Chapter Text
V tilted her head to the side coyly as a photographer guided her movements. The human male before V hummed something underneath his breath while he gestured for V to sit, “Move your right leg a bit, sugar. We wanna show off that side slit.”
V nodded and stretched out her leg, exposing her recently retouched thigh highs. The sleek black and yellow paint shimmer under the studio lights as the camera flashed. She wore a glittering crimson dress that fell just short of her knees.
“Perfect, honey!” Absolutely stunning ,” The photographer praised sassily, “put your fingers on your lips.”
V parted her lips slightly with a single finger pressed lightly against them. The session continued in various outfits, backdrops, and poses. All the while artists scurried around her making sure her silver hair was perfectly coiffed.
When all was said and done, Thad and Lizzy一her assistants, handed her a tumbler of oil and a robe to cover herself.
“Are J and N almost done?” V asked passively, her eyes wandering past the glitz and glamor of the photoshoot set.
Thad hurriedly checked the schedule, “N’s done, not J though, we can check in if you want.”
V sighed, “Ugh, why not. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
***
The scene wasn’t much different with J as V sat down beside N in a black plastic chair off to the side.
N flashed her a loveable grin as she greeted him rather bluntly, “Everything go alright? You look down.”
“I’m just feeling off today,” V murmured, “Haven’t slept much.”
N nodded knowingly as he adjusted the lapel on his long jacket. His “pilot hat” framed his kind expression, “J’s a little touchy today.”
V winced as J suddenly began yelling at a figure across the room.
“So basically she’s just like always,” V muttered as she wondered what had set J off this time, “Her new garter belt straps look cute though.”
She watched J reluctantly return to the set. There were millions of tiny glittering pearls woven into her long flowing pigtails as she posed in an ankle length black dress draped in chains with butterfly charms that clattered in the slight breeze generated by the fan beside her.
V sighed, internally regretting how blase she’d sounded while talking to N. She leaned her head against her boyfriend’s chest, “We should watch a movie later一after we record the album.”
N nodded as he gently caressed her hair, “We should invite J too.”
V pursed her lips, “What about no.”
“Dont be like that! We used to watch movies together all the time after training and that was always tons of fun,” N insisted. He followed V’s gaze as Lizzy and Thad tried to keep things civil between J and the producer, “Of course she’s always been grouchy but I think she’s just under a lot of pressure right now, give her a break.”
As the pop groups leader, J was responsible for keeping them on track and was the star of most songs as well as choreography. It was a double-edged sword though, she was vital to the group’s success一so staff were forced to pander to her, but on the other hand she was forced to hear most of the critiques that came from higher up the, “corporate ladder”. If anything went wrong in the album's success it was up to J to fix it.
As a result she tended to be pretty up-tight and obsessed with proving the group's worth in the “Cynematic Songs and Entertainment” ranks. Not to mention the constant pandering left her with an inflated ego. The whole situation had gone so far that corporate jargon had snuck its way into J’s vocabulary lately, which amused the press and pissed off V who had a short fuse when it came to technical terms.
As far as V was concerned her job had become less one of a singer and more of the kind of job where she raked in money any way possible, even if that meant striking sultry poses for creepier fans to buy on merchandise.
Sexualizing themselves wasn’t a new concept to the first AI pop group in the world. Humans had always had weird fantasies surrounding pop culture idols and stardom, the only difference was that now it was acceptable to thirst over a robot.
By the time J had finished she was fuming about a call she’d received earlier from Cyn, the owner of the company and simultaneously their manager. The company wanted to push the release of their new single to an earlier date, “They’re always rushing us!”
“Well we were gonna record tonight either way,” N pointed out cheerfully, “So think of it as just more fun!”
J scowled, “I swear this company is going to run me ragged, and we don’t even get better fourth quarter profits!”
V listened half-heartedly, not even bothering to check whether J was using her corporate jargon correctly, “Let’s just get it done so we can head home to suite already…”
N nudged V as they walked but she showed no signs of looking to invite J to their movie night, “Soooo J, remember when we used to watch movies as trainees?”
J nodded with a rare smile, “Yeah.”
“Well V and I were thinking you might want to watch one with us…,” He patted J on the shoulder, “You look like you need a break.”
J shot him a look of annoyance, “I’m fine, and even if I needed a break it’s none of your business.”
“He’s just being nice,” V hissed, “I didn’t even want you to watch with us.”
The two girls flicked their tails irritably as if getting ready for a fight. N hurriedly separated them with a nervous laugh, “She doesn’t mean that J! And honestly, that’s my bad一I used the wrong words一you look less like you need a break and more like you deserve a break! V and I noticed just how hard you’ve been working to keep us afloat!”
J paused, her expression softening, “Mmmm, well at least you recognize that,” she looked away as she continued, “I guess it can’t hurt to watch something with you guys.”
N cheered happily as V let out a small click of her tongue in frustration, so much for the peaceful date night she’d imagined. It probably couldn’t be helped though, considering they all lived in the same apartment. It was almost inevitable that J would have bothered them unless they went out to a theater, and that always risked being recognized by overzealous fans.
V groaned as they arrived at the recording studio in the building, “ Robojesus , the last thing I want to do is sing right now.”
Lizzy tapped her ID card against the scanner on the door, she’d and Thad had been following behind them silently in case they were needed.
The door slid open with a whoosh as V strutted in, “Time to get to work一I guess.”