By Your Side: Adventures in I-LAND

Reality Checks in a Reality Show

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Three things that happened after our debut.

The first thing is our new reality show. Only... the boys got one and we didn't. This was a bit confusing at first. Was it because we were girls and they liked men only? Of course not. I've seen the looks on Bang Si-hyuk's face. He seemed really happy that we girls debuted under HYBE Labels.

We were in one side of the lobby when Bang PD-nim (a nickname most call him) entered.

"So..." he said, "The staff agreed to have your reality show crossover with ENHYPEN's!"

I tilted my head.

Aren't we supposed to have a reality show of our own?

"So..." said Leila, "The girls and the boys are literally...'sharing' our shows? Isn't that a bit...cringey? I mean for the fans."

"Everything you say is 'cringey'!" said Erika, "With that said, we will be happy to share our show with ENHYPEN."

"Erika," said Keira, "You do realize that we would have to be with the boys every second, right?"

"Yes?"

"And you do know that the boys would have to spend every single second with us, right?" said Isabelle.

"Yes, I do." said Erika.

"And, for the million dollar question," I said, "You also do realize that we are having to refrain from falling in love or getting intimate and even trying so hard not to get too close to the boys at all costs, right?"

"Isn't that you?" asked Erika.

"Why?"

"Because we all know that Jake kissed you during our live show." said Juliet.

My eyes bulged wide.

They what?!

"You WHAT?!"

"It's true," said Leila, "Bang Si-hyuk once said who would know that two idols could fall in love with each other just like that. Especially after a big amount of training."

"Really?"

"Yup," said Holly, "I've always had a feeling about you two. And the way he would cradle you in his arms."

"The way he would cradle me? Like a baby?"

"You know," chirped Holly, "He would give you love and soft affection. Nothing big. You like that, don't you?"

I didn't respond after that.

I started preparing for the first reality show episode a bit later. I thought of it as an exciting feet. Us girls were going to have a reality show...that was all about us! Only...did the agency even let us know we were going to have a show of our own?

It was while we were in the makeup room, when Yeo-rin called me. Which was pretty strange, since our manager doesn't really call us unless we were resting or if we were just hanging out. But it made me feel so weird and confused and potentially suspicious too.

I answered:

"Hello?"

"Y/N, hi! I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Well...there is no easy way of saying this…but HYBE is canceling your reality show!"

I felt my heart drop. I knew that we were not going to have our own show and that we would have to guest star in the boys' show.

Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do!