‘... And that brings our meeting to a close I suppose! I’ll have all the timetables emailed out to you guys by next Monday, if you could make sure you have your collection ready Key we can have it shipped to the venue a few weeks early for the dress rehearsals. For now we need the final poster and leaflet designs sent through, get on that and I’ll see you guys again next week for debriefing...’

Key sighed in relief as the planning meeting for the next fashion show, held in Incheon, came to a close. At this time of the year there were four major fashion shows held within months of each other across Koreas biggest cities. Each show was set up to showcase the same designers who designed their collections to suit a different theme. The shows this year were being held in Daegu, Incheon, Busan and Seoul. The shows in Busan and Daegu had already been held and Key was now set to prepare for Incheon the penultimate show as well as juggling his own personal shows alongside. Key felt far more comfortable about the Incheon show now that he had his secret weapon. Jonghyun. He tried not to let it get to his head but he was certain that his set would be the most jaw dropping of all the sets so far.

Kibum found himself in his private studio that night of the meeting pouring over the briefing and the guidelines of the event. The theme this time around was psychedelic which Kibum was all too pleased to be embracing; he just hoped Jonghyun would be happy too. Kibum started his sketches under the bright light of his desk lamp, splashing bright blues and pinks and greens onto his page until he was mildly happy.

The way these shows ran allowed each designer to produce their own set with 20-30 outfits and one singing or dance aspect. Key had sent Jonghyun away after the meeting, telling him to go and do what he does best, write music.

‘Create something, something funky and weird and gorgeous, I want my ears to fall in love with the beat!’ Kibum had said before pushing Jonghyun out of the taxi and heading straight to his own studio.

Kibum looked down at the sheets he had strewn about and set upon numbering each colourful piece. An even spread of male and females clothing lay about, each slightly different and minimalist with an array of different fabrics stapled to the pages. Finally after counting 24 outfits in total he set his mind to the most important, Jonghyun’s outfit. Key closed his eyes for a second, envisioning Jonghyun in numerous colours and shades and different fabrics before an idea sprung to mind.

***

Ring Ring Ringgggg

Key jumped up in his seat, back painfully hitting the hard plastic of his chair. He groaned, head lolling and hair in disarray before realising he fell asleep at his desk. Luckily he hadn’t drooled on any of his designs so it’s all okay. Fumbling through his piles of pencils and paper he finally found the source of the ringing noise that so rudely woke him up.

‘Hello?’ He yawned into the phone after accepting the call.

‘Key! Don’t tell me you fell asleep designing last night?’ Yuna asked, voice slightly too loud for Kibum’s sleepy mind to comprehend.

‘No totally not’ Key said stifling another yawn.

‘uh huh’ Yuna said and Kibum could practically see her roll her eyes at him.

‘Anyway what do you want at this ungodly hour?’ Kibum muttered, stretching one arm out and relaxing back in his seat.

‘Ok first of all, its 11 o clock and secondly I have a certain guy here in the recording booth about to do his first take on a new song...’

‘what?!’ Kibum squealed jumping up from his seat. ‘Jonghyun has a song already?’

‘Oh you bet he does, and you’re gonna love it, now get your down here!’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, see you in 10’ Kibum said as he started pulling off items of clothes and tugging on new ones he kept in the draws by his studio desk (you always gotta be prepared for a costume change)

He disconnected the call without even waiting for Yuna’s response and set to running around grabbing shoes and brushing his hair hurriedly with his hands. Despite the mad dash Kibum still looked good as he took a brief glance at himself in one of the windows on his way out of the studio. Thank the Lord.

***

‘Kibum! You made it, thank goodn-‘

‘Yes, ok, now where is Jonghyun?’ Kibum said as Yuna pecked him on both cheeks.

‘He’s just in there Key-‘ But Kibum wasn’t listening as he walked over to the door Yuna pointed at.

Walking in he let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting and shut the door behind himself with a soft click. He smiled and bowed his head to the producer that sat at the mixing board in front of the glass window to the sound booth and marvelled at the array of instruments on the walls around. Making his way further into the small room Kibum got a better glance through the glass window and waved at Jonghyun who had now noticed the others arrival.

‘Okay, Jonghyun, are you ready to try the first verse?’ The producer asked, pressing a few buttons in front of him. Jonghyun just nodded smiling shyly in Key’s direction before looking at the lyrics in the stand in front of him. He read them once over and flashed the producer a quick thumbs up, the track began and Kibum took the seat next to the producer. The music started up in the recording booth, the beat smooth and Jonghyun found himself closing his eyes, leaning into the mic and humming softly a few times. Kibum felt himself melt a little before Jonghyun spoke the opening line in English.

‘How are you gonna dress up tonight?’ Jonghyun spoke before opening his eyes for a split second to take in the look on Kibum’s face before launching into the verse.

‘Ah tell me, Show me baby, Come on, Yeah…’ This was the most confident Kibum had ever seen Jonghyun and it gave him this fuzzy feeling in his chest as he watched in awe.

‘Don’t misunderstand I’m just in a good mood today
Don’t go overboard
Cuz you’re pretty whatever you wear
But unlike other days,
I Feel so nice
It’s weird’

Kibum couldn’t stop the huge smile on his face as he listened to Jonghyun sing the lyrics he wrote, he couldn’t help but think that maybe Jonghyun was becoming more confident in himself when he saw himself dressed up nicely, he also couldn’t help but wonder who else the song was about. The beat was cut off abruptly after the successful recording of the first verse and the producer let Jonghyun take 5. Kibum stood up from his seat and leaned in to the intercom to speak to Jonghyun as he scanned through the lyrics for the chorus.

‘Jonghyun darling that was perfect’ Kibum purred into the mic enjoying how Jonghyun’s face lit up.

‘Thank you, I’m so relieved you like it…’ He shrugged happily ‘Oh! How did your designing go last night?’ He asked as an afterthought.

‘Yeah, it went great, I have a new design for you for the show, it’s still a work in progress but I think you’ll like it’

‘I’m sure I will Key!’

‘There is just one thing though… I need you to dye your hair pink.’