I woke up much earlier than usual in order to get everything I needed. Deciding to dress more comfortably than I normally do, I threw on just a standard t-shirt and some yoga pants that I forgot I even owned. I gathered my laptop, my numerous papers, my headphones, the tablet, and some strips of cloth for if the situation really got dire. I took a deep breath, inspecting my bag. Finally, I was satisfied, and began to make my way down to the studio. I moved all of the chairs out of the other rooms into the piano studio so they could all sit if they needed to.

Once I was satisfied, I sat at the piano bench, plunking at the keys idly as I waited for the boys to arrive. They didn’t keep me waiting long as all six of them filed down the stairs together. I was pleased to see that each of them had their respective colored folders in hand. They all looked a little sleepy still, but they quietly sat in the chairs, watching me expectantly. I suddenly felt a bit anxious about this whole thing. I took a deep breath.

“Okay,” I started, sitting at the piano once the studio door was closed, “Let’s just dive in, shall we?” I looked around at all of them, getting affirmative nods from each as they glanced at their sheet music. I double checked with Leo, raising my brow at him. He had to start us off. Luckily he nodded decisively at me. Their silence was unnerving, but I finally just faced forward, studying the piano in front of me. “Here we go,” I whispered, mostly to myself.

As soon as I started playing the piano, the atmosphere in the room changed. Leo came in right on cue, and this was at least comfortable. But soon enough, Hyuk’s voice came in, his English pronunciation just as good as I had hoped. Then N and Hyuk got to sing together, which was a flawless harmony. I held my breath, involuntarily tensing when Hongbin’s voice dropped. He nailed his part, and I continued, but noticed the Hyuk missed his cue. Reluctantly, I stopped and turned to scold them, but was silenced by their stares.

“What was THAT?” Ken finally blurted out, regarding Hongbin as if he were an alien. Hongbin, on the other hand was grinning like an idiot at me.

I laughed nervously for a moment, “That was Hongbin, Jaehwan,” I teased slightly. “Can we start again?” I asked impatiently.

“No we can NOT,” Ken responded, standing in front of his friend. He reached out, touching Hongbin’s face and chest, “WHO ARE YOU?” he asked, grabbing Hongbin’s shirt.

“I’m Bean!” he replied cheerily, his wide grin spreading.

As Ken was manhandling Hongbin, I gauged the rest of them. They all seemed to be in different states of surprise and confusion. Leo’s eyes were trained on me, “I guess this is what you meant,” he said quietly, “when you said you were excited for us to see what you’d accomplished.”

I simply nodded, watching as they began to settle down. Once Ken had managed to let go and return to his seat, I continued, “Hongbin’s got an excellent range. Let’s not get derailed by it. We’ll start again.”

This time, we managed to get past Hongbin’s part without any flaws, and Ravi pulled off his small rap flawlessly, of course, but then the chorus started. Just as I expected, Leo stayed on pitch, but Ken dropped out. “Sorry!” he cried as my hands fell to my sides, “This is weird!” I knew Ken wasn’t used to singing with Leo quite this closely, especially not live. “Can we just start again from Ravi’s rap?” Ken sat up, his face determined.

“Alright,” I said with a little sigh, “Let’s do it.” We started again there, but once again, Leo and N stayed on point while Ken fell off.

I saw Ken pull at his own hair in aggravation. It reminded me of when we worked together back when I was first getting to know them. “It’s okay Ken,” I tried to soothe him as I stood, “This isn’t easy.”

He growled a little to himself, “How is Taekwoon okay with this and not me?”

Leo smirked a little, but I was grateful he didn’t rub it in. Instead, he placed a hand on Ken’s shoulder, “Remember when I came home after working with Mira?”

“Yeah, you look like you had died,” Ken spat out, though a hint of a smile crossed his face.

“That’s because she was making me do this,” Leo pointed out, though his eyes were on me. He saw me reach into my bag, knowing what was to come, “And it’s about to get worse,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

“Taekwoon, can you help me move the bench?” I asked quickly, blindfolds in hand. We moved the bench to the center of their little circle. “Sit here, Ken,” I pointed to one edge of the bench, Leo already making himself comfortable on the other.

Ken continued to look at me as if I had gone mad, but obliged anyway. I glanced to N, who was watching apprehensively. I could tell he wanted to jump in and help, but he stayed true to his word that he would let me do this my way. He caught my eye and I gave a little appreciative nod. “What are those?” Ken suddenly asked, nodding to my hand that held the blindfolds.

“It’s to help you focus,” I simply stated, moving towards them, “Sit back to back with Leo, Ken.”

Yet again, Ken looked at me with wide eyes, “And Leo’s okay with this?”

“Trust me,” Leo suddenly spoke, “it’s much easier if you just listen to her.”

Growing impatient, I approached Ken, physically moving him so he was flush against Leo’s back. I linked their arms and retrieved the blindfolds, tying Leo’s first. “This is getting oddly ,” Ravi whispered, a smirk on his face. I simply threw him my best death glare, which appeared to work, as he shrunk back quietly.

“Hold still, Ken,” I ordered, affixing his blindfold quickly. “Now, we’re going to sing the chorus again, all of you, and you’re going to feel it, okay? Kind of like what we did with the subwoofer, except it’s Leo,” I could tell he didn’t believe me, so I placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder, “Leo, could you sing something to demonstrate?”

Leo nodded, obliging. As soon as his voice started, Ken squirmed, “Woah,” he spoke. “Okay, okay, I get it,” he straightened up.

“I trust you have your part memorized?” I asked Ken as I stepped back.

He nodded, “Of course,” he said, the confident edge in his voice slowly returning.

“Alright from the top,” I looked around at each of the rest of them, getting affirmative nods again. And we started yet again. It was difficult to keep my attention on the piano and on the two in the center at the same time, but the first pass of the chorus went a little better than the first, so we pressed on. It was shaky, but we managed to make it through the passing of the melody. They got a little break during Ravi’s full rap, and I held my breath. The second full chorus went much better, Hyuk’s soaring vocals complimenting them beautifully. Hongbin and Ravi even contributed some low end harmonies here and there. And somehow, someway, we made it through the whole song. “That was okay,” I said casually, getting up to check on my main vocalists.

As soon as I was up, however, they all exploded into chatter. I had forgotten that none of them had heard the whole thing. “Mira,” N stood, grasping my shoulders tightly, “That was really good,” he insisted.

“We need a lot more practice,” I started.

“No,” N interrupted, “I mean that song.”

I smiled a little, “Oh, well,” I wasn’t sure what to say, “Thanks,” I muttered. I looked past N to see Ken and Leo, arms locked even tighter than when I left them. I scooted past N to pull Leo’s blindfold off first, but he just had a small smile to offer me. He nodded his head back to Ken, silently telling me to check on him. I circled around to Ken, whose breathing was extremely labored, and I could tell his arms were tensed, as if he would fall to his doom if Leo let him go. I knew exactly what he was going through. When I pulled off his blindfold, his eyes were slightly panicked. I tilted his chin up to look at me, speaking very quietly, “I know how you’re feeling, and it’ll be okay. You’ll feel better once you have a better hold on the harmony, okay?”

He nodded slightly, but I could tell he was still shaken. Suddenly realizing he was still holding on to Leo for dear life, he jerked his arms away, turning around, “Leo?” he asked meekly.

I held my breath as Leo turned around. Taekwoon was a bit unpredictable, and all I could do was hope he handled this correctly. To my relief, he smiled at Ken, “You did well,” he spoke quietly. “It’ll be better next time.”

Ken needed a break, so I started working with Ravi and Hongbin instead. Their harmonies were not nearly as close as Ken and Leo, so I didn’t need to go through drastic measures, but Ravi still got frustrated extremely quickly, “Mira,” he whined, “why are you making me sing so much? I’m a rapper.”

“Oh shut up,” I knew at least I didn’t have to be gentle with Ravi, “You’re a good singer and you know it,” I gave him a swift smack on the head, “You just don’t want to work so hard.”

He rolled his eyes at me, but a little smirk played about his lips. “Fine, fine, but only because Hongbin’s got this cool new voice.”

“Then do it again,” I pointed at him as I turned to return to the piano, opting to pound out the chords as they sang instead of the more complex melody. Luckily the two of them caught on relatively quickly, sharing a high five once their last run through was complete.

“Let’s go again,” Ken suddenly called out, seated on the piano bench against Leo already. He certainly had a determined streak in him. Everyone returned to their original positions, we started once again. This time, I played the digitized backing track instead of playing the piano so that they could get used to the additional instrumentation. It also allowed me to walk around them as they sang, getting closer to who I needed to hear more. I was so grateful for Hyuk and N. They were always on point, and it helped drive the rest of them forward.

“Again,” I said simply after the song ended, “Don’t forget to let go of your notes, Ken. Break the sustain with Leo.” I felt like a border collie now, barking at them as I circled. “Don’t hold back, Jaehwan, you’ve got this.” Ken’s face was slightly contorted, as if he were in pain. There was no way I could be so callus as to not feel bad for pushing him so hard. Between cycles, I paused, coming to stand in front of Ken.

“I can do this, Halley,” he spoke quietly, his determination waning. With his head still tilted downward, his big dark eyes looked up at me, and I felt like I had been punched in the chest.

Stepping forward, I took his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me properly, “I know you can,” I said with a little half-smile. “I only push you so hard because I know you can.”

“Why did Leo get to be so prepared for this?” he whined slightly, his big full lips turning to a pout.

I glanced over Ken’s shoulder, seeing Leo’s face tilted toward us slightly, looking at me from the corner of his eye, “Because,” I said with a little laugh, “if I waited to do this with Leo until now, there would be blood on the walls.” I saw a little smile cross Leo’s face before he faced forward again.

This answer seemed to please Ken as his eye regained the light that they usually had. “You’re right. We had way more fun together, anyway,” he gave me a wink, which was pretty much the ultimate signal that he was okay.

“Good. Again,” I signaled, restarting the track and bringing everyone in this time. It was getting better, but for Ken and Leo’s sake, we needed to rehearse as many times as their voices would allow. “I want those harmonies so tight it sounds like one impossible voice,” I coached as I paced around them. I restarted the backing track, and the boys seemed to be more comfortable with each verse and each chorus. “Jaehwan,” I spoke again, and I could tell he was frustrated by my constant picking on him, but his part was so vital.

“Halley,” he answered irritably.

“Look at me,” I ordered, pointing to my eyes. “I want you to sing your part with me this time, don’t look away.” He seemed confused, but nodded. “Your part of the chorus fights the beat, falling slightly off tempo. I know it’s hard, so just watch me.”

“Okay,” he sighed loudly, rubbing at his legs before we started yet again. We stared each other down as we sang. It was uncomfortable, but it forced him to focus on something other than Leo and the beat. “Good,” I spoke curtly as I began to pace again. “Let’s see if you can do it without me now. Again,” I instructed, hitting replay on the backing track yet again. This time, he nailed it, giving the song a whole different feel- precisely what I wanted. Ken was able to finally relax, much to my relief. Or at least he wasn’t trying to dislocate Leo’s shoulders anymore as he sang. And it pleased me greatly that on this run through, Ken remembered what I taught him as I saw him shift his own shoulders when it was his turn to belt the sustained note, causing it to come in loud and clear. The blindfolds off this time, I gave him a thumbs up.

“Finally,” he wailed, throwing his head back against Leo, who grimaced angrily. “Professor Browne you are too brutal!”

“It worked, didn’t it?” I countered.

He grumbled, “It did,” he admitted, a slight smile returning to his face.

Several hours passed as we repeated the song over and over again. The boys were doing a magnificent job remaining patient, but I could tell irritation was starting to kick in, “Alright,” I said after a particularly rough rendition, “Let’s call it for today.”

They all breathed in relief. “Will we record it all together?” Hyuk suddenly asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed, “But I’ll also have you record individually. When I go to mix and master the final track, I’ll use both recordings to balance the vocals how I need to,” I explained as I started to gather up my things again, “The production team got me my instrumental samples, so we can start recording tomorrow.”

There was a long moment of silence before another voice piped up, this time it was Ken’s, “That song is really good, Mira.”

“That’s what I said!” N protested, but his smile returned.

With a little laugh, I nodded, “Thanks,” I started, “it’s almost like all that time I spent working actually did something.”

“Well, good job,” Ken grinned at me, though his eyes were tired.

Hakyeon looked at me carefully, clearly weary from the repeated singing, “Thank you Mira,” he managed to speak, his voice a little hoarse.

I looked around at all of them, “Make sure you rest up so your voices don’t get too tired,” I instructed as I sat back down at the piano. They all gave little waves as they shuffled out, but N lingered.

“That was a bit rough,” he spoke as he pulled up one of the chairs next to me.

I chuckled just a little, “It went better than expected, to be honest.” I had expected more fighting from Ravi or Ken.

Hakyeon sighed next to me, “You’ve done a lot already,” he mused.

I shrugged, “Leo and Hongbin are the biggest projects I had,” I admitted, “but Ken is a fast learner. I didn’t have to fight him nearly as hard as I had to fight Leo.”

N finally laughed a little, “Jaehwan is a determined guy. Once he saw that Leo had it figured out already, he wasn’t going to stop until he did, too.”

I smirked a little, running my fingers along the keys as I spoke, “That’s what I was counting on.”

“So,” N spoke up suddenly, “Recording tomorrow. How long do you think?”

I sighed, “I don’t want to stress anyone’s voice too much, so I’ll spread it out over the next week. I’ll do the group vocals tomorrow, the break out individuals after that.” Shifting to look at him better, I gave him a weak little smile, “Thanks for trusting me.”

“You’re welcome,” he spoke as he stood up, “Are you coming upstairs?”

I shook my head, “I think it’s best if I don’t hang out with you guys this week.” My voice was uncharacteristically sad. It was business time now, but the thought of keeping them at arm’s length for a whole week was more difficult than anticipated. “Make sure you tell Ken he did a great job today. I know I was ragging on him a lot, but I only expect so much from him because he’s so talented.”

“I wish you could tell him yourself,” N spoke sadly, “but I understand.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening setting up the mixer and mastering software to my liking in order to expedite the process that was going to start that next day. I already had my piano and guitar samples ready, as well as the instrumentals the production team had retrieved for me. I was just calibrating some of the equipment to my laptop when I heard the door behind me crack open. When I swiveled around, I saw Ravi’s face poking in the door.

He held out a plate of food for me, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face, “I brought you something,” he spoke quietly. “Hakyeon told us to leave you alone, but you know how that goes,” his smile grew a little bit.

“Thank you, Wonsik,” I was legitimately grateful. “And thanks for your hard work today,” I spoke coolly, trying to stay friendly while keeping him at arm’s distance, but that sad smile of his was breaking my resolve. I shook my head, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I dismissed, turning back around once I had taken the plate of food.

I heard him sigh behind me, but I shut my eyes to will myself not to turn around again. “See you in the morning, Halley,” he called from behind me, the door’s click signaling his departure. I slouched back in my chair with a heavy sigh. I suddenly remembered why I made it a point to not get too attached to my collaborators. Pushing them around when I needed to was much easier if I didn’t care about them on an emotional level. I rubbed my eyes roughly before turning back to my laptop. I continued working, occasionally taking a bite of food. Eventually, it grew too late, and I forced myself to leave.