(9:31 PM, Lee Sooman's office)

"BREAKING NEWS! Lee Sooman, the CEO of SM Entertainment has just released ----" *click*

"Lee Sooman of SM Entertainment has just announced the makings of ----"  *click*

"Our top story for today: Lee Sooman has just revealed SM Entertainment's ----" *click*

With a sigh, Lee Sooman pressed the mute button on the remote controller. Sitting back on his chair, he contemplated the day's happenings. He closed his eyes and tried to supress the smile that was desperately clawing its way onto his face. He couldn't smile, not yet. He still had to uphold his status as SM Entertainment's founder and CEO, especially in front of the two people next to his desk, Ahn Chilhyun and Kwon Boa.

Opening his eyes to look at his two stars, he could tell the difference in their reactions to his 'breaking news'. Ahn Chilhyun, better known as Kangta to the music industry, looked tired and tried to keep a straight face to his former mentor. Kwon Boa, or BoA, however, looked different: calm and serene.

'BoA always seemed to be calmer than Kangta... even back then.' he mused to himself. He kept looking at them, anticipating their next move and letting them make that move. BoA seemed to know his game and just kept quite.

'What's there to ask? I already knew about this idea of his... I was part of it.' BoA mentally reminded herself. She had to admit, she was caught off-guard when he announced it already on this day. She was expecting that he would release hints and make people guess, like what he did with the last one, but no. Lee Sooman did the thing she least expected him to do: announce it to the media via a last-minute press conference. She sighed. The papparazzi would have a field day on this. Hell, the papparazzi would be the least of their worries.

Seeing as they were getting nowhere, Kangta decided to break the ice. As calmly as he can, he addressed the elephant in the room.

"What is ERA?"

(Earlier that day...)

The conference hall was rather quiet, Kangta observed, compared to other conferences that involved SM Entertainment. It looked like any other press conference. The place was filled with reporters from different stations, getting ready to ask questions and look for stories. The cameras were set to not visibly invade one's personal space but can still catch one's expression, from a noiseless cough to a bat of an eyelash.

He stood a good distance away from the front, waiting for the others to arrive. His colleague, BoA, looked off onto the hall as well, her eyes looking for any imperfections that he might have missed. For a last-minute press conference, he thought, it was rather well thought of.

It was rather suspicious, yet exciting. He received an e-mail from Lee Soo-man himself to attend this particular press conference. When he arrived at the conference hall, he was suprised that the place was filled with reporters. He was relieved to find BoA there, amidst it all.

In the area where they were waiting for possible other colleagues, Kangta overheard Go Suhwa, the woman in-charge of the press conference, mumble "He's here."

Turning to them, she said "Well, it's time for you two to sit in front. Lee-seonsaengnim will join you momentarily." Nodding to her general direction, Kangta's mind went on high alert. 'Only Lee-seonsaengnim, me and BoA? What kind of conference is this?' He threw BoA a glance.

"Maybe its about EXO. You know how popular they're getting these days." She replied, shrugging her shoulders. Honestly, even she didn't know what this is about. Usually, she knew beforehand what was going to happen. Instead, she also got the same e-mail that Kangta received.

"Well, let's go." Gesturing towards the front, Kangta looked at BoA. "Ladies' first."

Giving him an amused glance, BoA straightened herself up and walked with grace towards the table in front. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and she could hear the cameras flashing at her direction. She felt that Kangta's prescence behind her and felt secured. Safe, even. They managed to get to the table in front without any problems and sat down on their respective chairs.

After breathing deeply through her nose, BoA gave everyone a steady glance as her eyes moved around the room. There were some who stood out, while others just remained in the background. You could tell who were the rookies from the experienced ones. She remembered fondly of the times when she was nervous during conferences. Now it was different. It became second nature for her already.

After only 2 minutes of waiting, Lee Sooman has finally appeared, looking rather cheerful. He was carrying a cloth-covered article, roughly the size of a poster. He placed the poster sized thing in front and approached the table. Both BoA and Kangta stood up again and bowed to their respective CEO. He laughed at their reaction and patted them both on the back. His aged face showed happiness and contentment, something that was foreign to him these past few weeks. What could be the reason behind his joyful expression?

Taking his seat in the middle of t