It's finally time for the debut episode of Épanoui. The lights go up on the twenty seats arranged in a pyramid formation where each girl will get the opportunity to sit. The largest chair is the number one chair, at a dazzling height, it has been decorated by staff to look like a throne... but who will sit in it?

The first girls come into the now bright room, one of them already excitedly running up the stairs towards the top seats.

[INTERVIEW]

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): Annyeong! *she waves to the camera excitedly* Oh, we need to introduce ourselves? You couldn't tell by the name tag? *she giggles* I'm Charlotte Ashbourne from Australia, nice to meet you guys *she makes hearts at the camera*

Kang Hyunjin (SM // ??): Yah, you should act more your age, Char.

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): Don't call me that, I'm your unnie.

Kang Hyunjin (SM // ??): Whatever. *she smiles brightly at the camera* Annyeonghaseyo, jeonun Kang Hyunjin-ibnida. Please take care of me! Okay now your turn real unnie~

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): *sighs* Annyeong, it's me, Roh Yulhee~ the keeper of these two trouble makers.

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): I resent being called a trouble maker.

Kang Hyunjin (SM // ??): What does resent mean again?

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): Lets just choose our letters and go sit down...

[END INTERVIEW]

The three girls end up all taking B letter stickers from the pile. They wear them proudly into the seating area.

Kang Kyunjin (SM // ??): Should we sit at the top?

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): It's so high up here... and scary. Let's go down a little bit.

The two girls settle in seats four and five, both longingly looking at the top seat.

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): I think i'm going to go down a little farther... it's still a bit too high for me.

She sits down in seat number thirteen, another row down.

[INTERVIEW]

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): Honestly... i didn't want to sit up so high because i thought everyone would judge me. I'm probably going to be older than anyone else anyway, so I don't want to show off.

[END INTERVIEW]

The two girls who come in next are both smiling with cute visuals, even though they look extremely nervous. They bow excitedly to the cameras and to the other three trainees already inside.

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): Annyeonghaseyo everyone!

The other girl waves shyly from beside her.

From the top of the pyramid, Charlotte and Hyunjin try to communicate from across the row.

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): Wahh their visuals are so cute!

Kang Hyunjin (SM // ??): Not as cute as mine *she does a hair flip*

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): What do you think they're saying?

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): Nothing bad I hope.

[INTERVIEW]

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): Annyeonghaseyo formerly Yuehua's rising trainees, we are Kwon Choonchee

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): and Yang Li Mei. Nice to meet you guys! Please take care of us.

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): Okay... we're supposed to choose our letter grades now. I think B maybe?

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): B for me too. I don't want the others to judge us too harshly.

[END INTERVIEW]

The red haired girl starts to climb the stairs, but after almost tripping over one of the chairs, Li Mei pulls her back down to seats sixteen and seventeen.

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): How about here. Not too high up?

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): *looks longingly up at the top seats* Yeah... this is more realistic anyway.

Yulhee waves at the girls from the row above.

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): Annyeonghaseyo~

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): Annyeonghaseyo. I'm Li Mei, and this is Choonchee.

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): I'm Yulhee, nice to meet you both.

Next to come in are three more girls, bowing politely. They all look pretty young and have youthful visuals as well. Two of the girls are recognized by the other trainees.

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): Two of those girls were in the promotion videos!

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): One of them is from AKB48 right? I heard she was supposed to debut with Twice.

Yang Li Mei (Yuehua // ??): She must be talented... how are we going to be able to compete with all these people?

Choonchee puts a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. The three girls from JYP whisper to themselves before they part ways to various seats.

[BEGIN INTERVIEW]

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): Annyeonghaseyo! We are the shining trio from JYP~ I'm your star Jung Yena! Nice to meet you guys!

Sora taps Yena on the shoulder and whispers something to her.

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): I mean, FORMERLY from JYP. But we still train together~

Kim Sora (JYP // ??): Hi, hello, greetings! Your moonlight Kim Sora here to brighten even the darkest of nights.

Misae Nakamura (JYP // ??): And I'm your shining sunshine Misae Nakamura, please take care of us!

Kim Sora (JYP // ??): What letter grades should we go for?

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): Maybe B? That way we won't be disappointed if we don't get As, but the other trainees won't think that we're awful because we chose C.

Misae Nakamura (JYP // ??): Ah, smart. I'll choose B too. *she takes a B sticker from the table and sticks it to her name tag*

Kim Sora (JYP // ??): Me three.

[END INTERVIEW]

Misae Nakamura (JYP // ??): Where should we sit?

Yena looks longingly up at the top seats while Misae seems to be eyeing the bottom row.

Kim Sora (JYP // ??): Maybe we can split up?

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): Sounds good too me!

She immediately begins climbing the stairs all the way to the top of the pyramid. Charlotte and Hyunjin give each other wide eyes.

Roh Yulhee (SM // ??): Is she really going to sit on the number one seat?

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): Just kidding! *she goes down two rows and sits in seat seven*

Misae Nakamura (JYP // ??): This girl... I can't believe her...

Misae forgoes the stairs and sits in seat eighteen. Kim Sora chooses seat ten.

[INTERVIEW]

Kim Sora (JYP // ??): Why did I choose seat ten? Easy, it's right in the middle. I don't think I'll be in the top 6 right away, especially with all the idols that are supposed to be competing. But I also don't think I'll be eliminated right away.

[END INTERVIEW]

There's a long break before the next group enters. The trainees are already starting to get tired, even though it's barely been an hour.

Kwon Choonchee (Yuehua // ??): Meimei, I'm tired. *she leans her head on Li Mei's shoulder*

Suddenly, music fills the room. All the trainees who had been beginning to doze off snap to attention.

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): *wakes up* Wha....

[INTERVIEW]

Charlotte Ashbourne (SM // ??): Okay... so maybe I was asleep, but can you blame me? The next people to come in were taking so long and Hyunjin was falling asleep too so it wasn't just me. Besides, I would have woken up as soon as more people came in! I'm a really light sleeper.

[END INTERVIEW]

Two more trainees enter the room... or should they be addressed as idols? They look a little bit embarrassed that their debut song is playing, but have gotten over the initial embarrassment and are now laughing.

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): Just hit it bboom bboom!

She gives her former group mate a high five before introducing them.

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): Annyeonghaseyo! Nice to meet everyone~ sorry about the loud introduction. You can just go back to what you were doing before we came...

[INTERVIEW]

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Lee Suran, your future rapping sensation!

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): and I'm Bae Sooyoung *she makes finger hearts to the camera* You might recognize us from the disbanded group Sky Bleu under CUBE Entertainment.

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): But don't worry! We have been practicing a lot since then, so hopefully we've gotten a lot better!

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): What letters do you think we should choose?

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): I think no matter what we choose people will judge us...

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): You're probably right...

[END INTERVIEW]

The two girls smile and wave to the other trainees as they find their way to their seats.

[INTERVIEW]

Kang Hyunjin (SM // ??): Wahhh I couldn't believe that they actually chose that?? They must be so confident to think they'll both get As...

[END INTERVIEW]

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): Let's sit up at the top!

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): I don't know... they're going to say things about us...

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): Remember what you said, they're going to judge no matter what, so let's sit where we want.

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): This is why you were a good leader...

Bae Sooyoung confidently sits in the third seat while Suran sits by Yena on seat number seven.

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): Annyeonghaseyo~ I'm Lee Suran, nice to meet you.

Jung Yena (JYP // ??): I kno- I mean I liked your song! It was a bop, I'm sorry it wasn't super popular because it should have been! Oh- sorry! I'm Jung Yena by the way. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry for being an awkward fangirl, you probably get this a lot~

Lee Suran (CUBE // ??): Actually not usually... at least for me. But Sooyoung? She gets recognized in the streets a lot. It's nice to know we had fans at one point thoughm. Thanks for your support.

The two girls continue to converse while Sooyoung awkwardly looks around the room from her seat near the top. Should she try and talk to the girl in seat four or...

[INTERVIEW]

Bae Sooyoung (CUBE // ??): I wasn't going to sit on the bottom because I thought people would judge me... that would be like giving in. Should I have sat so high? Honestly I have a bit of a fear of heights but I'll be okay... I think. Besides, I want to set a good example, especially for Suran. I was the leader of Sky Bleu, so most people don't even think I should be here anyway, but I think we all deserve another chance. I just wish people weren't so judgmental all the time.

[END INTERVIEW]

The next group of trainees to come in don't have half the fuss of the CUBE girls, but its their actions that surprise the other trainees.

??? (??? // ???): Annyeong everyone!

??? (??? // ???): That's the girl that all the mentors were complimenting in the promotion videos!

??? (??? // ???): Where is she going to sit? No way...

As the trainees take seats their seats, a collective gasp comes from the already seated trainees. Where have they chosen to sit? I guess you'll just have to wait for the next episode to find out!

CURRENT SEATING CHART

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(**ranks from episode zero are on the trainee profiles)