PARADISE| I-LAND

ZERO

"    ɪ'ʟʟ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ.   "

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT, APRIL 2020

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Raina was currently observing her fellow trainees as they practised for the upcoming individual evaluations that were less than a week away. Raina was giving herself a short break, feeling the familiar fatigue starting to settle in. She watched as a couple of girls were becoming more and more frustrated with themselves when they kept messing up. Raina knows the feeling well, being here for as long as she has, she knows how frustrating and demanding it is. Especially in a male-dominated company, which is why Raina automatically steps up and helps any female trainee as much as she can. Just as Raina was about to go over and help the girls before continuing her own practice, she was approached by Kang Mi-soo, one of Bighit's producers and a dear mentor of Raina.

"Good Afternoon Raina, How is your practice going?" Bowing, Raina grinned at the older woman, brushing her dark hair behind her ear.

"It's going very well, I just have to polish up on a few things. What can I do for you?" Mi-soo smiled at the young woman.

"Bang PD-nim has requested to speak with you in his office in an hour." At this, Raina straighten her posture and became slightly nervous.

"It's nothing bad right? I haven't done anything." Raina gushed out slightly, causing Mi-soo to giggle at her.

"I can say it's nothing bad but I can't say anything more than that," Mi-soo informed the nervous trainee, to which Raina let out a breath and nodded her head. A bit more relaxed after the information.

"That's completely fine. Just as long as it's nothing bad." After sharing a laugh the older woman offered Raina goodbye with a smile and a bow to which Raina returned. After a few moments, Raina decided to call it a day and have a quick shower and clean up before meeting with her superior. Raina was naturally a curious soul so questions flew around her head, but one stood out from all the others.

What could Bang PD-nim want to talk to her about?

An hour later, a freshly dressed Raina stood outside Bang PD's office, taking a deep breath and letting go of her nerves, she carefully knocked on the door and opened it when she heard a 'come in'

As she walked into the room she took notice of Bang PD standing behind his desk and bowed.

"Good afternoon sir." Bang PD smiled and shook her hand when she walked towards the seat in front of his desk.

"Good afternoon Raina, still training as hard as ever I see." Raina sat down and smile at him.

"As always. You know me, sir, there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not training." She replied with a little laugh, causing Bang PD to do the same. Settling down in their seats, Bang Si-hyuk observed Raina for a moment. If she was nervous or scared she didn't show it, she remains poised and professional which brought him a sense of pride. There was a reason why he chose her and he had faith in her abilities to complete the offer he was about to make her. Raina was the definition of hard work, talent and determination. He saw something extremely special and rare within her, which is why he always did everything he could to convinced her to stay when she'd come to him to discuss quitting.

"You are probably wondering why I have requested to suddenly speak to you today. Is that correct Raina?" Raina nodded, never losing her professionalism and looked at Bang PD-nim.

"You would be correct sir." This urged Bang PD to continue.

"Well, I am sure you have heard about "I-LAND" from your fellow trainee's." Raina nodded, remembering how Heesung, a male trainee she was close with and had trained with a few times, had auditioned for a part in the survival show and got in. Along with Jay and Sunghoon, both of whom Raina knew but was not close to as she is to Heesung. All three of them have a lot of potential and Raina was proud of them. Bang PD then continue.

"Concerning the survival show, in which 23 male trainees train together to make the final line-up for a secured debut. It has come to my and the head officials of this show's attention that our ratings will likely be extremely low, due to the lack of originality of our concept and other factors. I and everyone involved have been discussing ways to gain more recognition. While discussing this issue one particular but a possible option that was discussed." Bang PD paused for a moment, giving Raina time to process the information he has given her before continuing.

"It was suggested that instead of debuting a boy group, we should try something different. Something that not many companies have." Bang PD was about to continue but paused when he saw the recognition in Raina's eyes, he knew she was smart enough to figure out what he was suggesting.

"Like a co-ed group sir?" She questioned but she knew she was right when Bang PD smiled slightly. She knew co-ed groups were risky for companies, personally, she didn't see why but she could take some guesses.

"Yes, Raina. A co-ed group, a lot of us agreed it would work but due to how close we are to start broadcasting the show, we do not have time to do global auditions for the show. So, earlier this week we all sat down and carefully choose female trainees who we believed would not only be able to match the skill level of the 23 male contestants if not go beyond their skills but who we believed could make an impact and are ready to debut." At this point, Raina had a pretty good idea as to why she was sitting here. But she didn't let her hopes up. After so many 'almost-debut' situations she experienced in her years training under Bighit. She developed a realistic mindset and began to not have her hopes too high, knowing if it didn't work out, she'd be a step closer to the edge.

"Due to most of the chosen female trainee's already being confirmed to debut we were left with one of the chosen trainee's, whom everyone agreed had the talent, mindset, work ethic and potential to debut." Bang PD took a moment to smile her Raina before leaning forward slightly.

"You, Raina. If you accept, you will be our only female contestant in the show and although I cannot guarantee you a debut. You will have a real chance to debut." Raina was shocked, to say the least. Even though she saw it coming as Bang PD was explaining the situation, hearing him say it out loud caused a wave of emotions to crash down on her. Shock, anxiety, determination, fear, happiness. All these emotions swallowed her whole, causing her to lose her composure for a moment, with her head hanging down and her eyes staring at her hands. Raina took a few moments to sort her thoughts before taking a breath and looking at her CEO with a genuine smile and grateful eyes before saying the two words that could either end up saving her or destroying her.

"I accept."

Bang PD genuinely smiled at the young woman, who he had watched grow in 7 years. To say he had faith in her would be an understatement, but it was all up to her whether she would debut in the final 8. Standing up both of them shared a heartwarming smile and Raina bowed to her superior before bidding her goodbyes and walking towards the door. But stopped when Bang PD-nim spoke again.

"Before I forget, I would like to please ask you to keep this confidential. None of the contestants, the mentors nor the public will know about your participation until the first day." Raina understood, even though she desperately wanted to tell the girls and Heesung. So, Raina gave him a nod and smiled one last time before stepping out softly closing the door behind her.

Raina stood there for a moment, her chest felt light. She finally had a real chance. She knew she was going to have to work 10x harder if she wanted this. And that's exactly what she was going to do.

Raina could finally start reaching for her paradise.