HIBISCUS | Bang Chan of Stray Kids

Track 4

"Is everyone happy except me? I'm so curious about it, or am I the only child who doesn't know how to hide it yet?"

__________

Track 4

          Hwayoung wordlessly followed his command and bit down on the pen, holding it securely between her teeth. As if holding her hand was not enough, Changbin taking her chin sent her heart pounding erratically. Simultaneously, Changbin released both hands from her and moved back, "Try just speaking the lyrics now. Having a pen in your mouth will help with your pronunciation. We can work on your flow from there."

          Hwayoung leaned back, trying to shake her swoons away. Changbin continued nonchalantly as if he did not just pull that stunt which seemed to only affect Hwayoung in the aftermath. She awkwardly shaped her mouth around the pen to read aloud her lyrics until she became more and more comfortable with the foreign object. The pair continued to practice like that until Hwayoung was finally able to rap her verses at a moderate pace. Changbin finished rapping his last verse before setting his phone on the table, "I think we can stop here for now. Just continue practicing like that and we should be able to do the whole song at tempo soon."

          Hwayoung held her hand open below her chin as she relaxed her jaw to release her pen. She gripped her pen, catching it easily before it could roll off the palm of her hand from the momentum of the drop, "Thank the rap lord! I thought the torture would never end."

"You're welcome, but I think Rap God sounds better," Changbin shook his head slightly and laughed, "You better get used to it, because we are recording this song no matter what."

          Hwayoung paused from packing her laptop back into her bag to angle her hand into a military salute as she puffed her cheeks out, "Yes, sir!"

          After she finished packing, Hwayoung took a quick glance at her phone. One message remained unread since her phone had been silenced for the entirety of her time working with Changbin. After comprehending the content of Manager An's text, Hwayoung voiced out to Changbin, "Manager An says that I'm supposed to meet Jisung in the band room, but I don't know where that is."

          Hwayoung pleaded with her eyes, hoping that Changbin would be kind enough to guide her. Fortunately, Changbin noticed her slight desperation and decided to point her the way. Plus, he did not want to get bullied by Chan if he had figured out that he left Hwayoung wandering in JYP cluelessly. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Changbin paused when he noticed the blank look on her face. He immediately recognized it as the same expression he saw when Hyunjin asked her that personal question on their first time meeting. Hwayoung reached out her hand and gripped the metal handle, ready to turn it. As she began her action, Changbin reached out to grip the handle, stopping her from opening the door. Changbin watched as Hwayoung's momentarily sad expression was quickly masked and morphed into confusion, "Is there something that you need?"

          He kept his hold on the handle, thinking to himself. Hwayoung felt more and more confused as time passed, just silently staring into Changbin's warm, brown eyes, "Are you okay, Changbin?"

          Changbin shook his head lightly, freeing himself from his thoughts. Afterwards, he locked eyes back with her as he sported a tight lipped smile, "Are you okay, Hwayoung?"

          Hwayoung choked on her words. She stood silently not knowing how to answer his blunt question. Eventually, Changbin spoke up to fill the awkward silence, "It's okay not be great at everything on the first try. So, you don't have to be so upset with yourself."