Big Hit's New Girl Group: I'm a K-Pop Star

Compared to their old building, the current JYP building covered more ground, making it more spacious outside. Additionally, it had an organic cafe and diner. Lee Chaeyeon and her sister, Chaeryeong, chose the indoor cafe to meet up with everyone.

When Chaeyeon spotted Iris coming through the doors, she waved at her good friend to catch her attention. "Over here! I'm glad you could make it!" She ushered Iris and her friends into the chairs after giving her IZ*ONE group mate a big hug.

"It's kinda exciting meeting you outside of the group like this!" Chaeyeon giggled with a bright smile. "Here, this is my sister, Lee Chaeryeong!" She stepped aside and gestured with her hands at her younger sister behind her.

"Hello, I'm Lee Chaeryeong, nice to meet you!" The sister greeted her with a smile that was very similar to her older sister, Chaeyeon. They were just a year apart and looked almost like twins. Even TWICE Jihyo was known to have confused the two sisters on a particular V-LIVE with group mate Jeongyeon.

"Iris Huang, nice to meet you!" She cheerfully greeted back with a quick handshake followed by a little hug that Chaeryeong blushingly accepted. Iris felt that Chaeyeon's younger sister was quite adorable.

"And these are my ITZY group-mates." Chaeryeong gestured behind her and to her sides as Yuna, Lia, Yeji, and Ryujin all stepped forward and friendly greeted Iris and Iris in return. Yuna and Ryujin in particular were excited to meet Iris as they had both starred in one of BTS's Highlight Reels in the past.

"It's great finally meeting you, Iris-sunbaenim!" Yuna, the ever extroverted and bubbly one shook Iris's hand with vigor and nearly jumped on her in a hug. The maknae of ITZY surely was adorable and energetic.

"Haha, you don't have to call me me sunbaenim, just Iris is fine!"

Yuna squished Iris in another girlish hug as Ryujin gave a thumbs up, flashed a smile, and said "Okay, Iris!" As always, this girl was chic and cool, the perfect "girl crush."

"Hm! It really is good meeting you! Chaeryeong-ah talked about you a few times when speaking about her sister," said Lia, the member who was closest with Chaeryeong.

"Yes, haha~" Chaeryeong waved the air with a slight blush. "But I was rooting for you even on Produce 48! I really admire your songwriting skills!"

Yeji laughed. "This one here is a budding composer!" She looped an arm around the younger girl. "So how is it back, Iris? Chaeyeon was telling us a little about her first couple days on break."

Yeji's mouth opened in an "o." It appeared that Big Hit was planning big things again. They had been recently making the news not just with BTS as usual, but also about their acquisitions and growth.

"Hi! I'm Hwang Yeji!" She reached out to the girl closest to Iris who appeared to be of mixed race too.

"Cindy Angier. I'm actually Iris's cousin."

"Whoa! Another family pairing in the same company!" Ryujin remarked in surprise.

"That sounds nice," Chaeryeong reminisced. "I remember when we used to be together all the time, sis." She looked over at her older sister, and Chaeyeon squeezed her arms with a warm smile. It felt like just yesterday when they both participated on survival shows K-Pop Star and then SIXTEEN. But it also felt a long time ago now that they had debuted and been in the industry for some time.

"Kim Jiyeon."

"Heo Ahreum! Umm…" The young girl blinked her large brown eyes. "Er, never mind, haha!" She was thinking about asking Ryujin if it was possible to get signatures from Dreamcatcher since she was friends with Jiu in that group. But it didn't feel like it was proper in the current situation when Ahreum was just meeting them all for the first time.

Besides, Jiu of Dreamcatcher was not the only celebrity friend that the ITZY members knew despite technically being rookies still. It made Ahreum realize once again the great advantage of being in music survival shows as Ryujin had been in MIXNINE.

And Lee Chaeyeon probably had the most connections due to being in two more shows than her younger sister—in Idol School and Produce 48. Ahreum dreamed of one day when she could also have her circle of idol friends.

"Hm? What is it Ahreum?" Yuna peered curiously at the girl who was closest in age to her. Even though Yuna was still younger, she found this girl even more adorable than her, perhaps, due to Yuna being a 'big baby' who was tall.

Very naturally, the two groups fractioned off into smaller groups to converse. And after several minutes, more people arrived to join them.

"Ah! GOT7-sunbaenims!" Yuna gasped politely in surprise.

Hearing their youngest hoobae greet them like that, the GOT7 members laughed and waved. Although they all lived out of the dorms now and in their own apartments, and Jackson was often abroad with his Chinese and other international activities, they still managed to find time together in their late years as an idol boy group.

"Oh!" BamBam quickly noticed familiar faces that weren't from JYP in the gaggle of girls who had become fast friends. "You're that girl from that cafe!" He pointed at Cindy who was wide-eyed like a meerkat caught on the spot. "Oh and you two!" He shifted his arm to Jiyeon and Ahreum.

"Don't be rude BamBam, haha!" Yugyeom gently chopped down his group mate's arm and then turned to smile at Cindy, Jiyeon, and Ahreum. "Hi, we meet again!"

Cindy cleared her throat, almost choking on her own saliva. But the motion was hardly noticed by anyone as she had her head down while standing up from her seat. She stuck out her hand with as much confidence as she could muster, and Yugyeom quickly stepped forward to shake it.

"Nice to formally meet you. I'm Cindy Angier, a trainee at— Oh wait." She halted and looked back at Iris to ask her cousin through her eye motions whether it was okay to tell them too.

Getting the message, Iris chuckled and moved forward. "Chaeyeon and I are from IZ*ONE currently on break." The GOT7 members nodded, already knowing who they were. "And she invited us to meet up with her sister and her sister's group members in ITZY. We're all from Big Hit Entertainment."

The last sentence took GOT7 by pleasant surprise. Instantly, they warmed up to the girls due to their close friendship with the BTS members.

"Hey! RM didn't tell me that they were hiding you all!" Jackson joked in English after knowing that Cindy also knew English, and Jiyeon and Ahreum understood it a little too. Now that k-pop was more international than ever, many trainees learned a little bit of English.

Even though Iris hadn't met Jackson in person before, she felt familiar with his jocular and sociable personality that she had seen on screen and heard about from fan and news articles. He was rather famous for being one of the social butterflies of the k-pop world.

If BTS's RM was here, he would be interested in their meeting and probably find it to be rather funny. That guy, Jackson, always made him laugh or smile. Their fans loved their backstage interactions and when Jackson got up close and personal with an arm around RM's shoulders. That's just how Jackson was and why he easily made friends with anyone.

As for Ahreum, she was about ready to faint from the GOT7 meeting and explode in general from all the dazzling stars before her. Jiyeon held herself well, and the boys naturally felt comfortable conversing with her despite her being quite a few years younger. She exuded maturity and poise above her years, but inside, she was over the moon just as much as Ahreum. The only similar comparisons to this feeling was when she formally met all of the BTS members.

It had taken Ahreum, Jiyeon, and Cindy several months before they felt comfortable at Big Hit like it was their backyard. Thus, this encounter renewed that overwhelming feeling that they had first felt at Big Hit.