♚◞ 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 *&&. 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐞.
when first offered the one phone call , baby had scoffed at the mere idea of it . one phone call . it makes it sound like they’re in prison , and it’s unlike he has anyone to use the phone call on , anyway . he hasn’t spoken to his siblings in years , hasn’t spoken to his parents in even longer . he doesn’t have many friends --- an idol he’s come to know here , a producer he’s forced to spend too much time with there , but there’s no one real . no one he can call a good friend , no one he can just call up to chat with .
it’s only after he rejects the call amidst a pool of early morning light that he returns later that night , sometime during the witching hour , to take it . he steps outside , knows there’s cameras on him wherever he goes , preferring to listen to the not - so - distant sound of the waves rising and falling against the shore as opposed to the sound of breathing that comes from his sleeping roommates .
he taps the all - too - familiar number into the phone and hesitantly brings it to his ear . it rings , one , twice . it clicks and the familiar voice , speaking , much to baby’s relief , in korean , fills his ears . he knows the conversation with be translated in post - production , but there’s something comforting about not having to focus so much on speaking in a language that wasn’t native to his tongue . fluency can truly only do so much for someone .
❝ it’s five in the morning , who is --- ❞ the voice filters through , the heaviness of sleep draped over it and a thin layer of annoyance coating the surface .
❝ jung pd - nim . ❞ babylon says through wincing at the harsh lilt of his producer and ceo . ❝ it’s babylon . i didn’t know who else to call . sorry it’s so late . ❞
❝ ah . it’s alright . ❞ a pause , a bit of a tense silence pours into the air . ❝ why are you calling ? is everything all right ? ❞
baby breathes out a stiff , almost feigned laugh . ❝ i’m all right . i’m okay , i just . . . ❞ he trails off , a tattooed hand comes up to tug on his earrings . ❝ we got a phone call , is all . how are things there ? it’s awards season , right ? ❞ the question is more rhetoric than anything else . he knows it’s awards season , of course he knows , he’s been doing this for five years now . it’d be pathetic for him not to know .
a laugh spills through the speakers . ❝ awards season , of course . should have known that was what's on your mind . ❞ it wasn’t , hadn’t been until just thirty seconds ago . ❝ yeah . how’ve they gone so far ? the shows ? ❞
❝ well . they’ve gone really well . ❞ the producer pauses again , and baby has to bite back a sigh of annoyance . ❝ your performances were really well received , despite being pre - recorded . you broke twitter the other day and you weren’t even there . ❞
a sense of relief washes over babylon , then , a smile coming to his lips for the first time since he’d dialed the number . ❝ yeah ? good . i’m glad . at least those three months of practise and countless sleepless nights weren’t for nothing . ❞ it’s his turn to pause , falling into a fit of silence before asking , ❝ and the awards ? like , the actual awards ? how have those gone ? ❞
❝ right . i suppose i should have started with that . ❞ and babylon wants to say yes , he should have , but figures that might be pushing it a bit . ❝ well , awards didn’t go quite as we’d expected . ❞
baby’s heart drops , sinks into his stomach and he can’t quite swallow down the disappointment as he speaks , ❝ right . right , that’s okay . figures . it’s fine , there’s always next --- ❞
❝ it’s too bad you couldn’t have been there to experience how it feels going from a single - daesang artist to a quadruple - daesang artist . ❞ he drops it so casually , so , so casually that baby almost misses it .
❝ . . . what ? ❞ is all he can manage for a minute before he breaks out in a smile , real and genuine , a smile that reaches his eyes and has him bouncing on his feel . ❝ w -- what ? what , oh my god --- ❞
❝ yeah . yeah , artist of the year twice , album of the year once . so far . ❞ the words that filter through the speaker are like honey , like gold , and babylon can hardly believe them . he’d won song of the year last year and that alone had put him over the moon , but this ? artist of the year ? twice , plus album of the year ? it feels surreal , like mr jung will tell him that he’s joking at any moment now .
❝ that’s . . . that’s insane , that’s amazing . i can’t --- i’m having a hard time believing it , i wish i’d been there to --- thank them ? to show my appreciation , i --- ❞ he’s rambling , he knows . it’s just so mind baffling to him . rags to riches , he’s been called , and for the first time in five years , since he’d first debuted , he feels like it’s true , like he’s really achieved something , like his dreams are finally , really coming true .
❝ it’s okay , it’s okay . there’s no ill - will being held against you because of your lack of presence . in fact , the show seems to be helping your image quite a bit . ❞ mr. jung assures , and he sounds satisfied , and baby thinks that he might be , too . ❝ as soon as you get back , which i think is in a few weeks , right ? we’ll finish up the work for your comeback . we’re still going with . . . the narcissus concept , right ? so , we’ll get the music video recorded and finalised while you’re here . you can attend the last award show of the year --- it’s on the twenty - ninth . and your comeback will be early january ? ❞ before baby can speak again , mr. jung tacks another question onto the end , ❝ and how have you been ? we’ve been watching the show , but i know the cameras only tell so much . how is everything ? ❞
baby pauses , a silence spilling through the speakers and he touches the top of his ears in a brief fit of anxiety . ❝ hey , um , yeah , this call is only supposed to be five minutes , so i -- i have to go , but . . . make sure the fans know how thankful i am , yeah ? please . i’ll see you in a few weeks . bye . ❞
he ends the call , hands the phone back to the cameraman who’s been lingering nearby , murmurs his quick thank yous , and steps back inside . it was bittersweet , the phone call . the thrill of hearing of the three daesangs he’d won , the lingering disappointment of not having someone else to call , someone who wasn’t the manager his entire career , someone who cared solely about him . he swallows down such feelings , though , buries them beneath two decades worth of repression , and he goes to bed at long last .














