tiny car like the one Minjeong owns for her own benefit," deadpanned Giselle. "We can totally fit in there just fine."

 

"Sorry, it's hard not having the money to expect such luxury," giggled Choerry. 

 

"Why are there a lot of us anyway?" asked Giselle irritably, even though she already knew the answer. Maybe her introvertedness just made it unbearable for her to be somewhere where too many people were present. "Is that even allowed?"

 

"Oh, wait till you hear about how IZ*Press got sixteen reporters there."

 

"Sixteen?" repeated Giselle, gaping at Choerry. Choerry shrugged. "There's no way you're being serious."

 

"That's what I heard, from Yeri, at least."

 

Giselle scoffed. "If your source is Yeri, you might be able to use outsiders who love to gossip about everything as your source too. Hey, Yeri might just as well be an expert gossiper like them!"

 

Choerry looked at her, unamused. Giselle blushed.

 

"Seriously though, sixteen? "

 

"Look, I'm not kidding, okay? And just like us, all of those journalists submitted their works in hopes of getting at least one award just for, y'know, bragging. Look, Yeri herself got the list of reporters showing up there, courtesy of a friend—"

 

"Girl, isn't that illegal—?"

 

"Ladies, are you done with your chit-chat?" asked Chaeryeong, heels clacking against the floor as she made her way towards the two.

 

"We would've preferred it if you hadn't interrupted us, but what's up?"

 

"Miss Bae wants everyone on the ground floor."

 

"Tell her we'll be there in a bit," said a voice from beside Giselle, startling her.

 

"Jesus Christ, Yoo Jimin, since when did you even get here?"

 

"You two seemed too distracted to even notice me come in, I'm a bit hurt," said Jimin, an exaggerated pained look on her face. Giselle rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's get going, Miss Bae's gonna beat our asses if we're late."

 

They were in the elevator, waiting in silence. Giselle tries to ignore it but she just can't help but notice how Jimin and Chaeryeong have been glancing at each other for every two seconds, with Jimin coughing lightly every now and then.

 

"May I offer you a cough drop, Jimin?" asked Giselle sweetly , not quite having it in her anymore to ignore the series of coughing fits from Jimin.

 

"Oh, uhm, nah. I'm fine," replied Jimin, shoving her hands deep inside her pockets. She takes one last glance at Chaeryeong before turning away, whistling to what sounded like Red Velvet's LP.

 

Ding!

 

The elevator doors opened and they could already see everyone else gathered around Irene.

 

"There you are!" said Irene when they were only feet away from them. "Apparently, IZ*Press got sixteen reporters all around there so I've decided to allow fourteen people to attend the event too. We'd be damned if we don't bring home at least one award tonight!"

 

"Told you," whispered Choerry. Giselle ignores her.

 

" And I rented one limousine-"

 

"Wow, it's a wonder how you can still afford one when The New Evo's close to going bankrupt," said Jaehyun as though he was expecting everyone to applaud him for his words. But they all remained silent. Irene looked highly displeased by his words.

 

"Jeong Jaehyun, I would advice you to leave the premises. I'm afraid that you will no longer be working here at The New Evo starting from tomorrow onwards," said Irene casually. 

 

Jaehyun looked like someone had just poured a bucket of cold water onto him.

 

"What?"

 

"Your handsome face does not reflect how much of an idiot you actually are," said Vivi, standing beside Irene, and Giselle shivers at the identical serious expressions on their bosses' faces. "In case you didn't get it-"

 

"You're fired."

 

Jaehyun looked at Irene then at Vivi, disbelieving. 

 

"You can't be seriou-"

 

"Yes, we're serious," Irene cut him off coldly. "You're fired, you big-headed baboon. Get out."

 

" NO! You can't fire me when I'm one of your biggest assets! I'm an important employee! I could be Employee of the Year if you weren't being biased towards- towards her!" yelled Jaehyun, pointing at Giselle, who blinks.

 

"You being the 'biggest asset' as you claim yourself to be is probably one of the reasons why the company isn't doing as well as it used to be before you came," Miyeon said, glaring at him.

 

"Right! And you were busy going on vacations, doing absolutely nothing yourself while asking other people, especially the rookie Osaki Shotaro, to do your work that you should've been doing yourself, " snarled Jinsoul. "I was one of those people you head ordered around. You think that's how an 'important employee' should be acting? Go do the work given to you yourself!"

 

"Well, I should've fired you a long time ago then!" said Irene in a loud voice.

 

"B-But Yoo is doing a horrible job! She's doing way worse than I am!" yelled Jaehyun, eyes bulging that it looked like he was already on the verge of losing his sanity. He glared at Jimin, looking like he wanted to strangle her.

 

"I'm making Yoo do something out of the office! She doesn't have time to work in the office right now!"

 

"Oh yeah? Then why have you been parading around everywhere, claiming that you've been wanting to fire her for a long time?!"

 

Irene takes Jaehyun's suitcase from the ground and throws the heavy object at him, making him stumble backwards. "For your information, you're a worse employee than Miss Yoo actually is. Get the out of here or I'll have to call the police on you. I'm terminating your contract. Get out."

 

"No- my job-"

 

Irene nods at Jungwoo and Doyoung, letting them drag Jaehyun outside, the man's screams ringing around the office until the glass doors close behind them, blocking out his shrill voice. Sighing, Irene faces them, wiping away a stray tear from her cheek.

 

"Well, that's that," said Irene, a small crack in her voice that was barely noticeable. "As I was saying, one limousine and fourteen journalists in that limo. Now get moving, we don't have all the time in the world."

 

Irene looked around, cheeks still flushed and nostrils flared as she tried to calm herself down.

 

Neither of them said a word as they nodded obediently, still shocked at what had just transpired.

 

 

"Wait, Giselle, hold up."

 

Giselle stopped, raising an eyebrow. 

 

"What?"

 

Jimin entered the vehicle and sat nearest to the door, patting the space next to her. "Sit here."

 

"No-"

 

"You need to sit beside me as per Chief Bae's instructions," Jimin tried to reason. Giselle, however, was stubborn.

 

"Jimin-"

 

"Giselle, just sit down next to her, please?" Irene tiredly said from outside the vehicle. Giselle has no other choice but to listen to her supervisor's instructions. 

 

The ride to the venue was fairly quiet. Everyone seemed to be engaged in conversations with each other, and yet Giselle had yet to strike up a conversation with the tall woman sitting beside her.

 

"You okay?" asked Jimin suddenly, startling Giselle. "You're really quiet, y'know."

 

Giselle rolled her eyes. "I like silence. I like drowning in my own thoughts."

 

Jimin smiled. "That's true. It's more peaceful if you do that, isn't it?"

 

Giselle resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.

 

"Why do I have to sit next to her again?" Giselle asked Irene, who rode shotgun.

 

"Because I need you two to get along well with each other," replied Irene casually. Giselle blinked and frowned.

 

"But we're okay?"

 

Her frown deepens at the collective scoff from everyone in the vehicle. Giselle thinks about how unnerving their synchronization was.

 

"Not if you're constantly ting on Yoo every chance you get," Yeri snickers. Giselle huffed and didn't reply. 

 

Giselle glances at Jimin, who seemed unperturbed by Yeri's accusation, munching on the chocolate chip cookies on the mini trolley beside her, crumbs of the treat scattered all over her chin. How outrageous.

 

When she noticed Giselle staring at her, Jimin smiled at her, her cheeks puffed from the cookies she was chewing in . Giselle rolls her eyes again and crosses her arm.

 

"Wipe your chin. It's gross."

 

Jimin laughed, obeying as she wiped her chin with the sleeve of her suit. Ugh. So disgusting.

 

Soon enough, they arrive at their destination. Giselle feels somewhat intimidated by the sight of journalists from other networking companies, all clad in probably the most expensive gowns and suits in existence. Somehow, she feels underdressed with her rather simple-looking black dress compared to their extravagant outfits. She scoffed.

 

As expected from rich Enozi City and their corrupt mayor.

 

"Gi?"

 

Giselle looked up, cocking an eyebrow at Jimin, who leaned down to whisper in her ear,

 

"You look beautiful tonight."

 

Giselle pretends that she doesn't hear her heart beating loudly in her chest, pretends that it's just the sound of their rented limo revving away. Jimin did not need to know about the effect her words had on the brunette— she didn't need to know that her words were enough to make all of Giselle's insecurities vanish.

 

Luckily for her, Irene had ushered the team inside, leading them through the sea of overenthusiastic paparazzi.

 

"Now walk on the red carpet, and make them swoon! " Irene yelled over the noise and both Jimin and Giselle glanced at each other. Heaving a sigh, Giselle forced a smile and started to walk on the red carpet with Jimin together, raising a hand in a wave as she flashed polite smiles at the cameras.

 

If there was anything Giselle was good at other than writing articles about every single event in Kwangya, it was to pose like a model and captivate those who watched her. As someone whose childhood dream was to become a famous musician, she practiced modeling too, because all of her favorite artists sometimes modeled in magazines. Even though her career now was far from what she initially had in mind, her skills in this particular field were still pretty useful.

 

Everyone's attention seemed to be transfixed on her, her smile growing at the sound of the clicks of the cameras that focused on her as she walked by, waving.

 

"Miss Uchinaga! You've been nominated for two different categories! Do you think that you'll be able to win in those categories, or maybe win at least one award?"

 

Giselle doesn't answer the question and just smiles at the reporter. Giselle doesn't know if she should answer with 'yes, I'm confident that I can win both awards' without sounding arrogant, or answer with 'no, I'm afraid that there are better journalists out there other than me' without sounding too humble or self-deprecating. 

 

As the camera clicks died down, Giselle and Jimin made their way to the amphitheater, where a huge number of other journalists chatted with each other. Giselle spots the rest of their team on the left of the room and it seems like Haseul was scolding Yeojin about something. The pair made their way to their team, with Irene pointing to their seats.

 

Sitting on her chair, Giselle was about to get comfy when someone sat beside her. Her mood sours when she recognizes that sickly sweet perfume — the type of perfume you would smell on a snobbish, rich old lady.

 

"Hello, Sieun," Giselle stiffly greeted, looking at the blonde with a curt nod. Sieun smirked.

 

"Fancy seeing you here, Uchinaga," said Sieun in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. Giselle has half a mind to strangle Sieun with Jimin's necktie but shakes her head mentally. She stared ahead. POS-itive Awards 2038. That's right. She shouldn't let Sieun get on her nerves. She's supposed to keep calm because she will be the one winning the awards while Sieun's gonna lose, and she's gonna bring The New Evo back on top of their game. She doesn't have time to entertain Sieun and her ty taunts.

 

So she kept quiet and watched as the host, actress Seo Juhyun or Seohyun, made her way up the stage, a dazzling smile on her face as she looked at th