Here I am (Boys Planet Mentor)

Chapter 26

Episode 9: Starting to Realise (part 2)
Today was the day where all the Boys Planet members gathered together to complete missions for their guerilla tomorrow. The producers decided to give them some time to take a break after they completed the missions.

Just giving them a mini 'reward' for their hard work.

Zhanghao, Ricky and Chen Kuan Jui were hanging out with each other, outside the building. The trio decided to take a little break after playing basketball.

"So, Zhanghao hyung.... are you alright?"

Zhanghao looked towards Ricky, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah... why do you ask?"

Ricky places his hands in his pockets, shrugging, "Oh~ I don't know. You just seem distracted lately"

"Yeah, I noticed that too. You're not too stressed out about anything, are you?"

Zhanghao couldn't help but break into a smile. He found it touching to be surrounded by people who truely cared about him.

"Everything is fine, don't worry about it"

They both nodded. Ricky stared off to the distance and noticed a small figure, leaning against the wall while staring off to the sky.

Nudging Zhanghao, he pointed towards it, "Isn't that Arin masternim?"

Zhanghao looked towards where Ricky pointed and so did Chen Kuan Jui.

Chen Kuan Jui clapped his hands together, "Oh yeah, it is. Should we go say hi to her?"

Zhanghao stood up while grabbing the basketball off the floor. He rolled it towards her direction and slowly ran after it.

Ricky and Chen Kuan Jui let their eyes follow Zhanghao's movements. They looked at each other, giving a knowing smile.

"I never knew Zhanghao hyung was interested in her"

"I mean, they have history with each other. It's not that surprising"

Meanwhile Arin who was blanking out felt something touch her leg. She looked down to see a basketball.

She crouched down and grabbed the basketball. Pushing herself up she looked in front of her to see Zhanghao running towards her.

Arin passed the ball towards him and he caught it.

Zhanghao smiled while hugging the ball, "Thanks, I didn't expect it roll all the way to here"

"I didn't expect you to play basketball. I thought you didn't like using a lot of your energy"

"I'm not that lazy"

Arin just giggled while leaning towards him, "Then you better play with me one day"

Zhanghao gave a smug expression towards Arin, "Please, I'll beat you in basketball even without proper training"

She placed her hand on her chest, offended. "Mind you, I learnt basketball from a very young age so I take pride in that sport"

"Well you would just have to show me that you're not all talk now, won't you?"

"You want to go right now?"

"Right now?"

Arin rolled up her arms while nodding, "Yeah right no-"

Her words got cut off as her phone started buzzing. Grabbing the phone out of her pocket she answered it.

"Hello?..... Yup... oh yeah.... of course... I'll be right there.... yup.. thank you"

She sighed while hanging up the phone, "Great... I just got scolded because I forgot about the meeting for all the star masters"

Running her fingers through her hair she whined, "I'm so screwed"

"What are you still doing here? You should go before you get into more trouble"

"Yeah I should...", she started walking away from Zhanghao while yelling, "But we're still going to play basketball with each other!"

"Yeah yeah, just get there safe"

Zhanghao smiled smally as he watched Arin's figure slowly disappearing.

His body stumbled forward a bit as he felt an arm around his shoulder.

"So, what was that about?"

Zhanghao looked at Ricky, clearly flustered, "What was what about?"

Ricky just smirked and pulled Zhanghao close towards him. "Let's get going, the producers said break time's over"

+          +           +

Pushing the door open, Arin started bowing apologetically as she took her seat.

"Sorry... I didn't realise I was a part of the meeting"

"It's our fault for not being specific with you. Don't worry about it"

Arin smiled towards Solji who gave her a reassuring nod.

One of the staff placed her arms on the table, leaning her body, "I just wanted a brief catch up with what you guys think about the trainee's progress so far? Do you guys believe that everyone is improving?"

"I would say their vocals are definitely improving. Although it's not perfect, I could notice that all of their vocals are getting more stable as they dance"

Everyone agreed to Lee Seok Hoon's point and Lim Hambyeol added, "Not only that but if you compare it to the star level test, I could see that the trainees are trying their best to understand the message behind the song, which enabled them to embody the concept they chose"

Hours passed as they continued to discuss the direction they should take with evaluating the trainees and the songs they should pick for the finals.

"Alright! I think that should be enough for today. Thank you everyone for joining the meeting. You all can go to your rooms and rest"

Everyone got out of their seats, saying their goodbyes to each other.

Arin pulled her chair back and stood up. She was about to leave the room but stopped herself as she heard someone call her name.

"Oh, Arin!"

Looking up she saw the staff gesturing her to come towards them. She walked up towards them, tilting her head.

"Was there something you needed?"

"This is a question I asked all the masters but... is there a one pick for you?"

Arin's eyes widened. She didn't expect this question to be thrown at her so suddenly. It was really out of the blue.

The number rule in their contract was to have an unbiased view towards the trainees... so obviously that meant she shouldn't have a favourite.

"Uhm... no, I don't necessarily have a one pick.."

"Then what about top three? Who do you believe would be a crucial member in the new boy group?"

Arin was about to sweat bullets as she could feel the piercing gaze from the staff. 

"... if... if I had to pick..."

She shook her legs, trying to think. It was a simple question but it felt as though the staff was trying to dig something out of her. Like they were expecting her to say a specific person's name.

Should I just tell them the truth? No... I feel like something bad would happen if I do...

Maybe I should just tell them the last three on my top five...

"It would be Gunwook, Taerae and Zhanghao"

Arin could sense the disappointment from the staff. 

The staff gave her a smile, "Alright, thank you for sharing your insight. You can go now..."

"Thank you.."

Arin bowed and left the room immediately while whispering to herself, "Man.. that was weird..."