After the long day and emotionally exhausting meetings, Lee Yong finally got a chance to get off work. And it was past midnight when he got into his nanny van. Without a word, he leaned back, knowing his driver would take him home.
He ignored the buzzing phone and the beautifully dazzling view of the city outside throughout the journey. He leaned back and closed his eyes. But sleep was far away. He felt like shit for not being able to do his work properly like he used to.
Even though his band members were supportive, he did not want to talk about his inability to write music anymore with them. His band members looked up to him as a leader, and he did not want to disappoint them.
He tried to imagine a soothing tune and tried to frame the feel of it. But his mind was not cooperating. Lost in thoughts, he did not sleep or rest properly during the journey. He did not even notice the driver was not driving in the usual direction towards his apartment but taking a long route.
When the driver stopped the car, he got off it and left without even saying a bye to the driver. He did not notice the driver's concerned look and vigilance towards the surroundings.
Lee Yong did not even remember how he reached his apartment and had to shake himself out of a daze when he stood in front of his door. After entering the house, he changed his shoes to a house slipper before walking inside.
He stood before his study but could not even bring himself to enter his workstation. It was his sanctuary before, but now it gives him lots of stress. Shaking his head, he marched to the kitchen.
The cook had prepared food and kept it in the oven for him to heat it quickly. Even the timer was set, and he simply needed to press the start button. Every inch of the flat was cleaned and neatly organised as if he did not throw things everywhere last night in frustration. He could not believe his family would even put up with his unreasonable arrogance and stubbornness. Especially his younger brother, who always cleans up the mess after him these days.
He had always been wilful since childhood. Being the pampered first master of the Lee family, he always got what he wanted.
Even when he fought with his family and moved out to pursue the dream, they supported whatever he wanted subtly. He knew his band received such popularity since its debut because his family pulled strings behind the scene.
If only they could miraculously make him write music again, he was sure they would do it. With a sigh, he turned on the oven and went to get fresh.
Standing under the curtain of the shower, he thought about the eventful long day. The youngest member of the band, 'Baby Love' of the fans, was preparing to release a solo album, and he was busy helping his band's youngest with retuning some of the music.
The 'Forever First Love' album would be a hit and might receive many awards this year. Each music for the album was too good. He was happy for his maknae, but he could not shake off the feeling that he did not write the music for a year.
He could not write anything since his last solo album, which was a huge hit. But it seems like he simply lost his creativity afterwards. Or so he assumed it.
After taking a long hot shower, he finally felt refreshed. He half-dried himself and lost patience to dry his hair when his stomach started to grumble. He did not have lunch as they were all busy with work. Now it was past midnight, and he was starving.
He did not even tie his black robe properly as he walked into the kitchen. He sighed in relief when he smelt chicken lasagna. He knew it was not the cook who made it but his mother from the smell itself.
Smiling fondly, he took the food out and started to gobble it even though it was piping hot.
As much as Lee Yong wanted to call his mother and thank her for food, he stopped himself from calling her when he noticed the time. So he took the picture with the food and sent it to his mother.
It had been so long since he met his family. Even when he was busy during his trainee days, he met his mom at least once every ten days. But since he hit the block, he avoided meeting her out of shame. After all, she was the only one who supported his dream from the beginning.
There were a couple of messages from his younger brother Lee Whan which he ignored as usual. He opened the group chat he was part of with other bandleaders, creative directors, vice president and president of the company. There were two new messages.
The president never texted in the group, while the vice-president often shared the important announcement before it was officially informed to everyone in the company.
"We have hired a new choreographer. He will be exclusively in charge of dance for two bands at the most, but other bandleaders and choreographers can reach out to him if you guys need assistance. An official announcement will be released when we finalise the details."
"Thank you, president, for securing such an outstanding choreographer for us."
The meaning was clear. Treat the new choreographer respectfully, and he gets to call shots when it comes to dancing.
The laid back irresponsible president selected the choreographer, and Lee Yong already had an opinion about the choreographer. He was sure another talentless person had joined their company using the connection.
'No wonder the company is facing lots of issues recently.' Lee Yong lost his appetite.
He walked away to the study without completing the dinner, and did not even bother to put the dishes away. He sat in front of the window with a beautiful view and tried to write something. Sitting with the guitar, he tried to strum the tunes on it, but he could not form anything.
With anger, he tossed the guitar away. Thankfully it fell on the couch and not on the wall or floor.
He simply sat there looking at the view, not able to process why he felt stuck and could not write music anymore.
Finally, he walked back to his bedroom at 4 am and fell on the bed. It chimed when he put his phone to charge, indicating a new message. His little brother sent a new message, but he was not in the mood to listen to his little brother talk about the possible scandal, which was possibly created by some idiots or rivals.
Keeping the phone away, he chose to sleep. Thankfully he did not have to go to the company till the afternoon to help 'Baby Love' with retuning the music.