Work Text:
Let it be known that Kye Kyuhyun tried everything.
“I’m buying you coffee for a week.”
“No.”
“Two weeks?” The silence makes him raise his offer to a month.
“Kyuhyun, my lovely hoobae. No.”
“I started a week after you, fuck you.”
Haewon smiles at this. “Which is why you have to go through the first round of mixtapes.”
Kyuhyun curses her in his head as he tries not to pout. She merely raises an eyebrow and points a perfectly manicured finger towards the open tab on his desktop, an email account with multiple unread emails waiting for him. There’s at least twenty of them and Kyuhyun has spent the last two hours going through half a dozen of them and feeling all emotions on the spectrum of negative human emotions. It’s always the same procedure: open the email, listen to the music and depending on the quality check the attached documents. Rinse and repeat.
This isn’t what he expected when he sent his stupid CV to KQ Entertainment. On the contrary, it was to avoid this kind of work while simultaneously still being involved in the entertainment industry. As a fairly new company that established itself in 2016, KQ prides itself on focusing on the inner and background workings of the entertainment industry. The only idol group that is on their payroll has been around for half a decade already whereas their employed producers have enough experience and credits to their name to make up for the lack of fame this company will bring them in the long run. They’re supposed to take care of the behind the scenes work while dodging the limelight. He can count the number of his co-workers on two hands.
All this to say: he doesn’t want to be the one in charge of sorting through newbie producers looking to get hired.
“Noona,” he whines.
He desperately glances around the small office and catches the curious glance of Kim Nara, a tablet in one hand while the other pushes her short fringe back. She’s dressed immaculately as always, a pair of colorful slacks paired with a black sleeveless shirt and handpicked jewelry, a jacket artfully draped over her shoulders to conceal her tattoos for the meeting. She raises a brow and seems to come to a conclusion because she makes her way over. Kyuhyun can feel his chances of succeeding drop to zero. He quickly turns back to Haewon, trying to finish this.
“Noona, I’m begging you.”
“Beg harder,” Nara interjects and yes, okay, he set himself up for that one.
Haewon bursts into laughter and raises her hand to high-five Nara who grins and stretches a hand to ruffle his hair, ruining his carefully styled hair. Though he might have already done that himself in his exasperation while listening to the mixtapes.
He busies one hand with pressing his tousled hair down as his other gives her a light shove. He gives up after a moment and instead folds his arms on the table to burrow his head right there.
“What are you even doing here?” he asks, peeking up for a moment.
“In the talks for taking on some styling for the Block B members. Not sure if their vibes are up my alley though.”
“The life of freelancers,” Kyuhyun grumbles, which earns him a smack to the shoulder on one side and a push on his head from the other. He settles his head back into the sweet embrace of his sleeves. Death by suffocation seems like a good way to go.
Nara continues undeterred but her explanation of the differences in style between her client and herself gets a little too technical for Kyuhyun’s taste. Haewon seems to follow easily enough though as she adds her own commentary and even uses the same jargon. The two women are stopped in their conversation by a pointed cough from the neighboring cubicle. Haewon shoots the wall a glare.
“Wanna join us in the breakroom?” she asks, grabbing her phone and staff lanyard.
Kyuhyun merely groans.
“Okay, good luck, newbie.”
This time he flips her off and turns his well-cushioned head to watch the two leave.
He gives himself three more minutes to wallow in self-pity before he grabs the headphones once more and opens the next email, steeling himself for another couple hours of minor torture and major boredom.
He blinks, surprise and even some disbelief taking over his expression. Along the usual documents and links to the audio files, there is a letter. He skims through the content and the furrow between his eyebrows deepens.
Huh. This is a first for him.
In the handful of emails so far there had been enough mistakes to annoy him into the distress that made him beg his co-worker. There were a range of errors that tested his patience: from attaching the MP3 files to the email and thus making the download take ages and spam his inbox space, to having a sob story as a CV. Technically, KQ wasn’t even looking for new staff, nevermind that the easiest way into the entertainment industry was via contacts or people who owed favors, but unsolicited applications weren’t unheard of either.
But letters declaring their intentions like that? Signed as well, a neat Kim Hongjoong etched in ink on the last line.
Huh.
Kyuhyun opens the link inside the mail and scrolls through the audio files that appear as soon as the website loads, a download button next to each track. This Kim Hongjoong even named and tagged everything properly and all of these songs seem to be full length songs. Kyuhyun presses the first song and waits for the music to start.
An upbeat song, easy to get into. The voice who begins to rap is higher than expected but they have a solid grasp on their flow. A female voice takes over for the chorus, the song’s mood not shifting by much. When it’s the rapper’s turn again Kyuhyun takes note of the actual content of the lyrics though he can guess as much from the melody: love. Not only that but the choice of words makes the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile. The lyricist seems like quite a romantic at heart, too. Destiny, blooming love, bliss in the palm of one’s heart? This song could easily be a debut song for a boy group made up of teenage trainees. The producer nailed the high school love interpretation that would earn the artist a lot of young fans.
He clicks on the next track. Gives it a listen. Rewinds a part, relistens. Then moves onto the next one.
By the time he realizes he’s finished the entire mixtape, Haewon has returned with a cup of coffee for him. Nara is nowhere in sight, though perhaps she’s already left the building to try and avoid the crowd of subway line 2. Haewon tilts her head, clearly a question forming in her head.
“You good?” she finally settles on, ever the eloquent one.
He looks up from his desktop and says “I think I found a solid PD?”
She stops on her way to her own desk and retraces her steps back to him. “Wait, you’re for real?”
He gives her the headphones and plays the first song, skipping from the singer straight to the rapper.
“The rapper is pretty good, too,wait,” he says, way too fast, words trying to catch up with each other, as he opens up the credits once more, “I’ll check who this is, maybe-”
Kim Hongjoong, it reads. He can create music and rap?
Okay, fuck it, who is this guy?
He opens the CV and does a double take.
Haewon whistles, her eyes moving back and forth as she reads through the CV. “Nineteen-ninety-eight?”
“Motherfucker is in high school,” Kyuhyun says grimly and forwards the email to his superior.
Kyuhyun forgets about Kim Hongjoong pretty quickly as work keeps him busy enough.
Nine people on the permanent staff roster means they also happen to be understaffed on the better days, so it’s an immense relief when a tenth person is hired.
Nam Wooyoung easily settles into the circus that is their office space. More importantly, Kyuhyun finally loses the newbie status and gains a hoobae that he’s tasked with mentoring. Doesn’t matter that Wooyoung is half a head taller than him and he always has to raise his head to meet their eyes when answering their questions.
At the end of Wooyoung’s first month, Haewon decides to force everyone to head to a bar in Yeonnam to celebrate Wooyoung’s recruitment (“better late than never and we can put the drinks on the company card”). Which means Kyuhyun spends the evening nursing one beer before Haewon gets to him and suddenly he has consumed two very fruity and sweet cocktails, a third in his hand as he gestures wildly while trying to make his point. There is a miniature umbrella tucked behind his ear and Wooyoung has a lazy grin on their face as they listen.
“Look, I’m telling you the ones who know everything aren’t the reporters or Dispatch-,” he takes a sip, gets it down the wrong pipe, coughs for a solid minute and continues, undeterred, “-as I was saying! It’s not them, it’s the stylists and makeup artists. They know more about your private life than you ever will.”
Wooyoung nods, clearly amused, though Kyuhyun isn’t sure why. He’s imparting valuable knowledge here.
“Next, make sure to avoid Haewon without her caffeine input. Seriously, she’s a monster.”
“Fuck you, Kye Kyuhyun!” He can’t identify the source of Haewon’s shout, so he should be safe to continue.
“Seriously, she might be pretty now, but you will forget all of that the moment you meet her wrath. I’ve thought about administering her coffee intravenously. Was too broke that month to buy the stuff off Coupang though.”
He gestures a little too wildly, the remains of his drink sloshing over the rim of his glass. Wooyoung is fast enough to take a hold of the glass, their other hand settling on Kyuhyun’s hip to stabilize his precarious footing.
“Sunbae,” they say, “I think water might be a good idea? Let me get some for you.”
Kyuhyun nods and tries to grab his drink. He paid for it, he can at least finish it. Wooyoung easily sidesteps him and tosses the rest back, waving him off as they make their way to the bar. Fine, whatever. Kyuhyun rests his elbow on the table in front of him and props his chin on his hand, watching his surroundings.
Haewon finds him like this after a while and coos upon taking a look at him. She pinches his cheek to be extra obnoxious.
“You’re red all over, Kyuhyun.”
He pushes her away and groans. “This is your fault. Why give me drinks?”
“Hey, no one forced you.”
“Still gonna blame you for this in the morning.”
The sensation of his phone vibrating against his thigh interrupts whatever thought was going to come into his drunken mind next and he wrestles the phone out of his too tight pocket. He swipes it open and sees that it's an email to his work mail. Now, normally he makes sure to only open anything work related in a sober state. But the name of the sender catches his attention.
Kim Hongjoong.
Again?
He checks the content of the mail and it’s the same as before. Weird.
Eh, it should be fine. Kyuhyun forwarded the mail, so it’s out of his hands anyways.
Wooyoung’s arrival pulls his attention back to the current happenings and he puts his phone away once more.
“Yo, Kyuhyun.”
Kim Yonghwan's voice is unmistakable. He drops a file on Kyuhyun’s desk and when Kyuhyun looks up, the older man is leaning on the wall of his cubicle, his arms folded over the edge to act as a soft support for his face.
“Hyung! Did they finally let you out of their KQ Produce dungeons?”
“It’s not that bad. I see you haven't lost your smart mouth since the last time we had time to chat.”
“Whatcha mean?”
“I remember someone waxing poetics about—”
“Hahaha, very funny. You get drunk one time and suddenly everyone talks about it even though it’s been months.”
“Shouldn’t have let Haewon take videos.”
“I don’t think anyone on God’s green earth could stop her.”
Yonghwan nods solemly at that.
“Also I was a delight to be with that night.”
“Even during noraebang?”
“Especially during noraebang. I’m the only one unembarrassed enough to perform English songs with you even though I mess up most of it.”
“Oh yes, what would I do without you?” The laugh Yonghwan lets out is more breath than sound. He moves one of his arms, pointing at the file.
“I gotta get back to the studio but could you drop this by one of the girls from management?”
Kyuhyun nods and earns a pat on the shoulders. While Yonghwan heads to his next destination, Kyuhyun grabs the file and his lanyard. He can check on Wooyoung sorting through the mixtapes while he’s at it. The office space may be small but their tables are furthest from each other, with Wooyoung’s being right beside the entrance.
He spots the head of dyed hair easily. This month Wooyoung’s hair is a dark black that looks blue in sunlight, the tips of the mullet dyed a bright red. They probably let one of their hairdresser friends use them as a test object, though Kyuhyun has yet to see a hairstyle that doesn’t suit them.
“How you holdin’ up, hot stuff?”
Wooyoung glances up shortly and shrugs, eyes moving back to the screen. “Most of these aren’t any good.”
“That’s harsh.”
“I called it garbage in my head. Thought I should soften the blow.” They lean back into their seat and stretch their arms and back.
Ah yes, thank God, he’s spared from this. At Wooyoung’s cost of course, but sacrifices must be made. Which reminds him.
“You said most?”
“There’s this one mixtape that I liked.”
Wooyoung exits out of the tab to open the email account and Kyuhyun sighs when a familiar name appears.
“Ignore him.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already forwarded his stuff. It’s up to them up there whether they want to do something with it or not.”
He grabs one of the candies Wooyoung keeps on their desks and pops it into his mouth.
“So he’s sent his stuff in already?” Wooyoung tilts their head in confusion.
“Yup. Thrice I think. Though the last time was like three months ago?”
Wooyoung hums. “He’s a high schooler and has a pretty solid base already. I’m kinda impressed. Makes me wanna show it to EDEN-sshi.”
Kyuhyun chuckles. “You just missed him, newbie. You probably didn’t notice considering how immersed into your work you were.”
“Wait, really?” Wooyoung looks around, as if that would make the producer magically appear.
“Maybe next time.” He gives a wave. “I’m off.”
-
Kyuhyun is running on four hours of sleep, one americano, one convenience store kimbap and two pain killers to stave off the incoming headache, when he slams into Wooyoung on his way to the meeting room. He also snuck one of Haewon’s cigarettes which Wooyoung must smell because they wrinkle their nose for a short moment.
“You okay, sunbae?” They ask and help him regain his footing.
“Fantastic,” he replies and pats their shoulder. “I’m gonna get our little Wunderkind to sign the contract.”
And then sprints the rest of the way.
He sees Haewon and Yonghwan waiting in front of the meeting room and wheezes when he finally comes to a halt in front of them.
“Sorry,” he pants.
Haewon pinches his ear. “You’re late.”
“Not yet.”
She pulls him closer by his ear and he yelps. “Next time be early, you punk!”
Yonghwan clears his throat and Haewon lets go, the three of them turning towards the three people heading their way.
Kyuhyun’s first impression of Kim Hongjoong is the following: he’s really fucking short. Even for a high schooler. Dark hair, a simple hair style with bangs, expressive eyes, a rather straight nose, chapped lips bitten raw, probably from nervousness. Dressed in his school uniform, which adds to the impression of youth, lack of height, and nerves.
The formalities don’t take much time and neither does the official meeting when everyone is seated at the table inside the room. Hongjoong chooses to set his hands on the desk, folded. Wouldn’t be surprising if it were to hide twitches or shaking fingers. In contrast, his voice is both soft and surprisingly stable. He speaks with a confidence Kyuhyun didn’t expect. It’s well deserved because Kyuhyun did hear the high schooler’s creations but at the end of the day Hongjoong is here because he’s hoping for a chance, to be taken seriously in his endeavor to share his music.
As Haewon goes over the last page of the contract, a copy in her hand and the original placed in front of their future producer, Hongjoong raises a hand.
“May I interrupt?”
All eyes turn to him and a light blush rises to the teenager’s cheeks.
“I have a request.”
Wooyoung takes one look at him, promptly abandons their work and takes Kyuhyun by the elbow to lead him into the breakroom, pushing him into a chair and disappearing. They return with a bottle of water, a tangerine, and a sandwich.
Kyuhyun itches for another cigarette but he’s already reached his daily limit. This will have to do then.
While he unwraps his sandwich and takes his first bite, taking care to chew slowly, Wooyoung peels the tangerine, gathering the skin on a tissue. They gently break off a slice for him and Kyuhyun bites into that too.
“So?” Wooyoung asks.
“So,” Kyuhyun says.
“What exactly happened?”
By now, Kyuhyun has known Wooyoung long enough to know that they are both genuinely worried and endlessly curious. It’s cute most of the time but Kyuhyun really doesn’t have enough rest and nutrients for this.
“Had a meeting.”
“Are you being a little shit on purpose or do you actually need some space right now?”
He hums for a moment and considers. “Probably the first option.”
“Well then.” Wooyoung smiles and shoves another piece of tangerine into his mouth, much more forceful than necessary. “Another?”
He raises a hand to stop them and swallows. “Okay, you can begin.”
“Do we have a new producer?”
“I mean that was why he came today. He signed the necessary paperwork.”
“So we hired a new producer. That’s good, isn’t it?”
“About that?”
Wooyoung groans, and raises another slice of tangerine in a threatening manner. “Don’t be so cryptic, oh my god.”
“This kid. He wants to produce music. For the boy group.”
“What boy group?”
“The one he wants KQ to create.”
“We do that?”
“No!”
Kyuhyun finishes his sandwich and gets started on the water.
“We don’t! But for some reason this kid creates a good mixtape despite the fact that he’s in high school, Lord knows where he finds the time. Then he sends it to us even though we’re a company that employs a total of ten people! Do you know how often I have to explain what KQ even is? And this Kim Hongjoong decides to send his stupid mixtape thrice before giving up for half a year. Then he finally gets a call with an offer, comes here after being basically ghosted and asks to be the producer for his future boy group. Who is this guy even?”
Kyuhyun didn’t miss how Wooyoung’s hand rose during his monologue to hide their mouth.
“Stop laughing!”
The first few months with their first trainee result in Wooyoung tasking themselves with checking on whether Kim Hongjoong died inside the studio. It seems that signing the contract alone was enough motivation for the teenager to start churning out even more songs which means that he spends more hours than he probably should inside their building in Hongdae. Hongjoong befriends their other producers quite easily as well and soon enough auditions for future trainees at KQ Entertainment are announced which causes Hongjoong to radiate excitement wherever he goes.
Kyuhyun begins to believe that maybe Hongjoong’s idea of KQ employing a boy group might actually see the light of the day.
By some incredible stroke of luck they score two trainees who apparently already met during auditions and are on amicable terms despite being introduced as each other’s competitors. Jung Yunho and Song Mingi get along quite well which Haewon blames on their compatibility as Aries Sun and Leo Sun respectively.
“Elaborate,” Wooyoung prompts as they watch the boys’ dance practice with one of the guys of the BB TRIPPIN crew who owed another staff member a favor. He’s giving them pointers, even though he focuses more on Hongjoong and Mingi, after having given Yunho a thumbs up and a half-joking offer to join the dance crew instead. Yunho manages to seemingly easily follow along with whatever he is shown, and yet he still pays attention, eagerly absorbing any information he comes across.
Haewon is the only one sitting between them after spending the entire morning complaining about swollen and sore feet. That and the soft swell of her belly are the only signs of her pregnancy. She hums before finally answering.
“They will nurture each other’s creativity and excitability.”
Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow and shares a look with Wooyoung behind Haewon’s back. The resulting smacks on both of their heads aren’t much of a surprise considering that nothing slips past Lee Haewon, mother to be. Her poor children.
Astrology or not, those two do seem to thrive with each other’s company. Not only that but Mingi fucking imprints on Hongjoong and joins him in the studios which means that Hongjoong at least gets some human contact between all his furious song writing.
The next two additions to their secret boy group project are Choi San and Park Seonghwa and Kyuhyun really wants to know what their parents feed them because how can both be incredibly pretty and talented to boost.
San is from Namhae which is a first in the idol industry and he’s cute. So much in fact that Kyuhyun is sure that it’s just an act which even the trainee kids agree with. He’s hardworking which is to be expected considering that he’s worked on farms and made his way to Seoul to realize his dream but it takes them the better part of his first month at KQ for everyone to realize that no, this is not an act.
“A beauty from the countryside,” Wooyoung says in passing. “He seems a little too innocent to be real, being this cute and all.”
They’re proven wrong about the innocent part shortly after when San catches a stranger trying to grab Mingi’s ass on their way home and knocks him out cold.
“Okay, so I was wrong about the innocent part,” Wooyoung amends that night on the phone, “he might be a troublemaker but how bad could it get?”
Famous last words, ha.
As a contrast, Seonghwa is well-balanced and does not have a black belt in Taekwondo which greatly reduces their chances of another (rightful) punch.
His dance experience makes him a favorite among dance teachers and he quickly befriends people from BB TRIPPIN which is great in the long run considering that management is considering settling on the dance crew as a permanent addition to their boy group. His voice gains him even more appreciation considering his range.
What makes Seonghwa a very special addition in Kyuhyun’s opinion though is his empathy. It’s almost as if he senses whenever one of the other kids is in discomfort and he handles each situation differently depending on the person.
Also Kyuhyun won’t ever admit it out loud but he’s glad that Hongjoong finally has a friend of the same age.
Haewon chooses this exact moment to take a sip of her iced tea which means Wooyoung and Kyuhyun end up drenched in her drink. Wooyoung calmly takes a couple of napkins and hands some of them to Kyuhyun, both of them doing a poor job of cleaning off the tea stains.
Being in the last month of her pregnancy hasn’t done much for her temper because Haewon doesn’t even bother with an apology, instead pulling Kyuhyun in and hissing her inquiry.
“Did you just say Big Hit?!”
Wooyoung easily pulls Kyuhyun back and helps him wipe off the remaining wetness while Haewon huffs, her impatience palpable. When they’re done, Wooyoung finally answers her question.
“Kang Yeosang, former Big Hit Entertainment trainee. He was contacted by half a dozen agencies and now he has officially become our sixth trainee.”
All three of them probably share the same thought: Kang Yeosang just went through a serious downgrade. There are already rumors about how Big Hit Entertainment is working on their new boy group, the first hoobae group to be associated with BTS. Everyone knows that these kids will receive more attention than any other group debuting in that month, maybe even in the whole year. Whether the attention will be due to BTS, the money and influence of the company or thanks to their own efforts, these children will experience fame.
The same isn’t guaranteed for Kang Yeosang, KQ Entertainment trainee of a boy group that has yet to settle on a final number of members. Kyuhyun didn’t ask Yeosang why he would let go of such an incredible chance and it seems neither have the others.
“I’ve barely been on leave and you suddenly score a freaking Big Hit trainee! Tell me about him!”
“Shy,” both say in unison.
“He’s still getting used to being around the other kids,” Wooyoung adds. “He’s got solid foundations in dance and singing though. Just gotta get him to open up more. In the end he’s getting ready for a life in front of a camera lens. Hongjoong and Seonghwa both are perceptive enough to notice that, though the others also try their best to include him.”
Kyuhyun nods and hums. “I think he’s got an amazing presence though. He’s the type to make people want to take a second look at him and it’s even more impressive when he performs.”
Haewon huffs. “Now I’m even more curious about him. The second I’m allowed to get back to work I have to see what he’s like. Missing out on even one of these trainee kids is such a pain.”
Kyuhyun sees Wooyoung open their mouth and quickly pulls Haewon’s tea entirely out of her reach as Wooyoung announces the second news they came to share.
“By the time you’re back, we might have another one, actually.”
“Another one?!”
“Another one” is Choi Jongho and he’s the first trainee born after 2000 which makes him officially the youngest employee in KQ Entertainment. Kyuhyun only needs a solid ten minutes to comprehend this.
Wooyoung spends the first week showing everyone and their mother the videos they took of Jongho’s voice which greatly annoys the remaining staff and embarrasses their maknae.
Depending on how comfortable Jongho is with the person, he shows off different sides of himself. The seriousness he only showed in his first weeks slowly melts away to show his goofier side that seems to thrive when he manages to make others laugh. This doesn’t mean that his serious side is merely a means of creating distance between himself and strangers. Rather it seems that there are different facets one must discover to fully make the mosaic that is Choi Jongho visible.
But there might be a problem in Kyuhyun’s opinion.
“I don’t know how to say it without being rude but I feel like he might go under among the other kids.”
“Yeah, that was a fail, it sounded very rude,” Wooyoung comments and throws one of their lollipops at Kyuhyun.
“Do you mean height wise?” Haewon adds, a poor attempt at humor. It’s one of the few days she works part-time and yet she always finds time to bully Kyuhyun.
“He seems so. Plain.”
This time Haewon throws something at him. He catches it before it falls to the floor. A Ryan magnet. He might keep this one.
“Give it back, you kleptomaniac,” she admonishes.
“Nah.”
“You little𑁋”
Wooyoung ignores their little squabble entirely.
“Have you seen him perform? He’s a hidden treasure if anything! I don’t think the traditional pretty boy idol is a look everyone has to strive for. His own charm, talent and hard work will catch people’s attention.”
“You’ve really taken a liking to him, huh?” Haewon says, the laugh in her voice audible.
“Fuck yeah, I stole him right outta Top Media’s clutches.”
“Never heard you so proud and defensive of a trainee,” Kyuhyun admits.
“I’ve got a feeling and it’s telling me that this kid is perfect for whatever this group will turn out to be.”
“What if they decide to do a ballad group?”
“Then he’ll be off to win Immortal Song and top the charts with tear jerkers, thank you very much.” They stop for a moment. “But let’s not, I think Hongjoong would have to scrap like. seventy percent of his work.”
“Yes, let’s not,” Kyuhyun agrees and that’s that.
The last member of what most of the staff have now unofficially dubbed the “KQ kids” and Kye Kyuhyun’s own personal terror materializes in the form of Jung Wooyoung.
“It’s perfect,” Wooyoung - staff member Wooyoung who has now begun to introduce themselves as “the cooler Wooyoung” - says as they type something on their laptop, “Following your best friend to the end of the world, in this scenario KQ, because you’d rather conquer the world together than apart. Wait, I gotta write this thought down.”
They move away from the phone camera, the sound of a pencil scribbling on paper the only sound. When they move back into view, they continue where they left off.
“Refusing a future with Big Hit because you prioritize your best friend and a future together. It’s got something romantic, doesn’t it?”
“I fear you might start writing a novel or fanfics, Wooyoung.”
“I’m serious! Beyond his relationship with Yeosang, Wooyoung has managed to settle in pretty well. San and Mingi in particular seem to have immediately accepted him into their daily lives. I caught Seonghwa telling him off for leaving his socks in the bathroom.”
“Yeah, he only snaps at people if he’s past the polite strangers stage.”
“Exactly. Plus Wooyoung’s good at lifting up the moods during practice no matter how tired he seems. Now Jongho and he can take shifts for that.”
“He makes me consider quitting,” Kyuhyun replies tonelessly and throws himself back onto his bed. He’s probably not visible on the video call but eh, it should be fine.
“Drama queen.”
“He’s good for the kids and bad for my blood pressure and ear drums, it checks out. As if one of you wasn’t enough.”
“Okay first of all, we are totally different, fuck you. Second of all, you’re a liar and I can see right through you. You like how playful and loving he is with others. He’s a great final addition.”
“It’s a good selling point if you ask me. Same as his and Yeosang’s story.”
“No, no, no, this is about you liking these kids.”
“Yeah, they help raise my pay.”
“I’m gonna hang up on you, you asshole.”
Kyuhyun has mixed feelings about the MIXNINE auditions but it’s true that the kids have to start somewhere.
Management wants the KQ kids to gain more experience. Which is hard to do when you only have limited options due to being from an agency that has yet to debut a single group. But there are already plans for their official debut, including a predebut YouTube video series. The subsequent talks of hiring more staff might help reduce Kyuhyun’s eyebags but it’s neither here nor there. Before all of that happens, the higher ups want these future idols to work more on themselves and how they want to present themselves on stage.
When half of them don’t pass the audition, he tries his hardest not to be upset on their behalf. When the others don’t make it past the later episodes, he tells himself that it’s fine, their debut is happening soon enough anyways.
“Just say you’re attached to them, you prick.”
He casts Wooyoung an annoyed glance and turns back to his computer. This is what he gets for voicing his thoughts.
“At the end of the day, this is business.”
Wooyoung repeats the sentence, albeit in a much more mocking manner.
“Man, it’s okay, they’re all cute kids who work hard. All of us like them.”
Kyuhyun ignores them and chooses to continue working, popping his headphones in. He’ll finish this, catch the last subway before they stop running and then go home and sleep for the next 48 hours or so. Maybe take a break to eat in between.
Wooyoung moves back to their own desk and time passes slowly as Kyuhyun tries to finish his workload. His eyes hurt and switching his contacts for his glasses didn’t do shit. It’s fine. He’ll sleep it off soon enough.
He’s almost finished when he feels a cool sensation and jumps out of his seat. He rips his headphones off and whips around to come face to face with Kim Hongjoong, a sheepish smile on the young producer’s face.
“Sorry, Wooyoung-sshi suggested it and I couldn’t resist,” he admits and hands him the can of coffee.
“Ah, thanks but I shouldn’t drink any more if I plan to sleep today,” Kyuhyun says and gently pushes the beverage back into the younger boy’s hand. “Give it to our local heathen. I’ll have my water instead.”
Wooyoung happily accepts the drink while Hongjoong leans against the desk of the neighboring cubicle, nursing his own coffee. He’s got dark circles under his eyes and is dressed in a too-large sweater and a pair of sweats.
“Shouldn’t you head home soon?” Kyuhyun asks.
“I’ve sent Mingi home, he kept yawning. I’ve got to fix the bridge of the song we’re doing right now first before I can sleep.”
“Workaholic,” Wooyoung faux-whispers.
“You’re here, too.” A grin.
“Someone’s gotta make sure this one doesn’t fall asleep on his keyboard again,” Wooyoung says and points at Kyuhyun. “Otherwise I’d be happily snoring with my baby.”
Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and answers before Hongjoong can ask. “They mean their cat.”
“Oh. Makes sense.”
Kyuhyun casts a look at the desktop. There isn’t much left but suddenly his motivation to finish it is waning. Hongjoong chuckles at Wooyoung’s newest tale of their cat and Kyuhyun decides to hell with it.
“Actually, I’m heading out in a minute. How about we all call it a day?”
Hongjoong immediately tries to refuse but Kyuhyun sets a hand on his shoulder. “Hongjoong-ah, rest is important, too. The work won’t run away from you anyways.”
“We can’t let a pretty boy like yourself head home by himself,” Wooyoung adds, which makes the younger boy blush, only noticeable because of the stark overhead light.
“Ah, I’m not sure…”
Raised brows from Kyuhyun and Wooyoung.
“Fine. I’ll get my things.”
As Hongjoong hurries towards the studios, Wooyoung shoots Kyuhyun a smirk.
“Business my ass,” they say and earn a kick to their shin.
Kyuhyun powers off his computer and puts his coat on.
Tomorrow he will finish his work.