Chapter 37: Tenacious

"Every member of LADY's planning and execution team is here. While Executive Byun speaks with the talent, I am sure you can all find productive ways to prepare for the outcome." The CEO's words barely registered to Baekhyun. He felt detached from his body, watching himself play with fire. He was going to get burned. 

As he left perplexed murmurs and tense voices behind and walked down the hall to the practice rooms, he wondered how a trainee would feel if they were removed just before debut, and for such a reason. Resentful, betrayed, victimized. Demonized. There was no way to dodge the fact that they had been judged for who they were deep inside and deemed ultimately unworthy. Inappropriate. A bad infuence. Hide them away from the children.

They would be free of this place and could move on to another, build a different life where it wouldn't matter so much.

Or they could stay and seize their success. But it would not be easy. Constant paranoia, fighting against one's nature, pretending to be something they weren't - while worrying that at any moment everything they had worked for could be taken away if they were found out.

It wasn't better or easy. Baekhyun knew firsthand.

He stepped into the dance studio and waited til the girls had finished their song. He was acquainted with them, but not on a personal level. One of them had been at the company far longer than Baekhyun himself, a long time trainee who had been scouted young. The other two were somewhat interchangeable - though that would soon change as styling would ensure they were distinguishable through haircuts, color, and clothing for debut. No one liked a group where every face looked the same.

That left Tena. While her boycut lilac hair made her stand out in one way, it was clear to see that she commanded herself in a way that surpassed her years - and her peers. Music and dance seemed to flow in her veins. There was a fire in her eyes that the other girls couldn't muster. She was like a wild animal trapped in a young girl's body, and only through song and dance could she master the beast. He respected her, and somehow that made him feel even worse.

They walked together in silence down the hall and up the stairs to his office. "Please, sit," he said, gesturing to the sofa. "Can I get you something to drink? You girls seem exhausted." 

She sat with her palms on her knees, and eyed her surroundings. "No, thank you." Her tone was guarded.

"Alright." He sat down in the adjoining chair. Where did he begin? He was here as a representative of the company, not as a friend or fellow empathizer. This was about her, not him. 

"Tena... currently every member of the LADY planning and execution team are in a meeting, and we need your input. The CEO has said no one can leave until we've worked this out."

Tena nodded, though she looked slightly puzzled. "Wouldn't you have called Mia, if it was something about the group?" Mia was LADY's de facto leader as the eldest of the group. She was one of the two whom Baekhyun commonly mixed up.

"If it was about the group, yes. But this is about you." He watched her carefully. A teenager these days was likely to bolt if you so much as looked at them the wrong way. He picked up a folder on the table and opened it. Inside were the photos that had been found. "Are you familiar with these photos?"

Tena blanched, but did not lie. "Yes."

"The company is trying to decide how to deal with them."

The girl remained silent.

"As part of Park Entertainment, you're a representative of the company. And you'll be a role model to girls throughout the country. Right now, the company is afraid of the backlash that will come next week by antifans who are supporters of rival groups. They are worried that your photos will be spread across the internet, and that you, the group, and the company will be hurt as a result. You know that such information can be used against you in this way?"

Her lips were pressed in a thin line, and she nodded. 

"I don't want you to have no say in this, so I challenged the rest of the committe that you have a choice in how we handle this." He let out a breath. "Unfortunately the options aren't great, either way. The majority believe that the best way to avoid bringing down the entire group is to pull you from the group. There are a few who believe we can do damage control via the press and pass all of this off," he pointed to the folder, "as a fabrication, a misinterpretation. That would mean suing people who say