“Girls, let’s take a break. Ten minutes!” Kim Sojung called out and grateful sighs answered her as one member after the other slumped down to the floor.

Yerin leaned against the wall of the practice room and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. The last few hours had been excruciating. Their dance teacher had given them a new choreography to learn, to see how fast they were able to memorize the moves and to spot and eliminate weaknesses within the group. Needless to say that none of the girls was impressed by the additional work they had to put up with, but that did not stop them from trying to perfect the routine.

“They should just give us the song already,” she heard Hwang Eunbi complain a few meters away from her. “It’ll be easier to learn our dance with the right music. Instead they don’t tell us anything and just give us random exercises –”

“– that are helping us to get better at dancing,” their leader cut in before Eunbi said anything that she was going to regret. “Once they find a new member for our group, I’m sure we will record the song and focus only on our own choreography. Give it time, Eunbi-ssi, and be patient.”

“It feels like we’re not moving forward,” Eunbi sighed and rolled her shoulders with a grimace. “I hate this uncertainty.”

Yerin frowned at the younger girl and grabbed the nearest water bottle. With a few quick steps she reached Eunbi and sat down behind her before handing her the water. “Here, you didn’t drink anything in the last few hours, did you? Does your neck hurt? Shoulders? Back?”

Eunbi turned her head around to look at her. “Unnie, I’m fine.”

“Drink.” She motioned to the bottle and Eunbi reluctantly followed her order. This kid was probably one of the most focused and stubborn people she knew. Shaking her head, she laid her hands on Eunbi’s shoulders and carefully started to massage them. “We’re not standing still. It might feel like that to you, but I know how hard our CEO-nim is working to give us our debut and to find us a new member. No one has given up on us. They’re even thinking about our future stage names as we speak.”

This got the attention of the other members and Yerin saw several heads turning her way.

“What?!”

“How do you know?”

“Did you see any?”

“I...” Yerin blushed as she met Sojung’s intense stare. Her leader simply raised an eyebrow, silently telling her to go on. “I might have sneaked into the office yesterday evening..?”

The second eyebrow joined the first one. “And what exactly were you doing in CEO-nim’s office when he wasn’t there?”

“It was an accident! I swear, unnie,” Yerin hurried to explain, “I thought he was still there and I needed to ask him something, but he wasn’t there and then I saw this board on the other side and our names were on them and –”

“And what did you see?” Sojung interrupted her and Yerin blinked surprised before seeing a cheeky smile on her leader’s face. “Come on, now tell us!”

Yerin relaxed when she realized that she was not in trouble and continued to rub Eunbi’s shoulders. “Well, they’re thinking to use Aria as a stage name for our Yuna.”

“Aria?” Yuna scrunched up her nose as she tested the name. “Aria. Do I look like an Aria? I don’t feel like an Aria...”

“Isn’t it related to opera? Maybe it’s because you sing so beautifully,” Yewon suggested. “What’s mine, Yerin-ssi?”

Yerin couldn’t help but smirk. “Ariel. I think you sang the Little Mermaid song too often, Yewon-ah.”

Yewon groaned as Eunbi started to laugh loudly. “Aria and Ariel? Please tell me they’re joking. Can’t we just keep our names? Or make our own suggestions?”

“Don’t complain, yours are actually the best ones.”

Eunbi immediately stopped laughing and Sojung’s smile froze. “What?”

“Although, Sojung-unnie’s is quite… unique. Very fitting but maybe a bit too much...”

“Yah, say it!”

“It’s PB,” Yerin answered her and watched with a growing smile the confusion on her leader’s and other members’ faces. “And it stands for… Perfect Beauty.”

“You’re kidding me,” Sojung muttered, distaste clear on her face as the younger girls tried to muffle their giggles. “That’s it, I need to speak to CEO-nim first thing next morning. I will not have that name.”

“Why not?” Eunbi teased. “Wear it with pride!”

“What’s her name?” Sojung asked with a playful glare at Eunbi. “Maybe we can leave it as it is.”

“Oh, hers is really not that bad. It’s mine that is as bad as yours. Umji.” Yerin rolled her eyes. “Do I look like a thumb?”

“Umji?” Yewon tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t stop the smile on her lips. “What kind of name is that? Are you sure CEO-nim wasn’t pranking you, Yerin-ssi?”

Yerin frowned and shook her head, still concentrating on the massage. “I wish he was. Let’s hope those are not their final suggestions. Lie down, Eunbi-ya, the muscles in your back are all knotted up.”

Eunbi complied, this time without any hesitation. “What name do they have for me? You still haven’t said it, unnie.”

“Chloe.”

“Chloe?! No, absolutely not. I am not going to be known as Chloe!”

“Wanna switch and be a thumb instead?”

“… I guess it’s not that bad, but still…”

“If they think those stage names are good ideas,” Yewon slowly said, “then what will they come up with for our group name?”

“Oh God,” Eunbi mumbled, “I don’t even want to know...”

“I’m sure the name will be perfect,” Sojung intervened, but even she didn’t sound convinced. “We just have to have faith.”

Yerin frowned at Eunbi’s back as her hands massaged it automatically without much thought. They had to have a lot of faith lately because everything was in jeopardy. Just last night they had received the notice that their debut had been postponed indefinitely. They had gone from a set date to absolutely nothing. It had put them all on edge. Despite the reassurances from the company that they would hold onto the group and eventually find someone suitable to replace their former member, the tensions in the group ran high.

She had been in the situation multiple times and knew what would soon happen if nothing changed. The girls would leave. They would ask the company to transfer them to a different one, where the chances of debut were higher or where the training was better.

Yuna or Eunbi would be the first ones to go. They had too much talent to get held back by something like this. Companies would fall over themselves to get them under contract. The next one would be Yewon. The girl who had never thought of becoming an idol before their CEO had offered her a spot as a trainee. She would probably try out for a bigger company that would help her develop her full potential. Sojung might finally give up. She knew her unnie had a similar past as her, but this might be the final straw. And Yerin would be left on her own. Again.

Maybe she should have become a flight attendant or worked at a bank like her parents had always pressured her to be. But could she just leave the company after everything they had done for her? Could she just turn her back on a career she had fought so hard for and had even gone against her parents’ wishes?

She hoped she would never find out. That was one of the reasons why she had told her team mates about the stage names that she had discovered. To give them hope that no one had given them up yet, that there were still people fighting for them, that their entire company was counting on them to not give up so close in reaching their goal.

And judging by the knowing look and soft smile of her leader when she glanced up again, Sojung knew exactly what she had been trying to do. And Yerin knew that it was appreciated.

The door opened with a loud click and the girls looked up. One of the company’s staff stood in the doorway and let his eyes wander around the room. “What’s going on here? Is everyone alright?”

“We’re only taking a small break, PD-nim,” Sojung answered and smoothly stood up to bow. “We were just about to start working again.”

Yerin stopped massaging Eunbi’s back and helped her stand up. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Yuna and Yewon were already on their feet as well and going to their designated positions for the dance routine without a complaint. She knew everyone was still exhausted, but her heart swelled with pride as she saw the looks of pure determination in her team mates’ eyes.

The passion and professionalism from everyone still left her in awe at times. Something special was forming right here in front of her own eyes in this very basement. If they were going to survive this, Yerin knew the chances were not bad that they just might become unstoppable.