Choi Yuna was running. Running for her stamina, running for her health, running to maintain her weight, running to improve her lung capacity – but despite all the things she was running for, the main reason for her running was that she wanted to run away. Away from the problems, away from the stress, away from the worries, away from her thoughts…

It had been two weeks since their CEO had promised to find someone new and she could see how the doubt in her members’ eyes became stronger with each passing day. They avoided to talk about the elephant in the room whenever they were together, but she knew that the unsolved situation worried them as much as her.

Would everything fail? Would the company become completely bankrupt? What would happen to them? Would they get send off to other companies? Would they ever debut? Or would they release them from their contract and tell them to go back home?

She was all too familiar with the uncertainty, the thought of not being good enough. And maybe she truly was not good enough. During a televised audition, for everyone in South Korea to see, JYP himself had told her that she did not have it in her. That she was too ordinary to be an idol. Had she held on to her dream too tightly? Some dreams just were not meant to become true…

Yuna ran faster as her eyes welled up with tears, her feet pounding on the ground as she ran another lap. She had used the soul crushing moment as her source for motivation. She had wanted to prove him wrong. She had tirelessly worked on herself, she had given her everything to become better.

And now it was all for nothing?

Granted, she had known that her chances to succeed by joining a tiny company with almost no budget would not be the best. But she had always thought that with enough drive, with enough motivation and work, they might be able to do it.

Especially when she had met her team mates and had gotten to know them. They were all fighting for a debut. And she would never forget how caring they had been when she had joined the company. Kim Sojung had done everything in her power to make her feel included right from the start, she was like the mother of the group. Hwang Eunbi – probably one of the best female dancers she had seen among idols – had immediately offered her help and extra dance lessons after seeing her struggling in the routine. Their maknae, Kim Yewon, who never failed to make her smile, no matter how difficult practice was. Her personality was different from any trainee she had ever met, it was refreshing. And last but not least –

“YAH! YUNA-YA!”

Panting, she slowed down and looked around until she spotted a familiar figure jogging towards her. “Yerin-ssi?”

“I called –” Yerin stopped in front of her and put her hands on her knees, gasping for air. “I called you… multiple times… daebak, you’re fast...”

“I guess I didn’t hear you, I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized as she looked in concern at the wheezing girl. “Are you okay, Yerin-ssi?”

“I’m fine, just… a bit tired.” Suddenly Yerin straightened up and threw her a blinding smile that formed her eyes into tiny crescent moons. “Maybe a bit out of shape unlike you, Yuna-sain Bolt!”

Yuna grinned slightly at the joke, but it did not stop her from worrying for her older team mate. She carefully let her eyes wander over Yerin’s face and frowned. Had her skin always been this pale? Had the shadows beneath her eyes always been this dark? She knew she herself probably looked just as exhausted, but as her gaze moved lower she noticed the still heavy breathing that Yerin seemed desperate to hide.

“Unnie, how long have you been running before you came here?”

Yerin blinked, obviously thrown off by her question. “I’m… not sure? A while. Why?”

“Nothing, just asking.”

Yuna sighed, dropping it for now. She knew Yerin was overworking herself. She was in good shape, a normal run would never have left her in a state like this. Nor would she try to hide her exhaustion. But working until they couldn’t stand was not something unusual. It was common. The pressure came from everywhere and she knew it would not leave after debut. It was something they would have to get used to. In the end it would be worth it.

If they succeeded. That was still a very big if. Especially with how things were going right now.

“Stop frowning, Yuna-ya, or you’ll get wrinkles. Can’t have our main vocal look like a grandma, can we?”

Hearing the title, she felt her cheeks burning up. Yerin had started to call her that ever since she had first heard her singing. “Unnie, you need to stop calling me the main vocal, we don’t know if –”

“When we debut,” Yerin gently interrupted her, “there cannot be anyone else who will be our main vocal other than you. I don’t know who will join us, but I doubt she will sing better. We are lucky to have a talent like yours in our group. Between you and Eunbi, I think we really won the lottery.”

Yuna tore her gaze away from the admiring look in her team mate’s eyes. Yerin was the one whose help she appreciated the most. From the very first meeting on, Yerin had done everything above and beyond to help her out with whatever she needed. She had shown her around, had taken extra time to practice with her and made her feel welcome more than anyone else in the group had done. Yuna knew that her quiet and focused personality was often mistaken as her being cold and conceited, it could be quite off-putting, but Yerin had not been fooled in the slightest. One look at her and Yerin had seemed to understand her better than anyone else had ever before at first glance.

“You’re pretty amazing yourself, unnie. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Yerin laughed and waved off. “Wanna race?”

“You want to race against Yuna-sain Bolt?” she joked.

“I’m going to win against Yuna-sain Bolt,” Yerin replied with a cheeky grin. “The last one at the fence is a lame duck!”

Without giving another warning, Yerin took off, laughing like a maniac. A broad smile crept onto Yuna’s face as she followed suit..

She really wanted this group to work out and debut with all her might. For once in all of her trainee life everything seemed to fit just right. She could not imagine being in a different group with other members than these four girls. She only hoped that their CEO would find a suitable replacement soon and that the new girl would fit in just as well as the others.

Because she could feel that these girls might just become her second family away from home.