“I’m not saying she’s my type; I’m just saying if she was a cupcake amongst a hundred cupcakes, I would pick her.” Namjoon argued as he closed several tabs on his laptop. Daehoon cackled and slapped the latter’s shoulder.

“You’re such a hopeless romantic.” Daehoon pointed out. He shook his head as Namjoon opened his mouth to argue, but Aj caught his eyes.

“Aj!” Daehoon greeted, hopping off of Namjoon’s desk and giving Namjoon a quick pat of the blonde’s shoulder. He walked over to Aj and wrapped an arm around the blonde’s shoulders.

“So, I’ve been messing around with the song you gave me and I think you’ll like what I did with it.” He said. Aj looked at Daehoon.

“Which song? I gave you like seven.” He questioned.

“’Be My Girl.’”

“Oh…you can trash it, bro, it’s not a good enough song.”

Daehoon stopped walking.

“What do you mean I can trash it? You haven’t even listened to what I’ve done; I worked all night on it.” His eyes fumed. He was getting mad. Aj looked into his red eyes and noticed the slightly grey bags under them.

He really had worked all night…

“Dae…” Aj began, but Soohyun called the music technician. Daehoon glanced back at the blonde, a sad look in his eyes, before walking towards his superior. Soohyun patted Daehoon’s back and they both walked out of the main office. Aj sighed and rubbed his eyes before adjusting the strap of his satchel. He began to walk towards his office when a high, pleasant voice called his name.

“Aj!” Taeyeon shouted. A few heads turned their way and Aj would have blushed if it weren’t for Taeyeon’s calming smile. He beamed back and raised his hand.

“Hey, Tae.” He answered sweetly. Taeyeon smiled wider and walked briskly to the blonde. Her hair bounced and blew back slightly and Aj had to force himself not to stare. He looked down to his shoes and bit his lip as the brunette reached him.

“Hi there; I’ve been looking for you.” She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and looked up to him. “Where have you been?”  Aj shrugged and looked to Taeyeon. Their eyes met and there was a momentary silence before Aj switched his focus to a piece of lint on Taeyeon’s shoulder.

“I just arrived.” He admitted. She smiled at this.

“Are you busy? Do you want to practice right now?” The brunette asked. Aj thought about the songs he now had to rewrite because of his father. The chords he had slaved over finding for hours he now had to find again. The lyrics he had to remember for the multitude of songs he had written. The now very difficult editing and perfecting songs on his computer without a base to build them on. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before faking a smile to Taeyeon.

“I’m not busy; let’s go to the music room.” He lied. He told himself he needed a break and held back a sigh as Taeyeon grinned and pulled him by his elbow.

“I’ve been practicing on what you told me and I think I finally have everything down.” Taeyeon stated as they both walked towards the music room. Aj began to feel happier as he realized he was going to spend around an hour with Taeyeon. Around an hour because she was a perfectionist if anything and she always strived for improving. She would be asking him questions, asking him for demonstrations before trying his techniques out for herself. What would have been guessed as a twenty minute vocal lesson would turn into an hour long lesson on breathing correctly, enunciating words better, singing eighth notes instead of sixteenth notes, for some examples. “I don’t strive for perfection; it doesn’t exist so why try. I strive for progress, damn good progress at that,” was what she would say to him whenever they sat alone in the entire building in the dark hours of the night. Whenever he was tired and ready to go home, but she was not. She kept him under lock and key when they were in practice. She wanted to know anything and everything.

“I can’t wait to hear your progress.” He admitted. When they arrived at the room and entered, Aj walked to the cubby on the side of a wall and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen before walking to the piano, where Taeyeon sat. Their session began as soon as Aj sat down.

“Sing for me what you have down so far, please.” The blonde requested as he pulled open the piano cover. The latter cleared and began to sing. Aj listened carefully, taking note of the said small changes in her voice she had worked on. His head unconsciously nodded as she sang and he the piano before starting the melody of the song. Taeyeon, who was originally staring at Aj’s blank sheet of paper, now stared at Aj as the blonde enveloped himself into the music they were making. She began to smile after Aj’s approving nod from her high note. They both finished within a few minutes, Aj ending by playing around with a few keys before hitting a major chord and beaming to Taeyeon.

“Brilliant.” He praised the latter before holding up a finger. “However, there’s one thing you seemed unsure about. That high G you hit seemed…unconfident, insecure. Can you hit it again?” Taeyeon her lips before hitting the note. Aj watched her and frowned.

“I see the problem; you’re forcing it.” Aj said. Taeyeon bit her lip, scrunched her eyebrows and focused completely on Aj, concentrating intently. The blonde lifted his chin up to demonstrate.

“You’re restricting the air flow and making it sound forced. It’s air so,” he explained as he motioned to his throat, “you have to let it flow. Open your throat more and raise your head slightly.” Taeyeon’s eyes moved from Aj’s face to his throat, where his bulging Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he talked. She cleared her mind of her thoughts and copied Aj’s head position. The blonde regained his regular head positioned and smiled sincerely.

“Your head is too high up; you’re not looking at the sky but rather the top of someone’s head. Imagine that.” The blonde said as he placed three fingers on the latter’s chin and lowered her head to the proper position. Taeyeon swallowed at the contact and attempted to make eye contact to her mentor, but Aj was already picking up his pencil and writing neatly onto the paper. He wrote letters as he spoke.

“I want you to sing the notes for a G chord separately, starting from the G on the staff and ending to the G on top of the staff.” He demonstrated both vocally and on the piano. Taeyeon nodded, understanding completely before trying to sing for herself. When she reached the highest note, she made sure to her neck slightly upward and was pleased as it came out easier. She was even more pleased when Aj’s critical eyes became bright.

“Beautiful.” He simply commented. The brunette smiled meekly and moved a lock of hair from her face and behind her ear. Aj clapped his hands together once before rubbing them together and picking up the paper he had written on. He handed it to the brunette, ignoring the spark he felt when both of their fingers brushed against each other under the paper.

“Now,” Aj began “let’s listen to what you have so far from-” The blonde was interrupted by Junmin, the main director, opening the door.

“Aj. You can’t have a practice session today. Didn't I tell you both that Krystal Jung was coming here today?" She asked, anxiously lingering in the door frame with her hand still on the doorknob, ignoring what she had interrupted. Aj frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall.

“I thought she was coming in two hours.” He answered, standing up and offering a hand to Taeyeon. Junmin’s face creased even more, the embodiment of stress very apparent by the wrinkles on her forehead.

“Yes, well she arrived early and she is right here. Hurry up and clean up then meet in the main hall. We have to officially introduce ourselves." She said hurriedly. Her anxious attitude was making both Aj and Taeyeon nervous.

“We’ll be out soon, Junmin-shi.” Taeyeon assured the director. Junmin’s shoulders lowered and her face slowly became wrinkle free. She smiled quickly and thanked the pair before closing the door and walking down the hallway. Aj glanced at the brunette’s face. Although her face was void of emotion, he could tell she was disappointed their practice had been cut short. She held the paper in her right hand before taking Aj’s outstretched one with her left.

“She’s been so stressed ever since we got the news about Krystal working with us.” Aj stated. He walked to the door and peeked through the small window. Junmin was standing in front of a tall girl, who he assumed to be Krystal, motioning to the other doors and probably explaining calmly about the different rooms in the hallway. Aj looked to the group of people with Krystal and spotted Daehoon, Dongmun, and Soohyun, his closest co-workers. He wondered if he would have been with them if he had arrived earlier. They began to walk foreword when Taeyeon spoke.

“Krystal Jung is a very big deal; everyone knows and loves her. Her coming to the company will help us rise in popularity so there can’t be any screw-ups.” She stated. Aj turned around and looked at her, walking towards her. There was something in her voice that seemed…sad. As Taeyeon gazed up at the blonde, there was no way he could miss the self-pity in her eyes.

“Tae, don’t talk like that; you’ll get there someday. Just continue to sing with your heart and the music will do the rest.” He assured her with a soft smile. There was something about the way Aj said it, the way he looked; the sincerity in his eyes…it made blood rush into Taeyeon’s face. She hoped Aj didn’t notice it and simply smiled, looking down and moving some stray strands of hair behind her hair. Aj, oblivious to the situation, began to close the cover for the piano keys. The pair walked out of the room and into the main office. No one paid any attention to them as their attention was on a particular brunette.

Krystal Jung.

She was taller, prettier and fairer skinned than she was on TV. Her brown hair bounced as she looked around the room, slightly bowing as people were introduced. Aj caught sight of the side of her face and he felt his skin rise slightly. Her pink lipped, white toothed smile, even from the side, was stunning. Her nose was slender, not too long and not too short. And her eyes. Dark brown, intelligent and seemingly full of warmth. He watched them as they flitted around the room to separate different people.

She seemed far from the cold, ice princess label given to her by the public. But Aj knew better.

Krystal Jung was an actor; she knew how to look and sound to please the audience. To her, this was probably just a part to play in a movie. For all Aj knew, she was just another spoiled brat who could sing. Another flawed idol obssessed with their image.

Another damaged soul who just sang for the money.

His thoughts consistently bashed Krystal, somehow reasoning with the simple fact of her being so damn beautiful.

Until she looked at him.