“Yuri-ya! Wake up! You’re going to be late!” A voice yells repeatedly to the annoyance of the girl who was just sound asleep.

“Yah, Yena! I heard you the first time!” Yuri replies while rubbing her eyes, but the voice of her girlfriend wouldn’t stop ringing in her ears.

“Wait…no you didn’t” When the hamster sits up and looks to her right, she sees that the noise was coming from her phone.

“I thought I told her to not set that as my alarm….” She thinks as she turns it off and checks her messages from the duck.

“Hi, Yul! I know you said your old alarm worked fine, but I just wanted you to hear my voice just in case I wasn’t gonna be at home like today. I’ll see ya later, love~” The text says. Yuri could only smile reading it.

“Cute…” Yuri says aloud before messaging back.

It’s definitely been a busy past few months for her with her finally chasing her dream of being an idol singer. The husky voice she was told wouldn’t cut it in this industry turned out to be her greatest strength and led to her debut album, “Glassy” to be a huge success. Yuri was glad that Chaewon had decided to dip her toes into the scene too because she always showcased the talent when the group would go out and sing at karaoke rooms.

“Alright, let’s see what we have lined up this week.” She says as she opens her manager’s chat box. Yena had volunteered herself to fill that role, but Yuri knew that duck had a lot on her plate already.

“Okay, so a radio show interview later at noon, music show recording tomorrow morning, and a fansigning the day after that.” Yuri reads to herself. It sounded like another busy week, but she’d always seemed to enjoy the work of being an idol more than others. There was just something so invigorating about using music to connect with others. Maybe, it was the fact that it was one of those avenues that she knew her powers couldn’t affect. She could certainly order people to like her music, but her fanbase wouldn’t be sustainable if she just used her powers. She had to let her singing do the convincing. With a bright smile, the hamster heads to the showers to freshen up for another long day.

~~~~

“How does it feel now that your debut song has finally hit number one on the charts?” The radio host asks.

“It’s incredible, really. I’ve worked really hard since I was a kid, and this has been a dream come true. I can’t thank Glassy enough for the support they’ve given me.” Yuri responds.

“Speaking of Glassy, how did you and the team think of that as the fandom name? It’s certainly very unique.”

“Ah, it’s simple! My name, Yuri, translates to glass in english, so we figured it’d be nice to fit the fandom name around that theme, and eventually, we arrived at Glassy.”

“Oh, that’s actually really cute. I love it!” The host says with a laugh before asking her next question.

“Final few questions now. One of your good friends, Kim Chaewon, was just accepted into HYVE. You must be very happy for her, but I have to ask, what’s it like to be around her when she’s split into multiple copies?”

“Hmm, without getting into too much detail, I’d say that Chaewon-unnie is a really funny and charming person which means that when there’s multiple of her in a room, it just multiplies the fun. She can be a little bit of a handful at times though.” Yuri says with a smile. On the inside though, she already knew Chaewon would be teasing her about it later.

“I’m sure her growing fanbase is certainly going to be more excited for her debut now!” The host replies cheerfully.

“Before we move on to our live performance from Jo Yuri-ssi, we have one more question sent in by the fans. You’ve been fairly quiet about your own abilities since your debut, is there a reason for that?” Yuri goes a bit quiet at that query. She’s seen a lot of the rumors going around, but she’s never addressed them because she was still afraid of what the public would think if they found out.

“Uhm, like I’ve stated in previous interviews, I like to keep my life as an idol and a member of IZ*ONE separate. Let’s just say that it's not something that would be useful in variety shows or performances.” She eventually replies. Sensing the energy level in the room dropping, the host decides to move on to the live performance much to Yuri’s relief.

The hamster steps up to the mic, putting her worries aside, and does what she does best: sing her heart out.

“So bright, I like those eyes that spill out all the light~

When I open my eyes, I feel a trembling like from the movies~

You and me, some day, let’s start, my baby~”

“Alright! That was a wonderful performance, Yuri-ssi! Thank you once again for coming to the show.”

“It was my pleasure!” Yuri replies, feeling a lot less stressed out.

“Okay, everyone! This has been Kim Shinyoung”s Hope Song at Noon, and we hope to have you again tomorrow!” The host concludes before ending the broadcast.

~~~~

“I’m very sorry about the final question there, Yuri-ssi. Upper-management sent that to me last second, and I didn’t have time to screen it.” Shinyoung says apologetically.

“It’s fine, sunbaenim. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been asked about it.” Yuri replies with a sigh. Her company has tried helping out by deleting and reporting rumors being posted online, but it hasn’t really quelled the public’s curiosity.

“In any case, I’m wishing you the best with your promotions.” The radio host says with a bow before going back to her boot. Yuri, on the other hand, greets the fans for a bit before leaving the building. With her schedule looking free for the rest of the day, there’s only one place she wanted to be right now which prompted her to take out her phone and dial a number.

“Yena-unnie, where are you right now?” .

“At PD campus. I just got back from my trip.” The duck replies.

“You good for a late lunch?” Yuri asks.

“Of course, Yul, I can pick you up if you want.” Yena suggests, but is quickly denied.

“Yah, you must be tired from your trip; just rest. I'll see you soon. Love ya~” Yuri orders before putting her phone away. She was just about to head on her way when a voice called out to her.

“Yuri-ssi! There you are!” It was her manager. Yuri was usually very thankful to have her, but this was not one of those times.

“Oh, hi, unnie! The rest of the day was free, so I was planning on visiting PD campus before heading home.” Yuri says.

“Don’t you want to use the private van to get there?”

“This is a personal trip, unnie. The PD campus location is also supposed to be a secret, remember? Besides, you guys need to go home too. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it!” Yuri doesn’t wait for a response anymore and hails a taxi, leaving her manager at a loss for words. She’d had to manage a lot of idols in past years, but Yuri was certainly the most unique of them all.

~~~~

“Heh, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone miss the cafeteria food here as much as you, Yul.” Yena quips as they sit down at their table.

“You try dieting for a few weeks to prepare for an album, and tell me you don’t miss this.” Yuri replies with a laugh. After eating so much salad recently, the tteokbokki and dakgangjeong at the PD cafeteria really hit the spot.

“I was listening to your radio show on the way home by the way. Your song is just so good!” Yena says cheerfully. She was actually one of the first people to hear it, and she had been addicted to the tune ever since.

“Is Chaewon around? They really put me on the spot with that question about her.”

“Nope, she’s at HYVE practicing right now, but she did send me a text.” Yena then proceeds to take out her phone and show it .

“Yah, tell Yuri that she’s the one that’s always a handful whenever we hang out.” It says, which causes Yuri to let out a laugh when she reads it.

“Anyway, how was the trip? Are your parents okay?” Yuri asks after settling down. After the Jeju mess, Yena did decide to go looking for her family, and after a few days of asking around her old neighborhood, she found out they had moved to Gwangju which was pretty far from Seoul. It turned out they just moved to be away from the hustle and bustle of the Seoul metropolitan area. It was never because they wanted to leave Yena behind. Once they saw her on the news, her parents knew she’d find her way back to them.

“It was good; We just caught up over some food. It felt like they missed you more than they missed me though. They wouldn’t stop asking about you!” Yena whines, causing the two to burst into laughter again. There was just never a dull time with Yena around.

“Okay, now that I have your spirits up again, mind telling me what’s wrong?” Yena asks suddenly.

“You mean aside from you putting a personal voice alarm in my phone?” Yuri jokes, trying to deflect the topic.

“C’mon, Yul. I could tell from our call that something was bothering you. It was that radio show question about your powers, wasn’t it?” Yena had talked about this with the younger girl before. She knew how apprehensive Yuri was about sharing what her actual power was to the public. Even if her charmspeak only infused her words when she was trying to give orders, people probably wouldn’t see it the same way.

“Aish, you can always see through me. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but the rumors are starting to pick up, especially after that Chaewon clone made a scene at a press conference. I know it wasn’t Chaewon-unnie’s fault, but it feels like people are asking me about my powers more and more now.” Yuri replies with a pout.

“You mean Michelle? Yeah, that was certainly a crazy situation. I wish we were around to help Chae out when it happened, but we can’t dwell on that anymore.”

“I’ve seen posts from guards we’ve fought who escaped custody talking about us online. There’s apparently video of us from the gas station incident making rounds too, and it’s been hard for Wakeone and Seunggi-sunbaenim to delete them all. On top of that, it’s only a matter of time before my parents start talking about me. I’m lucky right now that they were never big on using the internet.”

“Okay, okay, calm down, Yuri. Listen, I’m not going to tell you what you should do, but I will say that it’s better if a secret comes out from the source first before someone else says it. That way, people will know you weren’t trying to hide it. I know it’s hard, but these choices usually are.” Yena says, putting a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Alright, unnie. I’ll give it some thought. Thanks for being here for me.” Yuri replies, laying her head on the older girl’s chest.

~~~~

A few hours later…

Since Yuri had a music show recording the next morning, she decided to head back to her apartment in the city. This time though, Yena had insisted on driving her over, and while the duck was busy ordering dinner, the younger girl went out for a walk.

These were the days where she felt so grateful to have someone like Yena in her life. Normally, idols had restrictions on dating, but Yuri had made it clear to Wakeone that if she was going to sign with them, they’d have to let her openly date her girlfriend. Did that lead her to start out with less fans? Sure, but Yuri knew that her ability to sing would bring people in sooner or later. She hoped there wouldn’t be any problems between Minjoo and Chaewon because of their careers either.

After a few laps around the park outside their apartment, Yuri thought it was about time to return back to the apartment, but a sudden melody caught her attention. When she turns, she sees a man stop in his tracks and slowly start walking towards an alleyway.

“That’s…odd.” Yuri thinks, her IZ*ONE danger senses tingling and causing her to follow.

~~~~
After a few minutes of sneaking through the thin alleyways, Yuri finally catches up to the person she was tracking. It looked like he was in a daze as he staggered forward in crooked lines..

“Maybe he was just drunk.” Yuri says to herself while contemplating turning around, but at that moment, the sound she had heard earlier returned. It was a woman singing, but she couldn’t make out any of the words. It looked like it was affecting the guy in front of her though who immediately started grabbing at his head.

“Hey, are you okay?’ Yuri asks after rushing in to check on him, but his eyes appeared like they were staring right through her.

“The siren… is calling…” He manages to slur out with the singing only getting louder.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Yuri orders, putting her charmspeak into her words. When no one appears, she turns around to check on the man, but is suddenly knocked off her feet from behind. Before she could even react, Yuri hears a scream followed by a thud as the man was now bleeding on the ground with a puncture wound on his neck.

“What…” Yuri gets up and scans her surroundings until she sees a woman in all black walking away while humming the tune she’d heard earlier. She was about to follow, but that’s when she heard voices coming in her direction.

“I heard some commotion from this direction!” One voice had said. Yuri realizes that the crime scene did not look favorable towards her, and decides to return later. As she turns to run though, she feels a camera flash shine on her.

“Yah, that person killed this guy!” A woman shrieks which causes Yuri to run even further away. Luckily for her, she was wearing a mask, but this was definitely going to be a problem in the morning.

“Jo Yuri… what did you just get yourself into.” She says to herself before calling Yena.

A/N: Okay, I know I said this story was still in the idea phase, but the plot started to put itself together when I really thought about it HAHA. Welcome to part 1 of the Masked Singer (sneaky title reference to stream Yuri's performances there)! 

One thing that isn't super set in stone yet is who the villain is supposed. I mentioned this in the past, but I kinda want to avoid making real idols as villains just to not start any misunderstandings. As of right now, the name I'm using is a made up one, but if they happen to actually be a real singer, I apologize! 

Anyways, thanks always for the likes and comments! If there's any feedback, just let me know, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter!