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“Alright kids,” Bang Sihyuk said, loud enough to gather the attention of the seven boys sitting on the floor of the practice room. They had all been goofing off as per usual, but they were surprised enough to see their producer come into the room that they all gave their full attention.
“I have a project for all of you.” He watched the boys faces light up with curiosity. He continued, “Considering all of your capabilities it shouldn't be too difficult, and it will be a great opportunity to show your relationships to Army.” They blinked at him, waiting for him to explain just exactly what he wanted them to do. “I need you all to write a song. Not the beat or the tune, just the lyrics. But I need each of you to write a verse, whether in rap or song, about another member.” He looked expectantly at each member. He didn't get much of a response other than Hoseok pointing out that that would be a lot of insults thrown around. He gave a pointed look at Namjoon to urge him into saying something.
The boy perked up instantly. “That actually sounds like a lot of fun!” he said, fake enthusiasm dripping with his words.
“I'm glad you think so, because you don't have a choice.”
He heard Jimin mutter something under his breath, but elected to ignore it. He instead went on to explain the task. “You each have thirty seconds to fit in as much about the other member as you like, there aren't really any rules, just kinda do it, but have it match the beat that will be provided.”
“Who's writing about who?” Seokjin asked.
“Well at first we thought that you could choose,” he paused and everyone turned their heads toward Hoseok, “but I didn't want anyone to feel left out,” the heads all turned forward, looking slightly disappointed, “so I put your names in the hat and whoever you pull you get to write about.” He took his hat off of his head and flipped it quickly to keep the papers from falling out.
After giving their PD-nim a weird look the boys all got up and pulled out the names.
In the end they all had their little papers with names on them.
“Can we show each other the names?” Jungkook asked, trying to take a peek over Taehyung's shoulder, but Taehyung quickly moved the page out of Jungkook's line of sight.
“I don't care, man. Live your dreams.”
He watched as Yoongi and Hoseok almost instantly showed their papers to each other. Taehyung continued to keep his hidden from Jungkook, but let Jimin take a look-see. Jimin, Namjoon, Seokjin and Jungkook all decided to keep their names hidden.
“Anyway, have it on my desk by Monday. See you nerds later.” After queuing himself to leave he shut the door behind himself. He could hear muttering behind the door. He probably could have understood what the boys were saying, but he didn't really care that much, so he just walked away.
* * *
The next week was probably pretty stressful for the seven boys. With all the practising they have to do and whatever else their job entitled. Now, on top of that, they also had to write song lyrics. To be fair, they didn't have to write a lot, but Bang Sihyuk was not blind to the fact that these boys put waaaaaaay more effort than they need to in stuff like this. Like that one time Jimin too two days to write a short profile for Yoongi. And now the poor kid had to write some actual lyrics. Maybe he'd take a short cut and just take a lot of what he has to say directly from the outline. That would be totally forgivable.
Bang Sihyuk often saw the boys lounging around the office building sitting on coaches, curled up on the floor, stretched across windowsills, just writing away. One time he had almost tripped over Taehyung who was lying on his stomach with his feet waving in the air and tongue sticking out in concentration as he scribbled some messy lyrics with a bright green gel pen. He had been lying just outside Bang Sihyuk's office and when he asked why he had chosen that particular place to hunker down, Taehyung replied with, “When inspiration strikes you can't ignore it.”
Hoseok, Yoongi, and Namjoon looked no worse for wear; no more stress than usual. They were used to having to write lyrics, and the beat that was provided was a simple one. One that could easily be used to enhance an interesting rap flow, but also would be fine for someone without much practice with lyrics writing.
It seemed as though throughout the week Jungkook and Seokjin had shared each others names and were trying to help each other out. Both of them seemed stressed. Jimin seemed more stressed. It didn't really bother Bang Sihyuk.
* * *
A week had passed and Bang Sihyuk eyed the USB stick that laid on top of several pages of lyrics. He had had all the boys record their parts so that he could have a listen before making the final judgment call.
He wiggled the pages out from under the USB and first leafed through the titles. For Jimin, Old Man Yoongles, That Maknae, Our Hope, Namjooniiie <3, Hyung that is Maknae, and Menace. He could pretty much guess who had written what just based on the titles.
Nice, nice.
Bang Sihyuk leaned back in his comfy office chair, letting his ears sink into the squishy fabric before propping his feet up on his desk and preparing to read.
* * *
The boys heads all turned as they heard a knock on the door to the practice room.
Bang Sihyuk entered the room without waiting for a reply from the collection of boys still standing in dance formation. He held the stack of lyrics in one hand out for the boys to see. “What the hell is this?” he asked. He tried to make his voice sounds annoyed, but it came out more tired.
The boys all blinked at him, as if confused.
“This is so gay. Holy shit, how am I supposed to release this to the public.” He let the pages fall to the floor and muttered angrily to himself. He heard Yoongi let out a snort behind him as he shut the door.