|two|

|NaHee's POV|

"So, Sun, you only trained for ten months—how does that work? Most idols train for years. You must've had a lot of vocal and dance lessons when you were younger." The MC tries to make it a little easier on her, but instead he makes it more difficult.

"I wasn't even interested in music until 2016. I met an idol when I was modeling and he filled me in on how amazing it was being an idol. He was the one who really made me want to do music. One of his group members helped me learn to rap. A childhood friend of mine actually debuted a few years ago, too. He and his group taught me to dance." SunMi explains as she digs her nails into her palm. She does her best to keep her eyes strictly on the MC while the audience whispers to themselves.

"That's amazing. Would we know the idols? Are they big?" The MC doesn't outright ask for their names, but we can all tell that's what he wants to know.

I turn to SunMi and nod my head encouragingly. They both told her to drop their names if given the chance. They told her it would help get us recognized and hopefully stop people from saying she bought her way into the group.

"I met TaeYang from SF9 in 2016 at a modeling job. He was really sweet. JuHo was the one who helped me learn to rap. SeongHwa from Ateez is one of my childhood friends. We met in second grade. He and JongHo were the ones who helped me dance." SunMi's face goes pale at the mention of SeongHwa and JongHo. She usually talks about TaeYang all the time, but she's more cautious when she talks about the Ateez boys.

"Do you think we'll ever see a collab with either of the groups and Candi?" The MC tries to lighten the mood after sensing SunMi's hesitation.

"I'm not sure." SunMi mumbles softly as she hands the microphone away quickly.

"The name Candi—where did that come from?" The MC takes his attention off of SunMi and let's her breathe.

"At first, we weren't supposed to be called Candi. We were originally supposed to be called ItGurlz. Our CEO didn't think it fit us though. He said we weren't a bunch of girls out to get attention—we were doing it for fun. So he wanted something that showed that. We spent a week throwing around ideas." I explain before glancing at JiSu to continue.

"I actually came up with Candi—well our vocal coach and me. We were practicing and I was complaining about not having gummies. She stopped mid sentence and looked me straight in the eyes and said Candi." JiSu smiles as she recalls the moment as if it were yesterday.

"When we brought it up to the CEO he loved it. He said it fit us perfectly, so it just kind of stuck." I finish off the explanation as I notice JiSu grab SunMi's hand from the corner of my eye.

"The company has been through a lot over the past few months. How did you guys manage to stay around? Weren't you concerned about getting left with nothing?" The MC hits a topic we had hoped wouldn't surface. Aera steps up and takes the microphone from my hand.

"The company has been through a lot, but so have we. We all found our place at Unknown. We weren't going to give it up just because of a few problems. When we signed as trainees with Unknown, we signed our lives away. We signed a contract that said we would come out of it as stars and we wanted to make sure that happened. Idol life is something we all want to be a part of. We love our fans and each other too much to back out when things get rough." Aera quickly answers and hands the microphone back to me.

"That's a really good answer. I'm glad to see you guys didn't let the pressure get to you. We have just a few more questions before you perform for us. This one is meant to let the fans get to know more about you. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would you pick?" The MC patiently waits as we ponder the question.

"I think I'd have to go with Liability by Lorde. I'm sure we all have our low moments, but the song really spoke to me when I was going through training. There were times I felt like I was just being used. It was a really relatable song for me." I explain as I recall the tough times I was talking about. There were days I didn't want to leave my bed. I was so exhausted and in so much pain—especially when the company started going down. It took all four of the other girls to get me out of my slump. I owe them my life.

"I would pick Move by TaeMin. When it first came out, I danced to it on repeat. It was my go to practice song. I still listen to it almost everyday." Aera chirps as she squirms in her seat, wanting to jump up and dance.

"I'm sure your members would sing for you if you want to give us a little performance." The MC smiles as he glances at the rest of us.

We all nod and begin singing Move for her. Aera effortlessly goes through the moves as if she herself was the one who created them. She ends with a huge grin and falls down in her chair.

"I'm not sure what my song would be. I guess I would have to pick Pirate King by Ateez. That was the first song I learned to dance to." SunMi struggles to keep her voice loud enough for people to hear.

"I remember the first time they performed that song—you had some amazing dance teachers." The MC smiles as he shifts his gaze to JiSu.

"My favorite song is Candy Pop by Twice." JiSu chirps and passes the microphone off to JuHee.

"My favorite song is When Will My Life Begin from the movie Tangled." JuHee grins from ear to ear as she lowers her head in embarrassment.

"One more question then we'll let you perform. Could you give us a little background on the track you'll be singing for us?" The MC glances down at his cue card before looking back up at me.

"Today we'll be performing our title track from our debut album Candi Shop. The track is called Black Licorice. It's a song about a girl who puts everyone else before herself. She becomes so focused on helping others she begins to forget who she is. She starts to see her kindness as fake—just like the sweetness of black licorice." I explain as I turn toward the other girls.

"I hope everyone is ready to hear it. Good luck on your first performance. Once you're done we'll have some more questions." The MC gets to his feet and bows his head before slipping off stage.

A few backstage workers scurry onto the stage and grab the chairs before backing out in a hurry. We huddle for a moment and I smile at each one of them.

"You've got this. We all have this." I reassure them as we break up and get into our spots.