It felt like the storm had passed, only for a hurricane to come in its stead. 

{Crazy scenes at the Emblem of the Sun press conference. Spat between talent and reporter.} 

{Liam Marken, a man who openly claims the inadequacies of his Guild. 'I just didn't want to see a once-in-a-lifetime talent rot under bad management'. Will he be stripped of his position?} 

{Sarah Andler; 'We earned the right to the project'. But did she really? How could an unknown rookie who got dropped by her instructor have earned the project fairly? A PR ruse, or the truth?} 

The tabloids were going crazy with the articles, and titles. 

So much so that our names were now jointly first and second on StarBoard. 

My phone was constantly buzzing and it was impossible to go out to the city streets without reporters storming me from all sides. 

The same was true for the Guild. 

As of yesterday, I had officially become the number one enemy of Unit 1. 

Safe to say that my presence wasn't very welcomed. Not that I cared since I only cared for the girls and nothing else. 

"You did really well yesterday. You should've seen the faces of the reporters when you said all of that." 

"Kakaka. I have it all on recording. I've replayed it several times already." 

"Oh." 

Olivia and Joana continued to shower Sarah with praise, their words flowing freely as they hovered around her while she calmly enjoyed her candy on the sofa.

Oblivious to the chaos her words had stirred and the smear campaign unfolding around her, she casually enjoyed her candy without a care in the world, as if yesterday's press conference held no significance for her.

"I didn't know you had that in you. As your team leader, I'm proud." 

"You should've sworn at them. Would've had a greater impact." 

"Don't listen to her. You would've ruined your career if you did that. Olivia is the last person you need to listen to for advice." 

"As if you're any better..." 

"What did you say?" 

While they were talking, my eyes couldn't help but wander toward the corner of the room where a lonesome figure sat. 

With a gloomy expression and conspicuous dark circles beneath her eyes, she lifted her gaze away from her phone to stare at Sarah.

She kind of reminded me of Lyla back when we had taken her TV. As if the world had crumbled on her. 

Just that... 

If looks could kill, she'd have killed Sarah many times over by now. 

"Whispers in the shadows, secrets unfold." 

She started to speak in a low voice, her shaky hand slowly raising to face Sarah's direction. 

Just what was she doing...? 

"A dance with darkness, a story untold." 

A poem?

"In realms unseen, where mysteries lie." 

Her voice raised with each word, prompting everyone in the vicinity to turn and cast their attention her way.

Joana was the first to speak. 

"What are you doing, Mia? Did you finally lose it?" 

"Wait... I think I recall hearing this from somewhere." 

"You have?" 

"Let me think." 

Olivia rubbed her forehead, trying her best to think where she heard those chants from. 

Click. 

Before she could make sense of it, the room lights flickered off, plunging the space into total darkness.

The only thing I could hear was Mia's screeching voice. 

"The veil is lifted, the night draws nigh!" 

Then. 

Standing up, she shouted.

"Begone spawn of the devil!" 

"..." 

"..." 

"..." 

The silence that took over the room after her last chant lasted for a brief moment before Olivia's voice echoed throughout. 

"What the fuck...?" 

"Hey, Olivia. What did I tell you about swearing?" 

"No, it's fine. Lyla isn't here." 

"No, she is. She's the one that turned off the lights." 

"Ah?" 

Overhearing the conversation between the two, I turned to look to my right to see Lyla hanging on the door handle while it swung from left to right. 

"Waaa..." 

How did she...? 

"How did she get there?" 

Olivia said with a look of wonder. 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

"How is that even possible?" 

"She's still too short for the lights. She likely just managed to reach the switch before stumbling backward, clutching onto the door handle, and, well..."

Joana's eyes fixed once more on Lyla, her body still swaying as the door continued its back-and-forth motion.

"...we got that." 

Ah, that makes sense. 

No, wait. 

I needed to stop that. 

I was just about to go when Olivia smacked her fist. 

Pak! 

"Ah! I finally realized where I heard those chants from." 

No, that's not what your priority should be. 

"Waaa...!" 

Ignoring the flailing Lyla, she continued. 

"It's the damn curse from that book! Girls by the Piers! Uh, ah. I thought she moved on from that."

Olivia rubbed the side of her arms as if she was shivering and her face winced repeatedly. 

"Now that I know... Ugh. That was fucking cringe. What's wrong with you Mia?" 

"What do you mean, what's wrong with me...?" 

Finally, Mia spoke. 

Getting off her seat, she glared at Sarah gloomily. 

"Do you have any idea what you've done? You bitch?" 

"Mia!?" 

"No, I'm not having this! Nag. Nag. Nag. Isn't that what Sarah said in the press conference? That I nag all the time?"

"Do you not?" 

"Ha. Look at this bitch..." 

At Sarah's response, Mia covered her face and laughed. 

"After all I've done for you... Is this how you treat me?" 

"Nag. Nag. See? You nagging again." 

"Hahaha." 

Mia laughed once again. I thought for a moment she was going to assault Sarah, but it was strange that she didn't. Crossing her hands in front of her, she glanced at the candy in Sarah's hands. 

Alarmed, Sarah moved them away from her. 

"What...?" 

"Hmm~ Nothing." 

"What? What?" 

When Mia saw Sarah squint her eyes, she turned her head slightly and dismissively waved her hand. 

"Mhh, it's nothing. I may or may not have cursed you." 

"Ah. Okay." 

As if she lost interest, Sarah turned her attention back to the candy. However, just as she did, Mia opened her mouth again. 

"About the curse... It could and could not be about the candy you're eating." 

The entire room fell quiet at that moment with all eyes locked on Mia. 

I stared from the side and shook my head. 

As if Sarah would fall for such simple provocation. She was better than tha-

'Never mind.' 

Seeing Sarah's eyes widen dramatically, I could have sworn her face grew paler as well. She appeared as if the world had crumbled around her.

"Take it back." 

"Take what back?" 

With a simple smirk gracing her lips, Mia feigned ignorance. 

"The curse. Take it back." 

"Can you take back what you said yesterday?" 

"It's already out."

"Then I guess you're screwed." 

"...!" 

Did her face become paler again? 

It was as if she had seen a ghost. No, for some reason, it felt like she had seen everything she held dearly die right before her very eyes. 

Utterly at a loss for words, I was just about to go help Lyla when I felt a certain stare directed in my direction. 

"Sarah?" 

And then, much to my shock and everyone present, she dashed my way and grabbed both my hands. 

"Sarah?!" 

"Stay still." 

Clasping both of my hands, I felt the warm touch of her hand. Pulling my hands back, I looked at her strangely. 

What was up with her? 

"What are you doing?" 

Disappointed by the fact that I pulled my hands away, she looked up and replied, 

"Curse repellent." 

"Curse what...?" 

"Hey, that's not fair!" 

"Ukh."

Then, Mia suddenly appeared on my right side and clung to my back. 

"Mia? What are you guys...!" 

Sarah's eyes opened so wide that I could've sworn they would've fallen off if not for the fact that it wasn't possible. The way she looked at me seemed to say, 'why did you betray me?'.

No, how did I even betray you? 

"What are you guys doing?" 

I managed to say while trying to peel Mia off of my back. 

"Sarah is trying to ward off the curse with you. I'm just trying to stop her." 

She what? 

I looked at Sarah. She was looking back at me with a serious look. Very serious look. Closely reminded me of the times when she was preparing for the audition. 

"Manager." 

"Yes?" 

"Stay still." 

"No, wait..." 

Opening her arms wide, she hugged me from the front.

Ah, this... 

I turned my gaze toward Joana and Olivia, discovering them approaching me with outstretched arms. Slowly but steadily, they were making their way towards me.

"What are you guys doing?" 

"Team bonding manager. Team bonding." 

"Like Sarah said, you do a lot for us. It's time we repay that favor." 

"Repay me by getting them off of me." 

"But where would be the fun in that?" 

"No, what fun? Why am I the one suffering when you're trying to repay that 'favor'." 

"Tough luck." 

Just as she said this, the two of them arrived and clamped me from both sides. 

Despite their thin and pretty figures, their arms held a lot of strength. Felt like I was getting squeezed into a pulp. 

"Thank you for everything that you do for us manager." 

My ears tingled as Joana whispered from my right. 

"We love and appreciate everything that you do for us." 

Added Olivia from the left. 

Damn it. Just wait until I get out of this... 

"No, but seriously manager. We really are thankful for what you do for us." 

"Yeah, besides everything else that Sarah said, we all are very grateful for you." 

"Is that so?" 

So why aren't you letting go? 

"Yeah, we're very grateful for you." 

"Okay, okay. If you really are grateful stop whispering in my ears." 

I could feel their breaths in my ears and I couldn't stop getting shivers.

Fucking chills. 

Once again trying to peel Mia off of me, I suddenly stopped. Scanning the faces of the girls surrounding me, I noticed that despite all the teasing, their expressions revealed genuine sincerity in every word they uttered.

Their smiles were nothing like the smiles they carried on television and on the shows. They were smiles of genuine appreciation and hope for the future that was to come. 

I didn't have it in me to get them off of me. 

Ha. I guess there was nothing wrong with me sacrificing my body to comfort the girls. 

At that, I lowered my hand and let the girls continue hugging me from all sides. 

For what was to come, this little sacrifice was nothing. 

You could say that I too was expectant of the future that was to come. 

"Waaa..."