PRESENT
March 3rd, 2030
10:00 a.m.
Irvine, California, USA

A sigh of relief escaped from Yuyeon's lips as she surveyed the living room.

Although toys and coloring books scattered the smooth wooden floor, which meant another hour of cleaning, she allowed a triumphant smile to appear on her face. As Yuyeon had hoped, her three-year-old daughter Seolah had knocked out on the mattress in front of the couch. And there was no crying or fussing over the baby monitor, which meant her one-year-old son Jonghyun was also asleep in his cot upstairs. For once, the house was silent.  

Yuyeon exhaled again, thankful for the peaceful atmosphere, and hoisted the laundry basket full of baby jumpers and Jimin's clothes on the kitchen counter. It'd been an uneventful Sunday morning so far and Yuyeon planned for the rest of the day to remain that way.

Her hands traced the outline of her barely there pregnant stomach and she smiled to herself. Yuyeon's little baby was just over two months, which meant it would be some time before it started moving, but she still enjoyed occasionally rubbing a hand over the bump. Yuyeon was no stranger to pregnancy, but the exciting, fluttering feeling of motherhood never got old. 

Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a KakaoTalk notification and she was surprised to see that she was getting an incoming call from someone she hadn't heard from in a while. She quickly slid open her phone and answered the call in case the buzzing woke up Seolah. "It's been a while, Manager Hyunjae," Yuyeon softly greeted.

"Hello, Yuyeon," the deep voice of Seo Hyunjae, the former manager of Bloom, responded. 

"How are you?" Yuyeon asked, leaning against the marble counter. She was surprised to hear that her own voice didn't give away her confusion as to why he was calling her. The last time Yuyeon saw Seo Hyunjae was five years ago at her wedding. She could almost imagine him standing in front of her with his arms crossed and his mouth formed in his signature, unamused frown.

Hyunjae wasn't interested in small talk. "Yuyeon, have you been checking your emails?"

Yuyeon blinked. She'd been so busy juggling household chores and childcare that she hadn't checked her email the past couple of days. "No, why?"

"Check your email right now," her former manager ordered.

Yuyeon huffed, slightly put off by his tone. This was the treatment she got after several years of not seeing him? She obediently walked over to her Mac laptop that was sitting on the couch and opened it. After logging into her email account, Yuyeon skimmed past baby clothes advertisements and subscriptions until a particular subject line caught her eye. A Trip Down Memory Lane?

Yuyeon's eyebrows crinkled together in confusion. "Hyunjae, I don't understand," she began. She clicked on the message and scrolled through the content. "Isn't ATDML a Korean television show that documents past k-pop groups and catches up with their current lives? What does that have to do with -”

She stopped mid-sentence when her eyes fell on a certain section of the email. The producers of ATDML would like to have the iconic girl group Bloom as the main cast for our fourth season. We invite you, Moon Yuyeon, to join us on this exciting journey. Should you decide to come, we will gladly pay for your flight expenses and accommadations during the filming. 

"They want to document Bloom?" Yuyeon stammered. "But it's been five years since Bloom ended their contract. I haven't kept in contact with any of the girls!" 

"People haven't forgotten Bloom, Yuyeon," Hyunjae said. "Think about how happy the fans will be when they get to see their favorite girl group back in the public eye. And since you haven't kept in contact with any of the members, it's a good excuse for a reunion."

Yuyeon groaned. "What did you do?" She had a feeling her former manager pulled some strings to get them on the reality show. Maybe even the CEOs of her old company were in on the plan too.

"Nothing," Hyunjae responded in a neutral tone. "I've spoken to both Juntaek and Junmi and they thought it was a great idea for Bloom to join ATDML."

"Well of course, it'll bring more publicity to the company," Yuyeon remarked, more to herself than to Hyunjae.

"Think about it, Yuyeon," Hyunjae said seriously. "I've managed to meet up with a couple of the other girls and they seem eager to do the show. I would love to see all seven members of Bloom together again."

Yuyeon chewed on her bottom lip nervously and her eyes darted over to Seolah, who flipped to sleep on her stomach. "Hyunjae, I have children to take care of and a dance studio to manage. There's no way I could -"

"Think about it," the former Bloom manager repeated, with a little more insistence in his voice. "You have a few days to respond, but don't take too long. They have to start preparing for the show. If more than three members aren't able to do it, they're going to cancel Bloom and look for another group to focus on."

Yuyeon sighed. "Alright, I'll talk to Jimin about it."

"Oh yes, bring Jimin along," Hyunjae answered. "It'll be better if the spouses of Bloom appeared in the show. You know, my younger daughter still can't believe you managed to snag the Park Jimin of BTS. I remember how shocked the fans were when you announced your engagement to Jimin." He chuckled fondly at the memory.

Yuyeon flushed, though she knew Hyunjae couldn't see her embarrassment. "I'll try my best," she promised.

"Well, I hope to hear good news in the next few days," Hyunjae said. "It's 2am here, so I have to go now, Yuyeon, but give me a call when you decide to join the show. It was good to hear your voice again."

"And the same to you," Yuyeon anwered. "See you soon, Manager Hyunjae."

After she ended her call with Hyunjae, Yuyeon stared at her phone for several seconds, absorbing in the conversation. It'd been so long since she was in front of the camera, not to mention with her members. She wondered what they were doing this very moment.

She went to the YouTube app on her phone and typed something in the search box. A flurry of videos popped up and she selected the first option. BLOOM - La La La MV. 

A funky guitar beat began to play from the audio and she smiled sadly when she saw the familiar, black-haired girl who sang the first line. Ayo, this is the one, that's what you do to me, ah yeah. Nineteen-year-old Yuyeon seemed like a century ago. Yuyeon reached up to her face and it briefly, wondering if her face was still as pretty as it was back then.   

Suddenly, Yuyeon was transported back to 2015, with memories of late night dance practices and jam sessions flooding her mind. She remembered how chaotic the last rehearsal was before Bloom's debut stage at M Countdown. Excitement ran high among the girls, but so did frustration because their performance wasn't as perfect as they wanted it to be. In the end, the girls put aside their annoyances and worked together to pull off a flawless rehearsal.

"Perfect!" their leader announced happily as soon as the music faded into the background. She breathed heavily and wiped away sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. "I think we're ready for tomorrow night."

She pointed at Yuyeon. "Can you show us that last bit of the choreography again? Just so we can see the musicality."

Yuyeon nodded and without needing the music accompainment, she danced the choreography of the last thirty seconds of the song. She counted the beats out loud so her group members could memorize them. When she finished, the leader nodded in satisfaction. 

"Did everyone get that?" she asked the rest of Bloom. When they nodded in response, she smiled, satisfied and proud of her girls. "Thank you, Yuyeon!"

"Anytime," Yuyeon replied, blowing a kiss at her leader. 

"Yuyeon, you're so hot," one of her group members teased as she squirted her water bottle in Yuyeon's direction. "As expected of our rhythm queen."

Yuyeon blinked back into present time and with a shock, she noticed that a stray tear had slipped down her cheek. She patted her face and flicked the tear away. At that moment, she realized just how much she missed her members. With her family and life in general constantly keeping her on her toes, it was hard maintaining her past friendships.

Maybe starring in this reality television show wasn't a bad idea.

So here is a little teaser to introduce my girl Yuyeon and her current life in 2030. I hope you enjoyed reading this and getting a sense of my writing style! As you can tell, she's a mom of two kids (soon to be three) and hasn't really been able to keep in contact with the rest of Bloom because of her busy mommy lifestyle.