napal baji

she took the tablet gingerly, smiling at him when he explained what he needed. “are you sure? i’d be honored to see it– i know how hard you’ve worked on it…”

“if i wasn’t sure i wouldn’t be showing you the early cut,” he insisted, backing up and leaning against the wall, arms crossed. he wanted her to see it and he wanted to see her reaction, but he hated watching himself. “there’s a few edits that need to be done, but that’s basically the complete thing.”

“at least their past couple songs have tried something new, even if they’re still painfully pandering,” she agreed. “i’m just glad they’re not pushing that on rejectz. sangsuk knows what she’s doing, at the very least.”

“you all know what you’re doing. i think if you can keep it up for a few more years, we have another empire on our hands-- but with better management,” jisung insisted.

“how much time do you think you bought yourself?” namil asked with a laugh. “or, maybe a better question is, how much time do you have left on your contract?”

“one year left on my contract, but i have no reason not to re-sign,” jisung retorted. “i joke, but they’re patient with me. i probably have a couple years before they really start asking questions.”

jiae looked up from her phone, a little startled. merci promotions were slowing down as they petered out, but they were very much still ongoing. she was reviewing a stage from the past week she wanted to improve on, but she had time. she always had time for jisung. “i have a signing tonight, but that’s not for a while. what do you need?”

“oh, perfect. this won’t take that long,” he answered, putting his ipad in her hands. “my new single is done. the music video is shot. i want to show you before it’s released...”

“yeah, well, people write something off as silly and then don’t give the time to recognize any sort of subtext. it’s how the new reign music is doing so well– it’s so pandering, and no one takes a minute to realize how empty it is.”

“it’s part of the machine. they’re so big now that nobody cares. they do the same thing over and over, and it sells, because it’s always sold,” he said grumpily.

“it was your vision. i just carried it out,” namil said with a smile. “it was fun to work on. what you wanted was such a great concept– i had a great time helping you realize it.”

“it’s so perfect,” jisung insisted. he had been nervous-- there was always so much time between his releases, that he wasn’t sure how they’d be received. “and it makes higher happy, so i have time to focus on my next epiphany without being rushed.”

The composer nodded a bit, strolling around the room for a moment before turning to him, “What series are you reading?” Doah had found herself quite bored, they had promised that 2021 would be an exciting year for the group, but she hadn’t really discussed with the other when they were coming back. She typically created compositions whenever the inspiration hit her, which meant she had some written up and already made on her computer and others that were still in the works but none the less she was free for a bit now, “I just started reading this webtoon called Sweet Home, it’s a bit gorey but pretty cool. I think they just made a netflix series about it too.”

“captain underpants,” jisung answered. “my nephew shared his books with me. they’re absurd. it’s given me a lot of inspiration.”

“some of your dances might go viral because they’re silly, but anyone with eyes can see that your technique is immaculate.”

“i suppose most are blind, then,” he scoffed, but he appreciated the compliment. he just didn’t know how to show it.

“Yeah, it’s really not that fair,” Duri said, a little sheepish. “I need to be more mindful, I know. My groupmates didn’t really ask for that.”

“do i get a hint about what it’s going to be? just so i can start brainstorming?”

“very 80s inspired. from the song to the video to the styling. and not in a reminiscent way where people borrow style from the 80s and modernize it-- i want to watch it and feel like i’ve been sent back forty years.”