82 Thank you, I love you

"Iris-unnie, why did you have to do that?" Jo Yuri prodded the older girl who was currently lounging on her bed with her eyes closed.

"Yeah, why do you have to be so awesome? It's not fair, unnie. Stop it." Choi Yena joked with dry sarcasm as she passed by with a towel over her shoulder.

"Ey, don't trail the water, unnie~" Eunbi remarked as she entered the shared room of Iris, Yena, and Hitomi.

Yena puffed out her lips smugly and continued walking to her dresser and table, making IZ*ONE's leader shake her head in amusement.

"Unnie, unnie, unnie~" Yuri kept poking the American girl's thigh while laying flat on her stomach on Iris's bed.

Eunbi walked up and rested her hand on Yuri's head. "You're bothering Iris again?"

"Hey!" Yuri pouted and laid her chin on her palms. "I'm not bothering you, right unnie?"

Iris smirked and lifted her right hand up from its position over her head. Opening her eyes, she responded, "No, haha. What's up leader?"

Eunbi smiled warmly and sat down on the edge of the bed, right in front of where Yuri laid. "Just wanted to check up on you. Are you doing okay? I know it's been really busy for you since our comeback is tomorrow and we have a music show to attend."

"I'm fine, Eunbi. Thanks for checking on me. You're as sweet and caring as ever, our reliable leader." Iris propped herself up on her forearms to properly face Eunbi with a smile.

"Hm, you did great, Iris." Eunbi squeezed the other girl's arm supportively.

"I'd say so, number one on top music charts, almost a perfect all-kill." Yena commented while brushing her hair. "And then after 'Everlasting' you returned to the top again after they placed first too. The buzz is still as strong, such a smart company, Big Hit." She was referring to Jiyeon and Cindy's duo MV for their song 'Everlasting.'

"Yeah, I wish my company thought of that smart strategy too," murmured Jo Yuri absently, speaking of her original label Stone Music as opposed to IZ*ONE's current management.

"And it helps us too," pointed out Eunbi, "since it was a collaboration between our company and Big Hit. Now everyone's wondering whether Big Hit had a say in producing any of our music too." She covered her giggle with her hand.

Iris chuckled and shimmed upwards to sit straight against the bed headrest. "That's fans for you, thinking up of every possible situation and fantasy, haha."

"Well, when it comes to Big Hit, the fans are used to these sort of 'conspiracies,' so it's not surprising as we have their artist and composer in our midst."

"Big shoes to fill though," remarked Minjoo thoughtfully after Eunbi's words. The young brunette had just peeped in from the door frame after noticing that their leader had gone in earlier.

"Oh, Minmin~ where's Hyi-chan?" Yena turned her head to call out to Minjoo about Honda Hitomi.

"Ah, she went to use our shower since you used the other one."

"Oh. Haha." Yena turned back to the mirror. "Anyway, Iris-unnie, please take better care of yourself. You're too tired these days. But I'm amazed how you look so good on stage. That's a professional for you."

Eunbi snickered. "Then what about you? You're not a 'professional,' Yena?"

"Hmmm…" She paused and considered the question with a mock, profound air. "Only on stage."

All of the girls burst out laughing at the happy virus of their group who was also a jokester. And yet on stage, her duality appeared in fierce, charismatic form.

"So-so!" Jo Yuri repeatedly tapped Iris's leg enthusiastically. "What happens next? The story continues, right? And it was connected to your solo debut too. Are there more members to the group? Are you actually in the group?" The young girl peered at Iris with large, pleading eyes.

Iris giggled and leaned forward to pat Yuri's head. "Don't give me those puppy eyes. I'm still not going to tell you anything." She smirked.

"Boo! I wanted insider information!" Yuri pouted, and Hitomi just then returned to the room.

Seeing the crowd, Hitomi curiously raised her eyebrows. But then, she quickly deduced that it probably about Iris again who had been quite exhausted as of late. All of the members encouraged and cheered for her whenever they could, sometimes even giving her shoulder massages and making Iris laugh.

After more than two years together, all of IZ*ONE had become close like sisters, one very big, chaotically harmonious family. In preparing for their last comeback together, they had all incorporated these bittersweet feelings and energies into their album as motivation and passion.

Thus, as they were in the last months of their contract, life after IZ*ONE was on everyone's mind, especially with Iris making her first steps toward that post-Produce career. Even so, they all kept their thoughts on track in order to focus on making their last comeback, a grand ending.

Perhaps one day, they'll get together again like I.O.I, the first Produce group, when they returned as 11 members in the latter half of 2020. But until then, it could be a long time before that happened, if it ever did because IZ*ONE had a much longer contract than I.O.I.

With all of their determination, the twelve girls tackled their last comeback with open arms. This time around, their management and producing companies allowed the members to participate more actively in the creation of their album. So, everyone felt more satisfaction with this album than any of the previous.

It also served as good practice for when they eventually split ways onto their own paths as either solo or group artists in their former labels. Groups that exercised and demonstrated more creative freedom in their music often garnered more interest and respect from the public.

On their last comeback stage, IZ*ONE told their fans that they'd perform barefoot and bring many flowers on stage if they won first at that music show. Since it was their last music show performance, their fans came in droves to support their artists.

Their fans, called WIZ*ONEs, cheered for them with their white light-sticks which included different colored beads for each of the twelve girls on the top. Every girl brought flowers with their respective colors and danced with them on stage.

Iris held a purple rose, the color of which was her namesake as well as her official group color. Meanwhile, a wreath of different purple-dyed flowers crowned her head.

Each of the girls donned a similar appearance and looked very much like fairies on this last stage with this barefoot and flowered getup.

At the very end of their show-winning performance, some of the fans had snuck in some flowers of their own. And courteously, in an organized WIZ*ONE community effort, they tossed these flowers in gentle arcs onto the stage in front of their idols.

Surprised, the girls quietly walked forward with ajar mouths and tearing up eyes to fetch these fan-given flowers. Some had brought real flowers, others had brought elaborate synthetic ones that they bedazzled up, and others yet made tissue-paper origami-like ones.

Although the music show organizers had the right mind to stop the idols from picking these up as tossing items at idols on stage wasn't technically allowed, no one had the heart to do so.

Spotting some distinctive purple flowers—irises—the same-named girl, Iris Huang, trotted lightly over to scoop them up gingerly into her arms. Warmth filled her eyes and emerged as sparking droplets as she smiled and laughed at the fans below.

"Thank you, WIZ*ONES! I love you!"