Heehyun should have followed her gut. 

She had a bad feeling about this. One experience of working with an idol had been enough for her not to want to do it ever again. She’d swore to herself it had been the first and last time. 

But why did everything in her house have to break down at the same time? Why did her car follow suit? Why did an idol company offer her a deal with one of their singers right when she needed the money so badly and had no choice but to say yes? 

Jung Chaeyeon. That was the name Heehyun would come to dread even hearing. The very face of Heehyun’s nightmares. 

"This sounds like a journal entry written by a teenager going through an emo phase. This is not the concept I want to do." Chaeyeon scoffed, her eyes scanning the paper in her hands. 

"Well I’m afraid your manager said absolutely nothing about this concept you’re talking about, so I wrote about what I felt in that moment." Heehyun explained, controlling the rumbling inside her. 

"Then you must have been feeling like crap. Did you get dumped or something?" She almost laughed, returning the paper Heehyun had spent several hours working on the last night. 

Heehyun gulped, taking a deep breath, doing her best at ignoring the stupid and unnecessary comments from some idol who clearly had no idea what being a musician was like. She crumbled the poor paper in her hands and threw it to her side. 

"I could do better myself," Chaeyeon mumbled, and Heehyun had to gather all her might to fight the urge to tell her to do it herself, then. "Should we listen to the demo?" 

Heehyun pressed the play button and stared at Chaeyeon, looking at her frown and scrunched nose. 

"I mean, what good could you do with such a lousy melody, right?" She said, sighing. "Depressing, boring, no one wants to listen to a song about break ups and being dumped and-" 

"It's called a ballad, and people like it, actually." 

"But I don't, and this song is for me." 

"You meant for us," Heehyun corrected.  

"Alright, but you only have two rap parts, you're a featured artist, so let's try to do something that can please the both of us, yes?" Chaeyeon gave her a smile. "Let's meet tomorrow again. Write something else until then, and if I like it, then you can work on the rest of the song." 

--- 

"And do you know," Heehyun paused and drank down the soju on her shot glass. "What's the most frustrating?!" 

"What?" Chungha rested her chin on her palm, trying not to laugh at her best friend's misery. 

"It’s that she's so pretty and beautiful and has that perfect face and that aura and presence and with that gorgeous smile of hers she can do whatever she wants, and she's taking advantage of that!" She slammed the glass on the table. 

"Clearly it worked on you." 

"It did! I'm never afraid to express my dissatisfaction and my opinions, I always defend my work and I don't allow people to offend it, but s-she just went and made fun of it and I couldn't even barely open my mouth!" 

Chungha stared at her, shaking her head. "Why don't you write about it?" 

"What?" 

"Didn't she ask for new lyrics? Go on, write about that. I'm sure you could write a whole album around it." 

Heehyun rubbed her chin. "Maybe that's a good idea." 

"Of course," Chungha smirked. "Oh and 'Hyun, be patient with her. Jung Chaeyeon is a hot artist-" 

"Oh, she is," Heehyun mumbled, pouring herself another glass of soju. 

"I meant in popularity," Chungha laughed, seeing her almost choking on her drink. "She's like the new rising star idol, so don't lose this opportunity, it's gonna be good for you to have a collab with her." 

"I'm just a 'feat', like she said." Heehyun pouted. “I’m only doing this for the money.” 

"I think she just likes easy targets like yourself," Chungha nodded at her own words. "She may seem bossy and cocky, but-" 

"Oh, she is! I'm sure she's younger than me, and she never even used an honorific with me, she talks like she knows everything and like her opinion is superior." 

"Her profile says she’s 2 years younger than you." Chungha said, looking at her phone. 

"See! What a brat. Or she's lying about her age." 

"As I was saying," Chungha rolled her eyes. "She can actually have good ideas and maybe she's more professional than you think. Give it a chance, you never know what lies behind that attitude of hers." 

Heehyun sighed. "Just because this will give me good money and as you said, if she's that popular, maybe the song can become a hit. Then I'll be even more famous and get more money and get my own full album and become rich and travel the world-" 

"Hold your horses, first you think about fixing everything that broke down due to your clumsiness, and then---" 

“Hey, Kim Chungha!” Heehyun swatted her arm. "Karma will hit you like a truck if you keep making fun of my misery.” 

Chungha smiled. So easy to motivate someone like Ki Heehyun. 

--- 

Heehyun sat and tapped her feet on the floor as she observed Chaeyeon reading the new lyrics she had written after her conversation with Chungha. It felt like a sudden wave of inspiration hit her so hard she had never written something so fast, but it was still nothing final. In fact, she even wrote three different versions, to make sure Chaeyeon would like at least one. 

And at last, Chaeyeon's eyebrows rose. 

"Who told you that you could be this beautiful?" Chaeyeon read, a smirk creeping on her lips. "You, who thinks you can get everything with that pretty smile, stop it, because you might even get to me." She finished with a nod and a light chuckle, turning to Heehyun. "It’s good. The feeling of falling for someone, the happiness and frustration that comes with it, this is a song everyone can relate to. It almost sounds like you're talking from experience." 

Heehyun gulped. "No, I-I mean, everyone does, just like you said." 

"Of course. Is this finished, though? Seems short."  

"No, since I wasn't sure you would like it, I skipped my first rap. Now that I know you liked it, I'll take care of that later." 

"Great, then for now we can move on to the melody." 

"What? You said I would do it if you liked it." Heehyun irked an eyebrow. 

"Yes, and I liked it, but we should do it together, right? Not that I don't trust your skills, but it could be fun. And since this is a song for the both of us, I should help. I don't want you to do everything alone." 

Heehyun wasn't sure if she wanted to do it with her so she could be in control, or if she really wanted to help. 

But when Chaeyeon gave her that pretty smile, just like she had written in her lyrics, she could get anything she wanted from her. 

Turned out, Chungha was right when she said maybe Chaeyeon could have good ideas. She came up with a melody for the chorus in mere seconds, and her voice was so pretty and soothing whenever she moved her lips, Heehyun had to gather all her might not to lose her focus on the keyboard. 

"Do what you just did an octave lower. It's giving the wrong vibe like that." Chaeyeon said. 

Heehyun nodded and complied, impressed by how perfectly her suggestion worked. 

"How are your raps supposed to be?" 

"The second one that's written is fast, the first one I was thinking it should be kind of like I'm talking." Heehyun said, guiding her words with her fingers on the paper. “Like, the feeling when at first you’re just talking to a friend about how you’re feeling and you don’t know what’s happening to you, and then the feeling evolves into you just being too excited and overwhelmed about it. Y-you know?” 

"Sounds good. Can you do it for me?" 

"Do what?" 

Chaeyeon rolled her eyes. "Rap." 

"O-Oh, yeah, of course."  

Rapping was something no one could beat Heehyun at, no matter what was the situation. She felt her face warming up as Chaeyeon smiled at the words that flew from her lips. 

"Sounds awesome. You’re really a great rapper, I’m glad I convinced my company to work with you instead of that other male rapper they chose. I knew the concept I wanted would work better with a female rapper," Chaeyeon nodded as she spoke. "Okay, so, what about we---"  

Heehyun knew she was speaking, but all she could hear was the buzz in her ears. The day before, all Chaeyeon did was complain about the lyrics and the song and whatnot. But now, she was all compliments and smiles, and each time Chaeyeon did it, even if just a simple smile, Heehyun was more sure it was her biggest weakness. Everything about her seemed so perfect, from her jaw line, her arched nose, her lips, her eyes... And Chaeyeon was the one wanting to work with her?  

"Heehyun?"  

"Yes!" Heehyun blinked away from her trance, shifting on her seat and feeling the back of her neck heating up. 

"Did you listen to what I said?" Chaeyeon irked an eyebrow. 

"No, sorry, I spaced out."  

Chaeyeon stared at her and laughed. "Did my immeasurable beauty distract you?" 

"Yeah," Heehyun sighed, widening her eyes. When she realized what had just come off of , she somehow decided to play it cool and whip out her skills in sarcasm. “Yeah of course it did. I mean, look at you. I go weak for a pretty face like yours. Don’t you get that a lot?” 

"Oh, I do. But I don’t often get people being honest about it like you just were." Chaeyeon smirked. "Pay attention this time, will you?"  

Did Chaeyeon just wink at her? 

Heehyun gave her a weak nod, her words still ringing in her mind. What a save. 

What was she doing, behaving like that when she should be focusing on her job? Chaeyeon was with her for mere professional matters, they were working on a song they would record together, and that was all. There was nothing else there. 

Half an hour into the process of creating the song, and a knock on the door interrupted them. 

"Chaeyeon, we have to go."  

"Oh yeah, oppa, I'll be right there." 

He nodded and closed the door after him. 

"Your manager?" Heehyun asked. 

"Yes, I have to head to my next schedule." 

"So famous," Heehyun smirked. "What is it now? An interview? Photoshoot?" 

"Both actually." Chaeyeon sighed. "I would rather stay here working on our song with you, but duty is calling. Tomorrow the studio’s booked for the same time, yes?"  

"Y-Yeah, I'll be waiting." 

"Great," Chaeyeon stood up and walked to the door. "I’ll walk you out." 

Heehyun only hummed in response, following as Chaeyeon ordered because it was impossible not to after once again her lips curled in that deadly way. 

--- 

"She said 'working here WITH YOU', she didn't have to add the 'with you', she could have just said that she would rather work on the song!" Heehyun spoke so fast Chungha frowned as she tried to decipher everything she said. 

"I’m confused," Chungha shook her head. "Didn't you hate her yesterday? But now you’re crushing on her. What’s wrong with you?" 

"I never said I hated her," Heehyun looked away, taking a sip on her beer. "And I'm not crushing on her." 

"Oh, no you’re not." 

Heehyun pouted and buried her face on her hands, whining. "You’re right, Chungha. What’s wrong with me?" 

"For you to say ‘You’re right’ to me, something is definitely way off. Something like your priorities. I thought you were a professional, Ki Heehyun." 

“I am a professional!” Heehyun protested.  

“Then why are you crushing on Jung Chaeyeon?” 

"Shhh!" Heehyun looked around. "Are you an idiot? It’s supposed to be confidential that I’m even working with her! You’ll get me sued." 

“Oh , sorry.” Chungha covered with her hands. 

"I am a professional." Heehyun grabbed Chungha by her sleeve and narrowed her eyes at her. "Tomorrow I'll act like the professional I am. I can't let a stupid crush get in the way of my work." 

"Just because you don’t want to let it get in the way of your work, it doesn’t mean that it can’t exist.” Chungha took a sip of her own drink and smirked. “You just have to ask her out without it getting in the way.” 

“Is that even supposed to help?” Heehyun rolled her eyes.  

Chungha laughed. "You’re welcome." 

--- 

Heehyun must really be sick, because she once again had to admit Chungha was right. 

When there was a knock on the door and she saw Chaeyeon stepping inside, dressed in an oversized sweater and a cap turned back on her head, she suddenly thought Chungha’s advice was actually pretty reasonable. 

"Hey," Chaeyeon smiled, sitting on the chair beside hers. 

"Hi. How was your interview yesterday?" 

Chaeyeon chuckled. "What's with that question?" 

"Tsk, can't I at least try to be polite?" 

"Ki Heehyun is polite?" 

She rolled her eyes, and Chaeyeon laughed. It sounded so pretty Heehyun wanted to make a song all about it. 

"It went well," Chaeyeon said. "You know, the usual scripted and pre-approved questions, taking pics, and that's it. What about you, did you work on the lyrics?" 

"W-Well," Heehyun scratched her neck. "Since you suggested that we should work together more, I thought I could write it while we’re here, so you could give me feedback as I work on it." 

Chaeyeon nodded slowly, an eyebrow irking. "I see, I see. Okay, whenever you want me to see it, just tell me." 

Heehyun gulped. Maybe she didn't consider the pressure it would be working alone under Chaeyeon's eyes. 

"What about you?" 

"I'll be here observing you and helping if needed."  

Heehyun nodded and focused her eyes on her laptop. She opened the document with the lyrics on and stared at the screen for a few seconds before playing the demo they recorded the day before on her phone. It wasn't completed, but the base and rhythm were there, and that was all she needed. 

Listening to it, she started typing, fast as she always did, to accompany her own thoughts. She already had a few ideas for her first rap, so she just needed to organize and write them down.  

When she finished the first paragraph, she played the song from the beginning, and rapped what she just wrote when her part came up, just like she imagined it. When she finished it, she focused on the laptop again, typing the next paragraph in a mere minute as the song continued playing on her phone. 

At this point, she should ask Chaeyeon for her opinion, so she turned to her. Chaeyeon held her phone turned to her, and Heehyun could see herself on the screen, alongside a smiling Chaeyeon. 

"What are you doing?" 

Chaeyeon said nothing, and turned the phone to herself, hiding a silent laugh behind her hand. 

"Were you recording me?" 

"She has no idea." Chaeyeon whispered, looking at her phone. 

"Yah, Chaeyeon," Heehyun tried to reach for the phone. "Are you talking to someone?" 

Chaeyeon lost it and burst out in a loud laugher. 

"Isn't she so funny, everyone?" Chaeyeon said after calming down. "Say hi to our viewers, Heehyun-ssi." She turned the phone to her again. 

"Heehyun-s-ssi? Since when you call me that? You never used honorifics with me!" Heehyun frowned, taking a proper look on what was on the screen. Then, as she realized it, she hid her face on her hands. "Y-Yah, why are you on vlive without telling me?!" 

Chaeyeon laughed again. "The viewers love you, Heehyun. See, they’re saying you’re super talented. Tap the heart a lot for Heehyun so she can work better, yes?" 

Slowly, Heehyun peeked through her fingers, eyeing Chaeyeon as she read the comments. "Since when do you know Heehyun? It's been a while, we're very good friends actually. You weren't expecting it, were you?" 

Why was she lying to her fans? 

"Heehyun is so funny and cute," Chaeyeon read, "Yeah, that's true, she really is. Very talented too, did you hear rapping? Amazing, right?" 

Heehyun's felt like her face was in an oven by now, and she wished she could vanish in a finger click.  

"Oh, some of them don't know about you, Heehyun. Introduce yourself and greet them," Chaeyeon moved closer to her, turning the phone so the both of them appeared on camera. 

"H-Hello everybody, I'm Ki Heehyun, nice to meet you." She said, giving a small bow of her head, trying not to show much of her red face. 

"Here, read some more comments, there’s a lot about you. You're actually stealing my spotlight right now." 

Heehyun gulped and held the phone, smiling awkwardly to the front camera. The comments were passing by so fast she had a hard time reading them, and when she noticed, there was almost twenty thousand viewers. Chaeyeon sure was famous. 

"For the ones that don't know me, I'm a rapper and composer. Yeah, I have a few songs released. You're gonna check it out? Wow, thank you everyone, that means a lot. I hope you like them." 

She kept reading comments to herself, and there was one that caught her attention - someone kept asking if she was Chaeyeon's girlfriend. Ignoring it as best as she could, she focused on the one that kept being asked the most. 

"They're asking a lot why you're with me," Heehyun chuckled, looking at Chaeyeon behind the phone.  

Chaeyeon moved her chair to Heehyun's side and leaned towards her, and the sudden proximity made Heehyun gulp. 

“Heehyun is working on that song you just heard a bit of,” Chaeyeon said, smiling widely. “Is that song for me? Nooo, of course not. I’m not good at rapping like she is. You think I should try it? Do you think it would suit me? No, for now I just came to visit Heehyun at the studio to give her encouragement.” 

Heehyun peeked at her from the corner of her eyes. She couldn’t understand why was she acting like that and saying those things. Were all idols like her?  

“You look good together,” Chaeyeon said, reading the same comment Heehyun had also read before. “Is that so? What do you think, Heehyun?” 

“Hm?” Heehyun turned to her, and she did not expect Chaeyeon to be so close to her. Their eyes locked for a couple seconds, until Heehyun’s moved down to her lips, but when she remembered there was twenty thousand people watching them, so she looked ahead at the phone again. “It’s not like that. We look good together because Chaeyeon is pretty for the both of us so I look better next to her.” 

Chaeyeon squealed and leaned her head on her shoulder, making her heart beat to fast she wondered if their viewers could hear it. 

Chaeyeon kept talking to her fans, reading some comments for Heehyun occasionally, but she really wanted her to turn off their broadcast, because she didn’t know how to deal with everything going on inside her. 

“Alright everyone, Heehyunie needs to go back to work so I’ll see you soon! Heehyun, say goodbye.”  

“B-Bye everyone, it was great meeting you.”  

After saying goodbye, Chaeyeon ended the broadcast and turned to Heehyun with a smile. 

“Why?” Heehyun asked. 

“Why what?” 

“Why did you lie to your fans?” 

Chaeyeon’s eyebrows rose. “Lie? When did I lie?” 

“It’s been a while since you know me, we’re very good friends?” 

“We may not know each other for that long, but they don’t need to know about it. And I don’t we get along well? I wasn’t really lying.” 

“Then what was all that I’m cute and funny and talented, and we’re hanging out and why did you read that comment about us? What was all that about?” 

“Do you know what fanservice is? I have a lot of female fans, I’m giving them what they want. Weren’t you reading the comments? They really liked seeing us together.” 

A punch in the face would hurt less. 

“Is that what I am to you? Someone you can just use for fanservice? When did I ever say that was okay? I never said I was comfortable with it, what if people start rumors? You're an idol, shouldn’t you care about your image and what people say about you?” She blurted, clenching her fists on her lap. 

Chaeyeon blinked. “You’re right, I should be the one caring, and guess what, I don’t-” 

“But I do. This isn’t just about you or your fans, Chaeyeon.” 

“You’re overreacting, people don’t go and assume things based on something like this. And I don’t think I did anything to make you uncomfortable, but okay, I’m sorry.” 

“Guess what, you did.” Heehyun spat. “You shouldn’t even have started a live broadcast without telling me.” 

“I apologized already, what do you want me to do more?” Chaeyeon frowned, her tone raising. 

“Think about your actions. That ‘I don’t care’ attitude is cool, until you up your career for a stupid reason, because that’s how things happen. Idols get hate for the most stupid and ridiculous things, and I’m trying to build my career as well, so, yes, you should care.” 

Chaeyeon rolled her eyes. “Anything else?” 

“Do you think this is a joke?” Heehyun scoffed. “And no, nothing else. I need to go.”  

“Go where?” 

“Leave. I can’t focus right now.” 

Heehyun knew Chaeyeon was taken aback by how her eyebrows twitched. Without any other word, Heehyun stood up and grabbed her things, leaving the studio.  

Great. Things went great.  

A balled fist hit the wall, as Heehyun let her head drop, her hands moving to the back of her neck.  

Was this what she called acting professional? What if Chaeyeon told her managers and company and they cancelled her contract? What would she do then? She really needed the money. 

--- 

Maybe talking to Chungha would help. But all Heehyun needed was to go home, and let her body sit in hot water for an hour, then order some chicken for dinner. 

After following through with all of that, she laid in bed, not even surprised to find that none of that really helped her mood. 

The look on Chaeyeon’s face when she left the studio earlier kept flashing on Heehyun’s mind. Even though she was mad at Chaeyeon for what she did, she never wanted to hurt her. And that made her so mad at herself that it she knew where Chaeyeon lived, she would drive there just to apologize. 

“What the , Heehyun?!” She cursed at her own thought, rolling on her belly and burying her face on her pillow. Was she out of her mind? Of course she wouldn’t do that. 

She was coming to the conclusion that Chaeyeon was driving her insane, and she had no idea how to deal with all the overwhelming feelings, since she never really felt like that before, or at least to this extent.  

She didn’t even have her number or any way to contact her. How would she solve things like that? Sending her a direct message on Instagram? 

Heehyun was tired. She usually had some trouble falling asleep, and adding everything up with the fear of not being able to sleep, it was obvious that a terrible night awaited. 

---

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first part, and I'll be posting the second part some time during this week keke ~~