Chapter Text
"Flying Lights, Paradise
In Seoul City"
•December 3rd, 2019•
Seoul was a city that never slept. It was always moving, always changing and shifting, even when coated under layers of soft snow.
Many people came here to chase their dreams. After all, if you wanted to be the next big thing, you had to start here.
And maybe, if you had a pretty face, enough talent , charisma, and a bit of luck on your side, your face would end up on those shiny billboards. Become Korea's next Idol. Maybe even become a Global Superstar.
Choi Seungcheol had given up on that dream exactly two years ago.
The trainee life wasn't like he imagined at all. Tough Diets, Barely enough sleep to function, train till your body can't take it anymore. Once you were inside the system, you were no longer a person. You were slowly but surely being turned into a product. The recruiters didn't care, the company didn't care. It wasn't even sure whether the public would care, if you were even selected to debut between thousands of other trainees just like you.
Seungcheol had gotten to a point where he couldn't take it anymore. Where his body and mind couldn't take it anymore.
He wasn't meant to be an Idol. That was just the harsh reality.
Pushing the thought into the back of his mind, Seungcheol quietly made his way through the bustling streets of Seoul. Jihoon had just sent him the new samples for a track they were working on, but as always, the self proclaimed producer had asked him to come to the studio to talk one on one.
Calling it "studio" was a bit of a stretch.
It was an underground live house, just under a club in one of the back alleys of Gangnam. It had a concert hall, a bar, and a few recording booths, one of which had become Jihoon's lair. The man rarely left it, and Seungcheol was pretty sure that the owners of the place had basically adopted him at this point.
Seungcheol's boots let out heavy footsteps as he made his way down the stairs, through the hall and finally stopping in front of the door of one of those tiny booths.
He knocked on it, and immediately, a grumpy response was heard from inside:
"Who's there?"
Seungcheol couldn't help the chuckle that left his as soon as he heard Jihoon's voice.
"Just me, Cheol. Will ya let me inside, you gremlin?"
A beat passed, before the door opened, revealing Jihoon's disheveled form. Seungcheol let out a snort at the sight of his friend.
"How long has it been since you've actually seen the light?"
"Not as long as you think, are you gonna keep staring at me or do you wanna hear those samples? I ain't got all day"
Jihoon led Seungcheol inside. The small room had a big desk with Jihoon's keyboard, Laptop and a few empty milk cartons scattered here and there. A small , worn down couch laid in the corner.
Seungcheol sat down on that same couch, stretching his arms over his head. He just wanted to get this over with, have a new song for tomorrow's concert and maybe even burn a few CDs if the reactions were positive.
Jihoon gave him a glance, before immediately tapping a few buttons on his laptop, playing the samples loud in the small room.
As usual, Jihoon had managed to capture the sounds perfectly.
Energetic, bold, synths that were filled to the brim with confidence, bass that had a strong bite to it.
Just Seungcheol's style. It was perfect.
"Fuck, Jihoon, You're seriously magic. This is awesome! More than awesome, these beats are straight up fantastic!"
Seungcheol couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. He was just like that. Tough and stern on the outside, his more emotional and carefree side was reserved for his friends.
Jihoon smirked, cracking open the can of an energy drink, as he spoke, not being able to keep the hint of teasing out of his voice:
"woooow, getting praise from the great S.Coups? Color me Stoked"
"Whatever you say, you fucking genius. I just gotta get the lyrics right... Something strong... Something... AHH, damnit, I need to come up with something great for this..."
Seungcheol was pacing around the room like a caged animal. He always got like this, when he was thinking hard about something. Couldn't sit still. It was a pretty funny sight, especially considering that this was the same guy that appeared scary to most people.
Jihoon laughed out, taking a gulp of his energy drink.
"That's the spirit. Don't forget to write 'Produced by Woozi' on the back of the cd, m'kay?"
Seungcheol couldn't help but laugh too, although it was kind of inevitable with Jihoon's never ending sass. The man made up for his tiny height with sarcasm.
"Alright, let's get to work."
As it often happened, the two spent the rest of the night chatting about sound bites, rap flows and music. They were truly in their element, and even though it was nearly 3 am, neither Jihoon nor Seungcheol were planning on stopping anytime soon. Having a normal sleep schedule was a thing or the past anyway, and both men were running on caffeine and sheer determination at this point. Still, it felt comforting, composing and writing lyrics in the dead of night. It made Seungcheol feel somewhat at peace.
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The clicks of the cameras filled the studio.
Although it was already late in the evening, inside the place was as bright as day, the studio lights shining down on the white backdrop.
"Alright, a little bit to the left... Try to not cover your face with your hands too much!"
Jeonghan tried his best to follow the photographer's advice, smiling, posing as instructed. It wasn't anything difficult. He had done it a hundred times already.
It was a photoshoot for a brand he would sponsor. A clothing brand that was really trendy at the moment.
Honestly, Jeonghan had never heard of that brand before. But it didn't matter. It would be good publicity for him, for the group. So he kept smiling, kept posing. Luckily for him, this was the last shoot of the day.
"Alright everyone, that's it for today! Thank you so much!"
Jeonghan bowed slightly to the photographers and to the staff, before being led out of the studio by the company staff and his manager.
He took a long, deep sigh. Right now, saying that he was tired was an understatement. And a big one, at that. He had been doing photoshoots since 5 am this morning.
First for a makeup brand, then for the individual pictures for their next comeback. After that, he had shot an episode of a podcast where he was invited as a guest, then shot another photoshoot for another makeup line, and lastly, this clothing line shoot. But with the new album release coming up, him and the other members didn't really have time for a breather. They were all probably just as exhausted as Jeonghan right now.
The boy followed his manager to the back of the studio building, before getting into the black car that was waiting for them.
Jeonghan leaned his head against the car window as the vehicle started moving. His mind barely registered his manager's words as he spoke, just barely making out something along the lines of "your schedule is really overbooked..." And "... We have to find a slot for that variety show shoot...".
Outside, the lights of Seoul kept glowing. The billboards passed by in a daze.
Some of them had Jeonghan's face on them.
Sometimes, he still struggled to believe it.
He really did.
Everything his old self had worked for, all those sleep less nights, all those brutal trainings, were finally paying off. He should feel happier about it, honestly.
The boy tapped his fingers on his thigh, a nervous instinct to try and keep himself awake. Atleast until he was back at the dorm. He wasn't about to get scolded by the manager for doing off again. The car stopped at a red light.
Right then, his eyes caught onto two girls. They were around his age, maybe younger. They were giggling at something on their phones. It probably wasn't anything special, just two friends having a late night hangout. Maybe they had gone partying. Maybe they had just gone out on a walk. They looked happy. Carefree, even.
As soon as the light turned green again, the car started moving, leaving the two girls behind. And Jeonghan felt that familiar pang of envy. It snaked through his chest, curling around his heart and tightening uncomfortably.
When was the last time he had been so carefree?
Jeonghan's gaze fell from the car window to his lap. Then back up at the manager, who was seated in the front seat.
"... What's the schedule for tomorrow?"
The manager glanced at him through the rearwiev mirror.
"I Already told you just a minute ago, weren't you listening?"
"... I'm sorry, I must've dozed off."
The manager sighed, clearly irritated with his answer, before taking out his tablet again, scrolling through some documents and speaking again:
"Well, you all have the last recording sessions first thing in the morning, then you're going to be at the afternoon radio show as a guest... After that we have a few magazine shoots, until about 8 pm. Tomorrow isn't so packed, it seems"
Jeonghan stayed silent for a little while, as if taking it all in.
8pm... That leaves me enough time to go see that concert with Chan.
The car finally stopped in front of the dorm building, and Jeonghan stepped out. He entered the dorm, careful to not make too much noise. The others were still sleeping after all.
Jeonghan padded over to the small kitchen. He grabbed a cup, filling it with ice cold water and downing it in less than a second . Then, he noticed a small container on the counter. A yellow sticky note sat on top of it.
"I left you some noodles, Jeonghan. EAT THEM WHEN YOU COME HOME. :) - Joshua"
The man smiled quietly to himself. Of course Joshua would leave him some food. His best friend had this habit of looking out for him every time. Even when they didn't see each other in days due to schedules. Sometimes, Jeonghan would tell him to stop nagging, that he could take care of himself. But he couldn't really blame Joshua either. The truth was, Jeonghan wasn't the best at taking care of himself.
Especially when it came to eating.
And he knew for a fact that Joshua wouldn't let things get that bad again.
Just as expected, the thought of consuming anything had Jeonghan's brain worked up in a frenzy.
"No. No. You can't eat those. Hell no. They're all greasy. Too many carbs. Carbs make you bloat up. It's past 8 pm, your face will look puffy if you eat now. Don't eat. You're not even hungry. Just tired. Why don't you have something to drink instead? You're not hungry, just thirsty!"
Jeonghan had to resist the Temptation of seeing those noodles in the trash bin with all his might.
No. Come on Jeonghan. It's just noodles. You can do this.
It took a lot of effort, but he managed to pick up a pair of chopsticks, and started eating the noodles Joshua had left him. God, his best friend was really an amazing cook. The noodles were delicious, chewy and spicy just the way Jeonghan liked them.
He finished the noodles faster than expected. He left the dirty container in the sink, and headed to his room.
Jeonghan let himself fall down onto his bed. He just laid there for a second, as if letting the events of the day sink in. He picked up his phone from his bedside table.
Chan, the maknae of their group, had asked Jeonghan to sneak out with him to a concert tomorrow. Apparently, it was at a small live house in Hongdae, some sort of rap competition between underground rappers.
Jeonghan absentmindedly scrolled through the event's Instagram page, looking at the lineup.
He then noticed a name that seemed almost.... Familiar.
"S.COUPS"