OPEN YOUR EYES (BLIND I) - MUSIQ SERIES PART 2

93. I DON'T HATE YOU

After knowing just how much they had to prepare, the girls knew they had no time to waste and prepared a schedule so they would have time to do everything. Although they also carefully made sure to have free time to not stress, they were packed with work as they had many stages to prepare, and since they had to rehearse with ResQ and C1K for some of them, finding the perfect time felt like a tetris game.

Rehearsing «Crush» with C1K was perhaps the most fun parts out of their entire schedule as it was a song they already knew and just had to tweak to fit the new number of people performing it. They had a lot of fun and instead of stressing out when any of them messed up either the choreography or the lyrics, they just all laughed along and happily continued working as if nothing happened. It truly was like going back to their company and when they were all just ordinary trainees.

"Having the tallest and the shortest right beside each other in the formation is just peak comedy, I swear," Kiwoo said as he drank some water while the others performed. "No heels can make Minako and Axel look remotely the same height."

"Hey! I'm not that short! It's just he's a giant!" Minako quickly said back. "1,63 metres isn't short. I'm just average. It's not my fault Axel wanted to be a lamppost."

"Should I crouch down a bit?" Axel joked, opening his legs on a split until he reached her height, meaning he was basically on the floor. "Better?"

Instead of answering, she lightly kicked his shin -making sure to not actually hurt him- and Axel grabbed his leg in pain as the others just laughed at the scene. Perhaps the only difference between when they first prepared that song and that moment was how they were all chatting with each other and not in small groups and showing rather evidently who they were closer to.

"Heejin," Lou called her as they all took a break. "Can you help me, please?"

"Sure, what's up?" she quickly approached him with a smile.

"I could ask the boys, but they will just laugh at me, so it's best to ask you. During my part in the second chorus, I've noticed I sound way too different from how the others do it in the other two and I was wondering if you could give me tips on how to make my voice sound raspier like theirs."

"You don't need to sound raspy. It sounds nice the way you do it; it adds contrast," Heejin quickly told him.

"It's just... I'd like it to blend a bit more."

"In that case... maybe try to imagine you are pushing the words out of your mouth. Almost as if you were shouting, but without actually doing it," she told him and he quickly did it. "Okay, and now make the notes sound rounder instead of crisp."

He got the hang of it almost immediately, so Heejin applauded him. Even Lou was surprised since he never sang like that, but his shock soon turned into excitement at the new "technique" he could play with for future songs and performances.

"Thank you!" he said with a smile. "I knew I had to ask you."

"Don't let the others hear you," Heejin said before he left to go back with Kiwoo and Duyi, who were sitting together at one of the couches.

"Who's the actual senior here?" Axel asked Heejin as he wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"No matter what you say, it's still you," she told him and turned around. "Are you ready to rehearse our song later?"

"Actually, Joon and I wanted to ask you for a favour. Would you mind helping us out with a song today and leave rehearsals for tomorrow? We already know the choreography and the song, anyway."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Your voice," he said before turning towards where Joontae was and calling him over. "We both feel like the track we are making together needs a female voice and we instantly thought of you."