JIHOON’s POV
It’s 3:00 AM and I’m sitting at the desk in my hotel room. There’s papers strewn all over the floor and my neck and shoulders are hurting from slouching over my journal. I’ve been trying to think of a new concept for our group’s next comeback but so far all I’ve done is waste paper and finish 3 cups of coffee. I got up and picked up the crumpled paper from the floor and shuffled my feet as I went to toss them into the nearest wastebin. Next, I washed the coffee mug I was drinking from and set it aside. After clearing up the desk I was working at, I decided to take a long, hot shower to soothe my aching muscles.
My name is Lee Jihoon. I’m one of the members of a 13-member Korean idol group called SEVENTEEN. Why are we called SEVENTEEN but only have 13 members you ask? Don’t. I’m too lazy to explain. My main role and responsibility in the group is to write and produce songs. I’m also the leader of our vocal team so you could say that I was under a lot of pressure. Our next comeback was in 2 weeks but I haven’t been able to come up with any song that our group was proud of yet so I was really stressed.
I turned the hot water on in the shower and leaned back as I let the water splash on my face.
“AAAHHH. What am I going to do with myself?!”
I was getting frustrated.
“Calm down, Jihoon.” I said to myself. I was never one to let my emotions get the better of me. I had to take control because I didn’t want to become a disappointment to anyone.
The hot shower seemed to really have helped in calming me down and I immediately felt at peace. I finished getting ready for bed and grabbed my phone as I tucked myself in. I unlocked my phone to see
3 missed calls.
“3 missed calls? Who would be calling me this late?” I was sure it wasn’t any of the members since they were all asleep in their respective rooms and my phone wasn’t on silent so it also wasn’t when I was sitting down writing. Whoever it was must have called when I was in the shower.
I checked to see who had called and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the name on phone’s screen.
“L.” I whispered, the name feeling so familiar on my lips yet breaking my heart at the same time.
“Why would she be calling me at 3 in the morning?” I wondered.
My relationship with L was complicated. We met a few years back. I was just starting out with Seventeen and she was an intern for an events company. SEVENTEEN was on our first world tour and her group oversaw the promotions for us in their country. I was smitten by her the first time I saw her. At first glance she was quiet and clumsy but the more we got to spend time with them, she was very funny and a great person to talk to. We got close during the time we were preparing for the concert because our road manager got sick and she was assigned to look out for the vocal team. The other members noticed that I may have had feelings for her and somehow got her to give them her phone number (I still don’t know how those sneaky fools did it). To their disappointment, I only had the courage to call her on the day that we were leaving the country. We talked for hours until we had to board the plane to go back to Korea. Since then, we tried to speak as frequently as possible. There were times however where it seemed like she wouldn’t want to talk to me. Sometimes she wouldn’t pick up her phone or answer my messages for days on end and other times where she would send me very long, sweet messages. It was so weird. Tonight was the first time in 5 days in which we had any contact (or attempt, at least). I contemplated calling her back but I was too tired. It was also pretty late in her country too so I opted to just call her first thing in the morning.
