C H A P T E R E L E V E N
Look at me don’t be so shy
Don’t be scared even though I’m not good at this either

Jiho was waiting for her in front of the recording studio block when she arrived, fresh and dressed after a shower in an ankle grazer black skirt and cropped teal bralet. Her favourite black velure cardigan was draped over her shoulders, and she had exchanged her dance bag for her usual studded backpack from her locker.

He's already here? She thought in surprise, approaching him cautiously and tapping his arm to get his attention.

Jiho's eyes fluttered open at the contact, completely lost in his own world, and it took a few seconds before he noticed her. Removing his head phones, he glanced at her up and down, blinking in surprise when he saw a pair of battered converse sticking out under her skirt. "Oh. Um. You're here. Eventually," he pointed out, cringing when he heard himself talk and avoiding her eyes.

Aeri just smiled politely and shrugged, as if to say 'I guess'.

Cursing himself for being an idiot, he turned around and pushed open one of the studio doors, letting the girl through before closing it behind her. The room was one of the smaller ones, meant only for practice, so it had only two mics and a PA system on a table, a couple of speakers in the corner and a chair. Leaning against the table, Jiho messed with his hat before speaking up.

"So. Uh... any ideas what to do?"

He'd seemed to come down a few notches on the scale since their encounter the day before, and Aeri was relieved. She stood in the middle of the room, tossed her bag to the side, and shrugged again as she tilted her head in return.

"Well... what kind of music do you like?"

Aeri looked at him blankly for a few seconds before leaning down to her backpack. He watched her curiously as she returned to standing with phone in hand, recognising the sharp clicking noises as her fingers flew over the keyboard.

I'm open to everything... What do you want to do?

"Uh... I like rock," he answered, scratching the back of his head.

Rock... the lilac haired girl frowned to herself as she wracked her brain. Korean or English? Or something else entirely? She flicked open her music library and scrolled down the artists, feeling Jiho's hawkish eyes on her, until something caught the corner of her eye and she flipped back to the notepad.

Have you heard of A Day To Remember?

Jiho tilted his head in confusion but slowly nodded. "I... think so?"

If It Means A Lot To You? It's acoustic but still kind of that genre...

"Uh... not sure about that, sorry."

Aeri shook her head, pressing play on her phone. The familiar warm guitar instantly kicked in, a content smile spreading across her face as the vocalist began to sing.

"Hey darling
I hope you're good tonight
And I know you don't feel right when I'm leaving..."

"If It Means A Lot To You..." Jiho said to himself, mulling it over as the song continued. The chorus eventually began to play, the harmonies catching his interest as he looked at the lilac haired girl. It seemed pretty good, and he could probably play guitar for it as well. Her voice would suit it too. Why the heck not? Let's do it. "Sure. Let's try."

Jiho felt his heart lift as Aeri grinned wildly, her eyes lighting up as she paused the song. Her smile was infectious. Almost straight away, she had sidled up to a microphone and slipped the headphones hanging over the stand on her head, raising her eyebrow at him as if to say 'What are you waiting for?'

He kept his usual cool guy poker face, but on the inside he smirked at her eagerness as he pushed off the table, plugging his own phone into the PA system as he began to search for a the track. The comforting sound of guitar began to fill the room and he stepped up to his own mic, watching the lilac haired girl as she started to hum along.

And then she opened and sang.

|||

"Taehyung-ah, what are you doing..."

Jungkook glanced up from his phone game briefly to look at his hyungs, the boy with newly dark pinkish orange hair lying upside down on the sofa, trying to touch his nose with his tongue. Hoseok, who had spoken, was watching him with a look that didn't know whether to be amused or scared, as the maknae sat against the wall mirror playing Candy Crush and tuning everyone out.

Like they seemed to be a lot lately, the boys were in JYP building - this time, lying around a practice room they borrowed after a long training session with a new choreographer. It was hot and sweaty, and as hour after hour passed the boys found themselves slowly losing layers of clothes - Jungkook's hoodie tossed to the back of the sofa, Jimin's shirt tied around his waist, numerous pants swapped for shorts and biceps everywhere as they opted to train in vests.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and their next schedule was in a few hours, but there was no rush to get there. Their manager had just told them to rest and recover while he went off talking to people, and someone had turned up with a tray of fresh cut watermelon and drinks for everyone.

"I'm bored hyung~!" Taehyung sighed loudly and pouted at the resident bringer of hope, blinking his big eyes cutely.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and smirked unnoticeably at his aegyo, concentrating on his game rather than the alien making childish faces and J-Horse doing it back. Thankfully Jimin had fallen asleep on the other end of the big sofa so there was one less big kid to deal with. He honestly didn't understand how sometimes he was the most mature out of all of them.

"I need the toilet," said alien suddenly annouced, flipping himself over onto his feet and jumping up with a small 'ta-da!' Hoseok snorted at him and almost instantly took over his spot, smirking when he pouted again before skippi