Kyungsoo and Suga walked into the music store Hoseok worked in a few minutes before his shift ended. They walked down to the basement which they had converted into a temporary studio. Suga’s face lit up as he entered the room- it was his recent obsession and love. Suga had been working in producing while Kyungsoo was a vocalist and Hoseok rapped. They had kept this project secret for two reasons-

1. They weren’t sure if what they were creating was actually something of quality,
2. And they had another member in their project, someone who needed a lot of privacy- Kim Jongin, popularly known by his stage name- Kai.

Suga had been playing one of his and Hoseok’s compositions in the store (Hoseok’s boss was very supportive of underground artists) when Kai and his manager were signing some CDs in a fansign event. Kai had fallen in love with the tune, convinced it would be a great choreography track. So somehow, Suga, Hoseok and Kai became a group. Kyungsoo joined them when Kai expressed the need for a vocalist, and Kyungsoo blew everyone away with his melodious voice- making Suga blurt out, “Wow, you’re actually good at something.” Soon after, the four of them planned to meet several times a week and compose an album for Kai’s choreography. For Hoseok, Suga and Kyungsoo, this was a fantastic way to earn good money and also practice song-making. For Kai, it was an excuse to stay longer in his hometown while getting the chance to work with extremely creative underground artists.

This was their fourth meeting and the first time Kai would actually come to the store in person. The past few times he had let the others compose stuff and send it over to him, and he would send suggestions and comments over email. Today, he was actually going to come in person and maybe even show some of the steps he had choreographed to what they had created so far. Hoseok was stuck in the attic dragging a heavy box of DVDs and Kyungsoo, calling himself a “kind person” decided to help.

“Suga, you should go help Hoseok-ah.”

“Why don’t you help him yourself?”

“I came up with the idea. Aish, I am too kind for this cruel world. You can at least go follow my idea.”

Suga glowered at his impish friend and went up to the attic, grumbling under his breath. Chuckling, Kyungsoo settled into a fat, comfy chair and began to scroll past some tracks on the studio computer. God knows what this computer had been through, the last time he used it, he had connected Jackie’s external hard drive to it so he could take some tracks home for practice. That was a terrible idea, because now Jackie’s hard drive was infected with a million viruses and she was hell bent on either getting 80 dollars from Kyungsoo or instead killing him with her bare hands. Aish, that violent woman.

Kyungsoo was lost in his thoughts and didn’t hear the door open. He began playing Taylor Swift on his ipod, his guilty pleasure. He was yelling lyrics when he felt someone stand right behind him.

“YOU’LL BE MY PRINCE AND I’LL BE YOUR PRINCESS, IT’S A LOVE STORY BABY JUST SAY YES!”

“It’s been a while since I heard that one,” an amused voice said behind Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo jumped up, embarrassed not only because he was caught listening to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, but because he was singing it like a mountain troll at the top of his voice despite being the main vocalist of this studio project.

He turned around to face the most defined face he had ever seen in his life. Blonde hair flanked a sharp jaw, and fell in waves around eyes darker than any he had seen before. A charming smile lit up the newcomer’s face, who tilted his head to the side to observe Kyungsoo. “I don’t think we’ve met,” he said, his voice deep and warm.

It took Kyungsoo some effort to recover from the embarrassment from how he had just been starstruck.

“Kai,” he said softly.

Kai nodded. “Yea, that’s me. And you are?”

“Kyungsoo.”

“Ah, the vocalist.”

Kyungsoo felt like melting into the carpet.

“I promise I sing better than that,” he said, blushing.

Kai laughed. “I get it. When I dance by myself, I probably look like a baboon.”

“I don’t think you could ever look like a baboon,” Kyungsoo blurted before he could stop himself. Holy , what are you even saying, dip of the year, Do Kyungsoo??!!

Kai’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he laughed. “Well that’s kind of you.”

Kyungsoo decided the best strategy right now would be to shut up. Unfortunately his mouth didn’t agree.

“Kai, why are you here?” Yeah, great question Do Kyungsoo. Kai is probably here to bake apple pie. Yeah, that sounds right. Or maybe he is here to knock you on your bloated head so you can think straight.

Kai laughed again. “To dance,” he answered simply. “I have been listening to your stuff for the past week, and I think I have something I can do. I wanted you guys to see it.”

“I am sure it’s incredible,” Kyungsoo continued to word vomit.

Kai actually blushed this time. “Well, thank you very much.” He smiled. Kyungsoo felt like he was punched in the stomach. What is this, some sort of terrible celebrity fan disease?!

He sent a million thanks to all the gods in the universe when a sweaty Hoseok and Suga entered the room.

“Ah, you’re here, Kai!” Suga exclaimed, raising his hand to shake Kai’s.

Hoseok nodded at Kai too, smiling. “I was stuck in the attic, sorry for the delay. Let’s get started, shall we?”

As they each grabbed a chair, Kyungsoo made sure he was not sitting right next to Kai. I don’t need more excuses to behave like a daft idiot. But even though Hoseok sat between him and Kai, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but drift his gaze to watch how Kai’s face lit up when he chuckled and filled the room with his tinkling laughter.