better than one [ ricky + lizzy ]
He hadn’t expected to stroll into his private voice lesson to find anyone who wasn’t his normal coach, the one he’d been working with for several weeks now, waiting for him. But there were two staff members in addition to the adult he was used to, along with a female trainee he hadn’t really spoken to in months. Lizzy, he recalled, bowing slightly and sending her a polite smile when he realized he had yet to greet her.
“Your eval wasn’t too bad. I think you were overthinking it, as usual, but it turned out better than you thought it would, didn’t it? Seeing you actually get emotional over something was a nice change.”
Ricky blinked, suppressing a frown and glancing at Lizzy, not sure how he felt about having this seemingly private conversation in front of another trainee, especially one he barely knew.Â
“You’ll be recording with Sooyoung today. I want to see how you rap with another singer, especially a female one. Look less excited, I dare you.”
“Ah, no, it’s not that, I’m just--”
“Yes, I know. Here are your lyrics. Step inside when you’re ready.”
He did, staring down at the piece of paper in his hand, still visibly surprised. He wasn’t used to rapping in front of anyone like this, let alone rapping with anyone. He didn’t even think he was that good, why would they put him over a singer? What if he embarrassed himself in front of a fellow trainee, or anyone else in the room for that matter? Maybe this was Coach’s way of reminding him how to work well with others, which he hadn’t been doing much of lately, but even so, he could feel his nerves bending a little at the pressure of three extra pairs of prying eyes.
He glanced at Lizzy standing next to him in the recording booth and sent her an awkward attempt at another polite smile, “Noona,” he greeted, ducking his head to slip his headphones on, “Please take care of me.”
