Chapter 5 - You've earned it
As the weeks at the company went by, Chaewon and Yunjin became closer than ever before. They shared stories about their days on Produce48 and fantasized about their dreams for the future. Y/N watched them interact with each other, feeling happy that her two teammates had become such good friends again after all this time apart. Meanwhile, Y/N found herself feeling more at ease when talking to Sakura. She would often ask for her advice, and Sakura would always listen and give her helpful tips. However, she also had a hard time dropping honorifics with Sakura, especially because she was so much older than her. Y/N felt grateful for Sakura's kindness, but still felt nervous around Chaewon.
One day, while practicing a dance move, Y/N struggled to get it right. Shocker. This time, without much waiting, Chaewon came over to help. Although she was a little embarrassed, Y/N appreciated her efforts. While she was too nervous to look her in the eyes, Chaewon's patient teaching style helped her relax and focus on the move. After about an hour of practicing and perfecting the spin, Chaewon smiled at Y/N’s improvement. “See? So much better.” Y/N only smiled in return.
After practice, Sakura asked Y/N for a quick post-practice selfie, which Y/N happily accepted. As she took the selfie, Chaewon caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a crown.
Wait, that can’t be…
After a moment, she took a step towards Y/N and reached for her phone.
“Oh my gosh. No way.” Chaewon noticed a photocard of herself inside Y/N's phone case.
“Wha-. Oh… It’s not what it looks like,” Y/N rambled, bright red.
“I look cute, don’t I? I always loved this photo.”
Kill me. Kill me now. Y/N kept her eyes shut out of embarrassment. Chaewon noticed and her smile dropped immediately.
“Hey, no don’t… don’t be embarrassed, it’s fine. I used to keep photocards in my phone case too.” When Y/N still didn’t open her eyes, Chaewon reached forward and took her hand.
“Please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to humiliate you.”
Hearing this … apology? Y/N snapped her eyes open. “No! Oh! No you got it wrong, I’m not mad at you. Trust me. I’m just … mortified. I hope you don’t think it’s weird because well… I know you personally… and … I just forgot to take it out … honestly,” Y/N finished with a chuckle.
“Well, I’m glad you’re not mad. Wanna know a secret? … Actually, never mind I think you probably know this,” Chaewon laughed. “I kept a photocard of Choi Yena in my phone case too. She was one of my best friends so it was natural to me. So no, I don’t think it’s weird even if you had kept it intentionally.”
“Thanks un-.”
“Girls, we’ll have a meeting with the CEO tomorrow at 6,” a staff member barged into the practice room.
“Hello. Do you know what it’s about?” Chaewon asked.
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” she mysteriously said and returned to the hallway, still wearing her poker face.
“That better be good news, because I can’t handle any more suspense.”
“What do you mean?” Y/N asked with a frown.
“Oh, you know… it’s hard going from being an idol to being back as a trainee. I can’t help but worry something’s gonna happen before we make it through,” Chaewon said while staring at the ground.
Y/N, brave for a second, laid her hand on Chaewon’s shoulder and forced her to look her in the eyes. “You were an impeccable idol. They brought you in for a reason. I worry about people like me. People who don’t have a reputation and a name as their brand. You’re Kim Chaewon of legendary Iz*one.”
“Yeah, but as much as it hurts to admit it. You know what happened…” Chaewon trailed off. Oh. So this is what this is about.
“You think people won’t get over the show being rig-“
“Look. I made my peace with it. But people haven’t. It happened. I’m mortified. I’m hurt. But I chose to move forward. I just wish people also did,” Chaewon concluded.
“They will once you show them how good you are. You’ve earned this spot because of your talent. Yes, you are a household name, but you’ve still earned it. Look at Yunjin, she didn’t even debut with you guys, but she’s here today. This is where you belong. They won’t take you out of the lineup. You’re … perfect,” Y/N concluded softly.
Chaewon just stared at Y/N before a few tears streamed down her beautiful face. She chewed on her lips for a moment and then swiftly put her arms around Y/N’s neck.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Having Chaewon in her arms like this, filled with emotions, made Y/N’s stomach do backflips. I wanna keep her safe.
After a minute or so, Chaewon broke the embrace and shyly wiped her tears away with the hem of her shirt. “We should head home,” she smiled, “tomorrow we’ve got a big meeting.”
The next day, after their practice sessions, the group gathered for the big meeting.
“Hello, ladies. How are you feeling?” the CEO asked his trainees.
“Good evening, sir,” the four girls replied simultaneously. “We’re excited. What’s the occasion for this meeting?” Chaewon stepped forward.
“Well, to make it short. You’ll be soon meeting your new members,” he said, making the girls shriek out of excitement.
“One of them will arrive very soon. Her name is Nakamura Kazuha, and she is from Japan. She’s a ballerina with extensive dance experience. She will need to catch up to a lot, but we have high faith in her ability to do so.”
“A fellow Japanese member?” Sakura asked with tears in her eyes. She finally would have a mutual next to her again. One thing she loved about Iz*one was having Nako and Hitomi around to talk to. It’s hard to imagine just how important common native languages can be when feeling at home with someone. She adores her fellow members, but they would never understand what it feels like to be a foreigner. Yunjin might relate due to growing up in the States, but she still was and spoke Korean after all.
Yunjin's eyes widened in surprise, “And she’s a ballerina? That's insane!”
Chaewon nodded in agreement, “I can't wait to meet her and see her dance skills.”
Sakura smiled, “We'll have to make her feel welcome and help her adjust to our group dynamic. I can translate for her.”
Y/N felt a mix of excitement and nervousness at the thought of new members joining their group dynamic. However, seeing how supportive and welcoming Sakura, Chaewon, and Yunjin were, she gained more confidence about this situation.
“I’m excited to meet her,” Y/N chimed in.
“Glad to see you all excited. I’m sure you will make her feel at home very soon. But for now, she is still in Amsterdam.”
“Amsterdam? Like in Europe? What for?” Sakura asked, still excited.
“You must know she currently trains at a professional Ballet Academy. You will meet her over Zoom in the morning. She will return once we worked everything out. That would be it. You may now return to practice.”
“Thank you, sir,” the girls said while bowing.
The following morning, the girls would get to “meet” Kazuha. So for now, in each of their rooms, the girls turned on their computers and waited for the meeting to start. Once their manager opened the call, everyone’s cameras immediately turned on. After a few minutes of awkward silence due to the girls’ nervousness, Kazuha's face finally popped up on the screen. The girls couldn't help but stare in awe at her beauty. Wow.
“Annyeonghaseyo, Kazuha-ssi,” Chaewon greeted her with a warm smile. “We're so excited to finally meet you!”
Kazuha bowed respectfully, “Annyeonghaseyo, everyone. I'm sorry if my Korean is not perfect yet,” she read from a sheet with a nervous smile.
Sakura quickly jumped in and answered in Japanese, “Don't worry, I'll help you translate when necessary.” She repeated the sentence in Korean for everyone else to understand.
Y/N couldn't help but stare at Kazuha in amazement. “Wow, she's so beautiful,” she whispered to herself but forgot her mic was on, dragging her tile onto the big screen. As she didn’t say anything else, her tile went small again and everyone looked irritated for a second. Yunjin couldn’t hide her smile because she heard her. Girl…
After an awkward pause, Yunjin let out a giggle and started a round of introductions. After that was done, the girls got straight to business and started discussing their next steps. They went over their current choreography and discussed the expectations with the manager, all while Kazuha tried her best to keep up with the Korean language.
As the meeting came to an end, Chaewon couldn't help but feel excited about their future as a group. “I can't wait for us all to practice together in person!” she exclaimed.
“I too,” Kazuha said, causing the other girls to hide their laughter.
“It was so nice to meet you! When are you coming to Korea?” Sakura asked the ballerina. “Oh, I think I received an email earlier today. It should be around a week now.”
“That’s amazing!” Yunjin exclaimed, causing Kazuha to smile the most adorable smile Y/N had ever seen. “Alright ladies. We have more work to do today. Goodbye Kazuha-ssi,” the manager said with a warm smile.
“Goodbye,” Kazuha said with that same smile again.
“Bye! Bye!” the girls waved until Kazuha’s tile disappeared. “Okay, your instructor wants you in the practice room in one hour. Bring a lot of water ladies, you’re gonna need it,” their manager said with a smug grin, causing the girls to groan in return. Then the manager closed the meeting.
Y/N found herself staring at the screen. Kazuha… she’s gonna fit great into the mix.