Section One: [C h a n g b i n] Bubbly

Changbin and Felix arrived at the boba shop at 6. Changbin was watching as a smile formed on Felix's face as he looked at the menu. Changbin looked over at Felix, taking a longer look at him. He was really... what was the word? Cute? Blinking multiple times, Changbin proceeded to look at the menu as well. After saying both their orders, Changbin insisted on paying for the both of them. 

"It's been so long since I've had boba," Felix sighed, admiring the fairy lights that were dangling haphazardly among the patterned wooden bars across the ceiling. Changbin looked up at the lights but ended up looking back down at Felix. The lights reflected in Felix's eyes, and his expression; his expression was just so serene. Changbin had never developed an attraction to someone before, but now he knew it was happening. He had begun to accept that he felt this way towards Felix. To Changbin, how was it possible not to fall in love with Felix? 

"Changbin?" 

"Yeah?" Changbin's heart nearly pounded out of his chest when he heard Felix say his name.  How did he become so smitten so quickly?

"What got you interested in rapping?" 

"Hmm." Changbin had to think about it for a few seconds. "I think I've always just been listening to rap before but I never really had the urge to actually try rapping until I met Chan and Jisung. Well... I think I've rapped when I was home alone sometimes but I never recorded anything."

"Were your parents accepting when they found out that you wanted to rap?"

"Yeah... I guess so. They didn't really show signs that they were supportive of what I wanted to do, but they didn't get mad either. So I just kind of... did it." Changbin met Felix's gaze as Felix nodded. 

"I wish my parents were like that too, Changbin." Their order number was called up shortly after, and they picked up the drinks from the counter. 

Felix eagerly poked the straw through the plastic cover of the boba cup and took a large sip. "Wow- boba tastes so much better than I had remembered!" Felix was grinning at the happiness he felt from the taste, which made Changbin smile too. Changbin stuck his straw in quickly and took a few sips. The boba was perfectly sweet and chewy, and Changbin was surprised at its unique flavor. Changbin used to dislike sweet flavors, but maybe his tolerance to sweet things just increased after meeting Felix. Changbin nearly choked from his own thoughts. 

"You okay?" Felix patted his back. Changbin nodded and wiped his lips with a napkin. Changbin could almost feel Felix's eyes on the back of his head. He was internally fighting the urge to turn around from the seat and just stare back at Felix if he was even looking. The two of them took seats on the tall stools overlooking the window. The lighting of the stop improved as the sun set outside, and the light of the sun came together with the fairy lights to gently illuminate the room in a warm hug of luminescence. 

Felix rested his head on his hand, leaning on the table. "It's pretty here," he sighed. 

"Agreed." The two watched the sunset through the glass, admiring the beauty of the world around them and pleased with the presence of each other.

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Minho and Jisung ended up just casually strolling through the plaza and through the blocks of the city during the sunset, taking turns asking each other useless questions.

"Minho, what's your favorite season?"

"Autumn. You?"

"Winter."

"Jisung, strawberry or chocolate cake?"

"Chocolate cake!!" They stopped over to sit down at the fountain once they made a large circuit through a majority of the surrounding street blocks, the last bit of sunset stretching down the horizon. 

Jisung looked over at Minho's hands, fidgeting with the ties of his smaller-sized bundle. "Do you ever dance with other people? Like, are you always alone when you dance?"

Minho paused, thinking. "I can't remember. All I remember was taking dance classes about four years ago, but my parents made me quit. I guess I've been developing my own type of style since then, though." 

Jisung remembered Felix introducing him to Hyunjin and Seungmin when he was buying pastries for Chan. They had talked a bit when Jisung told Hyunjin and Seungmin that he was part of 3RACHA, and he could faintly remember Hyunjin telling him that he liked to dance. "I think I know another dancer."

"Who?" Minho asked. He thought back to dancing with Felix. Felix is pretty good at dancing. But besides Felix, Minho hasn't met any other actual dancer since the classes.

"His name is Hyunjin. I met him and Seungmin through Felix at the cafe."

"Do you know if he's good?"

"I haven't seen him dance yet, but it seems like he's pretty good."

"I kinda want to invite him to my annex. It's kind of... weird. I haven't met him yet, but the people that you guys- you and Felix and Changbin and stuff- you guys actually know good people. Like, I- I wasn't able to make friends.... in middle school. I thought it was my fault and I blamed in on myself. I thought I was not good enough to have friends, so I kind of just became, uh, isolated." Minho stared at the ground for a while. 

Jisung put his hand on Hyunjin's shoulder. "I can ask Felix if you want. Is tomorrow fine for the annex?"

Minho's expression immediately lit up. "Yup!"

Section Two: [C h a n] Saturday Morning Cafe

Chan was to continue training with Woojin the following day in the morning, on Saturday. Jisung and Changbin had agreed to go with Chan, maybe because they knew that they would get pastries, it's one of Chan's first days on the job, and because they just wanted to get out of their houses and out of the studio for a bit. They walked in together, and Woojin was already sitting at the counter.

"Hi, Chan! Look at this; they finally gave us uniforms," Woojin smiled, holding up two small bundles including a white uniform shirt and a hat with the cafe brand logo on it. Chan picked up one of the small bundles from Woojin.

Chan remembered that he needed to introduce Jisung and Woojin to each other. "Oh, Woojin, this is Jisung, part of 3RACHA. Jisung, this is Woojin." Jisung and Woojin shook hands.

"Hi, Jisung. And hi, Changbin," Woojin waved. "Oh, I heard the 3RACHA tracks last night when I got home. It was really good! I could probably listen to your guys' voices all day." 

"Haha, thanks Woojin," Chan beamed. 

Changbin looked over to Woojin's bag, which was on the stool next to the microphone. "Woojin... you sing, don't you?" 

"Yeah, I do." Woojin nodded. 

"Maybe you can come over to our studio sometime to record something?" Chan suggested, internally wanting to hear Woojin's voice in the studio, and not live for the first time. "Do you happen to be available after work?"

Woojin looked at his watch. "Yeah, I should be fine. Oh- wait, I think I'm meeting with Jeongin after work. I don't think he has homework, though..."

"He can come along if he wants," Chan offered, just really hoping to get Woojin to come to the studio.

"Ok."

Jisung raised his hand to get Chan's attention. "Can I invite Minho?"

"Sure."

"Good. Because I may or may not have already texted him to come later. Hehe~"

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Felix had been asked by Jisung if Minho could meet Hyunjin. Jisung had explained how Minho was interested in inviting Hyunjin to the annex. Huh, Felix thought, I've never actually seen Hyunjin dance either. The night before, Felix contacted Hyunjin; "Hey Hyunjin, I was wondering if you were interested in meeting one of my friends. He dances and he has this annex dance room thing if you want to join us tomorrow morning. It would be you and me, and then Minho, he's the dancer, and then Jisung, who was part of the 3RACHA rap trio" Hyunjin responded a simple "Ok, I'll be there". They coordinated the times shortly after.

Now it was Saturday morning, and Felix and Jisung were waiting outside the convenience store for Hyunjin. 

"Hi Felix," a voice came from Felix's side.

"Hi, Hyunjin!"

"So, um, why did you say to meet outside a convenience store?"

"You'll see~"

Felix and Jisung led Hyunjin through all the displays, and to the CD and technology area at the back of the store once again. Felix knocked on the annex door, as he sensed Hyunjin's confusion. The door opened, and Minho smiled as he gestured the three inside.

Minho watched as Felix and Jisung placed his bag down near the table, and Hyunjin put his bag down as well.

"Hi, Hyunjin. It's nice to meet you. I'm Minho." The two shook hands.

"Hi, Minho." The four of them began stretching as they zoned out.

Minho was eager to start dancing. "Wanna take turns freestyling?" Felix looked over to see a smile forming at the corners of Hyunjin's lips. It looked like this was exactly the place where Hyunjin wanted to be- to dance and express himself. 

"I'll just sit this one out for now," Jisung declared, hiding the fact that he was excited to see Minho dance again.

"Sure!" Hyunjin exclaimed. Minho plugged his phone into the speakers at the opposite corner of the annex room, beginning to play a track. Minho started first. He moved fluidly, his movements precise. Hyunjin was really feeling the music as he watched Minho. Jisung watched from the table, once again captivated. Minho "handed off" the next verse to Felix. Hyunjin was clearly fascinated by Minho and Felix. Hyunjin was always just hiding the fact that he could dance because he was never really around other dancers, but now that Hyunjin was in an actual dance practice-like room, he felt a strong urge to just release all the movements and expressions that he had been holding in this whole time. He waited patiently for Felix to gesture for him to start. Hyunjin's part finally came. His movements exerted creativity and strong expression, much to Minho's favor. Minho felt a rush of thanks towards Jisung for getting Felix and Hyunjin to join him. As Hyunjin continued on, Minho went over to Jisung at the table.

"Thanks for asking Felix, Jisung," Minho smiled, making Jisung's heart beat faster.

"No problem. Oh- after this, we're going to the studio! Changbin and Chan will be there of course. I think Woojin and Jeongin will be there too, but I don't think you've met them yet. I know Woojin already, but not Jeongin," Jisung mumbled. 

"Ah, okay." Minho walked back towards his phone when the track finished. They all clapped for Hyunjin, who seemed to be having so much fun. 

"Jisung, do you happen to remember any of the routine that I started teaching you, Felix, Changbin, and Chan last time you guys were here?" Minho questioned. Jisung walked over to the middle of the room slowly, as Minho already began playing the track. Jisung forgot a few of the parts, but to Minho's surprise, he filled in the gaps smoothly with his own improvisation. He happened to add in cute elements without making it seem awkward. Minho smiled, mentally overviewing Jisung's improvement. 

Minho realized what he was thinking. Jisung is adorable.

Section Three: [M i n h o] Studio

Once the group was finished at the annex, Jisung walked with Minho to the studio. Once they arrived, Chan opened the door. When Jisung and Minho stepped in, Minho was overcome with the sight of recording equipment, cans of Coke, and a very welcoming couch. He also saw Changbin and two others that he did not recognize.

The one wearing a gray hoodie approached Minho. "I'm Woojin, and this is Jeongin."

"I'm Minho. Nice to meet you guys." 

"Ah, Jeongin," Chan started. "This is Changbin and Jisung." Jeongin waved to the other two rappers

Chan looked over at Changbin, who was preoccupied with his task on the computer, and Jisung was already settling down at the other table and taking out his notebook. "So, Woojin, Jeongin, and Minho, it's your first times seeing us work together as 3RACHA, so how about we show you guys how we record our tracks first?" They all nodded as Jisung pulled out his notebook. 

"We are going to record this verse again because I've changed this line of lyrics." Jisung showed his lyric book to the three sitting on the couch before putting on a headset and leaning towards the microphone. Changbin was still at the computer, and Minho saw that he was monitoring the audio recorded from the microphone on his screen. Chan got his button ready, pressing it to indicate for Jisung to start. Woojin liked Jisung's rap style; it was lyrical so it reminded Woojin of the types of songs he enjoyed singing. Jeongin was also watching closely. On the other hand, it didn't seem like Minho was breathing. Minho took in every word that Jisung rapped, in with its definition, its meaning. Minho wanted to rap.

Chan pressed the button after Jisung finished the verse, and the three sitting on the couch clapped. Jisung smiled and bowed a little, Minho keeping his eyes on the rapper. Was he always this cute or was Minho just realizing it now?

Woojin and Minho introduced themselves to each other right before Chan gestured for Woojin to come up to the microphone.

"We are getting ready to release our second mixtape, but, Woojin, are there any songs that you want to try out recording on our mic?" Chan asked.

Woojin remembered that he sang "Lost Stars" and "I Smile" when he first saw Chan at the cafe that one evening, so he decided to choose from the two.

"Day6's 'I Smile'."