Jonghyun was late. Jonghyun was really late. Jonghyun was so late he was honestly terrified he would be fired because of how late he was. He had only been working at SM Entertainment for a couple of weeks and he’d barely settled into his role, he wasn’t sure he could face clearing out his office so soon.

Sprinting down the many hallways of the SM Entertainment building Jonghyun felt his jacket button pop open but was unable to stop to fix it. The fabric flapped behind him as he ran and his messenger bag smacked heavily against his thighs in a way that was actually rather painful. He was glad he had taken some time over the last couple of months to learn the confusing layout of the building. He was currently three floors lower and multiple hallways across from his own office yet he could have sworn he just ran past the break room only a few doors down from the purchasing department. Everything here looked exactly the same. The only real differences between the hallways were the pictures hanging on the walls – however their artful, over-produced look made a lot of them look very similar so even they were not the most ideal landmarks.

Jonghyun turned yet another corner, doing a small pirouette in order to stay upright as he almost ran into a startled office woman. He bowed apologetically as he jogged down the hallway backwards, not able to stop moving or he’d be even later. The woman huffed at him, sweeping her hair behind her ear and stalking off imperiously. Luckily, the close shave didn’t slow his speed all that much and the composer spun around once more and continued down the hallway, running past multiple identical-looking doors and garnering attention from the few people who ventured outside of their offices.

If he had had time to look properly he would have noticed the various reactions he was receiving from those office workers. Many people, mostly older people with overly starched suits and permanent scowls on their faces, looked disapproving, their eyebrows meeting in judgement and their tongues clicking against their teeth in disapproval. In contrast, many of the younger staff looked at him in understanding. The high-stress entertainment industry often had people rushing about in a panic and it was usually the youngest employees that got given the jobs that required such breakneck speeds when traveling across the building. At one point, he had sprinted dramatically past another young employee doing the same thing in the opposite direction. He and Jonghyun had made brief eye-contact, a look of understanding passing between them, before the other man fumbled the large tray of coffees he was carrying and had to look away in order to balance them once more.

Jonghyun, at twenty three, was one of the younger employees at the company, excluding the talent, and was well-known on his own floor. He had overheard some of his office mates talking a few weeks previous and learnt that Sungkyu was a highly regarded composer – a fact Jonghyun already knew, it was fairly obvious from his extensive composition credit on many of the best SM Entertainment artists’ albums. However, he hadn’t known that, over the years, many people had tried to get the soft-spoken man’s attention and many a new composer had applied to be his intern in the hopes of gaining network connections with the man. It had made Jonghyun feel incredibly warm and fuzzy inside to know that the man had seen something in him, Kim Jonghyun, and had taken him under his wing without Jonghyun needing to resort to begging – or even officially applying.

However, right now, all those warm feelings were non-existent and he didn’t care for the man all that much. Jonghyun skidded to a stop in front of a large set of double doors and took a few seconds to compose himself. Breathing deeply in an effort to regulate his heart beat and compose himself a little, the blonde smoothed out his shirt before rebuttoning his jacket and straightening his bag on his shoulder. Taking one, final, deep breath, he pushed open the doors to the large filming set, still cursing Sungkyu in his mind.

As one, every single head in the room turned to look at him as the traitorous door creaked loudly at his entry. Bowing deeply, partly in respect and apology and partly the hide the blush he could feel spreading up his neck, Jonghyun hoped he wouldn’t get in too much trouble.

“I’m sorry for the disruption.”

The man in charge, a tall, imposing man in a severe pinstripe suit that only served to highlight the severe set of his brows, directed the young composer to the bench seating at the far edges of the room.

“Sit there and stay out the way.” He ordered, receiving a sharp nod from Jonghyun in return.

Sitting down on the hard seat, happy that he hadn’t tripped over his own feet in his haste to get out of the man’s way, the blonde composer made himself busy finding his notebook and pen in his bag. The staff members around him were all looking at him, some judgmentally, some questioningly and even more with annoyance at his interruption. Sungkyu was so getting it when this shoot was done.

“Right!” The severe man in charge announced, “Back to your positions. Let’s get this done.”

Sungkyu had informed him, after the shoot had already started, that he was to be writing a song for an upcoming girl group and that he should check them out as they were filming a selection of introductory videos, downstairs. Doing that made sense. It was always easier to write a song when he knew the group he was writing for. Even Sungkyu, as an experienced composer, needed a basic outline of what the group he was writing for was like before he wrote a song for them. Otherwise, the composer ran the risk of creating a song that sounded completely wrong when sung by the group in question.

Apparently, the upper management wanted to test him as a solo entity. His previous work had all been undertaken with a co-writer, usually Sungkyu although he had worked with a few other composers. Hence, every song produced was not solely his. This test was to write a song, alone, for a newly debuted group. He wouldn’t be writing the title track or anything that ground breaking but it was a good opportunity nonetheless. He already had a few pieces he had previously written that he was considering taking elements from, depending on how the girl’s presented themselves in this filming session – it was surprising how much pre-planning one could do whilst sprinting through the building.

It would have been nice if he had been informed of this ahead of time, however.

The girls were cute, he acknowledged; in a young – incredibly so – bubbly, happy sort of way. They were currently getting into position for what seemed to be a dance medley. As the girls started to dance, Jonghyun wrote notes. Often just general observations, such as how the second girl from the left was more comfortable dancing to light, poppy songs whereas the girl to her right was clearly better suited to more y concepts. However, sometimes he was more specific, such as the exact shade of the shortest girl’s hair or the way the light reflected off one girl’s pearlescent eye makeup.

Jonghyun continued to write notes as the girls transitioned into a chat segment and answered those pressing questions everyone wanted answered: such as favourite food and if they had any pets. By the end of that segment, the composer had filled three notebook pages with general information on the girls’ styles and multiple other facts that he could incorporate into his creative process. To most people, this information would probably look inane and useless however, Jonghyun had long since learned that anything, even the most inane detail, could inspire an entire song.

As a break was called, Jonghyun stretched out the kinks in his back and neck. The seat he was sat on was hard and unforgiving and his buttocks were well and truly asleep. The girls had been filming for over an hour already, not including the ten minutes Jonghyun had missed due to Sungkyu’s late information, and weariness was written across their faces. The break was scheduled to be an hour long, as an opportunity for people to grab lunch and relax before the filming session continued. Jonghyun had considered bailing on the rest of the shoot, having gained some good information already, however, he had heard mention of a singing challenge so he decided to hang around. Knowing exactly what the girls sounded like when singing – not just talking – would definitely be useful to him. He also wasn’t sure he could handle the disapproving look he was sure severe-suit-man would send his way if he tried to sneak out of the room.

Standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder – all notebooks and writing utensils stashed away neatly inside – Jonghyun moved around the edges of the room, planning to grab a bite to eat from the catering table. He wasn’t sure if he was technically supposed to eat the food on display, since he wasn’t technically part of the filming crew, but he wasn’t one to let potential free food go uneaten

Brushing past a small gaggle of what looked like writers, all young women who giggled high-pitched giggles as he passed, Jonghyun moved towards the main food table. Grabbing a napkin and a paper plate, the blonde composer spooned some rice onto his plate before grabbing himself some salad and a small amount of meat. The task of acquiring food was a little harder than one would expect; apparently camera crew members got pushy when food was involved and more than once Jonghyun had to react quickly in order to prevent his food from escaping the confines of his plate – as it was, a few tragic grains of rice gave in to their cruel fate and ended up on the floor, crushed under dozens of feet.

His food acquired, Jonghyun retreated to the edge of the room once more, stopping near a quiet group of what looked like boom operators. One member of the group, a small male who looked to be in his early thirties, smiled at the composer and offered a greeting around the bread roll he was eating.

“Hello.” Jonghyun returned. “I’m sorry for interrupting earlier.”

“No issues,” Another man, much larger than the first with a large face and a loud voice, assured. “You were lucky. A few ticks earlier and you would’a got ‘em in the middle of the shoot.”

“Don’t look so startled, kid.” The final man, a geeky individual with large, round-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. “Nothing bad happened, you’re good.”

“I’m glad.” Jonghyun chuckled. Shifting slightly on his feet, he tucked into his food and the other men all did the same. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another group gathering close nearby. The group of writer-women he had brushed past earlier appeared to have grown and many women were stood around, chatting and eating their food nearby. Sensing one of the women looking at him he turned his head a little and smiled at her, nodding in greeting. She blushed brightly and hid her face behind a curtain of hair as she bowed slightly in response.

“Popular with the ladies?” The large man chuckled, winking at the composer. “Wish I could say the same.” The man laughed loudly, patting his large stomach as if to illustrate his point. Seeing one of the other women in the group looking at him, his voice easily loud enough to have travelled to the females, he winked and chuckled as the woman scowled in response. Shrugging, the man turned back to his food, eating a large spoonful of rice.

“So what are you down here for?” The glasses-wearing man asked, pushing the frames up with one hand as they slipped down his nose slightly.

“Inspiration.” Jonghyun said, seeing the blank look on their faces he chuckled and elaborated. “I’m a composer. I’m meant to write a track for the girls.” He said, gesturing towards the soon-to-be idols who were sitting secluded from the staff as they ate their meagre lunches.

“Tha’s why the girls like you.” The loud man guffawed. “You got that sensitive musician . Chicks dig tha’.”

Jonghyun just shook his head and chuckled at the man’s words. “If you say so.”

The blonde turned back to his food, almost done with his salad. Behind him, the girls’ conversation had become louder, with many happy sounding exclamations and laughs coming from the group. Smiling softly at the sounds of happiness, Jonghyun tuned in to the three boom operators’ conversation once more. They now appeared to be discussing their work.

He didn’t understand a word they were saying. It may as well have been English for all the sense it made to him. That is to say, he understood the occasional word and even a simple phrase here and there but the specifics of their job made no sense to him. He thought they were discussing the fuzzy things that covered the mic and he hadn’t been aware that the material they were constructed from was so vital to the sound quality before today.

A couple of minutes later the call for a return to stations was announced. Giving a quick goodbye to the boom men and flashing a smile at the group of women as he passed, Jonghyun headed back to his bench, disposing of his plate along the way. Situating himself on the hard wood, Jonghyun pulled out his notebook once more, starting a fresh page ready for some useful information about the girls’ singing voices. Hopefully he’d be able to work out what song style would suit them best and tailor each specific part to the right girl for the job.

-

Stretching languidly, Jonghyun stood from his bench seat. Stretching out his back, relishing the stretch and pop of his spine, he was glad the afternoon filming was over. He had gained a good amount of information that would aid in the writing process however, his body was paying for it. Who knew sitting was so bad for you? Jonghyun certainly didn’t. His body was stiff all over from that uncomfortable seat.

After offering his thanks to the still-assembled staff and the stern man in charge, Jonghyun made his way back upstairs, still periodically stretching out his back and his neck. The trip was a lot slower on the way back than it was on the way there, for obvious reasons, but it was a lot more peaceful. Plus, it gave him adequate time to plot Sungkyu’s murder in his mind. Several hours may have passed since Sungkyu had set him up for embarrassment but Jonghyun hadn’t forgotten the feeling of walking into that room. All those eyes looking at him and judging him. All because of one little man who didn’t think to inform him of things ahead of time.

Stopping outside his mentor’s door, Jonghyun knocked loudly. After a few seconds the older composer called out a ‘come in’ and Jonghyun pushed the door open before sitting heavily in the chair opposite the man’s desk.

“You look wiped.” The older composer laughed, looking up from his computer screen.

“And whose fault is that?” Jonghyun grumbled, shooting a look at the man.

Sungkyu looked at his pupil, the picture of innocence and placed down his pen on top of his notebook. “What did I do?”

“I wonder.” Jonghyun rolled his eyes, leaning forwards in the chair and grabbing a paper weight off the man’s desk and tolling it from hand to hand. “Maybe it was my mad dash across the entire building this morning that’s got me all wound up. Or maybe it’s the embarrassment of almost disrupting an entire shoot as I turned up late.”

“Maybe you should have been more punctual then.” Sungkyu suggested, looking at Jonghyun like he was confused.

Jonghyun hissed in annoyance, his hands stopping in their tossing of the paper weight and instead he gripped it hard, using it as a way to prevent himself from getting mad.

“Maybe I should have.” He agreed, with forced calmness.

Seeing how annoyed his pupil really was, Sungkyu raised a placating hand, reaching across the desk to pat the boy on his shoulder. “I really am sorry. It completely slipped my mind. I hope it was useful at least.”

“It was and that’s the only reason you’re still sat there.” Jonghyun said, his tone much lighter than before. However, there was a sharp warning reflected in his eyes. He may be young and he may be the pupil but he wasn’t about to be made a fool of.

It was lucky he and Sungkyu were so close - although, maybe luck wasn’t the best definition. If they weren’t so close Jonghyun would never have dared to speak to the man like this. Sungkyu was his boss and he couldn’t afford to annoy the man. However, way back when the pair had first begun conversing, the older man had extracted a promise from the younger that, if the experienced composer ever did something unacceptable, Jonghyun would call him out on it. The deal went both ways. In fact, over the years, they had each told the other off on numerous occasions – of course, Jonghyun was usually the one getting into trouble, he could act cocky and headstrong at times and he often took things too far; Sungkyu, despite usually being a quiet man, was not one to stand for such behaviour.

“I’m glad it was useful to you. I’ll arrange a meeting with you for next week to go over what you have so far, Tuesday ok?” The man asked, looking at his computer screen and presumably looking at his calendar to find a day that was good for him.

“Sounds good. I have a few pieces already that might be able to get some useful stuff from and today gave me a few ideas I’ll work on before the meeting.”

“Good, good.” Sungkyu said, typing something quickly – likely noting down the meeting in his calendar – before turning back to the blonde. His whole demeanour changed then, going from his work persona to a more teasing personality.

Jonghyun looked at the man nervously, that look often meant embarrassment for the younger man “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It seems you gained some fans today.” Jonghyun’s mentor chuckled.

“Fans?” The blonde asked, confused, the paper weight now hanging limply in his hand as he stared blankly at his mentor.

Turning his computer screen towards the other male, Sungkyu navigated from his calendar to a web page which was displaying a Twitter. Clicking through a few links and eventually ending up on the twitter feed of what looked like a young woman he began to speak, “This is Jimin. She’s a writer for SM and was at the same shoot as you today.”

Leaning forwards in his seat to get a better look at the screen, Jonghyun scanned the text reading about a woman who also worked in the building. It was a typical bio, simple, covering her name, age and her place of employment (and that all thoughts and opinions were her own and did not reflect the company’s views) as well as her love for ‘cute things and pretty men’. Leaning back, Jonghyun looked at the man opposite him, “Ok, and?”

“She has quite the following on social media. She has access to many areas of SM that people don’t often see and often tweets about company life. Strictly monitored, of course.” Jonghyun nodded, it wouldn’t do to have any SM Entertainment secrets getting out. Often people were barred from social media accounts in the workplace but clearly, SM Entertainment considered this woman to be good marketing. “Today she tweeted something very interesting.” Winking at his pupil, Sungkyu navigated through the webpage a little more and opening a single tweet.

@Jimin27508

Hot composer crashed shoot for inspiration. I’d give him a little ‘inspiration’, if you know what I mean ;P

Attached to the tweet was a picture that showed Jonghyun himself. It was clearly taken during the lunch break and apparently from behind him as he turned, making him realise that the culprit, this Jimin, was probably in the crowd of writer-women who ate near him. The picture showed him turning and smiling at, what looked like the camera, though was most likely just a woman nearby as Jonghyun definitely didn’t see any cameras at the time.

Seeing a large list of comments below, Jonghyun quickly scanned those too.

@HotLipsXOXO
@Jimin27508 OMG he is gorg, I need 10

@smarticusmaximus
@Jimin27508 why do you get to work at SM and with these hotties?! Not fair

@SHINieeLyff
@Jimin27508 isn’t this that guy who wrote Juliette by SHINee????????? Looks like him

@Taemin0nmyface
@SHINieeLyff @Jimin27508 It totes is! He said he wanted to be a composer.

@SHINieeLyff
@Taemin0nmyface @Jimin27508 I thought so!!!!! He got in at SM tho like OMG

@Mags1114
@Jimin27508 I will inspire him for dayz. My lord above.

Jonghyun chuckled, the comments were both amusing and flattering at the same time. Many of the comments were about how hot he was and how lucky this Jimin was to work in the same building as him. Many more were begging for a job at SM Entertainment and a small subset were truly vulgar and about the unholy acts people wished to do with him. He wouldn’t inform them how very, very unlikely that was to happen. That would be cruel – and also draw attention to himself that he honestly didn’t want.

He was actually surprised that some SHINee fans still knew of him. It had been over three years since he had filmed that documentary and he had thought that the time had changed his features a little. However, he obviously hadn’t changed that much as some fans of the group were apparently still able to recognise him.

Turning back to Sungkyu he saw the mirth on the other man’s face. Rolling his eyes, Jonghyun chuckled and said good-naturedly, “Well, I always knew I was hot.”

“Brat.” Sungkyu laughed. “Min from accounting sent that through to me, I thought you’d find it amusing.”

Jonghyun stood, still laughing slightly, “I did. Doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for embarrassing me earlier, though.”

His mentor merely clicked his tongue at him, repositioning his computer monitor to a more usable position. “Get back to work, you. You have a song to write.”

“Yeah yeah.” Jonghyun agreed, moving to the door and pulling it open. Turning back, just before he left the room, the blonde looked at his mentor and pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at his mentor in a clear ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.

The call of ‘go you brat’ followed him out into the hallway as the blonde strolled back to his own desk, ignoring the looks he was getting from one of the men in the office as he sat dramatically in his desk chair and spinning round once, before turning to his computer.

 

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CHAPTER NOTES: Jonghyun would totally get all the ladies.

Also, the hallways of SM are based a little on the hospital where I once worked. All the hallways looked the same, it was so confusing.