Chapter Text
He had no idea how he ended up here at a function this extravagant. Just him and Hyunjin trailing along at his side. It was being held in some fancy theatre; all he could see were swanky carvings across the pillars and wooden step upon wooden step. There was a large proscenium arch hovering above the theatre stage, made of stone, probably. The whole event smelt a little ‘rustic’, likely due to the worn-out wooden stage frames and the thick, velour curtains draped at either side of the stage. The whole place kind of just smelt like mothballs to Jisung.
Below it, a podium and a large presentation board in the centre with 'Sing it, Feel it, Live it!" typed in English across the blue canvas. He cringed at the awful slogan, tugging at his dickie bowtie.
Why did I even enter that stupid contest? he thought to himself. One of the 'perks' of the contest was entry to one of Seoul's most lucrative ‘charity galas’. He would’ve just been happy with the new phone. He didn’t even know what gala actually meant.
Jisung had simply entered a YouTube contest in which you used the creator’s sample to engineer your own song. He only entered because he was sure the slight jungle/house-style EDM mix he roughly threw together at 2:00am in a coffee-fuelled mania wouldn't ever win.
Alas, out of 16,000+ entries, annoyingly, he had won.
He had considered not going at all, but something inside of him told him that not attending a charity event based on 'increasing funding for arts and music projects in schools' didn't sit right with him somehow as someone who had studied music himself.
Also, Hyunjin, his best friend, wanted to get out of the house and into a suit, go figure. He was so statuesque and handsome; he totally rocked the tuxedo look. Jisung on the other hand, looked like a 13-year old had been swallowed by a 22-year-olds clothes. How could the blazer be so big, but the shirt collar be so damn tight?
Maybe I have a thicker than average neck, he pondered.
---
He had hoped the venue would just be a buffet and with some late 90’s musical numbers playing from some badly connected speakers, but instead he was surrounded by pompous douchebags who probably were born around the time this theatre was originally built.
"Jisung, I'm sure I saw Lee Dong-Wook over there! I am freaking out. I will literally die if I get to speak to him tonight, he's like my idol." Hyunjin exclaimed excitedly. He stood behind Jisung and had his hands on both of Jisung's shoulders. He was bobbing up and down like some hyperactive kid, ducking away as to hide from the famous actors all gathered in a circle (who likely weren't even looking his way anyway).
"Hyunjin I swear you are going to get us kicked out of a charity event..." Jisung groaned putting his hands to his forehead and rubbing at his temples, completely over the situation. He was used to being man-handled by Hyunjin; it came with the territory of being the best friend of the most chaotic man in history. Plus, Hyunjin was taller than Jisung so it wasn't like he had much of a say in the matter.
He was right though; it was kind of exhilarating being so close to celebrities. Maybe he would feel confident enough to speak to some of the other musicians. Networking is important in his field and he would be lying if he said it wasn't one of the reasons that he eventually talked himself in to coming.
Jisung was a music producer by profession, but at the tender age of 22 he had barely gotten anywhere aside from a few B-sides on some lesser known groups' songs and some commercial plays. He thought maybe if he mingled with the producers here, they might want to hear some of his work.
Who was he kidding though, the likelihood of him actually following through with that was next to none.
He would likely stand in this same spot with Hyunjin all night.
---
Sometime after, Jisung noticed a brunette girl with a slicked back ponytail had started walking around with a platter in her hand, bowing and smiling at the guests with a smile so fake plastered across her face Jisung thought she would end up permanently in that position if the wind changed.
Jisung considered that he hadn't eaten since 10:00am this morning when Hyunjin had started his 8-hour prep for the nights' event. Jisung on the other hand literally jumped in the shower, ran shampoo through his yellow hair and then got out and dressed. He thought he maybe should have at least invested in a toning shampoo. Oh well. Hyunjin insisted on the eyeliner, though.
He decided to make a beeline for the food. Maybe if he ate enough it would fill the ever-apparent void of actually being here.
Jisung span around on his heel and grabbed Hyunjin by both arms firmly. He let out a deep sigh and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Hyunjin I'm going to grab some food okay? Please, do not do anything stupid or embarrassing whilst I'm gone..." he raised his eyebrows to highlight the importance of the situation.
"I won't! Sheesh, you don't trust me!" Hyunjin clapped back with a pout, slapping his hands away childishly.
"You have given me plenty of reasons not to leave you alone before. Literally multiple times." Jisung said, rolling his eyes so far back in to his head he was sure he could see his own brain stem. If that was possible. With that, he was slipping away to find the Holy Platter of Canapes.
Please don't be pretentious, please don't be pretentious, he repeated to himself. He was met with a tray of 'camembert and prosciutto parcels' or 'anchovy-lemon brioche bites with pickled crayfish', or something like that.
Ick.
He sighed - he was more of a sweet over savoury kind of guy anyway. He grabbed one in between his index finger and thumb and did his best to eat the entire thing, ignoring how rancid it tasted to him as to avoid the embarrassment of walking up to the girl and then just walking away. He didn't want another awkward memory to dwell on for the next fifteen years, he had enough of those to last a lifetime.
He turned back in the direction of Hyunjin, apologising to the people he was trying to weave around. As he was walking, he grabbed two half-filled champagne flutes from another silver tray and made his back over to their 'corner of the circle' as he called it. He wasn't a big drinker by nature, he didn't really like the taste, but sometimes he could make an exception.
---
As he saw Hyunjin’s meticulously chiselled side profile come in to focus he stopped dead in his tracks. Oh no. Hyunjin was talking to someone, and not just someone, a whole group of people, and they looked, their age-ish? Man, this is not what he needed.
He cussed Hyunjin out in his head and continued walking over, focusing on the pattern of his breathing way more than he was before. He hated being in a group with people he didn't know and here's Hyunjin, life and soul of the party, doing just that. Go figure.
"Jisung!" Hyunjin excitedly exclaimed at him, giving him the widest grin possible as he clapped his hands together loudly. His eyes were beaming, as if the other boy hadn't been gone literally five- or six-minutes max.
The group of people turned around to look at him. Oh, wow. There really were some famous faces here to say the least.
He recognised Lee Felix, the Australian-born, Korean heartthrob. Next to him was Kim 'Voice of an Angel' Seungmin and then someone else, who he didn't know. He was shorter, with a well-defined muscular jawbone and dyed blonde hair; it was a similar shade to his own. He looked so broad compared to Hyunjin, who definitely had more of a 'sleek body', if that made sense.
Not that Jisung ever looked at Hyunjin ‘like that’ (at least not since his first year of high school).
"Jisung, can you believe this? I'm standing with Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin and Mr. Bang Chan. It's incredible, what an honour!" Hyunjin exclaimed, his laugh was so contagious the other men laughed along with him and Jisung felt the second-hand cringe overtake his body. He grimaced but smiled a little as to not attract unwanted questions. All he could hear was 'Oh stop it!"
Ick.
"This is my friend Jisung, he is just stepping into the music industry himself, he's a producer!" The other men nodded their heads in approval, likely faking some interest.
Please Hyunjin, please no. I’m asking you as a friend to shut your big mouth right now. Jisung begged with his eyes for him to stop talking, hoping they had known each other long enough that they pick up on these non-verbal cues. Hyunjin understood immediately and led the conversation in a different direction.
"Jisung, Mr. Bang Chan here is an agent, he told me I should come and audition for the company he works for! He is also The Lee Minho's Manager!"
Jisung could feel excitement in his Hyunjin's voice and he was doing that same little arm and hip ‘wiggle’ he did whenever all the attention was on him. Mr. Bang Chan turned to him gripping on to his left arm slightly.
"I near enough noticed you from across the room Hyunjin. I honestly thought you were another one of those ‘token models’ they have to pay to appear at these kinds of boring events!” The man scoffed, sipping at his drink casually.
His accent was kind of funny, Jisung wasn't sure about him. He was leaning in to Hyunjin a little too close for comfort and he obviously had a way with people. Hyunjin just laughed rather coyly, swatting Chan on the arm playfully.
Ick.
"I am seriously not good-looking enough to be a model!” Hyunjin replied, taking the champagne flute from Jisung's hand that he had now been awkwardly holding long enough for it to likely be grossly warm at the bottom.
As if listening to Hyunjin talk about himself wasn't bad enough, now he had to listen to other people do it...
Stop being such a bitch, Jisung thought to himself. You should be happy for him, he's your best friend. Suddenly, his train of thought was cut short, as another man turned to face him.
"I'm Kim Seungmin, nice to meet you!" The softer-looking, ash-blonde boy said, although Jisung already knew who he was. The other man extended a hand to him. This was new. He took his hand and shook it. It was a pretty 'western' introduction, but he considered that Kim Seungmin travelled the all over the world on his tours, so it made sense. He knew that he spoke English near to fluency too, Jisung was definitely in awe of him, especially as he knew they were the same age.
"What type of music do you produce then, Jisung, was it?" the other man continued.
"Um, yeah it's Jisung. My name, I mean, and well..."
Suddenly, he was cut off by a loud plosive noise, followed by a screeching sound that forced everyone in the room to stop what they were otherwise doing. Jisung knew that ear-splitting microphone feedback noise from anywhere and his eyes moved from Seungmin to the stage podium, where someone was standing beneath the arch way. The room went quiet in anticipation.
"Hello, everyone, does this thing work?" The voice said, Jisung could see the silhouetted figure pat the microphone and laugh a little into it. The crowd followed in tandem, giggling along.
Suddenly, the floodlights came up to illuminate the entire stage.
"There he is! The man of the hour!" Mr. Bang Chan exclaimed, loud enough so the entire rest of the auditorium could hear. Jisung squinted his eyes a little to try and see who he was talking about. Covering his brow with his hand to dim the light a little.
---
Standing centre stage was The Lee Minho.
He was a renowned drama actor, professional dancer, clothing model, brand ambassador, singer, choreographer, TV personality, recently turned musical theatre leading man - you name it, he did it... It was infuriating.
The entire room erupted in clapping suddenly. It was honestly a bit overwhelming for Jisung, but he joined in as to not look out of place.
Although he wasn't too clued up on musical theatre, it made sense that someone like The Lee Minho would start a ‘charitable organisation based on increasing funding for arts and music projects in schools' mere weeks before his Leading-Man Musical Debut…
Typical headline grabbing behaviour, very smart. Jisung wasn't sure if he was impressed or sickened by the idea of the man using charity as a form of advertisement.
And just like that, Jisung stood there awkwardly sandwiched in between people he didn't even know for the next fifteen minutes listening to The Lee Minho deliver some tear-jerking speech on the ‘lack of creative programs and artistic freedom for children’ and how they had to 'make a stand'.
If he hadn’t already rolled his eyes hard enough at Hyunjin, he could definitely see his brain stem now. He promptly downed his champagne and fetched another. He didn’t really like the taste.
Ick.