Synopsis: Firsts are always something that are precious within a relationship and being able to cherish and love that someone for longest time is something rare. It's one of the purest and simplest forms of love as two people come together and share the mutual feelings they share for each other. Flashbacks to how their lovestory started through Hanbin's point of view. 

The first time he heard of her, he was just a trainee whose main goal was to debut. Since trainees were heavily dedicated to their practice regime, Kim Hanbin’s daily life routine consisted of going to rehearsals, fool around with those in the same group as him, and lock himself up in the recording rooms all night. It was only the girl trainees that kept up with the gossip that happened in the outside world and the only ways he was kept updated was either through his hyungs or from picking it up from the other conversations he overhead from the other trainees. As he waited to pay for his food from the convenience store, the group of female trainees in front of him kept going on and on about the contestants on KPOP Star. He had heard of the show since YG was one of the main judges of it. Quickly rising in the ratings, Hanbin had often heard talk about the show through the other trainees and his family. But with so much on his plate, he never bothered with keeping up with a survival show like that.

“Isn’t she good?”

“Hayi-unnie seriously has a different voice compared to everyone else.”

“If she chooses YG, that’ll be the best thing ever.”

“God I wish I had a voice like hers.”

So what if she has a good voice? Can’t be that special… Hanbin mentally rolled his eyes as he waited for the girls to finish up their purchase. It had been a particularly tough day for his group since they struggled with the choreography that was given to them. Now that their practice was over, all he wanted to do was eat his frustrations away. After paying for the food his hyungs requested for their meal, Hanbin made his way back to their training room and tossed the bag onto the table by the benches against the wall. Jinhwan was sitting on the chair by the computer while Bobby was laying down on the couch, watching a video on his phone.

“Yah…the contests on KPOP star are really daebak.” Bobby muttered as he sat up and Hanbin motioned for them to eat.

Hanbin sighed and sat down in front of the table before taking out his order of kimbap. Plopping one into his mouth, he eyed Bobby’s phone as Jinhwan rolled his way over to them. “Did you see Lee Hayi’s performance with Park Jimin? Their Goodbye Baby cover was amazing.”

Jinhwan shook his head rapidly as he motioned for Bobby to set his phone onto the table so the three of them could watch it. He scrunched his nose as he listened to his hyungs talk with much gusto about the show as they waited for the video to load. Hanbin didn’t understand why everyone was getting so excited over that show. It was just another singing contest, but the only difference was that the judging panel was one you’d never see come together before. Setting his hands behind him and putting all his weight on them, Hanbin stretched out his legs and rolled his head.  

“I don’t even see the point of all this hype over this show.” Hanbin muttered as he blankly looked at his hyungs.

The two gasped and immediately turned to Hanbin.

“Yah, you’re seriously missing out. It’s only the first season and there’s some crazy talent.” Bobby said.

“Have you been living under a rock, Hanbin-ah? This has been the main topic and gossip amongst the trainees since the show started airing.” Jinhwan added.

He shook his head in response and rolled his eyes. “Well how could I? I’ve been producing non-stop and making choreography for our evaluations. Who is this Hayi person anyways? While I was getting food for us, the group of trainees in front of me was also talking about her.”

The duo gasped at Hanbin once more and Hanbin gave them an exasperated look. “If you’re just going to keep gasping, I’m taking my food and leaving you two.”

Bobby immediately grabbed his phone and moved it closer to where Hanbin was sitting. The two moved to either side of him and Bobby brought up of the video that he was just watching before Hanbin walked into the room. Jinhwan lightly judged the side of his stomach and Hanbin looked at him from the corner of his eyes. “You should be paying more attention to these things Hanbin-ah. We’ll give you the breakdown of what’s been happening. Lee Hayi and Park Jimin are the top two contenders of KPOP Star at the moment. Jimin is known for her strong vocals and Hayi is known for her unique vocals. It’s half and half with all of YG’s trainees right now. Half of them are rooting for Jimin and the other half are rooting for Hayi. Both of us are definitely rooting for Hayi. She’s a ’96 liner like you Hanbin-ah. I gotta say, if she becomes a trainee at YG, that’ll be the best thing ever.”

Hanbin raised an eyebrow at Jinhwan’s praises of the girl and Bobby nodded his head in agreement. “Tell us what you think after watching their collaboration stage for Goodbye Baby.”

Jinhwan laughed excitedly as Bobby pressed play and video began. Hanbin had no expectations and watched it with an open mind. He had to admit, seeing Hayi sitting on the red throne, she was pretty cute looking. With her hair, dark eyes, and blank look she had reminded him of a porcelain doll. Once the two had begun singing he could tell already right off the bat that Jimin was the stronger singer. She had more control, but what separated Hayi from her competitor was the depth and style she sang with. Hanbin couldn’t quite take note of it, but hearing her voice, it held more emotions. The way she carried herself in that performance as well, he could tell that she was trying her best to emotionally connect with the story the song tried to portray.

Hanbin could only try his best to ignore his two hyungs as they spazzed out together about how cute the two looked and how the performance was already amazing. He zoned in on the video to see if there was anything else that was so capturing about Lee Hayi. There was a soulful touch to her voice that Hanbin noticed and he couldn’t help but laugh at JYP’s reaction to their singing. He mentally smiled to himself as he watched Hayi and there was an edge to her performance as she had subtly performed with her sassiness. Their harmonies were great but no matter how good Jimin was, his eyes kept traveling towards Hayi. There was just something about her that demanded everyone’s attention as she performed. No matter how hard he tried, his eyes and focus were always concentrated on the girl. He nodded in approval to the rift that she had done to finish her performance and gave her props.

 “So what did you think?” Bobby asked as the two looked at him with wide smiles on their faces. Hanbin made as face as he scooted back to add more space between them and shrugged.

“They were alright. Jimin had more control and Hayi has a unique voice. I mean what more can I say? The two girls have their own styles and I still don’t get what the hype is about.”

Jinhwan and Bobby punched his arms as they groaned. Tossing his phone to the side, Bobby gave him a smirk and said, “Aaaaye, don’t lie Kim Hanbin. You have to at least think one of them is cute, right?”

Jinhwan mimicked Bobby and nudged his arm. “So who would you want between the two? Lee Hayi? Park Jimin? Who’s your pick?”

Hanbin rolled his eyes as he got up and ignored the nonsensical questions they asked him. Straightening out his clothes, he pointed towards their half-finished food and said, “You have five minutes to finish that up before we start our meeting. We need to find a song to sing.”

“Yah don’t ignore our question!” they called out after him as he made his way out of their practice room.

Hanbin simply waved before making his way down the corridor. Taking out his phone from his pocket and found a quiet place to himself. He fished out his earphones and plugged them in before going onto Youtube to look more into KPOP Star and what had been happening so far. But even more specifically, Hanbin had wanted to leave the room so he could escape the teasing his hyungs would give him if they found out that Lee Hayi had actually piqued his interest. Tapping on one of her videos, he leaned against the wall and waited for the video to load. Seeing as it was a collaboration stage with Miss A, Hanbin smiled to himself as she had immediately started off with a strong start. He found the whole entire performance adorable as she had actually sang and danced along with the members.

Before he knew it, he found himself watching all of her clips on KPOP Star whenever he had the chance to. There was just something about her that caught his attention and the depth of her voice was something Hanbin had never heard before. It felt like she was her own enigma and all he wanted to do was surround himself with it and figure out the mystery behind the girl his age with a soulful voice. He had even gave in to watching it together with his hyungs at his home whenever they got the chance to go back home. Hanbin could only imagine if she had entered YG.

A sigh escaped from his lips as he finished up watching yet another clip of her and looked at the notebook he had abandoned thirty minutes before. He had decided to take a break from composing since his brain was fried and managed to lose track of time, yet again. Ruffling his hair, he picked up his Mickey Mouse pen and tapped it against the notebook. Being lost in his thoughts, her voice echoed through his earphones as he replayed her video once more. Lee Hayi, you will most certainly be the death of me. With your voice and adorable expressions, what would be the outcome if we ever met?

The first time he saw her, he couldn’t believe his eyes. KPOP Star had recently ended and the buzz and excitement filled the trainee building as they all knew that Hayi signed with YG. Word spread through wildfire that she was to start preparing for her debut and promoting right away. He was on his way to YG’s office to talk to him about something when he had passed by the recording room she was in. The door was slightly ajar with EPIK HIGH, Lydia, and Teddy were all listening to her recording. Hanbin stopped as he recognized her voice playing through the speakers. Her voice sounded even more impressive as she sang raw along the instrumental.

After she was done with her take, she stepped out of the booth and Hanbin gaped to himself. She was pretty short and the way she had interacted with their seniors was cute in his eyes. The way she acted during interviews and on camera during KPOP Star was the same as she was in person. Her personality was awkwardly sweet as she shyly took in the praises they had given her. Hanbin couldn’t believe that he got the chance to see her with his own eyes.

“What are you doing, Hanbin-ah?”

The boy jumped as he turned around to come face to face with Kush. The man had an amused smile on his face as he crossed his arms and looked down at Hanbin. Hanbin put a hand on his chest as he tried to calm down his heartbeat from being surprised by one of his close seniors. He mentally cursed while rubbing his neck sheepishly. Out of all people Hanbin had to get caught by, it had to be one of his seniors that loved to play around with him. Let me just dig a hole for myself right now…

“I was just on my way to see YG, hyung.” He muttered while avoiding his gaze.

Kush laughed and smirked. “Right, sure you were. It wasn’t like I saw you creeping outside of Epik High’s recording session with Hayi-ah and you were totally checking her out.”

Feeling his cheeks warm, Hanbin could only shake his head rapidly. “M-Me? Checking out H-Hayi? Please you must be joking around hyung. I wasn’t doing anything like that. I was just wondering what they were doing.”

Kush could only continue to laugh as he watched Hanbin’s ears turn red in embarrassment. Deciding that it was enough torturing for one day, he affectionately ruffled the boy’s hair. “Arasso, I’ll stop poking fun at you now. But if I see you checking out Hayi-ah, I might spill the beans that you find her attractive.”

Hanbin huffed and swatted Kush’s hand away. “I was not checking out Hayi, hyung.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever you say kid. I’ll let you be on your way then. But Bin-ah, make sure your jaw doesn’t drop the next time you see her then.”

He slapped his face as Kush let out another laugh and entered the room. Everyone welcomed Kush as he walked in and Hanbin lingered behind for a bit to watch them interact with each other. His gaze unconsciously softened as he watched Hayi laugh along to something that Teddy had said and Lydia slapped his arm. Her smile was angelic in his eyes along with her appearance. With a natural face, hair half tied up, and wearing a big hoodie and leggings, he thought that was when she looked best. Sure he enjoyed looking at the hot female idols. But, Hanbin loved it when a girl would just be herself and wear whatever she is most comfortable in.

As much as he wanted to continue admiring Hayi from afar, he had to complete his task of speaking to YG and return to practice. He had already wasted a good fifteen minutes in that hallway and Kush had caught him peeking in once more. The guy had the nerve to smile cheekily and wink at him as he whispered something into Hayi’s ear. Hanbin’s eyes widened at the thought of Kush revealing that he was there and booked it for YG’s office. He ran as fast as he could and hid around the corner.

Closing his eyes, he caught his breath and ruffled his hair in frustration. If he were to meet Hayi, he would want it to be a setting where he could actually set a good impression. Hanbin couldn’t even fathom what he would have felt if Hayi had caught him lurking around in the hallway all because of Kush revealing why he was there in the first breath. He walked along the corridor towards YG’s office and bit his lip. Now that Hayi was officially active in YG, which meant more chances of bumping into her. But since he was still a trainee, he doubted that Hayi would ever go into the trainee center or he would have the chance to come to the main building more often.

His gaze traveled to the white panels that lined up the hallway. Pictures of BigBang, 2NE1, GD&TOP, PSY and etcetera lit up his path as he walked. Hanbin came to a stop as he stood in front of the panel where Hayi’s picture was going to be. Since she hadn’t done any photo shoots, her stage name was set in place and he stared at it. Lee Hi, huh? It has a nice ring to it and a genius play on her name.

He scuffed the floor as he looked at the lineup of YG Family artists. Soon… His thoughts roamed around as his inner drive began to refuel. Being a trainee since he was so young, Hanbin yearned to get onto that Hall of Fame. Now that even Hayi was going to join his seniors up on that panel, Hanbin would do anything in his ability to be right up next to her. Seeing this as a chance to prove himself, there was an inner fire within him that ignited as he entered YG’s office. Not only was it his goal to debut, but he wanted to be at the same level as Hayi at that moment. He didn’t want to be a step behind her, no. Hanbin wanted to be able to walk right beside her as a fellow artist.

I’ll catch up to you, Lee Hayi. Then you will notice me and I shall take that chance to get your attention.

The first time he bumped into her was when he was going for his vocal session. He, Jinhwan, and Bobby were slightly running late to practice because the choreographer that was training them before had accidentally gone over their designated time. Jinhwan and Bobby had gone ahead of him since he stayed behind to take note on extra critiques the choreographer had for them. Hanbin was just about to open the door when it suddenly flew open and someone bumped into him.

Music scores flew everywhere as the person dropped it, due to the impact. She had immediately apologized for not paying attention while saying goodbye and he froze for a couple of seconds. Hayi was right in front of him and he didn’t know if he was dreaming or not. She dropped down in order to pick up the papers that slipped form her grasp and a string of apologies left . He snapped out of his daze as she slightly motioned to move his leg so she could grab the paper that was by him. Mentally getting a grip of himself, Hanbin bent down and helped her gather the papers together. C’mon Kim Hanbin, is this really how you’re going to act in front of her?

“It’s okay don’t worry about it.” He heard himself saying as she kept apologizing.

The two looked at each other as he handed her the papers he had gathered for her. She smiled at him in thanks and shyly bowed her head as she took them from him. “Thank you and sorry for bumping into you.”

Hanbin rubbed his neck sheepishly and gave her a small smile. “No need to apologize and it was my fault as well for getting in your way.”

They laughed and the vocal coach had called for Hanbin. Hayi looked up at him and smiled. “Well I shouldn’t be getting in your way for practice. Good luck with your training!”

Hanbin could only watch as he stood frozen in place as she bowed again before disappearing down the corridor. Putting a hand on top of his chest, he let out a breath as he stepped into the training room. Bobby and Jinhwan both had cheeky smiles as the rest of Team B just stared at him. Choi Wonseok could only shake his head in amusement as Hanbin shuffled towards his seat.

“Lee Hayi definitely has the power to make any man smitten for her. Make sure your head is with us, alright Hanbin-ah?” Wonseok teased.

The rest of the boys laughed and Junhoe said, “I’m even guilty of crushing on Hayi-noona. When we were on KPOP Star together, she was one of the sweetest girls there. Don’t let her awkward personality fool you.”

“But I mean did you see how Hanbin lost his composure in a matter of ten seconds?” Donghyuk snickered.

“From being our charismatic leader to a boy who’s clueless about love and the female species…you worry me sometimes.” Jinhwan sighed.

Hanbin groaned as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “Shouldn’t we get to practice already?”

The others protested and Bobby stood up to reenact what they saw their leader do. Crouching down and pretending to gather up the fallen pieces of paper, the boys laughed as Bobby did an exact impression of how Hanbin had acted in front of her. The said boy could only bury his face in his hands as the boys continued on teasing Hanbin. They all became aware of him fancying Hayi when Jinhwan had caught him red handed at the dorms. Hanbin had went to the kitchen in order to grab himself a snack before watching Hayi’s latest performance for her single, Rose. Jinhwan had to get something from Hanbin and walked into his room while he was in the kitchen. He had seen that on Hanbin’s laptop, her video was paused and once Hanbin returned, he cornered the younger one into confessing how had become a fan and grew a small crush on her. Since then, Jinhwan made sure to let the others know so they could whenever they got the chance to.

“What was Hayi doing here anyways, hyung?” Yunhyeong asked after they all settled down.

Wonseok shuffled through his music scores and shrugged. “I was supposed to meet her at the main building after your session but since her schedule had moved up, she agreed to meet me here. She’s always striving to better herself and asking me to give her critiques on her performances or if there was anything else that she could improve on. I honestly haven’t seen that much of burning desire in a while and it’s quite refreshing. Now enough about teasing Hanbin and all this about Hayi-ah, let’s get started, shall we?”

Hanbin mentally smiled to himself as he took a sip out of his water bottle. Hearing how much their vocal coach praised Hayi made him feel proud in a way. Although they haven’t formally met yet, as a fan of hers, just hearing how well she’s doing had put him in a good mood. As they continued through their lesson, Hanbin couldn’t help but always think back to that short moment shared. The way she smiled and how soothing her voice was, he couldn’t help but to continuously day dream about it. Call him a love sick fool, but his crush on Hayi had gotten him to be the most inspired he’s been. Songs and lyrics kept coming out of him and he couldn’t wait to get into the studio to make all that creativity into a reality. 

The first time he formally met her, all he wanted to do was be in Bobby’s position. It was a month after ‘Who is Next’ ended and Bobby was given the opportunity to feature in YG’s newest subunit, HISUHYUN. When he had f