Ain't Like That

Chapter 4

I can't believe this guy got me to stay at his place for the night AND read some music he wrote, Hyoseob thought to himself as he laid on Zico's bed staring at the paper. Fifteen minutes had passed since he started 'reading' the music.
Zico sat at his desk across the room and called out to the other, "How does it sound so far?"
"I don't know," Hyoseob put the papers down and raised his neck to look at Zico, double chin exposed and all.
Zico turned around in his chair, looking back at him, "Did you even read it?"

"No."

"Bit- Read it!"

"It's like 4 or 6 pages man!" Hyoseob sat all the way up.

"So? Your lazy ass needs to read more anyways! Especially music."

"Zico, I said-"

"Don't make me beg you, I need your feedback, really."

"Begging is gay... I'll read it." He picked up the papers again and hunched over them. The room got quiet as he started reading the music. Zico watched him for the first minute to see if Hyoseob was serious this time, which he was. After the minute, Zico left the room and Hyoseob didn't lift his head from the sheets, he just moved on to the one behind the first, and so on.
As much as he'd tried to hold back the fact that he was still a slave for music, Hyoseob broke slightly and Crush seeped out of him. He started singing what he read. Probably at the wrong tempo for Zico, but it was the right tempo for him. This piece was actually good, not that he expected a bad composition from his friend. But this... It was almost like it was meant for him or something. He kept singing, even moving his head a little to the beat that played in his head.
A few minutes passed as Crush sang and as Zico came down the hall with snacks, he heard it faintly. As he got closer to his cracked door, it got louder, and he walked slower, till he stopped behind his door and peeked in. He even smiled a little till the singing stopped abruptly and Hyoseob called him out.

"Jiho, I know your ugly ass is behind the door. Bring those damn snacks in here," he put the papers back down.

Zico sighed and came in, "Hyoseob, come on now. You know that was great. You sounded great!"

"Mhmm," he got up and took a pack of fruit snacks from the other, "the song's really good. Doesn't sound like it's all you, though." He opened the pack and stuffed them all in his mouth at once.

"Oh." Zico put the snacks on his desk, "Yeah. About that. I wanted to collab with you on that, but you said you were done soooo... I'll just ask Dean or Peno."

Hyoseob's eyebrows snapped up quickly and he swallowed the fruit snacks. "Oh? You were gonna just.. Replace me with Dean... or Peno, huh?.." He looked down and pretended to fidget with the hem of his shirt.

"......Are you jealous?"

Obviously jealous, even the tone in his voice showed it when he replied with a salty, "No."

"..Okay."

Hyoseob waited for Zico to continue or give him a second offer, but he didn't. It started to eat him from the inside out, he really wanted to sing that part, the part that was made for him. He finally broke, also breaking the awkward silence,
"I'll do it! I'll sing it, I'll collab with you, perform on stage, everything! I'll call off my fake hiatus!"

A smile broke out onto Zico's face.