Our much-anticipated comeback showcase was slated for the end of January. This time around, our agency had strategically coordinated our schedules, unlike our frenzied debut where we and other groups were in a race to the spotlight. Now, we were set to make our grand entrance first, and High Tension would start their activities after our promotion ended. It seemed that the two companies had talked it out.1

With the date locked in, our rehearsal timetable intensified, turning our days into a marathon of endless practice sessions from dawn until dusk.0

Even Hye-Ri, who used to tell us to be on diet nonstop, advised us to pile on the calories and ramp up our physical routines given our grueling schedule. Hence, our days morphed into a rigorous grind of comeback preparations, punctuated by deep coma-like sleep. It was a cycle we soon found ourselves adapting to with surprising ease.3

A silver lining in our hectic routine was our manager's keen eye for our wellbeing. He had a knack for spotting when any of us were hitting our limits,...0