“– and this is why you might perhaps consider letting the members keep their real names,” Sojung ended her monologue, nervously fiddling with her hands. So Sungjin, the CEO of Source Music, had sat behind his desk and listened attentively to her speech. His silence had been reassuring at first, but now that she was done talking and he had yet to say a word, her nerves were going through the roof. Maybe this meeting had been a mistake. “Or… or maybe just let a few of them keep theirs? Or… or how about just the leader if you really think the others are necessary?”

So Sungjin raised his eyebrows.

“I mean, I don’t doubt that however you decide will be the right choice, CEO-nim,” she quickly added. “It was only a suggestion. We will be happy with whatever you choose to do.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Sojung-ah,” he answered after a quick glance at the clock. “But I will not let you keep your real name. I might consider giving you a choice between a few stage names.”

Sojung stopped herself from looking disappointed. Only years of training kept her facial expression blank before she allowed a bashful smile to appear on her face and bowed her head. “Thank you, CEO-nim. I appreciate it.”

“Of course. Now if you will excuse me, I have an important meeting in a few minutes and I believe you are late for your training session.”

With a quick look at the time, Sojung jumped out of her seat, blushing furiously. She was indeed late, but she knew her members were waiting for her in the hallway – which would make them late as well. “Thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule to meet me, CEO-nim.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” So Sungjin smiled warmly at her. “Thank you for working so hard.”

She bowed again and left the office, quickly making her way to the spot where the girls were hiding. The odds that she would convince him had not been good, but that her carefully prepared speech had not made any impact at all was disappointing.

“How was it? Did it work?” Yerin was bouncing on her spot, physically unable to hide her anxiety. “Did he listen to you, unnie? Will we keep our names?”

“What she said,” Eunbi pointed towards the girl that was now clinging onto her like a koala.

Sojung sighed as she looked at the hopeful faces of her four team maters before she shook her head. “He said we might be able to choose between a few stage names, though.”

Yerin groaned and buried her face in her arm as Sojung soothingly rubbed her back. The slightly younger girl had always sought out her affections ever since they had met for the first time. “I don’t want to be known as a thumb...”

“Well, I’m off to practice,” Eunbi announced, her face as usual not showing any emotion. It was worrying Sojung a little bit how well one of her maknaes had herself under control. She promised herself to keep an eye on her. “Coming, Yewon-ssi?”

Startled at the sudden invitation from the usually cold girl, Yewon’s eyes widened before she nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, Eunbi-ssi!”

As both of them turned around the corner, Sojung nudged Yerin and tried to get Yuna’s attention. “We should head to the training room as well. CEO-nim knows we’re late and we can’t afford slacking.”

But Yuna didn’t budge and kept her eyes trained on something further down the hallway. “Who’s that? Is that – could that be…?”

“Who’s who?” Yerin let go of her and turned around.

A man and a woman had walked down the stairs into the basement, followed by a teenage girl who could not have been older than Yuna – perhaps even younger. As the adults noticed them, relief washed over their faces and they approached them.

“Good evening, we are looking for the CEO of Source Music?” the man asked with slight hesitation as his eyes roamed around the narrow hallway and bare concrete walls. “Are we in the right place?”

Bowing quickly, the girls greeted them.

“CEO-nim’s office is at the end of this hallway,” Sojung answered. “It’s impossible to miss.”

“Thank you. Are you trainees of his label?”

“Yes, we are.”

“And you’re treated well?”

The woman slapped the man’s arm. “You can’t ask them that!”

“Why not? If we send our daughter here, I’d like to know what kind of company this is and these girls seem trustworthy enough.”

Sojung’s eyes darted to the silent girl next to her parents. She was still dressed in her school uniform, the cardigan loosely bound around her waist. Long darkbrown hair framed a slightly chubby yet adorable looking face. And she was tiny. “Training is hard, but we’re not treated badly. It’s a small company, yet the support we receive and the teamwork are extraordinary. Everyone here wants us to succeed and is working hard to help us.”

“That sounds lovely.” The mother gave them a warm smile. “Thank you for your help, but we need to head towards the office now. Let’s go, Eunbi-ya.”

Sowon glanced at the girl again who gave her parents a timid nod. She had yet to utter a word. But maybe it was just anxiety? Turning around to face her team mates, she motioned her head into the direction of the practice room. Yerin and Yuna understood immediately and after a swift goodbye, they followed their maknaes who were probably already in the training room.

In silence they walked through the hallway, each of them pondering over the same question. They were only a few meters from the door away, as Yerin seemed to be unable to hold back any longer.

“Do you think she might become a new trainee?”

Frowning, Sojung thought back to the quiet girl and her parents. “I’m not sure they were here for an audition.”

“You’re not?” Yuna asked. “Didn’t you hear what her father said, unnie? He wanted to know about our training and said that he wanted to know that because –”

“ – because he was considering sending her here, I know,” Sojung finished for her. “But it didn’t sound as if they were here for an audition. I think they are here for an interview. Her father didn’t seem too impressed with the idea of his daughter becoming a trainee.”

“I hope she’ll join us, she seemed nice.”

Yerin raised an eyebrow at Yuna. “How can you say that she seemed nice when she was silent the whole time? For all you know she might be conceited.”

“I doubt that,” Yuna replied, her voice full of certainty. “I think she’s nice and I hope she will become a member. She must be talented if CEO-nim allowed them an interview before an audition. He doesn’t have much time.”

Sojung silently agreed with Yuna’s assessment. The only other explanation would have been that their CEO had become desperate beyond belief and that was something she did not want to think about. “It would be confusing to have two Eunbis in one group.”

“It’s not like we keep our real names anyway,” Yerin said. “We can just call them by their stage names. Or Eunbi 1 and Eunbi 2. Or… I don’t know...”

“Are you talking about me?” Eunbi poked her head out of the practice room. “Unnies, why are you so late? You were right behind us?”

“We met another Eunbi right after you left. She was here for an interview with her parents.”

“A new trainee?” Yewon appeared behind Eunbi. “What is she like? Will she make it? When is her audition?”

“They’re only having a meeting with our CEO. I don’t think they agreed to do anything yet,” Sojung hurried to explain before anyone got too excited. “She didn’t say much –”

“– as in nothing at all –” Yerin butted in.

“– and she’s tiny.”

“Everyone is tiny compared to you, unnie,” Eunbi replied with a teasing smile. “So, her name is Eunbi too?”

“What a weird coincidence,” Yewon said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone named Eunbi before coming here. And now there are two in the building?”

Eunbi smirked. “I had an Eunbi on my dance team when I was a child. It caused quite some confusion until we came up with a way to keep us apart.”

“You did?”

“Yeah… we lost contact a long time ago, though.” Eunbi shrugged, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “She became a trainee in the same company as well, but we barely saw each other and when I left I never saw her again. I wonder what happened to her.”

“She didn’t have a debut yet?” Sojung asked and Eunbi shook her head.

Yerin gasped. “What if it was her? Don’t look at me as if I’m crazy, it could be!”

“Yeah, right. And I can sing better than Yuna-unnie,” Eunbi snorted. “But seriously, unnies, we need to start with practice. There are still some parts in the choreography that don’t look how they are supposed to and we need to work on that. Let’s go.”