fluid: haobin

4

"hi hyung," hanbin peeks into the room and smiles when seeing a head peek from a pile of folders.

"hey hanbin, you need anything?" zhang hao asks while trying to keep his head above the mess.

"i wanted to ask how do i connect my phone to the speaker system. we used a wireless speaker yesterday but the sound wasn't the best."

"yeah, let me come," and hao stands up, walking towards the door but of course, he forgets about the other stack of papers in front of his feet.

and we can all guess what in the k-drama happened.

"are you ok?"

zhang hao opens his eyes and is surprised to not have his butt on the floor. instead, he's staring right at hanbin's shoulder as the younger has a hold of his wrist and the older's hand is on the other's shoulder.

"uh yeah," the chinese tries not to stammer as the younger helps him get back to balance. "thanks."

"anytime hyung," hanbin gives a comforting smile and the two leave the room and go down the hallway. "when did you come in this morning?"

"8. it's the weekend so i have to come earlier to set everything up," hao explains. "you're also early. practice doesn't start until 2."

"i wanted to have my own time and use the space for my own purpose...if that's alright," the other looks at the manager with a semi-guilty look. "the schedule said no one else is using the room today so i wanted to ask if i could use it till then."

"that's fine," the chinese gives him a nod. "i trust you won't mess anything up."

"you can count on me," they enter the space.

"so, you want to connect it to those?" zhang hao points to the large speakers attached to each corner of the room. the younger gives a nod. "give me your phone."

with the device, the older walks to the far right corner and picks up an aux cable. he then beckons the other to come, which the latter obliges.

"when you plug this in, a screen will pop up asking for permission. just select yes and then it's gonna take about a minute. once connected, a sound will come from the speakers and it can get loud so put your phone's volume at a lower right after pressing the button."

"can i try?" hanbin gets his phone and takes the cable. "and then...press this?"

"yep, and now we wait..."

the two wait for a minute until an alarmingly loud buzz is emitted, startling both.

"my ears," the teacher rubs his ears, trying to get the buzzing to stop. however, he stops when seeing zhang hao hunched over and hands on the side of his head. "hyung, are you ok?"

"yeah...just startled by the sound, that's all," he removes his hands. "you want to put on a song? just so we know it's working?"

hanbin nods and scrolls through his phone before finding his favorite one.

"is this-" hao looks at the younger in disbelief, surprised to find someone who still listened to the group.

"yep," hanbin starts to move to the sound of "lullaby" by got7. "this was one of the first songs i covered with a crew."

the teacher does the movements for the pre-chorus and as the chorus approaches, he motions to zhang hao to join him.

"c'mon, at least do the chorus with me!"

hao laughs as he starts to get in the groove until he starts to do the dance he had memorized so long ago but hasn't done for a while. it made him feel joyful, to dance to his favorite song and it was also with someone who had the same taste in music as him.

"oh my god, it's been so long since i've done this," the manager giggles as he fans himself.

"did you dance before?" hanbin couldn't help but ask. the way the other moved and the detailed technique, even from the short bit of the choreography, gave him a small hint that the former had to have some experience.

"i only took a couple of lessons back in china, before i moved here."

it was a short answer, but zhang hao didn't need to explain the details. and besides, it's not a lie.

"anyways, i'm sorry but i gotta get back to my work," he points to the door before heading out. "i'll see you around!"

"bye hyung!"

.

.

.

when zhang hao reached his office, he immediately took off the devices in his ear and enjoyed the freedom from the constant buzzing and feedback.

"i have to get those changed," he grumbles when remembering the number of times his ears would have the same reaction to the sound. sometimes, even he forgot about it and would pay the price for just wanting to play some blackpink while cleaning the studio.

"hyung," taerae enters the room but his eyes immediately land on hao's hand that's on his ear and the other is holding two devices.

the younger just approaches the older and using his index finger, taps his shoulder. the latter turns around and puts in the hearing aids again so they could talk.

"oh, hey taerae, when did you come in?"

"just now. my first lesson is at 1 but i wanted to come early."

"for what?"

"yujin's parents sent me an email cause they got the notification their payment was already done and they're asking to come in tomorrow morning before we open to talk."

"that's fine, what time were they thinking?" hao heads to his desk and grabs his phone to check his schedule.

"9."

"ok, that's on the schedule. do they only want to meet me or...?"

"no, they also wanted to see the current crew instructor as well," taerae motions his head towards the studio, where the said person is. "and as a heads up, the email didn't display very friendly vibes..."

"this is my fault, i should've talked to them about this before going ahead and do that. and i'm sorry taerae, for getting you involved."

"hyung, i'm the one in charge of the financial stuff. i was bound to be a part of this no matter what so don't worry," the singer shrugs it off. "also, are your ears ok? i noticed your hearing aids were out."

"i was teaching hanbin how to set up his phone to the speaker and forgot to lower the phone volume."

"do you need anything or you're good?" the younger was always careful when it came to hao's well-being. as one of the few people who knew about his condition, it also made him more cautious and wanted to make sure the loud environment didn't damage anything even further.

"the ringing stopped so i'm fine," hao gives a thumbs up.

"did hanbin see what happened?"

"no, i left before it could get worse. just said i had work to do, which i wasn't lying about," he gestures to the mountain of files but a specific memory all of a sudden comes rushing back, causing the heat to rise up to his cheeks.

"did something happen? your face is red," taerae points out but his concern turns into a smirk when seeing the facial expression. "oh my, did something happen for you to be blushing like this?"

"no! ugh, just get out and get ready for your lesson," hao covers his face with a hand before shooing the other out.

"alright, but make sure to calm yourself down hyung! you look like an overripe tomato!"

taerae's hearty laughter trails behind him as he exits the room and the manager only rolls his eyes at his friend's behavior.