The security standing by the door smiles as they approach, pulling Mingyu into a friendly half-hug and letting them pass by. Hansol’s ears are ringing from the sudden change in volume when the door shuts behind them. The hallway they’re in is short, the door to their left giant and metal, most likely leading to a walk in cooler, whereas the two on their right are a dark wood similar to the door they came in. Mingyu takes the steps to the second door and stops before turning to meet Hansol’s eyes. 

 “Listen, I’ve known these guys for a while and I’ve gotta warn you, Coups is a little wild, but he’s cool. Wonwoo is quiet, but I promise he doesn’t hate you, he just doesn’t know how to talk to people. But Woozi...” The elder’s hands come up to rest on Hansol’s shoulders and squeeze lightly. “Woozi is the devil. I’m warning you now, at the smallest sign of weakness that demon man will jump under your skin and make you regret every minor sin you’ve ever committed in your entire life. He’s gonna be the one to open the door, I guarantee it, just remember what I’ve told you.” 

 Hansol gulps, regretting every decision he’s made that led him to this point and once again curses the lack of self-preservation instincts that left him too dumb to run the second Mingyu looked at him with that Cheshire cat grin at the bus stop. 

 Mingyu goes to knock and he almost reaches up to grab Mingyu’s arm, to tell him that he changed his mind and he doesn’t want to meet S.Coups, but he’s not fast enough and too soon Mingyu’s knuckles are rapping against the wood and the door is swinging open.

 The man in the doorway isn’t what Hansol was expecting. The way Mingyu had described him has Hansol picturing a dragon in human form, towering over him and ready to breathe fire at him just for existing. He is absolutely not expecting to be looking down at a man with shaggy blond hair and dimples in his cheeks when he smirks up at Mingyu, wearing a black sweatshirt that looks at least two sizes too big for him. 

 He’s pretty, Hansol thinks briefly. Really pretty actually, with sharp eyes lined in kohl, full lips blotted red in the center, and a black lace choker resting against his adam’s apple. 

 “Hansol, this is the one I was telling you about, Lee Jihoon, AKA Woozi,” Mingyu says by way of introduction. 

 Jihoon barely glances in his direction, instead pinning his eyes firmly on Mingyu, and when he speaks his voice is light and airy but sends a shiver down Hansol’s spine because nevermind this guy actually is scary. “Mingyu, why are you always here? You’re like a stain on my favorite t-shirt that I just can’t seem to get out.” The venom in his voice doesn’t match the almost serene smile on the man’s face and Hansol is convinced that he must be insane. 

 “Ah, Jihoon hyung, I’m on your favorite t-shirt? Not just any shirt, but your favorite?” 

 Jihoon looks like he might actually swing on Mingyu for a full ten seconds before he laughs finally and all of the tension leaves Hansol’s body. “Get your ass in here, Gyu.” 

 The room they enter is most likely the employee break room, judging by the row of metal lockers on the wall closest to them and the mini-fridge set up at the end of them. There’s a small coffee table with a laptop and two faded couches, one of which has a red haired man in a sleeveless black top and jeans sitting on it. 

 Jihoon plops down on the unoccupied couch next to the door, pulling the coffee table closer to him and immediately clacking away at the laptop keys. 

 “I thought you weren’t gonna show tonight,” the other man says as Mingyu falls into the spot beside him. 

 Mingyu grins at him, throwing an arm out over his shoulders. “Ahh come on Won, when was the last time I missed one of your shows?” Hansol doesn’t hear what the other man replies, only sees the corners of his mouth quirk up as he leans in to speak quietly into Mingyu’s ear. Mingyu catches his eye and sits up a little straighter. “Oh, Hansol, this is Jeon Wonwoo, AKA Mr. Beanie.” 

 “Nice to meet you.” Wonwoo gives him a small smile and a wave before returning his attention to Mingyu, leaving Hansol to fidget awkwardly next to the couch where Jihoon sits. 

 He leans over a bit to peak at the screen after a few minutes, seeing a word document open on one-half of the screen and an audio program open on the other. 

 “Hey kid, if you’re gonna be nosey, at least grab me a soda and sit down so you’re not hovering over me while I’m trying to work.”

 Jihoon’s voice startles him and Hansol can feel the tips of his ears heating as he nods. The mini-fridge has a few water bottles and a couple of Cokes. He takes one and makes his way over to the couch, setting the soda down on the table and taking a seat as far away from Jihoon as he can on the small sofa. 

 “What are you doing?” Hansol ask quietly, watching as Jihoon’s rearranges files on the audio window before clicking back over to edit the word doc.

 Jihoon’s fingers never stop as he replies. “Working on a guide track for a song I wrote.”

 Hansol can’t keep the awe out of his voice as he leans a little closer to the laptop. “You write music? That’s so cool.” 

 Jihoon pauses and looks at the younger man. He looks like he’s about to say something when the door to the room bursts open, slamming back into the door frame with a bang loud enough to make Hansol jump in his seat. 

 “Mother fucker.” 

 Everyone looks at the doorway where a very pissed off looking S.Coups is standing, running a hand through his dark locks and groaning. 

 “What’s up, Cheol?” Jihoon says as he and Wonwoo stand. 

 “The fucker doesn’t wanna pay us what he said he would. Fucker’s like ‘Oh there aren’t as many people as we were expecting so how about we drop it down two hundred.’”

 “What does he mean there aren’t as many people as we were expecting? This place hasn’t been this packed in weeks.” Jihoon’s arms are crossed over his chest and his jaw is visibly clenched. He looks pissed and for a second Hansol can imagine why Mingyu said Jihoon was scary because he can definitely imagine the blond throttling someone with the look in his eyes. 

 “I’m tempted to tell him to go fuck himself and dip; this shit is ridiculous.” Seungcheol walks over to the fridge and pops open a water bottle, downing half of its contents before he finally seems to notice the two other people in the room. “Who’s the kid?” 

 Hansol goes to introduce himself only to be cut off by Jihoon. “You can’t not do the show now, Cheol. It’s bad business for the people that you guys did bring out tonight.” 

 “I know that, fuck, but this shit is still annoying as fuck.” Seungcheol sighs, having apparently completely forgotten about Hansol once more as he makes his way back towards the door. “I’m gonna go take a piss and get a beer before we start. I’ll see y’all out there.” 

 Hansol sinks further into the couch as the door shuts behind Seungcheol and Jihoon comes back over to grab his laptop. “We better head out too, Wonwoo. I’ve still gotta get set up at the booth before you guys go on.”

 “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Wonwoo stretches his arms over his head before turning to Mingyu. “You coming over after the show, Gyu?” 

 Mingyu grins. “Of course. Break a leg out there.” 

 Wonwoo is the first to leave. Mingyu follows after him as Hansol stands and Jihoon packs his laptop into a messenger bag he’d had laid next to the couch. 

 He feels like he should say something as he heads for the door, but he’s just so awkward and Jihoon doesn’t seem like the friendliest person in the world, so he just settles for stumbling over a ‘nice to meet you’ as he opens the door.