A/N: This story makes no sense lmaooooo. It started crumbling pacing and plot-wise halfway through, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Anyway, this one’s dedicated to kontatsu, because Jesus are those fics hilarious. This one was partially inspired by “A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.” Also, this pictorial (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/e0/9e/7ee09ea7cd20f4cca53c0f5025efd44f.jpg), which I think is supposed to be y but made me guffaw because look at how Joy’s draped so possessively over Seulgi while Irene’s just got a hand equally possessively on Seulgi’s thigh. Like of course Seulgi would be caught up in that situation. Idk why I find that so funny but I do. Anyway, if you’ve made it past this warning, here’s the story:

 

 

            Seulgi loved the feeling of being on stage, of letting the small and large vibrations of the drums, the guitar, the voice in the mic rise up from the soles of her feet to the tips of her fingers, ringing dizzily as they spun in circles through her veins. Oh, the blending of the different timbres, the ad-libs, the rush of anticipation from the crowd as the exploded into the air of the club. Seulgi breathed music. It was her driving force in life.

            Now, it definitely helped that Seulgi was hopeful about her career path as a musician. Although BlackVelvet, her band, only performed locally, they earned quite a bit from Roulette and random merch. They also had plenty of fans in the club who left generous tips and well wishes for a contract with a label soon. It was just a matter of time before some hotshot producer picked them up with how well BlackVelvet ranked on Roulette.

            Roulette was the up and coming streaming service for music lovers and industry veterans alike. The platform promoted indie artists—anyone who wasn’t signed with a label was allowed to upload music—and users could adjust their settings to match up with musicians within their preferred radius. Kind of like a dating app. The app would list all the creators who produced music within that distance; generally people in bigger cities had more exposure to unique listeners, and the wonky algorithm ended up placing the most streamed artists on the list at the top in addition to the ‘rising star’ section on the homepage. Anyone who truly wanted the newest, most obscure artists would have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the list.

            Another interesting feature about Roulette was that the premium subscription, in addition to being ad-free, allowed users to message artists privately. A way to access industry experts more casually. Plenty of artists had found fame through Roulette. And although there were always a few creeps in the so-called ‘chance chats,’ most of the people who messaged artists were genuinely interested in the creative processes and inspiration for their works. Seulgi took turns with Wendy, Lisa, Jisoo, and Yeri managing the chance chat inbox, as it got quite overwhelming at times due to their relative fame in the Seoul area. But it was fun to personalize their artist page and meet people who loved their work, so the effort was always worth it.

            Their stage ended and the girls waved at the fans before heading off-stage and to the bar for some drinks. Seulgi pulled out her phone and tapped on the Roulette app, switching from the @BlackVelvet account to her personal one, @kangforte, and scrolling down her subscribed artists list until she found the picture of a dynamite in a bikini. @lette_the_peace_flow.

            Seulgi had found the undiscovered gem out of pure boredom—she had heard pretty much all of the songs of the top fifty artists in Seoul, so she scrolled endlessly until she hit the bottom of the list. The odd picture caught her attention, as well as the weirdly specific username (not at all like the “cooler” attempts of other artists), so she clicked on the profile and listened to the first song that popped up.

            And she fell in love.

            The singer had a lilting and clear soprano voice, but Seulgi was especially drawn to the poetic nature of the lyrics and the really cool structure of the songs they made. Entirely random but somehow also cohesive. Unpredictable. It really made the music genuine, she thought.

            “Yo, Seul!” Seungwan, who went by her stage name Wendy, swiped Seulgi’s phone from her and peered at the screen. “Are you messaging this person again?” the guitarist and vocalist asked.

            Seulgi huffed and took her phone back. “Just checking to see if they uploaded a new song. It’s been two weeks, so I’m antsy.”

            “I still can’t believe you got premium just to message them. And you’ve only sent stupid compliments.”

            “Hey, leave the poor girl alone.” Jisoo, the keyboardist, grinned at Seulgi, drink in hand. “Are you gonna stand there all night or are you joining us at the bar to see your lady lover?”

            Seulgi blushed. “I told you that we barely know each other!”

            “Doesn’t mean you can’t have a crush on her.”

            Wendy eyed Seulgi. “Please don’t tell me that you have a crush on my department mentor.”

            “Unnies!” Yeri waved at the three juniors to call them over. “Come buy me drinks!”

            Yeri was the only freshman in their group, and she hadn’t turned nineteen yet, so she relied on them to be her plug. The lyricist/manager grinned at the amused bartender before making a cute angry face at the three again.

            Lisa, the sophomore drummer, materialized next to her as Seulgi, Wendy, and Jisoo took seats next to Yeri. She ordered a pina colada before turning to the eldest three.

            “Was it just me, or were there some really cute people in the crowd today?” She smiled lazily. “There was that one girl…”

            “Cat eyes?” Jisoo piped in.

            “Oh my gosh, yes. And fluffy cheeks.”

            “Lisa,” Jisoo groaned. “Why do you always go after the same people I do!”

            The bartender knocked on the counter. “I see that you’ve finally met Jennie.”

            “Oh,” Wendy interrupted. “You said she’s also one of your mentees, right Joohyun unnie?”

            The senior nodded. “I’ve been convincing her to come see you guys perform for a while now. Guess she finally found some free time.”

            Wendy nodded solemnly. “Professor Kwon has been assigning so much work since the beginning of the semester. When I’m not looking at music notes, I’m frying my brains out trying to decipher strings of code.”

            “Still think you should’ve been a music major like I am.” Seulgi leaned an elbow on the counter, smiling shyly at the bartender. “Hi, Joohyun unnie.”

            “Hi, Seulgi.” Joohyun set Lisa’s pina colada down in front of the girl. “How are classes going for you?”

            “Oh, you know. Music department is pretty chill for the first few weeks. We’ll get the bulk of our assignments soon.”

            It was true. Seulgi still hadn’t learned anything she didn’t know in any of her classes. Considering that she’d finally finished all her gen ed requirements and was taking only major classes, it was almost concerning. Or perhaps she just knew a lot from her own research.

            “I wish I could relate. I’ve already had a few meetings with my advisor about writing my thesis.”

            Seulgi tilted her head. “Do you know what you’re gonna research?” She laughed. “I mean, I don’t think I’ll understand, but I’d still like to hear.”

            She left out the part where she just wanted to hear Joohyun’s soothing voice talk about something in which she was passionate. The older girl was one of the best students at SMU’s comp sci department, and Wendy was lucky to be included in Joohyun’s cohort, given that she was the only senior out of all of the computer science department’s mentors who had already published a research article in a well-known magazine regarding probability in musical notations.

            “I’ll probably build off of the research I did last year. More indeterminacy stuff, I guess. I’ve already started a project with someone.”

            Seulgi pursed her lips and nodded. “Indeterminacy is cool. I learned about it in one of my electronic music classes.”

            Joohyun hummed.

            “Are you interested in electronic music? I feel like you’d like John Cage.”

            The bartender faltered. “Uh...actually. I don’t really listen to music.”

            “Oh!” Yeri piped in, “Is that why you never look interested when our band plays?”

            Seulgi bit her lip as Lisa slapped the back of Yeri’s head. Of all the flaws she expected from the smart, kind, diligent, and beautiful CS major, a lack of appreciation for music was not it. In fact, Seulgi dreaded the idea of meeting someone who couldn’t share that passion with her.

            “Hey, it’s all cool.” She grinned coolly, masking the disappointment that settled in her stomach. “Everyone who listens to our band a few times falls in love. Plus, it’s gotta be worth something that you recommend us to others, right?”

            “Sorry, Seulgi.” Joohyun grimaced. “I was just trying to be supportive.”

            “Huh? What’re you talking about?”

            Joohyun pushed a drink towards Seulgi. Scotch on the rocks. She gave a lopsided smile that was too pretty to be fair. “I have musical anhedonia.”

            “Musical what?”

            “Anhedonia,” Jisoo answered instead. She looked sympathetic. “A condition in which someone’s reward system isn’t triggered by music, so they don’t necessarily enjoy the listening experience. Learned about it in one of my psych classes.”

            “Aww man. That must ,” Lisa commented, sipping her pina colada.

            Seulgi merely twirled the scotch in the cup, not knowing what to say. Although she had only known Joohyun for a few weeks, she was sure that the older girl was perfect. She knew that Joohyun had flirted back a few times, too.

            “It’s not too bad.” Joohyun shrugged. “There’s obviously the social stigma that makes it difficult to connect to some people, but I’ve lived my entire life like this, so I’m not really bothered by it. Kind of like how some people don’t like certain foods, so they don’t really feel like they’re missing much if they don’t eat it.”

            “Wait, so what is it like to hear music, then?” Yeri leaned forward with wide eyes. Although she didn’t actively perform with the band, she invested a great deal of time into sitting down with them and creating the perfect lyrics for the melodies Seulgi and Wendy crafted. All five of them consumed and created music like their lives depended on it. “Are your ears sensitive or something?”

            “Well, I am sensitive to sound, but that’s not it.” Joohyun quickly took an order from another customer and started to make the drink as she spoke to the younger girls. “It’s just like noise to me. Background noise.”

            “White noise-ish?”

            “No…” Joohyun slid the drink to the patron and took the bills. “Kind of like traffic? If it’s louder, then a jackhammer? Like…” she waved her arms in frustration, unsure of how to explain such a rare condition to a group of musicians, “I don’t mind it, but sometimes it gets annoying, like hearing someone type loudly. Most of the time I just ignore it. The melodies themselves don’t give me chills or hype me up or relax me or anything like that. Occasionally, I’ll enjoy the lyrics of a song, but it’s not worth the effort to listen to meaningless noise just because of that.”

            “Man, that’s interesting,” Wendy replied genuinely. She nodded, deep in thought. “Why’d you do your research on musical notations, then?”

            “It was easier to work with musical phrases than with actual languages.” Joohyun laughed. “I don’t have the linguistic capabilities for the latter.”

            “I see.” Wendy glanced at Seulgi, who looked devastated. She knew the monolidded girl was crushing hard on the senior. “How’d you end up working here of all places, then? You could easily get an internship. Less noisy.”

            “Eh.” Joohyun shrugged as she cleaned a glass. “I have a bartending license, so might as well put some use to it. Plus, my best friend also performs here when you guys don’t, so it’s mostly for moral support. For both of you.”

            Seulgi felt her heart melt at the fact that Joohyun went out of her way to get a job that supported her friends and mentees despite not enjoying music. She felt conflicted, because the older girl truly was ideal girlfriend material, but Seulgi’s ideal girlfriend also loved music, and the vocalist/bassist wasn’t sure if just moral support would cut it. She wanted to meet someone who shared her passion. She had so many discussion topics related to music archived in her brain for when she started dating the one, organized in little files to cater to everyone from the classical music elitist to hip-hop wannabes. There was no folder for musical anhedonics.

            “Oh, yeah.” Lisa looked expectantly at the CS prodigy. “You said you know the cat-eye girl?”

            Jisoo perked up as well.

            “Jennie? Yeah, she’s one of my junior mentees.”

            Jisoo leaned forward. “Is she...you know.”

            “Interested in women?” Joohyun laughed. “As much as I am.”

            That response earned two bright grins. Wendy and Yeri laughed, their boisterous voices lifting high into the air. Truly impressive, their lung capacity. A volume only capable of coming from two singers.

            “If you want, I can ask if she would like to meet you...two?” Joohyun furrowed her eyebrows amusedly. “Or we can all hang out as a group and I’ll naturally introduce her to you guys.”

            Wendy straightened up in her chair. “Oh my gosh, yes!” She bumped her knee against Seulgi’s. “Totally down to hang out with you outside of academics and this,” Wendy motioned to the club broadly with her arms, “place. A meal would be nice.”

            Yeri clapped her hands. “Unnies! There’s a carnival going on next week.”

            “Oh .” Jisoo bit her lip in excitement. “I haven’t been to one since I was five.”

            “I haven’t been to one since I was three.”

            “I’m actually somewhat of a whiz at carnival games.”

            “I’ve never lost one either.”

            Jisoo narrowed her eyes at the Thai girl trying to one-up her. “Don’t think I’m going to back down this time. I let you have the last girl.”

            “Rosé ended up dumping me. I did you a favour by filtering her out so you don’t endure heartbreak.”

            “Okay, okay.” Wendy exasperatedly held out her hands. Yeri rubbed her back sympathetically, prompting Wendy to pout at the younger girl. “If you two keep fighting over someone we haven’t even formally met, I’ll snatch her up myself.”

            The hand rubbing her back immediately slapped her. Seulgi had to bite back a laugh at Yeri’s jealous expression.

            “I’m fine with that. I haven’t been to a carnival in awhile either,” Joohyun drawled. She met Seulgi’s eyes. “All of you will be going, right?”

            Seulgi felt her ears burn as her bandmates murmured their affirmations. “Uh, yeah. I guess.”

            Joohyun smiled widely. “Good.” She watched Seulgi finish off her drink and refilled it immediately. “Just thought it would be nice to bring someone else to match the numbers.” The senior winked. “That’s on the house, by the way.”

            Seulgi felt the metronome in her heart speed up way too quickly for her to be able to play along. Jesus, why did Joohyun have to be so amazing?

-------

            “Kang Seulgi!”

            Seulgi glanced over to see Sunmi, one of the seniors taking ‘Creating the Instrument’ (a class where students created any functioning instrument, whether an existing classical one with modifications or an electronic one such as the theremin), waving at her from across the room. Seulgi smiled and waved back, noticing that the older girl was about to pack her stuff and move next to Seulgi near the doors in the back of the room when the professor walked in with the bell and told everyone to take their seats. Someone burst through the back doors ten minutes later and hurriedly plopped down next to Seulgi, breathing heavily as she took out her notes. Seulgi glanced at her from the corner of her eye; she’d never seen the tall girl before.

            “Hey.” The tall girl turned to Seulgi. “Did the professor say anything important yet?”

            Seulgi shook her head. “You know the music department. We don’t learn much for the first month.”

            “Oh, yeah. Right.” The girl smiled, her wide eyes and mouth stretching adorably, and held out a hand to Seulgi. “I’m Park Sooyoung. It’s my first actual non-introductory music class, so I’m still on the lookout for pop quizzes.”

            Seulgi shook her hand. “I see. Kang Seulgi.” She glimpsed towards the front, where the professor droned on about basic music theory. All stuff people in the class already knew. “I’m guessing you’re an underclassmen then?”

            “Yup!” Sooyoung took notes on the professor’s ramblings, something Seulgi found rather amusing. “I’m a sophomore. Finishing up mostly gen eds this year, but I managed to squeeze this class in.”

            “Well, welcome to the department. We’re pretty chill.”

            Sooyoung nodded, leaning back from her notebook to look at the older girl. “I heard some of the students in this department form bands and get gigs.” Her eyes widened. “Are you in a band?”

            “Yeah, but I’m the only music major in mine.”

            “Oooh, what’s the name of your band?”

            “BlackVelvet.”

            Sooyoung’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh my gosh. I love your music.”

            “Yeah?” Seulgi grinned, happy to have found another fan. They were usually rare in the music department, because everyone was too busy making their own stuff to listen to each other’s works. “Do you visit the Finale?”

            “I actually found you guys on Roulette. But I perform there though.”

            Seulgi hummed. “You perform there too? I haven’t seen you at the club yet.”

            “Maybe we work different days.” Sooyoung leaned forward to write something in her notes again. “I’m sure I would’ve talked to your band if I saw you in person.”

            “Maybe.” Seulgi watched the younger girl write neatly on the lined paper. “Are you in a band too?”

            “Oh, no.” Sooyoung laughed. “I perform under the stage name Joy with a friend.”

            “Oh, cool. I should watch you two sometime. When do you play?”

            “Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

            “Ah.” Seulgi nodded. “We perform on Fridays and Saturdays. That’s why we’ve never run into each other.”

            “I’m definitely gonna visit you this week. I’ve been hoping to hear your band live in forever.”

            Seulgi smiled, opening to relay her gratitude, when the professor cleared his throat.

            “Alright, so since we’re a very hands-on class, I’m going to start having you form groups for the final projects this week. Everyone will be making their own instrument, but as a group, you will create a theme and present the research on the motivations behind the commonalities in your works.”

            Someone raised their hand. “Will we get to choose our groups?”

            The professor nodded. “I don’t like forcing people to work with random strangers.” The class laughed. “So as long as your groups aren’t bigger than five people and smaller than three, I’m fine with you all picking your groupmates. Any other questions?”

            No one else had asked anything.

            “Alright then. So take the remaining time to pick out your groups, and I’ll let everyone out early. You actually have some readings to do by next class, so we can start making different instruments. Sound good?”

            The students murmured their answers.

            “Go mingle now. I’ll be up here for anyone with questions.”

            Seulgi stretched as she saw Sunmi ward off the few boys coming to talk to her, the music diva practically sprinting to get to her favourite hoobae. The junior waited patiently with a small smile on her face.

            “Kang Seulgi, oh my gosh.” Sunmi pulled her into a hug. “I thought you wouldn’t be in class today.”

            “Sorry, unnie. I was running a bit late.”

            “It’s all good.” Sunmi waved her off before smiling widely. “Wanna be in my group?”

            Seulgi gave her a thumbs up before frowning. “But we need at least three.”

            “Well.” Sunmi turned to Sooyoung, who was awkwardly putting her notes away. “Hey, do you have a group?”

            Sooyoung blinked rapidly in surprise. “Me?”

            “Yeah, you.” Sunmi gave her a charming smile. “I’m Lee Sunmi, by the way.”

            Sooyoung bowed lightly. “Ah, yes. I’ve seen you a few times, sunbaenim. I’m Park Sooyoung.”

            “Oh, you’re so adorable!” Sunmi squealed. “Just call me unnie. You’re an underclassman, right? I haven’t seen you around yet.”

            “She’s a sophomore.” Seulgi tilted her head. “I mean, yeah, Sooyoung. Why don’t you join us? Sunmi unnie’s a guaranteed A. The profs love her.”

            Sunmi punched Seulgi’s arm. A little harder than intended. “Oh, sorry. But,” she jerked a thumb to the junior, “Seulgi is the real underdog of our department. Her band has been on the rising star section of Roulette for nearly a year now.”

            Seulgi groaned. “Unnie, please. You sound like my grandmother every time you go around telling people that.”

            “Oh, I don’t mind.” Sooyoung laughed. “You’re one of my favourite artists on the platform.”

            “You should give me a listen too.” Sunmi winked. “My username is @lalalay.”

            “I will, unnie, don’t worry.” The younger girl pulled out her phone and added the senior to her subscriptions list. Seulgi saw that her username was @joytotheworld. “Oh, and I’ll need your phone numbers. For the project.”

            They exchanged numbers with Sooyoung. Seulgi noticed that all the others were filing out, having chosen their groupmates rather quickly, so she also stood up to leave.

            “Well, I’m gonna head out now to grab lunch and round up my bandmates for practice, so throw me in a group chat and we’ll talk. Bye!”

            They all waved and Seulgi headed to Wendy’s class across campus to wait for her friend. The CS department was always a bit dead atmosphere-wise, so Seulgi didn’t visit often.

            “Seulgi!”

            The music major whipped around at the cheery voice and saw Joohyun waving at her. A smile broke out on the taller girl’s face at the sight of the older girl in normal clothes: a lavender sweater matched up with light-washed slim jeans, large round glasses on her high nose. Her hair was down in waves, and Seulgi swore that if the ponytail she wore at work was sinfully y, the current form was too cute for any human to handle.

            “Hi, unnie,” Seulgi breathed out, wondering where all the oxygen in the building went. If it wasn’t the depressing environment intending to pick off the students one by one, the only plausible answer was that the goddess in front of her immobilized her respiratory system. Yeah, that had to be it.

            “What are you doing here? I’ve never seen you on campus before.”

            Seulgi blinked to snap out of her reverie and rocked on her heels as the smaller girl walked up to her. Joohyun placed a hand on Seulgi’s arm before sliding it down to grasp the monolidded girl’s hand in greeting. Seulgi’s heartbeat was in prestissimo mode.

            “Um…” She took a deep breath. “I’m waiting for Wendy.”

            “Hmm.” Joohyun led Seulgi, still holding onto the younger girl’s hand, to sit at one of the empty chairs in the hallway in front of Wendy’s classroom. “And here I thought you were looking for me.” Her grin was mischievous and very deliberate.

            “I mean, I…” Seulgi stared at their joined hands, mouth opening and closing. “We normally grab lunch together, but she’s usually the one to pick me up.”

            “I see.” Joohyun lifted their hands and studied Seulgi’s fingers, delicately grasping each one. “You’ve got such nice hands. I always imagine that instrumentalists would have gnarly fingers.”

            Seulgi gulped. “I’ve got some calluses on the tips from playing string instruments since I was a kid.”

            Joohyun bit her lip as she examined the tips of Seulgi’s fingers. “It’s nice. Gives you a duality. Soft but rough. More than just a pretty face.”

            Wendy had to have seen the soul leaving Seulgi’s body when the bell rang immediately after Joohyun’s comment and she stepped out into the hallway. Seulgi looked at her friend with a burning face, and Wendy couldn’t hide the smirk that lips.

            “Hi, unnie! It’s nice to see such a vibrant child in this dead place, no?”

            Joohyun placed Seulgi’s hand down and nodded. “After seeing way too many men today, it’s a nice change.” She pouted, making Seulgi ascend to heaven. “Why don’t more girls do CS at this school? I’m sick of all the pretentious guys peering at my code like I didn’t publish a research article before all of them did.”

            Wendy laughed loudly. “Or maybe you should just look elsewhere for a girlfriend. Plus, I’m a girl in CS.”

            “Oh please, Seungwan.” Joohyun rolled her eyes. “I’m not allowed to date a mentee.”

            “But you totally would if I wasn’t.”

            “Right,” Joohyun played along. She clung to Seulgi’s arm. “But I think I prefer people who aren’t dead inside.”

            Seulgi shot daggers at Wendy when the latter wiggled her eyebrows at the ‘vibrant’ music major.

            “Well, Seulgi and I are going to grab lunch with the rest of our band and head to practice. Wanna join?”

            “I was going to meet Jennie for lunch, but…” Joohyun looked at Seulgi, “I can text her to meet me wherever you’ll be eating.”

            “Awesome!” Wendy smiled. “I’m sure Lisa and Jisoo would love to meet her.”

-------

            Lunch went relatively well except for the fact that Seulgi felt like she would combust and Lisa and Jisoo’s childish bickering over who played a bigger role in carrying the band to impress Jennie (Seulgi didn’t tell them that people mostly screamed Wendy’s name at the club). They confirmed that they would meet at the carnival on Sunday, when everyone was free, and BlackVelvet headed off to practice afterwards.

            Yeri immediately pulled Wendy aside when they entered the practice room, and Seulgi watched as the freshman leaned close to her friend to discuss what she presumed to be lyrics for the new song they were working on. Wendy looked over the paper and lightly patted Yeri’s cheek, affectionately, and Seulgi saw that Jisoo and Lisa were also observing the interaction with goofy grins on their faces. Oh well. It seemed that someone would have to tell Wendy to tone down the greasiness soon.

            A good three hours into practice, during which there was some frustration over how Wendy and Seulgi would split the chorus, Seulgi’s phone pinged, and she signalled for a break. Jisoo and Lisa started arguing over the chord progression for the bass part of the keyboard, so Wendy had to hold Yeri back from lunging at them in annoyance. The bassist took out her phone and smiled when she saw the texts from Sunmi and Sooyoung in the group chat followed by a notification letting her know that @lette_the_peace_flow had uploaded a new song.

            She quickly plugged in her earphones and stepped out of the room to listen to the piece, enjoying the way the broken, discordant accompaniment was tied together by the singer’s voice. Although it had a bit too little reverb for her liking, the catchy lyrics more than made up for it, especially given how pleasantly jarring the repeated whispers of ‘catch the horizon’ sounded against the random beats. Seulgi tried to find a pattern but failed, but she liked that, and she let the chaos flow over her as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

            When the song ended, leaving Seulgi with that feeling lingering inside her chest, she pulled up the courage to reach out to the artist again. But this time, she took time to type out something productive, thanking her fans for their various questions that she could use as a template, and sent the message in the chance chat.

            ‘Hi! I’m a huge fan of your music, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to answer some questions I had about the process!’

            She shoved her phone in her pocket, afraid that the artist wouldn’t answer (she was guilty of leaving some people’s messages unread due to the sheer volume of stuff they got per day), but the reply came almost immediately, and Seulgi blinked at the quick response.

            ‘OMG, hi! You’re the one who messaged a few weeks ago, right?’

            Seulgi’s eyes widened. It seemed that the artist remembered her.

            ‘Yeah! Your music is really great, so I just wanted to send some love.’

            ‘Thank you so much for the support! The experimental style of the music doesn’t really get many listeners, so it’s nice to hear that someone is interested in it.’

            Seulgi hummed. It was understandable, because the artist wasn’t listed near the top of the lists, and the music was rather far from mainstream. But it would be cool to incorporate some of the techniques into BlackVelvet’s songs and see how people reacted. Experimenting was a must when it came to music.

            ‘Are you an electronic musician? The choices in your works are just incredible, and I don’t think many classically-trained musicians can pull it off.’

            ‘Actually, I’m classically-trained in piano, and I play seven different instruments, but I’ve always found it important to expand my range if I want to create music that is true to who I am. I work with synths and DAWs quite a bit.’

            Seulgi was impressed. It seemed like the artist shared many of the values as she did, and it was nice to see someone shift away from conventional instruments purely for the purpose of finding more ways to create.

            ‘Do you live in Seoul? I’d love to sit in on a recording session or something to see how you make your music.’

            There was no reply for quite some time, so Seulgi bit her lip, thinking that she had been too straightforward. She herself would definitely not have said yes to a request like that.

            ‘I’m a bit too shy to show you my creative process itself, but I’m always open to chat.’

            Seulgi smiled and started typing a reply when Lisa stuck her head out and told her that they were starting up again. The bassist sent a quick ‘Sounds great!’ and exited the app before heading in.

            Wendy raised an eyebrow at her, not used to the dopey grin Seulgi was wearing in a location outside of a ten meter radius of Bae Joohyun. Seulgi shook her head and motioned for everyone to get back in their spots, picking up her bass and signalling for Lisa to count off. Head clear, she handed the chorus off to Wendy at just the right moment and saw the smaller girl grinning into the mic as Yeri threw them a thumbs up.

-------

            “Jennie, hi!”

            Seulgi let out an amused smile as Jisoo and Lisa rushed forward to greet the cheerful girl who walked with Joohyun to where the band was standing. Joohyun waved at the girls before locking eyes with Seulgi and giving a small smile. It was Seulgi’s second time seeing her in casual clothing, and to say that overalls and the half-up ponytail accentuated with a band made the older girl seem anything less than divine was an understatement. Yeri had to shove the music major to snap her back into reality.

            “My friend is coming in a minute!” Joohyun sidled up to Seulgi and looped an arm around Seulgi’s before turning to Wendy and Yeri. “How are you two? Since Jisoo and Lisa seem very preoccupied with my other mentee over there.”

            Grinning, Wendy slung an arm around Yeri’s shoulder. “We’re chilling. There were some issues on Thursday over some technical stuff, but Seulgi came back from break like she was enlightened, so we fixed it pretty easily. Yeri has been carrying us hard with all the procrastination we’ve been doing lately.” She pinched the younger girl’s cheek.

            “Oh please. We only know Seulgi unnie is like that when she either gets a new notification from that random artist or gets a text from Joo—”

            Wendy turned Yeri towards her, squishing the latter’s cheeks in between her hands. “Have I told you that you look absolutely dashing today?”

            The lyricist blushed but shoved Wendy’s hands away as she sputtered in confusion. “I always look dashing!”

            “But you look extra nice today. Meeting up with someone?”

            Joohyun and Seulgi glanced at each other. Boy, she was clueless. And way too flirty for her own good.

            “Unnie!”

            Seulgi turned to see someone jogging towards them and felt Joohyun brush past her to greet the figure. Upon closer inspection, Seulgi saw that she knew the tall girl and gasped in surprise.

            “Sooyoung?”

            Sooyoung pulled back from Joohyun’s hug and smiled widely when she saw Seulgi. “Unnie, hi!”

            Joohyun raised an eyebrow as the two girls lightly hugged. “Do you two know each other?”

            “Yeah!” Sooyoung met Seulgi’s eyes and smiled again before turning to her friend. “We’re in the same class and working together for our final project.”

            “Right, you’re a music major too.” Joohyun pursed her lips. “I bet you two see each other often.”

            “Actually,” Sooyoung scratched her head, “we haven’t seen each other in person since meeting for the first time on Thursday. Only texted about possible ideas for the project with Sunmi unnie.”

            The others joined them, Jisoo and Lisa flanking Jennie on both sides as Wendy gently led Yeri to the group by the elbow. She blinked in recognition at the tall girl.

            “Joy?”

            Sooyoung waved. “Hi, Wendy. Fancy seeing you here.”

            Joohyun’s eyebrows furrowed at the same time Yeri’s eyes narrowed. “You two know each other too?”

            “I saw her performing once, I think. She also messaged through the chance chat when I was on inbox duty.”

            “I’m a huge fan of BlackVelvet.”

            “Well, we should introduce ourselves then!” Jisoo yanked Lisa forward so that the Thai girl wasn’t clinging to Jennie and lined the band members up. “That’s Seulgi, our leader, bassist, and lead vocalist.” She shifted her finger from Seulgi to Wendy. “Seungwan, a.k.a. Wendy, who is our Canadian-born guitarist and main vocalist.” She then pointed at Yeri, who had an arm possessively wrapped around said Canadian. “Yeri is our lyricist and kind of our manager, since she schedules all our gigs and stuff. But mostly our lyricist.” Jisoo motioned to herself with both fingers and winked. “I’m Jisoo, the keyboardist and sub vocalist.” She shoved Lisa. “And that loser is Lisa, the drummer. She’s from Thailand.”

            Lisa stepped on Jisoo’s foot. The older girl gritted her teeth but didn’t shout out in fear of seeming weak in front of Jennie.

            “And last but not least, we have our unofficial member, Joohyun unnie, who is our personal bartender.”

            Joohyun playfully protested. “I don’t even listen to music!”

            “Correction, you don’t like to listen to music. You technically listen to it all the time by working at the club.”

            Sooyoung laughed. “Is it our turn to do group introductions?” She glanced at Jennie. “Do you wanna go first, or should I?”

            Jennie shrugged. “We’ve met, but I’m Jennie. Comp sci junior. Not an instrumentalist, unfortunately.”

            Sooyoung nodded. “Well, I’m Park Sooyoung. I also perform at The Finale with my friend as a guitarist and vocalist under the name Joy. Classically trained, but I’m interested in electronic composition. I basically breathe and eat music, whether it be listening, creating, or learning history.”

            “You’re pretty much Kang Seulgi 2.0,” Wendy jested. “Be careful. You wouldn’t want that doofus falling in love with you because you’re musical soulmates.”

            Seulgi saw Yeri pinch Wendy’s arm. The guitarist squealed.

            “Oh, I mean, I don’t think I would mind,” Sooyoung replied good-naturedly. “I’m a er for anyone who can be the bassist to my guitar-playing.”

            “Oh , unnie,” Yeri said, guffawing. Perhaps glad that Sooyoung was not a competitor for Wendy’s affection. “Pretty, musical, and supportive of your lame position? She’s a catch.”

            “Hey! At least I’m playing on stage.”

            Joohyun cleared . “We should get going. There’s a lot of stuff to ride and play.”

            “Right.” Seulgi noticed how Sooyoung shifted awkwardly after giving Joohyun a tight smile. “Shall we head in then?”

            Yeri gave a loud whoop and skipped in with Wendy as Jisoo and Lisa dragged Jennie in right after them. Seulgi blinked in the realization that she was stuck with Joohyun and Sooyoung, who were both eyeing each other cautiously despite supposedly being best friends. Oh boy. It was going to be a long night.

-------

            Seulgi had to admit that it was difficult trying to keep Joohyun in the loop as she and Sooyoung drifted away into their own little world, talking about producers, instruments, and even labels in the excitement of having found the perfect conversation partner. While her bandmates were also well-versed in music, Seulgi found that they were more attuned with modern songs and didn’t really have the same technical knowledge Seulgi had, so talking to Sooyoung was refreshing. And whether it was because the taller girl and Joohyun were best friends or not, the two shared personality traits and could’ve easily passed as sisters to anyone who didn’t know the best friends.

            Joohyun was relatively quiet other than suggesting a ride or game to try out, and Seulgi felt bad that the older girl seemed so lost when she and Sooyoung talked. Every now and then, Seulgi brought up something more general to talk about, but somehow it ended up being about music again.

            “Am I going to have to snatch Joohyun unnie away from you two?”

            Wendy popped out of nowhere with a grinning Yeri, scaring the three girls. Seulgi clutched onto her chest and tried to calm her wildly beating heart, but the opposite happened when she realized that both Joohyun and Sooyoung had clung onto her in surprise, the taller girl hanging off of Seulgi’s neck and the smaller girl burrowing her face in Seulgi’s chest. Yeri snorted at the image and quickly pulled out her phone to take a picture.

            “Jesus, Yeri, can you not?” Seulgi patted both girls’ arms assuredly and jerked her chin at Wendy. “Wannie, please do something about your child.”

            “Hey, I’m not her child!” Yeri scowled. “I’m an adult too,” she said in a quieter voice.

            Wendy squeezed the younger girl’s cheeks. “You’ll always be my baby.”

            Yeri flushed as she slapped Wendy’s hands away. “Damn you, Wendy,” she muttered.

            Seulgi smirked before realizing that two women were still clinging onto her. “Uh, guys? Are you two okay?”

            Sooyoung pulled back and rapidly started apologizing, but Joohyun lingered, arms still wrapped around Seulgi as she looked up into the taller girl’s eyes. She smiled softly. “I’m okay now.”

            “Damn, you work fast.” Jisoo, Lisa, and Jennie also materialized out of nowhere, making Sooyoung and Joohyun scream. Jisoo smirked. “I knew that you two had the hots—”

            Lisa pretty much socked Jisoo in the jaw to shut her up. Jennie took five wide steps away from the two girls.

            “Well…” Everyone turned to Wendy, who realized that her attempt to diffuse the awkward situation put her in the spotlight. “Um, Joy? You said you make music too?”

            “Uh, yeah.” Sooyoung glanced at Joohyun.

            “Cool. Are you on Roulette?”

            “Huh?” The tall girl fiddled with her fingers and peeked at her best friend again. “Yeah, I am.”

            “Nice! What’s your handle?”

            Seulgi noticed that there was a silence during which Joohyun’s gaze bore into Sooyoung’s head. The sophomore bit her lip and stared down at her shoes as she answered.

            “It’s…@lette_the_peace_flow. You probably haven’t heard of it.”

            Wendy furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait, what?”

            “@lette_the_peace_flow.”

            “Wait,” Wendy said, shifting her eyes side to side as if remembering something. “No, I definitely know who you are.” She grinned and nudged Seulgi. “I know someone who’s a huge fan of yours.”

            “Really?” Sooyoung perked up and steppe