“I suppose I just love it.” Siwan shrugged. “It…” She half expected him to give her a pithy remark of some kind. “It’s still surreal to me that people want to hear us play. But I love being on stage. I love people getting interested in the bass, in hearingme.It’s not exactly the instrument you hear first?—”
From the back, the sessionist playing rhythm guitar strummed a couple of chords, pressing down on a pedal by his feet, as if to prove Siwan’s point.
“—but it’s mine,” Siwan continued. Lia did not miss the bit of fondness in his voice. “Did you know that the company used to pay the music shows so we could perform live?” At the confusedtilt of Lia’s head, Siwan continued. “When we debuted, when we performed for music shows, we had to hand sync. Meaning a backing track would play, and we would have to pretend to be playing while Cal hyung sang. Bomseok hyung was the first to point out how stupid we looked.”
“I remember that!” Soobin added, shaking his head like the thought was absolutely silly now. “I had a few sunbaes ask me if we actually knew how to play. Thought we were faking it.”
“So Bomseok hyung and Cal hyung put on a united front to convince the company that something had to be done. That we were a band, and we had to actually play music. But the shows themselves weren’t set up to accommodate live performances. So they gave the agency a number to make it happen. The agency said yes. And now they have at least three bands performing every recording.”
Lia hadn’t realized she’d completely stopped working until she felt her laptop click shut. She’d never heard this story before. She hadn’t even realized it was an issue, although she did remember it was odd in those early days that the stage wasn’t a mess of wires when they were on it.
But the band had hit mainstream the moment they debuted, and she supposed that gave them a little more negotiating power, allowing them to pave the way for newer, younger acts.
“Hey, Siwan. I don’t think I’ve heard you talk this much about our early days.” Cal said from the front, reclaiming Lia’s attention. The fondness in his eyes had a very Daddy Hen pride to it. “Maybe next time you should be the one to talk to reporters and agencies.”
“I should,” Siwan agreed. “Old men need their rest.”
“I second the motion,” Lia joked.
“Aray!” Cal said, clutching his chest as if Lia shot him with an arrow. “Should I be jealous?”
“Uh, why would you be?” Lia asked from behind the glass, reopening her laptop because she was supposed to be making a deck with her ideas for the album relaunch! She was supposed to be locked in! “You already had your turn as my bias. Give chance to others.”
“Oh right,” he nodded like he’d completely forgotten. “I’ve always enjoyed a good exes to lovers story myself.”
Lia almost fell off the couch chair, and Cal had the audacity to laugh this time. They couldn’t see her, could they? “Who taught you about tropes, sir?”
“I learned it from the same place you did. Do you know Ao3?” he told her with a wink before his attention was called by one of the backup vocalists, and he turned away.
God help her. He broke delulu rule number one, and they’d only known each other for a month! She wassonot locked in.
In front of her, Teddy very clearly pressed the same button that allowed the band to hear her talk. The engineer had since left the live room, and Dong Yeon, the band’s manager, was in the corner, doing a better job than Lia of actually doing some work.
“Hey, Ate?” her brother suddenly asked, and Lia shook her head as she looked back at her document. What the hell was she trying to say with this sentence, “—opportunities for sdfhassldffhjkk,” what a mystery.
“Hmm?” locked in. She was locked in.
“Have you heard the new song?”
“No, I—” she almost said she was trying to avoid spoilers, but no, she was typing here. “I don’t know how I would have.”
“How did you find out about that park with the pink grass?”
“Oh, the one I posted on Instagram? It was…recommended.”
“And CoBOLT’s first single is called?—?”
“Bolt of Blue,” Lia said immediately. She didn’t realize what she’d done until her brother’s face changed from relaxed old cat to evil kitten. “Damn it! Who told you?”
“Oh please. I have eyes.” Teddy rolled said eyes. “You and Ate shook the entire house when you were watching that KDrama together. I know you and Cal are friends. And I know because I see you and him sending each other illicit thirst traps in a secret group chat.”
Lia's jaw hung open in shock. She knew her brother was observant, she just never thought he would use those powers on her…? “Teddy, it isnota secret group chat if it's just two people! And just because it’s a selfie doesn’t mean it’s a thirst trap!”
“And I also know you were the CoBOLT fan because Ate Frankiejustasked me what the drummer’s name was.”
“Ate’s a Soobin bias?” Lia asked, to confirm, and Teddy nodded.
“As a fan, do you think recording the song live in a studio is a good idea?”
