Seunghyun woke up wishing he had been hit by a train. The alarm on his phone wasn’t helping matters. He got up and took out the battery, stretching as he walked to his corner. He was hoping meditation would help his hangover today. He had a lot of work to do and needed his mind to be in the right place.

After he opened his eyes, he felt considerably better, not cured by any means, but better. He took a quick shower and tried to avoid the mirror. He always looked terrible the morning after he was drunk. He didn’t need a reminder of that the morning he was meeting Jiyong. He pulled on his sunglasses from the previous night as he wandered around getting ready. He put less care into his appearance this time. Jiyong could take it or leave it but he really didn’t feel like looking in the honest glass.

He only remembered part of what happened the night before. There were lots of fragments that he couldn’t put together. Part of him wondered if Jiyong could help him piece it together and the other part wanted to bury the night, regardless of what had or hadn’t happened.

Seunghyun went through the rest of his morning routine, grumbling. He really didn’t want to go. Jiyong was the only reason he was moving. If it weren’t him he would have told the inviter to off. He lugged the tower of notebooks he had read with him out the door, regretting his choices as he walked, his head beginning to throb again.

When Seunghyun arrived Jiyong was looking out the window lazily until he perked up, his eyes widened. Seunghyun thought he had startled him until he saw him scrambling for a notebook and pen. He looked like he was shaking with inspiration. Seunghyun walked up to the table, seeing the scene zooming in with more detail. His face looked wild with intensity as he wrote almost illegible words on his pad of paper.

Seunghyun sat, mesmerized at the sight for several minutes, completely forgetting his headache. Jiyong’s past notebooks he had read lying abandoned by his feet. He wondered if he looked like that when he wrote. He caught himself wanting to take a peek, speculating the story being written with such veracity. He then glanced over and saw a large plate filled with donuts. He smiled and looked back at Jiyong still scribbling on his pages.

“Jiyong?” Seunghyun softly uttered.

Jiyong looked up from his page looking slightly irritated, with a stretched forced smile. “Yes?” He answered.

“Um…can I see what you’re working on?” Seunghyun asked nervously.

“I’ll show you when I’m done. Now, don’t interrupt me.” Jiyong grumbled as he continued writing.

Seunghyun nodded. A moment passed in silence minus the sound of employees’ chatter. He stretched and got up from his chair, making his way to the counter to order his much needed large coffee that he had been craving since he heard his shrill alarm a couple hours earlier. When he first walked through the doors, the smell alone was therapeutic but nothing could beat savoring the taste of the real thing in his mouth.

Seunghyun took his coffee to the table and sipped and munched on a donut while watching Jiyong slow his work. He had small suggestions of wrinkles on his forehead as he bit his lip and furrowed his brows in concentration. After a couple minutes and just as Seunghyun was about to go outside for his morning cigarette Jiyong shut his notebook.

“Mind if I join you?” Jiyong asked while standing and stretching.

Seunghyun looked to the ground shyly, uttering “Sure” before nodding at the staff who understood and opening the door for Jiyong. Jiyong smiled softly at him. Seunghyun felt his stomach flip as he walked out behind him.

“So, don’t think I didn’t see you eat one of my donuts.” Jiyong said sternly, before lighting up.

“What? That’s not fair! You know I have a terrible hangover and donuts are one of my favorite foods!” Seunghyun protested, lighter halfway to his lips.

“It was another joke, Seunghyun.” Jiyong said flatly while exhaling.

“Oh…sorry.” Seunghyun said embarrassedly.

“Are you always this tense?” Jiyong asked.

“Not really. I’m usually the one making the jokes. I’m just really nervous, I guess.” Seunghyun said ashamed.

“Why are you nervous?” Jiyong asked, confused.

“Why wouldn’t I be? A lot rides on this audition, I am way underprepared for it, and the uh...atmosphere doesn’t help any.” Seunghyun rambled until the end when he started muttering and scuffing his sneaker on the pavement.

“I know. I was surprised when hyung told me I had to audition with everyone else and he wouldn’t go easy on me.” Jiyong stated.

“Hyung?” Seunghyun asked.

“Ah. Hyun Suk, YG, Papa YG, whatever you call him. He asked me to call him hyung since I’ve been there so long.” Jiyong said.

“Isn’t that a little awkward, calling your really successful boss hyung?” Seunghyun asked, clearly shocked.

“Kind of. He is more like a father than an older brother but if he wants to be called hyung, that’s what I’ll call him. He is my boss.” Jiyong said, shrugging.

“Ah.” Seunghyun said, feeling oceans away from Jiyong at this moment. He called Hyun Suk hyung. They were close enough for that. Hyun Suk was becoming rather rich off of his label and more and more people were becoming familiar with the name YG Entertainment than when he first knew of it.

“Anyways, I’m here to teach you all I know so, you don’t need to be too nervous. We will be on the same page. Okay?” Jiyong said confidently, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“Ah…um…okay.” Seunghyun forced out, distracted by the skinship.

Jiyong reached in his pack for another stick. “So, about the atmosphere. We don’t have to meet here if it makes you uncomfortable. I’m sure we could find another quiet place to eat and work.” He uttered before lighting another one.

“What? No! That’s not what I meant…” Seunghyun scrambled before he knew what he had admitted.

“Then what is it? Do you really not want to meet with me?” Jiyong responded with a sad expression.

“Huh? What gave you that idea?” Seunghyun asked shocked.

“Well, I am kind of forcing myself on you after all of these years. I’m just really nervous and don’t know what to say or do around you. I know I must have hurt you a lot when I left so I really understand you not wanting to meet with me. I was just hoping to …” Jiyong admitted before trailing off, looking into the distance.

“Hoping to what?” Seunghyun asked.

“Nothing. So, you’re okay with working with me still?” Jiyong said, snapping to attention.

“Yeah…” Seunghyun drew out slowly, suspicious of what Jiyong could be thinking.

“Great, so, let’s really get to work now. Help yourself to the donuts, they are for both of us.” Jiyong said, snubbing out the small remainder of his cigarette before walking back towards the café’s doors.