Jihoon

Jihoon found a new name for Jieun. In his head, she’s no longer just a cold, heartless princess, but also a pest. In the past month of recording and working together on the duets, he’s received emails and messages saying he ‘needs to adjust his tone’ or ‘he needs to tone down the stickiness to an acceptable level’ or worse “can he please sing like a singer’.

All these came from Eana, but he knew those comments came from one person, and one person only - Jieun. Jihoon has been singing in a specifically y way since he debuted; a perfect combination of air and sound that made it feel as if he’s singing inside your head. This style is like his second skin – and he’s been criticized by the tiny pest for it so many times. Well, she does have a point – the concept of the album is not exactly y, but must she really be so condescending about it? Sometimes he ignores the emails and messages on purpose just to spite her. However, it came to bite him in the because she ends up either:

And when he turns of his phone, she asks Si Eon to call him.

“Seriously, that little pest needs to get a life. She’s such a pain in the .”

Forgetting he was in the dance practice studio, his outburst got the attention of one of the female dancers, Hyunseung.

“What was that, Jihoon-ssi?”

“Nothing, just thinking out loud, hehe.” He smiled and abruptly changed the subject. “Let’s do one more run of the entire thing and record it, then we can call it a day.”

Hyunseung nodded, then added, “I think we’re almost done with the choreography. But…do you think Jieun can do this type of dancing?”

Her question brought a big smile to his lips.

It was not a secret that Jieun wasn’t exactly the all-around performer. Her vocal prowess was her weapon, and that’s exactly why Jihoon decided to volunteer to choreograph the entire thing. He won’t deny it, he really wants to see Jieun struggle to keep up with his dancing.

“Of course, our Jieun is an a-list talent. She can do anything.” Jihoon said, with just a hint of excessive glee, to which Hyunseung hesitantly agreed.

She doesn’t look convinced at all.

--

“What are you so happy about?” Changmo finally asked, looking at him in  a funny way.

‘What?”

“You’ve been humming and smiling since the moment we left your house. You always hated it when I wake you up early.”

“Can’t I just be happy for no reason?”

His Changmo hyung gave him a weird look, then proceeded to tell him about his schedule for the day.

Jihoon looked out the window, still smiling. Today is the day he’s been waiting for since this project started. It’s their first dance practice with Jieun. He can’t explain it, but his excitement is almost similar to how he felt as a little boy on christmas eve, or when he got his first paycheck as a singer. He’s been feeling down about the disastrous recording they had, and now, he’s finally getting his revenge.

They arrived at Rain Company’s building a little early, which was fortunate because there were fans waiting for him outside. Sometimes he finds it amazing that there are still many people supporting him after all these years. It gets hard - especially when his privacy is being violated by sasaengs. But most of his fans have been like friends who grew up with him. He knew that nothing lasts forever, so he tries to be as patient and grateful as he can even when he’s tired. He couldn’t forget the support of his Clouds when he got into that huge scandal with Taehee a few years back, and it made him look at his fans in a more appreciative light.

“Jihoon oppa! Annyeong!”

‘Jihoon oppa, saranghae!”

The cheers and greetings from his fans welcomed him as went out of the car. He waved at them warmly and greeted them back. They prepared coffee for him and his crew, which he gladly accepted. After taking some photos and signing some autographs, he waved them goodbye and went into the building.

He was surprised to see Jieun with her manager so early.

“You ready?” He asked her.

“Yup.” Was her short response.

He gave her a big grin, and a pat on the shoulder, which she shrugged off annoyingly.

“You better stretch with us, it’s going to be a long day.”

They went into the biggest dance practice studio. Hyunseung and the other female dancers did some stretches with Jieun. He overheard her say that she hadn’t danced much during her concert tours, while the ladies reassured her that they’ll help her with anything.

Jihoon cleared his throat and then clapped loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, gather round.”

The