Eighth Harmony
Enjoy Your Harmony
"Who does he think he is?" an annoyed Jihoon exclaimed, obviously embarrassed by the harsh comment that came from the creative director just a few moments ago.
Hari walked up to him and patted his shoulders to calm him down. "He's just getting ahead of himself. If Jiyoung was still here, this wouldn't have happened."
"That idiot. I still can't believe he left ShinCom for a job in the university." Jihoon mumbled as he furiously ruffled his hair.
Jihoon remembered the fun times they had when Jiyoung was still around. The four of them always hung around each other and Jihoon truly admired Jiyoung's musical talent. The man had taught him all the skills needed to survive in the industry. Hari and Kiyoon were once under his study too, and Jihoon was said to be the next creative director after Jiyoung announced his departure from ShinCom. Of course, he was happy about the promotion but was also sad that he was about to lose one of his greatest friend.
"A lecturer? That's unlike you, Jiyoung."
The older man let out a hearty laugh. "Mid-career switch you know. Everyone needs that."
"How will ShinCom survive without you?"
"I'm sure there are other talents out there. It would be better if it was you though." Jiyoung said to Jihoon.
Jihoon stared at the boxes of stuff that his senior had already packed neatly. He offered to help carry one of them as he escorted Jiyoung to the lobby.
"I'll do the job well if I'm promoted." he said with determined eyes.
Jiyoung gave a pat on his back and wished him good luck before walking out of the doors of ShinCom.
That was the last time Jihoon heard from Jiyoung and things hadn't been going well for him. He didn't get the promotion that he was expecting and instead, ShinCom hired some unknown JongShin graduate called Shin Hyesung to fill up Jiyoung's spot. At first, he thought that well, if Hyesung could do a job that parred with Jiyoung, he was going to live with it. Obviously things didn't go the way he wanted.
To be honest, Jihoon didn't hate Hyesung. He just didn't like the way Hyesung goes all "original" instead of what is marketable. Being an arts business graduate, Jihoon and his team knew the importance of making music marketable, but Hyesung knew nothing of that, or rather didn't want to acknowledge any of that.
"You know, Hyesung can be really careless sometimes." the usually quiet Kiyoon suddenly said.
Jihoon and Hari turned around and looked at their friend who was handling with the papers on the table. "What are you thinking?" the petite girl asked.
Kiyoon slowly walked up to his friends as he carefully looked through the papers. "Well, I'm sure the CEO would make a fuss if Kangta's new single is delayed, isn't it?" the man said with a grin.
Jihoon knew immediately what Kiyoon was referring to. He grabbed the papers from Kiyoon, only to be stopped by Hari.
"Are you sure? It won't be just Hyesung who's getting into trouble." she asked, trying to convince her partners to think twice.
Her words were ignored by Jihoon who simply replied, "If he's that keen on being in charge, then it's only our job as his underlings to fulfil his wish isn't it?"
The four friends of Hyesung were gathered in the canteen having a discussion. Well, discussion wasn't exactly the correct word to describe their current activity.
"I can't wait to see his reaction later." A cheery Dongwan said to the others, his famous smile plastered on his tanned face.
The youngest among the four laughed along with him, clapping his hands like a seal. "Can you imagine his horror? I still vaguely remember his expression from just now."
It was Minwoo and Junjin's turn to agree, but the latter returned to being serious moments later. "Hey guys," he called. The three all looked at him, still trying to control their fits of laughter.
"Is this a good thing? I mean, it's Eric we're talking about."
They remained silent as they thought seriously about Junjin's question. They knew perfectly well what was he referring to... It was part of the reason why they were in their current state in ShinCom, but that was in the past. Andy's hand slowly reached out for his boyfriend and gave him a light pat on the back. "It doesn't matter. They'll pull through. Eric's been quite serious about him though."
The rest looked at Andy with a puzzled look. The younger male took a deep breath and continued, "We've all been there and done that. What's the worst that could happen to Hyesung?"
"I'm sure Eric wouldn't allow that to happen if he's really serious." Minwoo stated.
Dongwan snapped his fingers as if he had something figured out. He hastily tapped against the wooden table, earning the attention from his friends.
"We should all pretend that we know nothing about this. It just makes things more interesting, doesn't it?" He suggested with a sly grin.
The three eyed each other and then nodded. Things were definitely getting interesting alright; especially with themselves involved in Hyesung's frenzy. After all, helping a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Meanwhile, a certain someone had been pretty caught up in his own situation. It has been 15 minutes, but he was still staring at his whiteboard that suddenly seemed very entertaining. His lips were still trembling and even the buzz of his phone didn't seem to wake him up from his trance.
Hyesung was still trying to get over the fact that he was in love with Eric.
"Oh god... With Eric?" He asked himself. It was still unbelievable in his opinion. He had never expected himself to possess feelings for Eric the way Junjin and Andy had for each other... Or even Minwoo and Dongwan. When did it happen and how? Eric was supposed to be just a friend, someone who understood the way he worked. In love? Well, that escalated quickly.
The director shook his head and returned back to reality. He looked at his phone which was still buzzing and picked it up. A familiar voice over the line made Hyesung want to hang up the phone. He cursed at his bad luck; he was talking to the man he didn't want to face now.
"I saw you storming to your office, is everything alright?" A low voice asked.
"W-well yeah... I've just sorted it out. Everything's fine." He replied, his voice clouded with nervousness and panic.
Eric didn't seem to believe what he said since he knew that Hyesung was bad at lying. Nonetheless, he replied the younger man with a cheerful 'Alright' and hung up the phone, leaving the man back to his work. He stared at his own office full of files and documents, each one of them neatly labelled and categorized.
"Time for housekeeping."
Hyesung placed his phone back into his pocket and stood up to return back to the studio. He needed to get back to work and of a lower priority, apologize to Jihoon. Hyesung didn't want to let his personal feelings get involved with his work and he felt that Jihoon was just being honest. Yes, Shin Hyesung was naive, but the man himself knew better.
He walked back to the studio next door, realizing that he had left all his files there since he stormed out in fury a while ago. He hoped that Jihoon and the team was still there so that they could continue with their work. The deadline was in a few weeks after all.
He opened the door and found the room empty even though the lights were still . Jihoon and the rest must have left after the commotion he caused. He searched high an low for his files before figuring that Jihoon or the team must have helped him keep them. It was too dangerous to leave drafts and idea plans lying around after all. Hyesung turned off the lights and returned to his office to look for Jihoon. He saw the man quietly doing his work with his headphones on his head.
"Jihoon." The director called, tapping on the male's shoulder to get his attention.
Jihoon stopped his work and looked at Hyesung. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry for the comment just now. Are we alright?"
"Oh that. No worries, I'm sorry too. By the way, I left your files in the studio cause' I thought you'll be going back to retrieve them. Did you get them?"
Hyesung's face fell into worry. His eyes widened and he leaned closer to Jihoon. "Are you sure? I didn't see them."
The handsome male nodded and even asked his colleagues around him to convince Hyesung. Realizing the horror, Hyesung quickly rushed back into his office.
Junjin was happily having his tea break with Andy when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He showed the caller ID to Andy who chuckled.
"Yes Hyesung?"
"Junjin, I lost the files."
"What?"
"I lost the files for Kangta's single. Jihoon said he left them in the studio but it wasn't there." Hyesung repeated in a monotone.
"You're in serious trouble."
Hyesung rolled his eyes, "As if I don't know!"
"I'll be back." Junjin hastily replied before walking back as he explained the situation to Andy on the way. The younger male however, didn't appear surprised by the news
"It's a sabotage." He said coolly during the emergency meeting held by Junjin.
The assistant director didn't want to create a commotion before the situation was confirmed and hence had only called his friends along. Hyesung remained silent and seemed to be in deep thought throughout the meeting.
"How long will it take to produce the files again?" Minwoo asked.
"Even if with the back up files in the computer, the earliest is probably within three weeks." Hyesung replied.
Junjin let out a heavy sigh. "We will barely make it in time, but just do your best Hyesung. It's the most we can do till we find the files."
Hyesung nodded, filled with guilt from his carelessness. The five of them kept quiet for a while until Dongwan spoke.
"Andy, you said it was a sabotage?" He asked the younger male who had a poker face.
Andy nodded, "But it isn't logical since they're in the same team."
"You mean Jihoon?" Minwoo questioned.
Junjin and Hyesung turned their heads towards Minwoo. "Why would he want to put himself in trouble?"
It was illogical no matter how hard they thought about it. At this moment, there was only Hyesung's carelessness to blame. Junjin called off the meeting and told them go home while Hyesung sorted things out.
Hyesung was already worn out by the time he reached home. There were just too many things not going his way recently... And the issue with Eric. What was he going to do? He knew for sure that he was never going to confess. Eric didn't exactly said that the feeling was mutual either, so it puzzled Hyesung as to why Eric was such a tease.
Even so, he wasn't in a mood to deal with his feelings right now. All he knew that he would be screwed if he couldn't make it in time for the release of the single.
In the mean time, a calm and composed Junjin dialed a familiar number on his way home. His tapped his Bluetooth receiver and focused on the road, waiting for the other party to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Ahh yes. Did you receive the message I've sent you?" The driver asked.
"Just a moment ago."
"Do you... Do you think you'll be able to help out?" He asked again, hands gripping tighter to the steering wheel.
There was a pause on the line before the other man spoke, "Is it really alright?"
"He'll find out eventually."
"Do you think he'll hate me?"
The driver smiled to himself. "Based on his personality, I'd say yes. But Andy says you work magic, don't you?"
Hi guys, a little clarification for the previous post (which I've already deleted)
I thought of re-writing/deleting this story at first due to certain reasons. But after hearing from you readers, I thought about it and decided to continue with it.
A really really big thank you to all of you.
As promised, I'll work hard on this story. Taken suggestions from some readers too :)
To prevent any misunderstandings, I have deleted the comments placed on the deleted chapter 8. So please don't be alarmed if you see your comment disappear. ^^
I know it isn't exactly a fantastic part about Hyesung realising his supposed love for Eric, but I have no idea how to go about expressing his dillema D: And well, as you can see, the truth is coming out slowly. This story will probably end around chapter 15-20. Idk, it depends on how it progresses. Hahaha~
In the mean time, do check out my new fic! It's a heartwarming Ricsyung fiction with drops of Jindy and Woodong in there. Similar to this, but the mood is fuzzy~
Cafe
Till the next update, subscribe, comment and rant!
cheers,
cladiot
OMG, and did you guys see this? HYESUNG IS SO DAMN IN HERE.
http://www.allkpop.com/2013/05/shinhwa-dress-up-like-senior-citizens-for-snl-korea
Comments