4*TOWN

Out Of Sync

Early one morning, Jesse and Tae Young are sitting in the kitchen. Their conversation is interrupted by Jesse's phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Jesse! Sorry if I woke you, but I- well-"

"No, it's okay. What's up, Raya?"

As Jesse talks to the band's manager on the phone, Tae Young is looking through one of Jesse's Rolling Stone magazines and drinking a smoothie.

"Yes, that sounds good. See you then."

"What was she calling about?"

"We have a meeting with the rest of management later today."

"Hm. Sounds important."

Tae Young says, kind of brushing it off, never looking up from the magazine.

"Which issue is that?"

Jesse asks, dropping the subject of meetings as he knows Tae Young is not too fond of those.

"The new one."

Tae says, flipping the magazine back to show Jesse the cover, revealing a picture of the band Good Charlotte.

"Oh, Sick!"

Jesse smiles, starting to tell Tae Young about the band and how he knows each of the members.

"That's Joel. I always got a weird vibe from him though, his brother Benji is a pretty cool guy."

"They're brothers in the same band?"

As Jesse continues to go on about Good Charlotte, he gets a bit carried away and doesn't notice how much time has passed. He's in the middle of a story about the Madden brothers when Robaire enters.

"Good morning!"

Tae smiles, happily receiving a kiss on his cheek from Robaire.

"Morning, angel. What are you two up to?"

Robaire yawns.

"I was just telling him about Benji and Joel."

"Oh god."

"You sound tired, Robby, did you sleep okay?"

"I've definitely slept better. Remind me to never walk past Z's room."

Jesse and Robaire both laugh. Tae is confused for a moment, but scrunches his face once he understands.

"Oh."

☆

A few hours later, Jesse drives the band to the meeting hall. They sit at the end of a long table, waiting for Raya and the rest of their management to arrive.

Tae Young sits between Jesse and Robaire, and the Aarons sit next to each other. T has his feet up on the table and is playing on his phone.

Soon, Raya comes in, followed by a few others. As they take their seats, Raya elbows T to tell him to straighten up. He quickly brings his feet down and puts his phone away.

"Hello everyone. I'll try to get right to the point, I know you gentleman have other things to do today. As you may know, 4*Town has been rising in popularity..."

Raya starts, and T almost immediately sighs and turns to Z, who's actually listening to her. T starts to fidget with Z's hand, trying to keep himself entertained.

"And of course there are other boybands that are doing the same, such as Backstreet Boys, 98°, and *NSYNC..."

T rolls his eyes at the mention of *NSYNC.

What a bunch of losers.

He thinks, still not exactly paying attention to what Raya is saying.

"Which is why I've already prepared a collaboration between the two groups."

"Wait, what?"

T blurts out, earning a few stares.

"You guys and *NSYNC."

"Why them? They just copied Backstreet Boys."

"T, we copied Backstreet Boys."

Z says flatly, and Robaire seems to take offense to this.

"Uh uh! We're ten times better than-"

"I wouldn't say we're so different..."

Jesse cuts in, and all of the guys start talking over each other, excluding Tae Young. Raya clears her throat loudly, trying to get their attention again.

"Ahem! As I was saying, I already contacted their team and they've agreed to it. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one."

T starts.

"You couldn't have picked a better band? I mean, Blink isn't touring right now and their album comes out-"

"Blink- 182? Oh come on, T. They're not even-"

"Guys!"

Raya shouts over T and Robaire.

"I think this will be a fun opportunity for all of you. It'll definitely boost our sales, and who knows- you guys might even become friends!"

T scoffs at the last part. Robaire just sighs.

"Whatever. Let's do it, then."

The rest of the guys agree to it, leaving Raya with a huge grin on her face. She lets the band know that they are free to leave, happily sending them off.

to be continued ☆