Project IZ*ONE II

Chapter 4- Troublemakers

"Fair enough. I expect to see you to be on dish duty all week. Am I clear?" When the three all nod, principal Ahn begins to make his way to the exit. "I'll be watching you three. You best stay out of trouble." And with that, he was gone.

"Slimy son of a..." Yena begins cursing, kicking the chairs around her in frustration.

"We apologize for the mess, ssaem." Yujin says to trainer Yoon-jeong apologetically.

"It's no problem. Everyone's still trying to get used to the new principal." She responds with a sigh.

"Who even put him in charge anyway? The second everyone was gone, he just kept referring to us as mutants. It's obvious he doesn't like our kind." Chaewon says with a huff.

"All I know is that he was government assigned. We had no say in this. Otherwise, I'm sure we would've all voted Seunggi to stay.

"That guy seems really fishy to me. There has to be something else going on." Yena jumps in, finally calming down a bit after messing up the front row.

"Just keep an eye on him then. There's nothing we can do right now." Yoon-jeong advises. "For now, just focus on capture-the-flag tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, that's still a thing. I mean, we'll probably still win, Yuri and I make the perfect team." Yena says confidently with Chaewon and Yujin pretending to throw up.

"Bold of you to assume I'll be letting you team up with her." The older woman replies. "I think it's time to mix it up a bit, don't you think?" She says with a smirk. The other two girls began to laugh at Yena's shocked expression.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you two either. I'll make sure to separate you from your...partners as well."

"But ssaem..." The three begin to complain, but Yoon-jeong wasn't having it.

"You'll see the groupings by the afternoon like everyone else. Until then, I hope you enjoy dish duty." And with that, the trainer exits the auditorium leaving Yena, Chaewon and Yujin to argue again.

~~~~

"Pft...those airheads, always getting themselves in trouble." Yuri whines to Minjoo and Wonyoung. The three girls were hanging out in Minjoo's room while waiting for the others to get back from their scolding.

"Yeah, I swear. They don't ever stop arguing. It's always a mess waiting to happen." Wonyoung concurs.

"C'mon guys. It's not that bad. They just like to joke around." Minjoo says, trying to be a bit kinder though secretly agreeing on the inside. Chaewon, Yena, and Yujin were a really chaotic combo for sure. Most of the time that would lead to laughs and fun, in other cases like the one in the auditorium, it could lead to trouble.

"Yah, Kim Minjoo, don't tell me you've gotten soft on Chaewon now." Yuri teases, causing her to blush. "You two should just go out alreadyyy"

"Easy for you to say, Yuri. Your girlfriend always has so much initiative. Unlike that clueless puppy." Wonyoung interjects. Yuri shrugs in response. It was no secret that Yena was very outspoken about her feelings for Yuri, but that didn't mean she stopped being as dense as a rock. The younger girl hadn't forgotten about what transpired on their mission before they were ambushed.

"Don't worry, girls. I'm sure they'll come around eventually." Yuri eventually says before an alert begins ringing from the room's open laptop.

"Who could that be?" Minjoo asks while approaching.

"It could be Nako-unnie and the others! Open it right now!" Wonyoung shouts, recalling Hitomi and Nako's message from the other day. Eunbi had told them all to keep their eyes and ears open for a sudden message after they relayed the information to her. It hadn't been 48 hours yet, so Wonyoung was hoping it'd be good news.