2. Project IZ*ONE II

Chapter 13- Aftermath

"Chaeyeon-ah, we'll meet up at our usual spot after I address the other trainees, but you can take your time if you want." Eunbi says before closing the door. She then takes a deep breath and walks out to center stage where the podium was.

~~~~

"Hello, everyone. It's been a couple days..." Eunbi begins after tapping on the microphone. The trainees who were milling around now begin settling in the seats near them. Looking at everyone from this perspective, Eunbi recalls how packed the place was just a few months ago. This was the home she felt like she needed to protect. She needed to make sure these attacks stopped happening.

"I'd first like to apologize for what's been happening the past two days. If you weren't aware, Principal Ahn betrayed us. He was using our data to supply his own research into mutants. We should've noticed it sooner..." She continues. The crowd remains silent as the leader talks.

"What I want to say though is that we shouldn't lose out on hope. This is supposed to be a safe haven, and we will continue to protect it. Beyond that, our goal is to also make the world a safe place for mutants. I know that I may not ever understand what some of you have experienced, but fighting side-by-side with you all has only reinforced to me that this is a cause worth fighting for. In my eyes, there shouldn't be a difference in treatment between you and the rest of society. There is a place for everyone no matter what their background is, and we will fight for it. I know recent events have made the situation seem bleak, but I ask you all to hold on to hope. Things will get better. We'll make sure of it." When Eunbi ends her short speech, the crowd slowly erupts into cheers. Chaewon, Minjoo and Yujin were giving her thumbs-ups while Sakura was standing in a corner with a smile. What she said may have sounded cliché or cheesy, but Eunbi truly believed in her ideals. She quickly gives a few more short announcements before asking her members to go meet up at the room Seunggi had assigned for their group meetings.

~~~~

"Nice speech, unnie! I really think they needed it. It's really been a rough couple of days." Chaewon cheers as they walk towards their meeting room.

"I was just saying what I believed in. I don't think it was anything too revolutionary." Eunbi replies, trying to play it off. Inside, she was glad to have so much support, but she knew that with that support comes a lot more pressure to perform.

"Minjoo-unnie and Chaewon-unnie caught me up with what happened to Hyewon-unnie by the way. I'm really sorry for what happened. I'm sure we can go take her back." Yujin says. Having Hyewon's name brought up again stung a bit, but it wasn't a topic they could simply avoid.

After a couple minutes, the group arrives at their destination, and waits for the other members to make their way to the table they'd set up at. Apart from Wonyoung, who was still holding a cold-compress on her bruises from earlier, everyone looked relatively unscathed which was a relief. Eventually, the last member, Chaeyeon, arrives accompanied by her sister, Chaeryeong, who was feeling well enough to make the walk over.

"Alright, mission debriefing time. Status reports?" Eunbi begins.

"We did a headcount and it looks like the only missing people among the trainees are Gaeun-unnie and Yunjin-unnie." Yujin says. Eunbi nods and looks over at Yena.

"No more bombs around the whole campus, or at least, we believe we've defused them all." The duck says. She and Yuri had walked around the area looking for any leftovers, and found quite a lot even outside the garage. It looked like Principal Ahn wasn't afraid to blow the place to kingdom come if he felt like it. Luckily for them, Yena could detect the faint electrical currents the bombs emitted.

"That's a relief. Nako, Hii-chan, any luck finding the trainers?"

"Yeah. Turns out they were all drugged and locked in one of the storage rooms. Thankfully, Miyu and Sihyeon were still around. X-ray vision and sonar tracking helped out a lot." Nako reports.