"Okay, so here are the lyrics for the song," I said after writing them down.
Everyone's attention automatically turned to me. They all fell silent. I read out the lyrics first then sang them out.
"So, what do you think?" I asked, addressing the question towards BAP.
"Just admit it," said Zoey, "the song is awesome."
"Zoey." Christine gave her a look that told her to keep quiet. "Let the others take it in first."
"Zoey's right," said Daehyun. "The lyrics are great."
"I now get what Daniel said," said Zelo, "the song is meant to be sad, but it's fun to sing. You can hear it with the way Sam sang it out."
"You should listen to the tune," said Mike. "You'll love it."
"I bet that's why you went searching for the guitar," said Jongup as he looked at me.
"Play the guitar, Sam," Himchan insisted. "We're all dying to hear it. I bet Yong-guk can't wait any longer."
"Huh?" Yong-guk looked at Himchan beside him, looking confused. "No, I'm not."
"Of course you are," said Yong-nam as he gave his brother a raised eyebrow. "Don't forget, I'm your twin."
"Okay," I said as I took the guitar that had been laying on the table the whole time. "Let me play it, then."
I positioned the guitar properly before me with my crossed legs supporting it. Before I started to strum the strings, I took in a deep breath. I played out the tune first. Afterwards, I started to sing out the chorus. It wasn't long so it ended sooner than expected.
"Wow," said Young-jae, looking at me like he's just seen something's dazzled him. "The song's going to sound awesome."
"Thanks," I said. "Oh, before I forget," I reached out for the pencil on the table and started to write something down. "We also worked on the first verse, but we couldn't finish it up yesterday. We were having a little trouble with the words so we want to see what you guys think."
"Alright," said Yong-guk, looking to see what I was writing on the paper. "Whatever it is, I bet we can handle it."
"Can't wait to see you try," said Christine. "But then again, if it's you two l'm not worried."
"There you go again, Christine," I said after writing down the lyrics. "Okay, here we are." I laid down the pencil aside on the table.
I felt Jongup lean closer so as to see what I had written. I leaned to the side a little, but his blond hair almost covered my face. I couldn't help but take a sniff. His hair smelt really nice. Well, this seems unusual. I tried to lean away further so as not to smell him.
"Come on, Jongup," Zelo complained. "You're distracting Sam. We all want to hear what she has written."
"I don't think that I'm distracting her," said Jongup as he looked at Zelo. "Right, Sam?"
It's when he turned his head to look at me that I yelped and leaned back further than before, almost falling to the floor. Instead, I ended up leaning on Yong-nam.
Jongup looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. It's either he didn't know what he was about to do or he knew and was just playing dumb.
"What's wrong, Sam?" he asked.
I suddenly blushed. He really didn't know that he had almost planted a kiss on me. Anyway, it's best not to tell him. I hope the others hadn't noticed.
"Goodness, Jongup," said Mike, "you almost kissed my sister."
And it just had to be Mike. Goodness, me!
"Huh?" Jongup looked surprised. "I did?"
"And you were this close," said Zoey indicating a tiny space with her index finger and thumb.
"Oh...," Jongup turned to look at me. I was still leaning onto Yong-nam's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Sam. Maybe I shouldn't have leaned in too close."
"You see, I told you so," said Zelo.
"No, I'm okay," I said as I sat upright. "Sorry for leaning on you like that, Yong-nam. I hope I'm not too heavy."
Yong-nam cleared his throat. "Not at all," he answered. "You're actually pretty light."
I nervously laughed, not sure whether he meant it or not.
"Wow," said Zoey as she delightfully clapped her hands together. "First Sam avoids Jongup from kissing her and then she leans onto Yong-nam who prevents her from falling. So sweet."
"You're such a fantasist, Zoey," said Daniel as he shook his head.
"Don't mind her," I said. "Can we forget the kissing incident and focus on the song, please?"
"Sure," said Mike. "That's if we can reset Zoey's brain or else she won't stop talking about it."
"Are you saying that I'm kookoo?" Zoey asked, looking at Mike.
"You can argue later, you two," I said, giving them a look. "Let's try and focus."
I went back to looking at the paper in front of me and read out the lyrics for them. Just like we did with BAP's song, we started coming up with lyrics. But this time, it proved to be a lot difficult than we expected. Whatever we came up with didn't really fit with the song.
"Is it just me or something's just off?" Young-jae asked.
"I think I feel what you mean," said Zoey as she scratched her head.
"Huh? What's Zoey saying?" Himchan asked.
"I told you we should've rewired her brain a little," said Mike as he turned to look at me. I shook my head. Zoey on the other hand, ignored him. That's so unlike her.
"I feel we aren't working like we did the first time," said Christine.
"Ya, that's what I meant," said Zoey.
"We just aren't coming up with the right lyrics," said Yong-guk, "that's all."
"Why is that?" Himchan asked.
"Who knows," said Daniel. "What do you think, Sam?"
I shrugged my shoulders as I also couldn't figure out why we found it so difficult. I scratched the back of my head and pouted my lip a little.
"You look like you're about to cry, Sam," said Jongup.
"Don't mind me," I said. "I'm frustrated that we're going nowhere."
"Maybe we're all just tired," said Zelo.
"I felt we rested enough," said Daehyun.
"Or maybe we've been in the same place for too long," I suggested. "Sometimes the environment contributes greatly."
"Maybe," said Yong-guk.
"What do you think, Yong-nam?" Christine asked as she turned to look at him.
He raised his arms up to stretch. As soon as he put them down, he said, "I think we're all just tired. We exhausted ourselves working on BAP's piece and thought we would do the same with this one. If you ask me, we should just call it a day and continue tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Daniel looked shocked at the idea. "Won't that be a little too late for us?"
"You're right," I said as I slapped my forehead. "We've to meet the songwriters and composers for the album. We won't have enough time."
"Not forgetting that we should at least have something to present to Yang Hyun-suk," said Zoey.
"I told Collins to buy me more time, but I doubt Yang Hyun-suk will even want to hear it. Goodness, just thinking about it feels overwhelming." I buried my face into my hands.
"Now I wish we never had to make an album," said Zoey as she leaned back on the chair and sighed.
"Wow, you guys are working on an album?" Jongup asked.
"Yep," I answered as I lifted my face up from my hands. "Our managers are ambitious."
"At least we don't have to worry about the other songs," said Zoey.
"But you heard what Collins said this morning, Zoey. This one has to be awesome. But the way we're so exhausted, I feel we aren't going anywhere."
"I think we should take a little break," said Yong-nam.
I went back first onto the floor with my eyes closed. I really did feel exhausted. Why did fatigue have to settle in like this?
"You're scaring me, Sam," I heard Yong-guk say.
"Oh, don't mind her," said Zoey. "She started this and finding a way to finish it is frustrating."
I smiled a little at what Zoey said. Starting something and not finishing it really is frustrating, especially if it involves something that you really love to do. And with time ticking by, Yang Hyun-suk and Collins will have no choice but to be disappointed tomorrow.
"Wait..., does this mean we won't have the reward Lee was talking about?" I heard Daniel ask.
I opened my eyes as I remembered Daesung's invitation. I really wish I could tell them the truth, but I held my tongue. Even if we leave this place without much progress, Lee won't hold us back because it isn't much of a reward, but an invitation to go out for an outdoor movie. I sat up.
"Don't worry about that, Daniel," I said. "Lee will give us that reward."
"For someone who seems tired, you sound pretty confident," said Himchan.
"I just know." I smiled at him as I shrugged my shoulders.
"Do you've any idea what it could be?" Daniel asked.
I shook my head. It's best it turns out as a surprise.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Zelo asked. "Just sit and do nothing?"
"We can do something fun to pass the time," Christine suggested.
"Not me," I went back to lying down on the floor.
No one said a word. I could feel a few eyes on me, while others, I'm guessing, gave each other looks.
"Come on, Sam," said Zoey. "You're such a party pooper."
"Haven't heard you call me that in a while," I said as I smiled at the ceiling.
"Get up, will you? This is no time to be lying down."
"There's nothing wrong with lying down to rest, is there?"
"Goodness, me." Zoey sounded frustrated. She couldn't argue over that and she knew it.
"Maybe we should call Lee to pick us up," Mike suggested.
"Don't bother," I said as I closed my eyes. "With us not under her radar anymore she's probably doing something for herself right now."
I heard Zelo and Daehyun chuckle while I heard Christine and Zoey mutter out in frustration.
"Looks like you're stuck here with us until Lee comes to pick you up," I heard Yong-guk say.
"But we can't sit here doing nothing," said Daniel. "Like Christine said, we better find something to do."
"You should be resting," I suggested, my eyes still closed.
"Well, we don't want to," said Zoey. I imagined her folding her arms and looking at me like she would at Mike when he got her angry.
I smiled. "Suit yourself."
"No one wants to do karaoke in the recording booth?" Jongup suggested.
"I think we've done enough singing for one day," said Daehyun.
"I agree," said Zoey.
"If there's clearly nothing to do, then I think we should be resting like Sam's doing right now," said Yong-guk.
"I like your thinking," I said with my eyes closed. I raised my hand to give him a thumbs up.
"You songwriters all think the same," I heard Christine mutter.
"I might not agree with all this," Mike started to say, "but I'm going through with Sam's idea. I'm just going to lean back on the couch a little."
"Huh? Not you too, Mike," said Zoey, sounding surprised.
"Quit it, Zoey." I heard him move on the couch, obviously putting himself in a more comfortable position. "There's nothing to do. Why not relax for a bit?"
"I shouldn't be surprised coming from you."
"Ya, ya, ya, Zoey. I'm the bad guy here. Doesn't matter now, does it?"
"Well, if there's nothing for you guys to do at the moment, then I'm going to work on something," said Yong-guk.
"And what could that be?" Young-jae asked.
"Our song, of course."
"You go ahead and do that," I said.
There came an awkward pause and I opened one eye to look at him.
"You look surprised, Yong-guk," said Yong-nam. He took the words right out of my mouth.
"I thought that would get Sam up from the floor since she seems to really like helping out," said Yong-guk.
"I'm drained," I said as I closed my one eye and placed my open palm under my head. "As exciting as it sounds, I'll pass."
"Okay, then," said Yong-guk. "And you, Mike?"
"I'll pass too," said Mike.
"Okay. I'll be by the console. Any of you guys want to join me?"
"Well...," Zelo sounded hesitant and I heard a scratching sound across the table. I imagined he was scratching his head, wondering whether to go or not. "Me too," he finally said. "I don't feel like working on the song right now."
"I'm going to relax over here too," said Young-jae.
"What's up with everyone?" Yong-guk asked, sounding surprised.
"Like Yong-nam said, we're tired," I said as I sat up. "The best thing to do right now is relax."
"Aren't you worried about not making progress on your song?"
"I was about to ask the same question," said Zoey with a sulky look on her face.
I shrugged. "At first I was, but right now, I need to relax a little before my brain explodes. Don't let me stop you from working on your song."
"Alright, then," said Yong-nam as he also slept on the floor. "Looks like I can also rest. Keeping your eyes on time can be tiring too."
"You of all people shouldn't even be sleeping," said Yong-guk.
I laughed. As much as I wanted to hear these two brothers argue, it ended there. I went back to sleeping on the floor.
"I'm going to join the relaxing spree too," said Jongup, as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and slept on the floor beside me.
"Looks like the majority wins," said Himchan as he chuckled.
Zoey mourned in frustration. Even I could tell she's tired. She had no choice but to give in.
"Oh, man!" Daniel muttered out loud.
I lifted my head from the floor to see what Daniel's doing. He had his phone out too and tapping at it. He's probably playing a game.
"Sorry, guys," he said. He quickly looked up from his phone when he noticed people's eyes on him. "Playing a game over here."
I shook my head at him as I put my head back on the floor. I looked beside me and saw Jongup on Instagram looking at cute cat videos. I turned the other side to see Yong-nam with his arm over his face, covering his eyes. He did seem just as tired as all of us. He did help come up with some lyrics, so no argument there.
I heard Zoey sigh and that brought a smile across my face. "I give up," she said. "I haven't been on Twitter lately. Time to see what's going on in the world."
"I think I'll have a little shut-eye," said Christine.
Everyone seemed to be busy doing their own things now. I counted Jongup, Daniel, Young-jae and Zoey on their phones. Daehyun, Himchan and Zelo were engaged in a conversation. Even when Mike was resting on the couch, he seemed to be contributing whenever he can. Christine, Yong-nam and I were really the ones resting as we closed our eyes.
I heard someone stand up and guessed it was Yong-guk. I could hear footsteps head towards the other side of the room where the recording booth and console were. He seemed serious with what he wanted to do. I continued to lay there on the floor, hoping that I don't fall asleep.
I found myself slowly imagining about the outdoor movie we were going to watch. Will it be an oldies movie? I would love to watch such. It just sets you in the mood when it has to.
I heard Jongup chuckle to himself and I knew he's still on his cat videos. A thought crossed my mind. Here I am thinking of the outdoor movie when I should be thinking about the song. I don't feel like dwelling on it. Now is the time to relax, nothing more.
"Hey, Sam?" I heard Jongup call me. "Are you asleep?"
"No," I answered. I drew my eyes open and looked at him. "What is it?"
"Watch this," he said as he scooted closer that our heads nearly touched. He held his phone up for the two of us to see. We watched a cute cat video where a little white and brown kitten was chasing a movable toy mouse on the floor. It was cute and yet funny at the same time as the kitten tried so many times to capture it. Jongup and I laughed.
"Oh, my," I said as I wiped away the tears in my eyes. "The little kitten really struggled. But you've to admit, it's so cute."
"I know," said Jongup. "You should see this previous one. It will knock your socks off."
I joined Jongup in watching more cat videos. We soon moved on to watch people participate in various dance challenges.
"We should've a dance challenge one day," I said to Jongup as we watched.
"Huh?" he turned to look at me. "We should've a dance challenge?"
"Ya. I mean The Toxins vs BAP."
"Oh..., like the one you had with Monsta X?"
"Yes, like that one. You watched it?"
"I think a lot of us did. People really liked it."
"Too bad we lost. But it was fun. We should've one one of these days. That's if we could even make the time for it."
"Oh, you've an album to work on."
I stared at the ceiling and sighed. "Just thinking about it drains me." I went back to looking at his phone.
"Did I hear someone talk about having a dance challenge with BAP?" Zoey asked.
I raised my head a little and saw Zoey still on her phone.
"Yes, I said that," I said as I dropped my head and stared at Jongup's phone.
"Why not do so now?"
"No!" Christine, Mike and I said out loud at the same time.
"Eish, guys. It's why I asked. You don't have to eat me alive."
Himchan and the other BAP members around the table started to chuckle.
"You Toxins really are something," said Himchan. "You do know that the majority of you opposed, right?"
"Except Daniel," said Zelo.
"Oh, I refuse too," said Daniel, still on his phone.
Zoey tsked. "You guys are no fun."
"Use logic, Zoey," said Christine. "We're all tired and don't have the energy for a dance challenge."
"I know that. I thought maybe someone's in the mood for it."
"No one is in the mood for it," said Mike.
"And what if the BAP members were?"
I heard Daehyun nervously chuckle. "To be honest, Zoey," he said, "I'm definitely not in the mood."
"Me too," said Young-jae.
"Me three," said Zelo.
"Guess I don't have to ask you, Himchan," said Zoey, sounding unimpressed.
Himchan, just like Daehyun, nervously chuckled too.
"You can ask Yong-guk," Zelo suggested.
"Nah. He's already busy and I don't like to be a bother."
"Really?" Mike asked. Uh-oh. I smell an argument brewing. "You bother a lot of us everyday."
"What did you say!?"
"Quiet down, Zoey," said Christine. "You're disturbing Yong-nam. He's probably asleep."
I turned to look at Yong-nam beside me and saw him move his arm above his eyes. He had one eye open. He turned his eye to look at me. I almost yelped. I felt embarrassed that he had caught me looking at him. The corner of his lips raised to a smile. He closed his eye and moved his arm back to cover his eyes. That was it.
"I bet he isn't," said Zoey. "Is he, Sam?"
"Huh?" I got a little caught off guard as I didn't answer Zoey's question.
"Is he awake?"
"Not sure," I answered. "He would've said something if he was."
I looked at him and noticed a wide smile on his face. Okay...., didn't know what to make of it, so I quickly turned my attention back to Jongup's phone.
"Anyway, where was I?" Zoey asked as she paused to think a bit. I noticed that no one's willing to remind her. It's best not to.
"Ah-ha!" she exclaimed. "It's what you said, Mike. How am I a bother to you?"
"You're being a bother right now. I'm trying to rest and you're disturbing me."
Zoey hissed that I thought a snake had magically appeared in the room. If she was one, no doubt she would attack Mike first.
"Enough," said Christine. "No one wants to see or hear you two fight."
"Mike started it," said Zoey.
"You amplified it," said Mike. "You always do."
"For once I agree with Mike," I said. "Let it go, Zoey."
"You guys are unbelievable," said Zoey.
"You're unbelievable," said Himchan as he chuckled. "You really are a drama queen. No offense."
"None taken. These guys call me that all the time."
After a while, all of us settled back to what we were doing. I was still watching videos with Jongup when I suddenly sat up from the floor. If I continued lying there, I would probably have a backache.
I stretched out my arms and stood up, stretching my whole body.
"I've had enough of watching Instagram videos," I told Jongup.
He gave me a smile and went back to looking at his phone. I turned to look at everyone and almost all of them were either quietly resting or on their phones.
I looked over at Yong-guk who was still seated at the console. I decided to go over and see how he's progressing with the song.
"Hey, there," I said to him when I got behind him. I bent over to look at him from the side of his face.
"Oh, Sam," he looked up at me, surprised. "I didn't hear you coming."
"I've cat feet," I said as I took the empty seat next to him.
"Cat feet?"
"I'm told there are times when people don't hear me coming so they say I've cat feet. I sometimes scare them."
"Oh, I see."
"It's true, Yong-guk," Zoey said behind us. "So don't upset her or else she might come to your room and murder you."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Yong-guk as he turned to smile at her.
"Don't listen to her," I said as I turned to look at the console in front of me. "So, what are you really working on? I thought we were done and dusted with your song."
"I'm not working on our song," said Yong-guk as he went to work on the laptop.
"Then, what are you working on?" I raised my eyebrow at him.
"On your song," he answered.
"Huh?"
"The tune you played earlier gave me a little inspiration to somehow come up with an instrumental. It's still not finished since I just started."
"Wow." I'm surprised. I didn't think Yong-guk would go this far. I didn't even know what to say.
"Hey, are you okay, Sam?" Yong-guk asked.
I quickly turned to look at him. "Huh?"
"You spaced out for a bit. Is it a bad idea that I'm working on the instrumental? I know there will probably be someone working on it, but I thought I could do something, you know?"
I smiled at him. He really means it. There aren't many people in the world who are so thoughtful.
"I know what you mean. And no. I think there's no better person to work on it than you, Yong-guk."
"Really?" He looked a little surprised with what I said.
"Of course! Who would've thought we would've you helping us? It's actually really nice of you."
I noticed his cheeks start to redden a little and he quickly turned away. I continued to smile. I had this overwhelming feeling like I could hug him, but now isn't the time.
"May I hear what you've done so far?" I asked.
"Ah..., sure," he said as he brought over the laptop closer.
He showed me what he had done and even when the instrumental was short, it sounded great. He really did follow the tune and melody like I had done with the guitar. He also added a few beats into the mix making the song sound more like pop.
"Amazing," I looked at him with so much awe. "It's no wonder you're such a great producer."
He chuckled. "Coming from you, that means a lot."
"The others should hear this." My ear twitched. "I know you're there, Mike."
"Dang it!" I heard him mutter. Yong-guk and I turned around to see him behind us. "How come my cat feet can't work on you?"
"Because what you've ain't cat feet," I smirked at him. "You've to work a lot harder than that."
"Anyway....," he came closer and placed his hands on my shoulder and Yong-guk's, "what is it that some of us have to listen to?"
"This," I said as I pressed the play button on the laptop, playing out the instrumental for him.
"Wow," muttered Mike. "But wait..., why does this beat sound familiar?"
"It's because it's the beat to our song, silly," I said to him.
"Wow! Really!" I saw Mike look at Yong-guk just like I did earlier, with so much awe. "This is what you were working on?"
Yong-guk nodded his head. Mike almost screamed like a girl, but he tried not to be so loud. I couldn't help but chuckle. He looked like his five year old self when he got a remote control car for his birthday.
"You're amazing," he said as he patted Yong-guk on the shoulder. "This song will be awesome."
"Thanks," he said. "You should be thanking your sister, though."
"Huh?" Mike and I looked pluzzled.
"Remember what I said," he said as he looked at me. "The way you played with the guitar inspired me to come up with this."
"Oh...," I forgot he said that. Now it's my turn to blush, and Yong-guk smiled.
"Ya, my sister is a genius," said Mike. "May I join you?"
"Sure," said Yong-guk. "With you two here, I bet we can work on it together."
"And probably come up with lyrics for the song," I said when it dawned on me. "That's why you wanted me to come and join you here by the console."
"I see you've got what I intended to do." Yong-guk turned to look at me with a smile. Mike sat on his other side. "I thought working on the instrumental will give you some idea on lyrics for the song."
"We'll see," said Mike as he rubbed his hands together and looking at the console before him like a hot, tasty meal he couldn't wait to put in his mouth.
"Alright, let's start," said Yong-guk.
The three of us worked on the beats maker software on the laptop. With Mike's creativity and Yong-guk's producer skills, working on the instrumental was smooth and simple. We had no idea how long we had been working on it, but we had fun and joked around whenever we could.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Himchan asked as he came to join us.
"We're working on an instrumental," Mike answered.
"Which one?"
"For our song," I answered. "You should hear it, it's really good."
"Oh, I thought you had run out of ideas for the lyrics."
"Well, I did. Maybe if I continue working on the instrumental, I might come up with them."
"How far have you gone doing so?"
"Not too far," Yong-guk answered. "We've only tried to work on the first part and heading to the chorus. But even that needs a lot of work."
"I agree," said Mike.
"And you're going to use this instrumental for your album?" Himchan asked.
"Of course we're," I answered, looking back at him. I now understood why he asked and I winced.
"What is it, Sam?" Mike asked.
"We need to seek permission to use this instrumental." I scratched the back of my head. "Goodness, why didn't I think about this before?"
"Oh, ya," Mike turned to look at me quickly. "Why can't you give Collins a call and tell him that we've someone helping us?"
"Collins may agree. But what about Yang Hyun-suk?"
Mike and I stared at each other. We both winced like we had done something wrong and we would be in big trouble for it.
"Gosh, the man is troubling," said Mike as he leaned back in his seat. "He can hunt you in your dreams if you think about him too much."
"He's really strict," I said. "And he's also hard to impress. If we do play out the instrumental for him, would he really like it?"
"This is your tune and melody, Sam. So, he can't refuse. I mean, the song we did with BigBang was all you too."
"It was?" Yong-guk and Himchan asked at the same time.
"Never mind that," I told them as I went back to looking at Mike. "I'm worried because Yong-guk is helping us produce this one. Will Yang Hyun-suk agree?"
"As long as he knows you thought of it in the first place, he'll definitely agree." Mike leaned forward so as to look at me.
"Does this thing involving me always have to be highlighted?"
"Daa, yes! Out of all of us, Yang Hyun-suk approves of you the most. He'll definitely go through with it."
I gave Mike a look. I don't consider myself as Yang Hyun-suk's favourite among The Toxins. I'm just afraid he won't approve.
"Okay, if that's the case, than what of Yong-guk? Will he really help us through till the end?"
"I don't think we've to worry about that. Besides, even if he didn't offer to help, he seemed to do it out of his own free will, you know."
"I'm right here, you guys," said Yong-guk in between Mike and me. "I can clearly hear you."
Mike and I turned to look at him, then ignored him like he wasn't there. Himchan chuckled.
"You're right," I said. "He'll stay till the end. He's such a good friend for helping us out."
"I know right," Mike smiled. "He's awesome."
"I think you better focus on giving Collins a call, Sam," said Yong-guk, trying to sound serious, yet falling to do so.
"Aww," Himchan complained. "Their conversation was just about to get more interesting."
I laughed. "He's just trying to hide the fact that he's blushing."
"No, I'm not," said Yong-guk as he folded his arms and looked straight ahead, avoiding eye contact.
Mike burst out laughing that he leaned back further in his seat. "Stop trying to put up a serious face, Yong-guk," he said. "You look awfully funny."
I couldn't help but agree with Mike as I also started laughing. I had to keep in mind that I had a phone call to make. I soon stood up from my seat.
"I'll be back," I said as I tried to stop laughing. "You better not have that face when I get back, Yong-guk."
I walked away from the others as I made my way to the door. I needed to be somewhere more private if I am to talk with Collins.
I stepped out into the hall and looked both ways. There's nobody walking around. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and searched for Collins' number. I pressed the call button and placed the phone to my ear.
His phone rang, and it kept on ringing. I grew worried that he might not answer. Maybe he's busy. He did say he would be occupied today. I better call him at a later time.
Just when I'm about to cut the call, he picked up at the last minute.
"Hi, Sam," came his voice. "How's song writing going?"
"Not good, I'm afraid," I said as I scratched the back of my head wondering how to bring up the instrumental thing.
"You'll figure it out. You do have extra help, don't you?"
"I see Lee told you about BAP."
"Well, she had to. So what can I do for you?"
"Well, we were working on the song and we felt a little stuck. So we had help with coming up with the instrumental for the song."
"You're already coming up with that?"
I scratched the back of my head even more as I started to pace up and down in front of the door. "Well, ya. You see, Yong-guk - the leader of BAP - kind of got inspired to make us the instrumental because of the way I played it with the guitar. So we were wondering if it's okay with you that we use it for the song."
There was silence on the other end. I wonder what Collins must be thinking. He's a little unpredictable sometimes and he might not agree with it.
"Well," he started to say, "we would've to listen to it to see if it's actually good. The big problem is whether he should be working on it in the first place."
I knew it. I had to say something quick to convince him.
"I know, but he's really good. And besides, Mike and I are helping out too. You can be rest assured that it will be great."
"I believe you. But you know I'm not the only manager in this project of ours."
"If you could talk to Yang Hyun-suk for me, I bet he would agree. Yong-guk is a great producer and he's reputation proves that otherwise."
"I don't have to talk to Yang Hyun-suk. He's right here with me. I put you on loud speaker."
I swallowed as I stopped pacing and my heart did one huge beat that I felt my chest hurt.
"Oh..., good afternoon, Yang Hyun-suk sarangnim," I said quickly, so as not to seem surprised.
"Afternoon," came Yang Hyun-suk's voice. I could feel beads of sweet starting to form on my forehead. "I heard everything you had to say."
"And what do you think?"
"Well..., as much as the idea sounds tempting, I would actually refuse."
My heart sank. I told myself it was worth a try anyway.
"But," he continued, "we're talking about Bang Yong-guk, and he's reputation, like you've said, precedes him. If he does want to help out and you think he's the right producer for the job, then I've no objection to it. You can proceed with making the instrumental."
"Really!" I cried out in excitement. I can't believe he actually agreed.
"Let's not forget that we're the ones that have the final say. If it's good, then we will proceed."
"Thank you!" I said with so much excitement. I could hear the two managers chuckle to themselves. "I promise you won't be disappointed."
"Make us proud, Sam," said Collins. "I hope you'll be able to come up with lyrics."
"I will. Thank you once again."
The two managers wished me luck. As soon as the line cut, I punched the air with excitement. We're really doing this. I can't wait to tell the others.
I turned around and opened the door to the studio. As soon as I went in, I quickly rushed over to the others on the console.
"What's the news?" Mike asked as he looked at me.
"I hope it's good," said Himchan.
"What news?" asked Daniel who was still seated on the couch. His eyes left the phone as he looked at us who were by the console.
"They agreed," I answered.
Himchan and Mike clapped, looking relieved. Yong-guk leaned back in his seat, looking cool and composed, but I could tell that he was just as happy as the three of us.
"Who agreed to what?" Daniel asked as he stood up from his couch to come over and join us. "I want to know what's going on."
"Ya, I'm also anxious to know what you're all talking about," said Daehyun.
"Me too," said Zoey. "What did I miss?"
"A lot," I answered.
I told them what was going on and how I somehow managed to talk to the managers to go through with Yong-guk's instrumental.
"Wow, that's awesome," said Zelo.
"You see how the managers just love you, Sam?" Mike asked.
"No, they don't," I emphasised. "If they don't like the instrumental, we aren't going to use it. So it has to be perfect."
"But for them to agree its because they know Yong-guk is an awesome producer," said Himchan. "No doubt it will be lit."
"I agree with Himchan," said Zoey. "And besides, it's more of Sam's original, so they can't say no."
"Okay, we just need to focus on the instrumental and hopefully come up with the lyrics," I said.
"Well, you better work on those fast," said Yong-nam, who was now wide awake, but still laying on the floor. "You don't have much time."
"Okay," I said as I rubbed my hands together. "Toxins, get over here by the console, please."
"Okay," said Christine and Zoey as they both stood up from the couch and quickly came over.
"We will be here to help in anyway we can," said Young-jae.
"Thanks, guys," I said with a smile. I went over to sit back on my chair next to Yong-guk.
"Okay," said Yong-guk. "Let's continue where we ended, shall we?"