The Producer- an Enhypen fanfic

Chapter 21: I Don't Dance

Italian in Italics

***

With the first of the year come and gone, I felt the pressure of finishing the album building on me. It was constantly on my mind, an inescapable task that would affect my career permanently.

I had somewhat isolated myself in my office for the past couple of days, usually with the company of Blaine or whoever needed vocals recorded. I wandered out on a few occasions for creative board meetings and discussions with other producers working on the album.

I had the unfortunate privilege of leading the album creation, which meant I needed to talk to people much more than normal, especially with the deadline approaching swiftly.

"Blaine?"

He turned to me quickly, shoving a piece of gimbap haphazardly in his mouth. A stray curl also ended up in the bite, which he pulled out.

"What's up?"

"I just scrolled through the tracks on FL, did you do any pitch corrections on Drunk-Dazed?"

"Not yet! I was just finishing Mixed Up."

"Okay good, are we good on that end?"

Blaine nodded, brushing off loose grains of rice from his shirt. "Yes, yes. Just adjusting automation a bit. Mostly cleaning up fades and dynamics."

"Gotcha. Let me know if I need to adjust anything on my end."

An alert on my phone pulled me from my workflow, I mindlessly picked up my phone to check. I almost put it down once I realized it was a Snapchat tabloid, but did a double take once I saw my name.

'K-pop producer Elia Barlowe- who is she, and who is her boyfriend?'

"What!" I managed to sputter out.

Panic must have been evident in my voice, because Blaine was looking over my shoulder quicker than lightning could flash.

"Aha! I knew it, it's the lanky one right? I knew he was a little too into production!"

I ignored his yelling, despite the proximity to my ear. I could feel my heart in my throat as I clicked on the story.

'Elia Barlowe is an Italian music producer based in Korea, she has been involved in the making of many hits, from your favorite noisy NCT songs to power house hits from Stray Kids and Itzy.

Elia is currently under contract with Hybe, home to infamous groups such as BTS, TOMORROW by TOGETHER, Enhypen, and Seventeen. Not much is known about her current projects, but it is assumed that she will be working on Enhypen's upcoming album.

Not much is known about her dating history, but it is rumored she is currently seeing someone in the industry.'

"Shit." I screenshotted the message, immediately sending it to The Council groupchat. "I'm so boned. I don't know if this is speculation or someone leaked something."

Blaine took a moment to read over my shoulder, his hair tickling my ears due to his proximity. "I mean- it wasn't very specific though? In the industry it could mean so many things, it doesn't inherently mean an idol if that's your concern."

I turned to him, stress rising so high in me I could practically feel my left eye twitching. "Do you know anything about K-pop fans? They'll take anything and run with it, they're actually more effective than the FBI."

"Euh, yikes."

"Exactly," I sighed, leaning back into my chair, imagining the doom I was yet to face.