No Vacation?

Couple days Later

A few days after the date, the IVE girls are gathered in their living room, suitcases lined up neatly by the door. Each of them lounges in comfortable clothes, bare-faced and relaxed, doing their own thing. Rei and Liz are munching on snacks side by side, Wonyoung balances perfectly on top of her suitcase with her eyes closed like a doll, Gaeul sits on the couch while Leeseo straddles her lap and snuggles against her shoulder, and Yujin leans against the wall scrolling through her phone.

Beep. Beep.

The front door unlocks, and in walks their manager, the director, and a couple of cameramen lugging equipment. The sight instantly grabs the girls’ attention. They put down what they’re doing and gather on the couch, sitting in a row and facing the newcomers.

“Hello everyone, how are you all today?” the director greets warmly.

“Good!” they all chime in together.

“As you know,” he continues, “you’ll be going on a short vacation trip for seven days. But” his smile widens, “we never told you the destination. Any guesses?”

“Hmm… Jeju?” Liz offers hopefully.

“Wrong,” the director answers without hesitation.

“Busan?” Gaeul tries next.

“Wrong,” he repeats with a grin.

The room falls into playful silence as the girls furrow their brows, clearly overthinking it. Then, like a lightbulb switching on, Yujin suddenly straightens up, eyes sparkling.

“Ssangsanje Hanok!” she shouts with confidence.

“WRONG,” the director shoots back after a dramatic pause.

Yujin collapses into the couch with a loud groan as the other members burst into laughter, clapping at her exaggerated defeat.

“Do you girls want to know?” the director teases, his question making them all nod quickly and lean forward in anticipation.

“Well…” he drags out the pause, 

However, before he can continue, their manager suddenly receives a phone call.

The smile on her face slowly disappears as she listens.

"...What?"

The room falls silent.

"...Today?"

The members exchange confused looks.

"...I understand."

The call ends.

The manager lowers her phone and looks toward the director.

Something has clearly changed.

The director's expression mirrors her own.

The excitement in the room quickly fades.

"What's wrong?" Yujin asks.

The manager exhales.

"It looks like there has been a schedule change."

A chorus of groans immediately follows.

"What?"

"No!"

"We haven't even left yet!"

"The vacation isn't cancelled," the manager quickly clarifies. "It's just being pushed back a few days."

The members freeze.

"...Pushed back?"

"Why?"

The manager steps forward.

"A local festival reached out to the company last minute. They requested a surprise performance from IVE."

The girls stare at him.

"A surprise performance?" Gaeul repeats clearly confused at the sudden change of schedule

"The event is free to attend, and the organizers want to keep your appearance secret until the last minute," the Manager explains. "The company accepted the offer this morning."

"You're telling me our vacation got delayed because of a local festival?" Rei asks.

"What are we going to do about the accommodation? We booked everything and have it all set up" asks the director

“Uhm, it’ll be sorted out by the company. All they said is to get the girls ready for the festival. Apparently, the festival organization offered a lot of money for IVE and there’ll be some actors and lesserafim there as well.”

The room is filled with complaints.

Fortunately, the manager raises both hands.