the pair of bestfriends walked towards their bosses office with their arms linked around the others', Ara's mind still filled to the brim with anxiety about how this meeting would go.

the announcement of the final group would be made to the trainees the coming week— so their decision had to be made today.

the door was opened as their fellow managers arrived to the office, all respectively bowing towards their boss who happily returned the gesture.

as JiSu walked in, Bang asked him to close the door. "thank you," the older said, waiting until the Kwon boy was seated beside Ara.

"alright, everyone. thank you for coming in on such a short notice. i'm sorry i wasn't able to tell you earlier, but this will be a long meeting. i hope you're all prepared to assist me in making some.. tough decisions,"

the group of six all nodded, some shyer than others. the Baek and Kwon pair gulped as their eyes nervously followed after the male's every move, anxious to see what exactly they'd be doing.

"so far we have.. Choi SooBin, Choi YeonJun, and..?"

"Kang TaeHyun is a great candidate, sir. he's highly improved in the last few months, and he gets along very well with the previously mentioned members," a male by the name of JunMyeon responded, his firm voice contrasting to his shaky, wandering eyes.

Bang nodded as his gaze shifted around the other staff members, wanting to see their reactions. "do we all agree?"

the other five nodded in confirmation, Bang giving a small smile. "great, so do i."

Bang finished writing yet another one of the five boys on his notepad, his eyes scanning the names beside the trainees'.

"all we have left now is.. Ara," he read off, tilting his head upward to look at one of the two females in the room.

Bang gave the girl a soft smile, knowing how difficult the decision to accept this position was for her and her best friend, Choi BeomGyu's assigned manager.

"were you able to make your pick, Ara?" the male asked, eyes holding so much comfort for the girl. she took a small breath in, softly nodding in response.

"as it's a boy group, i think Lee HeeSeung would be a good fit. though he's fairly new, he's spent a lot of time practicing with the five boys. he's shown great talents and i think he'd excel if he debuted,"

completely different to what he'd done for the others, Bang simply kept his eyes locked on his desk instead of writing the name on his paper.

no part of her answer felt genuine, he knew it from the start. Bang knew her actual answer—

he'd known it from the start.

truth be told, Bang never needed Ara to come into his office that day. since he was the chairman of the company— the father of the upcoming group, some may say— Bang had great loads of power when it came to deciding what went on with the group.

and oh, had he used that great power.

some days passed and Ara couldn't help but feel even more guilty for not saying Misaki's name. she hadn't been able to push herself to tell the girl, either. even though she knew Mia'd be 100% understanding of her choice, it didn't feel right.

even if she really wanted to say it, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. it seemed as if they weren't meant to.

that theory was proven correct the next week, the day the trainees would be told who was going to debut.

Ara and JiSu nervously stood by eachother in the corner of the room, eyes trailing over the small clusters of males taking up the room's space.

Ara's eyes couldn't help but fall on her future responsibility, HeeSeung.

of course, he was a good kid. his monthly evaluation results had suddenly shot through the roof the past few times, she shouldn't feel worried about having to take care of him.

she was the one who picked him, after all.

now all she could do was wait, and see his reaction when he was announced as the sixth member of the group.

Bang soon entered the room with his usual notepad, the paper which carried the fates of six individuals who'd finally get the chance to live out their dreams.

something felt off to Ara, though she wasn't able to decipher what it was. oh well.

four of the five member & manager pairs were announced to the group, the notorious manager besties being the only ones left to be announced.

"for Kwon JiSu," Bang started, eyes trailing to the name he'd written down beside JiSu's name, "Choi BeomGyu,"

the energetic yet shy boy stood from his place on the ground, face elated as he turned to look at his future members.

everyone was expecting the Lee boy to be named next, all trainees preparing themselves for disappointment.

"and finally, for Baek Ara," Bang looked up, eyes scanning around the room, only to find the trainee he was looking for standing in the farest corner of the room, tucked away from the multitude of people she was unfamiliar with.

"paired with Ara, Ono Misaki," he said, softly smiling as he watched the girl's eyes widen.

Ara was no different, turning to look at her boss with a confused look. "sir?"

Bang softly smiled, happy to see the trainees' reactions were positive. his eyes returned to the same corner, only to see Misaki frozen in her place— unable to believe the words she'd just been told.

the girl was able to compose herself, her expression returning to normal as she carefully made her way towards the front, soon racing into both Ara and JiSu's arms.

she was finally able to guarantee she'd get to keep her promise with her girls.

♡♡♡♡♡♡,  完成!
+ waaa yayy lineup is done :D