luvr boi

“so are you gonna leave new age to come hang out with all of us at higher now?” minseok joked, glancing over at yein from across the coffee table in their living room they had spread a scrabble board across. the board game had been yein’s idea, and even though min agreed to make himself practice english words, he kept sneaking in korean ones and hoping she didn’t notice. “ice cream is great, it’s cool seeing you and haena doing stages with reign again,” min said as he tried to sneak using an upside-down E for l3thal, “i think i have to like play better though, even if you tricked me into being on it.”

“i mean, if you want someone else to get in another scandal as a distraction just let me know,” minseok laughed along with him. it was clear from his tone of voice that he was joking; they both knew it had been years since his name had been mentioned negatively because of something he had said in any article headline, and sometimes that felt like it was almost about a different person entirely at this point. really min was just excited to see andrew, and gabriel of course. he couldn’t imagine what it must be like for andrew to be a new dad all over again, but to minseok andrew and lucy having gabriel as the newest addition to andrew’s kids just made sense.

“it’s still a couple years until yein and i can have kids though,” min added, which was a thought that he’d have to admit was rarely far from his mind. enlist, get engaged, get married, have kids was always the plan he and yein had decided on – it was just his plan now to switch the second to happening before he went to the military. “so if you’re still holding out for someone to burn the building down i guess i’m your guy.”

“oh? you going to go public with your already-public relationship to get the heat off me?” andrew retorted with a laugh. at this point, he wasn’t sure what sort of genuine trouble l3thal’s artists could possibly get into. none of them were the conventional idol type– though, maybe someone would write a scathing exposé about the crew wasting power and energy by pulling only night shifts, or something. “really? you never were someone i took as the pyromaniac type. and if i was going to place bets on anyone burning the place down accidentally, i’d wager hyosang over you, i think.”

“i don’t even know, dude. i’m pretty sure higher finally started talking any publicist out of trying to put me on any of those alongside their actual soloists,” min faintly recalled being asked about his music on idol shows in the past and laughing partially just to fill air time when asked about the sales pitch of a mixtape. “maybe you guys will just end up being the most interesting by default though, if you’re the only ones not talking about a comeback or something.”

“i mean, yeah– we’ll definitely be the odd one out. i’m just kind of scared it will be in a bad way,” narae admitted with a little laugh. “like, i can just see one of those boomer comedian hosts hearing that we play video games for a living and spending the whole show clowning on that, and i already want to leave my body.”

“oh, hey,” minseok looked up from where he was slouched over the mixing board in the l3thal studio, knowing he wasn’t the image of productivity at the moment. in his defense, he was years into knowing he was the most productive when he worked long into the night and not sitting in the studio in the middle of the afternoon, not even looking at any of his lyrics. “i mean, i could show you the super exciting pile of cables i’ve been slacking off on moving, but it feels kinda shitty to make you clean up when i should’ve done it already.” he glanced black over at his computer, deciding that asking the intern for her opinion on engagement ring options for his girlfriend wasn’t the best plan either. “you wanna help pick the track list for this mixtape? i’ve been staring it for a like week and the order still doesn’t seem right.”

“no, no. not shitty. you’re helping me get a very nice hoodie,” she insisted, hopeful for work– even if it was work that he himself was neglecting. besides, she was bomb at cable management. at the second suggestion, though, she smiled. “i’ve never been asked to help with actual like… music stuff before. besides sorting album prototypes for concept designers to go over later. that sounds really cool, actually…”

“i mean, if you want someone else to get in another scandal as a distraction just let me know,” minseok laughed along with him. it was clear from his tone of voice that he was joking; they both knew it had been years since his name had been mentioned negatively because of something he had said in any article headline, and sometimes that felt like it was almost about a different person entirely at this point. really min was just excited to see andrew, and gabriel of course. he couldn’t imagine what it must be like for andrew to be a new dad all over again, but to minseok andrew and lucy having gabriel as the newest addition to andrew’s kids just made sense.