"Alright ladies. This is..." Park Jinyoung opened his arms with a flourish and a piece of paper dangled from his fingers. "The List."

A few giggles, while the rest were simply too stunned to speak.

"AH, but it's not just any list. This is... THE List."

Unsure glances around the room. Has the CEO gone mad?

"The list that will determine your fate. Now, without further ado... I'm going to be calling out a few names. Please step forward if your name is called and if your name isn't... You're free to go."

“But what future does it determine?” One of the trainees hesitantly raised a hand and asked. JYP looked at her with a friendly smile. “Why, it’s the trainees who are in the running for Carmeline, of course!”

Everyone waited with bated breath. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. There were a lot of risks, sure but everybody craves debut.

“Jung Hyerim.” A small girl bounced forth, and the rest of the mentors behind JYP smiled, before turning back to look at the rest of the girls behind her.

A few other girls walked out calmly, and then another girl, Angel Winters, sauntered out from right at the back of the crowd. She didn’t look very Korean, and JYP gave her a fatherly smile and patted her back before she joined Hyerim and the others. And two more trainees were called, so the rest of the girls exited the room quickly, back to their various trainings.

Turning around after seeing the others off, JYP was quick to assemble the rest of the trainees in a straight line. Not unlike YG, he personally assessed the trainees on normal days too, so he had a very clear idea what these trainees could do. Of course, he had approached all the mentors, producers and songwriters in the management team for a list of names that they deemed most suitable to represent JYP. Now, ten girls were assembled before him, and now, it was down to his own personal selection. He had to choose three from this lot.

“Hmm, so as you all know, the Big Three is creating a group. So, you have been shortlisted by the various departments as girls who will represent JYP. But of course I can’t make all ten of you join them. That is not my style and I don’t think Kim Youngmin will be too happy, so please understand that if you are eliminated now, it doesn’t mean that I have something personal against you. It means that you still have many more opportunities in front of you in the future, and this is just not your thing. Is everyone clear with that?”

The girls nodded earnestly.