Bound By Band
genre: fluff
pairing: soobin x reader
warnings: light alcohol mention, a kiss by side characters
word count: ~700
notes: yeonjun features! he will be in the rest of the story.
(Chapter List)
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Soyoon sits you down in your room, Soobin is his own world across the hall. “You know how I told you that I know someone who could be our keyboardist?” She asks with an expectant smile, holding both your hands now. You cock your head in confusion. You know all her friends, who could be a keyboardist? “It’s…” She’s making you feel the suspense, and she has a little smile on her face that makes you laugh. “My boyfriend.” She says, giddy.
“What?!” You exclaim and your eyes go wide.
“His name is Choi Yeonjun, and he’s in music production too. So he solves our producer-keyboardist problem all in one.” She explains. With the number of mega coincidences that keep this band idea afloat, it might as well be destiny you make it happen. This coincidence is great in theory, but you know next to nothing about Yeonjun. You know he’s dating your best friend, so by Best Friend Law you must be at least a little bit suspicious of him. Plus, you’ve never met him. Ever. Not that Soyoon’s trying to keep you separate, you just have little interest in meeting him. From what you’ve heard from her, he’s sweet and perfect, but that’s all from her rosy perspective.
“Are you sure?” You ask her, you don’t even know what you aren’t sure about.
“What?” She looks concerned with her raised eyebrows and tightened grip on your hands.
“It’s nothing.” You laugh awkwardly. “I just never met him before, and I’m your best friend so I have to be wary. I’ve seen your home screen, he looks a little intimidating.”
“He can look a little intimidating, but he’s a sweetheart to the core.” She tells you.
You had to be wary of him, you said. He looks intimidating, you said. That’s what you thought of him when you left the house to go meet the full band for the first time. But now, seeing him drinking soju and singing his heart out to ballads, your impression couldn’t be farther from the truth. The karaoke room is dark and the multi-colored, moving, DJ-style lighting casts circles of light over the whole room while Soyoon and Yeonjun. You and Soobin are sitting on a U-shaped couch that borders three of the walls. Earlier, Yeonjun’s extroverted personality immediately applied itself to chatting up everyone new—aka you and Soobin. You were mostly okay with it, it was nice to talk to someone and not be the one constantly continuing the conversation. Soobin, on the other hand, was intimidated by his outgoing behavior.
“Hey, man!” Yeonjun offered his fist for Soobin to give him a fist bump, but Soobin didn’t reciprocate the gesture. “What’s your name?” He was excited and high energy which was evident in every word.
“Soobin.” He said, quietly. That was how the entire conversation went, pretty much. You don’t need the word-for-word when you know what the energy of it was. Whenever Yeonjun asked him a question, you could practically see him tense up. Yeonjun, however, did not seem to see this and was jumping at the chance to earn a new friend. For Soobin’s sake, you ushered Soyoon into singing—you know Yeonjun couldn’t ignore her.
After Soobin leaves the room that echoes with singing and Soyoon’s laughter—for water or for snacks or for the bathroom, who knows?—you turn to Yeonjun to give him a little bit of advice. Now that you're bound by the band, you figured it would be good for them to be friends. While they’re having their moment, you and Soyoon are having yours. You’re singing duets and having the time of your life. Every once in a while, you swear Soobin loses what Yeonjun is talking about because he keeps looking at you and getting startled when Yeonjun begins a new sentence.
You prep your input with a compliment. “I like you, I think you’re funny and a good addition to the band, and I think that you’re good for Soyoon.” You tell him, before adding with a big ‘but’, “But your energy is intimidating to Soobin. He’s really sweet and I think you’d be good friends, but he’s shy, you know? You can be yourself, of course, but this is just so you can get to know him without him closing up. He’s like a clam.” You say. That was a stupid thing to say. He’s like a clam. You smile, not out of happiness, but out of embarrassment.
“Clam?” He mutters, before turning to look at you, “I’m tired now anyway,” The implication was that he’d be mellower, “but I’ll keep it in mind.” You’re over the moon that he didn’t take it the wrong way because he so could've taken it the wrong way. “I’m thirsty, my lips are dry from the chips. I’m going to get a snack.” He states and gets up off the sofa before kissing Soyoon with his same, dry lips. You hope it's the alcohol that makes them do the PDA. You can’t help but cringe a little bit at their romance. It’s cute, sort of. It’s cute that they show that they love each other, but preferably when you aren’t in the room. You are a little jealous, though. To have someone focused on only you while you’re singing bad karaoke, to have someone blow you a kiss when they leave the room, even if it’s with chappy, dry lips. It would be kind of nice, you think. You shake your head at the thought, you believe Soyoon’s attitude awoke a long-dormant romantic in you.
Soyoon pauses the karaoke machine. “So, what do you think?” She demands.
“I think he’s nice.” Per Best Friend Law, you hate saying that, but it’s true. “I think he fits the role of a keyboardist.”
“And producer.” She reminds you of his double role in the band.
“And producer.” You affirm. You’re actually really happy that he can be both, because taking a gamble on someone random isn’t something you want to do because, if it doesn’t work out, you don’t want to tell them you don’t want them as a part of the band. In that situation, your other option is to have someone you don’t like in the band of your core friends. It’d just be messy, you think. Yeonjun is a good fit for both. “I just hope he and Soobin become friends, I don’t want them to be individually connected to us, but not to each other, you know?” You resist using another simile. This one would be like a web. Your slightly drunken state is making you talk like a poet.
“I think they’re getting along.” Soyoon points to the glass door and you see Soobin and Yeonjun genuinely talking. They’re smiling and laughing, you can see Soobin’s dimples as Yeonjun makes a silly face, clearly impersonating someone or something, and then Soobin laughs. Warmth makes your heart feel full. Partly for the band’s sake, but mostly for Soobin’s sake.
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ramble: this one was hard to write but I ended up really liking it. also the pics are really blurry for ? some reason oops
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