10 MONTHS (ENHYPEN FF)

18~meaning

HARUTO POV

Instantly, the boy's eyes enlarged at the mention of the girl's name. Without further question, he immediately let me into the dorm.

As I entered the dorm, the tangy smell of cheese entered my nostrils. The smell soon intensified as I followed Jake into the living room.

There on the couch sat a smiley boy binging on an impressively large tub of cheese balls. Staring at the boy shocked, he suddenly pointed the container to me.

"Want some?"

Feeling my love for snacks get the best of me as well as being too nervous to decline, I nodded and went over to sit next to the boy.

Munching on the cheese balls in silence, I heard Jake suddenly speak up.

"So?"

Puzzled, I looked at the boy blankly.

Oh right, Soojin.

Finally realising my reason coming here, I quickly dusted off the cheese powder from my hands and clasped my hands together.

"Yes. So uh Soojin. Not good." I spoke still a bit nervous being in a foreign area.

The boy raised his brow.

"What do you mean, 'not good'?"

Taking a breath I sank back in the chair and mentally gave myself a pep talk.

Come on Haruto.
Just tell him.
Who cares if Saeri finds out.
This is for Soojin.

Closing my eyes tightly, I finally let my words out.

"Soojin is being treated like trash. YG has constantly been abusing her mentally, financially and in terms of tiring her out, physically too. The poor girl has been holding up for so long and I'm getting worried that one day it will all be too much."

I noticed the boy start to tear up.

"That's why I need your help." I spoke hopefully.

I observed as the boy wiped a falling tear from his cheek before replying.

"Help? How can I possibly help?"

Reaching over to the tissue box on the table in front of me, I grabbed a few sheets before passing it to the teary eyed boy.

"Your company. Convince BigHit to let Soojin come back. If I can somehow manage to get YG to let Soojin go, she'll need a new company to go to. Even though we have our differences, I know BigHit will take care of her." I spoke explaining my plan.

I watched as the boy stared at the ground in thought, soaking his tears with the tissues.

"I don't know if I can...the staff at BigHit have already pretty much blacklisted her." he spoke honestly.

Blacklisted?
Who in their right mind would blacklist Soojin?

Getting annoyed at his words, I sighed again.

"Look, would you rather see Soojin leave the shithole she's in and get a chance at a better idol career or would you prefer to stay quiet and watch as YG slowly kills her?"

The boy sat back, confronted by what I said. Reading his expression, I decided to have a go at him again.

"I know if it was the other way around and it was you who was suffering, Soojin would convince those dickheads to take you back in a heartbeat."

Reaching my hand into the cheese ball tub held by the shook boy who I forgot was there, I took a handful before standing up and heading towards the door.

"I can't save Soojin without you so please, think about this carefully."

Leaving the speechless boy in thought on the couch, I soon reached the door. Turning around, I yelled one last thing.

"Thanks for the cheese balls!"

•••

SOOJIN POV

It had been a couple days after my talk with Junkyu and I had come up with a rough idea on what my next song was going to sound like. Instead of using the computer to produce beats, I went for an acoustic vibe.

Sitting in the practice room, I strummed my chosen chord progression, trying to figure out some lyrics.

To my despair, my mind was blank causing me to sprawl out onto the floor, still strumming the guitar.

All of a sudden I heard someone enter the room.

"Girl you've been playing those same chords the past hour."

Widening my eyes at the familiar voice I instantly sat up.

"Rose-unnie!"

The Blackpink member smiled as she came over to sit on the floor next to me.

"So I heard from Junkyu you're rebelling against the concept Saeri gave you and you're going for an acoustic approach this come back?" she asked leaning her body weight against her arms.

I nodded shyly as the way she explained it made me rethink my decisions.

"Well good on you! I wish I had the guts to do that at your age. I only learnt to decide my music for myself recently." the idol spoke honestly.

"My song 'On the Ground' was the first song in my 10 years of being a singer, that I fully wrote myself."

My mouth fell agape as I processed her words.

10 years?!
Holy shit that's a long ass time.

The girl chuckled at my reaction as she nodded emphasising that it was true.

"The rest of the time I've just been stuck doing performing whatever song was given to me by the company." she spoke reflecting on her past.

"But yeah now I've learnt to be true to myself and write songs that mean something to me, not the company or even the fans. Songs that are meaningful to me."

As I listened to each word of wisdom coming out of the girl's mouth. I felt myself thinking about my own song.

Meaningful to me?
What's something meaningful to me?

Letting my mind wander, I found myself coming back to the same name.

Jake.

Ugh why can't I get him out of my head.

Noticing my facial expression, Rose giggled.

"Looks like you've found something to write about."

Looking at her sheepishly, I spoke up back to her.

"Unnie, what if what's meaningful to me isn't necessarily the best thing to write about?" I asked in curiousity.

The girl hummed in thought before replying.

"If it's really what's meaningful to you, I don't think there's a best or worst thing you can write about. It just is what it is. Genuine and real. And that's what people these days want, the real you."

Hearing her words, I felt myself become a little at ease with my decision to write solely on my agenda.

Looking up at the older girl, I smiled before giving her a tight hug.

"Thank you unnie. I really can't thank you enough." I spoke into her ear.

I felt her smile on my shoulder before releasing herself from my hold

"You can thank me by making me proud at your next come back. I'll be looking forwards to seeing what's meaningful to you."

Soon, the idol left the room leaving me in thought on the floor.

Maybe I will go through with this.
I just hope Saeri will understand.