F Class.

Hyewon knew she wasn't the best, but she didn't think she was part of the worst after seeing the performances of the Japanese trainees. She thought she was on par with those who got Cs and Ds, but the trainers thought otherwise.

Those ers.

She had never failed at anything before, and that includes a rigorous and competitive boot camp for a spot at the North Korean special forces. But when she saw the Bae Yoonjung's face turn sour after her first verse, she knew it was going to be ugly. Hyewon thought that that woman was scarier than the guy who was in charge of "interrogation" in Pyongyang, and she couldn't even stand being in the same room for more than ten seconds. When the trainer opened to give her comments, Hyewon felt her legs shaking as she listened to one critique after another.

She found the experience humbling, to put it positively.

If they had just given her the chance to show her real skills, namely throwing knives and disarming guns, she would have gotten an A. Or, she could have flaunted her "interrogation skills" (Hyewon thinks torture is too strong of a word) to convince the trainers to give her an A. Sadly, this was an idol competition and not the spy games.

She looks at her underling who was already done with her auditions. Kaeun already has a sticker that said "A" in all its glory. The sergeant notices her and meets her gaze with a smug look, as if mocking her without words. Hyewon felt that this was the only time Kaeun can justify her insubordination, so she turns away from the sergeant to look at the other trainees they were keeping their eye on: Woollim's Kwon Eunbi, WM's Lee Chaeyeon, SKE48's Matsui Jurina, and HKT48's tiny duo of Yabuki Nako, and Tanaka Miku. She looked for the two towering trainees of Starship Entertainment, but they were nowhere to be found. They must be performing soon, Hyewon thought. She scouted the trainees again until she met the gaze of the Miyawaki Sakura once more. The Japanese trainee seemed to be in a conversation with other HKT48 members and some Korean trainees Hyewon did not recognize since none of them stood out to her. She figured Sakura was thinking the same thing about the people she was talking with, which explained her wandering eyes. The intensity of the gaze never let up even after a few seconds, her eyes trying to break down the walls as if she wanted to learn the North Korean's darkest secrets. Hyewon returned the favor by staring back with her with her patented poker face. The staring contest continued until one of the trainees complimented Sakura's pretty face once more. As if there somebody flipped a switch, she was back to the enthusiastic and engaging Miyawaki Sakura politely refusing to acknowledge the compliment while giving out her own to everyone in the conversation. A true professional indeed.

She then looked at Kwon Eunbi, one of the older trainees of the show. During their briefing, she remembered Kaeun saying that Eunbi is part of a military family; Eunbi's father is an officer of the army while her older brother is currently serving his mandatory military service. She also knew that Eunbi was a part of a girl group that debuted a couple of years ago, but they failed to make it big and eventually disbanded. Someone with this background would be expected to remain composed while waiting for their turn in the evaluations, but Eunbi seemed like a nervous wreck. She was fidgeting with her fingers and her legs were shaking while she was seated. The other trainees seemed to not be as worried as Eunbi. Hyewon has enough experience in dealing with groups to figure out that Eunbi is the leader of the Woollim contingent. 

A staff member approached the group to tell them that it was their turn to get ready for their evaluations. The girls nodded to acknowledge the heads up and headed backstage except for one. Eunbi walked towards Hyewon who was standing at the side and said, "8D Creative, huh? I haven't heard of that agency before."

Of course you wouldn't, Hyewon thought. Nobody is expected to know about an agency used as a cover for a North Korean operation. Hyewon, however, keeps mum and lets the older trainee talk. What Hyewon does notice is that the trainee appeared to have gotten rid of her nervousness. She was not shaking anymore. The fear in her eyes was replaced with unyielding determination to prove something to the world. It was almost as if it was a different person in front of Hyewon.

"I saw your evaluation earlier and as someone who's been in the scene for a long time." To Hyewon's surprise, Eunbi came closer and whispered to her ear. "Just give up. It's not worth it. You're never going to get out of F class and you're never going to be part of the final group."

The captain remained was stunned by the audacity of the trainee who was visibly shaking due to nerves and now was walking away from her like she said nothing. In her mind, she could only think of one thing to say:

Kwon Eunbi is a .

------

"F class. Phew. That's rough," Kaeun said after drinking from her water bottle. They were in a secluded part of the park near their dorms. Kaeun was wearing her jogging outfit, using the cover of going on an evening run to explain her presence in the park. Hyewon was also in her training clothes, not bothering to change. They have decided to use this bench as their meeting place with their outside contact, who has not arrived yet.

"Yeah. That blows, but I think I can make it out after reevaluation."

"Yeah... No."

"What do you mean? I got this," Hyewon puffed her chest to show that she was still confident, to   the sergeant just scoffed at.

"You only have three days, Cap. It's not like we can manage to make you as talented as Kwon Eunbi and Lee Chaeyeon. We got limits too," answered Kaeun, clicking her tongue as if she was mocking her superior.

 "You're right," Hyewon said, resigning to her fate. "But that is so--- I want to---"

"What?"

"Never mind. So how can we fix this? If I can't be in A class, what do I need to do to win?"