78 One Target

The gloss of the photo in her hands seemed to shimmer in the incandescent light. Iris had received this photo from V when he snapped a picture of Jin right as he left for the army.

Noticing her side glances and not so subtle inching over upon his waving of the polaroid for the picture to appear, V had chuckled and offered the photo to Iris.

Although many long-time ARMYs knew about Jin and V's fight during a rehearsal some years ago, Jin had once stated that V was the member he was closest to in BTS. It was perhaps due to that past fight that they got much closer.

And thus, in these later years, V knew that Jin cared especially for Iris even without needing to confront him about it. Sometimes V wondered how the other members were so clueless.

But then again, maybe he was able to notice it more clearly because it reminded him of how he had concerning feelings for a certain other girl. But Taehyung, just like Jin, knew better than to pursue these feelings actively.

Big Hit with TXT and BTS were continuing to make waves in the kpop and global music scene. They couldn't break the company and groups' momentums now nor affect the impending debut of the girls.

What's more, it was a sensitive time for BTS now that promotions for 2020 were over and Jin had departed. Iris too was winding down her IZ*ONE activities, and her Produce group mates were also preparing for their own post music careers.

A forlorn sigh escaped Iris as she placed the polaroid picture back on the lamp counter. On it, Jin was doing one of his funny, charismatic waves from the car window, pretending as if he were part of the British monarchy, or something, in order to lighten the mood of all the Big Hit artists and workers that had come to bid him well and goodbye for a long spell.

It had been over a month since then. And in a few days, Iris would have her solo debut. Leading up to the date, Big Hit Labels and Stone Music had both released teasers on their YouTube channels.

But even before these teasers, fans were aware of Iris's debut even before Jin's departure. This was due to her verbal hinting and then later stating it directly that she was working on an individual album.

Of course, the public had differing views on the situation. Some saw it as a distraction for when BTS's Jin had to leave in order to lessen the impact. Others saw it as MNET's and IZ*ONE's management group's last ditch effort to rake in money from Iris's genius. They could only cash in on so few compositions and songs of Iris, and Big Hit benefited from a quicker path leading up to their eventual girl group debut.

A few minority voices found her solo debut to be unfair in light of the other IZ*ONE members, but then fans defended it by pointing toward Chungha who had gone solo soon after I.O.I disbanded. The time frame would be similar to Iris Hunag because I.O.I's contracts were much shorter than IZ*ONE's.

Additionally, ardent fans argued that no one else was more ready for it than Iris who was experienced with dancing in public, and could sing, rap, and compose all with confidence and modest skill. This was an era of all-rounders, and those that could also make music were seen in even better light. Creative control and expression was becoming a common trend in new and old idol groups alike.

Despite Iris's demonstrated abilities and fan knowledge of her many written songs, there would always be disgruntled fans and cynics. She couldn't help those and could only try her best.

While she had a torrent of thoughts and emotions during this time, Iris ultimately felt excited the most. Her years of hard work and moping around for a solo debut by drowning herself in the studio finally came to fruition.

But with it, an ironic sense of emptiness also filled her. She couldn't help thinking back to Suga's Interlude: Shadow song which talked about the loneliness and scariness of fame. She hadn't yet become "scared," but she was already feeling loneliness in different variations.

"In that bright light, how big will my shadow become?" She muttered to herself.

Iris didn't heed her haters and cynics—she had learned from BTS long ago about how to deal with them—but sometimes, for short moments, she even felt that her solo debut was unfair. Yet had she not participated in Produce 48, she would debuted already, so that remembrance consoled her.

'Yes,' she encouraged herself. 'I won't back down. For myself, my future, the company, and everyone depending on me and anticipating my music.'

She clenched her hands and then loosened the grip after a slow inhale and exhale. Her mind cleared. Iris had only one target for now.

With squared shoulders, Iris left the comfort of her room and the dorms to attend the photoshoot for her debut album.

Meanwhile, Cindy, Jiyeon, and Ahreum were practicing in the dance rooms at Big Hit as usual. And today, they had somebody special joining them.

However, Iris was not able to not visit Big Hit outside of some promotion preparation communications. So, she hadn't seen the three girls for a while. And they were busy too with actualizing what they had settled on as a complete group for their concept.

Not wanting for Iris to take up the burden alone, they all sought to participate in the creative process for making music. They all expressed interest before to do so, but inexperienced with the equipment, they got Iris and some staff to teach them.

Big Hit welcomed their involvement due to BTS's success as mainly self-made artists. But the staff still had to monitor and control much of the process in order to guide and secure the debut's success.

Iris's solo debut would be a clear indicator of whether a new girl group debut would be momentous. It was like dipping toes into unknown, unsteady waters. The stage was set. All fans were expecting something amazing from Big Hit's first solo girl idol.

"Iris-ssi! Look to the left! Chin higher! Yes, yes, that's it!"

Iris inwardly groaned at the photographer's avid instruction. This one was a bit of a perfectionist. However, Iris was sure the photos would come out nicely because of that.

Thankfully, some of the IZ*ONE members had dropped by to spectate and provide energy for Iris with cheers and claps of support. Their encouragement made Iris warm inside. They really were so cute to her eyes and dear to her heart.

More than three years had gone by just like that since becoming Big Hit's contracted temporary composer for BTS, joining the company officially, participating in Produce, and now debuting. What a crazy ride it had been.

Iris smirked wryly to herself. 'And in four more years, or seven years with the girls, what will life be like then? How will I feel about myself then? Will I remember these days with fondness, or regret something perhaps?'

She reflected on V's words in an interview about their seven years as BTS. "They loved who they were now." He had said of his group mates. She recalled Jin's remark about not dancing, likely due to getting older.

'Ah.' Iris determined. 'I have to make the most of my time and youth now. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and just enjoy the present moment so that I only have good memories for the future.'

She looked up and forward at her IZ*ONE friends with a smile. 'Let's enjoy the time we have together. And one day, we will see each other again.'