Whistling softly, Liqin swipes her employee card through the scanner at the back door before entering the building. Swiping a couple stray hairs behind her back, Liqin slips the card into her pocket before slowly padding through the halls. Peering through a couple rooms, the Chinese girl is suddenly hit with how much fuller Yunrae Entertainment seemed recently. It wasn’t to the point of a big entertainment company, but there were a lot more people – staff and trainees – running around the halls. At the beginning of Liqin’s training, she would have seen two maybe three trainees and one or two staff members tops throughout the entire day. Now, it was around four to five trainees and maybe three staffs. Of course, Liqin knew that in other places it would be difficult to walk into an empty room never mind have a whole practice room to yourself, but it was a definite improvement and Liqin couldn’t help but feel proud. While she hadn’t been the first or oldest trainee at Yunrae, she had still been there at its start – never mind being its very first girl group – so she almost felt like she was watching a baby grow up.

                “Good morning sunbaenim!” two girls chorus as they pass Liqin in the hall, causing the quiet girl to nod in greeting. The one of the left waves at her, smiling brightly, while the one on the right tugs the other girl along, whispering something about a practice session. Liqin reminisces about her own trainee days shortly, before laughing to herself at how old she felt. Cosmos had only debuted for a month and she was already getting nostalgic.

                Speaking of Cosmos, Liqin narrows her eyes as she reaches her locker room. While trainees had their own personal locker, the girls of Cosmos got their own special room – courtesy of debuting or something along those lines. Liqin opens her lock and places her bag inside, all while thinking about the upcoming meeting. While Liqin wasn’t expecting many schedules, she had been as surprised as the rest of her members when Sanghee had told them that their only activity today would be this meeting. Either that meant that Cosmos was really going to be a flop or that this meeting was extremely important. Liqin really hoped it was the later.

                Exiting the room, the girl checks her phone briefly, noting a couple text messages from her friends back in Australia, before hurrying to the meeting room. There were around five minutes left until the meeting started and although the last time she had a meeting – which had been about Cosmos debut details – she was the earliest one, Liqin still hurried. Arriving at the third floor where meetings were held, Liqin walks towards the left wing of the building and checks to make sure which room she was in. Tapping the schedule board, which contained details of each room and what would be happening in them at what time, Liqin makes her way to the first door on her right.

                “Hello,” Liqin greets as she opens the door, having already seen a couple figures inside the room. The door opens to reveal almost all of the heads of staff. Hyeri was sitting at the head of the table, shifting through a couple papers while Jinhyuk signed a sheet beside her. Henry sat across from them, playing a mobile game on his phone, and Minseok was watching the older male fail miserably – if the amused grin on Minseok’s face was anything to judge by. Beside Jinhyuk sat Xiuxin and Kurami conversing silently, their accented Korean filling the room oddly with their unique lilts.  Finally, Sanghee sat across from the two foreigners, with three new staff members beside her. The one closest to Liqin, a male, waved at her as she closed the door behind her while the other male beside him merely looked at Liqin interestedly. The last new staff, a female sitting close to Sanghee, looks up and smiles shyly at Liqin.

                “Liqin! Come in,” Hyeri greets when she looks up and notices the quiet girl. “You’ll have to forgive me for not introducing people, but I’d much rather do it when everyone is here.” Liqin nods although Hyeri misses it – having gone back to her papers – and goes to sit in the chair farthest from the unknown males and closest to Kurami. As she settles down, Kurami turns away from Xiuxin and smiles at her cheerfully.

                “Hey Liqin, how are you feeling?” Kurami starts off, leaning back and crossing her legs in a mannerly fashion. Raising an eyebrow, Liqin settles into her chair and shoots Xiuxin a confused glance – to which she receives a shrug. “I watched your latest broadcast – well, Cosmos’ latest broadcast. You guys are adjusting to idol life well hm?”

                “Is this a surprise therapy session?” Liqin finally asks, her soft voice only carrying her words to Xiuxin and those across from her. The male in the middle snorts, while the girl beside him hits him gently in an attempt to scold him. Kurami out right laughs, used to Liqin’s mannerisms, and shakes her head.

                “Not really,” Kurami replies, “well, it could serve as one if you really want to. But that’s not why we’re all called here.” Liqin nods, tilting her head in a silent question. “I’m not going to spoil anything; we’ll wait for everyone to come. Anyways, you never answered my question. And responding with another question is not an answer – no matter what Ina will tell you.”

                “Its fine,” Liqin’s mouth flickers into a small smile at the mention of her feisty teammate. “It’s a bit stressful, but I’m used to lack of sleep since, you know, training. And seeing me on TV is an experience in itself but nothing else is really happening.”

                “But you’re eating right? I don’t quite recall if any of you were told to be on diets...” Kurami trails off, sneaking a glance at Xiuxin who shakes her head vigorously. “Good, we don’t believe in that kind of stuff here. Well, I don’t. But I’m also the psychological consultant so what I say goes. That is, until we hire another team of psychologists and Hyeri ssi kicks me out.”

                “I wouldn’t do that,” Hyeri looks up and smiles. “You’ve grown too much on me for that. All of you have.”

                “Good, then my plan is working,” Kurami smirks, causing Xiuxin to giggle softly beside her.

                “This isn’t the time to get sappy alright?” Minseok rolls his eyes, pointing an accusing finger at Hyeri. “And where are those other girls? The meeting should have started ten minutes ago.”

                “Probably late,” Sanghee sighs. “They’re always late.”

                “I’m here on time,” Liqin offers, causing Sanghee to nod.

                “True, I guess I have to be grateful for that,” Sanghee responds. Soon enough however, the door flies open and the three girls come running in. “And what are your excuses this time?” Sanghee accuses, raising an eyebrow as Eunhwa, Ina, and then Solbi settle in beside Liqin.

                “Well, I was ready,” Eunhwa flips her hair out of her eyes. “But you know, I have to look after my other members so after Liqin just up and vanished,” Eunhwa jokingly glares at the Chinese girl next to her, “I had to make sure these two were up. Ina was kind of half awake and Solbi was brushing her teeth but then they both refused to budge unless they ate something so I had to buy them breakfast on the way here.”

                “Well then,” Hyeri laughs. “It looks like you already had an eventful morning.”

                “You could say that,” Eunhwa nods before turning to Liqin. “And where did you go?”

                Liqin blinks as all eyes turn to her before shrugging. “You were taking too long,” she says slowly yet clearly. “So I decided to take the longer walk to the company thinking you would have gotten there by the time I arrived. I was wrong.”

                “That really shows how slow you two are at getting ready,” Minseok laughs at Liqin’s words, causing Ina and Solbi to groan and glare at him (well, more like Ina glared and Solbi groaned). “Anyways, now that we’re all here, let’s get this meeting started, Hyeri ssi?”

                “Alright,” Hyeri stands up, clapping her hands together – for no particular reason, seeing as all attention was already on her. “So, to start things off, I’m guessing introductions are required. Cosmos, those three people over there beside Sanghee are our newest additions to the team. Although we’ve gathered quite a few new staff members, they’re mostly lower ranks – excuse my wording – people working under the teams of Jinhyuk, Xiuxin, Minseok, and Henry. These three however, are going to be essential in future projects. If you could please introduce yourselves?”

                “Hello,” the male closest to Ina starts to speak after a moment of awkward glances. “I’m Kim Jisoo, 27 years old, nice to meet you.”

                “Bu Kyungsoo, also 27,” the man next to him bows his head in greeting.

                “And I’m Ahn Seohyun, the maknae of the head staffs team,” the girl says happily. “I’m 25.”

                “Yes, now we’ll be coming back to these three in a moment, for now we’re going to talk about Cosmos,” Hyeri nods. “So how are your 4 Walls promotions going?” Hyeri directs her question to the entire team at the table, but she keeps her stare pointed at the four members.

                “Their album isn’t doing so badly,” Jinhyuk starts, peering down at the papers in front of him. “They’re ranking at least, and aren’t being completely ignored despite the competition. In fact, it seems – according to netizen comments – that a lot of people are looking into Cosmos because their sound is different from what’s being promoted right now.”

                “The choreography is getting recognized too,” Henry speaks up. “A lot of people who are more into the dance component of music shows are expressing their happiness and the use of vogueing. It’s not often that it’s used I think, so the choreography is pretty eye-catching.”

                “Even the backup dancers are getting noticed,” Xiuxin pipes in. “The blindfold over their eyes is attracting attention as well and some people think it’s pretty cool how even though they’re back up dancers they aren’t overshadowed by Cosmos, kind of like they have a need to be there but don’t totally steal the spotlight away.”

                “Cosmos is also getting their face out there, in their own unique way,” Minseok nods. “We haven’t gotten any offers for interviews or other shows as of late but they’ve weaseled their way into a couple backstage videos – namely for Oh My Girl and BTOB.”

                “I’ve also gotten an offer to film a short piece for Music Bank this week,” Sanghee speaks up. “The PD liked how upbeat the girls were in Oh My Girl’s backstage video and was thinking of giving Cosmos their own little time – not a full length behind the scenes but more of those ones where you vote for which one you think is the best.”

                “Their mental condition isn’t bad either,” Kurami taps the table with her fingers. “I’ve talked to every one of them throughout the month and I don’t see anything different from when they’ve debuted. They have cool heads – yes even you Ina – and are handling the change in lifestyle pretty well.”

                “And how about you girls?” Hyeri raises an eyebrow. “How do you think you’re doing?”

                “Honestly,” Solbi starts, biting her lip. “Kind of tired – I thought they’d be more to do by now but it’s pretty slow. I wasn’t expecting like, CF offers and interviewers lining up to talk to us, but I thought we’d have a couple more photo shoots by now.”

                “Yeah, I’m glad that we can at least perform on music shows though,” Eunhwa states, and Liqin finds herself nodding along. It was kind of heartbreaking, in her opinion, to watch a new group debut but only be able to perform once or twice on music shows. Whether it was because their company didn’t have enough money or they were completely edited and cut out of the show, it was pretty disheartening to not be able to perform. While Cosmos wasn’t getting any interview or outside offers, at least they could still promote their song – their full, uncut song at that – on music shows, which was pretty much the easiest place to do so.

                “Well, it’s to be expected,” Hyeri leans back in her chair. “Cosmos isn’t doing so bad, but they’re not doing particularly well either. The only grace we have is that they haven’t completed fallen off the public’s radar. You girls have a couple unique quirks that are keeping the most open minded fans interested – mainly your participation in choreography and production – but we’re pretty much all in agreement in the fact that you need more exposure. The behind the stage video Sanghee was talking about is the first step in that direction – but don’t feel too pressured. People – especially haters – can feel when you’re being fake, and we wouldn’t want that kind of image to be portrayed right?” Hyeri pauses as Liqin and the others nod. “But the only solution I can think of right now is promoting more.”

                “Are we going to be continuing with 4 Walls then?” Ina raises an eyebrow. “Don’t people usually stop after a month or so?”

                “We could, but I’m sure you’ve heard Ina, but people are talking about 4 Walls,” Hyeri sighs. “They’re saying it’s a great song but...”

                “But I didn’t make it,” Ina grits her teeth. “Someone, somehow, leaked that I didn’t produce the title track of Cosmos debut and people doubt my abilities and Cosmos as a whole. Although it’s not like I was taking credit for it – my name isn’t in the credits for that song on the album, you can see Mirae’s name clear as day.”

                “Exactly,” Hyeri nods. “While it isn’t too big of a deal, it wouldn’t be wise to continue promoting 4 Walls any longer than the usual month period. And while I have to admit maybe the whole debut was rushed – which is why we had to use Mirae ssi’s song in the first place – I don’t regret it. It seemed like the perfect song for you four and it worked out well.”

                “It did,” Ina sighs, leaning back into her chair. “And it’s not like people don’t like the rest of the album. It’s just some people are arguing over whether Diamond or 4 Walls should have been the title track.”

                “So here’s what we’re going to do,” Jinhyuk speaks up after Hyeri nods at him. “We’re going to end 4 Walls promotions but immediately go into a different one. A single this time – not a full or mini album seeing as I don’t want to stress you out that much. This time it’ll be a single created by Ina. Eunhwa, you’ll be helping with lyrics as always, and Solbi and Liqin will be making the choreography along with Henry.”

                “From my knowledge, you have quite a few ready to go tracks right?” Hyeri directs her question towards Ina.

                “They just need a bit of tweaking,” Ina replies. “I could finish it within the next two days and after Jinhyuk oppa looks at it, Eunhwa unnie, Minseok oppa, and I could start writing lyrics.”

                “Good,” Hyeri smiles. “Then we’ll pass the demo over to Henry and the other choreographers and you guys can get started on that.” Every head in the room nods – save for the three new staff members – and the subtle tension in the room which had been there since Liqin walked in slowly wore off. Liqin smiles inwardly at that, it seems like she wasn’t the only one nervous and stressed about the meeting.

                “Alright, now with Cosmos future plans out of the way, I guess it’s time for me to talk more about the role of Seohyun, Jisoo, and Kyungsoo,” Hyeri coughs, clearing . “I’m sure everyone has noticed, but with the recent auditions being held two weeks ago, a lot more trainees have joined us. While we already had a handful – male and female – that didn’t work into our first group, we now have quite a number of them. So, I was thinking of starting a new project – a boy group this time.”

                “Already? We only just debuted though,” Ina raises an eyebrow. “Do you even have enough funds for that?”

                “I get funds my own way Ina,” Hyeri winks. “But you’re right, it wouldn’t be wise to immediately debut a new boy group. That’s why it’s a project. For now, we’re going to be making a new group – not a debuting one, but a trainee sub-unit you could call it. Going by the name of YRT2016, it stands for YunRae Trainees 2016 with the year changing annually – very creative I know. This sub-unit of trainees is going to be home to the trainees that are closest to debut, the ones who have the highest chance of making it to the final line up I guess you could say. With these trainees, we’re going to start to promote them, somewhat like Pledis Girlz or SM rookies. Through a series of videos on YouTube, they’ll be able to get their own fan following – I hope – before debut. They’ll also be doing broadcasts every so often so people will be able to know their personalities and such. And although our newest group is going to be a boy group, we’ll still be promoting some of the female trainees.”

                “Sounds interesting,” Liqin speaks up after a moment of silence. “I’m assuming all of you already knew?”

                “We always know first,” Kurami shrugs. “But Hyeri thought it would be appropriate to tell you since you four are the big sunbaes of Yunrae.”

                “So YRT2016 can also be split into YRB2016 and YRG2016 – obviously boys and girls respectively. The boys, after we decide who exactly will be in the group, will begin pre-debut activities first. Mainly dance or song covers as well as the occasional broadcast. We’re also planning a show for their debut, like Mix and Match for iKon and Winner. I’m not sure when it’ll show or if it’s going to go through – but I have a couple people looking into that,” Hyeri continues.

                “And where do Seohyun unnie, Jisoo oppa, and Kyungsoo oppa come in?” Solbi asks. “I’m assuming their managers, but does this group really need three managers?”

                “Well, yes,” Xiuxin speaks up shyly. “This group is probably going to consist of around thirteen members.”

                “Thirteen?!” the four girls chorus together, eyes widening and Ina slapping the table. Liqin giggles softly at the synchronization but looks at Xiuxin in a shocked manner nonetheless. “That’s a lot of boys,” Solbi comments, whistling lowly.

                “Their concept is going to be a little different,” Xiuxin laughs a bit. “They’ll promote as thirteen – just like any normal group – but they’re also going to be three set sub-units between the groups that will promote separately. One group is going to be a band type, playing their own instruments type thing. Another is going to be more rap focused. While the last is purely performance based – dancing and all of that. Seohyun, Kyungsoo, and Jisoo will be managers of Suite together but also managers of each sub-unit.”

                “So they’re like, three groups that can come together as some kind of super group?” Liqin asks, blinking in confusion.

                “Think of it more like one super group that can be further divided into three groups. I think we’re also planning combined sub-units, which is more of the typical sub-unit you see in Kpop,” Xiuxin looks over to Hyeri – who nods.

                “So, are we going to get to scout out these new kids?” Solbi asks excitedly. “Like help choose them and stuff as sunbaes and all?”

                “You’ll have some influence on the choosing process yes, as we’re a smaller company I’d like to promote the whole ‘family’ aspect and all,” Hyeri nods. “In fact, if the show does pull through, some of the members of the boy group will make and perform singles along with you girls. As a kind of pre-debut exposure so to speak.”

                “So you’re using us to make them famous?” Ina crosses her arms. “That doesn’t seem very fair.”

                “True, you girls were our first group so, although it hurts to say so, you were kind of a test run. We’ve noticed however, that pre-debut exposure goes a long way – especially when you look at shows like Produce 101 or Mix and Match – so we’ve decided to join that bandwagon. It does that Cosmos didn’t get that kind of promotion, but look at it this way. You’ll get exposure from those interested in this new boy group so you’ll be helping them as much as they’re helping you,” Hyeri explains.

                “We’d also gain thirteen slaves who we could boss around because we’re seniors,” Solbi adds, grinning devilishly at Ina. Ina thinks it over a while; face screwing into an unreadable expression, before the Vietnamese girl finally sighs and grunts in understanding.

                “Alright, so that’s that,” Hyeri cheers in relief. “The rest of today will be spent preparing for your follow-up single. Ina will continue producing, Eunhwa can start testing lyrics along with Minseok and Jinhyuk, and Liqin and Solbi – you two will be watching over the new trainees with Henry to try and start figuring out whose going to join YRT2016.”

                “Aw, not fair, I want to do that,” Eunhwa pouts, causing Liqin to laugh and hit her gently. Calling the meeting to a close, Hyeri dismisses everyone and Liqin finds herself following a bickering Solbi and Henry. Thinking about the meeting, Liqin finds herself anticipating her future hoobaes. Unlike Ina, she’s totally down for the idea of helping her little brothers – this is what Liqin is set on calling them from now on, regardless of if they were older or younger. It would only help the company, if they got money then Cosmos would, in turn, also get more funds. In Liqin’s eyes, it was a symbiotic relationship.

                “So do we already have some people on the list?” Solbi asks, drawing Liqin’s attention as the three approach a practice room.

                “Yeah, two girls and a boy, I think you’ve met some of them already,” Henry responds, opening the door. Walking in, Liqin is met with Mirae and another familiar looking boy standing near the speakers, quietly bickering. “Mirae, Daehoon, come over here,” Henry calls, and the two trainees walk over. Upon seeing Mirae, Solbi immediately stiffens beside Liqin, causing the quiet girl to sigh inwardly. Ever since the recording studio incident, Solbi and Mirae had been on bad terms. Although there hadn’t been much of a reason for the two to interact, the times they had passed each other in the hallway had been tense and awkward. You could almost feel the cold radiating off of Mirae as she regarded Solbi with serious eyes.

                “So these are the two on the list?” Liqin speaks up, seeing as Solbi was too busy waging a mental war with Mirae.

                “Yup, I’m Daehoon,” the boy pipes up, moving forward to give Solbi and Liqin his hand to shake. “This over here is Mirae, although from what I’ve heard you guys worked together already.”

                “I remember you!” Solbi gasps loudly, covering when everyone raises an eyebrow at her outburst. “You helped me defend someone’s stuff.”

                “Oh right,” Daehoon laughs. “Some girls were harassing a laptop – I think the trainee left for the washroom or something and they tried to steal her things,” Daehoon elaborates when Liqin and the others send him a confused glance. “I think that girl ended up being Ina actually.”

                “Wow really? Funny how things work out,” Solbi breathes. “So are you going to be a part of this new boy group?”

                “Nope,” Daehoon replies cheerfully, causing Liqin to cough a little at his excitement. He wasn’t going to debut soon, and if this new boy group was just debuting, then his chances would be even slimmer. Yet why did he seem so happy? Liqin’s head hurt just thinking about it. “Mirae here and I are a part of a different project; I guess Yoo-nim didn’t tell you about it huh.”

                “She was saving that for a later date,” Henry rolls his eyes. “But I guess it doesn’t hurt to tell you two now. Mirae and Daehoon are part of Project Muse – that’s what they’re calling it for now.”

                “And so... it’s a co-ed group?” Liqin tries to wrap her head around that concept. While co-ed groups weren’t unheard of, they were still uncommon. Liqin couldn’t think of a single one which had made it big so to speak.

                “Nope, a duo,” Daehoon flashes a v sign.

                “Interesting,” Solbi says, her eyes trailing over Mirae. “I hope you guys do well then. I wonder why Yoo-nim didn’t tell us about it though.”

                “We’re supposed to be a different kind of group or something,” Mirae finally speaks up. “Not quite an idol group, I think our concept borders more on artists rather than musicians.”

                “That’s unique,” Liqin offers. “So you two aren’t even really a part of the new project.”

                “They’re not, and the only other trainee we have as a part of YRT2016 isn’t a boy either,” Henry sighs. Ignoring the looks of confusion and interest that the four young adults were shooting him, Henry walks up to one of the attached practice studios (smaller spaces for vocal and rap practice which were attached to some of the bigger dance studios) and knocking on it. A muffled, ‘just a second!’ is heard before the door opens and a young girl steps out of the room. “This is Jung Sora; she’s a part of YT2016 – the first official member other than Mirae and Daehoon actually. Obviously, she won’t be debuting as a part of the new boy group.”

                “Hello!” the teenager cheerfully smiles Liqin and the others. Liqin studies the girl, she was maybe sixteen or seventeen, and had a small body. Despite her petite features however, Liqin could detect a hint of muscle peaking underneath the skin – as evident from Sora’s shapely arms and legs. Other than that however, Liqin couldn’t really tell what kind of idol Sora was going to be.

                “Well, so we’re starting with a grand total of 0,” Solbi sighs. “We really have our work cut out for us huh?”

                “Now you know why Hyeri enlisted you two to help me. Sora, Daehoon, and Mirae will be helping too,” Henry laughs. “The boys are in the training room downstairs, let’s get started now shall we?”

Wah! Exams are over and so is my soul. *deflates* At least Cosmos and Yunrae’s future is secure – unlike mine *crying*

So we learn what’s to come next for Cosmos, as well as a peek at a couple future projects – mainly Muse for Mirae and Daehoon and the new boy group which I’ve already started. I wonder what Sora is for though...

Hope you're smiling!

~ Yun