come save us

"well, there’s nothing wrong with your talent if that’s what you’re wondering. but i do think this is more of a case of you feeling disconnected from the song more than anything else.” yohan explained, his words straightforward as always. although emi usually gave the producer a hard time outside of the studio, he was grateful enough that he didn’t have to beat around the bush when it came to her work. she was always looking to improve where as he always tried to perfect whatever projects they were working on. “there’s an impact that’s lacking and it’s not something that can be found overnight; so i think it’s best that we end the session for today and pick it up again later this week.” 

“then you better skip out on the next recording then. this is the set up the company wants to promote the group so if you can’t deal with it, i don’t know what else to tell you. i can’t believe it bothers you that much though.”

“emi, let’s take a break.” yohan announced through the speaker-box of the recording room, signaling that the take they had just recorded was finished. taking a deep breath, the producer waited for the idol to exit the recording booth, feeling not completely satisfied with the recordings so far. as soon as emi returned to the lobby, yohan turned to look at her curiously. “hey, is there something bothering you today?”

“oh...” the dumbness of the response lingered in the older male’s tone, still rather confused on why emi would leave her jacket at his dorm if she only went to see if he was there. “you could have just texted me.” he muttered under his breath, dropping the subject reluctantly as something still nagged at him in the back of his mind. at emi’s comment, joon could only scoff in mild amusement. “thanks.” he answered blandly, knowing better than to expect any sort of praise from his childhood friend. “i can’t wait until your group starts gearing up for your debut. you’ll probably look stupid.”

finally pushing himself away from his computer, yohan fully turned his attention to the soon-to-be idol sitting across from him. probably figuring that he should have known that the young woman was only there to snoop for some answers on her debut, the older man sighed in response. “you’re aren’t going to leave until i tell you what i know, are you?” he asked as he watched emi picking at one of the snack bags he had left by couch before tossing it away from her. “you know... you’re sort of dramatic.” the producer sighed as he stood up to straighten up his workplace to make it more comfortable for the other, not that the mess was all that bad anyway. besides, it’s not like he was expecting company that day. “anyway, i don’t think the company will force you girls into a cute concept. at least, not according to the description they gave me for your debut.”

“you know it doesn’t work like that, right?” the producer asked while looking up from his desktop. the desk he was working on was quite messy with pages of notes and music sheets lying about, bags of snacks and cans of coffee being piled on the edge of it while his mouse was busy scurrying from screen to screen of his music program. “it’s the company the comes up with the debut concept and they pay me to write a song that fits the image they want portrayed,” he explains, furrowing his eyebrow slightly. “i don’t exactly have the room to start taking personal requests from the group members themselves, you know. especially rookies.”

“alright, jason. you can do this. you’re back at your old school. it’s senior year. there’s one hundred and seventy-seven school days. you got this.” the actor pumped himself as he peered over the corner of the building. he takes a look at the student body in front of him as if now second guessing his decision. “...but do i really?”

“please don’t ask me to be the bigger person. i can’t express myself enough on how unfair this all is. i know it’s the beginning of the school year, but am i just supposed to forget what happened just a few weeks ago?”

“hey, so i found your jacket at our dorm the other day.” joon brought up suddenly as if he had just remembered it. picking at the to-go container that sat between them, he glanced up at his childhood friend, his eyes furrowing together as if trying to figure something out. “when did you come over? nobody seemed to know where it came from.”