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| January 26th, Tuesday, 2021 |

 After recording a reality and smiling at each other for two days straight you'd think the girls surely made up, right?

 Wrong.

 If that was even possible, things got worse. Annie didn't know if Jaein was making a really bad and unfunny joke or if it was actually her intention to steal her boyfriend, but one thing she knew for sure: she hated it.

Was she jealous? Or afraid Minho would eventually give in?

Absolutely not, she trusted him. Also, the guy had been in love with Annie since 2017 and had finally managed to date her. He wouldn't be that stupid to cheat on her.

It just sucks to see your friend actively flirting with your boyfriend, you know? And having a very thoughtless and selfish leader isn't very cool either.

Remi and Boram can attest.

Ever since the weekend, the youngest two noticed their group mates were acting differently, but none of them knew the reason behind it.

Annie didn't want to seem like she was putting the girls against the leader and Jaein...well, how could she explain it? "Annie is mad that I want to date her boyfriend, I don't get why".

But things couldn't stay like this.

"You look stressed."

Bangchan glanced at the girl beside him with a pitiful smile.

"I am."

She laughed it off.

"What happened?"

Annie stared at him for a minute, wondering how she could tell him about it.

"Have you ever liked the same person as your friend?"

"Yea–"

Before Chan could finish, she cut him off.

"No, nevermind, you'd be the type to give up so your friend could be happy."

He cleared his throat.

"Go straight to the point. Did someone tell you they like Lee Know?"

"...yeah."

"Hm, but he's your boyfriend already, and he likes you very much. What's the issue?"

Chan appeared genuinely confused.

"The issue is that she's always telling me I don't deserve him and that he should be with her instead, hence why she's trying to get with him."

"Woah, woah, woah. Who said that?"

His smile immediately turned to a frown as he turned his whole body towards the girl, worried.

"Someone."

There was no need to tell him who it was.

"You only told a few people about him, even less girls. It's someone from your group, right? Jaein?"

Annie's back straightened upon the surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Boram is too young and Remi seems to support you two almost as much as I do, so."

Dang.

"...so Jaein told you you don't deserve Lino? Does he know about it?"

She shook her head avidly.

"He has a lot to deal with and she's my friend, I should be the one dealing with this."

"You know if you told him he'd fix things in a second, right? So many girls have bothered me during trainee days because they liked Lino and I–"

Chan bit his lip.

"I mean, uh, not that many! He never reciprocated either so..."

Annie chuckled.

"It's okay, Chris. You think I haven't received love confessions too? We're both charming and there's nothing we can do about it."

She shrugged and he scoffed.

"You're so annoying."

As if it wasn't enough, she replied with a grin only.

"I'm guessing you don't need my help."

"No, no! Sorry, do you have any ideas?"

"I do, actually."

Chan crossed his arms proudly.

"What is it?"

"Tell Lee Know."

Her shoulders dropped with boredom.

"I know you don't want to add more to his plate, but trust me, it won't affect him. Just tell him to reject Jaein and he will."

Well, I remember Sumin left the company a little after he rejected her, so maybe it'll be quicker.

Jaein isn't that attached to cry about it either.

If I'm lucky, she may even apologise.

"Alright, I'll do that. Thanks, Chris."

"Ay, there's no need to thank me for something so simple."

He lightly bumped his shoulder on hers.

"I gotta say though, I lowkey envy your group's relationship. Maybe because you're the one who chose everyone, but you're all so close with each other..."

She looked down.

Of course the Flashlight members didn't hate each other – although it felt like Jaein disliked her very much –, but their dynamics within the group were very different.

Annie and Remi were best friends, that's for sure. They liked each other very much. Remi was friends with everyone in the group, actually.

Boram and Jaein were a bit awkward at times because of the age difference. And, according to the youngest, Annie was like an older sister to her.

Unlike the others, Jaein and Annie didn't spend much time together as trainees. They were from different groups since the leader started as an actress. The two only started to talk when the company announced they would be in the same group.

They never had a fight, this was their first one. But people say fights make a friendship stronger, right? Maybe things will be better once this issue gets sorted out.

"Aw...I'm sure you girls will get closer, you're still rookies, there's plenty of time left."

She nodded quietly.

"...or should I adopt you?"

Annie looked up with a big smile.

"That seems like a great idea!"

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