Some things are hidden in late-night conversations, unfinished songs, saved seats and messages that are deleted before they're sent.
SOLA knows how to turn feelings into music.
Minghao knows how to keep his feelings to himself.
Somewhere between the two, they begin to understand that not everything needs to be said to be heard.
Between the lines, they find each other.
producer!reader Ć idol!minghao
genre: slow burn, friends to lovers, idol Ć producer, workplace romance, secret relationship, mutual pining, found family/friendship
SOLA hadnāt even made it home before her phone started buzzing
Sheād barely dropped her bag by the door when another notification appeared
You were added to a group chat.
S.Coups renamed the group chat SVT x SOLA
She stared at the screen.
Oh no.
There were already forty-seven unread messages.
She hadnāt even taken her shoes off.
SVT x SOLA
Seungkwan
EVERYONE BEHAVE
Jeonghan
Why are you saying that like you're in charge?
Seungkwan
Because someone has to be
Hoshi
HORANGHAE šÆ
SOLA
There it is again.
Hoshi
YOU REMEMBER!!
The 8
Unfortunately.
Hoshi
betrayal.
DK
WELCOME SOLA!!!!!
SOLA
Thank you š
DK
SHE LAUGHED
Jeonghan
Keep her.
Seungkwan
Wait, I need to save your number properly. I still have you as SOLA.
SOLA
What's wrong with SOLA?
Seungkwan
Thats your producer name, isn't it?
SOLA
...
Yeah?
Seungkwan
So what's your actual name?
SOLA
Classified.
Seungkwan
...
You're joking
SOLA
Am I?
Jeonghan
I like her
Hoshi
WE HAVE A MYSTERY
Mingyu
Wait, seriously?
SOLA
Seriously.
DK
But what do we call you?
SOLA
SOLA??
Seungkwan
This is going to bother me.
SOLA
I know :)
Joshua
Don't mind them
SOLA
I think it's a little late for that š
Joshua
Fair point.
S.Coups
All jokes aside
We're glad to have you working with us
SOLA
Thank you
I'm really looking forward to it :)
Jun
If you need anything, just let us know
SOLA
Thank you, Jun!
Jun
š
Hoshi
YOU CAN ASK ME ANYTHING
SOLA
I'm slightly concerned by that offer
Hoshi
š
Mingyu
That's probably wise
Dino
On a completely unrelated note
Does anyone know what we're eating tomorrow?
Seungkwan
We literally have a schedule
Dino
That's not what I asked
DK
Pizza!!
Mingyu
Chicken
Jun
Chicken
Hoshi
Chicken
DK
:((
Vernon
I'm fine with anything
Jeonghan
Nobody asked you
Vernon
Damn okay
Mingyu
SOLA what do you want?
SOLA
Why am I being consulted š
Seungkwan
Because you're part of the studio too
SOLA
I've not even been here a day
Jeonghan
That's plenty
SOLA
Apparently
@ tigeragenda
HORANGHAE šÆ
@ boohoo_kwan
someone has been in the group chat for ONE DAY and has already developed more patience than me
@ jeonghanism
she seems nice
determined find her private account
@ mingyusays
chicken tomorrow?
ā³ @ justhansol
Ā I thought we were getting pizza
@ 8archive
people should stop shouting in professional environments
@ tigeragenda
SHE KNOWS ABOUTTHE TIGER šÆ
ā³ @ 8archive
unfortunately yes
@ sola.wav
first day working with seventeen
survived
barely š
@ sola.wav
meeting thirteen people at once should be illegal actually
@ sola.wav
one of them thinks he's a tiger?
@ sola.wav
woozi is terrifyingly good at his job
@ sola.wav
actually everyone is terrifyingly good at their jobs
You have 1 new message from Woozi
Woozi
I sent you the updated demo
SOLA
Got it
I'll listen to it tonight
Woozi
No rush
SOLA
You're saying that like you don't already have another version ready
Woozi
...
Maybe
SOLA
I knew it
Woozi
Just listen to this version
And tell me if I'm wrong
SOLA
You trust me that much?
Woozi
I wouldn't have asked you to work on the album if I didn't
You have 47 new messages from SVT x SOLA
SVT x SOLA
SOLA
I leave for 10 mins and there are 47 messages
Vernon
You missed nothing
SOLA
That's concerning
Seungkwan
We had a serious discussion
SOLA
About?
Seungkwan
Hoshi's tiger agenda
SOLA
I don't want to know.
Hoshi
YOU NEED TO KNOW
The 8
She really doesn't
SOLA
Thank you, Minghao
The 8
You're welcome
You have 1 new message from The 8
The 8
Did Woozi send you the new demo?
SOLA
Yeah, just listening to it now
The 8
What do you think?
SOLA
I like it
I think the second verse works better now
The 8
Me too
SOLA
You sound surprised
The 8
I'm surprised you agree with me
SOLA
Why?
The 8
You seem like you have strong opinions
SOLA
I do
The 8
I noticed
By midnight, the group chat had finally gone quiet.
SOLA set her phone down and stared at the ceiling.
Sheād expected the first day to feel like work
Instead, sheād spent the evening discussing food with thirteen people sheād met that morning, listening to Wooziās latest version of a song and somehow ending up in a private conversation with Minghao about the arrangement.
She smiled.
They were strange.
Loud.
Completely incapable of staying on topic.
And somehow, she already knew she was going to get used to them.
Her phone buzzed once more.
The 8
Goodnight, SOLA
SOLA
Goodnight, Minghao :)
a/n: hello! my posting schedule has finally been decided! new chapters will be posted every saturday at 16:00 BST on both Tumblr and wattpad. if anyone wants to read it on wattpad instead, you can clikc this link here
Some things are hidden in late-night conversations, unfinished songs, saved seats and messages that are deleted before they're sent.
SOLA knows how to turn feelings into music.
Minghao knows how to keep his feelings to himself.
Somewhere between the two, they begin to understand that not everything needs to be said to be heard.
Between the lines, they find each other.
producer!reader Ć idol!minghao
genre: slow burn, friends to lovers, idol Ć producer, workplace romance, secret relationship, mutual pining, found family/friendship
There were thirteen people in the room.
And, somehow, the first thing SOLA noticed was that none of them looked remotely concerned about whatever sheād just heard.
The man standing on the other side looked familiar. Of course he did. Sheād spent the last week looking at photographs of all thirteen members.
Supposedly for research.
Definitely not because sheād been nervous.
āYou must be SOLAā
She nodded, suddenly aware of how tightly she was gripping the strap of her bag.
āYeah. Hi.ā
He smiled and stepped aside to let her in.
āIām Seungcheol. Itās nice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
āCome in. Everyoneās already here.ā
Somehow, that last sentence made her more nervous than anything else heād said.
She stepped inside.
The first thing she noticed was the noise.
The second was that there were, in fact, thirteen people.
Sheād known there would be thirteen.
Obviously.
Sheād spent the past week learning names, positions, credits and discographies.
Knowing there would be thirteen people in the room and actually seeing thirteen people in the room were two very different things.
Someone was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a coffee balanced dangerously close to their laptop.
Two others were arguing over something she couldnāt quite hear.
One was scrolling through his phone.
Another looked up and immediately smiled at her.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, she recognised the voice from before.
Horanghae.
Great.
Sheād been inside for approximately five seconds and already knew this was going to be interesting.
The first person to approach her was one she recognised immediately.
āIām Jeonghan.ā
āHi. Nice to meet you.ā
āLikewiseā
His smile was perfectly innocent.
SOLA had just enough time to return it before he glanced over his shoulder at the others.
āDonāt worry. Theyāre worse than they look.ā
Someone across the room protested.
āYa!ā
Jeonghanās smile widened.
SOLA wasnāt entirely sure whether he was joking.
She suspected he wasnāt.
The next member offered her a warm smile and a small wave.
āJoshua. Itās nice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
He was polite. Calm. Normal.
SOLA felt herself relax.
Finally.
Then Jeonghan called from behind him.
āDonāt trust him.ā
Joshua whipped around.
āWhy?ā
āI donāt know. Just felt like saying it.ā
Joshua sighed turning back to SOLA
āWelcome to the group.ā
SOLA smiled.
Okay, Maybe theyāre all a little strange.
The next member stepped forward with an easy smile.
āIām Jun.ā
SOLA recognised him immediately, although sheād spent the last week reminding herself not to rely too heavily on photographs.
āHi. Itās nice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
He paused for a second, glancing around the room as though checking whether there was something else he was supposed to say.
Apparently deciding there wasnāt, he simply nodded and stepped aside.
SOLA smiled to herself.
There was something endearing about how uncomplicated that interaction had been.
Then, he turned back.
āActually āā
She looked over.
āIf you need anything, you can ask me.ā
āThank you.ā
He nodded again, apparently satisfied, before returning to his seat.
SOLA watched him go.
Okay. Jun is nice.
She was beginning to suspect that might be the most useful piece of information sheād learned all morning.
The next introduction came with considerably more energy.
āHoshi!ā
SOLA blinked.
She recognised him immediately.
āYouāre the tiger.ā
The room went silent.
Hoshiās mouth fell open.
āTheĀ tiger?ā
SOLA realised her mistake approximately half a second too late
āIāā
āShe knows!ā
He turned towards the others, delighted.
āShe knows about the tiger!ā
āI heard you before when I was outside,ā SOLA explained
āYou heard me?ā
āVery clearly.ā
Someone laughed.
SOLA couldnāt help smiling
Maybe this wasnāt going to be as intimidating as sheād thought.
āIām Dokyeom!ā
SOLA looked up just in time to see a bright smile heading towards her.
He held out his hand.
āItās really nice to meet you. Weāre all excited to work with you,ā
āThank you. Iām excited too.ā
āAre you nervous?ā
She hesitated.
āA little.ā
āDonāt be!ā
His enthusiasm was so immediate that she laughed.
āIāll try.ā
āGood.ā
He nodded as though heād solved the problem before wandering back to his seat.
SOLA watched him go.
Sunshine.
Sheād only known him for thirty seconds, but the word seemed appropriate.
āIām Mingyu.ā
SOLA turned towards the voice and was met with a chest.
She looked up.
And then looked up a little further.
Sheād known he was tall.
She had eyes. Sheād seen photographs.
Somehow, the photographs had failed to communicate the full scale of the situation.
āYouāre very tall.ā
There was a brief silence.
Mingyu laughed.
āThatās usually peopleās first impression.ā
āSorry.ā
āItās okay. Iāve accepted my fate.ā
SOLA smiled.
āGood.ā
Wonwoo was quieter than the previous members, offering her a simple nod
āNice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
He smiled briefly before returning to his seat.
There was something oddly reassuring about him.
After the volume of the last few introductions, she found herself appreciating the quiet.
Vernon gave her a small wave.
āIām Vernon.ā
āHi.ā
āHi.ā
There was a pause.
Neither seemed particularly bothered by it,
SOLA nodded.
āCool.ā
āCool.ā
And somehow, that was the entire conversation.
As he walked away, she wondered if sheād just made a friend or had the worldās shortest interaction.
Probably both.
By the time she reached Seungkwan, SOLA had stopped trying to remember who sheād already met.
āIām Seungkwan.ā
āHi.ā
He studied her for a moment.
āAre you nervous?ā
She laughed.
āIs it that obvious?ā
āA little.ā
āGreat.ā
āDonāt worry. Youāll get used to us.ā
He gestured around the room..
āEventually.ā
From somewhere behind him, Jeonghan called:
āThatās not very reassuring.ā
āI was being honest!ā
SOLA laughed again.
She was beginning to understand the dynamic.
They were loud.
They interrupted each other.
Nobody seemed capable of letting anyone else finish a sentence.
And yet, underneath it all, there was something warm.
Familiar.
Like theyād been doing this for years.
āMinghao.ā
SOLA turned.
He was sitting slightly apart from the others, one arm resting across the back of his chair.
He gave her a small smile.
āNice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
That was it.
No dramatic introduction.
No attempt to make her laugh.
No teasing.
Somehow, she found herself remembering him anyway.
Maybe it was because heād actually looked at her when heād spoken.
Or maybe it was because, after the chaos of the last ten minutes, quiet felt noticeable.
āIām Dino.ā
The youngest member stepped forward, looking considerably more composed than SOLA expected.
āNice to meet you.ā
āYou too.ā
āIām the youngest, by the way.ā
SOLA smiled.
āI figured.ā
He looked offended.
āWhy?ā
āI dont know. You have youngest-member energy.ā
Someone laughed.
Dino shook his head.
āWhatās that supposed to mean?ā
SOLA shrugged.
āIām not sure yet.ā
āExactly.ā
He walked away looking mildly betrayed.
āSOLA.ā
She turned towards the voice.
Woozi.
Sheād worked with him before, although only remotely. Their conversations had mostly consisted of emails, voice notes and increasingly long phone calls about arrangements.
He gave her a short nod, his eyes dropping to the laptop tucked under her arm.
āDid you bring the demos?ā
āYeah. Iāve got the versions A&R sent over, plus a few ideas I started working on.ā
That seemed to get his attention.
āAlready?ā
āI had a few thoughts.ā
āCan I hear them?ā
She hesitated for half a second.
āNow?ā
āIf you donāt mind.ā
There was something about the way he asked that made her realise this wasnāt small talk.
He genuinely wanted to know what sheād brought.
SOLA opened her laptop and pulled up the first demo.
āI wasnāt sure if youād agree with this,ā she admitted, ābut i thought the second verse could use a little more space.ā
Woozi leaned closer to listen.
The room gradually quietened around them.
When the demo finished, he didnāt immediately say anything.
SOLA tried not to stare at him.
Then, he nodded.
āI like it.ā
She exhaled.
āReally?ā
āYeah.ā
He pointed towards the screen
āWe could pull the instrumentation back here and let the vocals breathe a little more.ā
SOLA looked at the waveform.
āThatās what I was thinking.ā
Woozi glanced at her.
āThen lets try it.ā
She smiled.
For the first time since sheād walked through the door, she forgot about the fact that she was sitting in a room with thirteen members of SEVENTEEN.
This was familiar.
This was what she knew.
Music.
Ideas.
Taking something that wasnāt quite right and figuring out why.
They spent the next few minutes going back and forth over the demo, stopping every so often to make a note or change something.
It felt easy.
Natural.
And when Woozi finally leaned back in his chair, he nodded towards the laptop.
āI think weāre going to be working together a lot.ā
Some things are hidden in late-night conversations, unfinished songs, saved seats and messages that are deleted before they're sent.
SOLA knows how to turn feelings into music.
Minghao knows how to keep his feelings to himself.
Somewhere between the two, they begin to understand that not everything needs to be said to be heard.
Between the lines, they find each other.
producer!reader Ć idol!minghao
genre: slow burn, friends to lovers, idol Ć producer, workplace romance, secret relationship, mutual pining, found family/friendship
a/n: hello!
this is probably going to flop lol... but i had an idea and just wanted to get it down. this will probably be quite a long story... i have 20 chapters planned so far!
It will also take me forever to get it all down so the full story might take months depending on what life throws at me (going into final year of uni so will be very busy).
anyways... let me know if you want to be tagged when i decide to post this and whether anyone would actually want to read it!
~š āØ
SOLA had probably reread that one email about a hundred times in the last five days, yet somehow the words hadnāt quite sunk in.
SEVENTEEN
Sheād worked with plenty of artists before. this wasnt supposed to be different.
It was just another project.
Another album.
Another group of people sheād have to convince that her ideas werenāt terrible.
Her phone buzzed against the desk.
Minji ā A&R
Minji:Ā Hi SOLA! Just confirming that your first day at the HYBE studios will be tomorrow at 10am.
Just a reminder that you will be working primarily with the members of SEVENTEEN on their upcoming album.
Iāll send over your schedule shortly
SOLA:Ā Hi Minji! Got it, thank you :) Iāll be there tomorrow at 10. Iām looking forward to it ā although I have to admit Iām a little nervous
Minji:Ā Donāt be nervous! Theyāre very easy to work with
Minji:Ā Mostly š
SOLA:Ā Thatās a suspiciously unconvincing reassuranceā¦
Minji:Ā Iāll introduce you to the members when you arrive tomorrow.
For now, donāt worry about preparing anything specific - just bring your notes and weāll take it from there.
SOLA read the message twice before locking her phone
Tomorrow
She glanced at the notes scattered across her desk
She knew their music. She knew their discography. She knew what kind of sound the company wanted
What she didnt know was them
Thirteen people she'd never met
Thirteen people sheād somehow have to convince to trust her with their music
She exhaled slowly
āItās fine.ā
By seven that evening, SOLA had managed to convince herself that she wasnt nervous.
This was a lie.
Her laptop sat open on the kitchen table, the same spreadsheet sheād been staring at for the past half hour occupying most of the screen. Track names, deadlines, session times, notes from A&R - everything was neatly organised.
Her notes, however, were not.
These were pages scattered across the table, some covered in lyrics, others filled with half-finished ideas and increasingly illegible handwriting.
She picked up one of the pages.
SEVENTEEN - new album
Underneath it, sheād written:
Donāt embarrass yourself
SOLA stared at it.
āVery professional.ā
She crossed it out.
Her phone buzzed beside her.
Minji ā A&R
Minji:Ā Just checking youāve got everything for tomorrow?
SOLA:Ā Yep! Schedule, demos, notes. I think Iām ready.
Minji:Ā Good. And donāt overthink it :)
SOLA smiled faintly
SOLA:Ā I am absolutely not overthinking it.
Minji:Ā Youāre going to be fine
She put her phone down.
Three seconds later, she picked it back up.
She opened the folder of demos again.
Sheād been listening to their music religiously for the past week. She knew their discography. She knew their sound. She knew which members tended to take the lead on certain kinds of tracks, who liked to experiment, who preferred to keep things familiar.
Knowing all that was one thing,
Sitting in a room with thirteen of them tomorrow was another.
SOLA closed the laptop
Enough.
She stood, gathering the papers into a pile before immediately separating them again because sheād put them in the wrong order.
āTomorrow.ā she muttered.
She checked the time.
9:47 pm.
She should sleep.
Instead, she opened the folder one last time.
Just to listen to one more demo...
Definitely just one more.
THE NEXT MORNING
SOLA stood outside the studio doors at 9:56 a.m., staring at her reflection in the glass
She checked her hair
Checked her outfit
Checked her phone
9:56.
Four minutes early.
Perfect.
She took a breath and reached for the door.
From inside, she could already hear someone shouting.
āHORANGHAE!ā
SOLA stopped.
ā¦
She had absolutely no idea what she'd just walked into.
I've been super busy with uni work and was also just completely unmotivated to make any posts but I'm feeling inspired at the moment so this will probably be a few posts only before I am unmotivated again š. My ult atm is seventeen, so I will mainly be posting about them!!!
I am posting a the8 instagram stories tomorrow and probably something else so stay tuned!
If anyone wants to request anything (specifically svt or ateez) feel free to message me!! :))
a/n: hey guys!! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting. uni has been so hectic lately and I've been all over the place. now we're on Christmas break i'm hoping to get a lot of this series posted but I am quite busy so i'll try my best. thank you so much for supporting this series! ~š