Producer's Corner

Chapter 3

Opening their apartment door and kicking off her shoes, Kiki deeply sighs.

"Why are you guys so set on me writing songs?"

"Because!" Lucas practically yells.

Both friends furrow their eyebrows and turn their heads to face him.

"Really? Even I know that's not good reasoning." Megan rolls her eyes and tosses her purse onto the couch.

Flopping onto the couch, Kiki raises an eyebrow, observing them. "All I did was bring up my opinion about the idol industry, and all of a sudden you want me to fix it."

Lazily sitting on the floor, Lucas leans back on his hands and takes a moment to find a response. "Maybe not 'fix it' but help idols get a chance to show fans and people other parts of themselves."

"What makes me so qualified to write about, produce, and interact with idols? I'm literally an introvert, and I know nothing about producing. If anything, working with idols would make this job ten times harder—not only with their fans but also with their company! You know how nerve-wracking that would be. This is all so sudden!" She buries her face in her hands and exclaims.

Gently pulling her hands away from her face, Meg takes a moment to stare into her eyes. "Firstly, you need to stop looking down on yourself. Secondly, practice. Nobody gets good at something without practice. Plus, you already write things, whether they are your thoughts or your opinions."

"I would love to hear how your sense of the world would translate into music." Lucas calmly comments.

"Okay, great, lovely. I would be "great" at that. But what about literally everything else?" Kiki huffs, fully slouching into the couch.

Trying his best not to yell and get annoyed, Lucas takes a deep breath.

I have no right to get annoyed at her. If this was me, I would be just as flustered.

"What if, before we do anything official, you can do more research? Research about producing, writing, pricing everything, etcetera. Then, if you do want to try your hand at it, we'll do more research about legal involvement. We'll figure out how to remain anonymous to the public. If possible, you don't have to sign under an agency, at most an NDA."

"Wow, look at you with your all-mighty wisdom! I didn't know you could be so insightful," Meg says, half impressed, half joking.

He gets up from the floor, rolling his eyes. "What ever. Just let us know, Kiki. I, we, will stand by your decision." He says finally. He then disappears into his room.

Scanning the room, Kiki looks in the direction of Meg. "I guess I'm going to go disappear myself. If I do come up with an answer, I'll discuss it with you guys tomorrow."

Staying in her spot, Meg watches Kiki slowly make her way into her room.

I hope she doesn't do this because it feels like we're forcing her to do it.
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Kiki stands there staring at her ceiling after tossing her phone onto her bed.

Do I really want to do this? I mean, yeah, it's great reasoning as to why, but is this something I want to do as a career?

Dropping her head to the floor, she makes her way to her desk. She opens her laptop and a new tab, taking a few moments to consider where to begin.

What should I start with? Producing? Song writing? Idols? The entertainment industry? How much does everything cost? Let's just explore the different types of groups. What was that group those teens mentioned? BYC? BTC? BTS.

Names.
Debut.
Music.
Lyrics.

and everything between. Sitting there for what felt like minutes were hours. Hours of Kiki scrolling, watching, and reading. Things that hit home. Things that were sad. Things that made her laugh. To things that made her happy. She's happy she decided to jump into this rabbit hole.

But like most things, this industry had its dark sides. Not only did she read about the controversies, she also read about the hate, the incidents, and the things that happen behind the scenes. From sexual assault to suicides.

She knows she can't fix these things by herself. So she decides to tackle a different problem. Companies are holding back and overworking their idols.

I'm glad a few idols were able to talk about their own life experiences, whether it was depression or the pressure of idol work. This can potentially help other people going through the same thing. I definitely love and appreciate the different genres and concepts. But why are so many idols in groups stuck to one skill? I get that their main skill is rapping or singing, but in other clips they can do both. Give them a solo, or more lines, or something! Don't even get me started on people who only see idols for their pretty faces!

Needing to take a step back from her laptop, Kiki glances at the corner of her screen. Mouth falling into a frown and then quickly turning into a yawn. Taking a moment to realize it was currently five in the morning.

Deeply sighing, she closes her laptop and heads into her bathroom. She decides to make breakfast for her two friends after freshening up for the rest of the day.

Setting the table, Kiki hears Luca's door open. She watches Lucas whisper lyrics to a song only he can hear, and as he does a twirl into the kitchen. She also watches him momentarily freeze in his step as he narrows his eyes.

"Why are you awake so early? I know for a fact you did not "fix" your sleep schedule."

Not looking him in the eye, Kiki swiftly turns around and starts plating food. "Good morning. I hope you're hungry."

"No. No. You do not get to change the subject. Did you pull another all-nighter?!" Lucas asks, stopping Kiki's hands from moving.

Not meeting his eyes, Kiki sighs. Knowing exactly what was about to happen. "I may have stayed up all night. And by the time I did notice, it was five in the morning. So I freshened up and decided to make you and Meg breakfast."

"How the hell? What even kept you preoccupied? Don't tell me you stared at the ceiling for eight hours again!" Lucas huffs. Pulling away from Kiki, he plops into a chair.

Finishing plating the food, Kiki mumbles her answer.

"What was that?"

"I may have done research like you suggested. But instead of just writing and producing, I may have ended up watching a bunch of idols do things. I may even have convinced myself to work with idols and music." She rushes out. Scrunching her nose as she thinks about what she has done.

A few minutes of silence had passed, and she finally looked at him. He sat there with his mouth open and his gaze fixed on Kiki.

"When I said to do research, I didn't mean all at once or even so soon. I didn't even expect you to consider working with idols. I thought Meg was going to have to sit there for hours just trying to convince you!" He claims to be rambling as well.

Hearing another door open, Kiki turns to see a confused Meg standing in her doorway.

"Why are you awake?"

Of course, that's the first thing she asks.
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Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you have a great morning, day, or night! (This chapter has been heavily edited)

Word Count(not including a/n): 1,230

Character Count: 6,762