“… I’m sorry, what?”

Never before, even in her wildest, most irrational of dreams, had Jihyo thought something like this would happen in her life.

She was currently sitting in TWICE’s new dormitory, frozen solid on the sofa and staring incredulously at her longest companion in JYP- Im Nayeon, her senior of two years, a talented and pretty girl with adorable rabbit teeth that was always proudly present on her dazzling smile. That very smile was being directed at Jihyo with utmost sincerity, yet it did not seem to calm the younger girl down even one bit.

Jihyo’s eyes darted to the remaining members of her group, who were occupying the space around her in a manner that they thought to be warm and intimate; to Jihyo however, it only served to intimidate her even more. They all had different degrees of Nayeon’s expectant look in their own faces as well, telling the distressed girl that they all supported the idea wholeheartedly.

At this point, Nayeon saw fit to patiently repeat herself. 

“I said, Jihyo-ah, that I-we all want you to be the leader of the new group.”

“B-but… why?” Even on the second time of hearing it, Jihyo still could not wrap her head around the statement. “I don’t think I have anything that qualifies me as a leader, let alone our group leader.” She made a vague gesture with her hand, yet everyone understood quite well what she meant.

Nayeon took a deep breath, ready to explain, yet she was interrupted by Sana who decided to in out of impatience.

“Yah Jihyo, I told you never to say that about yourself! Without you we could never be here together, all nine of us, in one place. I’m pretty sure Jeongyeon and Momo would be killing each other right now had it not been for you.” Upon Sana’s mention of their names, both girls in question looked up at her in irritation. Scared of the backlash, Sana’s form turned fainter and fainter until she dissipated completely into thin air. No longer having their first target, Jeongyeon and Momo proceeded to glare at one another afterwards, and while the exchange wasn’t particularly spiteful, it did not go unnoticed by Sana, who pointed out triumphantly.

“See! I stand corrected. Their powers counter each other’s. It used to be, ‘One can’t live if the other survives’ for them you know. And now they’re roommates!”

“Sana-chan, you’re not helping.” Came Mina’s quiet voice. Sana pouted. 

Turning to Jihyo, she continued. “She has a point though Jihyo-ah. Without you we can’t have kept ourselves from unleashing our powers against another, and this will be a bloody battlefield