Yerin looked up when the street lamp above her head . She had not noticed that it had become so dark. How long had she been outside? Had she lost track of time?

Gritting her teeth, she picked up the pace, even though all she wanted to do was stop running. The muscles in her legs were protesting, but she kept going. She had to. First of all, she was late for their last practice session for the day; and secondly, she still had a lot of weight to lose and her stamina to improve. It was important that she kept running. Even if all she wanted to do was quit and call it a day.

Yerin turned around the last corner and finally slowed down. There was also the dreaded test tomorrow. They had to show their team leader their personal talent as well as aegyo. She still had no idea what to do on both accounts.

Aegyo was not really a problem; she had learned a few things during her training and even though she was usually not the type of person who enjoyed it, she learned to accept that it was a part of being an idol. And if she was being honest with herself, it was starting to become fun. Which  did absolutely not mean that she would ever show it to any of her family members, however. Only over her dead body. That was just too embarrassing. She did not want to think of the time when her family would see her doing aegyo on shows and during performances. It would be cringe-worthy.

But her personal talent? What was she actually good at that was entertaining? She didn’t know. None of them really knew. Eunbi had this weird thing she could do with her arms, although none of them were sure if it was good for the public to see. Yewon had started practicing to sound like Pikachu after the team leader requested it because of her cute voice. Yuna was an amazing figure skater on the floor, considering she had never actually set a foot on an ice rink. But what about her? What could she do that set her apart from others?

“There you are! I was starting to worry, Yerin-ah!”

She put her hands on her knees as she came to a stop next to Kim Sojung who stood near the entrance of their practice room. “Didn’t… notice… the distance…” 

Yerin drew in some deep breaths. A hand holding a water bottle appeared in her view and she gratefully took it.

“Drink it slowly. Did you see Eunbi-ssi by any chance?”

“The new Eunbi? Jung Eunbi?” Yerin stood up again and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “I was running…”

“As was she. I thought you went running together?”

“No offense, Unnie, but I think my pace… is a little faster.” Yerin gulped some water down.

“It’s getting dark,” Sojung mumbled with furrowed eyebrows. “You girls shouldn’t run outside when it’s getting dark. It’s not safe.”

“We sometimes leave the practice room in the middle of the night and head home. Our Eunbi even goes all the way up to Seoul Station and takes a train.”

Sojung pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t remind me. I need to speak to CEO-nim about a dorm close to here as soon as possible. Now with Eunbi-ssi joining our group, he’ll probably start looking for one.”

“She hasn’t joined our group yet.”

“But she will.”

“You don’t know that.” Yerin felt Sojung’s eyes on her as she bent down to stretch. “I’m just saying, you all act like it’s already set in stone. But it’s not. She could still leave us, Unnie. Even if she passes the evaluation, she could still decide that it’s too intense for her and quit. We need to remember that.”

“Yerin-ah… we need to become a team.”

“We also need to protect ourselves,” Yerin muttered, still avoiding her unnie’s eyes. “It would not be the first time.”

Sojung sighed. “I know, Yerin-ah. I know what’s going on in that head of yours. But you can’t think like that. She’s not like that. You need to give her a chance and stop being so distanced towards her. We cannot allow ourselves to have barriers in our own group. When we debut, it will be us against the world. We need to have trust in our members to be able to survive this and to make it.”

Yerin stood back up and glanced down at the floor. “I know that. It’s hard. And it’s really hard to see our Eunbi getting so attached to her. She never lets anyone really hug her without making a fuss, but did you see the embrace they were in? They’re already so close.”

“They’re not already close, they have always been close,” Sojung said slowly and Yerin finally met her eyes. “They were childhood best friends, Yerin-ah. They know each other better than we know any of us, including Hwang Eunbi. You don’t know what they’ve been through together and no one can erase a bond like this. Not even time.”

“But…”

“No buts. If you finally decide to stop being so distanced towards our soon-to-be member, you will realize that you two have very much in common.” Sojung gave her a long look, one that Yerin was unable to decipher. What did that mean? They had something in common? “Trust me, you will understand each other very well. But for that to happen, you need to start opening up and let someone inside your heart again. I know it’s hard; I’ve been trying to protect my heart for years until I met you girls. But I needed to open up towards you too or I would not be a good leader, would I? Just trust me on this, Yerin-ah. I have a good feeling about her.”

Yerin slumped her shoulders. “I do trust you, Unnie.”

“Good. Now get inside and get ready for practice.”

Yerin walked past her as Sojung started to look around again, obviously still waiting for Jung Eunbi. When Yerin was about to enter the building, Sojung called out for her again.

“And Yerin-ah? You need to come up with another name for Hwang Eunbi. We have two Eunbis now. And they’re both ours.”

Biting her lip, Yerin glanced over her shoulder and nodded timidly. She hadn’t meant to be so cold towards Jung Eunbi, but she was scared. She was especially scared since she had seen how Hwang Eunbi had acted towards her long lost friend. It had taken Yerin ages to tear down some of those walls of hers, yet they did not seem to exist around Jung Eunbi.

Was she jealous? Maybe a little. It just did not seem fair. But she had to learn how to live with it. Yerin shook her head as she went downstairs into the basement of the building. And what did Sojung mean that she had actually something in common with the newest trainee? 

Aaah, long time no see, everyone! I hoped you liked this new chapter. I remember Yerin saying once that she wasn't interested in Eunha until they moved together into a dorm, so this is my take how it might have happened ^^ See you next time, and thank you for the comments!