ARROGANCE | m.yg

t h i r t y f o u r - y o o n g i

   "Put an 'L' on it, hyung," Namjoon says to me from the other side of the sound booth. "The word is 'lips.'"

   I groan inwardly, damning the entirety of the English language, and then attempt the line again. All of us have been at this for about three hours now, recording take after take of vocals for our upcoming title track, Blood Sweat & Tears. As excited as I am to be back to work and focusing on new music, it's had its toll on me. We've been in the works for about a month now, and everything has been incredibly hectic for everyone. I've been working my ass off helping write and produce all the other members' solo tracks for this new album, but in addition to that, my name has been plastered all over the place lately because of my recent change in relationship status. People have been constantly dissecting every single thing I say or do, and tons of netizens or just everyday fans have chewed me out for falling in love. It's been a rough road for me, but I can only imagine how much of a shock it must be for Rin.

   I finish up a few more takes of my lines and then exit the booth, feeling satisfied. From there, I take the headphones from Namjoon and beckon Seokjin inside to do his lines. After about half an hour of recording, our eldest is finally done with his parts of the title track. With Jungkook and me monitoring all of his work, he comes out of the booth feeling confident that it will come together well. We had started recording today with the maknae and moved up in age, so now that Jin's done we can head back to the dorm. I'm excited to go home and brainstorm some more concepts for my short film and maybe get some rough sketches down, so I promptly herd everyone out of the studio the second Seokjin is finished. We say our thanks to our producer and then jump in the van to head home.

   The drive doesn't take all that long, given that the dorm is rather close to the recording studio. Manager-nim bids us goodnight at the back door and then drives away, leaving us to enter the apartment complex to our humble abode.

   "I can't believe how well all of that turned out today," Jimin says, contentment in his voice. We all file into the elevator and Jungkook hits the button for our floor.

   "Yeah, I'm glad, too," Taehyung responds. "It's crazy to finally have all of the group tracks done."

   "Just solo work now, huh?" Hoseok questions, seemingly in disbelief. "It's crazy that we've come this far, isn't it?"

   I nod, humming in accordance.

   "Whose do you think is going to be the best?" Jimin asks.

   "Mine," says Namjoon, Hoseok, Jungkook, and Taehyung, all at the same time. Laughter ensues from the group as the elevator doors open and Jin speaks timidly.

   "I'm worried about my solo track, to be honest," he manages, looking down at his shoes as we walk.

   "Why?" Jimin questions. "You're talented— it's going to turn out great."

   "I'm just nervous that it won't compare to all of yours," he says cautiously. I put my hands on his shoulders, shaking him around lightly.

   "Kim— Seok— Jin—" I begin, shaking him once with each syllable. "You are talented— and smart— and incredible— and your solo track is going to be so beautiful that we will all be left wallowing in our own tears and basking in your glory. You have nothing to be worried about."

   "Okay, okay— stop shaking me," he laughs, his mood brightening. "Thank you, Yoongi."

   "I'm here to be a voice of reason, right?" I manage, laughing. "What else am I good for?"

   "Nothing, probably," Jimin pipes up as he unlocks the door to our apartment. He pushes the door open and speaks with a sly tone as he enters the living room. "God knows what Rin sees in you."