Stranger

.FORTY.

YGE BUILDING
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BLACKPINK was in the middle of a practice session until they were interrupted suddenly. Their managers stopped the music and some people walked into the room.

"Sorry for the interruption," YG said as he entered behind everyone else. "We don't have much time to waste and we needed a room to use so take a break for now."

The girls nodded and caught their breaths on the side as more people came into the room. Some people brought instruments along, such as guitars and keyboards. A drum set was even set up and a microphones were brought out.

The people with the instruments took a seat on some chairs that were set up and YG settled in a seat behind a desk.

The girls were confused but they didn't want to ask about the situation.

"Feel free to leave or watch," YG said and gestured to the benches on the side.

The managers waved for them to sit down and they did.

"Is there a performance?" Lisa whispered and the girls shrugged.

"Looks like there might be," Rosé replied.

"Looks more like an evaluation," Jennie said and Jisoo agreed.

"Who do you think it is?" Jisoo asked.

Some more people walked in the room and greeted YG and sat down at the table with him. By while Jennie and Rosé were trying to eavesdrop, Lisa gasped and Jisoo tapped Jennie's shoulder.

Jennie looked to wear Jisoo was staring and Seojun was standing at the door. He looked like he was dressed up as an idol again, since his hair was styled and she had never seen him wear those clothes or shoes before.

"Everyone, this is Jang Seojun. He works with JYP but he has agreed to be here today for a short session. Seojun, this is ..."

The person standing next to Seojun introduced him to everyone, which included YG and representatives from SM, CUBE, and FNC.

"What is going on?..." Jennie whispered and the girls were just as confused.

"Don't mind my girls. They'll be your audience," YG said and gestured to BLACKPINK sitting on the side.

Seojun nodded and barely looked at them as YG explained what he wanted Seojun to do today. After all, they were supposed to be "strangers."

"I want you to let your creativity flow. Write a song. That's all," YG said.

"Anything?" Seojun asked and he nodded.

"There are professionals to play the music you write on these sheets. Compose lyrics if you can and perform it."

YG handed Seojun a stack of music sheets and a pen. He took it and walked over to the musicians.

"Ah..." Seojun said and scratched his head.

He sat at the drum set and had the drummer mimic the beat he produced. It was a slow beat but the more Seojun tested with the sounds, the more interesting the song become already.

After that, Seojun went over to the piano humming a melody and quickly wrote down a few notes. He played a few chords with his left hands and closed his eyes. Then requested the pianist to play a set of chords as he harmonized with them.

Seojun scribbled more notes on the sheet and placed it on the note stand of the piano and went over to the guitar. He closed his eyes again and used his hand to think of some chords then sat on the ground to write some music notes down.

He told the acoustic guitar to play a few chords and which strings to play to which he kept frantically writing notes down. Seojun then instantly wrote on a new sheet and handed it to the electric guitar.

He stood up from the ground and handed the sheets to the guitarists, then looked at the girls of BLACKPINK.

"Could I have one of them sing for me?" Seojun asked YG and he nodded nonchalantly.

Seojun looked at Rosé expectantly and she looked for YG's approval before walking up to Seojun.

Seojun hummed a melody to Rosé and she somehow recognized it. She remembered that he was humming that melody at school and Rosé joined him, and it ended with them writing a few lyrics to the song.

Seojun flipped his music sheets over and wrote on the blank side, using a music stand as a table. He wrote the lyrics they sang from before and Rosé began to hum the tune.

"I'll sing the second part of the first chorus, then you can sing it when the second chorus comes," he said and Rosé nodded.

A staff member handed Seojun another microphone and Seojun signalled for the drummer to begin.

It had only been no less than 10 minutes but Seojun had successfully composed a song. Now it was time to see if it was good.

Rosé began to sing and Seojun joined in for the chorus. When the second chorus came, Rosé sang and Seojun harmonized with her.

The song had a perfect mix of an R&B feel but the chorus was upbeat and catchy. The two ended the song and Rosé improvised a high note.

The room clapped and Lisa and Jisoo gave them a dramatic standing ovation.

"Amazing!" Lisa shouted.

"Encore! Encore," Jisoo said.

YG and the others at the table discussed Seojun's performance and Seojun joined the girls at the bench. He stood next to Rosé in front of Jennie but Jennie didn't have the courage to speak to him.

"We really lucked out with that melody, huh? It's a good thing we spend so much time together for class," Rosé said with a bright smile.

"Thank you for singing," Seojun said with a genuine smile.

That was the first time Jennie saw him smile like that in months, and it wasn't even because of her, it was because of Rosé. Then Jennie remembered that she hadn't even seen Seojun since the award show, and she never got to kiss him since she came home.

Jennie looked at the floor sadly and Seojun noticed but he couldn't do anything about it. He would probably get her into trouble.

Instead, Seojun lightly tapped on Jennie's shoe with his own. She looked up but he turned away to look at YG and kept kicking her shoe playfully.

Jennie smiled at their feet and kicked him back gently.

"Ouch," Seojun whispered quietly to make Jennie smile again but she giggled.

It was little things like this that Seojun would do, just to see her smile, that made Jennie think she didn't deserve him. And sometimes, she would even  wonder if she saw a future with Seojun anymore because of their busy schedules.

She also wondered if he still loved her. He hasn't said it in a while, and neither had she, but he used to say it to her all the time whenever they saw each other.

"Has distance really effected us this much, Seojun?" Jennie asked herself.

•••
Thank you for reading ✌️