It took another hour for Junhong to finally fall asleep, too many things were on his mind, too many new faces and new impressions to deal with and when he wakes up the next morning to one of Jepp's songs playing from his mobile phone he needs a second to realize where he is.
Sun breaks though the crack in the curtains and he recognizes the wine red carpet of his hotel room.

He rolls onto his back and grabs the phone of the table.
His eyes widen when he sees an incoming call instead of his alarm.
He swipes his thumb across the display and answers with a raspy -Hello?-

"Morning!" A deep voice draws through the speaker and Junhongs breath gets caught in his throat.
"Have I woke you?" Yongguk's voice sounds again with a chuckle hidden in his tone and Junhong glances at his watch to see it's 10 am already.
"Yes...No...well." He can't form sentences at all but Yongguk laughs lightly at the other end and tells him it's ok if he has because he hadn't planned to call this early. .
"I'm in the area by chance so I wanted to ask if you'd like me to pick you up."
Junhong panics slightly at the offer because he's far from presentable and that is still Jepp Blackman offering to give him a lift.
His thoughts run wild and his heart flutters but he calms down a little after a deep inhale and the cozy memories of yesterday flashing before his eyes.
"You still there?" The elder asks and Junhong realizes he's been silently nodding instead of answering.
"Yah ...yeah sure when do you get here?" Junhong stutters more than not.
"Will be there in 10...15 to give you some time" The rapper chuckles and Junhong smiles to himself.
"Alright see ya."
Yongguk hangs up after a quick - ok bye- and Junhong jumps to his feet and straight to the shower.
It's more of a cat than a real shower but Junhong hurries to get done.
He leaves his hair wet and jumps into a pair of jeans, tosses a hoodie over his head and roams his backpack for a snap-back when he hears a knock at the door.

With a swift move he grabs his backpack that still harbors all his notebooks, better be save than sorry in case he actually gathers the courage to show any of his notes to the elder.

They jump into Yongguk's old Civic and Junhong thinks it's weird how much he enjoys sitting on the faded passenger seat with the AC buzzing noisily and the speakers cracking under the bass of the radio.
Yongguk stops at a coffee-shop to get some coffee to go for Himchan after the boy calls to state he's stopping by the studio as well.

When they reach there Himchan is already sitting on the leather couch with an unfamiliar blond haired boy with glasses next to him gesturing in the air as he talks to the seemingly younger.

"Prodigy!" Himchan all but yells towards him when he spots Junhong and jumps to his feet to almost knock Junhong over as he cuddles him and ruffles his hair.
"Hi Himchan." Junhong says quietly and tries to pry the other's hands off of him without letting his disapproval display in the twist of his lips.

"You're not going to let him breath are you?" Yongguk asks with a chuckle and places Himchan's coffee onto the table next to the couch.
"Hey there." The boy on the couch says waving his hand randomly at all three of them.

"Oh right right! Prodigy, that's Youngjae. He'll do the sub vocals on the new mixtape." Himchan introduces the boy, once again gesturing wildly with his hands and Junhong bows a little to the other.
"Prodigy?" Youngjae asks and the gears in his head are visibly turning for a moment before he seems to have a quick enlightenment.
"Ah! Zelo!" He exclaims and points at Junhong who can feel his ear's flush under the mentioning of his "stage name".
He nods a little and gazes at Yongguk who looks at him with a smile on his face that may or may not be filled with a pinch of pride.
 

"I barely recognized you without the blur and pixels!" Youngjae laughs a little and Junhong mentally notes to beg his dad for a new webcam as soon as he gets home.

Himchan calms down a little while later and quietly sips on his coffee while Youngjae pulls out an I-Pad and starts engulfing himself in the depths of the world wide web.
Yongguk brings in the chairs from the record booth and gestures for Junhong to sit.

"So as Himchan said, Youngjae here will do the vocals on most of the tracks. We prerecorded them already so you're going to hear in a while."
Junhong nods as Yongguk talks, his eyes glued to the elder on every word.
 

He hands him one of the notebooks Junhong spotted yesterday already.
Yongguk flips through the pages as Junhong holds onto it.
The elder points out some lines he's scribbled down while working on the part Junhong is going to rap and explains the content of the songs.
Sometimes he takes a moment longer to explain a certain line, the metaphors he's used and how he interprets them.
Junhong's completely taken in by the other's elucidations and follows every word closely.
 

When they're though the track list Yongguk flips back a couple of pages and introduces the song he's planned for them to work on together.

The lyrics are strong and fierce, accusatory words towards society and the dubious decisions made by higher-ups.

Junhong skims over the text and stares at the huge passage that is highlighted with yellow color.
On the side of the text is a little arrow with a note stating his name.
He'd expected to maybe get a line or two in the song but this is basically the whole bridge that Yongguk's marked as his.
He lifts his eyes off the paper and gazes at the elder from underneath his bangs.

"Do you like it?" Yongguk asks and there's honest interest in his opinion reflecting in the rappers eyes.

The room is dipped in silence as everyone waits for Junhong's answer even Himchan keeps quiet for the moment as he looks at Junhong expectantly.
 

"It's so cool..." Junhong mumbles with awe in his voice and Himchan breaks out into laughter.
"He's smitten!" the dark haired boy states with a little twee sound leaving his lips.
It sounds like a noise the elder might emit watching a little kitten rolling on the floor and basically that's how he looks at Junhong as well.
Junhong slumps down on his chair just a little, wishing to vanish into thin air to avoid all the embarrassment that's clearly displayed on his cheeks.

Yongguk smiles all happy, maybe even a tad proud and starts to evaluate on that particular song some more before changing to more general topics about the current and former mixtapes.
He tells him a couple of artist that inspired him and how his own experience floated into the songs.

Yongguk tells him how sometimes a single phrase or moment works as inspiration for a song and Junhong gets to know about the time the elder started to get interested in rap music and how his passion for rap and hip hop had grown over the years.
Junhong thinks he can relate on so many levels to the things Yongguk lets him in on and he wants to know more, wants Yongguk to keep talking, tell him about his love for music and every other minor detail of his life and the things he's interested in.
Junhong already knows that the elder is interested in art, it shows in the unconventional composition of his tracks and he's picked up on it from the couple of V-logs that had Jepp and his friends at exhibitions, urban art, nothing fancy but underground artists, friends of the rapper who lived out their passion for art.
He'd love to know if the other is interested in classic artists like Monet or Picasso as well just like he listens to classic artists like Chopin and Bach.
There's so much about the elder that Junhong is eager to find out that he can't even start voicing his questions because they all end as a mush on the tip of his tongue before he gets to utter them.

Himchan cuts into their moment right when Junhong thinks he’s got his mind sorted enough to ask the first couple of questions and announce he'd like to do the recording for the intro sometime today.
He's been flipping through his magazine for the good amount of time already and if Junhong isn't mistaken the elder is flat out bored to the core by the time he speaks up again.
Youngjae has been occupied with his I-Pad for most of the time, not paying attention to the tall dark haired boy, Junhong thinks he can kind of relate how that must have been boring.
To Junhong though the past hour has been far from boring and he feels so energetic and fueled by the way Yongguk takes his ideas and suggestions into consideration he can almost feel the rush of euphoria running though his veins.
 

Himchan ushers them into the recording room and more or less firmly orders Yongguk to step into the booth.
Junhong watches how the elder removes his socks before stepping onto the furry ground and he's just slightly amazed to see the elder actually doing something like that.

It takes about 5 minutes until Himchan's set and Yongguk puts a pair of headphones atop his head, he gives a thumbs up to the dark haired male and turns just slightly towards Junhong, sending a quick smile into his direction.

Junhong smiles back a little awkwardly.

As soon as the first beats fill the small space Junhong automatically starts to nod his head along.
He really likes the flow of the track and his eyes fall close as he imagines the words that might be spit across the beat.
They snap back open again when a low -chyeah- is tossed into the instrumental and he finds himself staring through the glass window at elder rapper.
The elder looks utterly confident as he leans into the mic with his eyes closed and hands holding on to the headphones that cover his ears.
The aura of the person behind the glass wall is breathtaking, at least it is to Junhong and he feels an exciting fuzzy feeling building in his guts as he keeps on watching the one person he's idolized and admired for such a long time.
 

Junhong's eyes follow the movement of Yongguk's lips as he forms the words and tosses them at the mic.
He barely looks anywhere else and when his fingertips tingle with the urge to brush against those plush lips, he blames it on the hormones in his body and his fascination for the elder's talent.
Himchan cuts the music and Yongguk turns to the window, removing his headphones when Himchan gives him a thumbs up.
He steps out of the small record room and Himchan almost glares at him.

"It's good." he mumbles and Yongguk an eyebrow.
"Is that bad?" The elder asks and Himchan shakes his head and sighs.
"Mess up a little more! What do you think Zelo here feels like watching you kill that track on first shot?"
Junhong blinks at the dark haired boy, surprised to even hear his name being mentioned.
"Forgive him for being an inconsiderate ." Himchan adds and pats Junhong's back lightly.
Junhong looks at Yongguk who only shrugs.

"This is only a first take we'll probably be redoing it anyway." Yongguk says but Himchan huffs in annoyance.

He's about to reply when Junhong's mobile cuts into their conversation, going off with one of Jepp Blackman's songs.
His cheeks turn a faint note of pink as he reaches for the device in his jeans pocket.
Himchan throws an amused look towards Yongguk's direction but the elder looks back with an expression that says -Don't you dare make fun of him for that- and then a soft smile molds onto his lips.

Junhong stares at the display showing Jongup's caller ID and it takes a second longer until he finally swipes his thumb across the phone to take the call.
"Hey Jong-pup!"
Himchan chuckles at the nickname and turns to Yongguk.
"Has he just said pup?" he asks and Yongguk sighs and shakes his head, the amused smile on his face not quite hidden.
Junhong gestures to let the other's know he's leaving the room for a bit and they both nod.

On the other end of the line Jongup is extremely excited.
The question rain down from the receiver and Junhong has to cut into his friends babble to be able to speak.
"Jongup!...I kinda got no time to talk right now so...can I just call you back later?"
There's silence over the line for a moment and Junhong can picture Jongup's pouty lips and the way his face draws a blank before he speaks again.

"Oh my god! You're at the studio right now right?" The elder squeals through the phone and Junhong hums.
"I'm sorry! So sorry! ...but have you shown him yet?"
"Shown him what?"
"You're lyrics, what does he say about them?"

"Haven't shown him yet"
"Will you?" Jongup asks expectantly and Junhong thinks for a moment. He sighs and answers with a quiet -Maybe-.

Junhong ends the call quickly, promises to call back later for about three times before hanging up.

"Do you have more?" Himchan's voice chimes at him as soon as he steps back into the room.
Junhong blinks at the boy a couple of times before his eyes follow Himchan's pointing finger at the computer screen.
There's the frozen image of Jongup doing a wind-mile from one of the practice videos Junhong showed Yongguk yesterday.
 

"I'm sorry, he kept nagging me to show him after I told him about you two dancing...I hope it's ok." The elder rapper explains and he looks sincerely sorry.

Junhong opens his mouth to speak but another cuts into his words before he even gets to phrase his answer.
Youngjae finally lifts off the couch and shuffles over to where Himchan is staring at the screen excitedly.
"The prodigy can dance!" Himchan exclaims just so everyone in the room really gets it and points at the screen again.
Youngjae takes a couple steps closer and furrows his brows.

"That's not Junhong." He states and rolls his eyes.
"No that's Junhong's puppy!" The dark haired male states with a broad grin and Junhong's ears flare.
"It's just a pun on his name..." He mumbles.
"Himchan please, cut it." Yongguk groans but there's a little smile playing on his lips as he scolds the second oldest.
Himchan fast-forwards the video a little until one of Junhong’s parts comes up.
“…Not bad.” Youngjae admits and rolls his bottom lip in between his teeth.
Himchan grins.
“You should ask him to teach you.”
“Oh I can dance already.” Youngjae says and grabs his belt, shaking his hip in a rather smooth hip roll.
The exclaim of –ching! ching!- as he does has Yongguk’s eyes widen and cheeks turn an awkward pinkish shade.
Junhong blinks at the elder and Himchan laughs.
“Our dear badass rapper Jepp turns into a real dancing machine when he’s tipsy.” He laughs and Youngjae laughs along to a memory Junhong doesn’t share with the two, he wishes that one day he gets the chance to laugh along as well.

“Sooooo my dear prodigy....” Himchan starts and Youngjae to his left rolls his eyes when the dark haired boy leans forwards, narrowed eyes focused on Junhong.
The youngest swallows, unconsciously leaning back just a little, his eyebrows molding into a frown.
“No interrogations!” Yongguk warns but Himchan's grin only grows wider and Junhong's lips twitch into an uneasy attempt of a smile.
Himchan's eyes gaze over at his friend, a snort leaving his lips.
“You bought him here! You knew this was coming so don't try to stop me.” He deadpans and Junhong isn't quite sure if he's supposed to feel as amused as he does.
 

When Himchan finally starts his “interrogation” it's like a game of 20 questions, just that it's far more than 20 and Junhong has troubles answering because the questions come faster than the answers form in his head.
Himchan wants to know all kinds of things, casual ones like his real name, his age, his grade, whether he's got siblings or not, his hobbies besides the obvious ones, favorite color and a couple of -either...or- questions.
Youngjae throws in a couple of questions as well and once in a while Junhong's ears pick up the sound of a suppressed low laughter.
After a while of nonsense interrogation the elder asks him about his trip to Seoul and finally the questionnaire turns into a proper conversation.
Junhong likes it much more than the prior questions and answers game and he's faintly surprised by Himchan's genuine interest in his person.

Yongguk sits next to him all the while, scribbling quietly into his notebook and even though Junhong wishes they'd talk some more, like they'd done the night before he's happy with the mere fact that Yongguk cuts into their conversation once in a while asking him to skim the lines he's written.

A couple of times the elder's eyes lift off the paper for a while, attentively following the topic of conversation before he lowers them back onto the whites and scribbles some more notes.


When Himchan makes to leave a while later he promises to be back with some quick dinner later, -probably ramyun- as Youngjae states before the two slip through the door and after that silence fills the room.

With Himchan and Youngjae gone the sudden quietness in the studio is weird for a moment but it’s almost refreshing when Junhong notices how calm and relaxing he feels just sitting next to his idol like a silent observer.

Yongguk's eyes are still set on the notebook and Junhong boldly slides closer to peek onto the pages, trying to not disturb the creative work flow.
The elder looks up at him, gentle smile on his lips and tiny crinkles around his eyes and Junhong's breathe hitches in his throat for a second before Yongguk speaks.

“I'm sorry about Himchan.” he says but the smile remains on his lips despite the apologetic tone and Junhong swallows because Yongguk's voice is warm and gentle and that tone is something entirely new to him.

“He's kind of overly energetic sometimes. You just have to tell him off.”
Yongguk adds and Junhong finally leans back a little as a grin molds on his lips.

“It's ok. He's fun.” He says because it's true and Yongguk nods.

There's a sense of awkwardness towering over the two remaining figures as the room falls silent again and for a moment Junhong wishes he was similar to Himchan, just always having something to say.

Yongguk flips his notebook close and clears his throat.

“Do you want to hear your song?” he asks and Junhong's face lights up as he nods, his blond strands bouncing on top of his head.

They move from the couch back into the recording room and Junhong watches as the elder starts the computer and clicks through the files.

Junhong has never noticed, it's hard to do through v-logs and music videos but when his eyes dart over the elder’s figure, down his arms and to his hand that clicks away on the mouse he notes that Yongguk's hands are very pretty.
It's a weird thought but it just invades his brain without Junhong's consent and it's true.
He wonders what they'd look like flying across the keys of a piano and while the pictures form in his head the tingle in the tips of his fingers returns with the urge to brush against skin just to see what the hands of a genius composer feel like.
 

As the music sets in Yongguk hands him the notebook once more.
Junhong can feel the pace of his pulse increase and maybe it’s because he finally hears his track for the first time, maybe it is because Yongguk leans in close to gaze at the notebook as well.

There’s the tune of a music box playing from the speakers, the sound is echoing like it’s played in a vacant warehouse, it has all these pictures forming in Junhong’s head and the thin hairs on his arms rise to the ceiling.
The intro reminds him just a little of a horror movie and he unconsciously waits for the sick laughter of a mystic murderer to sound.

Instead the tune dies out to a distorted voice holding what Junhong assumes to be a speech but the words are so hard to comprehend that he can’t grasp the content.
A deep bass booms trough the speakers accompanied by a wave of electronic treble and it’s a contrast to what Junhong is used to hear from Jepp Blackman but he likes the slightly dub-ish style anyway.

Junhong goes through the bridge for a couple of times trying to get the hang of where to breath and at what parts to cut or stretch the words.
Yongguk plays the instrumental a couple more times, rapping along to his own parts and playing Youngjae's prerecorded back-up vocals of the tape.
It would be an understatement to say Junhong is a little nervous about rapping with Jepp Blackman sitting in front of him.
His mind is filled with numbers, a rough 250.000 subscribers on Jepp’s channel compared to the mere 10 ones on his, years of experience against barely a year of free time rhyming.
He can feel his palms turning sweaty and hear the throbbing of his heart pounding in his ears.

The first time Junhong tries to rap along he stumbles on the words but Yongguk just smiles at him and says to try again.
Junhong takes a deep breath and the sheet of paper he holds in his hands crinkles where his fingers hold on to it with force to prevent it from shaking.
It takes a couple of more tries until he gets the hang of it but the elder doesn't nag once.
He keeps encouraging him, tells him to simply keep going and helps him to control his breathing.
He even asks if Junhong wants to take a break but the boy just shakes his head and takes a deep breath.

The instrumental sets in again and Yongguk raps his lines until the instrumental part plays and Junhong closes his eyes.
He nods his head a little to the beat and taps his fingers against his thigh until the bridges comes on and he starts letting the words flow from his mouth.
 

- Here comes the uppercut
The fist of an underestimated warrior
I'm a beast ripping your reasoning to pieces
Your arguments are invalid

Listen to my speech

Your hidden intentions burst forth for the world to see
I'm the voice haunting you in your sleep

Think again

Your words are more twisted than the ones I spit
Promise after promise
They are all empty

I'll make you choke on your words

This is a pledge -

It's almost like an uproar when he spits those words and twists his tongue in a sharp manner and the euphoria that hits him a second later is beyond description.
 

He opens his eyes to find Yongguk looking at him with a broad, gummy smile on his face.
The enthusiasm in his eyes is undeniable and Junhong feels a rush of relief and pride flow through his body.

"You did amazing." the elder praises and Junhong's ears flare up under the words.

The genuine gentle smile on Yongguk’s lips makes his heart pound loud enough to resonate in his ears and Junhong averts his eyes in favor of staring at the carpet.

They try a couple more times and with every new try Junhong grows more comfortable, more adventurous even and he plays with the words, lets them drop from his lips softly or sharp and the nervous tension in his limbs vanished by the time they’ve been through the song three times without a single slip of his tongue.

There's applause coming from the door and Junhong feels the embarrassment crawl through his veins when his eyes dart over to see Himchan leaning against the door frame, eating grin on his face.

“Back already? Didn't you say you'd be gone for a while?” Yongguk asks and Himchan's brows shoot to his hairline.
He crosses his arms in front of his chest and rolls his eyes.
“How long do you think the two of you have spent locked in here? It's been almost three hours since I left.”

Junhong blinks, twisting his wrist to check the time on his watch and indeed it's been more than two and a half hours since they sat down in the leather chairs to -quickly go through the lyrics-.

It doesn't really feel like they've spend that much time discussing and practicing the track but when he thinks back they indeed have played, paused and played the song over and over again.

“I brought food.” The dark haired boy says and holds up a plastic bag, swinging it in the air.

Junhong can hear the water boiler getting set next door and Yongguk offers him a small smile as he shuts down the computer.

“Are you hungry?” The rapper asks and before Junhong even gets to answer his stomach does the trick with a not so quiet growl.

Yongguk laughs and Himchan’s head pops up in the doorframe again.

“God! Bang Yongguk! At least feed our prodigy properly!” He moans and rolls his eyes before disappears again with a –What would you do without me- on his lips.

This time Junhong snickers as well.

They devour the ramyun and beverages Himchan has bought and even though it’s nothing special Junhong feels like he’s never had better ramyun in his life.

It’s the mere fact that he’s seated with Himchan and Yongguk, casually like it is what they always do that makes it taste so much better than the ones he eats all by himself.

Himchan is eager to hear Junhong rap.

He keeps asking and begging while they eat, noodles sticking out from his mouth as he goes –Pleas just once!- but Junhong is not all too confident to give a performance just yet.

Yongguk steps in at the fifth time to tell the dark haired boy that they won’t reveal anything until the day of recording and Junhong sends him a grateful smile while Himchan pouts and grabs the rappers soda can to drown it in an act of punishment.

It’s past midnight again when Yongguk offers to take Junhong to his temporary home.
It's weird when the elder’s hand comes to rest on his shoulder blade to usher him through the door, lingering there for a while longer as he turns around to inform Himchan that they are off.
The short moment the elder's hand rests on his body, may it be just a couple seconds, has Junhong's guts in turmoil and his skin tingling almost violently from the tip of his toes all the way up to his ears.
He tries to blame it on late sequela to the weird beverage Himchan made him drink earlier but he knows that's not quiet it.
His ears are burning and his mouth turns oddly dry, so the farewell he sends to Himchan comes out forced with a cracked vowel and makes the elder laugh as he waves him goodbye from the couch.

They climb back into the Civic and it's only when Yongguk pulls out of the parking lot, onto the street and the freezing air of the AC hits Junhong's skin that the feeling starts to subside slowly.
His eyes gaze over at the elder as they roll down the road, the sky is dark and starless but the lights of the city, streetlights and shop windows as they pass, offer enough light for Junhong to make out the other's features.
It's amazing how within two days his impression of the person next to him has changed so fast.

There's still Jepp Blackman somewhere in the features of the person he's looking at but more than that there's Yongguk.
He's in the way the other furrows his brows when he's pondering over something, he's in the awkward smile that molds onto his lips when he's uneasy or nervous, he's in the way he deals with Himchan's character and Yongguk is there in the way his eyes attentively rest on Junhong's form when he speaks.