"Gradually, more, more, more..."

 

 

 

 

"Ah, finally, it's all over!" Jiyoon exclaims with much dissatisfaction as she flops into a car seat, "A month has gone past so quickly!"

 

"Eonni, you sound like you've lost a battle or something," Sohyun remarks with a small chuckle while slipping into the back seat with Hyuna, "It's expected, though, since all singers love the stage."

 

"It's where I feel happiest, that's what," Jiyoon points out clearly, "Don't you agree, Gayoon-AH?"

 

"Shush! Watch your manners!" Gayoon says, rebuking the younger member in a very mom-like way, with a hint of playfulness in her voice, "But yes, I agree. That's why we all became singers. We love the stage."

 

"Too bad we're going to have to say goodbye to it now," Hyuna pouts cutely, her face covered with a sad expression as she glances out the back window at the sea of fans waving their wistful farewells, "I think I'll become stage-sick."

 

"You guys will make another comeback soon enough, don't worry," assures Hong Jin Taek, 4minute's manager, as he slips into the driver's seat, "Imagine how exhausted you'd be if your schedules never ended!"

 

"But our schedules never end," Hyuna is quick to point out. Jin Taek, silenced by her veracious remark, chuckles in reply before turning his attention towards driving.

 

"Such is a life of a hallyu star," he replies, after about a minute of contemplative quietness, "sometimes you need to--"

 

 

I like the muzik...like-like-like the muzik...

Jiruhan jeo beat e listen to my song...

 

 

All of the 4minute members whip their heads around quickly, glancing at each other, curious as to who is the one receiving the call. Jin Taek's hand dives into his pocket and pulls out his phone before clicking the answer button, almost robotically - and the girls sigh in disappointment. Looks like no male idols will be dialing their numbers anytime soon.

 

"Yoboseyo?"

 

"Sajangnim?"

 

In reflex response to the word 'boss', 4minute sits up straight in their seats. Hyuna, leaning forward a little, tries to catch as much of the almost-inaudible conversation, but slumps forward as soon as she realises she's too far away to hear anything.

 

"Mm. Ne, majayo. Arasseo, I will tell her. Ne. Ne. Gamsahamnida!"

 

"CEO Hong, was it?" an intrigued Hyuna queries innocently, "Who's the 'her' you mentioned?"

 

"Ah, such a nosey child," Jin Taek declares laughingly, and chuckles at Hyuna's pout of a response, "Actually it's about you."

 

"Eh? Me?"

 

"Is it bad?" inquires Jihyun, suddenly feeling worried for her much-loved dongsaeng.

 

"He wants to see you," Jin Taek states while glancing at Hyuna in his rear-view mirror, smiling to himself as he feels a teasing fest coming on.

 

"Oh, no, Hyuna -- what have you done now?" Gayoon asks the young rapper with a low teasing voice as she turned to face the girl.

 

"Yah, don't ask me like I've done something wrong!" Hyuna exclaims, starting to feel slightly anxious with the news, "I'm sure I haven't--"

 

"In...his...office." Jin Taek continues, stressing each word for effect. All of the 4minute members, except for a nervous Hyuna, moan loudly in mock fear and anticipation, before bursting out into hearty laughter.

 

"Oh, it seems really bad now."

 

"I wonder if Hyuna's going to get punished for her constant aegyo?

 

"Do you think he's going to tell her off?"

 

"In the office...that means business, man."

 

"Yah-yah-yah-yah, you girls are beginning to scare me!"

 

 

 

 

"Good. Much better. But you're still lacking a little bit in the higher notes, Yoseob. And please put just a little more emotion into your singing, Hyunseung. You have such amazing talent but you need to pour your heart out into the song more."

 

The two boys nod quickly, listening intently to the advice being given to them and etching it deeply into their brains. Lee Hyun Jin, B2ST's vocal teacher, leans back in her seat and give a tired sigh before gesturing for them to start over. Hyunseung lifts the microphone in his hand to his lips as the familiar piano tune fills the room, preparing to sing the song that he had performed and practised almost ad nauseam.

 

 

Ireohke nan ddo...

Itji mothago...

Nae gaseum sok-e kkeut naji anheul iyagil--

 

 

Knock. knock.

 

Hyun Jin exhales exasperatedly as she lifts her hands from the keyboard. Great time to interrupt, she thinks sarcastically, just as they've only got a few hours left to practise their vocals for the performance tomorrow.

 

"Ne, please come in."

 

"Jwesonghamnida for intruding, Hyun Jin-ssi," says CEO Hong's secretary as he pops his head around the door, "but sajangnim requires Hyunseung in his office. He wants to talk to him."

 

Hyunseung's heart clenches with a little anxiety and anticipation at the sound of those sentences, and he looks nervously at the tall secretary, who responds with an emotionless smile.

 

"Well, I guess that can't be helped. Hyunseung, you may go."

 

After nodding a yes, the lead vocalist bows respectfully at his teacher before following the secretary out of the room into the corridor towards the building lifts.

 

 

 

 

Hyunseung coughs softly -- an attempt to ease the growing tension and awkward atmosphere between him and the CEO's secretary, who seems to feel no obligation to make Hyunseung feel any less nervous that he does already.

 

"Ah, we're going the wrong direction," Hyunseung points out to his stone-faced companion, "This lift is going down."

"It's alright. We're only on Floor 2, so going to the Ground Floor won't delay us very much." The secretary replies with little or no emotion, before going silent again.

 

Hyunseung lets out a smally, shaky cough, feeling uncomfortable in his current position.

 

This elevator trip is probably going to be one of the longest in my life...

 

 

 

 

Feeling slightly exasperated, Hyuna marches through the front doors of the CUBE Entertainment headquarters, heading straight for the lifts. She jabs the triangular button pointing up, to CEO Hong's room, and starts tapping her foot on the floor in impatience. 

 

I can't believe they still wouldn't tell me the details! The details about me!

 

She blows her fringe out of her face at the thought. A sharp ding! reverberates around the office lobby and takes Hyuna by surprise, signifing that the lift has arrived.

 

Ground floor. Going up.

 

Her 5-inch heels click quickly on the marble, eager to get in before the gold-streaked elevator doors close on her.

 

She looks up.

 

Dark hair

Smoulding eyes.

 

 

Hyunseung.

 

 

"Yah, watch out," he says, grabbing one of her jewelled wrists and pulling her out of the way of the closing doors, "Ah, Hyuna. So accident-prone."

 

"Jwesonghamnida, oppa," she blushes from embarrassment, before leaning a little to her left to take notice of the emotionless man standing next to Hyunseung, who gives her a small nod that she reciprocates with a respectful 'Annyeonghaseyo' and a bow.

 

"Yah, is that CEO Hong's new secretary?" she queries Hyunseung, in an almost inaudible voice. He nods in reply. "Ah, what's he doing with you?"

 

"We're going to see sajangnim, of course."

 

"Ehhh, you're going too?"

 

"What do you mean "too"? Did CEO Hong ask to see you as well?"

 

"Yup."

 

"Do you know what it's about?"

 

Hyuna touches her cheek thoughtfully. "Well, they refused to tell me much, but Jin Taek-oppa told me it's about music, so it's probably about..." her face contorts into an expression of worry as she forms her answer, "You know. That 'lip-sync' accident on Music Bank."

 

"Oh, I see," Hyunseung replies carefully, before tentatively placing a hand on her lower arm, "Don't be anxious. It's just a small accident, and Cube's already released a public statement about that. The case should be solved by now."

 

"Mm. I guess you're right." She could feel electric shocks where he was touching her. What is wrong with me?

 

Hyunseung gives a sigh, removes his hand, and tries to change the topic. "Then how about me?"

 

"Maybe he wants you to go solo?"

 

"I doubt so."

 

A sharp ding! and a dull thud cuts their conversation off abruptly as it signifes their arrival at CEO Hong's office.

 

Ground 10. Going down.

 

 

 

CEO Hong taps his fingers impatiently on the dark mahogany surface of his office desk as he waits for a file to load up on his computer, the quiet sound reverberating around the large room. Hyuna shifts anxiously in her cushioned seat, the silence too excruciatingly uncomfortable in an atmosphere that was already pregnant with an unconveyed, impalpable tension. Her eyes flit across to Hyunseung's hands, blankly analysing its busy fidgeting with the various rings on his fingers. A thin streak of sunlight seeping through the white blinds on their right hits a crystal gem on one of the rings, is deflected and bursts into small rainbows on Hyuna's face. Her eyes blink rapidly in response to the sudden bright assault, and Hyunseung gives her an apologetic look.

 

"Ah, there we go."

 

Both jump a little at the unexpected sound of CEO Hong's voice, and the soft whirr of a machine that follows it. He raises an eyebrow at the nervous expressions on the two artists' faces before collecting some papers from the printer behind him.

 

"So. What with the anxiety in you two, hm?"

 

"Eh?" Hyuna's eyes widen a little in confusion, before quickly composing herself and correcting her previous statement: "Oh, uh, n-nothing. We're not nervous, just...tired."

 

What a lame answer, she reprimands herself, before letting out her best seemingly casual laugh. It hangs in the air like a ghost, its presence strange and out of place. Hyunseung shoots her a peculiar look at her unusual behavior -- but CEO Hong does not appear to notice the oddity clinging to the aura around them.

 

"Mm. Tired. Tired is good. It means you've been working hard. And that's exactly what I expect from my artists here at Cube Entertainment," The older man gives a sigh, relaxing against the back of his chair before leaning forward again, "Anyway, you can both calm down because today I'm not intending to berate nor punish you."

 

Hyunseung lets out a breath that he didn't realise he was holding, and Hyuna's face breaks out into a small, relieved smile.

 

"I want to talk about this."

 

CEO Hong places a sheet of paper in front of the two. The large black title printed across the top catches their eyes immediately. 

 

"Troublemaker comeback?" Hyunseung asks, looking up at Cube's sajangnim for confirmation.

"Ne," he replies, leaning back in his seat, "but this comeback will be different. It will be unique to all the comebacks in the history of Kpop." 

 

"This time, I want you both to do everything yourselves."

 

 

Arasseo (알았어) = Okay / alright

Ne, majayo (네, 맞아요) = Yes, that's right

Sajangnim (사장님) = CEO / President / Boss

Gamsahamnida (감사합니다) = Thank you (polite)

Dongsaeng (동생) = younger sibling, or junior

Aegyo (애교) = cuteness, charm or amiability.

Eonni (언니) = older sister or female senior

 

 

 

Ohmigosh everyone!

I am so super sorry that I haven't been updating regularly.

It has been hectic since my AS Level exams, with my school organising all sorts of crazy stuff,

but thank God it's all over now!

I told myself that I would write loads during the holidays but...here I am. Halfway through the hols

and only one more chapter complete.

 

*howls in abomination at self*

 

Anyways, to make up for that I wrote an extra long chapter for y'all :)

Even though there isn't much interaction between Hyuna and Hyunseung in this chapter, I had no

choice but to ensure that I created a good, solid reason for their constant being-together-all-the-time-ness

in the near future.

 

And by "near future" I mean the next chapter~ >:3

*evil laugh*

Please look forward to chapter four 

coming soon! :) :)