“Ohayo gozaimasu!” the petite girl pushed the door open with her shoulder and walked in with two plastic bags of baked goods; one hooked on either of her two forearms. She held them up triumphantly at Code Kunst who was talking to someone whose back was to her. “I brought breakfast!”

The person closer to her turned around in the chair and smiled. “Ohayo, Hayi-chan,” he casually greeted with a little wave, mimicking her Japanese greeting. Hayi tried to hide how flustered she was upon realising who the ‘stranger’ in the room was.

“Oh, zico sunbae… I didn’t know you were coming today,” she placed her things on the table, avoiding his gaze. Looking him in the eye suddenly seemed like such a hard task. Zico just watched her clumsily try to arrange the things on the table, chuckling to himself as he wondered how she managed to carry all those things with her small hands. He suddenly got up, saying he needed to get something and that he would be right back. Kunst smirked and shook his head before asking Hayi to come over so he could go over a few things.

Soon after, the door opened again and in walked Zico with two cups of coffee. He handed one to Hayi with a big grin on his face. Then he walked out to go back to his studio without a word. Hayi looked at the plastic cup in her hand then at the closed door he had just left from. What the heck was that about?

She decided not to think about it and concentrate on her task at hand. She definitely didn't need the distraction of Woo Jiho with that cheeky grin and the smell of that piping hot latte on her mind right now. It was time to work. She picked up the lyrics on the sheets of paper before her and was humming to the melody but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. She turned to Kunst with a raised brow. “Hayi-ah, before we start. Could you do me a favour?”

-

Hayi walked out of the studio, grumpily marching towards the lounge where everyone usually chilled and watched TV together. Sure, work was important. But HIGHGRND’s most important rule? You gotta have fun together too. However, Hayi wasn't there to take a break. She was there to make deliveries. She stepped into the lounge, which was noticeably sparse considering the fact that it was still quite early. Her heels made clicking sounds on the hardwood floor as she walked towards the pantry since no one was in the lounge.

She crouched in front of the fridge as she loaded the middle shelf with a few packs of the bakes she had bought. She stocked up her cheesecakes that she had bought for later and then got up, taking what was left. She looked at the two small paper bags in her hands and resisted the urge to stomp her feet and whine like a child. Why did Kunst have to ask for such a favour? Her forehead creased as she sighed, resigning herself. No matter how many times she asked Kunst to do it himself - to the point of almost begging him because she wanted to avoid the awkward task - he would not get off the damn chair. “Besides, it’s not my fault you bought so much food. I can't eat all of that!” he had said. She couldn’t possibly argue if he was right, now could she?

She braced herself and walked back to the studios, bypassing her door as she headed straight to the familiar room a few more doors down. She knocked on the door once. She thought about chickening out - just bolting back to Kunst’s studio and come up with an excuse before her knock was answered and it would be too late. Instead she bit her lip, picked her guts up and knocked once more. “Come in!” beckoned a voice behind the door. She twisted the knob and slowly peeked her head inside, as if checking on someone that was sleeping.

“Sunbae?”

Jiho froze as he pulled his headphones off his ears to rest on his nape. He turned to the owner of that soft voice, trying to ignore the fact that he was breaking out in cold sweat. , that was fast. “Oh. Hayi-ssi. Y-you read it already?”

The look of confusion on Hayi’s face made him let out a sigh of relief. “Guess not then. Come on in,” he invited, gesturing for her to enter.

Hayi still had the confused frown on her face as she shook her head.

“No, I just came to pass these… Kunst oppa said I bought too many,” she held out the paper bags to Jiho. He gladly accepted them and took a peek inside. He was about to make a comment about its contents but is stopped by a question.

“Read what, though?”

“Huh?”

“When I came in, you asked if I had ‘read it already’,” she explained, making quotation marks with her fingers as she repeated his words.

“Oh, it’s nothing. You’ll find out later.”

Hayi seemed to have more to ask but she decided it wasn’t wise to be taking up so much of his time. She excused herself to get back to work and Jiho waved as she held the door open, thanking her for the butter buns.

“They’re actually my favourite from this bakery, plus I haven’t had any breakfast.”

Hayi paused at the door and turned back to him. “It’s almost noon! And you’ve been drinking coffee on an empty stomach?!”

Jiho shrugged as he sheepishly rubbed the base of his nape - a nervous habit Hayi had begun to notice, “I tend to forget to eat when I get busy.”

Hayi put a hand on her hip. “That’s not good, sunbae. What if you faint from malnutrition!” She knew she probably sounded like a nagging mom but heck, he needed a lesson.

“Welp that already happened before,” Jiho mumbles in answer and Hayi almost went over to shake him.

“Jiho sunbae! You really need to take better care of yourself,” she said with a sigh before glancing at her watch.

“I need to go now, but you better make sure to have your lunch today, you got that? Or I’ll personally come and drag your to the nearest shop.”

“Yes, mom,” Jiho said while rolling his eyes before smirking. “Wait. Was that an indirect request for a lunch date?”

This time it was Hayi’s turn to rolls her eyes into the back of their sockets. “In your dreams, boy.” she said as she walked out before he noticed the little flush that ran up to her cheeks at his teasing remark.

-

Hayi dropped herself onto the chair as she took a few chugs from her water bottle then set it aside, reaching for her half-finished latte. She took slow sips from it although it was only lukewarm now, savouring the flavour. Kunst made a little show of applauding. “Great job. Now the next part. You know the melody for this one, right?” he passed her a sheet of paper and she briefly skimmed through the lyrics in the first verse, nodding in reply. She drank a little more water to clear and stood behind the microphone to start recording the next part.

She sang smoothly without a hitch but towards the end, she noticed a little scribble at the bottom of the page. She showed the paper to Kunst. “Did you write this?” He didn’t bother turning around as he replied a confident, “No-pe!” popping the “p”. Hayi nudged his shoulder.

“You didn't even look.”

“I didn't need to.”

“What do you mean you-” Hayi stopped mid-sentence as she put the pieces together.

Kunst probably knew who wrote it which was why he so confidently denied writing it himself. And the only other person who had been there was none other than the rapper she had badgered earlier that day. But even if Zico sunbae did write it… what did it even mean?

Check the sleeve, Hayi-ah

When did he get so comfortable and start calling her ‘Hayi-ah’ instead of ‘Hayi-ssi’, she wondered as she read the sentence again. So this is what he meant when he asked if I had read it already. She furrowed her brows as she examined the drawing of a cup of coffee next to his messy handwriting. What on earth does he even mean?! She thought, glancing at the sleeves of her long oversized polo shirt. He couldn’t possibly have slipped something up her sleeve or pasted something on it without her noticing, right? That would be weird. Not to mention creepy. She absentmindedly reached for her latte as she contemplated on the meaning of his little message.

Her head snapped up as she swallowed her coffee, her neurons joining. She looked at the brown cylindrical cardboard covering her venti sized latte - the sleeve of her cup. Of course, she thought as she turned the cup around in her hand. Sure enough, lodged between the sleeve and her cup was a little piece of paper. She carefully slid the cardboard sleeve down, pulling out the little note and placing it in her jeans pocket. She would look at it later. Right now, she still had work to do.

“Oppa,” she called and Kunst bobbed his head in reply, “let’s go over that last part again.”

~

Zico tapped his pen on the table, looking over the mess of papers that covered it. He read through the lyrics scrambled all over the place; this was always how he went about it. The thought process behind his masterpieces were a jumble of words, most of which were discarded. There was absolutely no room for half-assed songs. Every piece had to be absolutely perfect before he deemed them fit for release. He dropped his pen and listened to a few of his recordings. He deleted most of them, saving only the most decent ones although he knew he’d probably re-do everything all over again. That’s how much of a perfectionist he was.

Leaning back in his chair, he brought his wrist up to check the time. 3 p.m. Tablo would be arriving soon… which meant that Hayi had to be done recording with Kunst by now. He felt his heart rate pick up in a mixture of anticipation and nervousness. Had she read his note yet? What would she say?

Just on time, a small knock came from his door. Zico panicked, wondering what to do and trying to return to his usual confident self. It was the first time he was this nervous about a girl and he really wasn't sure how to deal with his current state. Just as the door creaked open, he laid his head on the table, closing his eyes shut as he pretended to be asleep. Seriously, brain? This was the best you could come up with? he silently reprimanded himself.

Hayi stepped into the room, “Sunb-?” she stopped herself as she noticed the unmoving figure by the table. She cautiously stepped over, tilting her head down at an angle to observe his sleeping face. She smiled to herself, remembering that she had found him sleeping just like this a couple days back. He must be really tired, falling asleep at work all the time. He shifted slightly in his chair and she quickly straightened up. He stopped moving again and she crept closer, reaching over to pull the jacket hanging on the back of his chair and placing it on his shoulders. He shifted again this time and she pulled away at lightning speed, as if electrocuted.

Zico blinked several times before turning around in his chair to look at the flustered Hayi. “Your door wasn’t locked,” she said by way of explanation. “A-and I knocked but you didn’t answer so I just-”

“Did you read it?” he interjected as he leaned his head on his palm, deciding it was best to get straight to the point.

She left open for a second, staring at him before closing it back and nodding in response. She fought the pink rising to her round cheeks as she cleared . “Yeah, uhm- about that… when are you coming again? I’ll buy coffee for you.”

Jiho laughed at how simple-minded she was. “No, what I meant was next time we go to a cafe, you're paying.”

Hayi fidgeted a little, fiddling with the little note in her hand. She looked at the words scribbled in black ink. Since you didn't answer me that morning, I took things into my own hands. I hope you enjoyed the coffee. It isn't iced, but it's cold out, so keep warm ♡ This time’s on me, but you're paying next time, alright? Oh, trust me. She knew well enough what he meant.

“But sunbae, you know it's hard to go out together- i mean! Oh my god i didn't mean ‘go out’ as in ‘go out’. I meant like to go to a cafe together. Like what if people see and come up with scandals or whatever-” she was rambling to no end. The blush that she was fighting was already on full blast, turning her cheeks an endearing shade of pink.

Jiho laughed, making her stop in her tracks and squint at him. She grabbed the eraser on the table and threw it at his forehead. He whined like a puppy and rubbed the spot where the eraser hit him. “It’s not funny! Scandals are not funny okay-”

“But what if I wanted us to get caught?” he suddenly voiced out once he stopped laughing, a serious demeanor replacing his prior playful attitude.

“I- what?”

“What if… I wanted a scandal to come out?”

“Sunbae- what… do you mean by that,” she asked warily.

“Hayi-ssi, I’m sure you’re not so slow that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

And oh, she knew. She knew, but she was too afraid to admit it. “Sunbae… you know my sajangnim-”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Hayi quirked a brow. Suddenly, she felt annoyed and enraged.

“Look here, mister. You may be daring enough to ask someone out but I don’t think you fully understand the consequences of what will happen if my boss finds out. And forget that! I’m about to make a comeback after a 3 year hiatus and mind you, I don’t need a scandal to mar my reputation right before that.”

Jiho shut up in shock, feeling abashed. He hadn’t considered that. He didn’t intend to make a move that might affect her career - he was just thinking selfishly. He wanted to get to know her better, he wanted to explore what they could be because he had the slightest - just the slightest - inkling that she might feel the same way. Afterall, it seemed like they clicked so well. And she was always blushing and everything… but maybe I was reading too much into the situation. He began doubting himself.

He sat there, and she stood in the same position, enveloped in a heavy silence. A moment passed, and another, then he spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Jiho’s voice was gentle, remorseful. “I hadn’t thought about your situation, Hayi-ssi. I’m sorry.” He looked up at her. “You can rest assured that I won’t bother you anymore.” He said with finality as he turned back to his computer, his hand hovering over the mouse even though his mind was clearly nowhere near thoughts about the unfinished track before him.

He kept staring at his screen, waiting for her to walk out. He began to feel a little awkward, figuring out that his attempt at acting engrossed in his work was going to be found out as a ruse if she didn't walk away soon. He turned his head to ask her why she had not left yet, only to feel something soft press against his lips.

It took him a second to realise that the ‘something’ was warm. And another second to realise that it was actually a pair of lips. Her lips. He didn't have another second to think, however, because she was already pulling away, eyes wide and alarmed. Her face was so red she could probably challenge a traffic light. And win.

“Oh my god, I only wanted to kiss your cheek, I swear-” she backed away, before running to the door. Jiho got up and reacted fast, grabbing her hand just as she reached out for the door knob.

“Why did you want to kiss my cheek?” he enquired. She looked at his hand. His long, beautiful fingers encircling her small wrist. She gulped, feeling her heart race at the warm sensation where their skin touched. She carefully glanced up at him. He couldn't feel her pulse where his hand gripped her’s, could he? She hoped he couldn’t. Because then he’d know that he was making her heart rate downright erratic.

“I-” she began, noticing how intently he was staring into her eyes. She bit her bottom lip, looking away because she couldn't handle the intensity of his gaze. “I don't know…” she meekly voiced but shook her head after a moment. That wasn't the right answer.

“Jiho-ssi, I-” he smiled, delighted that she was calling him by name, even if she was remaining formal. “I… like you. But I know it's wrong and I can’t because-”

“Because what?” he interjected, still holding on to her hand as he stepped closer. “Why is it wrong? Are we not allowed to like people just because we have fans - just because our agencies tell us we aren’t allowed to date? Are we not human?” he challenged. She swallowed, her eyes focused on the ground.

“I know what you mean… but you know it’s not that easy.” she whispered.

He stepped even closer, she could almost feel his warmth radiating with him so near. He gently pulled her chin up and brushed her hair aside, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “It may not be easy,” he began, loosening his grip on her wrist and moving his hand down, tentatively holding her small hand before giving it a little squeeze. He leaned down to place his forehead on her's, “but you don’t need to keep making it harder.”