the solar cycle || lloyd g. x reader || idol! au

chapter 1

how can you miss someone you've never met?

'cause i need you now, but i don't know you yet

but can you find me soon because i'm in my head?

yeah, i need you now, but i don't know you yet

ׂׂૢ idk you yet ׂׂૢ

alexander 23

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I sighed for the nth time that evening while stretching out my back. "Gosh, can't Ava give us a break or something? I know we have a comeback in two weeks, but we're all sleeping on our feet."

"I hear ya," My friend, Sophia, said moodily. "The amount of vocal training this morning alone was insane."

I winced in sympathy. I was only a sub-vocalist, so while I could sing well, it wasn't technically brilliant like Hana, Sophia, Kaho, and Kaina. "Would you rather be practicing the choreo over and over?"

Unfortunately, I was the lead dancer, so no amount of pleading to Ava would get me out of practicing hip locks, again.

Right now, we were all taking a break in the practice room. Kaina was lounging on the floor, Hana was practicing the bridge with her vocal coach, Kaho was poking at a salad, and Sophia sat against the wall across from me.

Kaho set her salad down delicately. "I know we only debuted two years ago, but we've already paid off our trainee debt. If we work hard on this comeback, I'm sure we can achieve even more."

Ah, there was Kaho, the everlasting optimist.

"I can't believe you're twenty already," I giggled instead. "Oldies."

Kaina glared at me playfully. "Just because you're still 18 doesn't give you the right to disrespect your elders, Y/n."

"Youngest," Sophia complained in agreement. "Only trouble."

I stuck my tongue out at them as Hana walked through the doors of the practice room. "Ava said the higher ups want us to officially start-" She made the cutting motion across her throat, the signal for another diet.

We rolled our eyes, and I thought about fried chicken longingly, but it was standard procedure. 'Stage lighting adds ten pounds' or something like that. I wasn't about to argue, though, not when our last fancam had boosted our popularity by so much.

At the thought of stages, my breathing quickened- not in anxiety, but in excitement. I loved the feel of exhilaration while we performed and the adrenaline running through my veins when I started my verses. I loved rapping, there was no doubt about it, but in my heart of hearts... I really loved singing, too. I just never got the chance.

Our manager, Ava, could have been a lot worse. When she stumbled upon me singing while breaking my diet, she not only pretended she hadn't seen anything but took my handwritten lyrics into a suggestion for the next song. It was now one of those ethereal love songs I used to know by heart as a child.

I hummed the beat excitedly and Hana smiled at me endearingly. "Thank goodness there's no lipsync for our next performances," She said, trying to lift the mood. "I suck at it."

We burst into laughter, recalling the time we had a lipsync stage once and a fancam revealed that Hana had been a total mess. I stood up, intending to get water, and winced as my knee throbbed.