Jihoon was a busy guy. His company depended on him for many things leaving him with little to no personal time. It wasn’t a shocker when there was no chance to dwell on the dancer Kwon Hoshi. He may have watched the dancer’s audition tape a few times over, but other than that, Jihoon was thinking about his own music.

The day after the auditions, Jihoon was finally satisfied enough to show his final piece to his father. He had called the CEO into his studio and played the piece for him to hear. Jihoon sat across from his dad, confident yet worried at the same time. No matter how many times this scene replayed itself, Jihoon still dreaded the moment where his father wouldn’t be satisfied with his actions and work.

His father had his eyes closed, quietly listening to the song. Once the song was done, his father opened up his eyes and nodded. No matter how many times Jihoon had tried to learn how to read his father’s eyes, he still had no idea what the man was thinking. He was left waiting for his dad to verbalize his thoughts.

“There’s no vocal guidelines yet, but it’s supposed to go with the lyrics you sent two weeks back?” Jihoon’s father asks him.

Jihoon nods, “Yes.”

“I want the vocal guidelines done by tomorrow. As you already know, this is going to be our new idol group’s debut song. You’re going to be in charge of them. Everyone is aware that they will be debuting some time next year. Work with them till then. Seungcheol is in the midst of getting everything else ready for them.”

“Me? In charge of the boys debut?” Jihoon asked, incredulous at the thought of his father’s request.

Jihoon’s father chuckles, “I have no doubts that you will do well, son. After all these years of watching you work with all our artists, it is time you took one of them under your care. They are young like you, and I hope you earn their respect.”

Later that night, Jihoon was having dinner with Seungcheol. They had been fairly busy, taking care of their own schedules, but having seen each other a just the day before made them realize how much they’ve missed each other. And since then, they’ve decided to see each other more.

“Your dad is asking of us to take more control of what is going on,” Seungcheol remarked.

“You say it as if it is a bad thing,” Jihoon said, spooning a mouthful of food into his mouth. He finished chewing and swallowing before continuing, “You love the control of the company. Everything you’re learning now is making you so excited, you don’t even have enough time for me.”

Seungcheol scoffed, almost choking on his drink of water, “I’m not the one who holes themselves up for hours on end every day. I can’t babysit you and the company at all times.”

Jihoon grinned, “Yeah, I know. I just like giving you a hard time.”

“As always,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “But yes, I love Akkinda. It’s as much ours, as it is our parents. I love the place and our jobs.”

Jihoon smiled, agreeing, “I cannot deny that we’re pretty lucky to be where we are in life. We get the chance to do what we’ve been dreaming of since we were kids.”

“And we’re even luckier, since we have each other,” Seungcheol throws a gummy smile at Jihoon.

Looking at the happy Seungcheol, Jihoon smiles back. He was pretty lucky to have Seungcheol in his life. His best friend was his everything. No matter how much his heart faltered, Seungcheol was always there to pick him up.

The two continued to eat, looking back at their lives and dreaming of their futures. Even though there wasn’t much to talk about other than work, they enjoyed every moment of it.

“Have we thought up any names for the group yet?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol shakes his head, “The team is on it, but we’ve got nothing yet. We were actually hoping you could help with that when you get the chance. You know, if you think of anything, just text them to me.”

Jihoon nodded, wondering what a good name would be for seven boys.

“Ahh,” Seungcheol said, setting down his chopsticks, “Have you heard the rumors?”

Jihoon looks away from his meat and turns to Seungcheol, “What rumors? I don’t get that kind of network in my studio.”

Noises of disappointment leaves Seungcheol’s mouth as he shakes his head, “You’re going to be CEO one day, but you don’t even have a clue about what is going on in the building.”

Blinking, Jihoon answers, “That’s why I have you. You hear everything and then you tell me. What is going on?”

Seungcheol pauses before a smirk shows up on his lips, “Kwon Hoshi.”

“Kwon Hoshi?” Jihoon asks.

Still smirking, Seungcheol nods, “He’s accepted the offer and he’s joining us.”

“Why is that a rumor?” Jihoon frowned.

“Cause,” Seungcheol smiled, “We don’t want people knowing about it just yet. It was his one condition. He doesn’t want his involvement known just yet. He’s too good to pass up so we agreed.”

“That isn’t suspicious to you?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol nodded, “You’re right, it is strange, but your dad agreed to it and I can’t say anything there.”

After an enjoyable dinner, both went back to Akkinda. Despite taking some time to go out and have dinner together, they were still busy. Seungcheol took care of the business side while Jihoon dealt with the artistic side. Their duties did intertwine on many occasions, but they still took their main jobs seriously.

Back in Jihoon’s studio, he worked on his vocal guidelines. He had already been working on it all day long, but as a perfectionist, he wanted to make sure everything was in place.

Just like any other day, Jihoon spent another long night hidden in his hole.

“Jihoonie!” a voice called out to him.

With eyes closed, Jihoon didn’t want to know who the owner of the voice was.

“Wake up, I have your coffee,” the voice went on.

At least that was something to look forward to. Jihoon took in a long inhale, smelling the coffee. It wasn’t a lie to wake him up then. When he confirmed that the voice had coffee with him, Jihoon stretched, bringing his arms up and over his head.  

A yawn left Jihoon’s mouth before he opened his eyes to see his friend looming over him.

“Jihoon!” Doyoon said, smiling wide.

“Doyoon-hyung, what time it is?”

“7 am, Seungcheol asked me to bring you your coffee. Apparently you have a meeting with your father today?”

Jihoon nodded as he wiped the sleep off his face.

“Does Seungcheol know you slept here, or does he think you came in early?”

“I’m sure he knows I slept here. Everyone knows it happens more often than not,” Jihoon said, emitting another yawn.

Doyoon hands the cup of coffee to a dazed Jihoon. “Here, it looks like you need it.”

“Thanks,” Jihoon said, with a grateful smile.

“I better get back to the cafe, those coffee’s won’t make themselves,” Doyoon said, leaving while giving Jihoon his award winning smile. Jihoon smiles and waves his friend goodbye.

Jihoon puts down the cup and leans over, reaching as far as he could. Even though he was pretty used to sleeping in his studio, he still woke up pretty stiff. He had thought about putting a bed into the small studio but decided otherwise. If he had a bed, there would be no excuses to actually go home.

Looking at the mess he had compiled over the night, Jihoon started to clean up. His father would be coming to listen to the vocal guidelines in a few hours and Jihoon didn’t want him to see the unhealthy lifestyle he lead in the small room.

Apparently cleaning up was pointless. His father was holding the meeting in one of their conference rooms. It wasn’t only going to be his father who was listening to the song. The idol group’s whole team was going to be there. The whole team included people from the promotional team, and vocal and dance instructors.

When Jihoon arrived to the room, Seungcheol was already there setting up. Jihoon brings his usb to the computer in the room and starts getting the files he would be needing ready.

“Not what you were expecting, huh?” Seungcheol asks him as they worked.

“Knowing my father, this is what I should have expected. But yeah, not what I expected,” Jihoon replied.

“It’s our first big project, I’m sure he’s gonna want to show it off a bit more than normal.”

Jihoon nods, agreeing.

Everybody starts showing up in groups. Seungcheol and Jihoon greets them, knowing the group would be closer than close to them for the rest of the year.

Once both CEOs joins them, all eyes turn to Jihoon.

“This is going to be our new idol group’s debut song. It’s called Rude.”

With his short introduction, Jihoon played the song. He watched as they all listened. Seungcheol catches his eyes and gives him a thumbs up. The little gesture makes Jihoon smile. From the very first song to every recent song Jihoon created, Seungcheol had made it his priority to keep all copies of his vocal guidelines. When Jihoon asked why, Seungcheol smiled and said he liked having his own personal playlist.

When the song finished, Jihoon waited for the CEOs to gather their thoughts. The whole room looked to the two men sitting together at the far end of the table.

CEO Choi looked to CEO Lee and gestures for him to go first. So Jihoon’s father clears his throat and said, “This is going to be Jihoon and Seungcheol’s first big project, I hope you are all ready to help them in any way they need.”

CEO Choi, Seungcheol’s father, chuckles and said, “The song is good, Jihoon. Good job. We’re sure you guys will make the boys shine with this song and its concept.”

Jihoon bowed to both men, “Thank you.”

When everyone cleared the room, Jihoon walked with Seungcheol to his office. Jihoon needed to send the audio files to Seungcheol, and they figured it was best if he just went with Seungcheol to transfer them.

Jihoon had an office as well, right next to Seungcheol’s. But the room was more for show than anything, since he was rarely ever there. The only times he sat down in his office was when he needed to take care of some serious company business. And again it never really happened since Seungcheol and their fathers dealt with more of the hard cases.

“They are going to own the charts when this song comes out.” Seungcheol said, dragging the chair in front of his desk to the back, sitting down in the extra seat.

“We’ll see in a year,” Jihoon said with a small smile as he sat down in Seungcheol’s main chair.

Seungcheol smiled, shaking his head, “Even in a year, this song is going to be amazing.”

Jihoon chuckled. Both went quiet as Jihoon put in Seungcheol’s password and transferred the files. Seungcheol quietly watched, not saying anything.

“What’s on your mind?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol exhaled and hummed, “Hmmm, I’m not thinking much, just lost in your actions of you doing your work.”

Jihoon frowned as he smiled, Seungcheol was never this cheesy with him, “You see me work all day long.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol smirked, “But you’re in my chair, working on my desk, in my office. I kind of like it.”

Jihoon scoffed, not believing what he was hearing, “I can’t believe I’ve known you since we were babies.”

Seungcheol chuckled and reached over to ruffle Jihoon’s hair.

“All right boys,” Jihoon said to the group in front of him, “There is no point in lying. If you can make it through the next year, working hard, you’ll be debuting.”

The boy’s eyes widen and they look around at each other, making sure they heard Jihoon right. They whisper “debut”, “next year”, and “seriously?” to each other.

Jihoon smiled, waiting for them to be silent before he continued, “Yes, next year, the seven of you, as a group, will be debuting. You’re debut song is written personally by me.”

Another round of inhales and whispers makes its way through the boys. Jihoon smiles to himself at how excited the boys were. As much as he loved to teach and see results, he loved giving good news to his artists.

“This song was written with all of you in mind. So let’s work together to make it special. Don’t disappoint me and more importantly don’t disappoint yourselves.”

Jihoon wasn’t sure if he saw tears at the edge of some of the boy’s eyes, but he was sure their eyes were glazed over. While looking at them and giving them the news, his own eyes were getting teary. More than half of the boys had been with them for over four years. He’s seen them grown into young men, watching them gain new talents and become better each day.

All seven boys bow down to Jihoon and shouted, “Yes, thank you!”

Jihoon chuckled and waited for them to stand up straight again to give them a small bow back.

The oldest of the seven, and leader, reaches out and puts his hand in the middle of the air. Seeing this, the other boys follow, knowing their leader wanted to cheer the group on. When all their hands were gathered in the middle, the leader looks up to Jihoon. They all look up to Jihoon, waiting.

“You too, Jihoon-hyung,” the leader said, grinning from ear to ear.

Jihoon chuckles,smiling with delight, “Okay.”

He reaches over and places his hand on top of the others.

The leader takes his time to look at s, “We can do this, I believe in you guys.”

One of the members fights back what could have been a laugh or a sob. While the rest nods at their leader’s words. Jihoon watches the group with a fond smile, they were too cute. They were so determined.

“Let’s debut!” the leader yelled as he threw their hands into the air. All seven boys started screaming and laughing as they ran around the practice room.

Jihoon stood where he was as excited boys ran passed him. He continued to watch them, letting them enjoy the moment.

Jihoon has to tie up loose ends before he could fully start working with the boys. Letting them listen to their debut song was put on hold as he finished all his other work. It worked out with the boy’s schedules as well, considering how they still practiced everyday.

He walked into his studio on Monday with only one intention of working and letting the boys listen to their song. That was his set schedule.

And it all changed once his father’s assistant walked in. Jihoon’s father wanted to see him in his office. Knowing that he had no choice, Jihoon sighed as he got up from his chair.

Walking to his father’s office, Jihoon thought about all his work he needed to focus on. Even though the boys were debuting, they still needed songs for after their debut. He wanted to get the boy’s input first, but he wanted to start working on them already. And not only was he working on songs for them, he had other obligations to Akkinda’s artists. His schedule was always full.

At one point on his walk to his father’s office, Jihoon reconsidered the bed in his studio. Maybe he could get more work done if he didn’t have to go far. He already worked at home, he might as well live at Akkinda.

When Jihoon reaches the floor of the offices, he shakes his head at the ridiculous thought. His family wouldn’t have it and Seungcheol would be mad at him.

When Jihoon knocks on the door of his father’s office, he hears his father’s voice inviting him in. He opens up and walks in to greet his father.

Bowing, Jihoon said, “Good morning father.”

“Good morning son,” Jihoon’s father replies.

Jihoon stands back up and looks to his father. It was only then when he noticed they weren’t alone. His father had a guest, sitting down in front of the desk. Only, Jihoon couldn’t see who it was. The guest had yet to turn around to greet him. All he could see was a head full of blond hair.

Jihoon’s father notices where Jihoon is staring and smiles. The CEO get up from his desk and walks over to the side of the office. “Come here Jihoon, I have someone I would like to introduce you to.”

Curious as to who had his father this excited, Jihoon makes his way to stand next to his father. Once he was closer, Jihoon took another glance. He was sure he knew who this person was, he just couldn’t decide if he wanted to believe his eyes,

The guest took this moment as the time to stand up as well. Standing up to face the father and son, he smiled at the two and bowed.

Jihoon’s father smiled and said, “Jihoon, I would like to introduce you to Kwon Hoshi.”