I'll Always Be There [Eunbi×Sungyoon]

4: Monthly Evaluation

E: Your monthly evaluation is today, right?

S: Yep. We both have ours on the same day.

S: Are you nervous?

E: Kinda. I've had so many monthly evaluations in the past but it still makes me nervous. Why do they have to look so strict and scary all the time? They're not doing anything to help me perform well.

S: Maybe they think we'll work harder if we're scared of them HAHA

E: Maybe

E: Good luck! I'm sure you'll do well.

S: Good luck to you too! You practiced really hard for this.

...

S: How did your evaluation go? I just finished mine.

S: Are you there?

S: Helloooooo

S: Are you okay? Are you busy?

Knowing her work schedule, he knew that she wasn't working today. Why wasn't she replying to his texts? She wasn't the fastest replier, but it was unusual for him to hear nothing for over two hours. Perhaps she was in the practice room.

Deciding to check if she was there, he went down to the practice rooms, only to bump into Yein. Yein and Eunbi were close, that he knew for a fact since he saw them together a lot.

"Yein ah, have you seen Eunbi? She hasn't replied my texts after we both had our monthly evaluation."

She shook her head. "She's not down here, that's for sure. After the evaluations today, all the trainees are taking a break so we were the only ones practicing. Though... I heard from the other trainees that the teachers were really tough on them today and gave many of them poor grades. Perhaps she's upset."

"Oh. I'll go ask around elsewhere then. Thanks!"

If Eunbi was upset, he was going to cheer her up. Knowing just what to do, he walked out of the company building, heading towards the cafes nearby.

Upon his return, he took the elevator up to the roof. It was nice up here, especially at night since the small lights illuminated the area with a warm glow, creating a romantic atmosphere. He smiled in satisfaction when he saw a familiar figure sitting there, staring out into the darkness.

"I knew you'd be here."

Eunbi's eyes widened in surprise when she heard a familiar voice and Sungyoon sat beside her on the bench. A matcha latte was shoved in front of her and she accepted it, taking a sip.

"I thought this would cheer you up."

As usual, he had his coffee in hand. One thing that disagreed on was the appeal of coffee. Eunbi hated it but Sungyoon loved it more than life.

"Thanks." She fell silent, feeling the condensation from the drink drip off her hands.

He watched her from the corner of his eye, trying to read her facial expression. As hard as he tried, he couldn't figure out how she was feeling.

"Are you okay? I heard that the teachers were especially tough on you guys this time."

She nodded. "I'm fine. I've experienced much worse than this." She chuckled ruefully.
"As a trainee, things like this are inevitable. If I was good enough not to get scolded, I would have debuted already."

"Don't be discouraged if they criticized you. Just take it in your stride and do better next time. You're talented, their words shouldn't stop you from trying hard."

"I know, don't worry. I can take criticism. It just kinda sucks that I practiced so hard and thought that I got better... but they told me that there was no improvement from the last time. If anything, my performance was worse because I was so nervous this time that my facial expressions didn't show through." She sighed heavily, twirling the straw around. "I guess I'm more frustrated at myself than anything. It's kinda pathetic that I went from someone who debuted to a trainee who keeps getting scolded at monthly evaluations. I should be better than this."

"I'm sure you'll do better the next time. It takes time to show them your full talent. I'll be here supporting you, okay?"

"Thanks. It means a lot." She flashed him a small smile, her soft apple cheeks rosy in the dim lighting.

"You can always rely on me. Unlike you, I did very well for my evaluations." He said, a smug smile on his face.

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What did you get?"

"A C."

Eunbi couldn't help but burst out laughing at his antics. "You're ridiculous."

"Hey! That's the smile that I wanted to see!" He laughed along with her, his eyes crinkling into two lines.

She didn't know how, but in a mere 10 seconds, all her frustrations melted away. She could always rely on Sungjoon to make her smile.

"Well, it looks like the both of us did outstandingly well then." She grinned.

"Let's do even more amazingly and get As the next time." He slung his arm around her shoulder.

"If I score better than you, you're buying me another drink."

"Deal. If I score better than you, you're coming with me on a coffee date. I still can't believe that you don't like coffee, I'm gonna convert you if it's the last thing I do."

"Nope. Never going to happen."

AN: omg I just realised that I somehow uploaded chapter 5 instead of 4 previously