If there was something Son Hyejoo never talked about and would rather drop dead than to tell anyone, it would be her personal life. Her upbringing and family life was something she rather not think about. She grew up on her own and mother wasn't in the picture anymore. She had always been a lone wolf of sorts.

Her way to fame wasn't some fairytale or a childhood dream. The reason she became an idol in the first place was to get away from her situation at home. More than anything she wanted to make money and have a better life for herself. She was forced to mature at a young age and understand that life wasn't fair to everyone. Some had it better than others and unfortunately she was part of the ones that got the short end of the stick.

Seeing Yerim and Hyunjin again was like a bucket of ice cold water falling over her head waking her up from reality. It was like she couldn't breathe and her lungs were drowning with water. The audition had gone well. She had passed and even left a strong impression on the dance instructor, which didn't happen often. Right as she removed her mask and cap she became the talk of the room.

As soon as they were dismissed and the CEO had finished her speech on what time they would meet again tomorrow, Hyejoo sped out of the practice room like lightning. She didn't want to repeat what happened on the hallway. She didn't want more rumors to spread. She didn't want to grab more attention to herself. She didn't want to think about her past.

She put her cap and mask back on and she left the company building, not sure whether she would come and show up for tomorrow's audition. Hyejoo never let anyone's get to her. She had a sharp tongue and a short-temper and she wasn't one to stand on the sidelines and do nothing. This wasn't one of those instances however. This time she couldn't fight back because she knew she couldn't win. This time she chose the coward option and ran away, as fast as her legs could take her.

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Go Won knew something was wrong the moment Hyejoo ran out like the devil was hot on her tracks. She wasn't stupid. She knew something must've happened and Hyejoo, as a result, had gotten scared. Haseul had dismissed her first before the trainees in order for them not to flock up to her and make things difficult.

She had left to her personal dressing room where Jungeun was waiting ready to get her out of her Loona ensemble. She begged the brunette to get her makeup off as fast as possible so she could be able to catch Hyejoo just as she was coming out from the audition. The woman didn't question her logic, she knew what she was doing (or so she hoped).

Hyejoo had mentioned over breakfast she was going to audition at Eden entertainment today and Chaewon practically tackled her over the table. Even though she already knew, if if Loona was the one that pushed her and recommended her, Chaewon still felt genuine rush of happiness in that moment.

The younger girl a bit unsure had returned the hug and melted right into her touch. She couldn't get the way Hyejoo had relaxed in her arms and sighed in contentment. She had looked so happy and even excited. Yes, she had looked nervous, but overall she seemed okay with giving her idol life another chance. These past two months hadn't been easy, Hyejoo still not wanting to talk about what happened, but the secret idol knew everything.

Even if Hyejoo didn't tell Chaewon, the older girl still knew about her living situation and how she was struggling with making ends meet. She offered Hyejoo a place to stay, no questions asked and thankfully her girlfriend accepted the temporary housing, even for just a short while (The younger girl had insisted it would be until she found a new company and they could provide her with a dorm).

After today, she had no doubt Hyejoo would make it. There was still Round 2 and Round 3, but Go Won knew Hyejoo would pass the group and team evaluations no problem. She had the talent, charisma, drive and passion. But most importantly, she was a team player and that was something their company believed was key to making the perfect group. 

Chaewon was now out of her lavish clothes and back to her regular comfortable look of skinny jeans and an oversized pink hoodie. She came out of the dressing room like nothing, picking up her steps as she dug into her bag for her glasses. Once she found them and placed them high on her nose she wasn't expecting to crash with the same four girls from her "fan club."

She would've thought Haseul would spend more time in giving them a speech or even kill time by talking about how she built the company from the ground up (she loved to tell that story on any occasion). Chaewon knew there would be no escape from this. They had already seen her and were hurrying over.

She had to find Hyejoo, not chat with a bunch of trainees, damn it.

"Hey it's you!" Yerim called for her.

Chaewon was not going to speak unless absolutely necessary. She gave the girl a cautious once over, last time's encounter making her wary. All four girls that had chased her last time had passed to the second round. Even if she was still a bit upset for last time, she still felt pride knowing that they passed with flying colors.

"We didn't see you at the audition." Yerim then added.

Again, Chaewon didn't reply. She was not pleased from last time and sure, call it her seniority over them even thought they were all probably close in age, but she still had her pride and she didn't appreciate being chased all over the building like some rare specimen.

All the girls must've sensed her discomfort so they backed off, all except for Yerim who was still in front of her. They had given her more space and Yerim switched to a more friendly approach to try to get her to talk. 

"Sorry for chasing you last time. We were just very curious about you. That's it." Yerim apologized.

The trainee extended her hand as a sort of truce and Go Won looked down at her hand in thought. She figured she needed to accept the handshake so they could leave her alone.

"Apology accepted."

Yerim practically beamed when Go Won gave her her hand. Oh wow, something about her just seemed very familiar right then and there. The smaller girl subconsciously searched something in her eyes, as if trying to decipher some sort of code that needed cracking.

The more she stared the more something about her eyes seemed...

frighteningly familiar with...

Hyejoo's...

And that's when she noticed Go Won had been shaking her hand all this time for way too long. Snapping back to reality she saw Yerim was now looking at her weird. All other girls were sending the same odd looks her way.

Great.

Go Won needed to get out of here now before she did more weird things.

The secret idol suddenly dropped her hand, "I'm sorry but I really have to go," she said as she then squeezed past all four girls.

She had interacted more than she had meant to. She needed to make a plan if she was going to continue to run into the trainees like this. Maybe Yerim's crazy theory wouldn't be so bad to use. She could just go with them say she really was a secret trainee, what were they going to do about it?

Surprisingly they didn't fight her or try to chase her this time. They still sent curious looks her way, but she was sure they had gotten scolded last time for disturbing the peace of the company. 

"See you around," Yerim waved.

Go Won hurried her steps and got back to her original goal of finding Hyejoo. Maybe she had the girl in her head so much that now she was finding her in other people. That was way too freaky.

Something had happened at the audition. Maybe around the time all the trainees went out of the room as they decided who was moving to the next round. That was the only time she had her out of sight. If something was the matter Go Won wanted to know so she could do something about it.

She couldn't ask Sooyoung for a ride, she was off showing Jiwoo the reigns. Go Won would have to find