Chapter Text
The sound of a heavy duty notebook slamming into the wall echoed through the flat, followed by a defeated groan and muffled apology to the neighbours. The clock on the computer screen read “2:43 AM”, the fluorescent light glared harshly in the dimly lit bedroom turned-studio.
Fuck my life. Devon huffed, sliding out of the desk chair and shuffled over to where the notebook had landed. For months, lyrics had been hard to produce, leading her to what was known was writer’s block. And shit, if it wasn't a pain in the arse.
Devon was due to drop an album soon, having no actual date of release with how much she’d been pushing it back. Though, that was the perk of being self-produced. Without an agency, she released music whenever. The majority of the songs for the album were done within the first week of her announcing to her fans that she was making one, except for the title track. She had the song name, and had the backing track made. But the lyrics just weren’t hitting, no matter how much she tried.
“Super Hero.” was said song, having teased the only ten seconds of the chorus she liked. It had gone somewhat viral on Tik Tok, hundreds of comments begging her to drop the track, but she couldn’t. There was no intro, no verse, no bridge. Just part of a chorus. Days turned to weeks, weeks into months of the public wanting the song and the album, and her only response being “Soon, I promise!”.
Slumping back on her chair, Devon stared at the notebook in her hands. It had a plethora of stickers decorating it, ranging from meme ones to fanart from conventions to k-pop album stickers from her collection. Part of her wondered if any of the groups and artists she followed struggled like she was. She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew that they did, that bad days were normal. Except it wasn’t a bad day. It was bad months.
‘Focus.’ She huffed to herself, opening the notebook on her desk, and stared at the pages of scribbled words and crossed out lines that seemed to take over the majority of the pages. Minutes passed with her barely noticing, the pen scribbling and crossing out words. Around four AM her phone buzzed with a notification alerting her that StrayKids had gone live on YouTube. Confused, she pulled the video website up on her desktop and typed in the official StrayKids channel. To her surprise, there was a livestream labelled “Chan’s Room”. When was the last time Bang Chan had done a “Chan’s Room” stream? 2023? Curiosity got the best of her as she loaded up the stream, sighing contently as it loaded onto Chan’s smiling face. Devon barely understood when he spoke in Korean, only knowing the basic greetings. But she didn’t mind, in fact she loved listening to him speak, both English and Korean.
Devon found his voice soothing, and loved hearing the Aussie accent, as she suspected many Stays did. She’d made and produced her first songs listening to “Chan’s Room”. With the stream now becoming her background noise, she focused once more on writing the lyrics. Her creative flow lasted for about twenty minutes, right up until a familiar tune struck through her trance. It took a hot minute for her brain to catch up with her, before realising the song Bang Chan was listening to was her own song, “Flow State”, one of the first songs she’d made in her late teens. ‘Shit.’ She leaned back in her chair, shock flooding her system as she stared at the monitor, watching as her favourite K-Pop artist bobbed his head along to the melody, mumbling lyrics every now and again.
Devon would always be honest that Bang Chan was her music idol and the reason she pursued a career in music. While she was not a religious person, she did believe that everything happened for a reason. If she’d never discovered Stray Kids, she didn’t think she’d be where she is now. Before the end of her song, her phone had already started buzzing on the desk with notifications, ranging from followers to comments to messages about the fact Chan had listened to her song on his livestream. ‘That was uh…”Flow State” by Roma. I discovered her music around…’ Chan’s voice cut through the fog, ‘I wanna say last year. I think her music is great, totally my kind of uh…vibe I guess?’ He chuckled shyly. Roma had become her “Stage Name” as it were, a mix of memories from a trip to Rome, and a meme that had been viral about something being someone’s Roman Empire.
Devon pinched herself, hissing as a stinging sensation shot through her nerves. She definitely wasn’t dreaming this. She clicked out of full screen, looking at the comments as they flew by. With shaky fingers, she typed out her own comment, knowing it would get lost in the thousands of comments. “I’m shocked that you like my music. Thx 4 the praise, means a lot :)” was all she put before she hit send. Chan’s eyes darted up and down the screen, smiling as he read comments, but she noticed it grow a little wider after a minute.
‘Roma’s actually here today? Kinda embarrassed now.’ Bang Chan rubbed the back of his neck. ‘You have talent, I only speak the truth. Keep up the good work.’ Devon felt her cheeks heat up, still wondering if this actually was a dream. The moment was short, Chan soon moving onto another song and chattering on in his usual chatterbox way.
She would never recover from this, knowing her next topic when she did her own live would be talking about how Bang Chan of StrayKids knew of her (or at least her music persona) and actively listened to her music. By the time the live ended and the sun was starting to rise, Devon had finished the first draft of lyrics for “Super Hero”. She couldn’t help but laugh that all it had taken was her idol (and bias) listening to her music on his live. Finally dragging herself to bed, she took a moment to scroll on her phone. Within the span of a couple hours, she’d gained hundreds of new followers onTik Tok.
She pressed the power button on her phone after a few minutes of scrolling, chucking it on the bedside table. Sleep came easy the moment her eyes closed, Magpie curling up into her side, purring softly.
-
It was around 2pm when Devon awoke, her cat meowing loudly, pawing at her arm. ‘I’m awake Maggie.’ She mumbled, gently swatting the cat away as she emerged from her cocoon of blankets. Instinctively she grabbed her phone, and scrolled once more through Tik Tok. More followers and comments, and sure enough, her fans who were also Stays were sharing clips of Bang Chan listening to her music and their brief interaction on his livestream. ‘I didn’t dream it then.’ Devon hummed to herself.
The fangirl side of her wanted to giggle and kick her feet at the fact she’d been noticed, however the logical side shut it down before she could.
She smiled brightly as she remembered her first lyric draft was now sitting on her desk, and made a mental note to thank Chan if she ever spoke to him again for the motivation she needed. Closing tik tok, Devon checked through her other notifications as she sluggishly shuffled to her kitchen area where Magpie was impatiently waiting for her. ‘I’m coming to feed you, chill out.’ She scolded the cat, who meowed back loudly.
She set the phone down on the counter before rummaging around her cupboard, humming softly. ‘Wet food or dry food, baby?’ She questioned the cat, looking down at the furry feline circling her legs. ‘How about both?’ Five minutes later, Magpie was happily munching on her food, a fond smile etched on Devon’s face.
A ping from her phone alerted her to a new notification. She washed her hands quickly before unlocking her phone and pulling up the notification. ‘Fuck off…’ the screen lit up with an email from a website she’d bought the new StrayKids album (or albums…each version of it).
“Dear Devon,
CONGRATULATIONS!
We are reaching out to inform you that through your purchase, you have won a fan call with
“BANG CHAN” of StrayKids December 9th 20xx, 5pm KST.
More details will be emailed to you shortly….”
She stopped reading the email, her heart pounding in her chest. Was her luck turning around? Within the space of twenty-four hours, she’d been mentioned in Bang Chan’s live, and had now won a fan call with him two days from the day. Her shaky fingers tapped at her screen, the anxious part of her brain worried it was a scam. But no, to both her shock and delight, the email was legit.
When she hoped to thank him for liking her music and being her inspiration, she didn’t actually think such a chance would opportune itself.
Devon ran a hand through her hair, sighing deeply. To be truthful, she was mortified by this. She was happy and over the moon sure, but being noticed by the man who was the reason she became a musician and then winning a fan call with him, it was safe to say she was scared.
Deep down she knew he was just a guy, someone who was genuinely nice and easy-going. But she couldn’t help but be terrified. What would she even say? “Hi, I’m Roma! You like my music, I like yours. Sick.” Dread creeped up inside, as she knew the call could go one of a few ways: she would ramble and not let him get a word in; she’d be too nervous to say anything and let him do the talking; or lastly, she would have a genuine, natural conversation with him.
She prayed it would be the latter, cringing at how embarrassed she’d be if she just rambled or didn't say anything. Loading her browser on her phone, she checked the time difference, converting Korean Standard Time to GMT. ‘Okay…that’s 8am for me if it’s 5pm there…’ She gently bit the tip of her thumb, planning out the fan call. ‘I need to wake up at seven latest so I look somewhat alive…so no late night for me.’
Devon glanced down at Magpie, watching her lick the remnants of her food from the bowl. ‘You have it easy, you know that? You’re such a princess.’ The only response from the cat was a small huff. Returning back to her room, she spent the remainder of the day cleaning up her lyrics to distract herself from what she could only describe as a fever dream, matching everything to the rhythm and melody, making adjustments where needed.
Some stuff would change, Devon could still feel something missing from her song. But for now, she had a first official song draft of “Super Hero”, and a fan call to look forward to with Bang Chan. Yep, she was in for a ride.