"You want to do what!?"

It was the first time Hana raised her voice so loud. After seeing how distraught the girls looked at the karaoke bar, the EXO members drove them back to their dorm. Once inside, the three girls remained silent for a moment. It was late, Kang was asleep in his room, and there was cold coffee in the pot. Rabi poured herself a cup and drank it straight. No sugar, no cream, she didn't even heat it up. 

Rayne finally broke the silence when she turned to her maknae. "I want to leave SM." It was this that caused the reaction from the maknae.

"Unni, please think about it."

"It's no use maknae," Rabi spoke into her cup as she sipped the cold dirt water. "We already had this talk. She's already made up her mind." 

Back at the Karaoke bar when Rabi and Rayne scurried off into the bathroom to talk, Rayne had confessed to her there. "Don't get me wrong." She told Rabi. "I love you. I love Hana, and I love floWER. Kang-oppa is amazing, and so are the rest of the staff. But I just can't deel with the drama that we are constantly faced with. I like the thought of being an idol better when I was at home rocking out to SHINee and Super Junior. Back then, it seemed like such a sweet dream. But it's turned into a beautiful nightmare..." She stopped a moment, and the two girls, despite the serious atmosphere, couldn't help a light laugh at the song reference.

"Rayne-"

"Don't try to convince me Rabi." She cut her member off. I've been thinking about this for some time now."

"How long?"

"When we were attacked at our dorm." Both she and Rabi shuttered at the memory. "I love being an idol, I do. But not enough th have my life threatened by a bunch of prepubescent girls." She looked at Rabi, who by now didn't know what to say. She had no idea how to convince Rayne otherwise. To be honest there was no emotion running through the girl. Just numbness.

As the three girls now stood here in the kitchen of their dorm, Rabi still felt the same way.

"So that's it?" Hana's attention was now on Rabi. "You're just going to let he go." It was times like this that Hana hated most. Times when she had no control over the situation, times when she didn't see the situation coming beforehand. It all made her uncomfortable. She just wanted to sink into herself and curl into a ball until it all passed and she was in control of her life again. She turned back to Rayne, her face twisted into an expression neither of the girls were used to seeing on their maknae. "Then go." She finally said. Her voice cold and hard. "Just leave. After all the hard work you put in as a trainee. After all we've been through pre-debut and even after." She closed the distance between her and Rayne. "Leave after I worked my off trying to cover up mistakes you made, and scandals you were involved in." She dared to shove the Rayne, who was still stuck on the fact that her maknae was gone, and was now replaced by a stoned face girl. "Just leave, and don't bother coming back!" Hana stormed off to her room, closing the door behind her. It's a wonder she didn't slam it.

Rayne looked at Rabi, who still stared down into her cup. "If you still want to leave after seeing that, then I have nothing to say." Rabi tossed the half finished mug into the sink and made her way into her room, closing the door silently behind her.

***

The next morning Rabi dragged herself out of her room, making her way to the kitchen. She froze when she passed Rayne's room. The door was wide open, and all of Rayne's things were gone. She stepped inside and looked around. The walls were plain, the shelves were bare, and the bed was . She wasn't sure what to think, without a word, she slowly walked into the living room. Hana was in the kitchen, making a quck breakfast for the two of them. Rabi didn't bother to say anything to the girl. She figured her maknae would talk when she was ready. Instead she plopped on the sofa and stared blankly at the tv.

Suddenly, the place felt quieter, bigger, emptier, without Rayne. Rabi almost hopped Rayne would come bursting throught the door with the crew from hidden camera and stop this horrible joke. But she knew nothing of the sort would happen. She wondered how far Rayne was now. Was she back in Japan, or still on the plane on the way to America?

Kang walked in and sighed heavily at the two girls' mood. Hana looked over at him. "What's going to happen to floWER?" The young girl asked.

Kang let out another sigh before he spoke. "floWER will continue. Rayne's spot will just be filled in with another girl." Rabi turned and leaned over the back of the sofa.

"Did you guys already find someone?" she asked. Truthfully, she didn't feel like getting to know a new girl. She didn't want Rayne to leave. She didn't want to wake up to an empty room across from hers, and she surely didn't want to say goodbye to a friend. But business was business, and no matter what happened time moved on in the business. That's something she's learned and come to grow used to over the years. Kang nodded at Rabi's question and took the cup of coffee Hana offered him.

"Yea," he said after a sip. "You'll be going to meet her this afternoon. The rest of the schedule for the next few days have been canceled. You'll be updated once the new one is out."

After breakfast the girls made their way to the SM building to meet their new member. While waiting in one of the meeting rooms they were visited by a couple of the SNSD members. Seohyun and Hyoyeon stopped by to comfort the girls. News of Rayne's quitting spread throughout the country faster than a forest fire.

"What an inconvenience for you two." Seohyun said, munching on a carrot. She brought the girls a healthy snack, and they decided to share with her. Really Rabi wasn't in to eating healthy, so she just let Seohyun have per portion. "And she was just gone, no letter, no goodbye?" Rabi and Hana both nodded collectively.

"Well then screw her!" Hyoyeon snorted. Rabi allowed herself a chuckle at her unni's outburst. "This is a shark eat shark business. Survival of the fittest. Those who quit and just give up like that are obviously not strong enough to handle it." It was a harsh way to put it, but Hyoyeon was right. She pat Rabi on the back. "You've obviously got what it takes. All you've been through and you're still here." She nodded to Hana as well. "And don't think I don't know about all the things you've done missy. You girls are here because you're strong. Stick with it."

Again, Hyoyeon was right, the two girls sacrificed so much to be where there were now. Rabi knew about Hana's life and how tough it was for her. She was sure the girl would rather be here than where she was before. But for herself, Rabi gave up her entire life back in America for this. She barely gets time to speak with her father, and she doesn't even talk with Narcisa anymore. Everything she knew was practically gone, and replaced with SM Town Entertainment. You had to be strong to be in this business, and willing to give up practically everything as well. Rabi couldn't blame Rayne for wanting to leave.

As the girls conversed about their careers and drama that floWER had recently overcome, Kang came into the room. A girl followed closely behind him. The SNSD girls left the room, giving the group their privacy.

"Girls, this is Kim Miyoung, your new leader."

Another short update, Mianhe guys!

But it's late here. I will update tomorrow for sure.

Hey if you haven't noticed by now, I did some posters for s few of the chapters.

Go back and check them out. Tell me what you think!