A/N: Hi guys, here's a longer chapter for my lack of updates. Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

“So you’ve been assigned a new project,” Misfit announces before casually tossing a folder of a profile onto Cho’s desk. She can feel her heart pound in excitement as she flips open the flap of the manilla folder.

“Chen Wei? I’ve never heard of him,” Cho reads confusingly before almost desperately looking towards the rest of her team. “He’s a...trainee about to debut, I guess? He’s more underground than anything, more on his behalf though. He doesn’t plan to really make a big debut...it’s a little complicated. Only Sooman has all the specifics,” Misfit explains, perplexed over her own words.

“He’s under a different confidentiality contract that Sooman decided to try. Technically, Youngmin is the CEO, but Sooman is heavily involved in this since this is his company. Either way, if we ever meet with him, he’s in the dark and we’re in the light, like those news interviews with people who don’t wish to be identified,” Junmyeon clarifies and adds and Cho nods. “Think of it as Cro, the rapper from Germany. Nobody actually knows what he looks like because he always has that panda mask head thing on in his videos.”

“But how special is he to actually request something like this?” Cho asks, curious.

“Very,” Junmyeon agrees and smiles at her. “I’m excited to see what you’ll come up with. Sooman said you were very promising when he told us you were coming. And don’t forget, you can always ask us for help.”

“I still owe you for that change of lyrics you helped me with on Taemin’s album,” Misfit interjects, not at all dejected about the IOU. “The change really fit the lyrics well.”

“It was nothing,” Cho embarrassingly rubs the back of her neck. She’s never been very good at receiving compliments well and always feels the blood rush to her cheeks whenever there is one.

“Actually, your first interview is today. He’ll be coming in--” Junmyeon quickly glances at her watch. “--about three hours. Sooman said he’s very easy to talk with, so don’t be too awkward. Well, actually, I think he said something about Skyping though.”

“I’m not that awkward,” Cho pouts but chuckles wholeheartedly seconds later while swiveling around to face the window. “Oh,” Junmyeon says, causing Cho to turn back around in her chair. Just as Junmyeon is about to continue, another lady struts through the door and Misfit embraces said lady just seconds later. “This is Seo Ji Eum,” Misfit introduces excitedly. “She just came back from Jeju Island for her much needed vacation. Ji Eum, this is Jung Cho, the new addition we got that I was telling you about.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ji Eum smiles widely and Cho internally gawks at her beauty. “We’ve been dying for fresh minds. By the way, I never got to compliment Yeo Jeong on her lyrics for EXO’s Overdose. The fans won’t stop raving about it.”

“And it’s what, almost October? By the way, isn’t your birthday coming up?” Yeo Jeong inquires from Cho and she nods. “It’s the 30th,” Cho clarifies and the rest of the team nods appreciatively. “We’ll take you out for dinner, how does that sound?” Jungshin pipes up and Cho chuckles while. “It’s not like I can refuse my elders, now can I?”

“Sooman told me about your new project,” Ji Eum says to Cho. “If you need any help, please feel free to ask any of us. We’re not that busy now, just working on Red Velvet. That won’t take long either.”

“Thank you so much,” Cho bows to Ji Eum gratefully because honestly she’s scared. Sooman is nice and all, but his expectations are very high. Now that there’s pressure on her own project, she feels that perhaps nothing would ever be good enough for the founder. But with her team willing to help, she feels much better, though an invisible hand still seems to eerily scratch against her heart. “I’m going to the lounge to get something to drink. Do you guys want anything?” Cho offers as she pushes herself up from her chair and digs through her purse on her desk for her wallet.

“Can you get me a caramel macchiato?” Jungshin asks from his computer, not looking at her with 7,000 won in his outstretched hand. Cho takes it and looks around to see everyone else shaking their heads. She grins and nods before lightly bounding out the door and towards the elevator.

The metal box stops just two floors later and Taemin steps in without looking up from his phone. Cho stays silent until the doors quietly glide shut and speaks up. “I think it’d be nice to know the name of the cute boy in the elevator with me,” she playfully jabs and Taemin snaps his head up towards her in surprise before letting a boyish smirk cross his face.

“So I’m cute now?” He teases while poking her incessantly in the shoulder and Cho laughs before lightly whacking him with her wallet. “Are you also going to the Lounge?”

“Yep,” Taemin answers. His messy blonde hair continues to throw her off a bit as they exit the box and make their way towards the cashier. There are more people sitting than the last time they were here and nobody bats an eye as they walk in together. Cho orders her hot chocolate and Taemin, again, orders an Iced Americano with extra syrup even though October is nearing and temperatures are dropping considerably. Which by the way…

“Don’t you guys have SMTOWN in Tokyo soon? Shouldn’t you be preparing for the concert?” Cho confusingly asks, her brows furrowed. Is it just her or is Taemin a little too laid back sometimes?

“We have a day off and I was on my way to practice but I have time to spend with you,” Taemin cheekily grins and Cho huffs in mock annoyance. Leave it to Taemin to sneak in a pickup line.

After more casual conversation, Cho checks her watch to see that she has another half hour before her interview with this Chen Wei. She gets up and complies to Taemin’s childish motions for a hug before she shoves him playfully in the direction of the elevator. He patiently waits as she grabs Jungshin’s caramel macchiato. Cho stops at her floor first and gets out after lightly pecking Taemin’s cheek in a friendly manner. When she turns to see Taemin’s bewildered expression, she lightly laughs because American casual gestures aren’t that common in Korea. She’ll have to clarify later.

They’ve decided on a Skype interview, Junmyeon informs as she settles back down in her wheely chair. Her Bose headphones are neatly laid next to her laptop as she opens it up before unwinding the chord and plugging it in. Cho mentally thanks the heavens for the discovery of noise-cancellation technology as she watches the circle spin inconsistently on her Skype screen.

But as she waits because her laptop is a bit ancient with its Windows 7 software, without yanking the chord with the device, she observes the outside world and gazes at the trees softly bending to the wind’s will. From her seat, she can’t see the crowd of fans but she can most definitely imagine the screams and random questions spewing from their mouths as an idol steps in or out of the building.

The cloudy skies remind her about the fall and she realizes the leaves are already close to their trademark autumn colors. Inside the warmth of the building, she shudders when remembering the chilly, biting wind that whipped her hair around her face and neck. Her face had a dull burn when she finally entered the building and caught a glimpse of her red, red nose in the doors of the elevator.

The sound of her Skype ringtone brings her out of her dazed state and she quickly straightens her hair the best she can before sliding the cursor over and clicking on the “Answer with video call” option. Her own camera screen shrinks and shifts to the bottom as this Chen Wei’s cam maximizes and loads. But nothing actually loads as she is met with a black screen, and her brows knit in slight confusion.

“Um, Mr. Chen?” She tentatively asks for and there can be a rustling of papers heard in her headphones.

“Ah, sorry, yes,” Wei answers apologetically. “As you probably know by now, I have my own privacy thing…”

“Of course,” Cho smiles softly in understanding at the webcam and launches into her introduction. “Well, I’ll start off first. My name is Jung Cho. I was just hired by Mr. Sooman just a couple of months ago as a new songwriter and lyricist. This is my first project, so please take care of me and I hope we will work well together,” Cho formally informs and bows as much as she can in her chair.

“I guess I don’t need to do much introducing if you’re aware of my circumstances,” Wei chuckles and Cho, again, curves the corners of her lips upwards a little to show her amusement. “Please don’t be so formal. You can just call me Wei,” he says warmly and Cho hums in agreement.

“First of all, what is your voice register? Are you primarily a bass or baritone?” Cho inquires as she fishes around her desk for a pen and notepad.

“I would say all, to be honest, probably up to soprano possibly,” he replies in what seems like a bashful tone and Cho nods while jotting notes down.

The questions and answers bounce back and forth. Cho notices how relaxed she feels just ten minutes later and can tell that this person has a humble heart with a dash of humor scattered on the surface. She feels that she can really work with him and the whole she-can’t-see-him-in-the-flesh circumstance can be worked around since he has a room set aside for recording in his apartment already.

“Let’s make a deal, Cho,” Wei suddenly interjects right before Cho can ask if he has a concept for his debut album in mind. To indicate that she’s listening, she raises her head towards the screen and tilts it to the right side a little. “How about if I get a Triple Crown, I’ll reveal what I look like to you?”

“Sounds like a deal,” she voices her consent just a few seconds after. “I’ll be looking forward to knowing such a big secret.”

Wei seems to find her extremely amusing and begins to chuckle again.

-

A week later, Cho is sitting on her kitchen counter and waiting for her Keurig machine to finish dispensing her green tea. Her legs swing back and forth comfortably and she hops down when her tea is done.

“Jongdae has a Snapchat?” Cho murmurs to herself, one hand with her cellphone and a mug of tea in the other as she walks from the kitchen of her apartment to the couch in her living room. She sets the mug on a coaster lying on the coffee table in front of the couch and collapses into the cushions.

Her thumb taps on the plus button next to Jongdae’s name and number before switching to her Instagram, only to see that she has been tagged in three photos and when she views them, a genuine smile dawns upon her face. They’re all photos of her and three other girls, her closest girlfriends as of now, and though she’s always missed them, she misses them even more.

“Skype at 8pm KST mum!” One of the photo’s caption says and Cho’s eyes flicker to the top of her screen to see that it’s 7:30pm. She lifts her mug and moves towards her bedroom and settles in her chair at her desk where her laptop is propped open with music-editing software on it.

When she opens her Snapchat again, the bottom right signifies that two people have updated their Story but when Cho swipes to the left, only Minseok has updated his Story and Jongdae has added her back on Snapchat. While debating with herself over whether to open his Story or not, her thumb stubbornly taps and holds on his name before a photo pops up.

It’s a seven-second long photo of him and the high school girl that’s been put in his apartment. They’re both grinning widely with beanies on their heads and light scarves around their necks and the caption says, “Longboarding our way through Seoul!”

“I guess he forgot,” Cho whispers with sadness evident in her voice and gently underhandedly tosses her phone onto her bed just next to her desk. “I know I haven’t talked to him at all since I ran out on him on Skype, but still, he should maybe remember some inkling of it...I mean it’s probably on Facebook, too, but I guess he doesn’t check that very often but it’s still no excuse…right?”

She miserably spins around in her chair until her feet brake against the plastic mat underneath the wheels that stops it from making permanent indentions in her carpet. In her line of view is a large scenery calendar against the wall flipped to the September page with a little circle around the thirty.

“You couldn’t even remember it was my birthday, Minseok?”