Author's POV

(July 11 - December 21, 2022)

"So! It's settled then? All members are going to renew their contracts?" JYP asked the girls.

All of them nodded, except for Dahyun who's been endlessly staring at the floor ever since they entered JYP's office.

Of course, everybody noticed her.

"Dahyun-ah?" The old man raised his eyebrows with concern.

He eyed the other girls, silently asking them if something was wrong with their fellow members.

The 8 girls shook their heads.

After that, Jeongyeon nudged Sana (who was sitting beside Dahyun) to wake the latter up from her daydream.

Sana sighed and shook Dahyun's shoulder slightly.

"Hm? Huh?" Good thing it worked.

Dahyun faced Sana with a confused face.

The older said, "JYP-nim's asking us if we're going to renew".

"Oh-! Ah!" She scratched her not-so-itchy nape.

"Were you talking about that?" Dahyun asked, trying to stay in the same convo with them.

"Yes, we are talking about it now" JYP chuckled.

"Sorry. I was just a bit...busy with my thoughts" 

"It's fine. Anyways, Dahyun-ah. Since we're on the topic, I have a question for you" He said.

"Yes, PD-nim?" 

"Would you like to renew your contract?" He asked.

Dahyun felt tense.

Chaeyoung, on the other hand though, smiled brightly.

"Oh, come on PD-nim! Is that even a question?" She laughed making everybody (except Dahyun) inside the room laugh as well.

"That's right! But still, she needs to be the one to answer that question" JYP stated.

"So, Dahyun-ah, will you? Or will you not renew?" 

The whole room went silent with everyone waiting for her answer.

"About that...I'm-It's..." Dahyun sighed.

"It's still undecided" What she said made them frown.

"W-Well...!" JYP's not gonna lie, he was a bit taken aback and so were the other girls.

"...you still have until December to decide, no rush" He assured her.

Dahyun bowed from her seat and said, "Thank you, I appreciate that".

The old man nodded.

"With that being said, the company will release an official statement tomorrow stating that 8 of the members will renew their contracts while 1 is still indecisive"

"Let's end our small meeting here. You may take the rest of the day off" He added

Everybody left the room.

The girls headed down the building to their designated vans.

They went back to the dorm and that's where pretty much everybody started arguing.

"Why? Why is it still undecided?!" Out of control, Nayeon shouted at Dahyun.

"Unnie, calm down. She said that it's still undecided which means it's 50% yes and 50% no" Mina explained. 

"That's the point! What if she says no? What will happen to 9 or none???" Nayeon was furious, still unable to imagine what it'd feel like if 1 member was missing.

Dahyun, on the other hand, had her head hanging down low.

She knows that her members are very precious to her but those comments she read online kinda...tore her apart.