without doing much, sphere had answered one question eunji had for a while. would they add any more girls and if they would, when. the answer came in the form of more auditions and now they finally had more people joining the roaster. and now it was time for her to introduce herself. ( after the company made the first ones. )
it was just a little bit before they had to start the group practice for glass shoes. "hello! and welcome to heartz." eunji bowed her head to the other girl, "i'm eunji and i'll ask you right off the bat, how do you feel about our group evaluation?" it was half and half when for her when it came to this one. the song wasn’t her style but the dance was enough of a challenge to keep her interested in. and more than that, she just wanted to make some conversation.
The man waits, anticipating your explanation, and then when it comes, he leans back, looking up at the ceiling, arms crossed over his chest. He almost whistles, in complete disbelief. “Wow,” he utters, looking back at you again now. “Come on now, get up,” he urges you. After a moment, he speaks again: “I hope she’s worth it, Barom-ssi.”
He doesn’t say anything else. Instead, he turns his attention to the papers on his desk, turning a few pages, then grabbing a pen. He signs on one of the lines, then pushes the paperwork across the desk toward you. “Signing here indicates you understand the terms we’re parting under, and will nullify your contract with us immediately. You’ll be free to go home right away and spend as much time as you want with that girlfriend of yours, and we’ll handle the media and the effects this has on Convex.”
In case you aren’t sure, he takes a moment to explain: “You didn’t cooperate, so this, unfortunately, is the course of action we must take. We all wanted differently, Baek Jiyoung included, but if you insist on keeping the girl’s identity a secret, we have to part ways here.”
Could there have been any other answer? Was there an option that doesn’t chance either of their positions if they were both allowed to stay in their groups once he gave a name? There isn’t, not with complete certainty and he can bet his own life away. He has on a few occasions, but he can’t do that with Seungah. He’s bet on enough with her, confessing that night on the beach knowing that it could’ve been the end of everything between them. Years down the line, they’ve been together for this long when he didn’t think they would get together one day in the first place. He could hope but he couldn’t know, not without considering her own fears and insecurities. Everything she’s worked hard to deal with up til today. He could see it all being wiped away like that no matter what route he took.
If he said her name, she could be punished, stripped of her title as leader or given less lines and that’s stage death as a main vocal. If he didn’t, she’d blame herself and that he can prepare for, that he can convince her is worth it because it’s her. That, he’s sure he can bring her back from. Anything else, he’s not too sure he’d be enough.
Standing and following the directions he’s given, he realizes this: it seems they were prepared for this to go either way as well and he knows he’s expandable in that sense. He knows he’s let her down and he wishes he could say he could do it without regret but as important as Baek Jiyoung had been to him in this stage of his life, as much as he respects her even now, she can’t exceed Seungah in his eyes. “I’m deeply sorry, sir. Thank you for your honesty and your courtesy.”
Because this could’ve been worse, could’ve taken a more severe turn, but he thinks this way is more unsettling, his nerves on edge, his stomach lurching, and his heart sinking when he thinks of moving out of the dorm and not having a better explanation for the members. “Please let everyone know I wanted differently too but… I cannot choose something I love over someone I love.” He doesn’t say it but he hopes that one day companies understand being in love, being in a relationship doesn’t mean you can’t perform well; doesn’t mean that you’re not as dedicated and loyal, but that you have another reason to be the best person you can be. One day. Until then, he knows she is worth it. If only he could tell her what happened as easily as he comes to this decision.
[ When Rome signs the paper, he will leave the company, effective immediately upon rejection. He will lose all debut points and will not be able to take any trainee workshops or earn any more debut points/workshop points until he becomes a trainee again. Should he become a trainee at a new company, he will be considered a junior trainee all over again, even though he already debuted once before. He WILL have the right to audition for Sphere again, but the fact that his contract was terminated WILL be taken into account in final casting decisions.
Even if Rome does not sign the contract termination in his response, he will still be forced to leave the company, and Sphere staff will work with him until he signs the necessary paperwork. ]
You’re led down the hall by a staff member early in your day at Sphere Entertainment, to Baek Jiyoung’s office. When you step into the room, she’s seated behind her desk, and she greets you with a smile that’s both gentle and professional. The staff member motions for you to take a seat across from you, then leaves. One quick glance around the room, and you can spot the same lawyer that was present when you first signed your contract.
“Hi, Minhee,” she begins, her lips still quirked up into a tiny smile before she becomes more serious. She shuffled through the paperwork on her desk for a moment, then glances back up at you. “It’s already been two years. You’ve been through a lot here. Thank you for your hard work.” Another pause, and she glances down at the papers again– shuffles them more until one manila folder is on top of the stack. “I know it can be difficult to train for so long with little to show for it, but I hope you see the same progress, growth, and promise in yourself that I see in you. If you can stick with me in Sphere a little longer, and put in more of the hard work I’ve seen from you so far, I think we’ll be able to come up with something great together.”
She opens up the manila folder in front of her, and presents a pen and contract, specifically marked where each new signature is required, to you with a bright smile. “Everyone at Sphere would love to continue working with you. Now it’s your turn to decide if you’d like to continue working with us. Feel free to take your time thinking about it, if you need it.”
OOC NOTE: First of all, congratulations to two years as a trainee! I know it’s been a long and crazy journey, and I’m so glad you’ve stuck through it. When you are ready, feel free to post this prompt with Minhee’s response to it.
Should Minhee choose to RENEW her contract with Sphere, she will sign on to the same agreement as before for another two years. As a reward for making it this far, she will receive ONE WEEK unpaid vacation time to use any time between now and the start of June, so long as it doesn’t clash with any special trainee activities.
This is it, goodbye sphere world. The end is near.
Is Minhee being overdramatic? Very much so. How does she know if she has done enough? Maybe Baek Jiyoung could say be begone you tool or something like that. This is classic Joo Minhee overthinking always thinking the worst when comes to herself yet the best scenarios for others. This was her mindset as she was lead down the halls towards the boss lady office. She is actually terrified yet trying to look calm on the outside. The trainee bowed her head as she entered taking a seat in front of her desk as she watches the other intently as she shuffles through the paperwork. Minhee could hear her heartbeat pound in her ears as Jiyoung looks at her, listening to what she had to say. The more she listened, the corner of her lips curled up into a bright smile letting out a soft sigh of relief. That wasn’t so bad Minhee, you need to chill.
“Yes! I agree! I promise to keep working hard and become much better! Thank you for giving me this opportunity and for keeping me on longer! I promise I won’t let you down or everyone else who works at sphere! Most importantly believing in me, so I’ll happily sign another contract.” Minhee takes the pen as she signed her name at the bottom of the contract once again feeling even more determined than before to do her best and prove their choice today isn’t wasted. Who knows what she could accomplish in another two years time, she came to sphere empty handed now she’s can model, act and even sing little. Only time will tell.
"alright." eunji's face turned completely serious. she had just managed to catch luda. with her being one of the girl's on the month, it had been hard for eunji to see her. and now? it was even harder, but eunji managed to catch her during lunch, pulling the girl along to sphere's lunch room. it wasn't often that she ate here but she didn't think they'd have time to go somewhere. so once they had table, eunji was completely invested in luda.
"tell me everything about your solo." minhee kept her mouth shut and didn't give eunji the details she wanted. it couldn't have been that much of a secret and she felt like the other girl wanted to tease her. "don't hold anything back like minhee did, tell me everything. i'll know if you leave anything out." eunji was dying to know, at this point she'd be living through the other girl until she got her own chance to debut. if she got her own chance to debut. "i'm all ears.”
she saw minhee just a little less than she did before. but it was enough to put her out of sorts, on top of her other feelings. so, eunji felt lucky that she was able to grab minhee for a minute, mainly because she wanted her friend to watch a few performances from her. she still had enough time to play around with dances before she settled on one to perfect. “i, eunji, am always working on improving myself.” she started, just as they sat down in the practice room for a break. ( eunji sitting down to take a break and get a review from minhee. ) it was also bullshit that she was working on improving herself but it was a nice way to start out.
“i am irritated and i’m working on not being irritated.” minhee really was the only person she could talk to about this. the only person in heartz at least. “you get first girl and i get it. i don’t make two, i don’t make three. they deserve it they do but..i’m worried.” then she made a face, as if it hurt to say it out loud, being emotional. “so, help me not think about it so i don’t become bitter.” already, slightly there. “do you think i should lean towards a more hip-hop stylist dance or something a lil special. though sphere wouldn’t really need that type of dancer. not for heartz, what do you think?”
"and congratulation to you!" in eunji's eyes, this was a much needed celebration. and a push for her to continue on. "taeyeon will be our first girl of the month." and to be honest, taeyeon deserved it. which is why eunji booked them a table at a very fancy place for the fun of it. in fact, it had been a while since she had been here but she stilled trusted the food.
"i'll be honest, i would've been way more upset if it wasn't you." she'd get over it at some point but loosing would always be a sore spot. "now at least, i have to work extra hard to debut with you but forget about that, tell me. how are the dorm's? do you like the song that they gave you? give me all of the details." she'd have to live through taeyeon for a while.
when it had felt like the company was slowing down with signing trainee’s, it also felt like that was the furthest thing from the truth. new faces had popped up before she really had the chance to notice it. one day, she looked around and saw it, wondering when they were signed and why hadn’t she realized it sooner. like today, her tray was full of food she’d ignore in favor of her snacks.
and saw a new face sitting down at one the tables. so, jihyo made her way over. mostly out of curiosity. “hey, you’re a new person right?” right after the question, she sat her tray down and followed, easing into the chair. “when did you get signed?” she was trying to make sure she kept track of the new people that came in. even if they didn’t get along in the end, she said hello at least.
