June 3rd, 2018, sunlight main training hall

It was the early summer of 2018, rays of sunshine shining through the windows of the company. It was calm at the moment, with only a few staff members walking around in the common area and hallways. This was because it was one of those days that CEO Lim had an announcement to make, and traditionally, every trainee and some of the staff would plant their butts down on the wooden floor of the main training hall. It's not like Sunlight had a big building with many halls, but at least they had a proper building with multiple training rooms, not many companies of their level could afford such a thing.

"Thank you all for coming today, dear trainees," CEO Lim began, his eyes scanning all the trainees in the room, with the majority of them staring right back with curious eyes. The trainees knew that it was not a weigh-in, because that always happened on the 1st of the month, so it must be something special. Most of the trainees were already trying to figure out what was going on, some whispering among one another, others were just in their own thoughts.

"There is going to be an evaluation... in three weeks, to be exact," CEO Lim announced, his lips curling into a tiny, mischievous smirk when he heard several grunts and sighs coming from the trainees. Most of them really loved performing, but he knew that evaluations were both nerve wrecking and tiring, but it was the best way to prepare the trainees for the upcoming debuts. Murmurs arose as trainees began to discuss more and more among themselves. Usually evaluations were in single gendered groups of 4, so multiple trainees had started making their little groups already. "Quiet, please!", Taesung, CEO Lim's right hand, commanded, silencing all the trainees immediately. The kids at least listened to him, but they didn't always take the CEO himself too seriously.

After thanking Taesung for his assistance, noticeably being a bit embarassed, the CEO continued with his announcement. "This is not going to be just a regular group of 4 evaluation. No. It's an evaluation to decide a debut lineup." Upon hearing that a debut is on the line, even more commotion arose. Debut? Finally? Sunlight had been open to trainees for five whole years, while numbers were tiny in those first few years, they did wait awfully long with debuting a group. Myunghee, one of the female trainees, immediately expressed her excitement by squeaking to the other girls around her. Most trainees share that excitement, but a few were eyeing the other gender. The CEO did not specify who was going to debut. Was it going to be a competition between genders? If yes, the boys would be at a disadvantage because the girls definitely outnumbered them at this time. After letting the trainees speculate for a few moments, CEO Lim cleared his throat, loudly. To the staff's surprise, everyone shut up immediately. They listened to the CEO for once? It must be the excitement of the news. Everyone was staring at him with eyes full of curiosity, cause the announcement was still not done.

"I have a few more things for this evaluation. This time, you have to pick the song yourself and make your own choreography. It has to include at least a few original parts, but the more it is your own work, the better, of course," the CEO continued, looking at the trainees, some of them humming, others already thinking of songs to use. "Oh and also, this is the most important part, the evaluation will be in groups of two boys and three girls. We have decided the groups ourselves." And the bomb dropped. First gasps, then commotion, a lot of commotion as the trainees expressed their confusion. A debut evaluation? But it's coed? And you can't even pick your own groups? The group of trainees noticeably grew more nervous as they let the news sink in. Daehwan clenched his fists as he saw his chances potentially fade from existence.

Daehwan was the oldest trainee of the whole group, being past debut age for most companies. He himself even considered it a surprise that he was still allowed to train here. Every time he would perform at an evaluation, he could hear whispers everywhere, mostly about his age, wondering why he was still trying. Daehwan had almost given up at some occasions, but he felt like if sunlight offered this chance, he should grab it and at least enjoy training while it lasts. He did not expect it to last much longer. Yes, Daehwan could choreograph, but he was not really popular among the trainees. The few boys he knew loved him to bits and saw him as a big brother, but he was not the type to just go out and talk to people. The only girls he knew were a select few that he had helped with dance practice before. His taste was probably different than the young ones as well, and he expected the evaluation to be a mess. Daehwan was deep into his thoughts when a trainee next to him said something that made him perk up. "They're debuting a co-ed group, I'm sure of it. There is no reason why they would otherwise do a co-ed debut evaluation, no?" The words came from Haoran, a foreign trainee who was known to be quite quick in picking things up. Daehwan looked over at the boy before nodding, "I didn't even have time to think of that. I wonder how that's going to work... It's very risky." To that, Haoran agreed. Co-ed groups almost never worked. Why would it work now? The CEO was known for his weird ideas, but this might just cost the company their reputation and budget. It was questionable, but for most trainees the thought of debuting was more important. At this point, CEO Lim started to call trainees and giving them cards. On those cards stood the group they were assigned to. It felt like a school project, how trainees scurried to find their teammates and head to the best training rooms to ensure having a good spot. Daehwan waited until it all calmed down and then went to grab his card. His nerves were growing as he searched through the rooms to find his teammates.

After some searching work, Daehwan had found his team. They had already hurried to grab a good spot and ended up sharing a smaller training room with another team. It was not one of the big ones, but they had enough space and it was way less busy than the big rooms. Daehwan quickly mumbled a hello while sitting down, the others shuffling to the side to make space for him in their circle. Daehwan laid eyes on his four teammates, who all seemed just as confused as him. No one really seemed to be friends or have any connection at all, and an awkward silence fell over them all. Daehwan felt like he had to take it into his own hands, as the oldest trainee of all, so he clapped his hands once to alert the team before speaking.

"I see that uh... we are not really close with each other, so I suggest we do a little introduction round first? Then we can brainstorm over what we can do." The whole group agreed, but no one spoke a word. When Daehwan noticed that all eyes were on him, he realised that he had to begin the introduction round. So he cleared his throat before introducing himself.

"I'm Lee Daehwan, currently 25 years old..."

"Oh my god, you're the grandpa of the company-" a girl with pigtails interrupted, grinning.

"Yes, and I specialise in dance." Daehwan grinned a bit as well before finishing his introduction, turning his head to look at his neighbour, who was a girl that looked like she was a model, but also had a face filled with sunshine. She immediately began with a peppy tone.

"Hi! I'm Jo Myunghee, 19 years old and also a dancer!" She spoke happily before bowing, "let's make this work and debut together!"

The next one was a bit more quiet, a beautiful girl with a very calming aura around her. After some silence and hopeful looks towards her, she perked up.

"oh! Is it my turn? I'm sorry- I'm Han Gaeul, uh... I'm 20, and I mostly do vocals!" She gave the others a welcoming smile, blushing just a tiny bit from embarassment that was welling up. "A vocal? That's great," the boy next to her commented, seemingly relieved upon hearing her position before seamkessly continuing with his own introduction.

"Cause I am certainly not one- I can hold a tone but I'm a rapper in heart and bones! Also, the name is Codi Song and I am currently 22!" The other boy continued, he seemed to be getting more talkative now, Daehwan smiled, enjoying it. Then all eyes were on the last one, the miss with the cute pigtails. She smiled happily and began introducing herself, showing lots of energy.

"I am Bae Sohee! I'm also a rapper just like Codi, and I am... Sixteen!" Sohee exclaimed before turning to look at Daehwan full of anticipation. He was already burying his head into his hands. "Oh god she's so younf... Do I even remember the times I was 16?" The rest of the team laughed at his comments. "What year were you born in, Sohee?" Myunghee wondered, gaze shifting between the oldest and youngest. "2002!" Sohee replied, resulting in even more complaints from Daehwan. "Oh god, that is a whole decade." Laughs echoed in the room as Daehwan's heart sunk. He was clearly way too old for this.

"Enough complaining, Daehwan, we should hurry and look for a song," Codi grinned. "Is Daehwan our leader now? Since he's old and all, you know," Sohee chimed in with her happy energy. "I think that's a good idea," Gaeul nodded.

"Alrighty then... Let's try and find a song, does anyone have suggestions?" Daehwan took the leader role immediately, and watched as all four hands went up and his teammates started throwing artist names at him.

sien's corner : I am so sorry, i could actually not finish this teaser but since I am out for the weekend, I wanted to try writing one before I left. Dont worry, this will definitely get a second part soon ;;;; I really wanted to finish it but I just didn't have enough time before I had to leave. I tried to cut it off at a good point so I can continue on somewhere in the next few weeks (my schedule is packed oof). I hope you enjoy this extremely short one nontheless ;w;