WANNA (A Wanna One AU)

Chapter 15

"Amelia, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person," the leader of the committee, Lee Hyunbin smiled as he welcomed us into the conference room.

I bowed a full 90 degrees. "Hello sir, it's good to meet you too," I replied and he shook my hand.

"I thought I told you not to call me sir," he teased and I quickly glanced at the rest of the committee, who were talking quietly to themselves. "I've never met the committee before. It'd probably be better if I leave a good first impression, especially if some of them are still wary about me becoming a leader," he nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about them, they're not as intimidating once you get to know them better," he reassured, but I only shrugged. "They'll like you."

"Yeah, well they probably won't like me after I become leader. You know what I'm planning to do, starting with the committee," I reminded him. He puffed out one of his cheeks before nodding slowly.

"You may have a point," he agreed. "But like I said, don't worry about them. The ones who deserve their spot on the committee will understand. The ones who are only here because of their family name, well they'll have to get over it. Besides, don't forget that I'm involved with this decision as much as you are. If anyone gives you shit for it, they'll have to deal with me as well."

"Thank you, sunbae." I smiled and he shook his head with a laugh.

"What did I tell you?"

I rolled my eyes. "At least it's better than 'sir'!" I exclaimed. "Even though you said not to worry, I still need to sound respectful!" A smirk formed on his face and I hit his shoulder. "I'm not calling you 'Oppa' either!"

"Go take a seat, Kim," he pushed me into the room and I let out a laugh. "We'll talk more after the meeting."

Hyunbin was only a few years older than me and had taken on the leader role after my parents died. All of the members of the committee were founding family members, and his ancestors had been cofounders of The Company along with my ancestors. The leader of the committee was basically like the Vice President, so he was currently running the SKB. Once I became leader, he would go back to simply running the committee (which was a larger task than I was making it out to be).

Some of the Committee members wanted him to take over as leader, seeing as he was older and had more experience. However, he was more than happy with the position he was in currently (he said being leader would be too stressful for him, especially since his fiancé didn't know about The Company yet). I was glad he would be able to help me out since he has been filling in as leader for 5 years now.

I didn't necessarily agree with the dynamics of the Committee, and Hyunbin knew this. I didn't like how they were allowed to be apart of the Committee if they were a founding family member. Some of them definitely abused their power, and really did not benefit The Company at all. Once I became leader, I was definitely changing up the requirements so that only those who deserved to be on the Committee actually were members. Hyunbin was 100% on board, which I was grateful for.

I looked around and immediately noticed some familiar faces, and not because I had met them before. I took a seat next to Sungwoon, who squeezed my hand tightly under the table.

"Everything ok?" I mumbled and he shook his head slightly.

"Just tell me if I'm hurting your hand," he replied. "I'm trying to stay calm."

I would've been confused had I not realized the striking similarities between him and a couple sitting further down the table. He was the spitting image of the older man. While the woman didn't look anything like my friend, some of their facial features were the same, such as their eyes and their nose. They were both looking around the room, and they seemed to be judging everyone and everything. The woman's eyes landed on me and I quickly turned to Sungwoon, only glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. I could see her point at me and she leaned over to whisper something to the man.