Into You | Luqi

<Some> Bloom

"Yuqi what do you think about the spring collab?" asked her manager on one fine morning at the end of winter.

"Huh? Spring collab?" she raised her eyebrows at the latter.

"Yup!"

"Sounds cool..." she commented lightly. It's been months since she got a solo gig. She had completed the promotion for their latest mini-album three weeks ago. She was basically unemployed right now. "But it's my first time hearing about the collab. Is this a new seasonal project or something of sorts?"

"Not really. We got an offer from SM..." Said the black-hooded guy in front of her. "It's for their SM Station!" Elaborated the guy again.

"SM Station?" The latter nodded. "So who's from SM?" She stared expectantly at her manager, feeling excited about the upcoming project. It looked fun the last time Soyeon did it.

"It's probably one of the boys but I still don't know the details yet. The team still evaluating the offer as we speak..."

Yuqi heaved a deep sigh. "That could be anyone from the company. You make me excited for nothing..." She pursed her lips, slightly disappointed.

"Don't worry they're gonna pick you..."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

He grinned and said, "I can't share the detail right now, but the concept is pretty much written for you, so..."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, eyeing him suspiciously. "I thought you don't know the details..." He shrugged. "So, who is it from SM?" She pressed.

"One of the NCT boys..."

Her face fell. "It can't be Lucas, right?" she asked him cautiously.

"What's wrong about Lucas? Did you two have a fight or something?" asked the manager again, eyeing her with great interest.

"No. No. We're fine..." she waved her hand dismissively as the latter continued to give her a dubious stare. "It just..." She paused for a moment. "...it'll be great if I can work with someone other than Lucas this time, you know for a change..." she elaborated.

The older guy nodded and asked, "Are you two...dating?"

Yuqi dropped the music sheet on her hand and hastily said, "Of course not!!!"

"Well, you better be careful if you do. I don't really mind if you two seeing each other but I can't say the same thing about other people here..." continued her manager, ignoring her defensive response.

"We're not dating!!!" She exclaimed, emphasizing the 'not dating' words.

"Ok. Ok. You're not dating him. I got it..." He responded with a sarcastic tone, looking skeptical. She was about to retort his remark but the loud ring from his phone interrupted their banter.

"Gotta go, I'll let you know the detail later..." concluded her manager as he took the call and walked out of her studio, leaving her alone with her thoughts, feeling conflicted.

NCT has a large number of people in the group. They probably gonna send one of the vocalists. It's spring duets after all. Yeah, that's how it usually works. She leaned back onto the chair and closed her eyes, trying to shake off the sense of foreboding.