BETWEEN THE NOTES — SEMI EITA x GN!READER
synopsis: for as long as you can remember, you and Semi Eita have always hated each other—but a couple of tender glances and one too many bottles of beer later, you find out that maybe you were looking at it the wrong way this whole time.
genre: fluff, (kinda) enemies to lovers, musician!au, mutual pining but they’re both idiots, jealousy, etc.
warnings: alcohol + intoxication (nothing bad happens), slight suggestive themes, vulgar language, kinda fast paced?
wc: ~2.5k
to: @archivednikes happy birthday shawdy <3
special thanks to: @rintaroll for beta-ing & telling me a lil bit about how bands work and stuff bc idk shit lol :,)
“Semi, get your ass moving,” you huff. “You’re gonna make me late.”
He gives you a smug look and raises a slitted eyebrow. “Did something crawl up your ass and died? What’s up with you?”
You exhale heavily through your nose and stare at him, unimpressed.
“We gotta catch the afternoon train if you wanna reach the venue in time for our gig. This is a really good opportunity for me, don’t you dare mess it up.” you say, gathering the last of your things for the trip.
There is a tingling sensation crawling down your spine, as if someone is staring at you. You look over your shoulder curiously, opening your mouth to utter another snarky remark to get your partner to stop gawking around and get ready.
But the intensity behind his gaze caught you by surprise.
Those hazel eyes of his—ones that are usually sharp and cold—held a sort of softness in them as he looks at you. When you caught him staring, his gaze did not falter one bit.
You couldn’t stop your eyes from traveling down the perfect slope of his nose, continuing down to his pouty lips.
As much as you hate him, you can’t deny that Semi Eita is an attractive man. Heck, even the word attractive isn’t enough to express how infuriatingly hot he is.
Your gaze stays on his lips for a second too long. Have they always looked this soft and inviting?
The dry cough from the opposite side of the room is the only thing that managed to break you out of this trance. Semi Eita’s trance.
Your manager stands by the door, tapping her foot on the wooden tiles impatiently.
“Now, lovebirds,” she narrows her eyes, “Save the PDA for tonight, yeah? We’ve got a schedule to follow.”
You roll your eyes at her, cheeks uncomfortably warm. And just like that, the strange yet tender moment you shared with Semi dissipated into thin air.
。。。
You don’t know if you should take pity on the gray-haired singer or if you should laugh at him.
Currently, Semi’s head is bowed down in shame as he gets an earful from his manager in the middle of a crowded train.
You see, the four of you should’ve arrived at the venue by now. Both your managers are very strict about schedules, and they planned to arrive at the bar two hours before the agreed time.
Thankfully, his bandmates have been a little more punctual than him and have successfully boarded the 4pm train. But Mr. Popular right here just had to stop every few minutes to take pictures with every single fan he met on the way to the station.
“It’s half past five now,” his manager whisper-shouts, “Do you know what that means?”
Semi tries to give her an awkward smile to calm her down. It doesn’t work.
“It’s rush hour! What if we won’t reach the bar in time? It could ruin both your careers, do you know that?” she glares at Semi once again, but there is less bite in her voice now.
“I’m sorry,” Semi starts, plastering a charming smile on his face, “I only wanted to be nice to the fans. Wouldn’t make too good of an impression if I just ignored them, no?”
His manager sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, exasperated. She motions for Semi to stop talking with a wave of her hand.
The singer grins, and out of the corner of your eyes, you can sense his sharp gaze on you once more.
You try to ignore it.
。。。
When your group reaches the bar, Semi’s bandmates are almost done preparing themselves for the gig.
The bar is dimly lit and cool, the multitudes of warm overhead lighting being the only source of light in the room. It’s not too busy tonight, you observe. Some people still donned their work clothes, perhaps rushing over to the bar right after a long day at work—mingling around with friends to let loose for a little and enjoy themselves.
“Dude, where were you?” Aito asks, eyebrows turned downwards in a frown.
Semi pats the guitarist on the side of his head, “Relax, we’ve got plenty of time to prepare.”
Aito rolls his eyes, completely used to his bandmate’s antics.
“Whatever,” he huffs. “By the way, are we gonna have a little after party later?”
“Uh,” Semi’s eyes flicker towards you for one second, then back to Aito, “I dunno man, might be too tired to get wasted tonight.”
The guitarist narrows his eyes. He didn’t miss the way Semi’s gaze lingered on you.
“Y/N,” Aito smirks. “You coming to the after party?”
You were listening to their conversation this whole time, finding the whole exchange quite amusing.
“Eh, I don’t see why not,” you smile sweetly, “It’s gonna be even better now that this dude isn’t coming anyways.” You pointed your thumb at the vocalist.
From where he’s standing, you hear Semi scoff.
“Y’know what?” he sneers, “On second thought, I am going. How does that make you feel, huh?”
You shrug, feigning indifference.
“I literally do not care.”
“Piss off.”
Aito throws his head back in laughter, shaking his head as he walks away from the scene, muttering about people being too clueless and dense for their own damn good.
You adjusted your equipment bag on your shoulder, exhaling loudly to try and calm your heart down.
。。。
It is in moments like these that you remember why you decided to go forth with this career path, no matter how rocky it may be.
Adrenaline courses through your veins as you sing the lyrics of you and Semi’s song; every ounce of the jittery nerves you had just a few moments ago long gone.
There’s nobody else in this world that can ever take your place
Some of the customers are listening intently, others just nodding along to the song, and the rest not even listening at all.
You could hear your heartbeat thumping loudly against your chest, the sweat trickling down your forehead and into your eyes making it harder for you to see the crowd.
And when the day’s all done and dusted, all I ever need is to be in your arms again
You whip your head towards Semi, just like the countless times you rehearsed this song together.
“It shows chemistry,” your manager had said, “play it up for the crowd, will ya?”
The butterflies in your stomach flutters about restlessly when you notice that Semi has been looking at you this whole time.
His eyes—sharp and intense—held your gaze, unabashed. Steady. Sure.
Will you stay tonight? ‘Cause baby you’re all that I need, and you’re all that I want.
And in that moment, with your eyes locked on each other, the world seems to stop.
Nothing else matters, Semi’s lopsided smile says, only you.
。。。
The performance flew by in the blink of an eye, and it’s a little past midnight now. As promised, your managers held a little after party in the shared lounge of your penthouse suite.
It’s not as fancy as it sounds, you smile to yourself. There are suspicious stains on the gray carpet, and the furniture smells vaguely of cigarette smoke and sweat.
Bottles of beers have already littered the floor and glass table, and you haven’t even started drinking.
“Duuuude,” Yuuto slurs, “Why are ya so tense for?”
The bassist points at you and Semi, eyelids drooping as he tries his best to keep them open.
“C’mon guys,” Aito clasps his shoulders and massages them roughly, “Relax a little, we did amazing tonight.”
Semi shrugs his friend’s hands away, annoyed. He snatches an unopened bottle of beer from the cooler and opens the cap with his teeth.
You gulp. He hands you the bottle wordlessly before grabbing another one for himself, chugging it down quickly. You mirror his actions, hoping that the alcohol can dull the annoying fluttering in your stomach that refuses to leave ever since the two of you shared that intimate moment on stage.
For fuck’s sake, what’s going on with me?
Your trick works, in a way. Your stomach feels pleasantly warm now, and your breathing has finally evened out. Another unopened bottle of beer lays invitingly on the couch and you reach for it, opting for a bottle opener instead of doing it like Semi.
“Bro,” Yuuto grins at the singer, drool threatening to leave the corner of his mouth, “Did’ya see that blonde chick in the front row? She was hardcore eye-fucking you dude.”
“Ah,” Semi takes another swig of his beer, a cute flush blossoming in his cheeks.
Wait, what. Cute?
“She gave me her number when we were gathering up our stuff.” He runs his hand through his hair.
“You gonna hit her up or what?” Aito teases, smirking.
The singer shrugs, “Maybe, I dunno.”
Your breath hitches, and Aito’s smirk widens. You raise your eyebrows at him, silently telling him to fuck off.
“Where’s Kai?” you hear Semi ask. Come to think of it, you haven’t seen the drummer since after the show was over.
“Oh,” the guitarist laughs, “Fucker left us for some girl he saw in the bar. Might see him tomorrow morning, might not. Who knows?”
The vocalist hums and walks over to where you’re sitting, plopping down on the old couch.
“The managers?” Semi casually drapes his arm on the back of the sofa. You feel yourself tensing as your heart races uncontrollably, and the singer looks over at you with an unreadable expression on his face.
Aito scratches the back of his neck, quickly losing interest in the conversation.
“They decided to sleep in early. Long day, I guess.”
Semi nods and rests his head on the top of the couch, exposing his defined jawline. His eyelashes look so pretty from this angle, they’re long and fluttery and they almost…
Huh?
“Eita, are you gonna hit that blonde girl up or nah?” Aito provokes, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
You clench your teeth and reach for yet another bottle—your fourth one this past hour. Or fifth. You don’t bother counting. Semi looks over at you again, but this time his eyes holds a sort of concern in them. You scoff to yourself.
“Uh,” the singer looks at his friend weirdly, “Why are you so insistent on this? I did say maybe didn’t I?”
Aito laughs. You almost recoil in disgust.
“Oh nothing,” he chuckles, “It’s just that she’s really hot and she’s your type so—”
You stand up abruptly, knocking over some empty beer bottles by accident. The regret is immediate. You can feel the acid in your stomach traveling up your esophagus, tickling the back of your throat.
Semi quickly stands up when you clasp a hand over your mouth, trying your best to hold it together.
“Shit,” he mutters, “You okay?”
He rubs tiny circles on the small of your back, an action that’s supposed to be soothing but instead causes tingles to run up and down your spine. You shiver.
Another wave of nausea hits before you could respond, causing your knees to almost give out under you.
“Whoa there, angel,” Semi wraps his arm around your waist, holding you flush to his side to support your weight.
You groan softly as your head spins uncomfortably. Droplets of cold sweat is starting to form on your forehead, adding another layer of discomfort upon you.
“You wanna go to your bedroom?” Semi murmurs close to your ear. You shiver again. At this, Semi thought that you’re freezing so he drapes his leather jacket on your shoulders, holding you close.
You nod weakly as you try to blink the black spots in your vision away.
From somewhere around the room, you hear Aito snicker, “Stay safe!”
You turn your head around to give him a deathly glare, but all you see is a big blob of blurriness.
Dammit.
。。。
Semi takes the key card from your bag and pushes the door open, placing your duffel bag on the floor after
He guides you to the bathroom—with gentleness you rarely see from him—and sets the toilet cover down so you can sit on it while he wets a towel with the running tap water.
“You still feel dizzy?” he asks, voice soft.
You stare at his fingers as he wrings the towel and shakes your head.
Semi holds out the cloth and pats your forehead with it, the coolness allowing you to feel a little more refreshed.
“Do you want me to make you some tea?” he wipes the back of your neck carefully.
Shit. Has he always been this thoughtful?
You shake your head again, telling him that you just want to go to sleep.
He sighs and gives you a half-smile, holding out his arm to help you to the bed.
Semi still has it in him to give you a little but of privacy as you wiggle out of your tight jeans, looking away until you slip under the covers.
He helps you pull the plush white comforter closer to your chest, tucking you in.
Your mind doesn’t feel as hazy as it was a few hours ago, but the leftover alcohol coursing through your veins gave you a sort of boost to your impulses.
“Eita,” you whisper, reaching out towards the singer, “Stay?”
The singer halts in his steps and turns to look at you.
“Uh, I don’t know Y/N,” he starts, “You’re drunk right now.”
“No I’m not,” you say, steady voice proving your point. “Please?”
Semi glances over at the door and sighs. He chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds before sighing again.
“Okay.”
。。。
You’re struggling to open your eyes when you wake up, the harsh sunlight streaming into the room completely unfiltered.
Drunk you completely forgot to close the blinds, it seems.
You groan audibly, wanting to pull the covers above your head to hide yourself from this cruel world.
You freeze. Why can you feel someone’s soft breaths on the crown of your head?
Nervously, you reach out in front of you, eyes still shut closed. Oh no.
You force your eyes open, grimacing from the sudden brightness. Your eyes widen at the sight in front of you. Semi Eita, your supposed nemesis, is sleeping soundly a few inches away from you, arms wrapped around your waist.
What the hell happened last night?
A small squeak leaves your mouth as you fully realize the situation you’re in. The small noise wakes Semi up from his slumber, causing him to slowly open his eyes, squinting at the bright light.
“Morning, angel,” he croaks, voice raspy with sleep.
My god does he look pretty in the morning.
You stay there, frozen and unblinking. All the words at the tip of your tongue seem to disappear from existence.
Semi blinks, sitting up quickly.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he rubs his eyes vigorously, “I should’ve said no when you asked me to stay. Fuck, you were drunk and I—”
You grab the back of his neck and pull him closer to you, a small smile gracing your lips.
Your thumb grazes Semi’s bottom lip, dragging it down every so slightly before releasing it, enjoying the way he seems to unravel under your touch.
“Shut up and kiss me, will you?” you murmur, trying to keep your cool as your heart hammers against your chest loudly.
At this, Semi breaks out of his reverie and laughs, “I thought you’d never ask.”
a/n: if you’ve made it this far, please feel free to let me know what you think about this fic! and please REBLOG IF YOU ENJOYED mwah <3
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