As if a small campfire was built in her chest, the tiny flickering of hope grows from the ground up, starting as a little spark and kindling into a more powerful, prominent roar. Yoona’s chest constricts and expands with her palpable breaths. Her excitement rises with the flames, soaring higher and higher as her pulse races.

 She couldn’t believe her ears. They had to be deceiving her because this was too good to be true. There’s no way this is happening.

“All expenses are paid, of course. It’s imperative that you only have to focus all of your time and energy into training, so I don’t want you worrying about paying Millenium’s fees on top of that and taking away from your learning experience,” Ceo Yang Hyunsuk continues his explanation calmly as if Yoona wasn’t freaking out in front of him. 

If he notices the shock written all over her face and the trembling of her body, he doesn’t say anything, but really, it’s not like she expected him to. Her feelings in the situation do not really matter. She could be over the moon with joy or absolutely devastated, on the brink of a mental breakdown, and YG will tell her the same news regardless because it’s not about the individual - no, it’s only about the company - Yoona learned that lesson years ago.

He passively watches her from across the expanse of his wooden desktop, hands folded over a small stack of papers neatly arranged in a pile, a pensive stare boring into her skull. And it doesn’t take a genius to understand that he’s waiting for a reply of some sort, an answer, either verbal or nonverbal, so Yoona takes that as her cue to nod in agreement.

“Oh um, yes, CEO-nim, sir, I would be honored to train at Millenium dance complex on behalf of YG entertainment. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I’m so surprised at the offer,” Her soft voice doesn’t hide the emotion simmering under the surface, the feeling of being short of breath echoing back from the office walls. YG accepts her response readily, with a small satisfied smile from under the brim of his cap. 

Millennium dance studio. MILLENNIUM! The very best dance studio in nearly the entire world was where she was being sent to. She, just a measly trainee, to train with legendary choreographers, with millions and billions of Youtube views on all their videos and a long list of company credits to boot. This was unreal, an absolute dream come true that she had to be asleep. There was no way she was chosen to attend their head school in America.

“Why are you so surprised, Yang Yoona-ssi? You’ve done well here, proving to me that you’re a capable dancer. So this shouldn’t be that shocking to you.” YG’s tone is matter-of-fact, leaving no room for humble disregard. Even if Yoona wanted to protest, the chance isn’t there because the man is already moving on from that line of conversation, clearly finished with the matter, as he turns his attention down to the stack of papers. 

She swallows quietly while watching as he carefully unclasps his hands before taking hold of the crisp sheets and lifting them off of the table surface. He taps the stack against the wood with a loud sound, realigning the papers carefully without sparing Yoona a glance, and she gets the impression that there’s more to say here. His serious face is back on, replacing his small smile with a stoic frown, and she waits with bated breath in the tense silence for her next orders. He’s yet to explain everything to her, all the minuscule details that are much more important than YG is treating them. 

The CEO clears his throat, directing her stare back to his face as he begins to speak again, silencing her brain, “Now, you’ll be staying in Los Angeles, California, at the head institution for two years, training under the watchful eye of their top choreographers and coaches.” he shuffles the paperwork through thick fingers, eyes scanning the top line of text for a few quiet seconds and Yoona blinks, ‘holy moly… wait, what did he just say ?’

‘He’s giving me time to think,’ she realizes as he pretends to reread information he has probably thoroughly combed through at least ten times by now, and for the first time, Yoona is thankful for his rare consideration. He keeps his head down, gaze fixed on his paperwork, and Yoona takes the spare moment to shift through her wild thoughts, making some semblance of sense out of the facts presented. 

She bites down on her lower lip, the words barely comprehensible over the rushing of blood in her ears. Two years. She’ll be training in the United States for a total of two years ? Disbelief clouds her thoughts as her plush lower lip slowly turns white under the pressure of her teeth digging into the soft skin. Yoona’s eyes refuse to focus on anything, darting around unseeingly while lost in contemplation. 

Two more years of training. Two more years added to her time honing her skills to debut. Two more years of waiting. Sure, she’d be doing her favorite thing - dancing, and at the most prestigious studio that only she could ever hope to attend, but this was…a lot to think about, and the tension in her posture, the squeezing of her arms into her sides, shoulders ridged and raised like a cat, says more than she’ll ever verbally admit. The chair under her suddenly feels extremely hard and uncomfortable against her bones as she grips the arms with white knuckles. 

Disbelief, confusion, resignation, and even a tiny glimmer of hope flicker past her features in a millisecond, not settling on one feeling but giving in to the swarm scrambling her brain. He was asking her to train for longer rather than giving her the okay for debuting, and really, she was disappointed but not surprised at this point in her long trainee career. Mainly she was confused, though. What did this mean? Why was she going all the way to the United States to train when she’d been at the company this long? Was this good or bad? What did it mean? 

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Yoona had been burnt one too many times by YG, and this had been her last day. Not only did the CEO pull her from the Pink Punk project, going as far as debuting BLACKPINK without her as a member, sending her back to the basement to continue training, but on the same day that she decided to pack her backs and call it quits, YG drops this on her.

But…as much as she wanted to turn down the long tirade of unfairness, something was calling to Yoona’s soul. Something was holding her back from declining… She didn’t believe in fate and barely acknowledged her childhood of shrine life as a religious circumstance, but what were the chances of circumstances like this? It had to be something meaningful if this was all happening on the same day she was supposed to quit YG entertainment. 

‘Maybe… this is an opportunity? My golden chance. And really, can it be that bad if I’m dancing? And, come on… it’s Millenium!!’ a little voice whispered hopefully in her head, and Yoona couldn’t help but give it some merit. At the very least, maybe something good would come out of it. Two years was a long time to be away from home, but many changes could come about during this timeframe. Maybe the CEO planned on her becoming a coach? Or had other ideas for her talents? Regardless, this was her chance to become something more than a starving trainee. She would be stupid not to take it.

So when the words fell from her lips, Yoona was nearly stunned at her own eagerness, just as stunned as YG was when his wide eyes met her own in a mirrored expression, movements frozen. 
 

“Yes. yes, please sign me up.”

 

 The building was alight with the hustle and bustle of a regular weekday. A melody co