10 Haven

The problem with Jin-hyung was that I used up all the rice. He woke up hungry to find a vessel full of rice ready to eat on the dining table and almost got food poisoning. He threw up twice and realised upon survey that there was nothing left to eat in the house. All the cups of ramen he was sure we had the night before, he found in Jungkook's room. Empty and the mess not cleaned up. Coincidentally, Taehyung ran into him in the kitchen while popping the last piece of honey-twist into his mouth. I had also forgotten to remove the laundry from the drier and can only imagine the twist of his lips as he wondered where his lucky t-shirt had disappeared to and arrived at the aforementioned conclusion. That said, Kim Seokjin was perhaps the bitchiest he had ever been when Min Yoongi casually commented that he was PMS-ing like Ursula on withdrawal that particular morning.

I didn't even get past the doorstep when Jin-hyung engulfed me in his warm embrace, cooing at me for a job well done and pinching my cheeks like the proud hyung he is. If you didn't get the sarcasm, I'll throw myself off the roof because he didn't stop chasing after me with a kitchen knife until I swore on my life and the life of my offsprings to never cook again.

In short, I survived but will probably succumb to internal injuries in the next few days. I should already draft my will and tell my family that I love them. It's been a good life.

"Has anyone seen my light blue sweater?", I ask, sticking my head in the living room. V is watching something on the television and Jin-hyung is...

"I don't know, why don't you look in the drier?"

...still being mean to me.

It's been two days already but I can't blame him. I did get him sick. Taehyung bursts out a laugh at our exchange but quickly covers it up by coughing. I narrow my eyes at him and mouth the words 'shut up'.

"You have two eyes. Use them", Yoongi-hyung is being himself. That's what I like most about him. He gets pissed, he gets it off his chest. He doesn't brood over it for years upon years and remind me on every other instance of things I did that I never want to reminded of. Of course, I have to sacrifice my ears and a little piece of my self respect but you can't have everything.

"Are you going to the company?", I ask when he slips on his coat and he nods in reply. Yoongi-hyung is a restless person. Hoseok and Jimin left for the company in the morning because there are tons of new choreo's to be finalised. The rest of us are not required to report till the day after tomorrow. And yet here he is, tying his laces.

"Wait for me", I say and rush to my room, putting on the first jacket that I saw and grabbing my bag pack. I put a beanie over my head and joined him at the door after putting on my shades. He threw me the keys without warning and didn't wait to see if I caught them, already heading for the parking. He was silent the whole ride, sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Typical for him. He asked me at some point, of what I thought about the collabs and remixes for the home party. I admitted that I didn't hear most of them.

"There are three songs due today", he provided. "They don't concern us, of course, but Nara redid the remix and asked me to be there"

...erm, why?

"She's done already?", I pay attention to the road as the light turned green, "that was quick"

He hummed and I could feel his eyes on me.

"What?", I asked, tearing my eyes from the road to glance sideways at him .

"She told me to thank you", he looks ahead nonchalantly and I smile to myself. I could tell that he doesn't know the reason of why I need to be thanked but I kept my mouth shut, knowing that he will spell it out for me if I don't. We've been living together since the past thirteen years and if there's one thing I know about Min Yoongi, it's that if he doesn't ask then he doesn't want to know. Or care enough, for that matter.

Once at the company, we make a beeline for the recording studio. We greet everyone present and take our seats on the couch. Through the glass, I can see two girls and recognise them as members of bulletproof girls. The taller one has a tomboyish hairstyle, the ends of her hair dyed in an exciting shade of green. I can't for the life of me remember her name but I am sure she's the chinese one. The other member is rather short, even for a girl and I know that she is the younger Japanese girl, Aoi. You can't go wrong with her.

"Fengh-ssi! We'll take it from the second verse"

The Chinese gives a thumbs up to the person manning the controls. The music starts and I familiarise myself with their position in the group. Aoi is a rapper, breathing into the mic as she adds final touches to the already recorded lyrics. Fengh may be the lead vocal because she hits a note higher than Jimin ever did and I find myself impressed. Bang pd sure knows how to pick them.

Everyone exchange words of gratitude for a job well done and they leave the studio. It's a good five minutes before the next recording starts. The member that walks in is a rather stylish and fashion forward girl that doesn't look a day over seventeen. She gets nervous when she sees the two of us, bowing rapidly. Suga-hyung tells her to relax and says a few words in an attempt to boost her confidence. Which backfires because of his infamous poker face and I have to step in to assure her that he was born this way and doesn't mean to offend. She wasn't convinced but calmed down considerably. I overhear her conversation with the staff and catch her name as Sunhee. Her partner is late and the staff member asks me if Jungkook is at the dorm.

"I don't know where he is", I half-lied because I know he went bowling earlier, "but he's not usually late so he must be here anytime now"

Jungkook walks into the room exactly three minutes later. The recording starts instantly because Sunhee has other things scheduled. The duet was being recorded bit by bit since a few days and only the harmonisation remaining. But since both the artists were plenty experienced, it was over in a matter of minutes. Nara walked into the studio sometime during the recording and stood beside Yoongi-hyung, mouthing a hello. He smiled and nodded, returning his attention to the duet. Sunhee left almost immediately, receiving a few tips from Nara to do well.

"You're not doing variety?", Jungkook asked, having overheard their conversation.

Nara shook her head, "not since the last one". He made a crying face, hitting his own chest while acting upset. She laughed lightly at his antics, pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed. "Jeon Jungkook....", she breathed, "you do not get to make fun of me"

He didn't stop and switched to teasing her verbally until Nara's manager tapped him on the shoulder. "She didn't get rejected", the lady defended her idol, "in fact, our Nara has only increased in demand..."

Nara's manager was like a television grandma. Not that old, somewhere around forty years but short and a little plump with greying hair. A vicious critic and perfectionist but otherwise a very sweet woman. She both protected and pampered her idol like a mama bear and could never tolerate anyone putting her down. I had witnessed her rage filled eyes and the steam coming out of her ears when Nara was picked on by Leeteuk.

"....I cancelled her recordings to avoid further inconvenient episodes", she wasn't as enraged right now, but it was amusing the way Jungkook shrunk under her scolding demeanour and backed away defeated. Nara looked at her disapprovingly.

"You didn't need to do that"

"Wae? Do you like him or something?", the older woman countered flatly and I had to suppress a laugh as Nara's jaw hit the floor. Jungkook scratched at his neck and I noticed sharp tug of Yoongi-hyung's lips as he tried not to appear amused.

"I didn't raise you to be this unprofessional, my dear"

"But-"

"Shush!", she cut off the girls sentence earning an incredulous look, "focus, now. We have work to do"

Nara scoffed and shook her head in utter disbelief, roughly snatching the headphones when they were handed to her. The staff exchanged knowing looks, some coughing and clearing their throats. I was handed a pair of headphones as well and the song started to play. I rose my brows upon hearing the changed parts, my jaw hanging loose. She did delete the entire hook. In fact, she not only deleted it but replaced it with the bridge and replaced the bridge with a fresh melody. By the time it was over, I had no idea what to do or say 'cause, damn!

I looked around to see everyone with matching expressions of awe. I heard someone go 'heol' and that is perhaps the only word to describe it.

"How is it? What do you think?", I heard her ask and turned around with an answer ready on my tongue when I realised that the question wasn't directed at me.

"....It's cool", Yoongi-hyung says honestly. His facial expression was a lot softer, eyes glazed over in admiration. "You really improved it, kid. Good job"

She beamed at him, like a child receiving praise for doing well on a test. She kept talking to him, explaining how she got the idea how she did it while I just stood between the both of them, feeling ignored as hell. She doesn't even spare me a glance and I feel betrayed because I was the one that helped her out in the first place. She even told him to be there for the first listen.

Why the fuck is she so determined to get his approval?

I curse in my head and leave the studio, a little irritated.

Scratch that,

A lot irritated.

Thank God for sunglasses.