They say love means never having to say you're sorry, but for Kwon Jiyong, love means having to put up with Lee Seunghyun's taste in music

When Jiyong goes into Seungri’s room, Justin Timberlake is playing, in his ever offensive smooth and flirtatious mode and Jiyong wrinkles his nose, who the likes this but then Seungri walks back in, no wait struts back  in, because JT is his jam and he scowls some more. Of course,  the only pair of pants he wants in on  likes Justin Timberlake.

 

Not that he has a problem with Justin Timberlake. Okay yeah he does. He respects Justin Timberlake as an artist and all, but Justin Timberlake isn’t exactly what Jiyong likes to hear at 10 in the morning when they’re travelling to whatever is next on their schedule and in the tiny confined space of the van, he can hear the faint tinny sound of ‘Cry Me A River’ through Seungri’s useless headphones. He is like an athlete, he needs to warm up before he works and that’s why he only likes listening to soft ballads in the morning like 4men, especially early morning when his head can’t handle jarring bass , he likes a little  moody rock, the wistful understated kind,  maybe a little Radiohead and then he likes his hard rap and hip hop in the afternoon, sometimes Verbal Jint, sometimes Omarion and when the Jay-Z and Kanye collaboration comes out he plays that morning and afternoon and that is why Justin Timberlake just doesn’t mesh with him. Ever. He’s just not a Justin Timberlake fan.
 

Obviously, this presents a very interesting dilemma. In the artist world that Jiyong lives in, disagreements over music are more than enough basis to break up with your partner over, because music is your lifeblood and if you aren’t happy, when will you be? Jiyong never struggles with this option because he has spent the last three years waiting for Seungri, he’s not about to let him go, so since Jiyong likes Seungri a lot, he has to deal with people like Bruno Mars and Taio Cruz. It’s okay, he’s a professional. He definitely does not take to inserting viruses into Seungri’s computer. That would be low.

Instead, he gives Seungri’s iPod to his sister and tells a depressed maknae that he can share his iPod while he searches for a replacement. What happens next is not what he wanted to happen, because in this world, nothing goes Jiyong’s way.  Instead of maknae respectfully listening to his music, developing a taste for his music and then promptly deleting all the American Top 40 on his computer for N.E.R.D and the like, the idiot goes ahead and starts putting his own music in! Jiyong’s iPod screams at the betrayal and now plays Usher on a loop.

 

This irritates Jiyong no end, because he does not like putting his songs on shuffle and then having Seungri’s music shuffle in and screw with his taste. He makes them individual playlists, with clear caps lock titles, in a very menacing if-you-stick-your--in-here-you’ll-pay way. Somehow, he winds up listening to Chris Brown twice before the day is out and then he realises something.

Seungri is trying to convert him. The cheek of him.

However, Jiyong is nothing if not open to new music experiences, so he wearily puts up with having Jason Derulo stutter his name into his ear and listens to Justin Timberlake tell him that ‘What Goes Around’ comes around and suddenly, he is listening to them all the time. He equates them with Seungri. Seungri, who loves the smooth suavity they have going on, Seungri, who likes to imitate the richness and the roll of their vocals, even though it doesn’t really work for him. And when he listens to Seungri’s playlist, he hears Seungri in his head, Seungri, Seungri, Seungri.
 

And I just can't pull myself away
Under a spell I can't break

 

When Seungri is away, sometimes Jiyong likes to play Justin Timberlake and pretend that he is still in the room with him, that Seungri is pressing soft kisses into the palms of his hand and not three hundred miles away doing some activity with some girl or boy or person that isn’t him.

When Seungri comes back he likes to pretend that Bruno Mars is playing somewhere in the background, disgusting, but cheery in a way that no-one else can pull off.

When Seungri passes him on the way up to the stage, he always pauses, hesitant, and Jiyong will always squeeze his hand and whisper soft words of encouragement, and when Seungri finally straightens out his shoulders and pastes his public smile on, he likes to imagine that he has already picked out the soundtrack for their Saturday morning lie-in, and it’s probably going to contain a lot of Justin Timberlake.

 

And then Jiyong realises something else: he doesn’t mind one bit.

soooo there is the first chapter - let me know what you think! is jiyong's taste in music different in your mind? i attempted to look it up, but i only got a very vague idea, of him liking foreign rap and the like, so comment with your suggestions! and finally thank you to litagobabe, astrode, xxcrazyskittlesxx, oohgranolabars and pandalee who subscribed before i had even properly thought about the description, you guys are fabulous :D