euphoria | knj √

5: moonchild.

"We gotta dance in the rain, dance in the pain. Even though we crashing now, we gonna dance in the plane. For us, more than anyone else, we need the night sky. Only you, and not anyone else, can comfort me."

0:00 |───────── 3:26

|◁              II             ▷|

The blue glass of the Bighit building looked like an ocean, reflecting rays of the sun. Her heart felt like a thousand drums playing at the same time, and while she welcomed this anxiety right before a performance, this felt like she was suffocating while oxygen hung in the air right in front of her.

Ms. Cho squeezed her hand.

"This is it," she whispered excitedly. Rein breathed out a shaky breath and laughed.

"Yeah. Guess it is." Her chest felt tight as they walked in together. They were so close to getting everything they wanted. As they took the elevator to the top floor, she tapped her foot the whole way, earning some glances from Ms. Cho.

You got this. They wanted you, not the other way around.

Rein thought she would explode when the elevator doors opened to reveal three men, one of which was Namjoon. He was in the midst of securing his dark blue tie, giving her a warm gaze that made her want to melt into the floor.

She had never wanted to die and freak out at the same time until that moment. He looked like a genuine person in real life, not the plastic she so thoroughly observed. Standing next to Namjoon were Managers Hobeom and Sejin, and the CEO of Bighit Entertainment, Mr. Bang.

Ms. Cho and Rein stepped out of the elevator as they started walking towards the conference room.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kim," Rein said, holding out her hand.

"Please, call me Namjoon," he replied, shaking her hand firmly.

As he introduced himself to Ms. Cho and the managers started talking business already, she couldn't help but notice how everyone looked so sharp.

And how she was the only American. Surely she couldn't have been more out of place.

Upon entering the conference room, everyone took their respective seats on either side of the long, glass table.

"Now, to start this meeting," Mr. Bang began, "I would like to establish expectations of this contract. We've drafted one using information from our previous conversation." He held up a thick packet of paper, one he set down on the table. Ms. Cho nodded.

"I agree. Let's go over that before we let the artists discuss other matters in a separate room." When everyone gave the affirmative, Mr. Bang continued.

"The first thing is the schedule," he said. "Every day except for Sunday is mandatory for meetings and recording. The ideal window of time in which a song should be completely finished and recorded is about ten days. Everyone is expected to come at 8:00 AM and leave at 4:00 PM, but that is subject to change depending on deadline changes. Two hours is devoted to the recording process, three is devoted to training and choreography, and there is a recess for about thirty minutes."

Rein's jaw almost dropped. She looked at Namjoon, who was looking at Mr. Bang thoughtfully. They were all mad. Absolutely bonkers. Bighit worked them like dogs. She wondered how they didn't burn out the minute they finished an album.

She heard of artists burning out like that so "suddenly", when in reality, they were overworked behind the scenes for years on end until the pressure made them burst.