Singers and Songwriters [BAB+Soubi]

[BABingu]

A famous producer meets his worst nightmare of a vocalist, ensuing a battle of wills while both strive for greatness in their work.​

BAB's Characters

Sung Taehwa

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpjoju3uQR1qch7eho1_500.png
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/155/a/f/lee_taemin__s_new_hair_by_amanda_the_cat-d3i0wt3.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cGXpWBal1...Pz42K6s/s1600/taemin+gimpo+airport+110601.jpg

Song Seunghyun

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pki5_CepjLs/Stmdai1IYII/AAAAAAAACx8/26Kki2vP0VM/s400/17.jpg
http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons2...1e3c2efdf2fe0_ftisland_seoulfashionweek_3.jpg

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Taehwa shuffled around his apartment impatiently. He still had four more minutes until noon, the time he had appointed at which he could check his email again. He didn’t want to get into the habit of coming off as desperate now, so he only allowed himself to check his messages three times a day: morning, noon, and night. That much as alright, that wasn’t overkill, that was still acceptable as normal. He didn’t think about how he had clung to his phone like a lifeline for the past two days.

The clock’s hands moved another millimeter closer to the twelve. Three minutes left. Taehwa decided to sit down in his desk chair, get himself arranged comfortably, no harm in that. He kept his hands in his lap, resisting the itching urge to plant them on his keyboard and let them accidently work their way to his email. Even if he was technically no longer an idol, he still had his well trained discipline like one.

Two minutes left. Taehwa squirmed in his seat in anxious irritation, hands going between his slender thighs which he pushed tighter together as his feet shuffled on the carpet under them.

One minute left.

“Oh, fuck it,” he mumbled to himself unable to resist as his hands flew to the keyboard like his jeans had suddenly electrocuted them. It only took a few taps of keys, and the page for his inbox opened, just forty five seconds shy of noon. It was always better to be early anyways.

His eyes flicked over the screen and immediately found what they were looking for. He had one new mail the page declared. Taehwa had never thought that the little image of a sparkling little envelope had ever looked so appealing. He clicked and there it was, the message he’d been waiting for expecting.

“About damn time!” he sighed exasperated to the empty apartment.

With an expectantly smug smile Taehwa opened the message. His smile only widened as he made a small sound of approval. The message was personally from the Golden Dragon himself. Of course he’d only expected that, as he was much too important to be answered by a secretary. Entirely forgetting his anxiety for the past two days, Taehwa started reading.

Dear Mr. Sung,

I have received your message and instinctively knew upon reading it that working with you would be an absolute displeasure to my life. Please look elsewhere for a producer who will be more willing to work with your unique tendencies. I have listed some who I believe would be more compatible for your situation. Please do not contact me in the future.

The small clock on the apartment wall had just barely ticked to noon before it crashed to the floor from the force of Taehwa’s desk chair as it collided with the wall beneath it.

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If you were to ask Song Seunghyun just what his job was, he’d be able to give you a number of different answers. Though, being the thinker that he was, he’d probably pick and choose what you’d want to hear out of him. Even he didn’t really know exactly what his job title was to receive his monthly pay from Junyi, but he wasn’t about to start complaining when the amount wired to his account was enough to live quite comfortably, which he would if do if he didn’t work so much. Jun was something of a workaholic, and in turn so was Seunghyun, as he had to keep up with the man. It was often the younger one to tell his boss and hyung that he ought to go out and have some fun, do something with all that money he accumulated from working so many late hours (which would let Seunghyun have some free time to do the same with his own paycheck).

Being the personal assistant, manager, student, and friend of someone like Jun was not always easy, but Seunghyun didn’t mind the challenges when it was so rewarding to him. He had a job that he enjoyed, working for a boss who he trusted and thought of as a friend, meeting all kinds of intelligent, beautiful, forward, innovative people. It was the lifestyle in the entertainment business that any hard working young person would be happy to have. So, when he was still playing around with schedules on his iPad at one in the morning, Seunghyun wasn’t upset about it. On the contrary, he was smiling stupidly to himself as he started on one particular schedule, the one belonging to Lee Jinki.

He wasn’t making happy eyes at his screen simply because Jinki’s schedule happened to be a whole hell of a lot easier to manage (meaning a LOT emptier), than Jun’s. He was wearing that grin because just looking at the name Jinki made the muscles in his mouth feel like dancing. He didn’t even try to tell himself not to do it anymore, as it had become such an ingrained habit for him to get all fluffy fuzzy inside for anything that had to do with Jinki, and Seunghyun had always liked fluffy and fuzzy things, his own feelings included.

That was probably part of the reason why he was always smiling at the mention of Jinki. If Seunghyun was to describe him using one word, he’d probably use fluffy. Jinki exuded fluffy in waves. Even if his body was downright sinful (yes, Seunghyun had indeed seen it in person before, twice to be exact) and toned from his dancing, making it in no way fluffy, it was just the gentle nature and disposition that made Seunghyun think of him in that sense. Sure, Jinki was human, he got upset now and then, but there really wasn’t a moment in which Seunghyun could say he didn’t want to wrap his arms around the older man. Though, even if Jinki was “fluffy”, actually doing said hugging wasn’t always easy.

Seunghyun had been attracted to Jinki from the get go, and being a touchy person already, he’d felt even more of an inclination to touch this hyung, but Jinki shied away. By the way he acted, it was obvious that it would take Seunhyun a long time to reach the friendship level that Junyi shared with the other. But Seunghyun could be patient, ridiculously so if need be, and he didn’t think he’d ever had more of a reason to be so patient. If he wanted anything to develop between himself and his dancing hyung, he needed to take it slow. Jinki just seemed so innocent despite his age, so Seunghyun was sure that jumping him like he would most guys wasn’t the right way to go about it. If he only knew just how far his hyungs’ friendship went.

He was just starting to make imaginary doodles on the screen of his iPad like some lovestruck teenage girl, when his phone rang. He hardly glanced at it as he picked it up to answer, because it wasn’t odd for him to get calls at this hour, especially from Junyi.

“Hello?”

“Hello. My name is Choi Taeyeon, I’m with Muzic magazine. Will Mr. Oh be present at the award event tomorrow evening? If so, would it be possible that I might have five minutes with him on his views about the awards?”

“Oh, um, yes, he’ll be there. I’m sure a short interview afterwards won’t be a problem.”

“That’s wonderful. Thank you, and I apologize for calling so late.”

“No, not a pro-” the sound the other end hanging up cut him off, “-blem.”

Seunghyun pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at the unlisted number. Something about that phone call felt very off.

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Taehwa had to push down his slight nausea as he handed over his debit card to the woman at the register, not letting go right away. The young woman gave him a funny look as she somewhat tugged the card out of his hand. She curtly slid it across the scanner and printed out the receipt as she bagged his clothes. Clothes that he had spent entirely too much on. Taehwa usually loved to shop, he used to use it as a way of relaxation, of enjoyment, but now it only made him feel just how close to becoming impovershed he really was.

His apartment’s rent was NOT cheap, an expense he had never had to think about before. After he’d been kicked out of the dorms though, Taehwa had no other option. Going home to his family - if he even dared to call it that any more - that was out of the question. They’d never believed in him, and Taehwa was not the type of crawl back to any one or any thing. He’d die a starved homeless on the streets before he ever set aside his pride like that.

So now, jobless, Taehwa’s funds from his former life as a lead singer of a boy band were quickly dwindling, the designer clothes he was buying now doing nothing to help his bank account. But, he couldn’t very well show up to a party full of hot pop stars without looking better then all of them, and even if he knew that he possessed a body and face the likes of which many of those stars would probably commit murder for, sweat pants weren’t going to cut it. Neither would the other expensive outfits that he had, he wouldn’t dare to be photographed in the same things he’d worn with Outbreak, as he was fairly certain that his appearance at the event would indeed be noticed.

Lost in his thoughts, Taehwa didn’t realize that the woman at the register was openly staring at him, looking from his receipt to his face every few seconds. When he did notice, his heart flipped inside his chest, not because he didn’t look up to par (he was a hot guy after all, and he never went anywhere anymore without makeup - why bother stopping the habit if he was only going to be famous again after all?), but because he hadn’t been recognized for quite some time. Ever since he’d had to remove his extensions, the small amount of girls who noticed him in the streets dwindled to almost nothing. Now wasn’t the time for him to be recognized though, he had plans and places to be. While the employee was distracted by his face, Taehwa snatched his bag of clothes and dashed.

While he walked briskly back to his apartment, his cell rang. He checked the caller id and stopped in his tracks, dropping his bag and sighing heavily in sheer thankfulness. He answered the call.

“Oh, thank god they didn’t drag you away to Japan with those new posers. I wouldn’t want to trust my hair to anyone else. You ready to work some of your magic for me?”

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“No need to bother. We both know I’m not on the list. But I was asked here-”

“Taehwa!?”

Raising his brow, the one called upon turned around slowly to greet the excited voice. He promptly frowned. It was that stupid bitch Minsun who had tried to get him mixed up on some kind of idol scandal with herself in the center. As if. Taehwa knew she looked like a shrunken pig without her makeup on. Still, she could be useful, as apparently she had some kind of crush on him and all. Taehwa threw on his best white-toothed idol smile and held his arms out.

“Minnie, its so good to see you.”

Her face lit up just like he’d known it would, and she promptly shoved herself at his chest, wrapping her thin arms around his waist as he much less enthusiastically placed his own on her back, patting it with forced affection. He couldn’t help completely dropping his smile into a cringe as she tried to suction herself onto him like a barnacle. After what he deemed was enough time to be considered friendly, he gently pried her off of him, and turned his lips back to that practiced smile of his. She matched it by beaming up at him and raising a finger to dot it on his nose. His eye twitched in annoyance.

“I missed you! I know you can’t come around the studios any more, but can’t you just come visit me at home once in a while?”

“I’m not sure the other girls would like that.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Screw ‘em. They just don’t understand your charms like I do.”

She brought both hands to his face to squeeze his cheeks between them while she grinned up at him in what he guessed was supposed to be a cute expression. He was recalling much too quickly just how difficult it was for him to play along like this. Tempting as it was to just shove her away from him and send her falling on her ass off of her ridiculously high heels, Taehwa needed to keep this up. He had to get into the party.

Once she seemed finished with nearly molesting him, now taking his hand in her’s instead, she spoke up again.

“You know,” she said, swinging their hands lightly between them, “I don’t have anyone to hang out with this time. Wanna be my date?”

The camera safe smile of the former idol’s shifted into his true grin, the one that many of his fans had loved for its naughtiness. “It would be my pleasure,” he said in his best cordial tone.

She beamed.

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He ditched Minsun first thing, going straight for the men’s room. He waited inside, just barely watching through the door before he saw his “date” being dragged somewhere by her manager, much to her displeasure. He scoffed at her childish pouting. Really, it was quite absurd that some fans had ever thought to pair them together in their stupid fanfictions, she was waaaay too shallow and immature for the likes of him. Obviously.

With the coast clear, Taehwa moved to the large mirrors to check his appearance once more, ruffling a hand through his brand new eye grabbingly bright red hair. His favorite stylist had done a superb job for him, there was nothing quite like a new look to get your confidence off the charts again. Satisfied with his reflection, Taehwa smirked to himself once before turning to leave the bathroom, only to halt as three bodies entered. He ignored the way they balked in their noisy conversation, and instead started to stalk past them, head held high, only to be impeded by a hand coming to his chest.

Shit.

Taehwa pushed the hand from his chest like it was something dirty, and looked up to the one who had blocked him. It was his old group’s leader, his former hyung, the one who had called him out to their President. Taehwa could at least take solace in that fact that his plan to get rid of just their diva had backfired, instead getting the whole band cut from the company. He repressed none of the distaste in his eyes as he glared at the other.

“Can I help you with something?”

The frown on the older male’s face deepened at the flippant tone he was addressed with. He crossed his arms. “Just wondering what you’re doing here. This is a party for current idols, not past ones you know.”

The singer bristled, shoulders tensing upwards. “Yeah, so I didn’t get hired by some second rate company with a shoddy budget to last another year before my Outbreak fans actually see that I have NO talent.” He delivered the mocking sarcasm with no lack of venom, though the only reaction from his former leader was to grit his teeth behind closed lips.

“You’re just as polite as always I see.”

Taehwa frisked his bangs back with his hand. “Call it what you will. I really don’t give a fuck what you think of me.” A light smirk took his lips as he heard his old maknae curse at him lowly. “Now, are we done here? Because I’d really like to stop having to look at your face with that shitty airbrush job you’ve got.”

“By all means, your highness,” snided his former leader.

Taehwa didn’t take the bait, and walked out of the bathroom like he really was royalty. Bumping into that pathetic trio wasn’t going to ruin his reason for coming here. Instead, he’d use it to bolster his drive. It was only sticks and stones, just words from people who had never cared about him in the first place. They blamed Outbreak’s failure on him, as did a large portion of their fans, but Taehwa didn’t see it that way. They were the ones who hadn’t pushed themselves hard enough, they were the ones who weren’t talented enough, they were the ones who hadn’t been able to measure up to his standards. Taehwa was done with matching up to those less talented, those less passionate. This wasn’t a game to him, this wasn’t just something to get by for a few years, this wasn’t just a five minutes of fame. This was his life. He’d set himself on making a career out of his voice, and it would take a lot more than what he’d been dished so far to stop him.

Just like one little rejection wasn’t going to turn him away from the only producer skilled enough to mix beats of quality for his voice. Any reasons that had been given were of little matter, he didn’t care that they might be the worst combination of personalities on the planet. Taehwa just wanted the best, and he was going to get it.

-----------------​

“Seriously, Junyi hyung, you don’t need to look so pissed off. Everyone’s already intimidated by you ya know.”

Seunghyun cracked a playful smile at his boss and friend. It was good thing that Jun took both him and Jinki to these types of things, because unlike Jun, neither of the other two had as much of a problem faking smiles for idiots. Maybe it was because they were kinda insignificant, and people didn’t come to talk to them. Or maybe it was because Seunghyun generally thought idiotic, selfish, and overconfident people were funny. He couldn’t exactly explain why, but those true conceited pricks and bitches out there made him laugh rather than angry. While he found comedy in those egotistical stars, Seunghyun suspected that Jinki wasn’t really paying attention, and just smiled along. It was rather adorable to Seunghyun.

While Junyi was bombarded yet again by a hopeful artist, Seunghyun nudged Jinki with his elbow. When he got a lazy smile in return Seunghyun couldn’t help the happiness that bubbled in him at the sight to make his own lips form into a grin. Jinki, who would get nervous at these types of parties, had gone and gotten himself drunk again. Seunghyun was tempted to hug him right then and there, as he was sure that the awkwardness would have been faded out of him by now, because his usual attempts at cajoling Jinki into a hug were always met by a stiffening form and awkward patting on the back. He got a lot more cuddly when he was wasted. It was a shame that he’d driven them to the event, because he couldn’t help feeling jealous when Jinki would cuddle into Junyi in the back seat.

As Jinki turned to look away again, Seunghyun stepped a bit closer and inclined his head towards the older man’s ear, disturbing his hair as he spoke. “Let’s not go too heavy on the drinks tonight hyung. As much as I’d like to, I can’t really carry you very well. You’ve got concert practice tomorrow night too, remember?”

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Taehwa’s gaze preyed over the guests, looking for only one person. He found his producer (yes, the Golden Dragon was now his in his mind) next to an annoyingly tall guy and one with a fat ass. He stared for a moment while the older man talked with another singer, apparently exchanging pleasantries. Taehwa’s eyes followed the line of the man’s hand as it gesticulated in the air, the bracelet glinting in the light. He followed down the man’s arm taking note of a tattoo there, then to the shoulders, neck. He was thinner than Taehwa had remembered, when he’d seen the producer in passing at their studio. Outbreak had only had one real hit, and this thin man had been the source of it.

He hadn’t had the chance to speak with him then, but Taehwa had noticed the way Junyi carried himself, and liked it. He had felt compelled to really impress the young producer with his singing that day, but he’d never had the chance. Lyrics were all they’d been able to afford. There would be no editing done by him. Taehwa hadn’t been happy. He’d wanted somebody like the Golden Dragon, somebody important, somebody not connected to their company to know what he sounded like without the autotune, before they ruined his voice.

Well, he’d learn now, because Taehwa would convince him to it. There wasn’t a chance that he’d get shot down this time. Not when in front of so many people, not when he actually came face to face with the singer, because Taehwa was infinitely more convincing in person. People often were too dazed by his presence alone, his demeanor and appearance, to really think things through before he’d talked them into it. He walked over people like there were ants, and got away with it. He doubted even someone like a good looking producer would be any different.

Once there seemed to be a break in the people coming to meet with his target, Taehwa approached, striding over confidently. He’d purposely stayed apart from meeting anyone before, he wanted his entrance to be unexpected. With his bright stoplight hair, studded leather jacket, low cut tank, and blue and white crossed pants, the singer was more noticeable than not. With hardly an “excuse me” to the tall figure blocking his way, he brushed past and planted himself right in front of his target, only to find the guy turning away.

Somehow, despite all his confidence, all his self assurance, despite everything, being this close and possibly being ignored struck a bit of desperation into him. Not really thinking, just reacting, Taehwa grabbed the man’s retreating wrist, snagging it firmly in his hand. He stared, and so unlike him, was lost for speech for just a moment as one thought drifted through his head at the sight of that velvety looking skin. This guy should have been an idol.

It was only when his earlier words were echoed back to him did Taehwa remember that he was supposed to be doing something other than appraising looks.

“Can I help you?”

Taehwa regained himself quickly, making his short episode of thoughtlessness like it had never happened. He smoothly moved his hold from wrist to hand, turning his touch into a gentle handshake as he bowed slightly to the older male. His confidence beamed out from his face as he dropped his hand smiled calmly at his producer.

“Yes, actually. I’m Taehwa.”

His smile widened as the obvious signs of recognition came to the other. He didn’t even stop to consider that maybe the incredulous look he was being given had anything to do with his rather rude chutzpah.

“I know, I look a lot different from how I used to,” he said as though Junyi had actually paid enough attention to Outbreak to know its members (even if people didn’t know Outbreak well they usually knew Taehwa, the smartass divalike variety personality). He swished his bangs aside with a small movement of his head. “I wrote you an email earlier and it seems we got off on the wrong foot. I know that you’re a busy man, but I also know that you wouldn’t want to miss out on a golden opportunity.” He tilted his head with a bit of playfulness, squinting his eyes a bit. “Forgive the pun.”

“Anyway, I thought it over, and I’m positive that you’re the only producer that I could ever work with. I even took the time to come out here and meet you personally. You’re the best, and that’s what I want, its what I deserve. Anyone else would be a sad disappointment I’m sure. And the same goes for you, after working with me you’ll realize that everyone else has been a preparation for your biggest success.”

“Now, I know that you might already think you have an idea of my vocal range, but its not what you’re thinking. You just need to hear me once. So,” he looked over the gangly man next to Jun. “is this guy your assistant?” He hardly waited for an answer and pressed on, stepping closer to tallest male. “Can you set us up for the earliest available time? We should start working right away, so it would be fine to push back the others, I’m sure. No time like the present, right?”

Taehwa stood there, smiling brightly, expectantly, never ever dreaming up anything but a yes.