Connections

Sana and Jihyo were connected at levels very few could understand. Where one went the other was often close behind. When one did something the other was close behind hyping the other up or copying the other. When one liked a boy the other often felt the same, and recently that’s what happened; Jihyo fell hard for a boy, and Sana being her best friend would do all she could to help. That’s where you come in.

You are an indie artist who has been rising due to your unique sound that often leaves those raw with emotion and leaves your peers begging to learn the secrets behind your unique sound. Here’s the thing after your latest album and tour you have come into the wall every artist's face: writer’s block. So while you waited for inspiration to come back you did the next best thing collaborations. You had been featured with artists ranging from “Bring Me the Horizon” to “The Weekend” and when you were done the question was always the same “Where’s the next album?” So after a year of features you began working on that new album well you would until you got a call you never expected. On the night before your scheduled recording, you received a call from an unknown number. Procrastinating you answered it on a whim.

“Ahoy” you greet the caller

“Yes is this Sad Face Happy face?” The caller asks in an accent that seems vaguely familiar.

“Yes, this is he?” You responded

“Well I’m a representative for JYP and I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a collaboration song with our Artist Twice.” Your eyes pop out of your socket almost. You loved twice, they were one of the artists who inspired you to make music originally during COVID. Their infectious tunes and melodies often helped you through those dark years. So it was a no-brainer you accepted in a heartbeat.

Cut a few weeks later and you found yourself in South Korea to discuss business. You didn’t know if you were going to meet twice today but just in case you wore one of your shirts from their American tour. As you ride the elevator to the high-rise your nerves start to ramp up

“What if they don’t like me?” you think

“What if they hate my ideas?” Your mind races as you approach the office door. You take a breath and open it.

You are greeted by 18 pairs of expectant eyes staring at you as you walk in. You take another breath and introduce yourself

“안녕하세요 저는 Sad Face Happy Face” Even with hours of practice your voice is still shaky but the eyes that stare at you seem to soften.

They go through the greeting you’ve heard thousands of times and give a small wave.

Mina and Dahyun are delegated English-speaking duties

“We would like for you to be featured on our next full album,” Mina says to you.

“I’m honored. I love you guys so much… I mean I love your music so much” you say realizing your mistake halfway through. The nine girls laugh with you as you nervously chuckle. Thankfully the rest of the meeting is super business-focused and less stressful. You discuss royalties master rights etc. The only weird part for you was the feeling that Sana and Jihyo were glaring at you the whole time. Externally you remained calm but internally you screamed. Your biggest bias and your biggest bias wrecker glared at you with such contempt that it vexed your already anxiety-addled brain. After the meeting, you would have been quick to go back to your hotel if not for Chaeyoung’s insistence on getting your number so you can introduce her to your tattoo artist, and Momo trying to get you to sing her favorite song of yours “Rush” it was all surreal but after 30 minutes and your phone being passed around by the entire group you finally made it back to the hotel.

After 30 minutes of decompression, you began to write. As you did the emotions you had been bottling up for the last year had rushed to the forefront as they often had. Your melancholy at the stagnation of the music industry, your rage at the abusiveness of it all. It all boiled and you realized that you didn’t have writer’s block in the classical sense. yours stemmed from the realization that you wanted to do something different but that something different would alienate your fans. the most frightening part. This different path you wanted to pursue wasn’t a phase. You had legit frustrations with the world and music was your outlet, you just never leaned into that. You leaned into this hope that your desire to make it big and be famous would overcome how miserable you felt, however, that hope had long faded after your second world tour and the fame lost the luster that it once had. So when the first song of this new album came out Jaded:

“I tried to break through but I find myself broken and bruised. What must I do to remain true? The suffering extends. Wondering if it will ever end. I am a shell of a man. All that’s left for me is pain….”

You began as you were about to do the next bit when you noticed your voice was taking on an aggressive edge that sounded more in line with Silverstein or “Bring Me The Horizon” than the more hip hop pop sound you cultivated that had you more in line with acts like Post Malone or Lil Uzi Vert. You decided to step away from the notebook and guitar you had brought with you and lie on the bed, but you were restless your emotions running high, and quickly found yourself back at both finishing the song. at least the first verse

“We are Hopeless, Selfish, all we do is to captivate and display an image on the case. We trample over others. leaving them smothered, and I can’t take I’ll break it I will make this right, because someone has to make it right. Oh God, please someone save me from the pressure to be what everyone wants me to be. Let me garner a victory or even some semblance of Peace. I am broken, beholden, to my Jaded piece of mind.”

As you finished up the first verse you got a surprising text. It was from Jihyo that it read, “Can you come to this location please?” You responded “Sure” In the flash of a second it took you to process her message. You headed out almost as instantly. When you got to the location you were surprised it was a restaurant. It wasn’t super high-end but more business casual as opposed to the numerous fast-food joints you had been to. Due to not only your height but also your skin color you stood out from the other patrons. As you walked in so did Jihyo and Sana. You bumped into them as you tried to look for them…literally. Your head and Jihyo’s knocked into each other

“미안해” you both responded. To your surprise, Jihyo was all smiles here as was Sana. Gone were the glares and looks of disapproval. It put you at ease only slightly as you sat down with them.

“So what did y’all want to talk about?” You ask after being seated in the restaurant and getting your drinks.

Sana whose English wasn’t as good as Jihyo's said

“We want to know if you are…(her eye went up to the top of her head as she thought about something to say) real.”

You looked at both beauties confused “Real? What do you mean by that?”