8 Teenager

Nara's POV

"Hey,...kook", I say a little warily. He sits across from Bambam and they shake hands. Lisa extends her hand towards him and he hesitates before shaking it, awkwardly letting go and clearing his throat.

"So...", I start and he looks up from his lap. "I didn't know you were in Thailand"

"Actually, I just arrived this morning"

A waiter walks up to us to take our orders. He walks away as soon as he came when Lisa makes a sign with her fingers which I think means, 'the usual, please'

"We don't have much going on and the four of us decided to take a trip instead of lying around in the dorm all day", Jungkook explains.

What's that Jieun said about pent up energy?

"So you're not here alone?"

"No, there's...", he counted on his fingers, "....V hyung, Jimin-hyung and Jin-hyung. I was originally going to travel alone but Jin-hyung wouldn't allow me"

"They treat you like such a baby", Lisa commented when our drinks arrived. I watched in amusement as Jungkook's ears turned red. Bambam laughed, "its not entirely their fault when you do act like one, Jungkook-ah"

"I don't act like a baby", he defended.

"Oh yeah? Care to explain why you call Nara 'noona' when she's clearly younger than you?"

A soft pink dusted across the tops Jungkook's cheeks and his nose as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to think of a comeback. Except, there was none. I was younger than him by two weeks and he knew that. It just happened that he called me noona when we first met, thinking that I was older. I didn't correct him back then because he really didn't look like a seventeen year old. I thought he was fifteen, to be honest.

"T-that's because....", he stuttered and Bambam raised a brow.

"It's alright", Lisa softly patted his arm, sending a look to Bambam that said 'shut up'. Bambam chuckled under his breath, looking away. What no one noticed was the way Jungkook stilled and held his breath until Lisa removed her hand from his arm. He blew out his cheeks.

"What?", he said when he caught me staring.

"Nothing", I said casually, slurping loudly on my drink.

Jeon Jungkook , I gotcha.

[RM's POV]

I like the beats. The lyrics are also skilfully written. It was originally a ballad but pdogg had successfully tweaked it into an edgy song. The cherry on top was the contemporary dance choreographed for two people that fit in flawlessly with every beat. A piano version was recorded to replace the acoustic melody and everyone is convinced that this will be the song. The highlight of the first Hit it - home party. Everyone, that is, but me. They asked me, of course, of what I thought about it. I just shrugged, saying that it's nice. I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing. It seemed so incomplete. 'You're being delusional', argued the rational side of my brain. 'The only reason you feel uneasy about it is because it's Lee Nara's song'.

That was true. It is Nara's solo song from two years back. Or, some part of it anyway. The original version was only two minutes long. The lyrics were extremely painful. Just hearing them could make a person feel sad.

~....a false heart to love you, a stone heart to care.....~

~.....smile babygirl it's your wedding day....~

~.....A sad fate it is; Of a teenager that's never rebelled....~

Just what was the matter with that girl? She seems to be surrounded by misery in everything she does. Anyways, the remix version was prepared and ready. All that was left for it to be finalized was the artist's OK signal. The artist in question was due to arrive later today. She'll be a little taken aback at the surprise, no doubt. I could only hope it won't be an unpleasant one.

Nara was pretty punctual, it seemed, and she arrived ten minutes earlier than agreed. She hadn't even changed out of her travel outfit.

"Good evening", she greeted everyone present, taking off her shades and shrugging out of the wind-breaker. "What've we got?", she engages into conversation with the staff, while I sit quietly in the background, thinking. I notice how she's wearing neutral colors from her cap to her shoes. Come to think of it, other than performances I've only ever seen her in neutral colors. Black, grey, brown, beige....

She turns around in search of a clip-board and notices me for the first time. Maybe she didn't expect to see me because she doesn't wave back. She just stares. Then she blinks, breaking out of her trance and flashes a sheepish grin that shows her dimples. She mutters a flustered apology and reaches for the clipboard, which is beside me on the couch, by the wall. The table in front of me also poses as an obstacle because it is pushed against the wall and she can't walk around it. She looks between me and the clipboard, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I can't help but think she looks cute in a cap. She clears her throat, eyes flitting around and finally settling on mine.

"Can you, erm...."

"Yes?", I smile innocently, acting like I don't know what she's talking about. She blows out her cheeks, looking around once before making a dive for the clipboard. I raise a brow at her efforts - leaning her upper body over the table, one hand outstretched, the other planted for balance. But I can't see her face from this angle. And she's just about to reach it when I, out of pure instinct, flick the end of her cap and it tilts upwards, revealing her face. She freezes mid-action. Ever so slowly, she tears her eyes from the object of her efforts to fix them on me. I was already staring at her anyway. She blinks twice, cheeks tinting red. I smile wider.

"Nara!", one of the staff calls out and she stumbles but regains her balance, whipping around to see who called her. They exchange a few words and I place the clipboard on the table before she can turn around, resuming to read my book. I see her picking it up from my peripheral vision.

"Are you ready to listen to it?"

I look up.

"Yes", she fixes the headphones, giving a thumbs up. I slip a bookmark between the pages and put the novel down, leaning forward in my seat and resting my chin on my knuckles. I was eager to see her reaction. The music starts and she looks a little lost, lips parted and eyes empty, deep in thought. A few more seconds and her mouth forms an 'o' , realisation sinking in. Her expressions change as the song progresses, frowning, nodding, then frowning some more. She pushes down the headphones when the song ends, eyes slightly narrowed and brows firmly pushed together.

'It's....alright", she says when they ask her what's wrong, "It's not bad. I like it. It's just that.....that was from 'Rebel', right?"

"Yes, we.....", the composer explains all the aspects that went into putting together that remix. She hums, nodding along but the frown doesn't leave her face. She says she needs to listen to it a few more times and requests to delay the finalisation. Faces fall at her words and she apologises, scribbling her review on the clipboard. She thanks everyone for their hard work, apologises again and leaves. I follow.

"Nara!", I call out as I catch up to her. She turns around, one hand on the door of her studio.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you?", I ask and she looks uncertain but nods and holds the door for me. I thank her and step inside. I have never been in her studio before but I must say that it is impressive. A lot like Yoongi-hyung's. But it looks like she doesn't care much for decor. There's a sofa, a nightstand and a mini cupboard other than the equipment. The walls are a soft blue and bare with empty glass shelves and a poster that is covered up by newspapers. I notice that there aren't any clocks. She gestures to the sofa and I sit down, she turns around the office chair and sits facing me.

"What do you want to talk about?", she gets straight to the point.

"Why don't you like the remix?"

"I like it"

"No you don't", I state and she purses her lips, looking at the floor. She looks up at me and sighs.

"Okay, I don't"

I lean forward, encouraging her to go on.

"I just....", she scratches the side of her head, "...it doesn't feel right. You know, like there's a piece missing. The whole arrangement just doesn't.....'click' "

"I understand the feeling", I provided, "it happens all the time. But production won't take your word of it unless you can come up with a valid excuse. Or better yet, fix it yourself. Or put it into actual words. Try it. Tell me what you think is missing"

She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking about what I said. Then she spun in her chair, opening a drawer in the computer desk and removed a pair of thick rimmed glasses. She switched on the computer and put them on, looking cute as hell as she looked over her shoulder.

"Why don't I show you instead?"