Seunghyun’s mind whirled. Jiyong eventually got frustrated and showed it in many ways. He cursed, walked around, ruffled his hair, bit his lip. One thing he never did though was call Seunghyun stupid, which made Seunghyun want to try a little bit harder.

“So, if a tangent means it’s touching, what is an asymptote?” Seunghyun said massaging his temples.

Jiyong mirrored Seunghyun’s action before rubbing his eyes.

“Here let me show you again,” Jiyong said crouching down next to the older.

Seunghyun loved that Jiyong was trying so hard on him and didn’t seem to be giving up but even he knew he was a lost cause. It wasn’t just because of the level of math he somehow passed into but because Jiyong was sitting close by him, smelling of fragments of their day together, his dark hair shining in the dim light. Sometimes he would bear his teeth in a kind of growl and Seunghyun couldn’t help but smile at his adorable smile with a chipped tooth in the front.

The dryer buzzed and Seunghyun realized how much of Jiyong’s time he had been wasting. Jiyong couldn’t be enjoying this. Maybe he could make it up to him somehow.

“Hey, Jiyong? You mind if we take a break for a while? I’m sure that both of our heads are throbbing.” Seunghyun asked while Jiyong folded.

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea. I guess I’m not teacher material anyways.” Jiyong said with a resigned sigh.

“Maybe you are just teaching the wrong thing.” Seunghyun hinted.

“What do you mean?” Jiyong asked before sitting down next to Seunghyun by the refrigerator.

“I mean, you are a great lyricist and rapper. I have never heard you rap but I just know by looking at your notebook. You really are a genius.” Seunghyun told the now blushing younger.

“I’m not that good.” Jiyong seemed to mumble.

“You want to bet on that?” Seunghyun counterpointed, his confidence and adrenaline rising by the second.

“How? How can you prove that I’m a good lyra- whatever and a good rapper? If you can, I’ll take your wager, whatever it is.” Jiyong said his voice stronger this time.

“Let’s just say I know the perfect judges.” Seunghyun said before telling Jiyong to get his notebook, grabbing his wrist, and taking him down the hall to the recording studio.

Seunghyun knocked on the door and walked in before he waited for an answer. Danny was in the booth singing with a large amount of passion. Everyone else’s eyes were transfixed on him as they saw tears roll down his cheeks, mixing with his sweat as they mingled on his neck. Seunghyun and Jiyong were glued speechless at the image. Jiyong’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. Seunghyun noticed his grip on his notebook had tightened and the blood drained from his face.

Seunghyun didn’t mean for him to get this uncomfortable. The last time he was here everyone was just hanging out and eating pizza. He had been hoping for an atmosphere like that to ease Jiyong into talking to them but with his luck, they were recording and so magnificently that Jiyong looked like a rabbit about to flee if his feet weren’t glued to the floor.

Soon, Danny slowed down and collapsed into a bundle on the booth’s floor. Everyone else still sat in stunned silence until Jin Hwan walked into the booth and put his arm around his band mate and maknae, letting him cry with some comfort.

“I had no idea.” Baek Kyoung said quietly. “He always seems so easygoing.”

They could hear Jin Hwan softly reassuring the older, saying things like “gwaenchanh-a” and “when you sing, sometimes it makes your soul burst and that’s okay”.

Teddy soon looked up at the two doorway dwellers, quickly wiping at the small tears rolling down his face.

“Hey, Seunghyun, Jiyong, did you come to see me?” Teddy asked.

“Well, we came to see all of you to settle a bet but if we came at the wrong time…” Seunghyun said, with his hand still holding onto Jiyong’s wrist.

“I don’t know if those guys will be up to too much more tonight but I can try to help you guys. Let’s move to the practice room though, give them some space.” Teddy offered, getting up from his desk chair to meet them at the doorway.

All three of them sat on the hardwood floors of the practice room, which looked cleaner than it usually did. Teddy took a draw from his water bottle before looking at the two in front of him.

“So, what is this bet about?” Teddy asked the two in front of him.

Jjyong poked at a piece of dried grass on the floor, closed up from talking. Seunghyun gave him a nudge. Jiyong needed to learn to talk to them beyond school. They weren’t adults completely. They could talk comfortably with Jiyong, especially about music. Teddy seemed like a good start. He was honest but could give a good compliment.

“Well, Seunghyun thinks that I’m really good at lyrics and raps and I know I’m not. So, we’re here to ask you if I am really good or not.” Jiyong said quietly, barely lifting his head.

Teddy looked intently at the unconfident boy in front of him.

“Lift your head up, Jiyong.” He instructed him.

Jiyong slowly lifted his head up, looking at the softly intense eyes in front of him. His eyes kept shifting uncomfortably.

“Now, should I go into this with a clear perspective as a listener, a producer, a rapper, or a potential friend?” Teddy asked him.

Seunghyun looked over at Jiyong and Teddy, a little stunned at the question. It was a difficult call. What would Jiyong want? Which opinion did Teddy give him in his notebook?

After a few moments Jiyong spoke.

“Can I have all of them?” He said softly, eyes glued back to the floor.

“If that’s what you want.” Teddy said, taking the notebook into his hands.

“Yes, that’s what I want.” Jiyong said in a softly confident tone.

The next couple hours were spent trying to pass the time away and not focus on Teddy. It was a really difficult task for the two young rappers, especially for Jiyong who looked like he was on death row.

“Come on, Jiyong-ah. You can’t just sit here being nervous. Come play with me.” Seunghyun said as he bounced a beach ball he found off of his head.

Jiyong shook his head without looking at his hyung. Seunghyun sat next to him and looked at his worried face. It was sheet white and he had the look of someone who might vomit. Seunghyun panicked. Getting up he ran to find the trashcan to put in front of the younger. He had no idea this little bet would get this intense. He just wanted Jiyong to know he was amazing and his hyungs loved him.

Seunghyun put his hand on Jiyong’s back, rubbing it in circles. He gave a small smile from the side as he moved his hand. Slowly Jiyong closed his eyes and started to relax. As he relaxed though, Seunghyun started to get tense. Seeing Jiyong so relaxed was like a rare treat. He looked like he let all of problems go and now only his soul sat before him.

A few minutes later he looked up to look at Teddy staring back at him. It made him jump almost a foot in the air.

“Yah! How long have you been looking at us?” Seunghyun said, clutching his chest, feeling his ears start to burn in embarrassment.

“Only about a minute.” Teddy said stretching his arms out.

“So, what is the verdict?” Jiyong asked, his voice quiet but more relaxed this time.

“Do you want an answer from each perspective?” Teddy said, rubbing his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Yes.” He said in the same tone.

“Well, as a listener, I liked how I could relate to your stories. You are really a relatable artist and the beats you have are rather catchy, but they are a lot heavier than most songs out so most people wouldn’t be too keen on it.” He said while leaning back on his hands.

“As a producer, I like how you made my job easier. You wrote down a lot of ideas in there as far as rhythms and melodies are concerned. You do write it based off of your raps and that is good but they are rather short and that makes it hard to put into a song.” Teddy said after letting out a sigh.

“As a rapper, I love that heavy beat and rhythm . I love that you took soft ideas and put them with a hard beat and when things were more intense you made the rhythm pick up to leave people stunned at how you could say something with such content so quickly.” Teddy said with enthusiasm as he sat up.

He then looked like his eyes shifted between Seunghyun and Jiyong. Maybe that was just his imagination though.

“As a potential friend, I would say you are amazing and you shouldn’t hang out in that nook all of the time. Your music is really good and you should come and sit with us sometimes. You would learn a lot and I might even learn something from you.” Teddy said, staring ahead at Jiyong whose ears were going red again.

“So, what is your conclusion for our bet?” Seunghyun asked, knowing too well that he probably won but he wanted Jiyong to hear it.

“You are going to become an amazing artist, Jiyong. I can feel it in my bones. This notebook proves it. You are a great lyricist and rapper and will one day probably surpass my level.” Teddy admitted to Jiyong.

Jiyong sat there in silence. Seunghyun figured he was overwhelmed with all of this so he talked to Teddy instead.

“Thanks for helping us.” Seunghyun said while Teddy got up and gave him another hip-hop man hug.

“It’s no problem, Seunghyun. Sometimes we all feel a little under confident about our own skills, especially if they are just beginning to form.” Teddy said before heading to the door.

“Oh, and by the way, one last thing I have to say as a potential friend, which may be a little forward for such young buys but, get a room, you two.” Teddy said with a little laugh.

Seunghyun felt his face going really red and looked to see that Jiyong looked just how he felt.