dungeon lady

“ah, look at you! producer protégé. i can’t wait to see what you come out with when you finally make your big bad debut,” joonie answered, looking down at the lyrics with interest before putting the notebook aside. “can i have like twenty minutes to write a freestyle down?”

“i already made my debut,” jieun answered, rolling her eyes and still reaching half-heartedly for her notes. “why stop at twenty minutes? why not just spent a week on it. that way it’ll be a great freestyle, right?”

“i….you need to not be giving me hope like this. it’s going to make it worse,” yihwa joked sadly. “you love him, jieun. i know you too well for you to even try to say otherwise. i just… i’ll just keep my distance for a bit. wait for this to die out for both of us. we can both get over it. and then we can try again. i just…you deserved an explanation.”

“i love you too, though!” jieun said, eyes starting to fill up with tears. “i want you both in my life...” she started chewing on her bottom lip. “i.....i guess i won’t text you during idol project then?”

“alright, i’ll make time in my schedule for you tomorrow,” yuji answered firmly, fixing her gaze on jieun. “it’s just a first draft notes session, jieun. there’s no reason to get nervous and worked up.”

she took a deep breath, shrugging her shoulders. “it’s the first sort of evaluation, though. i don’t want to show you something stupid. i don’t want to waste your time.”

yihwa bit her lip, pushing her hair behind her ear. “i…..you didn’t do anything wrong. i just have been dealing with something,” she said, biting her lip. “i just….i think i have a big crush on you, jieun. or…i mean, i know i do. and it isn’t fair of me, because i know you’re with joonie and you guys are happy, and i’m happy for you. but i think i need to not be around you as much because….it just makes it worse. and it hurts.”

jieun listened, eyes flickering down to her lap as she did. this was a lot to have to process, after all. “i.....” she frowned, trying to figure out what to say. because it’d be a lie to say it wasn’t mutual. she loved joonie, and she still did, but that didn’t mean yihwa wasn’t also kind and pretty. “i guess that makes sense,” she answered quietly, eyes still trained down. “i mean.....it’s not as one sided as you think it is, i guess....”

he hummed, nodding and pulling her notebook away so he could drop his head in her lap. “i can audition for you right now if you want? i haven’t prepared anything, but that’ll probably give you a better idea of my raw talent…”

“hey-- i have lyrics to edit. i need to show yuji tomorrow...” jieun whined, but she let him take it, and made no move to take it back. “okay, yeah, but it has to be a freestyle. that’s how i can really see what you’re made of.”

“that’s alright, i guess. i’m used to it. i’ve trained with seyeon for years,” she replied with a tiny joke, trying to lighten the mood. “also…i didn’t get to say it when i saw the news but…welcome to higher. l3thal is a great fit for you.”

“see, you get it! i think she’s taking it really hard, though-- she and somi were the closest,” jieun commented with a tiny frown. “thanks-- i’m really excited. working with yuji is a dream come true.”

“well…thank you for giving her a chance. i never doubted you would but… everyone getting along and working together makes me happy.”

“hey-- we all worked real fucking hard to get here,” jieun retorted. “i don’t think any of us want to see it fizzle out. we’re with you.”

“you will,” yuji promised firmly. “now, tell me who your inspirations are. who are some artists that you used to cover a lot when you were a trainee with spotlight, or who you like and look up to and want to sound like. some influences,” she began, pulling out a notebook

“um...” jieun took a moment to think. “well, inspirations are like...you, of course, and hyo and minseok too. ryukji. i’ve always been a big legacy fan-- i like how often they try new things. i really like how quirky and out there jisung oppa is.” she paused again. “when i had to do evaluations i couldn’t always cover who i wanted to but, i used to do a ton of reign covers. and a lot of sona’s solo work. and i’d sometimes do jiae’s verses from merci songs too. they usually only wanted me to cover women, but when i could get away with it, i did legacy and empire stuff.”

“not all of us have the balls to be you. or the talent,” yihwa answered, slumping back next to jieun. “i’m good, but you’re a rapper. it’s more rare to have a really, genuinely talented rapper than it is a vocalist.”

“kay, maybe. but you’re such a good vocalist that it doesn’t matter, because your talent level is mad rare. you’re like if ginny and xifeng slapped their voices together.”

“well, had you gone indie, you probably could have bought beats online, but you don’t have to worry about that– i’ll make you actually good beats that are tailored to you,” yuji replied with a wry smile. “you’re not just an artist here. we want to help you build the skills to be able to do what you want with your music and be creative and innovative. you have potential– it’s my job to help you find it.”

“i....it means a lot to me. that you’re willing to put so much effort into me and helping me be good. like, i can’t put into words how much it means to me,” jieun muttered, blushing. “i really hope i make you and hyosang proud.”

“no, you’re right. that’s an astute observation. i just hope that she can eventually feel comfortable with us and trust us,” sola insisted

“she and i had a chat. i think she’s doing well, all things considered. she’s excited, so that’s good,” jieun retorted.

“touche. i guess i forgot how much of a bad bitch you are– my bad,” dokyoung retorted with a wry smile. “okay, yeah, you’ve got a point. your point makes me feel shitty in this very moment, but you’ve got one, and it also gives me a smidge of hope so… thank you, i guess.”

“it’s a shitty situation, dokyoung. i’m not gonna sugar coat it. we’re all kinda upset. but it’ll get better. you’re welcome here. you’re just gonna have to sit through us all being babies for a couple weeks.”

“no, for real– that must feel so vindicating after spotlight fucking you for years.”