Underground producer

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning around 7 am. Half asleep I headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready. Today I had a morning shift in the studio so I needed to be there at 10 am. I wore some black jeans, a black turtle neck jumper, some black boots and some round fake glasses. I tied my hair into a high bun and put on a nice coat. Usually I was not bothered to dress up like this but for some reason I did today. On my way I picked up some breakfast and made my way to the studio. The studio was small but the slots were all booked fully each day. Mostly small bands visited us who were making music for fun. Seeing them work hard made me enjoy my job even more. I was a jumper in the studio which means sometimes I am in the studio boot helping the main producer, assist the clients or just run some errands and do some administration work. Today I was helping the bands out with the production with the main producer. I headed to the big studio and greeted the producer K.

"Hey K! Guess who is your partner today?", I teased him and he started laughing.

"I don't know who you are. Usually GRAIL helps me out but you are not her. She never dresses like this", he teased me back.

"Nothing wrong in dressing up sometimes", I said to him annoyed and took a seat next to him.

He stared at me and poked my cheek.

"Come on I was joking. Is there any reason for you dressing up? Like a man?", he asked me with an evil smile.

I glared at him and he stopped teasing me.

The day passed by really quick with the clients that we had. We were a good team and we finished around 4 pm. As I packed up my things the card that Li gave me fell out. I picked it up and looked at the time. My gut told me that I should give it a try.

"Want to grab some food with me?", K asked me.

Very often we ate dinner together after work but today was an expectation.

"Sorry K I need to go somewhere", I said to him and waved goodbye.

As I headed out I heard him shout "I want my old GRAIL back! She is more fun!".

I hailed a cab and headed straight to the radio station. Around the corner I spotted a cute little coffee shop and decided to get Li and myself a coffee. The building was really fancy and in a second I felt out of place. There was a very intimidating security guard at the counter looking me up and down.

"Can I help you Miss?", he asked me with a death serious voice.

"I am here to meet Mr. Li", I said to him showing him the card that Li gave me.

He left his little table in the glass cube and told me to follow him. I did not dare to ask him where we are going. We took the elevator to the top floor and walked to the end of the hallway. There was a big red light next to the door saying "On Air".

"Go in there", he said to me and left me without any further word. Dumbfounded I stared at the door and debated what to do.

I swear I stood there for 10 minutes frozen. The door opened and I took a few steps back. To my surprise Li was exiting the studio. He noticed me and smiled widely at me.

"I knew you would come! Come on in. I will give you a crash course before we start in 1h", he said and dragged me along inside.

I handed him one of the coffee cups that I had picked up.

"Now we are even", I said to him when he hesitantly took the cup.

"Thank you", he said with a warm smile and started his crash course.

I listened carefully and made mental notes.

"Here is the script for today but since it is your first day I don't expect you to do perfect. The guest will arrive any minute. Just be yourself and be relaxed. Be the women in the café from yesterday. I will guide you through the show. After the show we will meet with the producer and if he is happy you get the job", Li explained while starting the computers and monitors in the studio.

"Wait is my outfit ok?", I asked him unsure about my attire. He wore some fashionable clothes and I knew that the show would be live streamed or taped.

He started laughing when he saw my worried face.

"Come on you look great so stop pulling this face GRAIL. Also the guests of today are really chilled and laid back people. One of my favourite group of people", he said reassuringly to me and I nodded.

I had a look at the script for a few minutes until the door opened and four men entered. Li went over to greet them friendly and the four men were happy to see Li. They seemed close. I stood behind Li not knowing what to do. The men did not take notice of me so far.

"Always nice to see you and have you back guys. It seems like ages when I last met you. Finally you have some new music", Li teased them.

"Hyung it is also nice to see you", one of the men said. He was tall, slim and had blue hair with an undercut. He wore a long back hoddie, black jeans and white converse.

"Hyung who is this?", someone asked and I met the gaze of a man who had blond hair. He had a very skinny figure and a sharp face. He wore some kind of retro clothes with a cross check coat and pants. I am not sure what it was but the vibes he send off were making me nervous.

Li turned to me and signalled me to come forward. I avoided to make eye contact with the guy with the cross check coat and shared a smile with the other three man.

"Hello my name is GRAIL", I introduced myself and bowed.

They greeted me back friendly.

"GRAIL is my Co-host starting today. It is her first day so be nice to her ok", he said grinning towards them and they all nodded.

To my dismay I was seated across the guy in the cross check coat. He kept staring at me. We had about 15 min before the show started. The staff came in and set up all the cameras quickly and brought in some drinks for the guests. I was really nervous by now.

Li tapped me on the shoulder and smiled.

"Hey relax! I am here ok. No need to be nervous. They are nice", he whispered to me.

I exhaled and calmed myself down.

"Hey we do not bite. I swear!", the guy with the blue hair said to me with a big smile.

His smile was contagious.

"The maknea making moves already", one of the other men of the group said to him.

It was a rather smaller man. He must be the visual of the group judging from his look. For some reason I thought he was the youngest. His face was small, he had brown curly hair and wore a yellow sweater. The maknea glared at him but did not say anything.

"Hey there is a difference between being nice and making a move on someone mate. You should know this as the visual of the group", I said to him daring. The visual was flustered by my response and the rest of the men were laughing.

"Hyung I like her", the maknea said laughing.

The visual threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"Fair play GRAIL", he said and laughed aswell.

To be honest I had no clue who they were. You see I listen to the songs and know the names of the producers, songwriters and groups that sung it but I did not know any of their faces or individual names. It was time to start the show so we were told to get ready.