“Unnie,” she calls. The other girl looks up abruptly, hair flying in a panic.

“Uh, yeah?” Aerin stammers, quickly grabbing a paper towel. Anhee raises her eyebrows and wordlessly comes over to help her.

“I wanted to ask you to help me practice my singing,” she says quietly, wiping up apple juice. She’s not even going to ask. “I guess you’re busy?”

“Uh, no,” Aerin sighs, tossing the sticky papers into the trash can. “I’m fine.”

Anhee nods, following her friend out the door. “Actually,” she blurts out. Aerin turns around, an expectant look on her face. “I’m jealous of my friends. I’m jealous of you and the other unnies, and even of our dongsaengs. Everyone is so much better than I am, so much prettier, more talented, and I’m just, I’m just here.”

It’s not the first time Anhee’s spoken to her about insecurities. Aerin brings her back into the practice room, sitting her down. “We’re getting there,” she soothes. “We have a great leader, me, you, an amazing dancer, a beautiful visual, and a perfect maknae. You’re the rap, and you blow me away every time you open your mouth. In a good way, of course,” she adds with a laugh. “I can’t really say anything about Sujeong, since I’m jealous of her too.” She grimaces. “Somi, she’s been involved in a lot of activities, but she hasn’t settled down yet. If there’s one thing she wants that you have, it’s us, great teammates who stick together through everything and will never leave each other alone.”

“They were meant to break up,” Anhee mutters, eyes drawn to Aerin’s phone as it lights up with a new message. Kim Sunggyu, Anhee reads. Aerin doesn’t seem to notice, though, and she keeps talking.

“All groups were,” she reminds, tapping her friend’s forehead. “I know what you meant, but she could have settled down and trained and made it into a new group. Well, not that JYP’s planning another girl group right now, but you get my point.”

Anhee nods. “Yeah, you’re right,” she says, unconvinced. “I mean, I guess I just feel really bad because our company is first off, tiny, but more importantly, they produce hip hop, and I know that, even if I like it, it’s not what the public wants.”

Aerin laughs, standing up. “Don’t worry,” she says brightly. “We’ll release a song so great no one will be able to hate us. Do you still want to practice your vocals?”

“Oh, right!”

As she follows Aerin out the door, Anhee can’t help but wonder: how many secrets does this group have? After all, she has hers, and Aerin has hers, so everyone else should have theirs too… right?

author's note

Gahhh this focused more on Aerin than it did Anhee I hate myself lol. But hey, we’re finally introduced to Grandpa Gyu! What do you think Anhee’s secret is? What’s Aerin’s? But is it really? I know what you’re thinking, and you’re probably wrong XD