Seunghyun gulped down the thickened spit in his throat like it was an ounce of courage and walked into the recording studio. It was the size of a small bedroom with a couch against one side, a bunch of large speakers at the far wall, and a long solid panel of mixers, a couple of keyboards, and a computer monitor with a glass window behind it looking into the sound booth on the side opposite of the couch. Danny and three unknown people were on the couch eating pizza and trying to air out the smell of cigarette smoke, seeing that there was a kid in the room. Seunghyun didn’t mind. It was a comforting smell to him and gave him a little numbness as he stood at the foot of the couch. Teddy was sitting in a chair at the control panel, obviously engrossed in something on the monitor.

“You guys, maybe if we adjust the bass like this then have Baek Kyoung come in maybe…” Teddy said oblivious to the situation.

Danny got up and said something in English to Teddy. Teddy rubbed his eyes and looked at Danny, then at his watch. Seunghyun tried hard to follow what they were saying. He should have paid more attention in his English class. Suddenly Teddy turned around and looked at Seunghyun.

“You can come in and sit down, you know. We don’t bite.” One of the couch occupiers said.

“Yeah, Teddy, who is this kid?” Another couch sitter said.

“He’s my visitor, at least I’m guessing so, treat him kindly,” Teddy said gesturing for Seunghyun to come towards him. “Let’s see what you have there, Seunghyun.”

Seunghyun made his legs move slowly forward. His hands were so wet that he feared for his tattered notebook’s life. He got the Teddy’s chair and handed him the notebook.

“It isn’t as impressive as Jiyong’s notebook.” Seunghyun said nervously as Teddy took it from him.

“We are all different, Seunghyun. We all have different perspectives on things. Lyrics and raps are very personal so I will treat this as such.” Teddy said before opening the notebook.

Seunghyun stood there for several minutes nervously while Teddy read through each page. He felt like he was made of cement. Sometimes Teddy nodded and seemed like he was mentally working on beats in his head with Seunghyun’s written words.

“You know you really can sit down. He really gets into things sometimes,” the third person said.

Seunghyun nodded and forced his legs to move towards the couch. He eased himself down slowly like he was afraid the couch was off limits. Danny laughed.

“This kid really is something.” He said.

“I’m these guys’ manager, Kim Hyun Soo. You can just call me Hyun Soo, unless YG is around then you can call me sir.” The 3^rd speaker said rolling his eyes and stretching out his hand and shaking Seunghyun’s hand normally. That was a first.

“Yeah. I wonder when he is going to drop all the honorifics. This is hip-hop. He should know how it is.” The second speaker said before leaning forward with his hand stretched out. “I’m Jin Hwan.”

Seunghyun bowed and took his hand, which he slid into a fist bump. These guys really need to stick with one common handshake.

“Yah! You aren’t even a rapper. What would you know about hip-hop?” The final young man said before reaching his hand out as well. “I’m Baek Kyoung, the lead rapper of this group.” He said while sending a side glare at Jin Hwan.

“Yah, Baek Kyoung, if all of Hip-Hop was rap would it sound as good? Everything needs some contrast. Plus, it isn’t like you rap that much anyways,” Jin Hwan threw at the other.

“Let me ask you something, Seunghyun. What is in that notebook you brought in here? I’ll bet you 10,000 won, Jin Hwan, that those are not lyrics but raps.” Baek Kyoung fired back.

Jin Hwan scooted forward and looked at Seunghyun’s face. He felt really anxious with his face half a meter away. He looked all over but in Jin Hwan’s direction. He really hated conflict. He avoided it at all costs.

“I’ll take that bet,” Jin Hwan finally said. “He looks like a singer to me.”

“How does he look like a singer?” Baek Kyoung laughed while taking out his wallet and throwing down the green bill.

The two kept going back and forth for a while, while Danny pulled some headphones over his ears and watched amused like it was a variety show for him. The manager moaned.

“Hey, Teddy Leader, can you at least tell these two dunderheads what is in that notebook so I don’t get a migraine from all of this?” the manager whined.

“Mmm?” Teddy said looking up for the first time. The other two looked at him intently.

“It’s poetry.” Teddy said offhandedly, pen hanging out of his mouth.

“Poetry?” The two betters said together, obviously shocked.

“Well, poetry made into raps. It’s interesting, really.” Teddy said running his finger along his jaw line outside of his hood.

“Aha! I’ll take that!” Baek Kyoung shouted triumphantly, picking up the bills from the table.

“That doesn’t mean he can’t sing. He could still sing,” Jin Hwan said, trying to regain some of his pride. “Do you sing at all?”

Seunghyun barely shook his head. “My noona told me I shouldn’t sing in the shower anymore because stray cats were starting to show up,” he said quietly.

Ji Hwan sighed and picked up a slice of pizza. “I thought I could find another hip-hop singer. Everyone raps these days. No one just sings.” he said defeated.

Seunghyun grimaced, uncomfortable with the current situation. When Teddy closed his notebook and rubbed his eyes Seunghyun practically flew from his seat.

“These are really good. I wrote a few ideas in there if you don’t mind.” He said looking up from his chair.

“I don’t mind. I want to become better.” Seunghyun admitted.

“That’s good. It’s hard for an artist to be open to other’s opinions.” Teddy said turning to look at the monitor again before groaning.

“Maybe we should call it a night, guys. I’m starting to run out of juice myself.” He said to the others.

“Finally!” Hyun Soo said, getting up. “I thought giving you more leadership roles would be good but I’ve been getting less sleep by the week. Do you see these dark circles?”

The other three snickered at their manager, put on their hoodies, and got up to leave. Seunghyun started to leave with them to go down the hall and check on Jiyong when Teddy grabbed his shoulder affectionately and gave him a small smile before catching up to the others. Seunghyun wondered what the look was for. He turned to go down the hall when he was face to face with a very irritated Jiyong.

“Have fun?” He asked sneeringly.

Seunghyun nodded while looking at his shoes. Why was Jiyong upset with him? He was so busy that he didn’t even notice he had left.

“I thought you were here to help me tonight, Seunghyun, not help yourself.” Jiyong heatedly said.

Seunghyun was confused. Was Jiyong jealous? Hadn’t he talked to or shown those guys his notebook before for advice?

“I didn’t know you would be upset.” Seunghyun whispered.

“Upset? I’m not upset. I just thought that you would keep your word, Seunghyun. You said you would help me, that you weren’t going anywhere.” Jiyong said, ruffling his hair again, his voice getting quieter towards the end.

Seunghyun felt terrible. His heart had dropped so low. He made Jiyong disappointed in him. It made disappointing his parents seem like nothing. He didn’t know what to say to Jiyong.

“I’m sorry,’ Seunghyun said quietly. “I’m not used to being responsible. I’ll try harder next time.”

Jiyong sighed exasperatedly. “It’s okay,” Jiyong said. “I’ve just…I’ve never felt as comfortable with them as you are. I’ve been around them for weeks now and they make me feel really nervous.”

Seunghyun smiled.

“What are you smiling at? Did I say something amusing?” Jiyong said at Seunghyun’s expression.

“Ahnee. I just feel that way around younger people.” Seunghyun admitted.

“Eh? Why younger people? Shouldn’t you feel that way around your sunbaes and elders? They are more experienced and could be looking down on you and expect so much.” Jiyong said.

Seunghyun shrugged. “I guess it’s like, these people look up to me and I don’t even like who I am. How can I inspire them, make them better than they are now when I am like this?” He explained gesturing to his pudgy body.

Jiyong sighed. “I guess we are more alike than I thought.” He admitted.

Seunghyun looked up at the other questioningly. Did Jiyong not like himself either? Why? He was so amazing.

“How about this, you help me get closer to the 1TYM hyungs and I’ll help you feel more confident around your dongsaengs, deal?” Jiyong said stretching out his hand.

Seunghyun grabbed it and before he knew it, reflexes seemed to take over and he pulled Jiyong in and hit his back. His heartbeat raced. Did he really just do that? Jiyong cleared his throat. Seunghyun realized he didn’t release the hug and backed off awkwardly.

“Sorry.” Seunghyun muttered.

“It’s okay. Now that those guys have left, let’s get going on the cleaning. We have double duty tonight because I’ll bet they trashed both rooms. That just gives you more time to tell me what you guys talked about though.” Jiyong said while Seunghyun moaned.

Seunghyun didn’t want to clean. This Jiyong quality time came at a hefty price. He would pay it but really, they had to find some other way to spend time together. He looked at Jiyong, currently on his tiptoes, wearing pink rubber gloves, trying to get the paper towels off the shelf. Seunghyun smiled, on the other hand, this was rather nice.