With the showcase around the corner, it's a no surprise that the girls are all worked up and had nerves so tightly bound that anyone could snap or lose it at any given moment. And, at the moment, it seemed that five of the eight really were going at it over their opening number.

"No, you go over there, Chase!!"

"Oh shut it, Sang Mi, you can't even do the turn properly, so don't even start with that."

"Oh my god, all of you are wrong, this is ridiculous, how did you guys even pass your monthly evaluations like this!!"

"Oh yeah, sure, complain away, Naeun, like you can say anything about being in the wrong."

"What's THAT supposed to mean??"

Screaming seemed to be the key form of communication with the girls, and frankly, it was starting to scare the other three and their manager. "This... isn't good." Su-chin ran a hand through her hair, watching the group bicker and get closer to getting physical. Su-chin already dealt with Venus' fight a few years prior, and with one girl to worry about, it was barely manageable, and so she didn't even want to consider the possibilty of explaining how five girls got into a fight and the paperwork that would come with it.

"Soojin?" She called over the most sane one of the bunch, who had pulled both Sophie and Clara away from the madness. JJ came over, brow furrowed. "Yes, Su-chin-jie?"

She handed her the company card for the group before speaking, "Take this and go to a hotel for the night, have your own mini-meeting with the younger two about your concerns and worries to get it all out before the showcase. I'm going to go in on those five." She jerked her chin towards the group as the volume rose, causing Clara to flinch and hide behind Sophie. JJ nodded, but concern was still written on her usually pretty features.

"You sure you'll be okay, jiejie?" 

Su-chin cracked her neck. "Certainly isn't the first time they've been like this. Trust me, it was much worse to run interference with GiGi and Sang Mi in the same group. This should be a piece of cake compared to the old days." Once the older woman had assured JJ of her plan (and taking a few devices from the trio), JJ didn't hestiate to take the two younger ones and leave quietly, basically unnoticed by the rest of the group.

Once the three had gotten a head start, and with another swell in volume, Su-chin decided to start her session. her lips, she let out the loudest, most shrill whistle that immediately got the girl's attention, causing them to cringe and cover their ears.

"Alright, that's quite enough. I'm honestly getting fed up with this constant fighting you guys are having. So guess what? It's time for a lockdown." Groans and moans of protest fell on deaf ears as Su-chin made them all line up to leave.

"There will be no talking, no texting, no form of communcation with each other until we get to the dorm nor anyone else outside of this until after the showcase. So phones, now." Su-chin held out the infamous 'cell phone' bucket. This bucket was used all the time for the group, basically whenever Su-chin wanted them to focus, she'd revoke their phone privileges until she saw fit. 

While it took some coaxing and some threats to call a certain boyfriend to inform him of his girlfriend's 'grounding', eventually all the phones were taken. "Line up, the van's outside, we're going now. Absolute silence or you know I can make this a lot worse than it needs to be." Su-chin was a kind woman and probably one of the better managers of the idol business, but boy could she be scary when the situation called for it. 

And silence was what she got on the way to the dorm, on the elevator, even when the girls quietly sat in the living room of the dorm. They knew to wait for Su-chin's instructions before doing anything in this scenario.

As soon as the door was locked, Su-chin let out a heavy sigh. "So, now that we've all mostly cooled off, let's get to the bottom of this. You do realize this fighting and constant tension, it's not good right? That it's bringing you all down. And I know it's not just about the showcase, or the dance, or anything of the sort. With you girls, it's going to be deeper than that." She pulled out paper and an assortment of pens and pencils, "So here's what we're going to do. Write down everything that's been getting to you. Your fears, your anger, your hurt. All of it. Doesn't matter if it was something like Chase stealing your yogurt or even if it's from hurt that hasn't quite healed yet or you don't think has anything to do with this. All of is being written down. No talking until everyone is done."
 

It seemed like hours, but the girls diligently wrote on their papers, Su-chin even got on the floor and wrote with them. "When you're done, place your paper or papers face down and look at me. Then we'll start." 

When the last person looked up, their manager made a small hum, "Okay, sharing time. Who's going first?" There was no volunteers, even the cheery Chase was unusually somber. Su-chin pursed her lips, "Okay, well, fine. If it'll get you guys in a sharing mood... I'll go first." She could feel the surprise from the girls, but shrugged it off. 

"While I'm not an idol, and never should be," She attempted to joke, earning half a smile from a few of them, "but my main job is to help you... To protect you from harm and be there for you." Su-chin felt the guilt build up and her eyes start to burn, "I worry a lot about every single one of you girls now, but you five... I've been there since the beginning. Even before the beginning. And even before that, I couldn't save all of you from a terrible situation." She blinked furiously as she continued, "When you first disbanded, I distanced myself, as you know. I was so ashamed that after all you had done, all the suffering and hard work, that something bad had happened to you all again. Even though we're all back now, I still carry that shame. I don't deserve your trust, there's nothing I could do to earn that back after the pain that I couldn't prevent. I couldn't protect you, even though it's my job. And now that we're back at the beginning again... It terrifies me, honestly. All of you have put even more work, more pain, more suffering into this comeback, this debut, what if something I could've foreseen happens that tears you all down again... I've never been able to forgive myself." Su-chin tilted her head back, trying to hold in the tears. Even though she had mentally prepared herself for this talk, the older woman hadn't expected the emotions to overcome her so easily. But having to voice this kind of emotion in front of girls you're supposed to be strong in front of will do that, she supposed. 

"Jie... there was no way you could've known about Gigi. My uncle didn't even know about it until the paperwork for a transfer arrived on his desk that morning." Sang Mi offered quietly. 

Tina nodded, "It's true. None of us could've known. Gigi played us all. She might not have meant to," She glanced over at Naeun, who was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the topic, "But nonetheless, it happened. We've never blamed you, though." Su-chin gave a watery smile. They were good girls. 

"Ah.. well, since jiejie was so kind as to share, I suppose I'll go next." Sang Mi offered, and Chase clapped, "As expected of our fearless leader!" The mood was lightened a little, but the topic still weighed heavy in the atmosphere.

"Well, uhm," Sang Mi rubbed the back of her neck, "As you all know, I'm not very good at sharing... But this is important. Su-chin-jie is right, we can't walk forward as 4xU with the past of Faerietale still lingering around us." She inhaled through her nose as she looked started to tell her worries she listed, "I've had responsibility in this group since the beginning -- As the oldest, I should be there for everyone if they can't go to jiejie. But... I wasn't. I was so resentful and angry about my leader position being taken the first time around, that I let that blind me and failed you all." Sang Mi swallowed, "I'm sure this will be a common theme, but I'm scared. I'm worried about a lot of things and so much has been on my mind recently -- What if making me the leader was the wrong choice? What if re-debuting is a mistake? I'm so much older now, and I'm scared that I'll bring you guys down with my age. Should I have stayed in school and pursued another career with my Film degree? Is that what fans think? I've been so objective and comparing everything with Faerietale, looking for signs to see if anything like what happened could reoccur." She took a break from her words to hide her face behind her paper, cursing softly. 

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Su-chin gently called out, "You can finish this." Small encouragements from others to finish helped Sang Mi take another deep breath before continuing, "I'm mostly scared for us as a group. So much has changed -- within us, the group, as individuals, within the industry -- I just... I don't want us to be disappointed or to disappoint others. I just wonder if we really can continue forward, regardless of what happened in the past." She nodded to affirm she had finished. 

"Unnie, you can't compare the past to the present. Like you said," Naeun offered, "We've all changed. It's like comparing apples and oranges, while it's similar, it's too different to affirm a conclusion." 

"And we wanted you to be the leader for a reason this time around." Venus now spoke up, "If we didn't think you'd be a good match, then we probably would've picked someone else instead. We all believe in you."

Sang Mi nodded through her now falling tears, again cursing as they fell before making her way towards Tina and letting her former roommate comfort her and pet her hair gently. "It's okay, Sang Mi. It's okay to cry, we're here for you." She sat there, wiping her eyes as she pulled the strength together to talk to the girls. "Thank you... Even through my fears and worries, I'll try to lead you all well. Now, next person, please, I can not be the only one crying anymore." She managed a smile, and the girls looked around. 

"I'll go, if Chase promises to come in right after me to save people from witnessing my makeup running." Tina offered, and Chase put her pinky up in a mock air promise as she got up to the center with her paper clutched tightly in her hand.

"Well... where to start." Tina sighed, looking down at her own words, "I guess... Where most of us are right now is the fear of failing... Again. It's going to be a prominent trait that we all share, and fear feeds and breeds more fear. And while that is something I worry about... It's not my main concern. I suppose it's a bit selfish, but my fears lie within more personal reasons." Tina's hands began to shake as she looked down at her paper, not making eye contact with anyone, "I've made a lot of positive and forward decisions and developments with my life, some that have been shared to the public, others that remain within my comfort. I -- and by extent, we as a group -- won't have that anymore once we debut. Every move, every word, every glance, will be recorded, uploaded, and dissected by thousands of people and fans, some wanting to cheer us on, others wanting nothing more than to watch us burn to the ground once more." She swallowed, hearing her own voice waver, "I'm so scared that I'll be watered down again, that no one will look at me with respect or recoginition for anything but my face and my relation to my cousin. There's so much pressure on all of us for different reasons, and I find it hard to keep my chin up and ignore people when all they see is just skin deep. I'm going to have to prove myself again, and prove time and time again of my intelligence, of my compentence, that I'm not going to be just a pretty face, and that's hard enough with idols that I know are intelligent as well. As the cousin of someone like Kim Taeyeon," She sighed, "As lovely as she is, it's so intimidating. People expect a lot from not only me, but now from you all as well. It's disheartening to think that I might hurt the group because of my relationships, and you know I mean more than one." She held the paper to her face, imitating Sang Mi as she let tears fall. "Ah, I've been talking too much... To be expected, I suppose. I'll just let Chase take over --" She moved aside as her friend came to center, holding her and rubbing her back for a few minutes.

"Tina, don't worry, if people don't think you're smart, just throw all of your fancy achievement awards at them!" Sang Mi said, mimcking smacking people with something in her hand. Venus nodded.

"Right, and we'll always remind them even if you don't. Everyone will be so annoyed about us praising your intelligence that they'll have to believe it so we'll shut up." Their youngest added on. Tina smiled and bowed. "Thank you so much, everyone. Ah, I do feel better, thank you Su-chin, this was a good idea." She smiled, nodding when asked if she was alright to sit down by Chase.

"Now go away to Sang Mi, I wanna talk!" Chase playfully hit her shoulder, smiling widely. Sang Mi did not look amused. "Hey, Orange, take this seriously, will you?" 

Chase nodded, "Oh yeah yeah, okay okay. I will! Seriously!" She bit her lip as she read through her paper, as if trying to memorize it, but ending upran her hands through her hair, sighing heavily. "Alright, I'll be honest: Music's been my outlet since I was a kid. I never fit in no matter where I went, I was either too Tai or too Korean. There wasn't anywhere for me, in other words, and I know that a few others can also understand where I'm coming from at this point. I was so angry, angry with people, angry with myself... But I was introduced to music and used it as the best outlet I could, which even though I'm a mess in a lot of ways, the planets aligned to get me into this group. You guys became my family, you didn't even care about my hertitage or what I looked like. I felt welcomed and like I could trust each of you with my life." Chase's energy suddenly dropped, "To have betrayal within a family... It cuts deeper than any kind of hurt, and stays with that hurt family for a long time after the fact. To have something that not only you, but everyone worked on, ripped away from you once... It would kill me to have it ripped away from you all again." She managed a grin, despite her somber demeanor, "I know I'm happy, and the vitamin of the group, it's kinda my thing... but that doesn't mean I don't worry about a lot of things, many worries being about you all. I want to still be there and help everyone, I don't want someone to hurt our family again. I worry that people won't take us seriously as artists anymore, that they'll mock us for continuing to try... I worry about how that'll affect everyone. I have an outlet, but I worry for those who keep it in. From now on, let's please be a group that shares and includes everyone when it gets hard. Let's stay together for a long time." She ended with no tears, just splotchy skin that showed her sadness instead of tears. 

"Oh no, Chase no, your skin!" Tina cooed, trying not to laugh. Chase ran her hands through her hair again, "I know, I know, I get ugly real quick instead of crying. At least my eyes won't hurt." She quipped, her demanor become happy once more. 

"Well it's between you two now," Su-chin motioned inbetween the two members that had been mostly quiet throughout this process. Venus had always been on the quiet side when it came to emotions and feelings, and Naeun... this was a sensitive subject for her, to be sure.

"I'll just get it over with instead of suffering." Venus quickly said, getting up from her place to take the center, face pink as her nerves went into overdrive. Even with her members, who she has known for years, she was still nervous when it came to being put in the spotlight. But putting herself there instead of being forced to do so was better, she had reasoned. "So..." She her lips, "I don't really have a lot to say that's not... you know, old news..." Venus looked over to Su-chin, before glancing over at Tina as well. 

Su-chin smiled gently, "It's okay, Venus. Just... let us know what's been getting at you these past few weeks. We've all noticed you've been quieter that usual. Just... talk to us about that. No pressure."

"Oh. Yeah." Venus remembered the conversation and weird mood she's been in. "I guess I've just been tired." She started, face heating up at how dumb it sounded. "Tā mā de..."

"Language, Xingyi!" Su-chin scolded lightly, not wanting to discourage the younger from speaking but certainly wanting the younger to watch . Venus just shrugged, half a smile on her face.

"Sorry, jiejie." She sighed, "Well, anyways, just, okay, I haven't been feeling anything really. I don't feel extraordinarily happy about debuting again, or angry at anyone, I mostly just... want to not deal with it? The stress is suffocating all of us, and it's hard to think about anything when your brain only wants you to sleep and not deal with anyone, any feeling, nothing. Just indifference, I guess? But not completely. I get little bouts of emotions, but they go as soon as they come."

"It seems like you're in a small depression, meimei." Tina spoke up, brows furrowed. "And that's okay."

"But... why? Nothing bad is happening at the moment, and I've seen the worst behind me..." Venus her lips again. "It doesn't make any sense."

Tina nodded, "It makes sense, you have a lot going on mentally and emotionally, and your body wants to detach yourself from that so you don't overwhelm yourself. It happens to everyone under stress and with traumatic experiences."

"How do I get rid of it?" 

"That's the trick. How do you feel now?"

"...Better, but really confused, I guess? I don't know." Venus shrugged, not seeing how she was feeling had anything to do with her problem.

"Talking and expressing yourself, and allowing yourself to feel those emotions, actually really help you get out of that slope." Tina explained, "You have to register that you're not dealing with your emotions correctly and allow that mental barrier to let them through, even if it's a little at a time." 

"Okay? When did this turn into a ing therapy session..." Venus pondered out loud, causing the group to laugh a little. "It's a group therapy session, don't worry. It's just your turn to have the therapy." Sang Mi assured.

"So what's the first emotion you feel when you stop and consider it? Don't hestitate, just--"

"Sadness." Venus surprised herself with the answer, blinking. Everyone else seemed surprised too, not expecting her to answer so quickly. "Why sadness, just talk alout to yourself." Su-chin instructed, leaning closer towards their youngest.

"About... everything. Everyone's so stressed, so worried about everything, and it makes me worry and sad because... well, we've all worked so hard... and it makes me think of my sister. How everything was taken away from her." She furrowed her brow, "I don't want anything to go wrong for anyone. It's like what everyone else said. I don't want to mess this up. No one does. It just makes me sad that we had to go through so much more to get here, I think." She shook her head, "I think I'm done. Can I be done?"

Su-chin nodded, "That was good, Xingyi, that was really good." She patted the space next to her, and Venus didn't hesitate to sit down next to her, sighing. She did notice, though, that she felt a lot better after getting that all out. Maybe Su-chin and Tina had a good point about letting her self feel these emotions.

"Alright, Naeun." The dancer looked up, and she swore her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Naeun had heard her bandmates curse her friend and curse her behind her back, she wasn't deaf or stupid. She just worried about the consequences of saying her thoughts out loud.

"I know a few of you are still angry about what happened, that's... well, that's an understatement." She said as she settled in the center, "And I get it. But.. I'll get to that at the end, if you don't mind me speaking about other problem first." Naeun looked at her members before going back to her paper like it was her lifeline. "Like Tina, I have a really famous relation in the form of my brother. While that can be helpful for getting attention for our group, it's still scary to have that kind of pressure on me and on him. If either one of us make a mistake, it could kill the other's career, and if one of us does better than the other, we'll be constantly compared and criticized... And that's not fair to either of us, because we're two different people. But that worry can be put to rest for now, because what's most important is us, you all." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't know if anyone besides Chase has been on the internet recently, but I have and I've been reading the comments about us. While a lot of them are supportive, there's still a good number that's criticizing us for continuing to pursue our dreams, and some who are fans of Gigi that say we won't be as popular as her. And that's not fair that they're doing that. We've all been through so much to get here, despite the situation. And I know my own personal feelings will differ from the majority because of my personal relationship with her," She subconciously glanced at Sang Mi as she did spoke, "But I'm not going to try and defend her actions. What she did to the group was wrong, no excuses. I just want everyone to get along and not keep secrets like this from each other. It can harm us, our image, and our relationships..." She sighed, "I know I'm not always the nicest member. I'm not the most well-liked in the group, but I hope that through hard work and by gaining trust in each other, we can go forward and succeed despite our past." She blinked back tears, bowing in apology. 

Chase was the first to comfort her, surprisingly, "Naeun... It's okay. It's hard for us to understand why you're friends with someone who hurt everyone like that, but you have your reasons. It's okay! And we will. Right guys?" She looked around. Sang Mi sighed.

"I may not trust you for a while, and I don't like that you're friends with Gigi. That much is obvious and won't change anytime soon." Their leader sighed and she heard Naeun sniffle, "But I appreciate you working as hard as you do, and what you bring to the group. And it wasn't easy going up there, so good job. I hope our relationship only gets better, okay? Now stop crying, we need our Girl Next Door, not Teary-Eyed Tina." 

"Hey!" Tina protested, causing the group to laugh a little. Su-chin smiled, "Alright, now part two of this group therapy session."

"Wait, there's more?" 

"I don't want to share my feelings anymore, I have none." 

"What is it?"

"There's three parts, and this is part two. Got it? Now come with me onto the patio." She ushered the girls outside, where it had gotten dark and quiet in the late hour. Su-chin gathered them around one of the empty pots, pulling out a lighter.

"Jiejie, you said you quit smoking!" Sang Mi took the opportunity to scold their manager, who lightly flicked the leader's head in response. "I did, I carry this out of habit, and I'm glad I did at this point. Now watch." She clicked the lighter on, then brought it to her paper, letting it catch and start to burn as she dropped it into the pot.

"That paper holds your anger, your worries, your fears, everything from the past that's been holding you back. The past is past, and there's no need for us to look or hold onto it any longer. Let it burn." She told them, holding the lighter for the girls to start lighting their own papers and tossing it into the pot. The six watched the parchment burn and wither away into ashes, a physical symbol of what they were doing emotionally and mentally that night.

"Now that's done. Let's go inside and do something fun to ease the mood, okay? I'll go to the convenience store and grab snacks, you guys pick a movie, and we'll end on a high note before bed. Sound good?" Su-chin grabbed her keys and wallet, looking at the five. They nodded in agreement, and so she left to do some well earned 'food therapy'. These girls earned it.
 

Author's Note
Aaaaah This was a MONSTER to write. I honestly didn't know whether or not to write this chapter so early on -- but with all the crap that had happened and will continue to follow them, I figured it was best to see this. The new trio will have their own time too, it's next. Their showcase will be soon too, it's really long and I've got to edit it all ;; Again, I'm really sorry about getting behind on updates -- Life is busy, as you all know well enough. Please let me know what you think! I do have a LOT planned and outlined, I'm just trying to type away as fast as I can when I have the time! Thanks you guys <3