"Wait! Park Jihoon? Which Park Jihoon?" Hyunsuk asked after he heard that name came out from Song Mino's mouth. He was called for an meeting with Song Mino regarding the song that Mino asked him to finish so that he can use it as one of the OST for an upcoming drama that's going to start it filming by this month. Hyunsuk didn't know why he acted like that when he heard that name. It's a very common name and there's plenty of people in this industry with that name.
"The one that's been the hot topic these days. T5 Park Jihoon," Song Mino said.
"Why him?"
"When I hear your demo I feel like his voice will suit that song very well. Well. Maybe because I've been watching shows with him guesting on for the past few days, that's why I can hear his voice singing this song. I asked my team as well. I don't want to be biased just because it's my preference. And they also said that his voice will suit this song and the vibe of this drama. I didn't even mention his name yet when I did the meeting with my team," Song Mino said. "I've sent the request to his company and they'll revert to us by today's evening. So, I just want you to know about our first choice,"
"I see," Hyunsuk nodded. Somehow, he felt happy hearing that. Someone actually acknowledged Jihoon. Wait?! He's happy about that? Like why? Maybe because he sees with his own eyes how hard Jihoon has been working to get the acknowledgement. He wasted no time and grabbed all the opportunity that came toward him. He took it all and tried so hard to appeal himself and his team to the public.
It's true that he gave Jihoon that condition because he know that it's impossible for Jihoon to reach it. Not because the Alpha didn't have the talent. But it's how the industry worked. Even if you're very talented, there's no guarantee that you'll survive. There are a lot of things to be taken into count as well. Luck, influence, relationship, money, time. Everything need to be right at the right time. Everyone in this industry is desperate. Hyunsuk himself know how hard it was.
If we ever want something, there's something we need to sacrifice. For Hyunsuk, his youth. His high school days. He dropped out of high school just to make music. He's quite lucky that he's taken into a quite well known company but for him to make his name being known in this industry, it's a long and hard journey. There are times he feels like it will be better if he gives up and lives a normal life. Going to college, hanging out with friends and such. But he loves music so much, it didn't let him quit just like that.
As for Jihoon, it was probably the right time for him to rise into stardome. Who would ever think a simple clip of Jihoon telling the story of him getting hit by someone's shoe would gain that much attention. That simple clip easily gets viral and Jihoon's name is suddenly being talked about in town. It was his chance to get even more. And he has to sacrifice something as well to get it done right. His time to rest. He has to sacrifice his time.
While he gets all the hype, he has to keep the hype up. There are many shows and productions reaching out for Jihoon because he's currently in demand. But something that makes Hyunsuk proud of Jihoon is that he hasn't changed. His popularity is definitely surpassing his members but the way he acted hasn't changed. He's still the same Park Jihoon as he was before he got all this attention.
Talking about attention, Hyunsuk just realized that Jihoon has been acting weirdly these days. He hasn't tried so hard to get Hyunsuk's attention these days. It has been a week since he didn't suddenly appear at his studio or condominium. Maybe the Alpha already gave up. Maybe it's tiring to keep pursuing him. Having his schedule packed like that will surely make Jihoon's body exhausted. Maybe he tried not to burden his mind with silly things like trying to get Hyunsuk who clearly showed that he didn't want Park Jihoon to date him. It's for the best, Hyunsuk guessed.
"What is on your mind?" Mino asked.
"Hm?"
"You look like you have a lot in your mind," Mino said.
"Ah. Nothing," Hyunsuk said. "I just wonder if Park Jihoon's company will actually accept the offer. You need to get it done by this week, right?"
"Yeah. I wonder if they'll accept it or not. But there's some expectations from the fans, you know?" Mino said.
"Huh?"
"You know when you accidentally liked one of T5's old posts, the media started to talk about it because your fans and T5 fans are asking for you guys to collaborate. With this project, it will make your fans happy too, don't you think? And there's a high chance that his company will accept it," Mino said. "Ah! They already announced that the group will have a comeback soon, right? If my calculation is right, the OST will be released right after about 4 weeks of their comeback promotion. It will be a great strategy to keep his hype up,"
"Why are you thinking about their business?" Hyunsuk asked.
"Well. If his hype is still up, the OST will get the hype as well. And maybe people will tune to the drama as well after they listen to the OST. Win win," Mino said.
"Whatever you say," Hyunsuk said. "And what is it? I know that you didn't call me here just to tell me that,"
"You knew," Song Mino grinned. He took out his tablet and put it on the table. "After discussing with my team and the production staff and the director as well, we decided to add some string instruments on that beat you submitted. Here listen,"
Mino hands one side of the ear bud that's connected to the tablet and plays the music after Hyunsuk already wears it. Hyunsuk listened to the music that had been added with a new instrument to the beat he initially completed. Hyunsuk nodded at the unexpected twist of the song he made.
"I thought you only wanted to use it for the first half dynamic," Hyunsuk said. Hyunsuk initially made the music based on the description of the scenes that will have the song being featured in as told by Mino.
"Yes. Initially I also thought that. But you know, the director and screenwriter liked the song quite a lot and we've decided to push the song to be the main OST. So, I wanted to ask you if you could add some orchestra sounds for the song," Mino said.
"Isn't it too grand?" Hyunsuk asked.
"It is intended to be grand. These are some of the lines from Kim Yuna that the production team wanted to add in the song," Mino showed some lines of lyrics from the famous lyricist to Hyunsuk. "Love High. Remember the song you produced? We want the vibe to be like that,"
"Who else would you have in mind if Park Jihoon's company rejected your offer?" Hyunsuk asked after thinking for a while. Considering things and questions that he only keeps it for himself to ask and answer it.
"We have Woodz, Han Seungwoo and Kim Jaehwan in line," Mino said.
"Alright. I'll try to send it to you by tonight," Hyunsuk said.
"I know that we can always count on you," Mino said while patting Hyunsuk's head.
"Fine fine,"
"Another attempt for heat terrorist is able to be stopped by a group of medics who are coincidentally being around when the attempt was made. Since the police manage to arrest a few suspect for distributing illegal drug that's believed being used by some irresponsible people to trigger an Omega's heat and cause a chaos in many events and crowds, the authority manage to alert the public to always be prepare and ready to face the sudden and unexpected incidences," both Hyunsuk and Mino turned to watch the news on the television at the restaurant.
There are some incidents relating to Omega's sudden heat that are believed to be triggered by the use of illegal drugs to cause chaos for the past few months. Some irresponsible people really use Omega's heat to cause trouble at some crowded places and events. It makes many Omegas worried and scared to go to any gathering or even go on public transportation. Because their targets are random and the modus operandi are different every time. It's hard to point out what, how, when or when it will happen.
"I can't believe that they're still doing that. The government already announced that the culprit will be punished and even jailed," Mino said.
"As long as they don't get caught, it will still be a fun thing for them to do," Hyunsuk said.
"You should be more careful, Hyunsuk-ah. You're an Omega," Mino said.
"You know that I've never got influenced by those drugs. My inhibitor shot is still as strong as ever," Hyunsuk said. "And I will take care of myself. Don't worry,"
"But still," Mino sighed. "We don't know what will happened sooner or later,"
"Are you telling me that the shot will get weaker or something?"
"No. It's you and your health. Even some healthy men can get allergies if their body's immunisation is not at the best when they're stressed," Mino said. "Just make sure that you always have your manager with you if you ever go to crowded places. They've been trained for that situations like that,"
"I know, I know. Thank you for reminding me,"
°
"How is it?" Hyunsuk asked after playing the song with Jihoon's voice in it. Jihoon, who's still in the recording booth, just stands there while drinking the water. He still hasn't walked out from there in case they need him to record it again.
"It's just how I wanted it to be. Thank you very much," Mino said.
"Really?! That's a relief," Hyunsuk said. He's actually quite worried that Mino will ask them to do it again as he knows that Jihoon has a very tight schedule these days. How did he know? From the T5 kids and Jeongwoo. Actually Jihoon hasn't really contacted him for about a week after the last time they met. Jihoon told him that he'll be very busy after that day. Well, Jihoon is indeed busy but not to the point that he couldn't contact him at all.
Hyunsuk even only knew that Jihoon is willing to sing for the OST through Mino. Not directly from the Alpha himself. It kind of makes him feel disappointed but isn't that what he has been wanting? For Jihoon to stop bothering him? Hyunsuk doesn't even know himself.
"You did a great job, Jihoon-nim," Mino said as Jihoon walked out from the recording booth.
"Thank you. It's an honor to sing for the drama that you're going to direct," Jihoon said. Polite as always. After talking for a little bit more, Jihoon excused himself together with Mino and his assistant. Just like that, leaving Hyunsuk and not even looking back.
"That's it? What the hell?" Hyunsuk sighed. He didn't even know what he's expecting but somehow it's very frustrating. Suddenly he got a call. He was expecting it to be Jihoon. But no. It's his sometimes manager, Dongwoo. Hyunsuk mentally cursed himself for expecting that. Hyunsuk answered the call.
"Where are you?" Dongwoo asked.
"At recording studio A. Why?" Hyunsuk asked.
"There's a report that a suspected heat terrorist is in this building. Just stay calm and contact me if anything happens," Dongwoo said.
"Huh? Why aren't you contacting the police?" Hyunsuk asked.
"Because we're not confirmed yet that it's actually the suspect or not. Or if he's actually in this building," Dongwoo said. "Anyway, contact me if anything happens. Okay?"
"Okay, hyung," Hyunsuk said. When he ended the call, he just noticed that someone left his phone in the studio. It's Jihoon's. Hyunsuk accidentally pressed the lock button when he picked up the phone revealing Jihoon's screensaver which is Hyunsuk's picture that was taken from his back. He didn't even know when Jihoon took his picture but he actually did. It somehow brings a smile to his face. "Tsk. This kid,"
Hyunsuk decided to give the phone back to Jihoon. If he goes now, he probably can still catch up. But on his way there, Hyunsuk saw someone who doesn't look like he belongs to the company. He's wearing the company's lanyard but Hyunsuk didn't recall the guy.
"Excuse me, sir," Hyunsuk said. The guy startled at Hyunsuk's voice. At that moment, Hyunsuk knows that he's going to be in a dangerous situation. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm a staff. See?" That guy showed his ID card.
"Hm… I see," Hyunsuk holds that ID card, reading the details. "But the company has changed the ID 2 times already since this one. Because this one and the other one got copied a lot. Are you sure you're a staff?"
Hyunsuk couldn't react faster when the guy suddenly injected him with something. Ah. This is the drug they're talking about on the news.
"Eh? Why did nothing happen?" The guy asked.
"So. You're the terrorist, huh?" Hyunsuk asked. "You choose the wrong person to mess up with. That drug won't affect me like most Omega,"
"Damn it!" The guy tried to hit Hyunsuk but Hyunsuk quickly shocked the guy with the stun gun that he always brings along. The guy fell on the floor. Hyunsuk took out his phone and dialed Dongwoo's number.
"Hyung. It's me. The suspect is at level 6. Yeah. I'm fine. He's unconscious," Hyunsuk said. Hyunsuk explained a bit about what happened and minutes later, some security guards came to where he was and took away the suspect.
"Are you sure you're fine?" Dongwoo asked.
"I'm fine, hyung. You know that I took the inhibitor injection. It works way better than regular inhibitors," Hyunsuk said.
But Hyunsuk was wrong. He doesn't feel fine at all. It's like his heat is coming. Hyunsuk wasted no time and tried to go to his studio as fast as he could. He had an emergency suppressant in there. As much as he tried, his body betrayed him. Hyunsuk entered one of the empty meeting rooms. He tried to call for help. Jihoon. For some reason he can only think about Jihoon. But it was a dumb move as Jihoon's phone is with him. Hyunsuk cursed. He can't control his body anymore. His mind is clouded by unexplainable emotions, desires.
"Hyung? Hyunsuk hyung?" Someone knocked on the door.
Park Jihoon. Hyunsuk can only hear Jihoon's voice.
But in this state, he could be wrong. They said that Omega's heat can give the illusion of someone that they depended on when they're in this state coming for them. Even if it's actually someone else. It's just an illusion. As for Hyunsuk's case, he hasn't done that with anyone other than Jihoon. So, it's expected that he's hearing Jihoon's voice. It probably could not be Jihoon.
"Hyung. Open the door. Please?"
Hyunsuk didn't care about it anymore. He doesn't care if it's not Jihoon or if he's going to let some random Alpha devour him. Because at this state, he just needs an Alpha to handle him. To end his heat. Or maybe to mark him so he can stop this heat, this suffering.
Hyunsuk opened the door and quickly pulled the person standing in front of the door. The person that his clouded brain makes his eyes sees Jihoon. Hyunsuk pushed the guy and claimed his lips. Kiss on the lips. It has been a while since the real Jihoon did it to him.