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ohmygirlexchange2017-08-14 11:58 am
omgexchangemod) wrote in ohmygirlexchange2017-08-14 11:58 am
Entry tags:
[jiho/seunghee, arin/mimi] the baby collective (for unglamour)
Title: the baby collective
Written for: unglamour
Rating: K+??? (Swearing)
Characters/pairings: Seunghee/Jiho, Mimi/Arin
Warnings (if applicable): n/a
Word-Count: 13429
Summary: oh my girl are in a garage band and highkey need a new guitarist. Jiho is displeased.
Author's notes: heyo! hope this is okay. i kind of modified your prompt a bit (i didn't mean to! :[) so it's less about one of their songs going viral (although that still does happen) and more about oh my girl as a garage band getting a new guitarist. kind of also has to do with "misleading first impressions" which you said you liked. I hope you still enjoy it :] the band is also called The Baby Collective, which is never stated specifically but yes, that is their name.
To: Kim Mihyun
11:58pm
I want to go to Target
To: Kim Jiho
12:00am
ok but i rly dont
To: Kim Mihyun
12:01am
I’ll meet you in your apartment in 5 minutes
To: Kim Jiho
10:05am
i locked the door
To: Kim Mihyun
10:05am
Don’t worry ;)
--
“Nobody has a key to my apartment. I was only issued one key and I intended to keep it that way.”
“Remember that time back in the fall, when you thought you saw that Sowon girl at a party and drank yourself into a stupor because you were so afraid to speak to her? You know, the Sowon you accidentally spilled soup on like four separate times freshman year?”
“Stop.”
“Well, when you did that I had the key to your apartment because I, like the wonderful friend I am, brought you home into the care of the lovely Yewon, and your key accidentally ended up in my pocket after I went home.” Jiho had forced Mimi to Target, because the second Jiho was in the house Mimi’s last line of defense (that she wasn’t dealing with Jiho in person) was gone, and Jiho was convincing, and dressed, and promised to buy her Chips Ahoy (the soft kind, no less. That’s like offering to do someone’s homework perfectly for a year. That’s like offering to pay someone’s college tuition for a semester. The soft Chips Ahoy are akin to the opioids that are currently ravaging my home state).
“You returned it!”
“Yes, but I made a copy of it before I did,” Jiho said, maneuvering along the aisles to find the right one. “I figured a situation like this, one where you would try and use your stupid lock as an excuse to avoid adventure and enjoyment, would come up.”
“You're a terrible monster,” Mimi said with a fake gasp.
“I’m your greatest best friend and you know it.” Mimi snorted, but left it. There wasn’t much to argue, anyway. She wouldn’t be at a Target at almost one in the morning for just anybody (actually, she wouldn’t be at a Target at anytime for anybody, really. Binnie had asked once, even going so far as to offer to buy Mimi some snacks, and Mimi just made groaning noises while lying on the couch until Binnie got annoyed and left).
“Are you really here for guitar strings?” Mimi asked, watching Jiho compare brands.
“The store on South Street back home hiked up the prices,” Jiho said, scrutinizing the back of one of the brands. “I already had to deal with the owner and his weird ‘I didn’t know girls could play a guitar’ attitude, but then he raises prices so much that I could only buy like two pairs a year.”
“Gross.”
Jiho snorted. “It’s not a big deal. I hated him anyway.”
“Still.” Jiho finally decided on a pair, showing them to Mimi (as if guitar string brands meant something to Mimi) before the two began their trek to the food aisle for Mimi’s cookies.
“Did you give your mom the gift I got her?” Mimi asked.
“Yeah. She really liked it. Said she missed you a lot.”
“I miss her too.” Jiho watched Mimi, who was focused entirely on the food in front of them. Mimi knew Jiho was watching, but any eye contact with her would just result in a Deep And Meaningful Conversation, and 1:00 AM at a Target was not the time for that conversation.
“You know you’re always welcome at our place,” Jiho said. It was silly to say, because she knew Mimi’s opinions on the matter, but she felt the need to say it anyway.
“I know,” Mimi said, handing two containers of Chips Ahoy to Jiho. “And I choose not to stay there.”
She would like to say more, but it was a futile hope, so she refrained. “Two packages?” Jiho gave Mimi a look.
“This one,” Mimi tapped the top package. “Is for copying my key without telling me.”
--
“A first rehearsal is a first rehearsal, not a weird ten pm coffee session,” Jiho grumbled, but pulled the mug in front of her closer. Her ethics class had one section at 8 in the morning, and she was absolutely unprepared to shift to that schedule after a month of staying up until at least 4AM re-bingewatching The X Files.
“Well, I’ve been thinking recently about the state of things,” Hyejin said, looking the most put together she’d been in months (or really, the most put together she’d been in the entire two years Jiho knew her). “Considering, well, the end of last semester.” Jiho and Binnie both groaned.
“Please don’t remind us,” Binnie said, frowning. Jiho was not one to generally agree with Binnie, mostly because Binnie was generally disagreeable, but they seemed to stick together in their opinion of the Battle of the Bands competition that had occurred at the end of the semester, which they had unceremoniously lost (“Do people really want to listen to punk-pop music in a college town?” Someone had asked with a laugh, not realizing that Binnie was behind them. She nearly started a bar fight that day).
“I think we should talk about it,” Hyejin said.
“Has anyone taken ‘Intro to European Philosophy,’ and if so should I buy the textbook for it?” Jiho, Binnie, and Hyejin looked to the two remaining people at the table, Yewon looking over a sheet of paper and Mimi on her laptop.
“Do either of you want to contribute?” Jiho asked.
“You should always buy the textbooks for your classes. They contain valuable information,” Binnie said.
“Why are you taking such a terrible sounding class?” Hyejin asked.
“Gen ed requirement,” Yewon said, only answering Hyejin.
“No! We’re not buying it,” Mimi said, shifting her laptop towards Yewon. “It costs like three hundred dollars.”
“Normally you could just pay attention during lectures but isn’t this class a literature class?” Binnie asked.
“Three! Hundred! Dollars!”
“For what?” A new voice asked. Yoo Shiah, owner of said voice, came out from a door behind the coffee bar, pulling with her a mop and bucket.
“Textbook,” Yewon said. “European philosophy.”
“Oh, I think Hyojung took that, right?” Shiah said, looking towards the door she came from. Hyojung gave her a curious look when she walked out, holding an unused trash bag.
“Took what?”
“European philosophy. Did you need the textbook?” Hyojung gave them a confused look. “Hyojung, this is the only class you took where you read something. I’m sure you can remember if the textbook you bought was worth it.”
“Okay, first of all I did read in my other classes, but the one I bought a textbook for,” she trailed off, deep in thought.
Shiah sighed. “I’m sorry I thought she could help. My advice, wait at least until the first week is over, just to see.” Yewon nodded.
“Okay! Anyway!” Hyejin said. “Ignoring this conversation that was a complete diversion from the reason we’re having this band meeting right now-”
“If you’re the manager are you really allowed to call a band meeting?” Binnie asked.
“Yeah, keep this up and I’ll cut your paycheck, too,” Hyejin said, fixing Binnie with a glare. Binnie laughed it off.
“Oh no, whatever will I do without those fifty dollars.”
“You know, some of us aren’t commuters and actually have to pay a form of rent that isn’t having dinner with our parents once a week.”
“Hyejin, you’re getting paid to do undergraduate research, you’re really not an authority on this,” Jiho said. Binnie grinned at her across the table.
“Savage,” Binnie said.
“Listen! We said that we could totally handle one guitarist, but I think the hole in the band is a lot larger than we anticipated.”
“Excuse me?” Jiho asked, offended.
“Yes, I’m sorry. But people seemed to think something was lacking, and having Yewon play the rhythm guitar parts on piano is weird and probably morally wrong.”
“You can’t join the band though,” Binnie said. “If we wanted someone with your musical sense we would hire a rock.”
“I’m aware, so we should have some auditions. Get someone new in here.”
“We don’t need anybody new. I can barely stand you all as it is,” Jiho said.
“I know a few guitarists,” Mimi said.
“Yes, me.”
“Let them know! They can audition if they’re interested.”
“We’re not doing it,” Jiho said. “We’re not doing it!” She turned to Binnie, looking for some support. Binnie had been thoughtfully going over idea in her mind, and Jiho had a strong feeling this wouldn’t be going in her favor.
“It wouldn’t hurt, plus something has been missing after Bomi graduated,” Binnie said. “I mean, it couldn’t hurt.”
“It could hurt! It already did hurt!” Everyone was turning on Jiho. Hyejin with the dumb idea, Binnie and Mimi with supporting it, and Yewon completely ignoring the situation was basically her being complicit in the whole ordeal.
“We’ll hold auditions, and if we don’t find anyone good we’ll find out another way to fill the hole,” Hyejin said, moving forward without Jiho’s approval. “If we can’t find someone that everyone agrees on, we won’t let anyone in.”
“Sure, why not,” Yewon finally said without looking up from her paper, pushing the last nail into the coffin of auditions that Jiho had been forced into.
“I don’t approve,” Jiho said.
“Well, everyone else is in favor, so get over it,” Binnie replied. This was Jiho’s only option, really. She did kind of just have to accept it and move on, whether or not she wanted to.
“Yewon, have you paid for your drink?” Shiah asked from behind the coffee bar, pulling them once again from the conversation.
“Hyojung said this one was on the house because I said I was going to kill myself during finals but I didn’t,” Yewon said, smiling sheepishly.
“She made Dean’s List, no less!” Hyojung shouted from the back. “That’s a little prodigy we’ve got on our hands.”
“I really only took art classes first semester,” Yewon said conspiratorially to the four other girls seated at the table. “They aren’t that hard to pass.”
--
“See? This was a bad idea,” Jiho said. She was positioned on the far right of the couch, and as much as the rest of the group would like to protest, every member of the band had to agree one who they would let in. Stupid “unanimous decisions” and Jiho threatening to quit if they made the decision without her.
“There was that one guy who was pretty good,” Mimi said, seated on her drum stool, which had been moved next to the couch.
“I talked to him before we started these. He said something to me and Binnie about pseudo-socialism,” Jiho said, frowning.
“What is pseudo-socialism, you may ask,” Binnie chimed in. “Well, it’s just kinda socialism really, but according to this guy’s description of his ideal ‘pseudo-socialist’ society, it’s basically just a dictatorship with a fancy bow on top.”
“He’s weird and kinda creepy,” Jiho concluded. “His eyes lit up when he started talking about it.”
“I do agree with Jiho on this. I refuse to be in a band with someone who has weird plots of taking over the country or world.”
“Plus it ruins the whole ‘girl-power’ thing an all female band exudes.”
“Well,” Yewon said, looking at her phone. “We have three people who said they were going to audition left. And since we’ve shot down every person up until now, we have to agree on at least one of these people.”
The next auditioner was Jung Eunwoo, a girl Binnie recognized from one of her environmental classes. Jiho remarked after that Eunwoo was a “decent” guitarist, although this probably had something more to do with Eunwoo tripping over the cord connecting her guitar to its amp than her actual playing abilities.
“We’ll get in contact with you by the end of the week either way,” Yewon said to Eunwoo while she was on the way out. “Up next is someone named Seunghee,” Yewon said to her bandmates.
“My name’s Hyun Seunghee, I’m a junior majoring in bioethics, pre-law. It’s nice to meet you all,” Seunghee said after getting herself set up. Mimi squinted her eyes at her, mumbling something about trying to remember where she’d seen the face before.
“Have you, uh, played in a band before?” Yewon asked, taking notes on her phone.
“Not this kind,” Seunghee replied. “I learned classical guitar when I was a kid, then switched over to jazz in high school. I play in some of the jazz bands at the university.”
“Wait! Is that where I know you?” Mimi asked suddenly. “I think when we did those jazz combo weeks you and I ended up together for a little while.”
“Oh! The Dave Brubeck song?”
Jiho groaned internally. Of course Mimi knew this one.
--
Here’s what Jiho didn’t like about Seunghee’s audition: she was good at it.
She had, as was expected, the grace on the guitar of someone who’d been playing for more than ten years, and everyone else seemed to adore her. It took a lot, especially considering how strongly Jiho was vying for Kim Nayoung (a girl who very clearly played bass guitar and had absolutely no idea how a chord worked), but Mimi and Yewon’s strong persistence (and Binnie’s constant complaining) finally wore Jiho down to the point where she said that she would “begrudgingly tolerate but dislike” the inclusion of Seunghee as their fifth member.
Seunghee was thrilled at the news. “I’ve always wanted to play in a band more than a jazz or classical thing, so this will be awesome! Thank you!” Seunghee’s smile was infuriating in all the ways that Jiho currently despised. That is to say, Seunghee was smiling genuinely.
They went to a local pizza place after they’d offered Seunghee the spot, because Mimi insisted that they all needed to get to know each other better and bond (i.e. she really wanted to not pay for a whole pizza herself). This was the last place Jiho ever wanted to be, especially considering it included Yewon regaling a new audience on the famed misadventures of her hometown (most notably their penchant for stealing important artifacts from neighboring towns).
“We have this bathhouse, right? For the town pool.”
“You have a town pool?” Seunghee asked. “My town has less than two thousand people. We have to go a few towns over to go swimming.”
“What kind of town has two thousand people?” Yewon asked back, looking shocked and vaguely offended. “We’re almost as big as the city this school is in.”
“And it’s a town?”
“Hell yeah it’s a town.”
“Are you guys also from large towns?” Seunghee asked, looking around at the rest of them.
“I’m from here, so in a way?” Binnie answered.
“My town’s midsized, I guess. Although it’s all relative really. I thought it was super small until I got to school here and heard about all of the smaller towns,” Mimi answered. Seunghee turned to look at Jiho, smiling expectantly.
“What does it matter where I’m from,” Jiho replied. Seunghee’s smile faltered for only a moment, clearly hurt by Jiho’s rejection, but Jiho couldn’t have cared less.
“She’s the same as me,” Mimi answered for her. Seunghee gave her a grateful smile, and Jiho resented it.
“So what kind of music do you guys play exactly?” Seunghee asked awkwardly.
“Do you seriously not know?” Jiho scoffed.
“I didn’t have time to listen before the audition, I just went with something I knew.” Seunghee scratched the back of her head, giving a sheepish smile.
“It’s kinda like punk music?” Mimi tried. “But not?”
“Pop-punk is the name of the genre,” Yewon cut in.
“Like MCR and stuff?”
“Yeah.” Seunghee nodded slowly.
“I guess I’ll have to listen to it after we’re done with this,” Seunghee said.
“What kind of music did you think we made?” Binnie asked.
“I dunno, with a name like The Baby Collective, though, I kind of thought it might be something like, I dunno, a Sufjan Stevens cover band, I guess.”
Yewon grinned. “That would certainly be something.”
“I gotta admit though,” Mimi said between large bites of pizza. “It’s kind of admirable to audition for a band you’ve never heard the music of. That’s ballsy, right Jiho?”
“It’s certainly some brand of stupidity,” Jiho said, frowning. Seunghee tried to smile at Jiho, but she refused to meet her gaze. So this was the group.
--
Mimi caught up to Seunghee after they had said their goodbyes, patting the girl on the shoulder as the two walked towards Seunghee’s dorm.
“How’re you feeling about this?” Mimi asked, patting Seunghee on her shoulder once.
“Everyone seems really nice, for the most part.” Seunghee smiled at Mimi and the two fell into step together. “It’s an eclectic group.”
“Yeah,” Mimi said, letting out a chuckle. “We’re kind of odd, but we’re just doing something fun to make a bit of extra cash on the weekends, so it doesn’t matter that much.”
“You guys aren’t taking this too seriously?”
“Jiho and Binnie have talked once or twice about getting us onto Ellen or something, but it’s all jokes. I think we’d just about die if we had any sort of recognition. Like I said, we just want to make some extra cash and play some music before we graduate.” Seunghee hummed in response. “I hope you weren’t looking for something more serious,” Mimi said awkwardly.
“Not at all, it works out pretty well actually. I really just wanted to play in more of a band setting then a concert or jazz one, like I said. It seemed like a challenge.”
Mimi grinned. “I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Binnie already seems to like you, although that probably has more to do with Jiho than anything.”
Seunghee thought back to this encounter she’d had with Jiho, really their first encounter; the taller girl had been cold and off-putting, really only speaking when spoken to, and not at all when Seunghee was trying to speak to her.
“Does Jiho hate me?” She asked.
“Huh?” Mimi had a surprised expression on her face. “Probably not. That’s just kind of Jiho. She’s not really great with strangers.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah, just give it time. She warms up to anyone, you just have to stick this part out.” Seunghee nodded. “Ah, I have to go this way to get to my work.”
“Oh, cool.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you later Seunghee.” Seunghee nodded and smiled.
“See you later!” Mimi waved and walked off, leaving Seunghee deep in her thoughts about this first interaction with the band.
--
To: Hyun Seunghee
10:38pm
It’s just….it’s not that good? Like it’s not bad, I guess, but
To: Hyun Seunghee
10:39pm
I feel like I’m in high school saying “fuck you” to my parents
To: Bae Sungyeon
10:45pm
theyre super nice tho!!!
To: Bae Sungyeon
10:45pm
and its not THAT bad
To: Hyun Seunghee
10:46pm
Do you seriously mean to say you’re still going to do it?
To: Bae Sungyeon
10:53pm
just because its not rly my style of music doesnt mean….
To: Hyun Seunghee
10:54pm
Seriously??
To: Hyun Seunghee
10:58pm
No really? Are you serious?
To: Hyun Seunghee
11:28pm
I can’t believe you fucking left me on read.
--
Jiho doesn’t tap out during class. In fact, she’s quite the opposite. She’s the type of student to take notes during class, then type them up that night, then rewrite them in a different ordering system the next day.
Jiho’s a big ol’ nerd.
And the desperate need to constantly be working and reworking her notes until there was not a single error to be had is what leads Jiho to spending her Saturdays at the cafe off-campus. It had the benefit of being maybe a ten minute walk or so from her dorm, which for most of the college’s on-campus students was far too far to walk regularly. That meant that, generally, the cafe was only filled with adults and morning coffee lovers, rather than loud college students having morning gossip sessions about the parties they’d been to the night before. She did have to deal with a few issues at the cafe (besides the general disdain for college students that most adults had).
The first would be that, in about two hours, Mimi and Yewon would enter, arms locked together in some dumb display of affection, and sit across from her and try and get her to break from studying to discuss some movie they’d seen last night (listen, Jiho likes a good movie, but she’d take The Plague of the Zombies over The Notebook any day. Mimi and Yewon, however, didn’t share this view with her).
Some Saturdays Binnie would show up, and the two would silently engage in what can only be considered a “studying battle,” as if such a concept actually existed (the two of them, with their combined intellects and annoyingness, basically willed the damn thing into existence).
And on every Saturday Jiho had to deal with Hyojung. Jiho loved Hyojung. The graduated Food Services student had been working at the cafe since she was a freshman, apparently, and accepted a full time managerial position upon graduation. Hyojung was motherly and kind and just about everything good in the world (she also gave Jiho the employee discount without Jiho having to beg her for it, unlike Shiah).
But Hyojung was also, well, Hyojung about everything.
“I heard you guys got a new guitarist, is that right?” Hyojung asked, taking a seat in front of Jiho and beginning her twenty minute break from work.
Jiho groaned. “Her name’s Seunghee.”
“How is she?”
“She’s,” Jiho thought about it for a moment. “She’s everything you’d love.”
“Didn’t you say I like everyone, though.”
“Yeah, but like, especially.” Hyojung nodded, pretending to understand, but clearly not understanding (who can really understand the inner machinations of Jiho’s mind, however).
“I hope I get to meet her soon, though. As The Baby Collective’s chief promoter I feel like I should really be able to sell you guys properly based not only on your music, but also your personality.”
Jiho roller her eyes. “What have you ever done for us as a promoter?”
“Introduced you to Shiah, I guess.” It was true. Hyojung’s “promoter” position more just had to do with her standing in the crowd of all of their shows and cheering louder than anyone else (she had a heart of gold and loved them all, no matter what). The only person who did anything to actually get them gigs was Shiah, who took advantage of the waitress position she had at a local bar.
What can you do? when you’ve got friends, you give them positions relating to your band even if they’re bad at them. When you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to Geico. It’s what you do.
--
“Nice to...meet you?” Seunghee said, guitar bag slung over one shoulder as she entered the basement of Binnie’s house.
“Pleasure, likewise,” the girl in front of her said. Her tone of voice gave off a very authoritative, businesslike feeling, which would have been believable if she hadn’t been standing in front of Seunghee slouching, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, with dark circles already under her eyes. What the hell, they hadn’t even been at school for a month. “I just have some forms for you to fill out.”
“What?”
“This is Hyejin,” Yewon said from across the room. She was helping Mimi set-up her drumset. “She’s the semi-official manager of our band, but that mostly just leads to her dressing in a suit and shades to any shows we do and talking about how she ‘made’ us or something.”
“She also remembers to update social media,” Mimi added.
“What?”
“Oh, we have a Twitter and a Facebook.” As if that was actually the part Seunghee was confused about, but thanks anyway Mimi.
“And a Bandcamp,” Hyejin added. “Anyway, it’s just a few simple forms we need you to fill out. Everything is very official and all, you know.” She handed Seunghee the piece of paper.
“This just says ‘I won’t sue you’ in blue marker with a line to sign it.”
“Yes, well, please sign.”
Binnie walked past, pulling the paper out of Seunghee’s hands. “Ignore her. Jiho just keeps threatening to sue all of us once she passes the bar exam. Hyejin’s just paranoid about it because she doesn’t think she’ll be able to make time to go to a trial or anything.”
“Yeah, but this one’s also a lawyer. I need the signature,” Hyejin whined, only speaking to Binnie really.
“Oh, I’m more like, bioethics. You know, like, the selling of cryogenically frozen eggs and stuff.”
“No, I can’t say I do,” Hyejin said, giving her a weary look. “Go off though, sounds cool.” Hyejin moved away from her, towards a table in the corner of the basement that had some textbooks scattered on it. She sat down and immediately picked one up, at random, and began to read it.
“You can set up over there,” Binnie said to Seunghee, gesturing vaguely with one hand and adjusting the tuning of her bass with the other.
“Ah,” Seunghee said, moving around to find a place to set up.
“Small amp,” Mimi remarked, walking past Seunghee with her drum throne.
"It's mostly for personal practice," Seunghee said, glancing at it awkwardly. "My larger amp stays in the jazz room for the semester."
Mimi gave a nod, understanding, then turned back to moving her set into place, leaving Seunghee to set up her guitar.
--
If you remember correctly, from briefly before this current existence in which you're reading (as in, earlier in your reading of this whatever this is), Jiho was not particularly pleased with Seunghee as the newest addition to the band, considering her, well, decency at playing. See, the thing is, Jiho wasn't really much of a "guitarist" in the same way one might consider Seunghee a guitarist. She was more of a hack at the instrument (no disrespect).
Her general apprehension was, well, justified, considering that after the two hour rehearsal they had planned to get Seunghee generally acclimated to working within their group, someone (read: Binnie) had gotten the brilliant idea that, well, Seunghee was a far better guitarist than Jiho and that maybe Seunghee should take hold of the lead guitarist spot, and Jiho should play rhythm guitar.
"Hey, Binnie, let's go talk upstairs for a second, okay?" Jiho said between clenched teeth, grabbing Binnie's arm and more or less dragging her out of the basement and up the staircase.
"What's the issue," Binnie asked after they were upstairs, ripping her arm from Jiho's grip and rubbing it. It's almost comical really, the idea that Jiho could cause any harm to Binnie in actuality, but Binnie still rubbed her arm. Jiho thought she was always over-exaggerating stuff. Normally it was just funny, kind of strange Binnie, but today it was pissing her off.
"Why are you trying to switch our spots?" Jiho growled, clearly upset.
"She's better at those parts?" Binnie replied innocently. Fake-innocently, if you asked Jiho. It was all a front to dethrone her, something Binnie had probably been planning since they'd met.
"I've played lead guitar since Bomi left. Why do we need to switch it?"
"Jiho, we've just got to do what's best for the band. Face it, you don't have any of the music backing that Seunghee does. Hell, you could probably learn more than a thing or two from her." Jiho was seething, but if she hadn't been maybe she would have realized that, logically, the girl with over fourteen years of musical experience and training might know more than her, a girl who learned how to play guitar by playing along to tabs she found on YouTube. So it goes. "Let's just give it a shot."
Jiho opened her mouth to retort, but Binnie gave her a warning glare. Maybe the last thing they needed was to get into a very long term argument. It was pure stupidity that led Jiho to agree. She most certainly did not give in because she knew she'd lose the argument on this, it was merely a lapse in judgment. It happens, okay?
When the two returned to the basement, Seunghee gave Jiho a guilty look that only filled Jiho with more rage (seriously, how much rage can one damn girl get inside herself).
"I don't mean to step on any toes--"
"Too late for that," Jiho said, cutting Seunghee off.
"Jiho and I came to the decision that Seunghee will play the lead guitar parts. She's far too good of a guitarist to just play power chords." Mimi and Yewon murmured general approval. Seunghee wanted to smile and be happy, but instead all she could look at was Jiho, glaring daggers at her. She didn't feel very pleased.
--
“Jiho?” Angrily lament the devil and so shall she appear, Jiho had come to realize as someone sat beside her in the dining hall. Not just someone, because that implies it’s some random someone, and this is a rather specific someone. This specific someone was Seunghee, holding a plate full entirely of dinosaur chicken nuggets (a specialty of this dining hall). “Small world,” Seunghee grinned.
It’s been a month since Seunghee joined the band, and Jiho hasn’t warmed up to her a single bit. Seunghee gets it, kind of, considering the whole lead/rhythm guitar switch they went through. Seunghee had even tried to switch their parts again and return to rhythm guitar, but Jiho would hear none of it. She was stubborn as hell, Seunghee’d learned.
“I didn’t know you went to this dining hall,” Seunghee said, trying to start conversation.
“Well, I go to school here, don’t I?”
“I dunno, I always thought you lived off-campus. You tend to leave with Mimi after rehearsals, so I just assumed,” Seunghee trailed off.
“We’re friends, sometimes we get food together.”
“I see,” Seunghee said, turning her attention to her chicken nuggets.
“You’re not eating healthy, are you?” Jiho said, giving a judgmental look to Seunghee’s plate.
“You have three bowls of pudding and nothing else,” Seunghee pointed out. Jiho huffed angrily and turned her head to show she was ignoring Seunghee.
“So judgmental.” Seunghee thought it was kind of ironic. She didn’t say anything and just smiled awkwardly. Jiho didn’t look at her, and didn’t smile back. They ate in silence.
--
Seunghee asked Mimi to hang out. It had been a month now since Seunghee had joined the group, and she’d more or less assimilated with the group, including Hyejin (but excluding, of course, Jiho). After a strange first encounter, they hit it off rather well, and Hyejin became the person Seunghee was closest to in the group, second only to Mimi.
Seunghee’s not really sure why her and Mimi became particularly good friends. Mimi was just about the opposite kind of student as Seunghee: lazy and supremely unbothered by anything. Seunghee felt she had a certain amount of jealousy towards Mimi’s carefree attitude towards school, but Seunghee didn’t manage top of her class through her laziness, so her envy towards Mimi is more ideological than something she’d actually try and achieve.
Seunghee stood awkwardly outside the cafe Mimi had suggested they meet at. She really shouldn’t have put this past Mimi, considering she really wasn’t the most intuitive of folks, but the cafe had closed about thirty minutes ago, and so Seunghee was left standing outside it, staring at the sign with the hours on it.
“Hey bud,” an arm slung around her shoulders and Mimi grinned at Seunghee, then turned her head to look at the sign Seunghee was looking at. “Oh true, I forgot to mention, huh.”
Seunghee gave her a look. “That you wanted to go to a place that was closed?”
“It’s not closed if you know what’s up,” Mimi said, giving Seunghee a grin and taking her phone out, sending off a quick text. Shortly after, the door to the cafe opened up and an unfamiliar face looked out, smiling at the both of them.
“I wasn’t sure if you were showing up,” she said, ushering Mimi and Seunghee inside.
“I took my time to make sure I got here after Seunghee. I didn’t want to leave her out in the cold.”
“When have you ever felt the need to make an excuse to being late for something,” Yewon asked, sitting at a table inside the cafe reading a book and taking notes. “You were two hours late for our first date and your excuse was ‘well, you know how it goes,’ and to this day I still don’t know how it goes.”
Mimi shrugged. “You know.”
“Nope!” Mimi shrugged again, flopping down in the seat beside Yewon and leaning her head on Yewon’s shoulder. Seunghee took tentative steps into the place, not really sure why they were allowed in a closed cafe, but did the only thing that really seemed logical and took a seat at the round table Mimi and Yewon were at.
“Is Shiah not closing today?” Mimi called to the unfamiliar girl, who was doing something behind the coffee bar.
“No, she took the weekend off because of a huge lab. Everything’s super time sensitive, so she just didn’t want to risk anything.”
“Good! It’s so much better when it’s just you closing,” Mimi said, closing her eyes with a content smile.
“Isn’t that just because you don’t have to pay?” Yewon asked with a snort.
“Hell yeah, gonna get me that venti cafe mocha and it’s gonna be good,” Mimi said.
“Venti?” The girl Seunghee didn’t know took a seat next to her, giving Mimi a confused look.
“God, Hyojung. Sometimes I just love you. It’s a large. Starbucks.”
“Oh.” Hyojung turned to look at Seunghee, after taking a moment to drink in this fascinating fact about the world of Starbucks drink sizes. “I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Hyojung.”
“Ah, my name’s Seunghee.” Hyojung’s eyes widened a bit, recognizing Seunghee’s name, but her smile never faltered.
“You’re in their band, right?”
“Yeah. New addition, I guess.”
“Yeah, Jiho’s mentioned you a few times.” Seunghee tensed up at that. “Oh mostly just when you first joined. You can’t take anything mean sounding she says about you too personally.” How can they expect her not to do that? “Honestly the only people I’ve seen Jiho have an immediate positive reaction towards were Yewon and Binnie. And Binnie’s positive reaction didn’t last long.”
“Honestly she hated me more after she met Yewon,” Mimi whined. “And we’ve known each other longer.”
“When Jiho and I first met she was furious I was trying to talk to her, but we were the only two non-history majors in our class. She warmed up to me after I brought her here.”
“What a good experience for her to have,” Yewon said, and it didn’t sound sarcastic. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.” Seunghee gave her a confused look.
“When Jiho was a freshman Hyojung started letting her come here after the cafe closed to get work done, or just to hang out.”
“Shiah didn’t work here yet, did she?”
“No, Shiah started working here at the beginning of the year.” They didn’t bother explaining who Shiah was to Seunghee. That’s fine, she guesses. “Jiho had Binnie and I come here once, and that’s how we met Hyojung.”
“Oh I remember that!”
“It was an unfortunate experience for us. She hadn’t mentioned that the place would be closed--although it was intentional with her, and I really just forgot to tell you,” Mimi said to Seunghee. “Anyway, when the two of us arrived, we lived in the same dorm building, we found the place closed. Jiho showed up a few minutes later and when we told her it was closed she pulled out a crowbar and said ‘we’ll be getting coffee tonight.’ The two of us were mortified. Binnie nearly called the police right then and there.”
Yewon started laughing, and Seunghee also grinned.
“She even swung the thing above her head like she was going to smash the glass door or something, but before it came down she slowed down and just lightly tapped the glass. Hyojung got us a few moments later.” Yewon was howling with laughter, although, Yewon’s lowest laughing state is howling. “Binnie didn’t speak to her for two whole weeks.”
“Classic Jiho,” Hyojung said with a fond smile.
“Hey Hyojung,” Mimi said after a moment, eyes still closed. “Can I have something to drink?”
“Oh, duh, sure,” Hyojung said, standing up to go back to the coffee bar. “Do you want anything?” She asked Seunghee.
“No thanks,” Seunghee declined politely. Seunghee sat awkwardly across from Yewon and Mimi, Yewon reading her book intently and Mimi seeming to halfheartedly follow along.
“Do people know they don’t need to use so many words to say things?” Mimi asked, referring to the book.
“They’re European philosophers,” Yewon replied. They need to use as many words as possible, always.”
Mimi smiled. “They should take a nap.”
Hyojung returned after a moment with a drink in hand, giving it to Mimi.
“How are you acclimating to the group?” Hyojung immediately asked Seunghee, giving her another blinding smile. What is it with Hyojung and always having the best time. Even when she’s having a bad time it’s still the best time. She’s not having a bad time right now this is just an unrelated, casual observation.
“Everyone’s super nice,” Seunghee answered, trying to match Hyojung’s smile. She did her best, but really there’s no competition in things like this.
“Is the music going okay?” If Seunghee wasn’t so focused on her conversation, fully believing that Yewon and Mimi were off in their own little world, she would have noticed Yewon focusing her gaze on Seunghee as she answered.
“It’s not something I’ve ever played before, so it’s interesting.”
“Do you like it?”
Seunghee gave an awkward smile. “It’s a challenge.”
“You hate it, don’t you,” Yewon said, and Seunghee tried to open her mouth to protest. “I hate it. I rejected their offer because I didn’t like it, so Jiho and Binnie began stacking rehearsals any time Mimi and I were supposed to go out until I gave in.”
“It’s the same stuff we’ve been playing since high school,” Mimi whined, head still on Yewon’s shoulder. “Cut us some slack. None of us are good songwriters except Bomi.”
“Old guitarist,” Hyojung whispered to Seunghee.
“Nobody wants to hear a Blink-182 cover band. Ever,” Yewon retorted.
“It’s definitely not something I would listen to if I didn’t have to, I don’t think,” Seunghee said.
“God, you’re so nice you can’t even say that you hate it.” Seunghee could offer nothing but an awkward smile. She really couldn’t say she didn’t like it; she didn’t have it in herself. “I’ve been wanting to change our style since I joined.”
“Since before you joined,” Mimi remarked. “But if nobody can write a song then we don’t change our style.”
Yewon fixed her gaze on Seunghee, a piercing look. In that moment, Seunghee knew she was somehow fucked. “You know how to write music?”
“No, not at all,” Seunghee said hurriedly, trying to look anywhere but at Yewon.
“You’d know enough theory to do it.” It wasn’t a question.
Seunghee sucked in a deep breath. “Probably.”
“I just want to play something people want to listen to. I get that this isn’t a serious thing but I think it’s not silly to want to play something good,” Yewon said.
“I kind of like the pop punk stuff. It’s fun to play,” Mimi said. “But I’m fine with whatever, really.”
“It’s only fun because you’re playing the drums. You’re the loudest instrument, save the guitars probably.”
“You just want to play something where you can hear the sound of yourself playing, right?” Mimi asked.
“I don’t think it’s a crazy thing to want,” Yewon replied.
Sitting in a closed down coffeeshop with only dim lighting to keep them company made Seunghee feel an awful lot like a conspirator. She didn’t know who they could be conspiring against, anyway.
--
To: Choi Yewon
2:54pm
[file attached: let_down.mp3]
To: Choi Yewon
2:54pm
sorry. its my first time
To: Hyun Seunghee
2:57pm
Dude it’s got a Recognizable Piano Part you are Okay In My Book
To: Hyun Seunghee
2:57pm
I’m also flattered you were willing to give your first time to me ;)
To: Choi Yewon
3:01pm
what
To: Choi Yewon
3:02pm
OH
To: Choi Yewon
3:02pm
im glad u liked it also :^)
--
Seunghee had kind of hoped maybe Yewon would bring it up in a way that wasn’t so, well, like this.
“I’m sorry, on what planet would we switch to this style?” Jiho asked, glaring at Seunghee. Seunghee hadn’t been planning on being made out to be quite the participant Yewon had turned her into.
“On this planet, at this moment, currently,” Yewon retorted. Why was Jiho glaring at Seunghee when Yewon was the only one who had spoken? Why had Jiho decided to place all of the blame in this (and apparently every) situation on Seunghee? Maybe it makes a bit more sense here, since Seunghee writing the song for Yewon made her more of a perpetrator than an accomplice.
“We don’t play this kind of music.”
“New year, new us.” Seunghee just about wanted to die right about now. Mimi and Binnie were away from the conversation, each listening to the song on one earbud attached to Yewon’s phone.
“It’s not that bad,” Mimi piped up. “Actually I might use the word good, but computer generated drum sounds kind of ruin it right now.”
Jiho glared at Mimi while she spoke, then turned her glare on Seunghee. “You wrote this?”
Seunghee scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. “I tried my best, but some things may sound a bit awkward. I’m not well versed in most of the other instruments besides guitar.”
“We haven’t had a song in close to a year,” Binnie reasoned, taking the earbud out of her ear and walking over to them. “So what if it’s not what we’re used to playing.”
“What do you mean so what?”
“So, it’ll be a challenge.”
“I agree,” Mimi said, and Yewon smirked at Jiho.
“You’ve kind of lost this.” Jiho just huffed at that, but a lack of argument against it meant the battle was won. Yewon grinned at Seunghee, another sign of their victory, but all Seunghee could feel was that another nail in the coffin had been laid, and that the chances of her and Jiho ever being friends were getting slimmer and slimmer.
--
To: Kim Mihyun
6:53pm
Yok FUCK THIS SONG.
To: Kim Jiho
6:54pm
Can u not text me while i’m sleeping?f?
To: Kim Mihyun
6:54pm
It’s almost 7pm.
To: Kim Jiho
6:54pm
yhes
To: Kim Jiho:
6:55pm
R u struggling with it though? U can always ask seunghee for help if you need it
To: Kim Mihyun
6:56pm
No. I’ve got it enough. It’s just a lot harder than I’m used to.
To: Kim Jiho
8:54pm
LOL
To: Kim Mihyun
8:54pm
Did you fucking fall asleep again?
To: Kim Jiho
8:55pm
8)
--
“I don’t like her,” Jiho said.
“Why?” Binnie whined, lying face down on her bed.
“I have no good reason, I just don’t,” Jiho said, flopping down and lying on top of Binnie, facing the top of Binnie’s room, arms crossed over her chest. Binnie groaned loudly, but didn’t move to protest. “She’s too smiley. That’s not normal.” Binnie groaned again. “And I don’t like the change in musical direction.”
“Is that what this is about?” Binnie asked, turning on her side and forcing Jiho to get off of her.
“No, but maybe probably.”
“Dude, aren’t you just upset that we wanted her to play lead guitar? She’s a nice kid.” Jiho glared at Binnie, but Binnie just stared impassively back.
“There’s no way for me to like her. I’m going to hate her forever.”
“Didn’t you say that about Hyejin, and Shiah, and me.”
“Actually, it was the opposite for you.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah. I actually enjoyed you when we first met. I should have realized from that moment that you’d be my downfall.”
Binnie opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again. “Just give her a chance.”
“I’d rather choke.”
Binnie glared at her. “If you keep that up you will.”
“Are you threatening me Bae Yoobin?”
Binnie winked. “You heard me.”
--
Hyejin called everyone at six in the morning one day, after they’d finally gotten together and recorded a version of the song they could put online (“Nobody really knows why Hyejin has always had a perfectly good set of drum mics and also impeccable audio engineering skills,” Mimi had remarked. “It’s one of those things that makes you wonder if this isn’t actually reality, and merely fabricated fiction.” Jiho rolled her eyes when Mimi said this. Seunghee didn’t blame her.)
They were all dragged to the coffeeshop Hyojung and Shiah worked at, even though the thing was open and they struggled to find enough seats to accommodate six people, considering it was eight and the morning rush by the time Hyejin had gotten ahold of everyone.
“What’s the hullabaloo,” Jiho asked, rubbing her bleary eyes. She found herself sat between Mimi and Seunghee (she’d tried to get between Yewon and Mimi, but Yewon had more or less attached herself to Mimi with no intention of ever releasing her grip), so she settled to be next to Seunghee.
“The hubabalablaoo,” Hyejin said, severely butchering what Jiho had said. “Is this.” She pulled up her laptop, open to their YouTube page.
“Wait seriously?” Mimi said, trying to push forward to look closer at the computer screen. Yewon refused to let go though, so she ended up with a vain attempt at moving forward, eventually flopping back so that her back rested against the back of the chair. Yewon mumbled something about Mimi not being able to see the screen well without her glasses, but she was just about falling asleep against Mimi, so it wasn’t exactly clear.
“Fifteen thousand views,” Hyejin said, dragging each and every word out. “On the new song.” Despite the hustle and bustle of the early morning cafe, the stillness at the table was palpable.
Jiho was the first to speak, quietly, as if doubting the whole existence of what Hyejin just said. “We never hit a thousand views with our other videos.”
“We’re lucky if we get over three hundred sometimes,” Binnie mumbled.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Hyejin said, grinning and turning the laptop back to face herself. “I posted everything as usual. We gained a small influx of followers on Twitter as well.”
“Well this is good, isn’t it?” Seunghee asked. She was met by dumbfounded stares by her bandmates.
“We’ve never done this well,” Mimi said. Even Yewon, who was more or less about to pass out a few moments ago, was wide awake with shock.
“We barely get three hundred views on our videos,” Binnie repeated.
“There were a few more minutes of hushed conversation, wondering over how they’d managed to get so many views, before they all said their goodbyes and travelled home to continue their weekend in peace. They anticipated the week being about as peaceful. They were about wrong on that one.
--
“Jiho!” It’s Sujeong, a friend in her major, that calls out her name, running to catch up to her after their 8AM class, a few days after Hyejin told them about the views on their video. Jiho isn’t a fan of early morning conversation with anyone, but Sujeong has almost always been the exception. Jiho smiled when Sejeong approached. Well, she tried to smile, but it’s still just after her 8AM class, and Jiho can only do so much for her friends. “My friends were talking last night about this new song that came out, so I went to listen to it. I didn’t know it was your band!”
Jiho froze. “You heard the new song?”
“Yeah,” Sujeong responded, unfazed. “It’s become huge deal on campus. I mentioned that I know you and they wanted me to find out if you guys are going to be performing it soon.”
“We’re getting there soon,” Jiho responded, trying to regain her composure. “It’s harder to perform live than to record a version of the song.”
“Well let me know when,” Sujeong said with a smile. “My friends really want to hear you perform it. It’s a really good song, too. My whole bio lab was talking about it yesterday.”
Jiho nodded, numbly. She’d more or less put the whole “lot of views on the video” thing behind her, figuring it couldn’t be her own campus that had gotten ahold of and enjoyed their song so much. There was also the whole “she hadn’t exactly wanted to do this song” thing, and the fact that they were suddenly getting a lot of attention for the song written by Hyun Seunghee of all people. Jiho wasn’t exactly single-minded in her emotional response to the song (she had conflicting emotions. That’s what this means. Conflicting emotions).
--
To: Kim Mihyun
10:28am
I forgot we have to perform our songs.
To: Kim Jiho
10:32am
my impression of u when we started this: I CANT WHAITE TO PERFORM LIVE
To: Kim Mihyun
10:32am
Shut the fuck up.
To: Kim Mihyun
10:33am
Also what the fuck is a “whaite.”
To: Kim Jiho
10:34am
fuk of
--
To: Hyun Seunghee
2:54pm
hey pls keep this a secret but like 3 girls gave me their #
To: Kim Mihyun
2:58pm
Wait why
To: Hyun Seunghee
3:05pm
they said female drummers were hawt
To: Kim Mihyun
3:10pm
Hawt?
To: Hyun Seunghee
3:24pm
????
To: Kim Mihyun
3:25pm
nevermind
--
Pride is a powerful thing. A very powerful, very nonsensical thing. And as such pride is what has prevented Jiho from admitting to everyone around her (because everyone around her knows this to be the truth and yet doesn’t want to force her to say it because they’re good people and it will come in its own time) that she is not the greatest guitarist, and that maybe, considering Seunghee has proven herself to be a better guitarist (and a songwriter. I mean, what the fuck), maybe Jiho should ask her for help playing the guitar.
Asking Seunghee was the most agonizing and terrible part for Jiho, because Seunghee had to have that dumb shocked expression on her face, and then smile in a dumb and genuine way, and then ask if there was a time that worked for Jiho, looking honored and flattered and happy.
Jiho swallowing her pride for the good of her playing, considering they were trying to find time to actually have a gig, was proving more difficult than she’d planned.
“What kind of warm-ups do you do?” Seunghee asked.
“Warm-ups?” Seunghee looked shocked for a split second at Jiho’s response, but gave a small smile after. What the hell kind of smile was that? Why was she looking at Jiho so kindly when Jiho wants nothing to do with this terrible beacon of kindness and patience. Worst of all, why was Seunghee starting to show her warm-ups of all things.
“You want to put your first finger on the fifth fret of the E string,” Seunghee said, then paused. “Do you know the string names?”
Jiho scoffed. “Of course I do.”
“Some people don’t,” Seunghee said, undeterred. “A lot of the guitarists I knew from high school only knew tabs and chords. Even when the tabs have the string names next to them.” Jiho just frowned. “Anyway, you keep adding a finger, going up the fret until your pinky is down. Don’t remove any of your fingers. Then move your index finger up a string, and do the same thing with each finger. Just don’t remove any of your fingers until it’s time to remove them. It should go slow, so each note rings out. Once you feel comfortable with that, start on the fourth fret, and all the way down to the first fret. It’s a good way to stretch out your fingers.”
Jiho hated this. She hated how patient Seunghee was even when Jiho was sucking at it, she hated how Seunghee smiled when Jiho got passages correct, and most of all, Jiho hated how easy it was to feel comfortable around Seunghee. That was not how things were supposed to go.
--
It’s the second time that Seunghee’s been taken to the cafe after it’s closed, and this time she gets to meet Shiah, who’s too busy mumbling about some chemistry mumbo jumbo for Seunghee to properly engage in a conversation with her.
She was sitting across from Mimi and Yewon again, Mimi working away at something on her laptop and Yewon looking over a packet from class.
“It’s kind of funny you’re still in the band,” Yewon said at one point, looking up at Seunghee.
“Huh?”
“I thought Jiho would have iced you out by now.”
“Is she trying to?”
“Well, after that stunt you pulled writing a new song, I figured she was.”
“You told me to do that!”
Yewon shrugged. “You should never follow my advice. I have no marketable skills or talents and really it’s a wonder people listen to and love me so much.”
“What?”
“That’s what Jiho told me once,” Yewon said.
“Oh come one,” Mimi said, leaving her work behind in favor of the conversation at hand. “Cut Jiho some slack. She’s not used to new people.” Yewon stuck her tongue out at Mimi. “And plus she said that because she was dropping her own finals studying and work to go and help you do a project you’d put off until the last minute last semester.” Mimi turned to Seunghee. “Jiho says stuff a lot, you really can’t take it too personally. I mean it. She’s a good kid. You grow to love her.”
“But why do you let her say stuff like that to me and also act that way to Seunghee?” Yewon asked.
Mimi paused, thinking about whether revealing the truth of the whole matter was worth it or not. Ultimately, she decided they should know the truth. “Jiho,” Mimi said. “Knows how to make a bomb.”
“I’m sorry?”
“What?”
“Yeah. That’s just a thing she can do. It’s not that significant in our lives, but I thought you guys should know.”
“Why does she know how to make a bomb?” Seunghee asked.
Mimi shrugged. “She was curious once.”
“I guess that makes a lot of sense,” Yewon mumbled.
“She wouldn’t make a bomb,” Mimi said. “But she can, and that’s what matters.”
--
It’s the fourth time they’ve been practicing together, and Jiho finally does something Jiho normally does, and decides to talk instead of practicing. It has less to do with her own desire to not be practicing (Jiho is hard-working when it comes to her dreams) and more to do with the fact that Seunghee is, well, not as much into it as usual.
“Are you okay?” Jiho asked after about the third time Seunghee had messed up a passage they were supposed to be playing.
“Huh?” Jiho takes this as a cue, Seunghee’s perpetual dazed state during this rehearsal, and puts her guitar down.
“We can just take a break.” Seunghee opens her mouth to protest, but Jiho cuts her off. “We’ve been practicing hard, and so now we should, uh, not do that.” Seunghee seemed as if she was going to try and protest more, so Jiho fixed her with a killer glare, and Seunghee complied.
They sat awkwardly, Seunghee with her hands on her thighs and Jiho staring at her, until Jiho broke the silence.
“You seem out of it.”
“Ah, sorry. I am a little bit. It’s been a rough week.” Jiho watched her, so Seunghee took the initiative to say more. “I feel dumb for getting upset about the whole thing. It’s really petty, I guess. There’s just been some issues with the Jazz Band here.”
“The one Mimi’s in?”
“Nah, Mimi does the combos, the small ones.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” Seunghee leans back in her chair. “I wish it were Mimi, though. The drummer’s being super annoying about who keeps time and ignoring the bass player, even though we’re supposed to listen to him for tempo.”
“Don’t you listen to a drummer for tempo?”
“Our band director is big on us listening to the bass player for tempo. Well, the rhythm section does. I guess the band would listen to the drummer, but to hell with the rest of the band.”
“If we listened to Binnie we’d be doing a Save the Whales campaign right about now,” Jiho said, making a face.
“That sounds kind of nice,” Seunghee said, smiling.
“Normally I wouldn’t disagree—I love whales and whatever, but Binnie doesn’t let us go home to shower or anything. If we order food, she basically yells at the poor deliveryman to stay.”
“Less nice.”
“Yeah. Freshman year wasn’t great, but it formed a bond between Binnie and I. The kind that can’t be broken by anything.”
“Oh, like,” Seunghee trailed off. Jiho picked up on her insinuation, and made a gagging sound. Truthfully, Seunghee couldn’t tell if it was a noise to show how disgusting the idea sounded to her, or if Jiho had actually just gagged.
“Never. Mimi and I had a rough first year, well, a rough my first year though, because of Binnie. You learn to love her though, you really do.” Seunghee laughed. “What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Seunghee said, waving Jiho’s curiosity off. That’s exactly what they say about her, that’s all.
--
“Is Mimi,” Seunghee pauses, looking for the right word to complete this delicate question. “Okay?”
“In general? No,” Binnie responds, not looking up from her textbook.
“It’s not your place to make judgments on that sort of thing, though,” Jiho replies. They’re spending the weekend at Binnie’s house. It’s supposed to be band practice, but the overwhelming fear of midterms prevented them from doing any meaningful practice.
“Yeah, but she’s just kind of been grinning at her laptop in this weird way. It’s especially strange considering the rest of you are, well--”
“Looking like death is coming for us quickly yet painfully?” Yewon asked. She was sitting on the floor near the couch Jiho and Binnie were at, papers spread out all around her.
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Mimi’s been on YouTube since we got here,” Yewon said, her focus not leaving the work around her. “First it was that jazz duck, but now I’m not so sure.”
Binnie leaned over to look at Mimi’s laptop. “Some full reading of…’Subspace Emissary’s World Conquest’? Whatever the hell that is.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the longest fanfiction ever written.”
“It’s the longest work of fiction ever period,” Mimi said, hitting the spacebar on her laptop and looking up at them. “And I’d prefer it if you all kept your voices down so I could keep up with it. It’s got a very intricate plot, okay?”
Seunghee nodded, gingerly taking a seat down beside Jiho and placing her bag in front of her. She was in the center seat of the couch, in the open seat between Jiho and Binnie. Binnie was reviewing flashcards (almost angrily) with headphones in to play music, and Jiho was highlighting one of her books.
“Shouldn’t Mimi be studying or something?” Seunghee asked Jiho quietly, leaning closer to her. Jiho paused, her book still open, as if contemplating whether this conversation was worth stopping her studying for.
“She should, I guess. But Mimi’s always been more of a night-before-at-2-am-while-crying type of learner? She drinks Mountain Dew and eats Doritos while she does it, to stay awake. She’s a real nerd-bro stereotype.”
“I don’t drink Mountain Dew!” Mimi said angrily, pausing her video again.
“Are you sure?” Jiho asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you remember in high school how-”
“Okay! I don’t drink Mountain Dew anymore. What is this proving?”
Jiho shrugged. “I just feel the desperate desire to remind anybody I meet that you’re a raging loser who deserves none of their support. Especially considering the number of people who come up to me after shows, especially now, to profess their undying love for you.”
“Do you tell these people that I’m a loser?”
“No, I usually mention Yewon and they turn and leave it.”
“Is that in a, like, oh-she’s-taken-so-I-won’t-bother way, or more like a, oh-boy-that-Yewon-sure-is-scary way,” Yewon said, leaning over from where she was sitting and ignoring her work. “And if the latter, how should I feel about it?”
“I can’t say either way, but you should be flattered if it’s the latter. As Machiavelli says, which I’m sure you already know because of how hard you’ve been working in your philosophy class, it’s better to be feared than to be loved,” Jiho said, giving Yewon a wicked grin.
“I hope you choke on your own vomit,” Yewon grumbled, returning to her work.
“I hope we all learn to shut up when we’re supposed to be studying,” Binnie cut in, glaring at the four of them. “It’s bad enough I have to invite you people here, and you have the audacity to talk while we’re supposed to be studying. Ridiculous.” They quieted down for a moment, Seunghee feeling embarrassed for bothering Binnie. Mimi returned to her video and Yewon retrieved her bag, pulling out a pair of earbuds and using them to block out the noise around her.
“Wait, but why did you invite us if you didn’t want us here?” Seunghee asked after a moment. Binnie sighed, but answered anyway.
“They would have just shown up anyway. Jiho has my house key.”
“Why does Jiho have your house key?” The expression on Binnie’s face made Seunghee regret asking.
“She came over once when we had a day off from class, to hang out. I didn’t think much of it, because we didn’t despise each other on principle back then. Turns out she nabbed my key when I wasn’t looking and made an impression of it, then got a copy made. Now she just shows up sometimes,” Binnie waved her hands around, clearly annoyed by the idea. “And does whatever she wants. My mother loves it.”
“I have everybody’s key,” Jiho said, grinning at Binnie. “It’s not my fault you don’t keep better track of your possessions.”
“Fuck you.” Binnie glared at her for a moment, then returned to her work.
“Do you want a key to my place?” Seunghee asked turning to look at Jiho. The grin on Jiho’s face immediately fell.
“It’s no fun if you just give it to me,” she said, by way of half-assed excuse. Seunghee tried not to take it personally. She still kind of did.
--
“Heyyy, Hyun Seung Hee!” It was two in the morning. Seunghee had just finished her last final that day and had been preparing to curl up in bed with a cup of tea and binge watch a show on Netflix (what else are you supposed to do?) She hadn’t really intended on this sort of phone call.
“Jiho?”
“Yeah bud, what’s up how’s it hanging. Listen! I’m having a great time at this super fun party and I was just wondering if you-” Jiho cut off, engaged in a conversation with somebody at, well, wherever she was.
“Hello?” Another voice came through, this one unfamiliar and much less slurred.
“Yeah, hi?”
“Hey, sorry. We went to a party to destress after midterms, and Jiho kind of drank more than anticipated. We were looking for somebody who could maybe get her back to her dorm, since we don’t feel safe sending her back on her own.”
“Text me the address,” Seunghee said, already putting on shoes and grabbing her coat.
--
Jiho was outside the house with two friends when Seunghee arrived. She was secretly thankful she didn’t have to go into the frat, a place holding the sort of party she’d been to once when she was a freshman, and never wanted to return to.
“Are you Seunghee?” One of the two girls asked when she approached.
“Hell yeah she is,” Jiho answered for her.
“Thanks for calling me.” The girl nodded at Seunghee, and they got an arm of Jiho’s slung over Seunghee’s shoulder and the two were off.
Seunghee stayed quiet during the walk home, not wanting to bother Jiho much, listening to the ramblings of the drunk girl. Jiho lived in her building, in a double on the first floor, incidentally. Seunghee had never realized their proximity before--they never really went home together from anything, so she never would have noticed.
Jiho’s roommate wasn’t home, which made the job of getting Jiho into bed far easier. When Jiho was successfully in bed and sleeping, Seunghee made a quiet exit.
Jiho woke up the next morning, head pounding and memories of last night obliterated in the void that comes from drinking too much. Her roommate wasn’t in (still from last night, although this wasn’t very uncommon), and she groaned, trying to sit up in bed. Her eye caught sight of something uncommon, a bottle and a note located on the table next to her bed, along with a glass of water.
Jiho picked up the note, squinting to read it.
Hey,
I was called to help get you home last night. There was no Advil in your room (that I could find), so I brought you the last that I had. I’m the RA for the third floor of the building (small world!!!) so you can text me if you need anything else. Hope the hangover isn’t that bad (and I’m hoping the midterms weren’t that bad, although judging by how much you drank….they probably were. Text or call if you need anything :^)
Seunghee
Jiho groaned. Who the hell had called Seunghee on her behalf? How could they be so stupid?
--
Jiho coughed awkwardly when she entered the practice room. Truthfully, she hadn't expected Seunghee to be here, considering she really didn't want to be here at all. Then again, Seunghee wasn't the one who was burning of embarrassment over stupid decisions she had apparently made while drunk.
"I didn't think you'd show up," Seunghee said, looking genuinely surprised to see Jiho standing in the doorway to the small room.
"I didn't either," Jiho said, sitting beside Seunghee. Jiho hadn't brought her guitar, because she really wasn't here to practice, she was here to deal with her own stupidity, or at least to try and explain some of it away, if possible. Seunghee was tuning her guitar, silent. Maybe it was because she was waiting to see what Jiho was going to say, but probably it was because she was working hard at tuning the instrument, and that kind of involves a bit of listening or something. "Do you normally practice at this time? Even before we were practicing together?"
"Yeah. I end up practicing a lot. It's become what I do to de-stress. I'm as familiar to some of the staff of the building as the music majors."
They settled into silence, Seunghee tuning her guitar and Jiho watching her. When Seunghee finally finished, she looked up at Jiho, expectantly. Jiho had shown up here with no guitar, and further no idea of what words she would say to justify a drunk call for help at 2am. Truthfully, she probably shouldn't have to explain herself, and if not for the fact that it was, well, Seunghee, she wouldn't. She would never explain herself to Mimi or even to Binnie. But Seunghee was different.
"About last night," Jiho started, louder than she intended. She cleared her throat before continuing, trying to control her volume.
"Don't worry about it," Seunghee said, giving her a small smile.
"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea." Seunghee quirked an eyebrow. "I tried calling Mimi and Yewon and they both weren't there, and I didn't bother with Binnie because she would have had to come from in town to get there and I didn't want to bother with that."
"Ah." Seunghee gave Jiho a funny look. Jiho didn't want to read into it too much. She just needed more excuses. "Why do you hate me?" Seunghee asked, and the words in Jiho's throat died down.
“It's-"
"I don't get it. When we started you were kind of rude, but I was told that's just how you are with strangers. And then I got when you were annoyed that they told me to play lead guitar, but I wasn't going to move up if you said something." Jiho couldn't maintain eye contact, trying instead to focus on the wall behind Seunghee. She sucked in a breath of air to respond, but Seunghee didn't let her. "And I thought we were starting to get along, you know? After the rehearsals and things. It's really easy to pretend that you constantly giving me the cold shoulder doesn't sting, but it hurts like hell."
"I'm sorry."
"When you were drunk last night you told me why you called me." Jiho's eyes snapped up to meet Seunghee. "You were rambling about stuff. The midterms you took, the job you had, how much your mom wanted to see Mimi again, and about why you called me first to take you home." She paused, as if waiting for Jiho to give some justification for herself, but silence was all she was met with. "You said that everyone else would be too judgmental, and that if you had to call anyone it would be me, because you knew I would take care of you without reservations." They were silent for a moment, Seunghee waiting for Jiho to respond, and Jiho trying to find some words to reply with. She hadn't remembered saying that to Seunghee, but every part of her knew it to be true. Is that what was terrifying about it all?
"I don't get it," Seunghee said, finally, emotion deflating from her voice.
"I'm sorry."
Seunghee let out a long sigh. "It's okay."
Seunghee removed her guitar strap, leaning the guitar up against the wall. She stood, pushing the chair she was sitting in to the corner of the room, lying down with her stomach facing upward. Jiho tentatively moved down, sitting cross legged on the floor next to Seunghee. They settled into silence for a few minutes (but truthfully it felt like eternity to Jiho).
“Why did you start doing music?” Seunghee asked, eyes closed, breaking the silence.
“Honestly, it was just something to do,” Jiho said, picking at a frayed bit of her shoe. “It was high school, and Mimi had just sort of figured out the whole gay thing. Her family are born-again-Christians, and you can guess they weren’t going to take the news very well.”
“I didn’t know Mimi lived in your town.”
“She doesn’t mention it much. Her mom found out in her senior year of high school, and things sort of fell apart from there.”
“She got kicked out?”
“Not exactly. Apparently their specific sect of Jesus-life had something to do with not rejecting your child. So her family still helps pay for school, but they just sort of.” Jiho paused. “Don’t interact.” They fell into a momentary silence, Jiho focused on her shoe. “We started it to offset some of what was going on, and because Bomi was really into punk. It all sort of made sense. I never knew if it actually helped.”
“It must have, if she kept going with it.”
“Mimi does things without thinking much. There’s no way to know what’s actually going on.”
Seunghee hummed.
“And I don’t hate you,” Jiho said, after another pause. “It’s just frustrating.” Jiho lay back, supine, letting out a long breath of air.
“I was always excited to learn from people who are better than me,” Seunghee said, and Jiho groaned.
“Of course you are. That’s such a nice way to handle things, isn’t it?” Seunghee laughed, and Jiho smiled, despite herself.
“I get it though,” Seunghee said, opening her eyes to look at Jiho. “We had two jazz bands at my school, a lower level one and an upper level one. My first year I got placed into the lower level one, which wasn’t a big deal. They would have us rehearse with the upper level one sometimes, so we could get advice and practice with people who were more experienced and better players. The guitarist for the upper band—ugh, he was so pretentious. He was better than me, sure, but he wasn’t actually trying to help me get better. He was just rubbing it in. I was furious.”
“Did you fight him?”
“Nah. I just got better than him. We were the same age, but I was the guitarist for the upper level band for the next three years. I think he got knocked out of the lower level band one year as well.”
“Good.”
“And, you know, blah blah morals I learned to always be humble and stuff.” Jiho laughed. “I don’t mean to make you feel frustrated though,” Seunghee said. “You’re far better at punk music than I am.”
“That’s not much of a compliment, is it?” Jiho asked, looking over at Seunghee.
“I mean, it was helpful when it was needed, wasn’t it?”
“I guess.”
“The world has moved on from punk music though. You just have to keep up and stuff.”
“I don’t have to.”
“Do you really want your main audience to be angsty teenagers?” Jiho made a gagging noise in response. “Indie is in. I was thinking maybe getting some wind chimes for our next song-”
“No. that’s too far,” Jiho said seriously. The smile on Seunghee’s face, however, was a clear indicator that she was joking.
“Maybe we should become a vaporwave band-”
“I’m kicking you out. You’re out of the group.”
“You need the majority approval.”
“Listen, I know they accepted your indie bullshit, but let me be clear we’re not a bunch of vaporwave losers.”
“I dunno, Mimi seems like she might be into it.”
Jiho glared at Seunghee. “Shut up.” Mimi would be into it. Jiho knew that. And she despised it.
--
Jiho started showing up at the end of Seunghee’s practice sessions. Sometimes she’d have her guitar, and sometimes she wouldn’t, but generally they’d finish up and move over to one of the dining halls, eating a late dinner and, well, just talking. They’d had their first gig for the song, at a bar where Shiah worked, and it was the largest turnout they’d had. Things were going well.
“I just don’t get the appeal of a capella.” Seunghee’s mouth was stuffed full of chicken nuggets (the velocity she’d consumed them during the school year should alarm Jiho, but she’s six tacos deep and nowhere near stopping), so Jiho continues without any response from Seunghee. Jiho knows she’s listening. “Oh look, we’re going to do vaguely tolerable covers of pop songs but also you don’t get to hear any of the instruments.”
“They work hard at that,” Seunghee says when she’s finally swallowed enough chicken nugget to respond.
“So do the original artists. Make your own music or die.” Seunghee shrugged. “Plus, the people who are in a capella are the worst. They’re worse than sorority girls. They’re like sorority girls, but sorority girls at least have the awareness that they belong to a corrupt and sexist corporation and don’t speak over those boundaries.”
“How many times can you say sorority girl?”
Jiho glared. “Binnie has an a capella friend. She invited me to the a capella event coming up on Facebook and then messaged me asking to respond to the event invite.”
“That’s not too weird.”
“We are not Facebook friends.”
“Oh, well.”
“I blocked her on Facebook. She made a new one just to invite me and my brothers-in-arms.”
“Your brothers-in-arms?”
“People who are against a capella. We don’t know each other, but we all face the same glorious battle. Hang on, I need more food.”
A few minutes later, Jiho returned with three more tacos on a plate, and plenty more to say on a capella.
“Honestly, the biggest thing is people don’t get over it. Do you know how many people I’ve met who graduated school and immediately start talking about a capella? Absurd!”
“Oh, that’s like people with drum corps in my hometown.”
“Imagine your life peaking when you did a capella covers of Michael Jackson songs in college. You don’t even sing the chorus you just go “dum dum doo dum” or whatever.”
Seunghee nodded, letting Jiho talk. She was starting to learn that, generally, Jiho’s rants stood in for something else. It was better to just let her go, and she’d get to the real root of her problem: a test or annoying lab partner, sooner or later. Plus, she was fun to listen to when she got animated.
--
To: Hyun Seunghee
7:37pm
Hey you know the beatboxing guy who’s usually on the quad?
To: Kim Jiho
7:39pm
Ye
To: Hyun Seunghee
7:39pm
I just saw him in the dining hall.
To: Kim Jiho
7:41pm
Oh my gosh no way
To: Hyun Seunghee
7:43pm
He ate four hamburgers and a large bowl of broccoli.
To: Hyun Seunghee
7:43pm
He mixed three different sauces together to dip his broccoli into (steak sauce, ketchup, and sriracha).
To: Kim Jiho
7:54pm
i think ur in love with him lol
To: Hyun Seunghee
7:54pm
How DARE you!
--
Seunghee didn’t want to read into Jiho coming into her dorm room randomly. It was hard not to read into it a little bit, considering it was Jiho walking up two flights of stairs just to see Seunghee, but Seunghee didn’t want to overstep her bounds. The last thing she wanted was to think they were closer than they were and cause Jiho to retreat away from this newfound friendship.
So she let Jiho show up to her room sometimes, weekdays or weekends, and just chill.
That’s really all it was. They wouldn’t even talk most of the time, just keep to their own respective things. Seunghee was usually doing work or watching something on Netflix, and Jiho was usually reading a book or using her phone.
Which is why Seunghee hadn’t thought it was any different when Jiho popped into her room a few days before finals. She’d been keeping mostly to herself, trying desperately to cram as much forgotten information into her brain as she could (and to desperately write, or at least plan, one of her three papers in advance).
Jiho plopped a plastic bag on Seunghee’s desk, right on the textbook she was studying from.
“Excuse me?”
“I got you chocolate,” Jiho said, sitting on the edge of Seunghee’s bed. “Just milk chocolate.”
“Oh, that’s my favorite kind.”
“You mentioned that once,” Jiho said.
“Thanks, but I really have to-”
“No, you should take a break,” Jiho said firmly. “You’ve been locked in your room for the past week studying.” Seunghee sighed, but protesting against the whims of Kim Jiho was fruitless, so she just turned in her chair to face Jiho.
“And do what.”
“We can watch a movie. There’s a documentary series on Netflix about female murderers.” Seunghee stared at Jiho. “There’s also The Emperor’s New Groove.”
Seunghee nodded. “I like that idea more. Move over, I’ll unplug my laptop and bring it over.”
They watched the movie, lying next to each other on Seunghee’s bed. Seunghee almost commented on how close Jiho was lying to her, but she held it back.
“Hey,” Jiho said, nudging Seunghee. Seunghee hummed. “You signed a lease right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“If, theoretically, someone were to steal a key to your new apartment, how would one do that?”
Seunghee pondered an answer for a moment. “They’d have to figure that out for themselves, I think.”
“Oh, I intend to.” Seunghee smiled, shifting slightly so she was closer to Jiho, focusing on the movie.
Author Notes:
so i thought i'd include this in case there was any confusion. here are their majors and years:
Graduated Hyojung--restaurant management and fs
Senior JinE--aerospace engineering
Jr Mimi--computer science
Jr YooA--chemistry
Jr Seunghee--bioethics/law
Soph Jiho--business prelaw
Soph Binnie--environmental science
Frsh Arin--architecture
also idk how mimi and arin have a clearly established relationship when they've only known each other for less than a year. i was planning to find some way to explain that away, but once you hit a certain number of words you just quit at plot. also how this all happens in one semester is beyond me, but it does and thank you again for reading.
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THE BABY COLLECTIVE???!! what a band name, i love it. i love jiho and her attitude, seunghee and her patience and the way jiho slowly opened up around her. i loved everything about hyejin??? aerospace engineer??? band manager in a suit???? i love her and she fits that role perfectly. and mimi and yewon!! i didn't know i wanted to read about them until now. their relationship just seemed so natural to read about it was so nice. also mimi watching that vid of the fic reading. relatable.
your characterisation is honestly one of my favs, i love how they all fit together and the conversations they have w each other. this was rlly great and i loved it a lot <3
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(Anonymous) 2017-08-14 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)Also why aren't they a Sufjan Stevens cover band honestly?
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(Anonymous) 2017-08-15 02:58 am (UTC)(link)what? is? the? 4th? wall? your writing voice has some especially hilarious moments like this here i luv it
“She wouldn’t make a bomb,” Mimi said. “But she can, and that’s what matters.”
this is so profound honestly
seunghee is just too good for jiho! i feel bad for her constant confusion but the ending is nice. i'm glad that jiho was forced to acknowledge her slowly but surely. + i love sassy arin she is a nice change from the usual.. and also. miho is best
<3
no subject
The soft Chips Ahoy are akin to the opioids that are currently ravaging my home state
you shameless madman i cannot believe you
“A first rehearsal is a first rehearsal, not a weird ten pm coffee i love how? you portrayed jine in this fic?
“Not this kind,” Seunghee replied. “I learned classical guitar when I was a kid, then switched over to jazz in high school. I play in some of the jazz bands at the university.”
i love seunghee!! i love this nerd this wonderful humble nerd and JHIO STOP BEING EVIL!!!!
how does seunghee know sufjan stevens and not mcr. cmon. ugh kids these days
Jiho’s a big ol’ nerd.
fucking busted…hardworking beautiful nerd.. she really is though, but at the same time it’s not really a comment i expect to see in uni au so i have to shake your hand and say thank you
o? when you’ve got friends, you give them positions relating to your band even if they’re bad at them. When you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to Geico.
………………………………………….i have to go
hello i’m back
Her tone of voice gave off a very authoritative, businesslike feeling, which would have been believable if she hadn’t been standing in front of Seunghee slouching, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, with dark circles already under her eye
i loved how you portrayed jine in this fic and this is why. somehow it encapsulates why i think jine is just inherently funny. because even when she is business and series there isj ust. still the element. of IT.
i just want to take a moment to say that i am imagining mimi in plaid for this whole fic.
“Do people know they don’t need to use so many words to say things?” Mimi asked, referring to the book.
i dont know if you were like working out personal issues with academia when you wrote this or what but god if i don’t feel this in my soul
also i really enjoyed how you wrote arin here, like, this is arin once she becomes self-aware that she really can get away with anything and is therefore possibly the most powerful being on earth
also do not worry at all about having changed my prompt! because i love seeing how you took that prompt and it evolved into this and you did a wonderful job thank you. also connecting the key part at the beginning to the end. beautiful
p.s. love the degree choices for everyone