Their 14 | Seventeen's 14th member

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 - 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

"Say the name! Hi, we are Seventeen," introduced S.coups while they were promoting their new album, 17 is Right Here, at an American talk show.

The interview had been going smoothly and the members were having a great time—probably the best they've had at an interview in a while—until the host decided to make some uncalled-for remarks, "So I see you guys have one female member; isn't that a bit unusual? She kind of seems out of place."

"No, it actually isn't unusual, nor does she seem out of place; why would you think so?" replied Seungkwan with a slight bit of attitude (which he denies.) "Well, most other K-pop groups are all either male or female; you have an odd one out."

The word odd has always left a bitter taste in Rei's mouth. She knew seeing one woman amongst a male-dominant group was a bit out of the ordinary, but instead of praising the group for being different from most others, people (mostly talk-show hosts) called her out on it and made it seem as if it was a bad thing.

"I don't understand why people always have to point that out; I mean, it's evident there's one woman in a male-dominant group—we're known for that, so it's not deemed necessary for everyone to point it out every. single. time." Rei yelled. She was quite frustrated with this comment being made because not only is it made in every interview they go to, but it is also always meant as an insult towards her, whether it's made explicit or not.

"You know what?" Rei stands up, heading towards the exit. "I am done with the interview; not only are you insulting me with that sly comment, but you haven't said a word to me or even acknowledged me in this group interview.

Everyone—the production team, the members, and the host himself—was quite taken aback. "What was that all about, these females am I right?" laughed the host.

"Who the hell are you to say stuff like that? Don't call us back to this cheap-ass show ever again," Jeonghan said, getting up from his seat and heading towards the exit as the rest followed.

- A few days after the interview -

"Rei" called out one of the executives of PLEDIS (Hyungwon) during Seventeens MAESTRO rehearsal.

"We need to talk," Hyungwon said, Reid followed him into a separate room while the rest of the Seventeen members looked over to see what was going on.

"What's going on, Hyungwon-nim?" Rei said, confused as ever, "We need to discuss what you said in the interview a few days ago." Rei looked down as Hyungwon said this, she knew she would be in trouble for lashing out like that, and the time had finally come.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get angry. It'll never happen agai-" Rei tried to save herself from the scolding but got cut off in the middle.

"I'm not here for an apology," Hyungwon said before Rei could apologize, "I'm here to talk about something more serious."

Rei then thought she would face some consequences because of her actions and tried to negotiate, "I sincerely apologize, I know it was a bad desi-"

"Quit it! Let me talk!" yelled Hyungwon. This caught the attention of the boys, and they asked if she was okay, to which Hyungwon replied, "She's fine!"

"Listen," Hyungwon started off, "the host has filed a complaint against you and the staff members present also think what you did wasn't very professional."

Rei was shocked to hear that the host went as far as filing a complaint against her; it wasn't that serious, in her opinion.

"So, what will the consequences be?" Rei asked, hoping it wasn't as bad as she thought. "Well, the company has been thinking about making...changes per se for a while and this just kind of gave them a solid reason to, well, make those changes." Hyungwon added