I woke up to my cat, Lex, landing heavily on my stomach.
"Urg, get off of me Lex" I groaned, shoving the small animal off of me and turning over.
He meowed agitatedly, taking a swipe at the hand that shoved him. I withdrew it quickly, but he still managed to knick my pinky.
"That's abusive, why should I put up with you, all you do is whack me and eat."
He pounced on me again, sinking his claws into my skin. I jumped, startled despite it being a frequent happening.
"God, okay I'm up! I'm up!" I screamed, sitting up and throwing my legs over the side of my bed.
As if pleased with his work, he jumped off the bed and sat next to his food bowl. He lifted a black paw delicately, cleaning it as if he hadn't just been a little shit.
I grabbed my phone groggily, rubbing my eyes with the other hand. It was only five in the morning, Lex had woken me up thirty minutes early. Which was fine, I would just use the time to water my plants and fix myself up nicely.
I opened the lock screen to be taken to my contacts, which had been left open from the day before. I forgot I didn't go on my phone again after the guys put their contacts into my phone. Which means I never texted them.
My guts twisted, a nauseated feeling dragging through them. The thought that they must be upset at me for not texting poked into my mind- I tried to shove it away. They probably just thought I was busy, nothing too crazy. I was busy, specifically working on their album, so why would they be mad?
I pulled up my messages and began entering their names into the "to" section. I noticed that they had added random emojis or things in parentheses. Most notably, Jay wrote "Jay (your coolest friend obviously)". I tilted my head in thought, I suppose he did have a natural aura of confidence and calmness that did make him very cool. It would probably be one of the first ways I would describe him, despite it being a bit overused.
'Hey guys, I'm sorry I didn't text last night, I was really busy. This is Elia btw.'
I gulped, a wave of anxiety taking a breath out of me. With one last read-through, I hit send.
I set my phone back down on my nightstand and wandered over to the kitchen. I was planning on grabbing my watering can to water the various plants hanging around my apartment.
Dark mahogany cabinets lined the walls and grey marble counters wrapped the corner of the room, an island of the same marble stood in the middle of the space. A few mahogany stools lined a side of the island, creating a stark contrast with the gray floorboards. Bronze light fixtures hung down from the ceiling, casting a cool light onto the area.
I picked up my little bronze water can from the corner of my counter and filled it up. As I did so, I thought about my day and the goals I hoped to accomplish. I wanted to get started on another song, hopefully, something a bit more upbeat to add layers to the album. It also needed to match the group concept, which was an interesting challenge. I had also been curious about the darker things in life, and a horror fanatic, but adding marketably into music was a thought I hadn't had.
I walked back to my room, watering the many hanging plants around the room. I gazed out the window as I did, looking out into the inky skies. The sun had not yet risen over the swarming city, but life had already begun. Store lights flashed, cars drove through the streets, and pedestrians made their way to and fro in their business attire.
I shook myself out of my thoughts, so as to not over water my plant. It hung lively from its planter, deep green leaves dripping down from the sides.
After finishing up with my plants I began getting ready. I walked into my closet and flipped on the light, examining the various outfit options I had. Most things I wore had an academia aspect to them, I enjoyed that they could be easily dressed up or down depending on the occasion. I decided on a pair of dark brown slacks, a white silk shirt with a corseted waist, and a green blazer. I threw on a belt and my boots to go with it and called it good. It would withstand the frigid air outside, and hide my anxiety sweat. Duel function.
I went to the bathroom to throw on some light makeup and style my unruly hair into something more manageable. All in all, this process took about ten minutes, and I was still early.
I slopped a can of wet food into Lex's bowl, to which he happily pounced on it, chowing down.
After a bit, I ended up putting my headphones in and heading out to work. Fantasia by Monsta X blasted into my ears, much to my enjoyment. I hadn't listened to them in a while.
I made my way down the apartment stairs to the lobby, my boots clomped down the stairs noisily. I was only a few flights so I wasn't too worried about looking like a sweaty mess by the time I reached the bottom.
I rounded the corner to turn into the lobby, immediately running into a hard surface. I stumbled back and rubbed my nose which had jammed straight into the object. It smelled strongly of expensive cologne.
Weirdly enough, the thing I ran into also stumbled, a surprised "Woah!" leaving them.
I had run into a person.
I looked up from pausing my music to see three pairs of eyes staring at me, all of them familiar.
The object I had run into had turned around, revealing itself to actually be Jay.
Sunghoon, Jay, and Jake all stood in front of me, looking a bit groggy and confused.
"You just committed a hit-and-run on me, Elia. It's like six in the morning." Jay lamented in English, dramatically folding his arms in front of his chest.
I laughed nervously, rubbing the skin on my thumb to calm my racing heart. My anxiety always seemed to spike around these guys, chaos seemed to follow wherever they went.
"I am so sorry. I'm not completely awake yet. I haven't had my coffee."
Jake and Jay laughed, Sunghoon laughed quickly after, looking around awkwardly. I realized he couldn't understand what we were saying. His eyes sprung questioningly between all of us.
"Sorry, Sunghoon." I started. "I haven't had coffee yet so I am out of it."
"Ohhh." He laughed throatily. "No worries, funny running into you here."
"Are you living here as well?" Jake asked.
I nodded, my suspicions that idols lived here were confirmed. That explained all of the noise.
"Are you guys on the way to work? Or do you just stand in the lobby for fun?"
Jake rolled his eyes, grinning and leaning lazily against the wall. "Yup we're just hanging out in the lobby at six in the morning for fun."
I threw up my hands defensively through the laughter. "Hey, I don't know what you guys do for fun. I'm not here to judge." I pushed back sarcastically.
"Touche."
"Would you like a ride to work?" Jay interjected, interrupting the banter. I clocked Jake and Sunghoon sharing a glance.
I clammed up a bit, not wanting to intrude upon whatever they were doing. I couldn't decipher the look that Jake and Sunghoon shared, was it a look of annoyance?
"I couldn't, I don't want to be a bother-"
"No, please join us. No sense in walking to work alone in the dark when we're going to the same place."
I was surprised by Sunghoon stepping in so adamantly, but it subsided my anxiety. He is usually so withdrawn, so I wasn't expecting him to say much either way.
"I... Yeah, I'll ride with you guys."
The others smiled at me, my anxiety melting away bit by bit. While my anxiety always spikes around them, it seems to disembark just as quickly.
We chatted for a couple more minutes before their manager made his way into the lobby, raising his eyebrows once he saw me, but mentioning nothing.
"Let's get going, van is here."
We walked outside in the bitingly cold air. Jake and Sunghoon rushed in, pushing past me slightly, claiming the back seats. Jay and I looked at each other, he shrugged, gesturing for me to slide in. I obliged, straightening my blazer, the fabric clung to the seat. Jay climbed in after my, plopping down in the seat next to mine.
I began buckling my seat belt as the van started making its way toward the Hybe building. My hand brushed Jay's as he reached for his, I moved back a bit to let him finish. Only after he did I attempted to buckle my own but struggled in the dark.
Noticing this, Jay grabbed my hand, making my heart leap into my throat. He gently took the buckle away from me, buckling it in one swift movement.
"I do this every morning, but it took me a while to get into the swing of things." He murmured lowly to me.
"Ah." Was all I could manage to squeak out, my heart taking up all the room in my throat rather than air.
I'd never really looked at Jay before, I realized. I had noticed the sharpness of his features, and how they soften when he smiles. However, I had never really looked.
But in the darkness of the van, I dared to look a bit longer, hoping the direction of my gaze would be hidden.
His profile was sharp but regal. Even as he lazily scrolled through his phone, head tilted down, he looked nothing short of what he was, an idol. The light reflecting off the high point of his cheekbones seemed to cut through the darkness, not a single flaw on his face.
Jay possessed what many of us wish we did, a constant photogenic face.
There were giggles from behind us, causing me to quickly look away from Jay. I barely caught as Jake and Sunghoon's heads dropped below the view of the seat.
"Aye, what's so funny?" Jay called.
"Sunghoon showed me a good meme."
"Send it to me."
"Uh no, we're gatekeeping it. Sorry."
As much as I wanted to laugh, I'm also almost entirely certain that they saw me staring at Jay.
Which was confirmed when I saw that I had a few texts. A few from the group chat with all of the boys and me, then one made separately with Sunghoon, Jake, and me.
I quickly opened my phone, my mouth felt dry.
Jake: 'What you doing up there?'
Sunghoon: 'You seem a little preoccupied'
I clenched my eyes shut, grasping my phone tightly in my hand.
'I was looking out the window at the shops, what do you mean?'
There were more giggles.
Sunghoon: 'That's bullshit. You're looking at stores, or are you looking at the fine specimen in front of you.'
Jake: 'I second that, but in a less weirdly worded way.'
'I'm not staring at him, it's too dark to even see in here.'
Jake: 'Yeah sure. I'm sure Jay has also just been looking at shops for the past 20 seconds you've been looking at your phone.'
Sunghoon: 'BAHHHHH.'
My eyes jolted up from the phone, only to meet Jay's dark ones. I wasn't sure if they were pulling me in, or if it was just sleepiness tugging at the edge of my eyes.