Chapter Text
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Just who on earth calls at six in the morning on a Saturday?
The caller ID read: sak, the most handsomest prince in the whole world.
Click.
Groaning, Haenam answered half-awake, "Bae Jinseok, someone better be dying."
"Good morning, hyung!" Sak shouted in a sing-song manner, sounding rather chirpy.
Now, between the two, Haenam was never an early riser, nor had he ever been a morning person. There had been countless jokes warning juniors they should steer clear of Haenam if he hadn't had his coffee yet. So, naturally, he was a little grouchy with the university's resident sunshine practically screaming in his ear.
"Don't call me or I'll hide your pedalboard." Haenam threatened.
Beep.
"Stupid Bae Jinseok," He grumbled, turning on his side to sleep.
The next five minutes of his life were absolutely peaceful. The sun was barely awake, his neighbors were all still asleep, the baby next door wasn't making a single fuss, life was beautiful. Well, that is until his phone went off once, then twice, then three times more. The tune from a very distinct cartoon show blasted by his head, causing him to roll onto his stomach and squeeze his pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the sound. Instead, he got a full earshot of "I'm a goofy goober!" and "You're a goofy goober!". As one could possibly imagine, it was his best friend Sak's idea to use the most annoying song ever — at least that's what he thought in his current grouchy state.
Groaning much louder than before, Haenam shot up into a seated position, grabbing his phone in anger and despair, "Sak. What. Do. You. Want. Answer carefully."
As if the universe didn't already hate him enough, the sound of Sak's laugh on the other end of the phone only fueled his anger. By now, he was no longer sleepy and instead was planning the many ways to get away with murder.
"Calm down," Sak finally responded, still giggling.
Calm down?
How could he possibly calm down in these conditions?
Sak, when I have you in my hands, I swear I'll, Haenam bit into his closed fist, not finishing his thought.
"Why are you egging him on? He's going to be grouchy the rest of the day." Yoona could be heard in the background, scolding Sak.
Finally, someone who loves and understands me. Seol Yoona, you're a legend. You're my hero, Haenam practically prayed on his knees while looking up at the ceiling, tears welling in his eyes.
"Hyung, Sak said he found a new frontman—" Jiwook's lovely, beautiful, and adorable voice picked up on the phone.
"Frontwoman!" Sak corrected in the midst of rustling.
He could only assume that Sak was fighting for his phone back, and by the whines of Jiwook, he was right.
"Anyway, hyung, you've got until seven thirty to get decent with a cup of coffee," Sak informed, more like instructed him.
"What if I don't want to?" Haenam slumped back into his bed, whining.
"It's really important. Please," Sak begged. "She's the best vocalist I know. You won't be disappointed, trust me."
Haenam sighed in thought. Their last frontman — Kim Seojun — left them because of an accident that involved him. Seojun called them a bunch of freaks but didn't out him despite strongly opposing his gender identity. Ever since then, the band has been operating without a frontperson. It was mostly because Haenam was too scared to trust people— strangers with anything, really. Transition hasn't exactly been the smoothest ride for him compared to Sak and Jiwook — who both had the luxury of realizing and accepting themselves along with their families at a young age. Haenam, on the other hand? Let's just say he prayed one too many times to be normal before coming to terms with the fact that he'll always be different.
"Fine, but if I catch a whiff of something I don't like, then she's out." He made it clear, cut and dry.
"Cool! Whatever you say goes, boss," Sak responded happily. "I'll see you at seven thirty."
And just like that, his morning phone call with his best friend ended, though not as fast as he would have liked. Haenam checked the time on his phone one last time before hopping out of bed and washing up. Once he was properly dried off, he pulled on a pair of baggy jeans and an oversized white tee, then fussed over his hair for about five minutes. Feeling self-conscious about his bad haircut, he ended up with a blue cap on before slinging the strap of his backpack over his shoulder.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
There were about twenty messages from the band group chat when Haenam unlocked his phone. There were various topics, mostly Sak and Jiwook asking him to buy them coffee and snacks. Rolling his eyes, he reluctantly responded with a "yes". Not too long after that, Seol Yoona responded, asking for a muffin and an iced americano. Of course, since she never gave him any problems, he responded with a gif of a cat. The caption said something along the lines of "A reminder I would do anything for you <3". That message gained a puke emoji from Sak and a pleading emoji from Jiwook.
"Fuck you, Bae Jinseok. At least Jiwook thought it was cute." Haenam threw up a middle finger at his screen, then shoved the device into his pocket.
Checking his watch, it was about seven, so he had thirty minutes to get everyone's orders from the cafe and head out to the studio. He didn't live very far from either place, so he took his time leaving his apartment building. Once he made it out of the building, a peculiar noise attracted his attention. It was what Haenam described as the voice of an angel. Curious, he followed the noise around the corner of the building, and that's when his eyes landed on the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
She was a little taller than him, blonde, and had large, beautiful brown eyes. She seemed not to have paid any attention to him, or simply anyone, really. It was like she was in her own world, and he admired that. He stood there for a few more seconds, falling in love with her voice. He didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help it. Haenam felt the world around him slow, then halt to a complete stop.
The stranger was so authentically herself with the way she shut the world out and danced along to the song she sang. For once, Haenam was jealous because she was unapologetically herself without a single worry about the stares, without a worry about the judgement of others.
"Oh my god— was I being too loud?" She questioned, mostly startled by Haenam's presence.
He shook his head, still mesmerized by her, only this time he was enchanted by the way she spoke to him. It was clear she wasn't from Korea, but he found the way she spoke to be endearing. It was warm, devoid of any judgment. In fact, she smiled at him, and oh, his heart skipped a beat.
"Do you live here too?" She asked, pointing to the apartment complex.
Haenam nodded slowly, eyes wandering slowly from the blonde's eyes to her lips, then to her outfit. She was in a simple outfit, comfy even. It was a blue and white sundress.
Cute, he thought.
"Oh my god, really?" She sounded excited, ecstatic even. "I live in apartment 410—"
Admittedly, his brain had short-circuited upon the realization that she not only lived in the same apartment complex, but lived next to him. His apartment was number 409, making hers the end of the hall. While distracted by her lips moving, Haenam heard absolutely nothing from the conversation. That is, until she stopped talking, and then his brain sparked.
It was his turn to say something.
"You're so beautiful." He let his unfiltered thoughts slip through, causing him to straighten himself out. "I-I mean I'm beautiful— no, I— I'm—"
The beautiful blonde woman standing before him covered a shy smile. He definitely fucked up. His worst nightmare was happening right before his eyes: fumbling a baddie. Well, now she definitely won't want to interact with him. He — a complete stranger — just complimented her. Was that not weird? It definitely was weird. It was very weird.
"S-sorry, I gotta go." Haenam stuttered over his words, hand gripping the strap of his bag for dear life as he sped-walked away.
When he felt he was an appropriate distance away, he began scolding himself. "Oh Haenam, are you so fucking incompetent that you can't interact normally with a single woman!?" He gently knocked at his skull as he grimaced, remembering the awkward interaction. "She's going to think I'm so weird. Fuck. How am I going to avoid seeing her? Maybe our schedules won't overlap. Okay, yeah, you can do this, Haenam. You barely even see your neighbors to begin with. Yeah, okay, yeah. Let's just focus on getting to the cafe."
It didn't take him long to get to the cafe. The only part that took up time was waiting for the group order.
Ring.
Click.
"Hyung, where are you?" Sak asked.
"I'm at the cafe."
"Still!?"
"Well, if someone didn't ask me for fifty thousand things, then I wouldn't still be here, now would I?"
"What— I wasn't the only one who asked for something!"
"Sak hyung, did you tell him the frontwoman is here?" Jiwook asked, voice projecting in the background.
Sak, assuming he was turned away from the phone, quietly responded, "I was getting to it before he started pointing fingers at me."
"Stop sulking, Seok-ah." Yoona chimed in. "Oppa, take your time. We're still setting up because Sak decided he wanted to wait until the last minute to set up."
"Is it slander Sak day today? Why is everyone so mean to me?" Sak whined.
"Get off of me." Yoona's voice came through muffled.
With all the rustling going on, He could only assume what the situation was. Considering how clingy Sak was, Haenam imagined Yoona was stuck in a death hug.
"Sak, I still need my bassist in one piece." Haenam sighed into his phone.
"Oh, she'll be in one piece, alright," Sak responded in a mischievous tone.
"Ew— Yah, Bae Jinseok!"
"Ow—"
Beep.
At this point, being in this godforsaken band was like babysitting — only Haenam did it for free. God, whoever is in charge, please give me the strength to get through this horrible Saturday morning, Haenam begged. It wasn't too long after the call ended that the band's order was finally ready, and Haenam went on his way. Luckily, the walk from the cafe to the studio was ten minutes, so he was only late by five minutes.
Knock. Knock.
"Do you need help, hyung?" Jiwook asked, already taking the bags of food and coffee from him.
"Thanks, pup." Haenam ruffled his hair, smile spreading.
Jiwook was the smallest of their friend group. He had a youthful, boyish look and dressed comfortably in baggy clothes — typically sweats and a hoodie. In the year of knowing the freshman, he had never seen Jiwook's hair any color other than silver. At this point, he was convinced that was his natural hair color.
Moving across the studio, there was a tall, ethereal woman with long brown wavy hair who looked like she belonged in a manhwa. That was none other than Seol Yoona, the school beauty. Next to her stood an even taller figure, someone Haenam absolutely envied for his height. Like Yoona, this man was equally handsome and even in a pretty way. Given the fact that Yoona had him in a chokehold, that was none other than Bae Jinseok, also known as Sak. Then his eyes shifted to someone unfamiliar to him. She was a little taller than him, wearing a blue and white sundress with short blonde hair that barely reached her shoulders. Haenam stared at her for a few seconds before everything clicked into place.
Oh no.
Absolutely. fucking. not.
"Hyung, please— help." Sak managed between chokes, waving his arms violently.
Yoona sent a glare in Haenam's direction, causing him to put his hands up.
"You got that, Sak. Just say you're sorry and beg for forgiveness." Haenam shrugged, though he had an expression that read pity all over it.
"I— ack— I tried!" Sak gently, but rapidly, tapped on Yoona's arm, requesting to be released.
"Promise you won't ever lick me again," Yoona threatened.
Ah.
Haenam was now getting the full picture. Sak must've licked her neck again, He thought as he shook his head.
"Hyung, do you want to meet the new frontwoman?" Jiwook tugged on his sleeve, handing him his coffee.
Jiwook was always quiet, very polite, and honestly? Haenam never had an issue with him. Though, if anything, he was always curious what went on in that head of his. Jiwook always seemed to be on a different plane of existence.
"This is Lily." Jiwook gestured towards the blonde.
"Hi, you must be beautiful." Lily smiled.
I'm beautiful. It echoed in his head.
Fuck.
His brain short-circuited. It didn't take long before his cheeks turned a shade of red, and in a matter of seconds, his ears were bloodshot. He was absolutely and royally fucked. He couldn't believe that a random encounter with his new neighbor would turn into the one person their band needed. How was he going to explain this to Jiwook? To Sak?
Thankfully, Jiwook didn't pry. While he did have curiosity written all over his face, he ultimately kept to himself. Though, Haenam could feel how amused Jiwook was.
"I-I'm actually, um, I'm Oh Haenam." He stuttered.
Oh, great, just fucking wonderful.
How the hell could he not get through a single sentence without stuttering like a goddamn fool?
"I was just teasing you," Lily laughed. "It's nice to meet you, Haenam. Cute hat."
Even her laugh was beautiful.
Cute hat.
Cute hat?
He absentmindedly reached up and remembered his decision to wear a hat. Was that a score? It absolutely was. One point for the stuttering mess, Oh Haenam.
"Oh, hyung, do you remember when I was asking you about your neighbor that moved out?" Sak, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and looking disheveled, asked.
"From two weeks ago?" Haenam tilted his head in thought, vaguely remembering the conversation.
"Mhm. I was asking because Lily noona was moving from Busan to Seoul." Sak informed. "She's an old pen pal of mine from when we were kids. She'll be attending our university starting in the fall. Noona is a music education major like Yoona."
"Do you like kids?" Haenam blurted.
"They can be a handful sometimes, but I think it's important to help shape the future dreams of children from a young age. It's important to be their support while they show interest in various things." Lily answered almost immediately and honestly.
Stunned, Haenam just nodded. He's not really sure what he was looking for, but wow— she really was an angel.
"Neighbor or not, we can still run through the audition process, hyung." Sak corrected them back onto course, reminding Haenam why Lily was there.
"She can join." He responded absentmindedly.
"You don't want to do the audition process?"
"I heard her sing already. I think she's a good fit, unless you guys want to hear her sing?"
It was absolutely silent in the studio.
Haenam looked up at all of them, trying to gauge their expressions. But, somehow, a part of him knew this was some elaborate plan to get him to agree. It seemed like the three of them already agreed to Lily being their new frontperson, and it was just a matter of getting him to agree.
"No, I mean, we can, but if you think she's a good fit, then we can start a jam session for the vibes." Sak shrugged, arm slung over Haenam's shoulders.
"We can do that." He nodded, eyes still focused on the blonde.
Her name is Lily. That's pretty, he thought.