The President slowly paced back and forth in front of the anxious trainees. 10 girls, all of different ages, statures, and races, stood in a straight line in front of him, all with their hands at their sides. You could tell by their body language that each of them was nervous.

“I have gathered the ten of you here, for a reason that you all know. You are all here for I have decided to create another group. Yes, that has been established, but I know what all of you are asking in your hearts: “Why am I here?”. He paused.

“Some of you have been here for years, some just months, and some of you in between, but you ten girls possess something that I see in all of the trainees that I decide to debut. I’m going to tell you a story. It’s a story that I tell all of my trainees at this point; this story does not leave this room and must never enter the ears of one who has not heard it once before from me, understood?”

Each girl nodded.

“’What makes you choose a trainee?’ I am always asked this in interviews, but I never give them the true answer. Yes I look for those with either or both outstanding singing or dancing skills who usually come from multicultural backgrounds, but the true answer is the twinkle. There is something in each of you, in each of Diamond’s staff and trainees; I saw a twinkle in you. Not just anyone can have this “twinkle”, only a few do, which is why one may have the best singing skills in the world, but if I don’t see the twinkle in them, I will not let them under my wing. What I see in you is more than the twinkle, I call it the sparkle of the Diamond. When I see the sparkle in you is when I know you are ready to become more than a trainee. I have never let a trainee begin to train for their debut without seeing their sparkle. My hope for each of you is to turn that sparkle into shine, the shine of a Diamond, which is what you see in all your sunbae when they are on stage. They shine like diamonds in the rough. Though not all of you will be picked for this group, I still see that sparkle in you, but the ones I choose have the brightest sparkle, and hopefully, you will continue to sparkle under Diamond Ent until you can shine.”

The president paused for a second time, this time he took a sip from his water bottle. They felt as if he was teasing them, because now he was just staring, watching the sweat drip from their foreheads.

“Now I will tell you about the group. I am creating a 4 girl group, which I have never done. With every artist I create, I learn more, so I am expecting this new group to be the most successful yet. The four chosen girls are all at least part Korean and something else, like all ten of you, in order to appeal to a broader market. In my mind, I hope to create a super girl group that takes the Asian music industry by storm and cause a huge explosion, like an atomic bomb. The four chosen girls will need otherworldly dedication and motivation to survive their tight schedules. The four will do extensive promotions, live performances, live radio and television filming, acting, and CF acting.”

He noticed us all the girls tense up simultaneously, when he spoke again, his tone was different.

“I can tell that you are all ready to hear the results, as am I to announce them, so I will do that at this time.”

Again he sipped his water.

“I have given this much thought, therefore along with who will be in the group, I have also figured out your role in the group. I will start with the leader, main singer, and visual…”

They held all held their breath in anticipation.

“Akie Jung.”

No one in the room showed any emotion, not even Akie. As the names were being called, no girl dared to make an expression that would show any weakness in front on the president.

“Next, the group’s rapper,” All but two girls sighed. Only two girls in the room specialized in rapping.

“Hung Baek.”

He called two more names: Mei-lein, the main dancer & lead singer and Tola Rang, the lead dancer, sub-rapper, and maknae.”

The others were dismissed without another word.

“Like I said before, girls, I have picked you all for many reasons. If you may have noticed, you are all half Korean and half another Asian culture. Akie: Japanese, Mei-lein: Chinese, Tola: Thai, and Hung: Vietnamese. Am I correct?”

They all nodded.

“You will all start the upper level training immediately. No longer will you be with your fellow trainees, but you will now be in classes and training with your sunbae who have already debuted. This way, some of their wisdom may rub off on you.”

He noticed the four still were expressionless.

“Girls, lose the serious tone please. I know you are all excited. Let it out.”

They did as they were told and started freaking out.

“Now, I will check on you in a week to see your progress on your project. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you your project. The rumor has gotten out of my decision to create another girl group somehow, and a flow of TV shows and CF servicers have called in to be the first to have you all. I am going to hold off on the live appearances for now, until I feel that your communications teacher has taught you well enough to record live. You girls are lucky, you’re the first group to have communications training, the others before you just wing it when they are being interviewed. You can tell those who are natural about it and those who struggle. See you all in a week.”

***

*one week later

At the end of the training day, the four girls met the president in his office. In their trainee days, they had seen the president, talked to him even, most the of the time he was either incredibly chipper or extremely serious, but when they entered the room, the president was way past chipper. He was almost bouncing in his seat.

“Oh, girls, how nice to see you! Sit, sit!” He said in a loud voice. “I have some spectacular news!”

The girls’ faces lit up.

“Come on out, Miss Park.” The president said in a tone similar to a basketball announcer’s.”

A short girl came from another door in the President’s huge office. She was really beautiful. Suddenly, Mei-lein burst out.

“Oh! I know that girl! You’re MaiMai98. You won Aqua’s dance competition. I love love LOVE Aqua. I voted for you like 100 times!”

“Wow, I’m impressed, Mei-lein, and yes, this is Mai Hwang, the winner of the cover competition for Aqua’s comeback. But to the point… just as this decision to create a new girl group, I have reached another spontaneously amazing idea. After seeing her dance, I decided to make her a trainee, but after interviewing her and hearing her sing, I decided to make her part of the group. After careful consideration, I have revised your roles in the group to fit other your personal strengths and to fit Mai in. They are as follows: Akie: lead singer & leader, Tola: lead dancer & sub-rapper, Mei-lein: lead dancer & sub-vocalist, Chai: rapper, and finally, Mai: visual, main singer, lead dancer, and new maknae”.

Though she was not the only one who was bumped down a notch, Akie’s face went sour.

“Not only that, but I came up with your group’s name!”

All of the girls’ face once again lit up.

With a huge smile on his face, the president said,

“Your group name is…”