Chapter Text
Being annoyed when making music was not something Jisung usually felt. But there was a first time for everything.
He was currently extremely annoyed with his two other group members. So annoyed that he was starting to get a headache behind his eyes. They were all supposed to be finishing a track but Chan and Changbin were too busy talking about the new idol they were supposed to be mentoring.
The guy's name was Hwang Hyunjin. He was from the group "zerozero", a new rookie group where three of the four members were born in 2000, besides the youngest member. The guy wasn't a terrible rapper but he could've been better, hence why the company was making him learn from 3RACHA.
Jisung thought it was stupid. He couldn't care less about Hwang Hyunjin, and while he appreciated the ego boost of being someone to learn from, they had more important things to do. And he just knew that Hyunjin was just going to turn out to be some airhead pretty boy who would just use them until the company deemed him acceptable, then he'd never speak to them again. He was the “visual” and barely did anything other than giggle and run his fingers through his hair from what Jisung had seen in interviews. He'd probably never even written his own lyrics. Jisung knew better than to trust people like him.
But for some reason, despite the obvious signs that this was going to blow up in their faces, Chan and Changbin were super excited that Hwang Hyunjin was going to be learning from them. And they would not shut up about him. Not even long enough for Jisung to focus on the track that, once again, they were supposed to be finishing.
His head throbbed.
“I think he'll need the most help with pronunciation. He tends to mumble his words, and string them together,” Chan said and Changbin nodded. Jisung rolled his eyes but didn't comment. Of course, the pretty boy couldn't even speak right.
Changbin was about to speak but there was a knock on the door. Chan smiled as he stood to open it, which annoyed Jisung even more. They were acting like this guy was someone important and not just a random kid.
When Chan pulled the door open, Hwang Hyunjin was on the other side looking annoyingly polished, and irritatingly pretty. His jeans were ripped and practically painted onto his mile-long legs. His ultra-clean, super white button-up was artfully tucked in. Even his sneakers were spotless. The boy practically screamed “I'm an idol! Look at me!”. As if his outfit wasn't pretentious enough, he had shiny black hair and perfectly clear skin. His eyes were practically glittering. Chan stepped back to let him in and Jisung almost scoffed at how put together he was. He was disgusted that someone could look so perfect. The guy was like a Barbie doll.
“Hi! Uh, hi, I'm Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin. You guys are 3RACHA right?” Hyunjin said. He was fidgeting, tapping his fingers against his thigh. His voice was soft and he looked kind of like he was going to throw up. For an idol, he was apparently very bad at public speaking. It was almost funny.
“Yeah, we're 3RACHA! Hi, I'm Chan, this is Changbin, and over there is Jisung,” Chan said, using his most polite leader voice. Suck up.
Hyunjin grinned and Jisung grumpily realized that his smile was kind of gorgeous. Because of course it was. No one wants an idol with an ugly smile.
Then Hyunjin bit his stupidly plump bottom lip and a basket seemed to appear out of thin air from behind his back. He shoved it into Chan's hands and immediately started rambling after that.
“It's really nice to meet you. I've liked your music for a while, since, like, pre-debut. Or, well, my pre-debut. And, uh, I'm really excited to be learning from you. Like really, really excited. And my other members and I made these, uh, cookies for you? I hope that's not weird. I just didn't want to come empty-handed since you all were being nice enough to help me.”
He looked embarrassed and Jisung had the incredibly stupid thought that it was adorable. His cheeks were pink and he was playing with his rings as he nervously waited for someone to respond to him.
“Oh wow. Thank you Hyunjin. That's very kind of you,” Chan finally replied. He was smiling so wide that his cheeks probably hurt. Changbin was looking at him like the cookies were the key to world peace or something. They were so easily wooed that it was almost comedic.
Chan and Changbin sat on the couch and Changbin immediately went for the cookies, diving in like he hadn't eaten in days. Hyunjin looked like he wanted to laugh but he didn't want to be rude.
“You can sit next to Jisung,” Chan offered, pointing to the empty chair beside Jisung's and Hyunjin nodded. He sat beside Jisung, sending him a smile. Jisung nodded back, barely giving him a proper glance, before turning back to the computer in front of him. He saw Hyunjin frown out of the corner of his eye, but ignored it.
“What do you think we should help you with the most? Or what do you think you need the most help with?” Changbin asked as he picked up what was probably his third cookie in thirty seconds.
“Um, everything?” Hyunjin admitted with an uncomfortable laugh. He ran his fingers through his hair and Jisung was smacked with a floral scent. He had to physically force himself to hold back an eye roll. The dude who wants to be a rapper walks around smelling like flowers. How ironic.
“Have some confidence in yourself! You're already pretty good. We're just here to help you get better at what you're already good at,” Chan explained, looking like he was trying to give Hyunjin self-esteem through his eyes. Hyunjin nodded and he scrunched his nose as he thought.
“I want to be able to rap faster, I guess. And I wanna learn how to write my own raps,” Hyunjin finally said. Chan and Changbin nodded. Changbin looked ecstatic.
“First things first, these are really good cookies,” he said, making Hyunjin and Chan laugh. Hyunjin's laugh was kind of cute. It was basically him giggling loudly and Jisung begrudgingly could admit it sounded nice. “Secondly, have you written anything before?”
Hyunjin frowned and bit the inside of his cheek before responding. “No. The, uh, the company writes all of our songs for us.”
“Not surprising,” Jisung muttered and Chan sent him a glare as Hyunjin looked embarrassed again.
“What Jisung means,” Chan started, shooting Jisung another dirty look, “is that it's not surprising that the company has creative control. We can all help you write your own stuff so you have more freedom in your music.” Hyunjin looked excited again and he grinned, all pretty white teeth and puffy cheeks.
“I'd love that. Thank you, really.”
Changbin looked fond as he quickly tried to reassure him. “You don't have to keep thanking us. We want to help, really." Hyunjin nodded again, still smiling. Then his phone buzzed and as he looked at the screen his face fell into a disappointed look.
“I have to go. I have practice soon. When can I come back?”
-
Plans were made for Hyunjin to return in two days when he was schedule free and more prepared to work. The second he was out of the door, Jisung started to ask about the track.
“Can you take a break from work for three seconds?” Chan asked, looking at him in disbelief. He seemed outraged that Jisung cared about finishing their song. Jisung frowned but took his hands off the computer.
“But this track is due soon,” he whined and Changbin threw a pen at him. Jisung whined again as it hit him on the forehead. He hoped it didn't leave a mark.
“Why were you being a jerk to Hyunjin?”
“I wasn't being a jerk!”
“You wouldn't look at him, or talk to him and you insulted him to his face,” Changbin said, with a frown.
“It's not my fault the company raps suck. He's good with what he's given, but they're still not good.” He shouldn't have to defend himself against a simple fact. He ducked as another pen flew in his direction.
“Next time don't be rude to him. He's new to this, cut him some slack. And maybe actually try to speak to him,” Chan suggested. The way he said it was more of a gentle command than a suggestion though. Jisung nodded and sighed.
Stupid pretty boy idol interrupting his work and getting him yelled at. Jisung was certainly more than annoyed now. He didn't know how long he could put up with this mentoring thing.
-
It wasn't until later that night, work finished for the day and his annoyance forgotten that he was hit with it once again. He was trying to relax in the dorm he shared with the other members when he had gotten a text from an unknown number. He had a gut feeling that he knew who it was.
With a scowl, he opened the message.
From: Unknown
hi jisung! it's hyunjin, chan gave me ur # i hope thats ok! im very excited to work with u :)
Stupid Chan, making his life difficult. And, what kind of person still used smiley faces in their texts? Unhappily, he saved the number to his contacts with much more aggression than was probably needed, before he responded.
To: Idol Boy
ok
This vague and obviously uninterested text was apparently not enough to dissuade Hyunjin from continuing the conversation.
From: Idol Boy
ok well thats all i wanted to say! goodnight jisung! btw i really liked your shirt today!
Hyunjin was definitely not afraid of exclamation points. Jisung had never seen someone so excited about going to sleep. And did he think he could butter Jisung up with little compliment? In his dreams.
Without responding, Jisung turned his phone off and threw it beside him on the couch. As he sat in silence, something in the back of his mind made him realize the shirt he was wearing was his favorite shirt, and that basically everyone he knew hated it. Besides stupid Hyunjin apparently.
Groaning, he threw his arm over his eyes. He was so not ready to be a mentor.