Old and New Friends

"You okay, JayB-ya?" Matt-hyung snapped me out of my thoughts.

I was thinking about what happened that night about a month ago at central park. It was pretty much hard to forget what happened that night. I mean, it was a kiss after all. Not just that, Mina was the one who KISSED me. The moment she did, I immediately pulled away in shock. She looked hurt when I did that. She didn't talk to me after that day. We've been ignoring each other ever since. Even when I was preparing for their next album.

A lot of things happened in the past month. It wasn't the only thing I was worried about. For some reasons, Dominic has been avoiding me. It was harder to promote because of it. I don't know what's up with him but I swear, I'm going to find out. It's hard having your best friend ignore you. I just hope he'll start being himself again.

Now, we were in our dorm back in Seoul and were preparing for a TV show appearance. It was our last week to promote Boys Be before we go for a long break. After the break, we'll be promoting like crazy for JYP's Christmas album.

Then while promoting the Christmas album, we'll be preparing for Melon, MAMA, and KBS Song Festival. Seems hectic, right? Well, you have no idea how crazy it'll be. I just hope that the members can pull through it.

"Yeah, hyung. Just… a bit tired. That's all." I told him as I blinked my eyes.

He chuckled. "Aren't we all? Don't worry. This is the last schedule before we have a two week break."

"Yeah. I'm holding on to that." I laughed.

As soon as Seiji-hyung saw that everyone was ready, he signaled us to go to the cars. The managers were already barking at us for being slow and lazy at preparing. We were almost late for the taping for I Can See Your Voice.

This was actually a last minute change. Sistar was supposed to be the ones who will show up because it was JYP's turn to send someone from the company. But Sistar was still in China and can't fly to Korea because of a storm there. So we were asked to replace them. We were supposed to start our long break today.

When everyone heard that we were going to the show, we were both happy and sad to hear the news. We've always wanted to go and be a guest of that show. However, it was practically impossible with our schedule. Now that we do have a chance, we were actually very tired. We had little to no sleep for the past two weeks actually. We were practically worn out down to our bones. Nonetheless, we decided to go there anyway.

As Seiji-hyung opened the door, he clutched his chest and yelped. He was surprised to find a girl standing in front of our door. Seeing that her hand was clenched and was hanging in the air, I think she was about to knock on our door.

"Dahyun-i? What are you doing here?" Zee asked.

She chuckled wryly. "I was here to see, JayB-oppa. Is he here?"

They all turn to look at each other and made a way to let her see me. I gave her a smile as I waved at her.

"We'll leave you two to talk. Everyone else, let's go to the cars. Don't take too long JayB-ya." Yo Chul-hyung said as he stuffed his hands in his pocket to avoid the cold.

When everyone else finally left, I turn to her and said, "What is it? Why don't you come in? It's cold outside."

She walked inside the room and I closed the door. She then just stood there frozen. "It's better that we stay here. It wouldn't take long anyway."

I nodded. "Okay. What is it?"

"I saw you… with Mina that night." She said.

She must have seen my reaction because she paused for a while. I froze there as if I was caught doing something bad. She then sighed. "Don't worry. I didn't tell anyway what happened."

"Nothing happened." I told her with a straight face.

"I don't know what you mean by 'nothing.' But if kissing falls under that category then sure. 'Nothing' happened." She said. I could sense her being angry.

I sighed. "Look. I was surprised as well. Okay? I didn't know what else to do."

"You could have accepted her feelings." She answered.

I throw my hands in the air and chuckled wryly. "That's not easy as it sounds. I like someone else. In fact, I love…"

Thankfully, I was able to stop myself in time. I was about to reveal something very crucial.

"I don't care what you feel. You know what? You remind me so much of the person I used to know. He didn't care about other people's feelings." She bit her lip and prevented herself from saying more. "I'm here because I'm worried about Mina. Okay? Just be clear with your intentions."

After dropping that bomb, she showed herself out as she slammed the door behind me. I stood there all frozen and was contemplating on what she told me. I wish it was easy Dahyun-ah. I really do.

__________

"Welcome to… I Can See Your Voice!" The emcees announced.

The show is finally starting. We can hear them from the back stage. Alpha is yet to be introduced as the guest of the show. The MCs are doing their spiel and we were back stage getting ready. I mean we are literally at the back of the stage.

"Okay, huddle up." I said.

The members automatically huddled and formed a circle with our fists in the middle. I turn to look at each one of them. Dominic was still averting his gaze from me. Well, there's nothing that I can do about it for now. "Listen up. Like the usual, stick to your personalities. And Zee…"

Everyone's eyes were on him as if they already know what I was about to say. Zee then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't destroy any equipment and be careful."

"Good. Anything else?" I then asked the team which was returned with silence.

"Alright. Let's get it." I said.

It was Seiji-hyung's turn lead the team to do the cheer today. He nodded before yelling, "Alpha Team!"

"Move out!" The rest of the members enthusiastically yelled.

"Now let's all welcome our guest for tonight…" I could hear Kim Bum soo-subaenim's voice booming.

The rest of the MCs then announced, "The KPOP's newest international sensation, Alpha!"

As soon as the MC's introduced us, the stage slowly opened up as we slowly walked towards where the MCs are while singing to the chorus of Adore U. The fans' cheers were growing louder and louder.

As soon as we stopped in front of them, the MCs asked us to introduce ourselves. "Take the lead! Hello! We are Alpha."

(AN: The one who will try to find the tone-deaf people are called Voice Detectives.)

The audience erupted into an applause and when they finally calmed down, one of the detectives then spoke. "Wow! I've never seen and heard the audience cheer like this before."

Another detective then said, "They must be fans of yours… like me."

We thanked them and had small talk before the MCs directed our attention to start the show. It was going to be a fun night, I thought. Then, the MCs revealed the contestants for tonight's show. I panned my vision to each of them carefully. I saw a familiar face among them, and because of that, I know who will win tonight.

The first set of hints were given by the MCs. But I was already looking at the person to who I want to win. It's not because of pure instinct, it's because I know the person personally. Contestant number 2 will win this show today. I'll make sure of it.

"So who do you think is tone deaf, Zhang-ssi?" Leetuk-sunbaenum asked.

Zhang then gave a slight smirk. "I think it'll be contestant number 10. I also think that there will be a lot more tone-deaf people in this episode."

Yoo Seyoon-sunbaenim then asked, "What makes you think that way?"

"I just know it." He says in a calm and cold tone which made everyone laugh.

Leetuk-sunbaenim then turned to me. "How about you, leader-nim? Who do you think has a good voice?"

I chuckled. "I'm 1000% sure that contestant number 2 is a singer, and I'm willing to treat everyone in this place for some chicken if I'm wrong."

This answer made the crowd go "ooh". The MCs were even stunned with my answer. It was the first time that someone was confident enough with a contestant.

"Why are you so sure, JayB-ssi?" Kim Bumsoo-sunbaenim asked out of curiosity.

I smiled before I remembered something.

It was a flashback from the previous world. We were in a restaurant somewhere in Seoul and I was in a meeting with a certain entertainment company owner.

"Ya… Dan-ssi. Come on. You've co-written so many amazing songs for Wanna One. Why not come join my company?" The man said.

"Come on, man. I know I've written for you guys back when you were still a member of Wanna One. But why are you starting your own company? And you're even asking me to join it?" I still couldn't believe that this man was asking me to join him.

He chuckled. "I've personally witnessed how you wrote those songs. JayB-ssi. You're worth more than 2 senior producers."

I sighed. "Ya… Kang Daniel. It's really weird that you're speaking formally to me."

"You didn't answer my question, JayB-hyung. Tell you what, I'm going to double you're salary for whatever you're earning as an independent producer." He continued as if we were just colleagues.

"Are you really willing to pay 4 billion Won annually to someone like me?" I asked with a laugh in between.

"That's… Er… You really earn 2 billion Won a year? That's… wow…" He responded.

I chuckled. "That's just if I don't do much."

He choked on his food. "IF? But you write 4 songs per month…"

"Exactly." I told him.

"Well, whatever. I still want you on my team." He said with conviction.

I laugh. "What if I'll write songs for you occasionally? Especially for your top artists. AND I'll give you a 30% discount on the songs that I'll be producing for you. How about that?"

He pondered for a while. "Let's do it then."

I shook his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you. Kang Daniel-ssi."

Now, this guy is actually in front of me again in this world. Of course I'm going to help him win today! Besides, what are friends for? Even if we don't know each other yet, I'll make sure he's going to play a huge role in this world.

The show proceeded and I've been fighting the entire time for Kang Daniel to remain as a finalist. I even came to a point where I had to argue with Dominic in front of the people. It wasn't a pretty sight to say the least. I was hoping that we'd get to talk soon, I didn't expect that the first time we'll talk after a month would be in an argument.

In the end, I told them to trust me on this one. But there was something that was holding me back. The doppelgangers in this world were not "fully" the same with the ones in the previous world. Based on what I've observed, they were either worse or better than the previous world's versions. In short, there's still a risk in my bet towards Kang Daniel which still bothers me.

He still hasn't started training yet. He didn't even debut with Wanna One this time. I wonder what happened to him. Whatever did happen, I'm going to help him get back in the industry. He's done so much for me. He was also an investor in my company back in the previous world. It's the least that I could do for him.

Now, there were only two contestants left. Kang Daniel and Lee Younghoon. I've seen this person in the previous world's I Can See Your Voice and he was tone deaf. They soon stood in front of us.

"We will now give the last hint for Lee Younghoon." Leetuk-subaenim said.

They soon revealed a video call from Ji-Eun. I dropped my head and disbelief. Of all the people, they had to put IU-noona as the person who would "witness" for Lee Younghoon. She said that she was the cousin of Lee Younghoon and have been doing vocal lessons ever since they were young. So she can vouch for him.

I mentally rolled my eyes. This would put me in a tough spot. If I don't trust Ji-Eun's words, it will generate some buzz. If I did choose to trust her words, which I don't, we would end up singing with a tone deaf person.

"So… what will it be JayB-ssi? Will you stand by with what you believe 'til the end, or would you choose to believe your ex-girlfriend's words?" Yoo Seyoon-sunbaenim asked.

I slowly breathed in and sighed. "It's not that I don't trust Ji-Eun-noona's words. I trust her with my life. Believe me but…"

I wasn't able to finish because everyone in the audience erupted into a romantic excitement and were cheering me on. I had to raise my hand to stop them.

"But… I've learned along the way that in this show, even if it's family, you can't just trust them. So I'm going with Kang Daniel-ssi." I continued.

The rest of the voice detectives agree with my deduction. They nodded in agreement. But one of the detectives asked. "But what if you were wrong?"

I know what he was implying. If I'm wrong then I didn't trust Ji-Eun-noona fully. So I just gave an innocent shrug. "Then I guess all of you will get free dinner tonight."

The crowd erupted into cheers of laughter from what I just said. I just hope that my memories of the previous world won't betray me. Lee Younghoon then went over and said, "I went in this show not having any regrets. I hope you won't have any too."

His song starts playing and then he stood there all serious. It was this world's songs called Dear Regret. It was a very famous ballad song in the early 2000. It was extremely hard to sing. This guy totally had guts to choose this song.

Then he started singing. And then the unexpected happened…

He actually was able to sing well, which made me snap my head at Kang Daniel who was standing below the stage with no expression at all.

Oh no…

I just hope he'll be a better singer than Lee Younghoon. After singing, the audience cheered and applauded for him. He then explained that he used to be famous in the early 90's but he decided to be a full time father and forgot about his dream. This show, made him realize that he actually did enjoy this before.

The show then went into commercial and when it returns, we would be performing Call Me Baby, with Kang Daniel. I just hope that he would do great. Dominic was giving me a death glare. I didn't mind him. "I hope you're right about your decision, JayB-ya. I've only seen you mess things up twice."

I snap my head towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hyungs, please stop what you're doing. There are people around." Zee reminded.

"No. Stay out of this, Zee-ya. Dom, if you have a problem with me, come say it to my face." I barked at him.

The sound of the bell indicating that the show will be coming back in 10 seconds. I immediately stopped glaring at him and went to face the people and kept my cool. The break was over and Kang Daniel was standing in the middle of the stage with the three MC's.

He was asked to say a few words before we start singing with him. He then slowly lifted his microphone but was hesitant to speak at first. "First of all, I'm a huge fan of Alpha. I actually want to use this platform to make an important decision in my life. Thank you, JayB-ssi for trusting in me. I hope I won't disappoint you."

With that, the MCs then introduced us once again before our song, "Call Me Baby" started playing. We started singing the verse passionately and the girls in the audience were screaming and squealing that we could barely hear ourselves.

The refrain of the song came in and as the chorus of the song, which Kang Daniel will sing, draws near, my heart was beating faster than ever. I could even feel like it was beating in the speed of light. When Matt-hyung sang the last part of the refrain, I felt my heart stopped beating.

Kang Daniel.

Dancer…

Rapper…

Singer…

A former member of Wanna One.

Starts singing…

And when we heard the first line of the chorus…

Our eyes widened in surprise…

The audience stood up…

And I…

Well, I gave a smirk…

He's singing the song beautifully.

The crowd erupted into cheers and so did my members. As soon as the song was over, we then came to hug him and congratulated him. The MCs then asked him what his decision was when he decided to join this show.

He then teared up a little. "All my life, people have been telling me that I could really make it in this industry, and I started to believe them even if I wasn't sure and wasn't confident with my skills. My family though… weren't happy with my life choice, and that took a huge blow to my confidence and self-esteem. Today, I just wanted to prove to myself that I AM capable of so much more. Seeing JayB-ssi root for me despite him not knowing me was a huge boost for me. So thank you. Thank you I Can See Your Voice, and thank you Alpha."

We then applauded after his speech and we were able to congratulate him properly as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. I was about to approach him when my phone started vibrating. I took it out to see who it was.

Wheein…

My heart started to beat fast. She never called me unless it was an emergency. When I answered the phone, I could hear her crying. I tried to calm her down but she was having trouble doing so. I waited a while before she started talking.

"JayB-ya… I badly need your help… I know that this is embarrassing, but I'm willing to pay you anything… just please help me." She begged over the phone.

"Of course! As long as it's within my power, I will do it. You don't have to pay me anything." I replied.

She started crying again before she tried speaking in between her sobs. "Pledis… they're focusing so much on the new girl groups… especially on Pristin… we didn't get a single song from them yet… and they are telling us to find a producer ourselves."

"So what are you saying?" I tried getting the point of her.

"If we can't release a song that's better than Um Ah Oh Yeah before the year ends, we'll be terminated from Pledis." She said.

I got angry. "That will NEVER happen on MY watch! You hear me? I'm going to write you a song that will blow their minds that they will HAVE to keep you. If they still try to cut you off after that, I'll make sure that they will have hell to pay."

After that, she cried for a while before I told her that I'll be meeting them tomorrow for the song. Fortunately, they had the week off to find a producer. Wheein has me. No… MAMAMOO has Kim Jinbo. I will never let them down.

As soon as that heart breaking moment was over, I tried to compose myself before looking at Kang Daniel happily chatting with the members of Alpha. I smiled at him as soon as he saw me looking at him. He went over to shake my hand with tears in his eyes. I pulled him into a hug. God, how I missed this guy so much.

I then whispered to him, "Meet me at our dressing room. We'll help you get in contact with JYP PD-nim. I promise you that you WILL achieve your dream of becoming an idol. I will make sure of it."

His knees must have felt weak because he knelt on the ground crying and continuously thanking me.

No Daniel…

Thank you…

I suddenly remembered a memory from the previous world. We just ended our training at a dance academy. A bunch of guys grabbed me and pulled me in an alley. They started beating me up. I nearly broke my leg from all the beating. These guys were beating me because apparently a girl from the academy who was dating their friend came to talk to me.

What a shallow reason to beat up someone. I guess the lives of other people mean little to them. As I closed my eyes and gave in to the idea of just passing out, two people jumped in and beat the rest of the people. Coincidentally, these bullies were afraid of the two since they were already scouted by different companies. One of them was Jung Daehyun from BAP and the other one was, the one and only, Kang Daniel.

"Are you alright?" He said as he helped me up and placed my hand over his shoulder to support me.

Daehyun also slipped my other arm over his shoulders to help me up. I could barely walk from the pain. They both chuckled as they watch me try to walk. Daniel then smiled as we were walking towards a nearby clinic. "Don't worry. Those guys won't mess with us. From now on, you're with us and WE stick together. Isn't that right Daehyun-i?"

Daehyun nodded. "Right. My name's Jung Daehyun and this is Kang Daniel. We're trainees under TS Entertainment. How about you? What's your name?"

I tried to smile despite the pain on my cheek and tear up a little. "I'm Dan Stevens. I recently got signed to train under Big Hit entertainment."

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