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THE EARLY MORNING hours surely were not Kang Eunji's favorite but there really was not much that she could do considering Lee Soo-man wished to see her. It was currently seven in the morning but she had never felt this awake. She held her head high and did not allow anyone else to see the sheer fear and panic coursing through her veins. It was an expected response for her but she could not help it.

The CEO of the company held so much power and could kick her out if that's what he wanted. She was certain that would not be the case but what else could the sixteen year old think about? The brunette took the deepest breath before exhaling right as she stopped in front of the older man's office. It didn't take long for the Kang to knock on the door before opening to make him aware of her presence.

She was met with the sight of the CEO as well as five guys around her age that didn't take Eunji long to recognize as her brother's friends. He had told her many things about each of them but she had never met them, at least not until this point in time. She gave a small but shy smile before bowing out of respect, not wanting to be seen as rude or anything as most of them were older than her.

"Hello, sir. I was told that you wanted for me to come here. You wanted to talk?" Her tone held slight nervousness but she tried to mask it as best as she could.

"Yes, you may close the door." The man's voice sounded calm and it sent this feeling of chills down Eunji's spine because of the emotions she felt in the pit of her stomach and just how powerful they were.

She glanced over at the other trainees for a second before closing the door behind her and walking closer to everyone. Why were the six of them there? She had never met or personally seen these other trainees other than briefly because of Sungmin. She could not help but to focus on the first person who caught her eye, that being Taemin who was around her age, which brought a slight bit of comfort to the teenager.

"Now that all of you are here, I have some important news." Soo-man started, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in, wanting to get more comfortable.

He continued, "All of you have been doing very well with your training and we've talked long about the idea of debuting you six as a group. There will be questions about Eunji's presence instead of her brother but we have decided to add her as a member rather than Sungmin. The creative board and I think it is a better fit."

To say that Kang Eunji was shocked was definitely correct and she couldn't shake it as the words slowly processed in her brain. She would be debuting? That's all that had repeated in her mind for a while but she did hesitate to think about the other questions of hers. She didn't know how it was a better fit but she was grateful, although she also did feel this wave of sadness crash into her at the thought of her brother not debuting.

The CEO didn't allow questions just yet as he had more to say. "Kang Eunji will be the only female member so treat her well. We do not want any unnecessary drama created. It will take some getting used to but get to know one another. She will begin training with you five tomorrow."

The sixteen year old glanced over at the other trainees in the room, noticing various different things etched on their features. To be completely honest, she hoped that they were as nice and welcoming as her brother said they were. She didn't know what she'd do if they weren't. Both Jinki and Jonghyun seemed interested to see how all this would end up working while Taemin looked excited to know that there'd be someone closer to his age.

"Her dancing matches with what we are envisioning and her vocal skills are getting better. Now, you are all dismissed. I have a meeting in a couple of minutes." Soo-man's words were more dismissive sounding to the sixteen year old but honestly, she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Everyone bowed before walking out of the room, one by one, with Eunji being first since she had been the closest to the door. There was finally time for her to process what she had been informed but she could also relax a bit more since she didn't have to be in the CEO's presence. She sighed before turning to face the group of male trainees that were going to become her future members.

"Hello, my name is Kang Eunji, I hope we can get along well. Please treat me well." As she spoke, she bowed for a couple seconds before standing up straight.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Taemin. You're Sungmin's sister? He's told us all about you! He is really proud of you." The youngest of the group was quick to speak and he had an energetic response to the girl. He honestly had wanted to meet the older female for the longest time now.

The sixteen year old gave a small smile, it making her feel happy to hear. "I'm proud of him too. I hope he says nothing about good things because I'd hate to have to say some things about him."

She was joking and it was obvious but the eldest of the group reassured her. "He brags about you honestly. He always tells us how talented you are and I can tell that it's true if Lee Soo-man wants to do this."

Jinki was referring to placing the six of them in a group together. He was excited as his dream would come true but he found the curiosity in his chest to be overwhelming at the thought of how everything would work in the future with Eunji. He and the others did hope to get to know her better though.

After that, each of them took turns with the process of introducing themselves. Eunji had a pretty good memory so it did not take long for her to process names and faces. To be honest, she was already vaguely aware of how each of them looked based on all that her brother had told her over the years.

"How old are you?" Kibum wondered aloud.

"You can't just ask someone how old they are," Jinki scolded.

The female laughed at the two. "It's okay. I just turned sixteen a week and a half ago so I'm the second youngest I guess." Eunji's age was around the same as most of theirs, which was to be expected since neither of them could see how the company would want to debut anyone younger than Taemin or older than Jinki, not that there's anything wrong with that part.

"Minho and I are sixteen as well," Kibum's comment earned Eunji's full attention even if he intimated her slightly. She nodded, taking in the revelation. She was aware that they're around her age but didn't know specifics as her brother had never mentioned much.

The brunette female started playing with the bracelet clasped around her wrist, one of the habits that she'd had since she was a child. "It's nice to meet you guys, finally. Min has told me a little about you guys but it feels great to put names to faces."

She felt a bit awkward which Jonghyun and Jinki could pick up on but the other three had yet to. Eunji felt this way a lot when meeting new people and it was one of those things that she would have to tame if she wanted to debut successfully, at least to her that's how it felt. She hated getting that way sometimes because she would get in her own head and overthink things.

Jonghyun was next to speak, giving his truthful thoughts about the situation. "I am excited to get to know you better and I know that everyone else is. It's a bit surprising but this will work okay, I'm sure of it. Some of us may seem scary but we're all here for each other. Right?"

The simple question was directed towards the four other males, who all nodded with the exception of Minho who answered with a small, "Yes."

The girl felt thankful because of his words since they helped calm her nerves. "Thanks, I appreciate that. I want to get to know you guys as well, hopefully we can all become close in the future."

Kang Eunji found herself glancing down at the watch strapped on her left wrist; it read '5:40pm' so she looked back up. She was almost apologetic about her next words but she didn't want to get in trouble for anything.

She ran a hand through her hair before voicing her thoughts, "I'm sorry but I have a dance practice in twenty minutes so I need to start heading to the practice room. I will see you all tomorrow."

"It's alright," Jinki reassured the younger girl.

Eunji bowed one last time before walking in the opposite direction, hoping that she'd be able to make it to the practice room soon enough for her to be able to stretch and get her body ready for the next couple of hours of dancing.

𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗎𝗒𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋! 𝗂 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗎𝗉𝖽𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾. 𝗂'𝗆 𝗌𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗁 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗄𝗌. 𝗂'𝗆 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗂'𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗐𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗎𝗉 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗂𝗍. 𝗂 𝖽𝗈 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗎𝗒𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁. 𝗂 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗏𝗈𝗍𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾'𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗀𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝖺𝖽. 𝗂 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗀𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗌 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗂 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖾𝗎𝗇𝗃𝗂 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗌𝗈 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁.