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“Here you go.” I drop the bags at her feet a little hastily, suddenly wishing I’d stayed home instead. But Sohee catches my hand to stop me.

“You’re not going to come in? I want to show you the new place. Some of the girls are here; they’ll want to greet you.”

I highly doubt that.

I only know Sohee and another girl, Bomi, who’s been a trainee for years with us. The other four joined Bright Star after Sohee and I were already onCiPro. After Helloglow disbanded and Sohee and I returned to Bright Star, I was worried the new trainees would assume all the rumors about me were true. I didn’t want to deal with the sidelong glances or whispers behind my back. So, I kept my distance.

“I have a schedule,” I lie. “Next time, okay?”

I squeeze her hand before pulling out of her grip and hurrying to the elevator.

Maybe I should have stayed, I think.Did it look bad that I ran away so quickly?

I almost turn to go back inside when I notice a small huddle of kids hovering next to the entrance. The same ones I almost ran into by the elevators. But now they have friends.

Their heads snap up, dirty looks aimed in my direction. And I have only two seconds to realize something bad is coming before the first attack.

One of the girls pulls her hand out from behind her back. Flour flies in my face, a cloud of dust blinding me for a second before it settles all over my hair, my face, my clothes.

The sting of the powder burns my eyes and I retreat a step. I try to blink it away as something hard cracks against my forehead. I don’t know exactly what it is until I feel the slimy yolk run down my face.

“How could youhurtOppa?!”

“What?” I ask as I feel another egg break against my shoulder. The cold yolk gets under my collar and runs down my back. I finally succeed in clearing my vision of the flour, fat tears clumping with it on my cheeks. But when I see the angry glares, I wonder if it was better when I couldn’t see.

“Stay away from Moonster-oppa!”

“How dare you hit him!”

How could they know? Did HBS actually post their footage?

Another egg hits me in the chest and I stagger back like someone taking a bullet instead of raw baking ingredients. The scent is rancid. How did they find rotten eggs?

“Bully!” shouts one of the girls.

I vaguely register the irony of someone calling me a bully as they pelt me with eggs.

A strangled sound escapes me. I don’t know if it’s a cry or a laugh as I can’t see past the futile resentment building in me.

“Eonni!” I hear Sohee calling my name, causing the teens to scatter.

I barely notice as I fall to my knees, the cold yolk of the egg running down my face. It seems the public knows about the accident at the midsummer festival.

KASTOR (????) GROUP PROFILE

KASTOR:(????) is a six-member girl group under Bright Star Entertainment. The members currently consist of Bomi, Sohee, Arin, Gem, Jo, and Minji.

FANDOM NAME:Pollux (???)

OFFICIAL COLOR:Starlight Gold

KASTOR FACTS:

• Kastor is named after Castor, the second-brightest star in the constellation Gemini. Although it appears as a single star in Earth’s night sky to the naked eye, Castor is actually composed of six separate stars, thus the six members who make up Castor.

• Named their fandom Pollux after their twin star. Castor and Pollux asked to be together forever and were cast into the heavens as the two brightest stars of the Gemini constellation. Kastor hopes to walk down their path forever with their fans, Pollux.

• Debut concept teasers are a mermaid theme because the Gemini constellation guides sailors.