Kiss Me Under the Stars

Chapter 31

~~~~~~~ Hyomin ~~~~~~~

L.Joe waved to me as he walked off after he dropped me home. My phone vibrated and I pulled it out and checked the text I had received before releasing a scream of excitement and dashing up to my apartment. I burst through the door and the KREST members stared at me with wide eyes.

"Jung Ae Cha, get up," I commanded. She stared at me like I was insane and I repeated, "Get up Maknae! Lets go!"

"Where are we going?! It's like 6:30! I just got back!" she protested, standing and shoving her shoes back on.

"Ilhoon finished the song!" I told her breathlessly. "We have to record!" Kibum stood with a confused expression.

"There is NO WAY that I am letting you two go out now! Woohyun isn't back yet! Once he gets back, we wanted to eat!" I shook my head profusely as he groaned and then grumbled, "I'll drop off dinner... Go record... -.-"

"THANK YOU KIMBUM!!!" I screamed gratefully as I slammed the door shut and yanked Jung Maknae after me as I made a mad dash down the stairs and out into the summer air.

The light breeze blew across my body as I jogged down the sidewalk in my ruffled skirt and blouse. My high tops thumped lightly as I broke into a sprint, Aecha stumbling along behind me as I made my way towards Cube. As I burst through the front doors, the receptionist stared at me with wide eyes.

"Jung Il Hoon?" I asked her breathlessly. She shuffled through her paper records wordlessly.

Finally, she looked up and mumbled, "Recording. Studio 4. Third floor." I thanked her before stumbling to the elevator and stepping inside. Aecha joined me, dying from excess exercise, and attempted to catch her breath as we rode the elevator up.

"Remind me again why we couldn't just wait until tomorrow?"

I rolled my eyes and sarcastically retorted, "Remind me again why we couldn't just wait for another day when you had to get your tonsillectomy?"

"Point taken..." she murmured, falling silent as the elevator dinged and we stepped out. I stared at the brass numbers on the wall and turned to the left to go to Studio 4. "Okay, are we just recording? Who's our producer?"

"Ilhoon," I told her firmly, knocking lightly before entering the room. Sungjae and Ilhoon were humming to the track and I waved at them as I sat down. Aecha plopped down on the couch beside me and began nodding to the beat of the track while she listened.

When it ended, she commented, "That sounded awesome."

"Thanks," Sungjae laughed with a sweet smile. "By the way, congratulations on your marriage Hyomin~!"

I bowed slightly while I replied, "Thank you Yook Sung Jae." He nodded and I turned to Ilhoon curiously. "Yo Ilhoon, are we recording?"

"We need our producer!" he protested. "He's coming."

"Who?" Sungjae questioned curiously.

Aecha stared at him before inquiring, "Oppa, even you don't know?" Sungjae shook his head and I cocked my head to one side. Who could it be? There were only so many producers at Cube...

There was a sudden knock at the door and we all jumped lightly before the door cracked open. Junhyung walked in awkwardly with a grin and I jumped to my feet. "Oppa, you're our producer?! :O"

"Are you mad?" he asked me with an uncertain frown. I rolled my eyes and shook my head with an amused smile. "Well, Ilhoon called me so I came as soon as I could! Shall we record?"

"Of course! We don't want to keep you!" Ilhoon exclaimed, standing and waving the three of us into the sound booth.

Junhyung supportively laughed, "No, it's no problem! I'm happy that I get to produce your song! Let's do Take One! Make it a good one! I'm sure that it will be a hit!"

Sungjae, Ilhoon, Aecha, and I put the big headphones on and sat up straight on the wooden stools inside the sound booth. Junhyung looked at all of us and gave us a thumbs up. We returned it and he grinned before pressing some buttons on the mix board in front of him. Ilhoon's track began playing in my ears and I stared down at the lyrics on the music stand with the individual parts laid out for us.

I stared singing after Ilhoon gave me a sign and Sungjae and jumped in suddenly while I was singing, as per his part. We adjusted quickly and harmonized our pained notes before breaking into the chorus with Aecha and Ilhoon rapping and interjecting. They alternated back and forth in their rap section and then Sungjae and I jumped back in with the chorus. The bridge was after the chorus and involved me vocalizing with Sungjae and Aecha breaking in and out of harmony with me.

Ilhoon jumped back in with a rap to finish off the verse and we all broke into the final chorus before fading out and listening for the track to end. Junhyung had shut his eyes after we finished recording and had put headphones over his ears as he listened back to the track.

"Aecha, your vocals are a little funky around the end of the second chorus," he commented when he had finished listening. "Also, Sungjae, try to blend more with Hyomin's voice instead of sticking out and forcing her to blend with you. You should blend with each other, however I can barely hear her."

"What about me?" Ilhoon inquired curiously.

Junhyung poked his cheek and then replied, "You sped up a bit in the second verse, the rap verse. Lets do a Second Take guys!" We nodded and rerecorded, keeping Junhyung's advice in mind as we rerecorded the song.

He looked pleasantly surprised as we exited the sound booth and plopped down. He began tweaking the vocal track and meshing with the instrumental track before turning to us curiously. It was already almost 8:40 at night...

"Would you like to hear?" he asked jokingly.

"Of corse!" Ilhoon and I exclaimed. Junhyung smirked and then played the edited track back. Sungjae and Aecha were silent as they listened with happy smiles. As it ended, Ilhoon suddenly cheered, "That sounded fantastic!"

I nodded in agreement. "Lets release it just this second!" Sungjae exclaimed, obviously agreeing with Ilhoon's comment.

"Now, now," Junhyung chided lightly. "As much as I think that anybody would love to release this song at 9:00 at night, I think we can wait until tomorrow morning! ;p"

Ilhoon and Sungjae laughed and nodded in agreement with sheepish grins. "So, Junhyung, when do we start practice for China?" I asked him curiously.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "The day after tomorrow."

"But what happens to Unnie's shoots then?" Aecha inquired with wide eyes.

He shrugged before answering, "I suppose that they'll just push it back that day."

"But I have a drama!" I protested. "They can't push it back!"

He nodded with a frown and Sungjae pointed out, "You're a newly wed as well... You have your work cut out for you..."

"Kim Manager is trying to kill me~~! D;" I cried, slamming my back into the couch with a groan. "This is ridiculous!"

Ilhoon nodded with a frown before stating, "He didn't have to agree to a drama AND 'We Got Married'... You need free time too..."

"Aish..." I grumbled before I cursed under my breath. "I need a break~~~"

"Oh, HyoYo, speaking of breaks, you don't get one tomorrow!" Junhyung joked suddenly. I cursed with a laugh and then stared at him. "What?"

"We should go bowling~~~ Glow bowling! >.<"

"Yah. Go with your husband," Sungjae teased. I rolled my eyes and tackled him onto the ground. Aecha and Ilhoon both sat on top of us, creating a dog pile.