Chapter Text
the studio always ended up looking lived in.
coffee cups balanced on mixing desks.
half-written lyrics covering the whiteboard.
hoodies thrown over chairs.
someone’s guitar leaning precariously against the wall despite repeated warnings not to do that.
there were always more people than anyone expected.
their in-house producers.
two outside producers.
their vocal director.
five idols who all insisted on having opinions.
which, to be fair…
usually made the songs better.
martin sat nearest the main console.
not because he’d claimed the seat—
because over the years he’d naturally become the one everyone looked towards whenever they hit a wall.
he’d been producing longest.
he heard tiny details nobody else seemed to notice.
he also refused to let anyone get away with being lazy.
“…i think the bass is swallowing the vocals.”
one of the producers frowned.
“really?”
martin nodded immediately.
“play it from bar thirty-six.”
they did.
three seconds later—
“…oh.”
“…yeah.”
“…there it is.”
martin smiled.
“told you.”
keonho pointed dramatically across the room.
“he’s doing the producer face.”
james looked up from the lyrics he’d been rewriting.
“…the producer face?”
“yeah.”
keonho scrunched his eyebrows together and stared intensely at absolutely nothing.
“‘the hi-hat lacks emotional maturity.’”
martin burst out laughing.
“i’ve never said that.”
“not those exact words.”
“close enough.”
⸻
everyone gradually split into smaller groups.
juhoon disappeared into one vocal booth with one of the engineers to layer harmonies.
keonho and another producer argued passionately over whether a transition should be “cooler.”
nobody knew what “cooler” meant.
least of all keonho.
james stayed near the sofa with his laptop, quietly rewriting a verse.
every now and then he’d glance up whenever someone asked for another opinion.
meanwhile, martin and seonghyeon had migrated to the side workstation.
sharing one pair of studio headphones between them.
martin clicked through different versions of the same section.
“version five.”
they listened.
seonghyeon tilted his head.
“…nah.”
“why?”
“the snare sounds angry.”
martin looked at him.
“…that’s not a real criticism.”
“it is.”
“how.”
“listen.”
they replayed it.
“…”
“…”
“…okay.”
martin sighed.
“it does sound slightly aggressive.”
“thank you.”
“i hate agreeing with you.”
“i know.”
they both laughed.
⸻
across the room,
james smiled to himself.
that wasn’t unusual.
martin and seonghyeon had worked together on songs for years.
they bounced ideas off each other naturally.
half the time they communicated with nothing more than eyebrow movements and vague hand gestures.
it was honestly impressive.
⸻
then, seonghyeon leaned closer.
covering his mouth with one hand.
he whispered something directly into martin’s ear.
whatever it was, martin completely folded.
he laughed so hard he had to pull the headphones off.
“NO.”
seonghyeon stayed completely straight-faced.
“yes.”
“you’re fucking lying.”
“i’m absolutely not.”
martin actually wheezed.
“that’s the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard.”
“…exactly.”
⸻
keonho looked up.
looked at seonghyeon.
then slowly smiled.
his phone buzzed.
⸻
🐣 keonho
>operation greengreen
>starts now💯💯
🦊 seonghyeon
>that’s a terrible name
>don’t associate the album name with your stupid plans
🐣 keonho
>operation jealous?
🦊 seonghyeon
>worse
🐣 keonho
>mission: annoy james
🦊 seonghyeon
>better
>remember
>don’t make martin uncomfortable
🐣 keonho
>obviously
>he’ll just think we’re finally appreciating him
🦊 seonghyeon
>which we should probably do more anyway
🐣 keonho
>true
>but mostly this is funny idc bout martins ahh😂😂
⸻
day two
they were recording guide vocals.
martin stepped out of the booth after finishing a take.
he grabbed a bottle of water.
before he could even unscrew the cap—
keonho appeared.
“you did well.”
martin blinked.
“…thanks?”
keonho nodded once.
“you’re cool.”
“…”
“…”
martin looked around the room.
“…did i hit my head?”
james snorted into his coffee.
⸻
day three
they were listening back to a chorus.
everyone crowded around the main speakers.
martin absentmindedly tucked a loose strand of seonghyeon’s hair behind his ear because it kept getting caught in the headphones.
“…hold still.”
“rude.”
“your hair’s attacking the audio.”
“that’s not how hair works.”
“isn’t it?”
“…no.”
keonho caught james looking over.
very briefly.
not upset.
just…
watching.
interesting.
⸻
🐣 keonho
>progress report
🦊 seonghyeon
>he looked
🐣 keonho
>LOOKED??
>WE HAVE A PULSE
🦊 seonghyeon
>calm down
⸻
day four
practice.
break time.
martin sat on the floor stretching.
seonghyeon wandered over carrying two sports drinks.
without asking, he handed one over.
martin smiled immediately.
“thanks.”
“drink it.”
“okay, eomma.”
“wow, so original.”
“sorry, eomma.”
“…”
“…”
“i’m taking it back.”
martin laughed and hugged the bottle dramatically.
“too late.”
⸻
james watched the exchange.
still smiling.
still fine.
probably.
⸻
day five
everyone was exhausted.
the choreographer stepped outside to answer a phone call.
five minute break.
martin immediately flopped onto the practice room floor.
“my legs don’t work.”
keonho nodded.
“acceptable excuse.”
“thank you.”
seonghyeon wandered over.
looked down.
“lay down.”
martin looked suspicious.
“why.”
“just do it.”
“…okay.”
he slowly laid down and spread his limbs across the floor.
and before he’d even settled, seonghyeon suddenly wrapped both hands around martin’s.
“…oi?”
then effortlessly spun him in a circle.
once.
twice.
martin burst into laughter.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
“experiment.”
“WHAT EXPERIMENT?”
“checking your centre of gravity.”
“…”
“that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told.”
“probably.”
martin laughed so hard he accidentally kicked juhoon in the back.
“put me DOWN.”
“one more.”
“SEONGHYEON.”
keonho had turned away completely.
his shoulders were shaking.
this was incredible.
⸻
in the corner, james had been sitting against the mirrored wall.
hoodie pulled over his knees.
phone in one hand.
he’d barely looked up all break.
until he heard martin laughing.
his eyes lifted automatically.
he watched seonghyeon let him go, and martin shakily arise from the floor.
watched martin instinctively hold onto seonghyeon to steady himself.
watched them both grinning.
his thumb stopped moving.
the scrolling froze.
slowly…
his phone lowered into his lap.
his expression shifted.
not much.
just enough.
his jaw tightened.
his eyebrows drew together.
his lips flattened into the smallest line.
he looked…
dangerously unimpressed.
like he was mentally calculating exactly how annoying seonghyeon had become.
he stared for one long second.
then another.
then, just as quickly, his expression disappeared.
he blinked once.
picked his phone back up.
and resumed scrolling.
far more aggressively than anyone had ever scrolled before.
⸻
juhoon looked up from tying his trainers.
he’d seen it.
across the room, keonho had seen it too.
their eyes met.
keonho’s grin spread slowly across his face.
oh.
it worked.
seonghyeon caught james’s expression in the practice room mirror just before it vanished.
he calmly set martin back on the floor.
martin, completely oblivious, laughed while fixing his hoodie.
“you’re actually weird.”
“correct.”
martin wandered off to grab his water bottle.
seonghyeon looked across the room.
keonho was already trying not to laugh.
without moving his lips, seonghyeon mouthed—
“he’s jealous.”
keonho looked like he’d just won the lottery.