Termination
The day the headlines hit was nothing short of terrible. For the six girls, the previous year had already been difficult—constant pressure, hard schedules, and little assistance from the higher-ups It seemed as if they'd been fighting an uphill struggle, and the ground beneath them was disintegrating.
That morning had begun like any other. Sowon found herself in the kitchen & doing her normal routine. Waking up the two Eunbis & preparing breakfast for all three of them, the familiar aroma of sizzling bacon filled the air. For a brief moment, life felt calm, even ordinary.
Sinb was the first to wake up. Her hair was a tangled mess when she stumbled out of her bedroom, her eyes barely open. She yawned loudly and dragged herself toward Sowon.
"Unnie, what's for breakfast?" she said, her voice drowsy.
Sowon looked away from the stove, smiling slightly. "Bacon and eggs, a classic."
"Mhm..." Sinb murmured and flopped into a stool by the counter. She stretched her arms leisurely before removing her phone from her pocket. Her expression changed swiftly as she scrolled. Her brows furrowed, and her jaw fell as she looked at the screen.
"Unnie! What is this?!" She exclaimed, her tone harsh with shock.
Sowon, who had been carefully turning the eggs, quickly reduced the heat and walked over to Sinb's side. "What is it?" she inquired, going closer to find out what had caused such a reaction.
Then she saw it.
Source Music has announced the termination of GFriend's contract in bold, brutal terms.
Her stomach turned, and her heart skipped a beat. "W-What…?" The words tumbled from her mouth, scarcely audible. Her thoughts raced, attempting to put together a sense of what she was seeing. This couldn't be true; it had to be a mistake or misunderstanding.
Before one of them had time to process the shock, Eunha stormed out of her room. Her normally bright face was pale, and she held her phone tightly, as if it would slide through her shaking fingers. "Unnie!" she said, her voice filled with terror. She rushed over, holding out her phone for everyone to see.
"Termination?" She read loudly, her voice cracking slightly. "What… what does this mean?"
Silence enveloped the kitchen like a heavy blanket. Sinb and Eunha automatically shifted their gazes to Sowon, their leader and unwavering support in times of challenges. Surely she would be aware of what was going on. Surely, this was not real.
But the expression on Sowon's face said it all.
"I…" Sowon spoke, her voice shaking. “I don’t know… I wasn’t told anything.”
The weight of their stares crushed against her chest, like a physical load. She was supposed to know the answers, wasn't she? She was their leader, the one who always took responsibility and kept them safe from the storms. And yet, here she was, just as lost and surprised as they were.
Sowon shook herself out of her anxiety and straightened up, solution burning in her eyes. "I'll call manager-unnie," she answered firmly, trying to hide the trembling in her voice. "Eunha, can you take over breakfast for me?"
Eunha nodded slowly, her hands quivering as she approached the stove. Sinb remained motionless in her seat, her gaze fixed on her phone, as if she wished the headline would disappear.
Sowon withdrew to her room and shut the door behind her, the collected façade she had attempted to maintain breaking. She grabbed her phone with trembling hands and dialed every number she could think of, beginning with their boss. The phone rang endlessly, each unanswered tone filling her anxiety.
"What the hell is going on…?" she whispered under her breath, trying to maintain her breathing. She scanned through her contacts, anxiously dialing one number after the next. No response. There are no answers.
Finally, her phone buzzed, and the call was connected. The familiar voice on the other line brought a rush of hope through her.
"Yes?" Manager-unnie's tone was strained, but it had a distinct weight about it.
"Unnie!" Sowon's voice broke as she shouted, "What is this? This has to be fake news, right?"
There was an extended silence on the other end before manager-unnie responded, her voice soft and full of grief. "I apologize, Sojung-ah. I tried. I really did, but I couldn't get them to change their opinions."
And with that, the thread of hope shattered.
The call terminated, leaving Sowon in deafening silence. Her hands slid to her sides, and her phone slipped from her clutches onto the bed. For a minute, she simply stood there, her mind blank.
How does this happen? How could the higher-ups do this to them—to her, the members, and everything they had worked so hard for?
Sowon collapsed onto the edge of her bed, holding her head in her hands as the weight of it all crashed down. For the first time, she was at a loss for what to do.