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The thing about changsub is that there was this one time when he and eunkwang were, like, seven and while they were at a boardwalk during the summer, eunkwang had thought it would be a good idea to go to the arcade, so they went. But, they saw a big robot fortune teller box and one of them (eunkwang) said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be so cool to get a fortune from this thing?” and the other (changsub) had responded, “Yeah!” and changsub, being honorary money holder, was the only one to get a fortune, and the fortune was this:
“You will have bad luck for the rest of your life. Pay fifty cents for another fortune.”
Of course, being the kids that they were, they really believed the fortune and eunkwang ended up crying because he thought changsub was going to die. changsub ended up not dying (obviously) but, as the two of them grew up, they saw that the fortune was proven true. changsub would find himself tripping over air and dropping things. he literally always got the short end of the stick, his luck with games of random chance and rock, paper, scissors decreasing by the year. Any sports team he was on would lose, no matter how hard they practiced, and a lot of the times something weird would happen when he and eunkwang went somewhere. As a result, their belief in that rusty robot fortune teller never went away.
So yes, changsub lee was successfully scammed and became the unluckiest person in the world (that he knew of), but the luckiest thing that had just happened to him.
On the way to their small rented studio, eunkwang and changsub talk about food -- a regular topic they have. eunkwang says, “Listen, I just think pineapple should not go on pizza, it’s not something I would wanna eat like it’s not a bad taste but it’s still a weird taste and I just, you know, would prefer not to have that.”
changsub digs a pinky into his ear, “I just think you’re too picky about that kinda stuff. Like you don’t not like it, so why not eat it?”
eunkwang pouts, “I’m saying that I don’t like it all that much , and that-”
changsub cuts him off with a finger. they stop walking, changsub now fixated on a flyer posted on a window. his finger slips away from eunkwang’s mouth, and eunkwang gets closer to read the flyer.
“‘Born to Brew Grand Opening — looking for bands to play nights at new cafe, pay is negotiable , please contact-’ eunkwang!” changsub shouts, grabbing said man by the shoulders, “we gotta get our band onto this!”
eunkwang looks dumbfounded for a second before processing what changsub had said. “Oh!” he says with wide eyes, “oh yeah! totally! let’s call hyunsik and sungjae-”
“Don’t! Let’s make it a surprise since we’re already on our way there! I’ll take a pic, just get the number down and let’s go!”
changsub takes a picture on his phone and turns away to start back on their way to the studio. He takes a step and… immediately trips.
He and eunkwang made a band back in their late high school years with their juniors, hyunsik and sungjae. changsub was on drums (he actually wanted to play bass or guitar, but those classes had been full, so that was his only option), eunkwang was on keyboard, hyunsik was on guitar, and sungjae was their vocalist. They had a good sound (in their opinion), but no one ever hired them for gigs, and it was hard to find open spots anywhere, so they haven’t really found their chance to shine… Until—
“GUYS!” changsub shouts as he bursts in through the studio door, “guess what I just found!”
“Another raccoon?” hyunsik responds.
“An actually good drummer?” says sungjae.
“No and, uh, no -” changsub thrusts his phone out, the picture of the flyer on display “-I just found us a gig!”
“And I’m ready to call if you guys are down!” eunkwang adds from behind him.
hyunsik and sungjae roll their chairs over to changsub and read the flyer. “Woah, this is great, changsub! We’re down!” hyunsik says happily. sungjae agrees.
changsub whoops and points to eunkwang, who gestures for everyone to gather around him. They do so, and watch as the phone connects to the number from the flyer. It picks up. They all hold their breaths.
“ Hello? ”
They all look at eunkwang, expecting him to answer, but eunkwang looks around between the others. he looks at changsub, who looks at sungjae, who looks back to eunkwang, who then looks at hyunsik, who looks back at changsub, who looks back at eunkwang, who looks back at changsub, who huffs and speaks,
“Hello, are you the person who’s opening a cafe and looking for a band to play with negotiable pay?” changsub cringes, and the other members sigh.
“ Oh, yeah, that’s me, hi! You’re interested? ”
“Yes, we are.”
“ Great! It’s an audition process, so I’ll ask you guys a few questions right now and I’ll tell you all the information you guys’ll need. First, tell me your band’s name?”
“Blue.”
“ Members’ names? And how many there are? ”
“There’s four of us: changsub Lee, eunkwang Seo, hyunsik Lim, and sungjae Yook.”
“ Availability? ”
“All the time-” sungjae slaps his arm and points to himself, pantomiming writing a test; changsub gets the point and says, “...with some exceptions for our youngest member.”
“ Last one: how many songs would you guys like to audition with? Max is three. ”
changsub’s eyes almost pop out of his head, and he looks at all his members. Three? he mouths. One? eunkwang mouths with a worried expression. Two, hyunsik mouths, holding up that many fingers. He looks every member in the eye before confirming, Two.
“Two songs is good.”
“ Alright, thank you for answering! I’m holding auditions on xx/xx at 5 til maybe 8pm at the cafe, and it’s sorta open audition, so come any time! I’ll be looking forward to seeing and hearing you guys!”
The call ends. eunkwang locks his phone and puts it away, shooting a big grin at the members. They all do the same, and changsub shouts, “We did it! We’re a third of the way to our first official gig!”
“A third?” eunkwang asks.
“Yeah, first is the application, which we just did, second is practicing and perfecting our songs for the audition -- which is in three days -- and three is actually getting the gig. We’re a third of the way there, and it’s all because of me.” changsub proudly pounds a fist against his chest.
The members look at him blankly for exactly five seconds. “Anyway,” sungjae starts, “if that’s the case then we should get right to practicing, right?” The members (sans changsub) all cheer and get right to it.
Three days later, changsub screams.
“Where did the cafe go?! It was right here, the flyer, the door, the-”
“Dude!” sungjae cuts him off, grabbing his face, “it’s not here because we’re five feet away from it. Stop screaming.”
changsub blanks for a good minute before blinking. “Oh my god.”
“Are you okay?” hyunsik asks.
“Yeah…” changsub answers with squished cheeks, “I think I’m so nervous I almost lost it.”
“You sure you haven’t already?” sungjae remarks. He lets go of changsub’s face.
“If you think you’re nervous, look at me,” eunkwang says, “I think I blacked out the entire time we were walking here and I only just became conscious cuz you screamed.”
“Guess we’re all nervous, my hands are shaking.” hyunsik says it calmly, and when he holds up his hands the others can only see a slight tremble.
“Guys, it’ll be fine , I don’t know what you’re all worried about!” sungjae gathers them into a circle. “We have been practicing for the past three days songs we’ve practiced for years! We have a great setlist, courtesy of this genius-” he points to himself “-a great singer for the great setlist-” he points to himself “-and a nice sound to support him! We are going to do great , I swear it.” He smiles and pats eunkwang and changsub on the back.
eunkwang and changsub exchange a look. “He’s right,” eunkwang says.
“He’s not wrong,” changsub agrees.
“So then what are we stalling for? Let’s go!” sungjae turns and starts walking, the other members following with a cheer. Then he stops and turns back to them.
“...You guys ready?” he asks.
“Yeah!” the members shout back.
“Great, then let’s go!” He starts walking, then stops and turns back.
“...You guys really ready?”
“Yeah?” the members say back.
“Cool, let’s keep goin’!” He turns, then stops and turns back.
“Are you guys really, really ready?” He shoots them a big, strained smile.
The members stare at him. “Are you… nervous, sungjae?” hyunsik asks.
sungjae gives them a funny look. “Pff, what? No, I’m fine.” He pauses, then his face suddenly contorts like he just ate a lemon. “How are you so calm about this, hyunsik?”
The members sigh. “I’m really not,” hyunsik laughs, “but I don’t think we should stall. It’s already 5:15.”
“Oh! Then someone else’s probably auditioning right now! We don’t have to be first!” changsub interjects, “Maybe they’re like, a rookie high school band or something, because , like, who else would come for an open audition right when it opens?”
eunkwang’s face lights up. “You got a point! Maybe they’re worse than us too!”
sungjae cheers, “Yeah! Then let’s go!” and they walk all six steps to the cafe’s front door.
The cafe looks closed. Looking at the windows, the shutters are down and shut. They start nudging each other, since no one wants to try and open the door themselves. Eventually, changsub (of course) is singled out. With a deep breath, he approaches the door and reaches out for the handle. He flinches back when the door suddenly swings open to reveal a young man.
“Hey! You guys are really loud,” the man laughs, “You’re one of the bands right?”
changsub remains frozen, his hand still in the air. The other members nod their heads behind him.
“Cool! Come on in then!” the man flashes them a smile and motions for them to come inside. He disappears from the doorway into the cafe.
changsub turns to his members. “He’s pretty…” eunkwang says to him. changsub turns back to the doorway. “Yeah…” changsub says and walks inside.
Though it’s very dim inside, the cafe has a very nice aesthetic. The counter and other furniture are all made of wood, and the walls are decorated with different record covers and pictures of people dancing and having fun. changsub notices one that looks like something from the 40s where a girl dips another girl; both of the girls are smiling and somehow changsub sees love in their eyes. It warms his heart.
He sees a stage on one side of the cafe. The only things on it are microphone stands and a drumset. It’s right next to the counter, the rest of the space being filled by tables. The chairs are still on the tables, legs up in the air. changsub purses his lips, imagining the band being on the stage, the tables filled with people. He takes a deep breath.
“I’m minhyuk Lee, by the way, but you can just call me minhyuk,” the man says, taking a seat at the counter. “The stage’s right there, so you can start setting up now. Take your time.”
“Has... no one else come in yet?” eunkwang asks.
“Nope, you guys are first ones to come.”
changsub blanches. sungjae walks up to him and leans in close. “you jinxed it. turns out we’re , like, the rookie high school band that comes for an audition right when it opens, except none of us are in high school.”
“i jinxed it,” changsub mumbles.
“ya jinxed it.”
changsub looks at eunkwang and hyunsik, who are standing awkwardly to the side. They look calmer than he feels, but he sees eunkwang lick his lips and knows that’s not the case. He sighs.
“Let’s. Set up.”
changsub is relieved that eunkwang gets talkative when he’s nervous. eunkwang keeps the atmosphere from getting awkward as they set up.
“This is a really nice place, minhyuk,” he comments as he’s unrolling the cables for the keyboard.
changsub sees minhyuk smile from where he’s setting up. “Thank you…?”
“eunkwang!” eunkwang shouts immediately, “i’m eunkwang, guitar is hyunsik, drums is changsub, and our youngest is sungjae!”
“I’m the vocalist,” sungjae says as he places on microphone on its stand.
“Oh yeah, that too,” eunkwang laughs.
changsub looks up occasionally from where he’s checking the screws. minhyuk looks friendly as he talks to eunkwang. He hopes that friendliness translates to his judging.
eunkwang stops talking when he and hyunsik are done. changsub watches hyunsik tune with the keyboard from behind the drumset. he taps his feet to a random rhythm, thinking about their songs sound even though the rhythm doesn’t follow. he hears sungjae do a short vocalisation warm-up with the keyboard, finishing by clearing his throat. changsub takes a deep breath as sungjae announces that they’re ready.
“Our first song is our own version of ‘My Funny Valentine’,” sungjae says into the microphone, “arranged by eunkwang and hyunsik. The second one is an original song-”
“Composed and written by sungjae!” eunkwang interjects proudly.
“-yeah, that.” changsub sees sungjae’s ears turn red. “It’s called ‘Paradise’ and has an opposite feel of ‘Valentine’, and because of that contrast you’ll see that we can cover a broad range of genres and styles.”
minhyuk smiles up at them. He leans against the counter and gestures toward them. “Interesting. Then, whenever you’re ready.”
sungjae’s shoulders rise as he breathes in. He exhales and turns back to changsub, who also takes a deep breath. changsub hears a metronome in his head and nods to sungjae. he nods back and turns back around. changsub taps out the tempo on the hi-hat, then intros them in with the drums.
He listens to hyunsik and eunkwang play the chord changes and keeps count. most of changsub’s job is to just set the feel and tempo, but his hands have already become sweaty and his nerves are stressing him out. He keeps himself controlled as much as possible, breathing and listening around.
sungjae starts to sing and that’s when they start to lose it. changsub hears eunkwang start to rush, hyunsik and sungjae following. He emphasises the hi-hat hits, leaning back so that he can drag the tempo a little. However, he leans back too much and falls out of his seat. changsub’s heart stops for just a second.
The other members falter with the sudden disappearance of the drums, but hyunsik recovers it and plays straight notes to replace the tempo. They keep going as changsub lies on the floor in shock. He hears sungjae come to the climax of the song and it brings him back to reality. He gets back up on the stool just in time to build up sungjae’s long note.
sungjae holds it out and changsub listens for his release. His mind is absolutely blank as he hits out a solo. Eventually the song ends, but changsub doesn’t process how he managed to get through it. He hears a single clap.
“Are you okay, changsub?!” minhyuk shouts. changsub opens his mouth then closes it. He nods, and minhyuk sighs in relief.
sungjae turns to him. “What happened?” he whispers. He looks concerned, his eyebrows furrowed, but changsub shakes his head. sungjae stares for another second before turning away.
A few minutes pass before changsub realises they’re supposed to start the next song right away. He intros them and sungjae starts. There’s shakiness to his voice, but changsub tries to focus on controlling the group. “Paradise” is a harder and longer song, so he just needs to keep up the groove and style, otherwise the group will fall apart.
Near the end of the song, sungjae’s voice cracks in the middle of an adlib. The group doesn’t stutter like with the last song, but changsub feels his heart drop. He thinks he can hear sungjae straining with the rest of the song but he ignores it. changsub ends the song with the cymbal crash and breathes out.
minhyuk claps quietly and doesn’t say anything. leaving the room silent. changsub thinks he’s giving them a break, seeing as hyunsik is sweating like crazy, eunkwang is rubbing at his head, and sungjae is standing stock still. changsub stands up and breaks the silence when his drumsticks clatter loudly as he puts them in his back pocket. The other members all turn to him.
They start walking toward him into a small huddle. Closer up, changsub sees how their short performance affected them. eunkwang’s lips are thin as he looks at changsub with concern. sungjae’s complexion is a little pale, the corners of his eyes and nose are red. hyunsik’s dabbing a towel against his face, but changsub can see that his eyes are a little dark, like he’s thinking really hard. changsub imagines he’s a combination of all three of them. No one says anything.
changsub eventually sighs and whispers to them, “Let’s talk outside.” The members glance away, then nod. he leads them to the front of the stage to face minhyuk.
minhyuk looks up at them when he notices them all staring at him. He looks at them and gives a comforting smile. “You guys look like you all had a collective nightmare…” he pauses, then laughs, “I can’t really tell you guys to not worry about it because I’ve been in your position before, but… just don’t make assumptions. I’m the one who gets to decide whether you make the cut or not, and, not to get your hopes up, but… I thought you guys did great. It’ll be hard for the other people auditioning to really live up to it, I think.” He stands up and stretches out his back. “Well, I recorded it-” he waves his phone “-so I’ll be going over it in the next week. Grand opening is a week from tomorrow, so please expect some sorta call before then. You guys are free to pack up and leave.”
changsub exchanges a look with the other members. eunkwang and sungjae shout a “thank you!” to minhyuk, changsub and hyunsik nodding along. They disperse to strike their stuff, but changsub hears his name. He turns to see minhyuk at the edge of the stage, looking up at him. He waves changsub down, so changsub crouches.
“Are you really okay?” minhyuk asks.
changsub takes a second to realise what minhyuk’s talking about. “Yeah, I’m fine, I fall a lot so I’m used to it.”
minhyuk chuckles. “That’s good. You did a really good job, by the way. You’re probably the first drummer I’ve met that blended with their group.”
“Isn’t that what drummers are supposed to do?”
“Yeah, but most drummers I know really fade into the wall, and then there are some that try to upstage everyone. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like you really work well with the other members, and vice versa,” minhyuk says as he looks past changsub’s shoulders. he looks back to changsub and leans in as best he can. “I could hear what you were trying to do during ‘My Funny Valentine’. They all followed you too. You guys just have really good teamwork.” He winks up at changsub.
changsub scratches his cheek, feeling embarrassed. “Thanks… we’ve known each other so long, but this is our first audition, so thanks… for all the kind words...”
“I could tell,” minhyuk smiles, “but you guys are good. Let’s hope no one beats you.” He knocks on the wood of the stage and walks away.
changsub watches him. He stands up when sungjae taps his shoulder. sungjae jerks his head towards the door and changsub nods. They all step down from the stage and walk out. minhyuk waves at them with a smile. They wave back.
When they’re outside, sungjae hugs changsub from behind and buries his head in changsub’s shoulder. changsub feels his shoulder getting wet and sungjae’s hiccuping and sniffling are loud in his ear, but he lets it be. He pats sungjae’s arm and looks at the other members.
“Well,” eunkwang starts, “that was rough.”
“We let our nerves get to us,” hyunsik adds quietly, “but minhyuk did say he thought it was good, let’s just take that and be satisfied. There’s still a chance we’ll make it.” He stares at changsub. “What did he say to you, by the way?”
changsub startles a bit. “He complimented us on our teamwork. He seemed like he really liked our performance. Also asked if I was okay.”
“oh yeah, I couldn’t see you,” eunkwang says, “what happened during ‘My Funny’?”
“Y’all were rushing so I was trying to pull you guys back and you know how like if you lean back you drag and if you lean forward you rush? Well I ended up leaning back too far and fell off my chair.” hyunsik snorts. eunkwang throws his head back, covering his mouth. changsub feels sungjae’s shoulders shake from behind him. He starts laughing too. “You guys are so mean.”
sungjae raises his head and slowly slips away from changsub. His face is a little redder and he’s still sniffling, but he’s smiling. “If I had known that, I wouldn’t have cried over my own mistake. What you did was just funny.”
eunkwang laughs and walks over to sungjae, hugging him as sungjae wipes at his eyes. “Now I really wish I had seen it.” He rocks sungjae in his arms as they both laugh.
hyunsik grins. “We sure did cheer up quickly, all because of your pain, changsub.” changsub kicks at the ground jokingly and the rest of them laugh again. “Let’s go,” hyunsik says. They follow him, and changsub is glad they’re feeling better, even if they’re laughing at him.
After a week, they get nothing.
hyunsik reasons that it’s probably because minhyuk is preparing for Born to Brew’s opening at the same time he’s reviewing the auditions, so he’s just been busy. Besides, today’s still a day where minhyuk can call them for an audition. As a result, they laze about in the studio, not wanting to play anything over minhyuk’s phone call.
They’re playing a game with bottle caps when changsub’s phone rings. surprised, changsub flicks his bottle cap right off the table. He groans as he rushes toward his cell phone. He picks up.
“Hello?”
“ Hey! Sorry for the late call, I was busy with preparations and other things and I only just started to go over all the auditions and I noticed I forgot to ask you guys about what you wanted your pay to be. Guess since you guys were first to audition I totally forgot. ”
changsub looks up, surprised. The members, having gathered around him, also look up, surprised.
“oh, how crazyyy,” changsub replies, “we’re happy with, uhhhhh-”
changsub looks at hyunsik, who looks at eunkwang, who looks at changsub, who looks at sungjae, who looks at hyunsik, who looks at changsub,
“uhhhhhhhhh-”
changsub glares at hyunsik and eunkwang. The two of them start mouthing numbers at each other, eventually getting to thirty. changsub looks between them to make sure,
“uhhh thir...ty... dollars…”
hourly? changsub mouths. yes, hourly! hyunsik mouths back.
“...an hour. Thirty dollars an hour.”
“ Oh! Then you get the job! ”
changsub blanks.
“We what?”
“ Yeah! I narrowed down auditions to a top three and you guys were number three, but since you guys are the cheapest, you get the job! ”
The members look amongst each other.
“H-how… how much did those other bands ask for?” eunkwang asks quietly.
“ One of them asked for $150 an hour, the other asked for $90, but you guys said you were okay with just $30, right? ”
eunkwang looks at the others blankly. changsub blinks.
“Yeah. We’re good with. Just thirty,” changsub says with strained voice.
“ Cool! I’ll see you guys tomorrow, then! Calltime’s whenever you want, just be sure to be performance ready by 5pm! Bye-bye! ”
minhyuk hangs up. changsub blinks again. “$90… an hour…”
“ $150 an hour…” hyunsik mumbles.
“At least $30’s well above minimum wage,” sungjae remarks.
“I guess,” eunkwang sighs. “Well, we got the gig at least! We should celebrate tonight!”
“Oh yeah!” changsub shouts, “Let’s go out for dinner at like a karaoke bar or something!”
They start to discuss plans for their new gig celebration, but eunkwang asks, “Wait, we don’t have to change our name do we?”
“‘Blue’? Nah, why would we?” changsub answers.
“I mean the cafe is like our new management so maybe… what was the cafe’s name? ‘Born Brewing’?”
hyunsik laughs at him. “It was ‘ Born to Brew ’, not ‘Born Brewing’”
“Oh yeah,” eunkwang chuckles, “but, like, would we have to be like ‘Born to Brew’s Blue’ or something?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” sungjae says, “besides, ‘Born to Brew’ is sort of a mouthful, wouldn’t people shorten it? like ‘BTB’... ‘BtoB’...”
“‘BtoB’ sounds pretty catchy,” changsub comments, “we could be ‘BtoB’s Blue’”
“Or ‘Born to Blue’?” hyunsik suggests, “‘BtoBlue’?”
“I like the alliteration, though,” says sungjae, “‘BtoB Blue’. Sounds cool.”
“I don’t think that’s what alliteration is, but it does sound right,” eunkwang responds, “‘BtoB Blue’... it has rhythm, flow…”
“Okay then, I guess we’ll be ‘BtoB Blue’ starting tomorrow,” changsub says. “Let’s just celebrate the fact that now our anxiety’s gone and we got ourselves a paying job!”
All of them cheer and start planning their celebration dinner. However, changsub wonders how they got the job so easy. He knows it was because they sound good and because they were cheap, but it seems really unreal, especially with how easy it was. Maybe minhyuk happened to counter his bad luck.
changsub eventually just shrugs it off, He chalks it up to the Fates being nice to him for once. Or that minhyuk was possibly his good luck charm.
Either way, his biggest concern right now is making sure that by the end of the night he’ll have eaten more than sungjae.