After Us

Chapter 8

Adjusting the collar around his neck Jisung straightens his tie. His reflection in the two-way glass dividing the studio from the sound booth sends his anxiety through the roof. Wearing a suit makes him look like his father. A compliment when he was younger, a curse now in adulthood. Giving up on the unruly knot he cleans up his portion of the desk tossing his lyric notebook in his designated drawer. As much as he would prefer to finish the song that had been pouring out of him since dawn, his latest impulse buy needs his attention.

What the hell had he been thinking? He knows nothing about business ownership but his sentimental heart had refused to let the opportunity pass. God bless Seonghwa and his years of experience, without him the venture would've been a failure from the start.

The sound of the passcode being entered into the studio door has him snatching up his messenger bag. If Chan and Bin are back then he should be good to call it a day.

A high whistle fills the studio when his friends enter, the smell of curry wafting over from the plastic bags in their hands.

"Damn Ji! You're looking good." Changbin's loud yell has him massaging his poor ear. He'll go deaf before his thirties at this rate.

"Thanks Hyung, I'm glad someone thinks so." He turns back to his reflection tugging at his cuffs. "I feel like a monkey in this thing."

"A sexy monkey if that's possible."

He rolls his eyes at Chan. "Sexy? I think not."

"Now don't be so hard on yourself. I happen to know someone who thinks you're very hot."

Snorting he shuffles the papers left on the desk, checking to make sure he doesn't leave anything important behind. "Minhyuk-hyung doesn't count."

"Oh no, I'm talking about someone else. Someone that may come as a surprise." Chan's voice switches to a falsetto as he teases the younger.

Looking over his shoulder he sees the two spreading out their lunch, his stomach growls in jealousy. Maybe there's enough time before the meeting to grab some Kimbap from the cafeteria. His diet of americanos and protein shakes always leaves him hungry in the afternoon.

"I already know that Hyunjin and Felix find me sexy as fuck. It's only a matter of time before you catch us all in bed. So, no surprise there."

"Hey!" Changbin points his chopsticks sending rice flying across the floor. "You aren't touching Jinnie. Just because Channie and Felix split-roasted you doesn't mean you can come after my man."

Chan chokes at the word split-roast, his face and ears turning red. Seeing his chance Jisung swoops in stealing a dumpling from the man's plate and pops it in his mouth. The elder smiles despite fighting to breathe. "Steal" is a loose term, his hyung would hand over his entire lunch if Jisung asked for it.

Coughing he manages to catch his breath. "That was one time only. Lix cried for two days after that thinking he had cheated on me. But you're close to guessing Ji."

Picking up another dumpling it's almost to his mouth... "I'm talking about the third person in danceracha."

Jisung's brain skips, his stolen bite slipping from his fingers and falling to the floor. Chan's eyes follow the dumpling to the ground, one eyebrow raised in question. Diving to retrieve the lost snack he uses the action to hide the flush scorching his cheeks. "Did you take crazy pills this morning? Minho doesn't think that..."

"It's true!" Changbin talks around a mouthful of curry rice. "I heard it. He said it when you were dancing with Minhyuk. Jinnie implied Minhyuk was out of your league and Minho jumped in defending you, said you were hot, blah blah blah...something about your waist and eyes."