#into1 scenarios

[mingi-bubu]

say goodnight (and go)

Fictober22~ Prompt #20: “There’s only us.” (though it doesn’t show up in this part) bo yuan x reader uni au, dj x producer relationship, yn is such a fan of bo yuan and it shows™, title from imogen heap‘s “say goodnight and go”, just under 3.37k words

part one // part two // qcynario masterlist ^-^ // fictober22 masterlist

related to junjie, changxi, and chaoyuan’s scenarios but it’s not necessary that you read them to understand this

i don’t know much about radio dj-ing so please take whatever i say about it with a grain of salt.  everything i know i’ve gotten from pop culture and not like, actual knowledge.  i also experimented with the narrative structure a bit, so let me know what you think of it :D

“Hey!  Turn the radio up!”  You call to Changxi as you start wiping menus off.  “It’s almost time for FM.211.”

Changxi makes a comment under his breath along the lines of “We get it, you like him” as he passes you, and you quickly twist the damp rag and hit him on the arm with it.  He hisses, rubbing the now turning-pink mark on his arm.

“Shut up, Changxi.”  You say, taking the dry rag and wiping the small droplets of sudsy water off the menu.

“He’s right, though,” Chaoyuan says from behind the bar.  He’s wiping down the bar top, and you can see some dried clay in his hair.  You didn’t notice it earlier when you were giving him drink orders, nor when you were taking those drinks to the bachelorette party.

“Didn’t get a chance to shower before you got here?”  You ask, looking at the light gray areas in his dark brown hair.

“Nah,” he replies easily, running a hand through his hair.  He sighs at the clay dust that falls from his fingers onto the part of the bar he just wiped off.  “I was helping a classmate with their sculpture.  They’re more of a 2D artist than a 3D one, and so they were having some difficulty with-”

You cut him off, looking up at the speakers in the ceiling, “Shh!  He’s started.”  Changxi and Chaoyuan just share a look, used to your antics by now.

“To all my followers, hello.  Welcome to Radio FM.211.  I am your host, Bo Yuan-gēge.  Welcome to my radio world.”

You mouth along with the introduction, going back to your task.  Bo Yuan was your favorite radio DJ that the university had for its radio station.  Your friends, hosts of the morning show “Bazi and Baatjih: Breakfast with B-Squared,” have long since stopped trying to compete with him for your favor.  They both have accepted that they are second to him when it comes to having you as a fan.  They still tease you about it, of course, but none of you take it to heart anymore.

However, due to when their show is on and when his show is on, they don’t know him all that well.  They talk to him during the monthly meeting only; the one that the supervisor has where all the DJs come in, and they go over the statistics and how everyone’s show is going.

The intro music to Bo Yuan’s show starts, something that he had admitted to composing himself on his show during his biweekly Q&A segment a while ago, and you settle into the mindless routine of the restaurant’s closing tasks.  Changxi and Chaoyuan work around you, the three of you a well-oiled machine.

Bo Yuan goes through the standard updates, the time and temperature, and talks a little about how the traffic is looking in and around campus before getting into his first segment of the two hours his show is on for.  “As always,” he says, “our first segment is Happy Corner.  Let’s see what wisdom the fortune cookie has for us tonight.”  You smile as you hear the sounds of the cellophane opening and the cookie cracking.  “Tonight’s fortune is: The time is always right to do what is right.”  He pauses, letting the words have their moment.

“That’s kind of cheesy, don’t you think?”  Changxi says loudly.  You look to your right and see he has started putting the chairs upside-down on the tables.

“It’s a fortune cookie,” Chaoyuan says back, restacking the various glasses for drinks tomorrow night.  “It would be weird if it wasn’t.”  You stick out your tongue at them before laughing with them.  The three of you fall silent again as the radio show continues on.  The only other sounds in the restaurant are those of the clinking of bottles and glasses behind the bar and the tables and chairs being moved around for tomorrow’s lunch crowd.

“… and with that on our minds,” Bo Yuan says, “let’s listen to a new song from KUN.”  The track starts playing, the night goes on, and it feels endless in the company of your friends and wrapped in the voice of someone you care for.

--

Sometimes when you’re asked why you like him, you answer with praise for his personality and his calm demeanor.

When you’re more playful about it, you answer with his looks, his smile.

When you think about it to yourself, why you like Bo Yuan so much, you think that it’s about the comfort he brings you with each show.  His Happy Corner segment is something you look forward to, especially on bad days.  Knowing that he is able to find even the slightest joy in a bad day is something that wraps a blanket around your heart.  Often times, you find yourself doing the same, trying to find even one good thing about a bad day.

--

And it passes like that for weeks, you listening to him over radio, Changxi and Chaoyuan teasing you about your crush, more fortunes and little stories every night.  But everything changes when Junjie and Baatjih rush into the café that you and Changxi were meeting them in.

“YN!”  Junjie’s eyes light up when he sees you and Changxi in the corner.  He quickly makes his way to you two, Baatjih following close behind.

“We have big news,” Baatjih says, their joy evident in their smile.

“What,” Changxi says as you finish chewing on your bite of cake, “you two engaged now?”

You laugh.  “It feels like it was just last month that you said you two were finally dating.”  Wiping away a fake tear, you lean into Changxi and look up at him, hands clasped in front of your heart.  “Oh, they grow up so fast!”

You and Changxi are able to hold it together all of three seconds before bursting into laughter at how quickly Junjie turned red.

Baatjih, on the other hand, responds by saying, “Fine, I guess we won’t tell you what happened today at the monthly meeting.”

“No, wait, I wanna know,” you say, straightening up and running your hand through you hair, pushing it out of your eyes.  And you truly did.  While you wouldn’t be caught dead in the broadcasting booth live, you did find the production side of the university’s radio shows fascinating.  “Are you guys finally getting that new soundboard that I was telling you about?  The one that the international student Jihoon was excited about?”

“Yeah, actually!”  Junjie says.  He was just as interested in the production aspect as you were, though he preferred to be the talent, and it was something you had bonded over when you met in your sophomore year required math course.  “We’re getting a new computer, too, though it is going to take a while before we can use it.  We have to clone the old hard drive onto the new co-”

Baatjih cuts him off, putting their hand over his mouth.  “You can tell YN about that later.  The more important thing is that our supervisor decided to have all the DJs as guests on each other’s shows.  Claimed that it was to help boost morale and then started throwing a bunch of statistics at us.  I tuned out then.”  They made a face letting you know just how boring they found it.  “Anyways, all of this to say,” Baatjih paused to take a breath, “Bo Yuan is actually going to be someone we talk to more than just once a month and occasionally in our groupchat.”

You were speechless.  Your friends were going to get to have your favorite radio DJ on their show.

Changxi lets out a low whistle.  “Well, damn,” he leans back in his chair.

You can feel him turn to look at you, and you feel Junjie and Baatjih’s eyes on you too, but you can’t find anything to say.  How are you supposed to express how you feel to your friends when you can’t even articulate it to yourself?

“Do you want to be in the booth with us during?”  Junjie asks, coming to the (correct) conclusion that YN.exe has stopped working.  “Obviously, you wouldn’t be on-air with us, but you could see him.  Maybe ask for a picture or whatever afterwards.”

Baatjih nodded enthusiastically beside him.  “You’ve hung out in the booth before during our show, too, so it’s fine.  As long as Linkai is able to work like usual, he’s fine with it, too.  We ran it by him before we came here.”

Your heart warmed at your friends’ words.  “I really do have the best friends ever,” you say, a little sappy at it all.

“Best duo in the business!”  Baatjih says, all swagger and confidence radiating from them as they swing their arm around Junjie’s shoulders.  He and Changxi share a look at Baatjih’s actions, but the four of you settle into a new conversation.  You and Junjie talking about the updates that will soon be happening.  Changxi and Baatjih talking about how it was going with his roommate and their fake dating story.  Your voices blend in with the hustle and bustle of the café, occasionally looping one of the workers in, as well, when Yao Chi or Huaiwei passed by.

As you got into bed that night, you pictured how it would be watching Bo Yuan in his element, microphone in front of him and headphones on.  Maybe meeting his eyes when he smiles at something that Junjie or Baatjih says, or maybe something that Linkai sarcastically comments over his mic.  You hold yourself back from picturing anything more, from hoping too hard.  After all, it’s better to not shoot for the stars when you don’t even know if you can get off the ground.

--

When you’re asked why you like him, you say, “He makes me want to be the best Me I can.”

--

Linkai gives you a nod as you slip into the studio, trying your best to be quiet.  There’s still a little over ten minutes until Junjie and Baatjih’s morning show begins, and Linkai is already behind the soundboard getting everything prepared for the show.  Junjie and Baatjih were already in the booth, testing the mics and the connection to their headphones.  You wave at your friends from behind Linkai, and they give you a smile.  Baatjih is swiveling in their chair, obviously ready for the show to start.  Junjie is standing, leaning over the microphone arm to try to adjust it properly.  You can hear, just barely, the low murmur of the couple talking and the microphone being moved.  It isn’t until you sit down next to Linkai that Bo Yuan walks in, his hair hidden under a navy blue bucket hat that matches Junjie’s own.  He goes to the other two immediately, pausing to drop his bag on the floor next to Junjie.

“Did they coordinate that,” you ask Linkai jokingly, watching Bo Yuan.  His back is towards the sound booth, and you can’t but help feel slightly disappointed.  He didn’t even look in the sound booth’s direction once when he walked in.  You didn’t consider at all that he might be one of those people who only interact with the faces of the entertainment, and not the helping hands.

He glances up from the switches to see what you’re talking about and snorts.  “All four of us did.”

“Four?”  You watch Linkai as he gives you an exaggerated put-upon sigh, the effect ruined by his smile seconds later as he fishes a bucket hat out of his bag.  It doesn’t match the other two, a surprising blue and red tie-dyed pattern, and you point out as much.

“Just wait,” he says mysteriously, turning back to the computer.  He raises the volume level of the mics in the studio so that you could hear your friends and their guest above a murmur.  He waves his hand at the three DJs to get their attention and holds up his hat.  Baatjih laughs, and you swear you would’ve heard it even without the mics.  They bend down in their chair, disappearing for a moment, before popping back up.  On their head is the matching pair to Linkai’s own hat.

Baatjih flashes you a peace sign, arm extended and wrist turning from left to right in a wave, as you try to stifle your laughter from behind your hand.  A part of you knows that Linkai and Baatjih must have planned something to this effect, an attempt to distract you from the nerves that were sure to come as soon as you meet Bo Yuan’s eyes.  You appreciate their attempt, but it’s futile.

Bo Yuan turns around and meets your eyes.  You feel your breath catch.  You know Junjie and Baatjih are chatting along in the background, but you don’t process a single word they say.  You had thought his pictures on the university radio’s social media showed how handsome he is, but in person he was even more attractive than you expected.  Despite his eyes being shadowed by the brim of the hat, they were bright.  A small smile was resting on his face, and you feel your heart speed up just the slightest.  He’s wearing a white T-shirt underneath an oversized navy blue windbreaker.  The T-shirt was tucked into a pair of light colored jeans that suited him just fine.  He had a chain necklace on that shone when it caught the light, and he had several rings adorning both hands.

“I’m sorry for not saying greeting the two of you when I walked in,” he apologizes.  “I didn’t realize that Linkai was training another producer.”  His tone is slightly embarrassed, and you wave his apology away.  You let him know non-verbally that it’s alright, and you smile at him, hoping that you don’t look like a crazed fan.

Linkai interrupts any chance of you explaining to Bo Yuan that you aren’t a trainee for the booth, though it’s not as if the chance was strong to begin with.  You didn’t have a microphone and, while you knew your way around a soundboard thanks to Linkai, you didn’t have the confidence to suddenly use his.  You hear the click of his mic turning on.  “Thirty seconds to air.”  His mic clicks off, and he wordlessly hands you a headset that matches his.  As soon as the radio show begins, all the sound is to be heard through the headphones rather than the speakers at the corners of the walls and ceiling.  It was something that Linkai started doing after Junjie and Baatjih made it clear that they, and the fans, think that Linkai’s comments were more than welcome.

The both of you settle back into your chairs, and you watch as he raises his hands, counting down the last ten seconds of the song for them.

“Good morning!”  Junjie drawls, slipping into his Bazi personality.

“Welcome one and all to Bazi and Baatjih: Breakfast with B-Squared!”  Baatjih spreads their arms out in presentation, though you don’t know why.  There were only five of you there.

You nudge Linkai and raise an eyebrow, nodding your head in their direction.

“The head of the comm department wanted the so-called crossover episodes to be filmed for possible future use by the university,” he explains, voice quiet.  “Most DJs were already filming their spots anyways, but because this might be used in a future promotion or something for the university, all the DJs are doing their best to make it visually interesting.”

Your mouth forms a small ‘o’ in understanding.  You cross your arms and turn back to your friends.

“Today’s show is going to be a little different,” Baatjih says, tossing their hair over their shoulder in a carefully practiced careless move.  You know this move.  They were practicing it a while ago when they were waiting for you to get off shift at the restaurant.  “We have a guest with us today!  The host of the night show FM.211, our university’s very own, Bo Yuan-gēge!”

“When you send us your messages this morning,” Junjie continues, “use the hashtag ‘BCubed’ so we can see what you guys think.”

“This morning’s show is also being streamed live,” something you didn’t know, “so if you have the opportunity,” Baatjih says, “make sure to tune in!”

“I think that’s enough out of the two of us, eh Baatjih?  Why don’t we let Yuan-gēge introduce himself?”  Junjie and Baatjih both turn their focus to the third DJ.

“Hello, everyone,” Bo Yuan starts, “as Bazi and Baatjih have said, I am Bo Yuan-gēge, and I am happy to be here this morning.”

“It’s a bit earlier than you’re used too, huh, Yuan-gēge?”  Junjie jokes.

Bo Yuan smiles and he agrees.  “Usually when I’m on, most of my listeners are on their way to sleep or on their way to a party.”

“Or getting off shift,” Baatjih adds.  “Bazi and I have a friend who has their coworker put your show on as they’re closing and cleaning the restaurant they work at.”

Your eyes widen and you stare at Baatjih.  They make a point to not look in your direction, but it doesn’t take British particle physicist Dr. Brian Cox to realize that of the five people here, you’re the only one it could be.  Otherwise, why bring it up in the first place?  Next to you, Linkai chuckles, while Junjie has a little smirk on his face.  You love your friends, you do, but you hate your friends.

Bo Yuan also very carefully doesn’t look at you, instead keeping his eyes on his hosts, and says, “Ah?  That’s great to hear.  I’m happy to make someone’s closing shift a little bit better.”  Despite your mortification, you can’t help but swoon just the tiniest bit, knowing that he’s talking about you.

Linkai looks over at you and rolls his eyes as he turns back to the DJs.  “Yeah, yeah, you all have fans.  Let’s get to the music now, can we?”

“And there is the voice of our lovely Xiǎo Guǐ,”  Baatjih jokes.

Bazi laughs, scrolling through his laptop.  “Xiǎo Guǐ, you have plenty of fans in the tag right now.  ‘I saw the #BCubed promo picture and Xiǎo Guǐ is so punk rock boyfie coded!’”

Baatjih picks another message.  “‘I would pay real money to have #BCubed Xiǎo Guǐ dismiss me on air live’?  Something to consider for the next fundraiser, I think,” Baatjih struggles to keep their voice level, fighting the smile that is trying to escape.

Junjie complains about the #BCubed tag being filled with other messages like this.  “Xiǎo Guǐ, why are Dá Lín like this?”

Linkai turns on his mic and says with a cocky smile, “Sometimes when you got it, you got it.”  His mic clicks off, and you mime being sick from what he said.

Bo Yuan had been chuckling throughout the exchange in the background.  “Surprising how your show has Dá Lín being so outwardly, um, horny considering how early it’s on.  My Bó Lèmén never act up like this.”

You staunchly ignore Linkai’s elbow to your ribs, the both of you knowing damn well what you say when you get drunk.  The rest of the show proceeds like that between songs; Linkai being a smart-ass and the three DJs having to deal with him and the thirst comments that flood in every time.  Junjie and Baatjih do keep to their general structure despite everything that had been changed for this special event.  As always, they have their Student Music hour.  Several student compositions played during that time, ranging from hip-hop to hard bop jazz, which wasn’t something you had heard before.

The show ended with Bo Yuan thanking the other two DJs for the opportunity to be on their show, and inviting them to guest on his nighttime show in the future.  You look down at your phone in surprise, the clock there showing you how fast time flew.  The three of them make their way out of the studio and into the producing booth.

“So,” Baatjih says, taking their bucket hat off and shoving it into their backpack, “coffee?”