A/n: Kim Jisoo as Shim Jiwoo

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NCT U gained lots of attention for the past few months and that was just what Jiwoo was hoping for.

The 20 year old girl couldn't help but feel giddy in her studio, just remembering back to that day when she had to secure the boys' success with her charms at Music Bank. It undoubtedly worked and that only made Jiwoo more determined to work harder as one of SM's composers. After all, the future of the entirety of NCT rests in her hands... in a way.

Yes, she's a young woman who could be easily mistaken as one of the many trainees at the music company, but she shouldn't be underestimated. Lee Soo Man wouldn't have hired her for the job if she wasn't highly qualified. The main man knew Jiwoo's incredible talent and made sure to snatch her up as fast as possible... Sure, maybe her older cousin, Han Seokju, who also worked in SM might've influenced the decision, but that was besides the point. The point here was that Shim Jiwoo may have been the mind behind hit songs from the past three years.

Whether she worked on the song fully by herself or helped her sunbaes with it, the song would either become award winning or an obvious fan favorite. To name a few recents; Call Me Baby, Lion Heart, Dumb Dumb, and her absolutely most precious one, View, and a good handful from SHINee's Odd album.

She had been dubbed by Soo Man as SM's good luck charm. Jiwoo had to laugh at that. That made her happy to know, to know that she was greatly needed for the company she enjoyed so much. Even though she felt her own good luck trinkets may have rubbed off on her for the company, she'll greatly accept it. She was more than willing to be SM's good luck charm.

An honor, really.

But then she had to be thrown into this new proposition.

Her cousin was the one to relay the news of this brilliant idea of SM's founder. Jiwoo could remember that day clearly, despite it being more than half of a year ago.

"Have you heard the rumors of this 40 member boy group that will debut in April?" Seokju told her all of a sudden late that night while he visited her personal studio as per usual.

Jiwoo had been working on a new song, more for her own enjoyment as she didn't have a clear idea who it would go to. (That song ended up being Rude Love). "Yeah, I've heard of it, but I don't know much else. What of it?"

"Well, Soo Man-sshi may have told me a little something something about it that involves you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. He kind of wants you to be the main composer for the group."

The memory of Jiwoo nearly choking on her coke came to mind. "Um wait, excuse me?"

"Lee Soo Man has a lot of faith in this new group, and with the whole 40 members in subunits thing, he thought having you on the team would make them the next biggest boy group in South Korea. I mean, look at EXO." Seokju had given her a pat on her shoulder, in which she recoiled to. "He trusts you a lot, as well as me. You are capable of this!"

"But what about the other groups and singers? And the whole SM Station thing? Won't juggling all of that be a bit too much?"

"That's why he's only going to let you focus on just the new group."

And after much contemplating over the idea, it had sparked the start of Shim Jiwoo's involvement with SM's newest group, Neo Culture Technology.

So far, she had been on a roll creating the basis of NCT U's songs 7th Sense and Without You. She had the beat and the right sound. And the experimenting with different styles were so enjoyable. Jiwoo may have thought giving all her attention to NCT might be too difficult, but it was refreshing. Not every song had to be the same as the last. From Pop to an edgy feel to one with killer vocals, NCT may be the group that could bring out her full potential.

However...

She was stuck.

Jiwoo had always been working on songs, but now that the official statement that a new subunit will be debuting, she was losing time to making songs for their mini album.

NCT 127.

Seoul based.

She had to come up with six new songs for the album. She had to bless the day that producers decided to add once SR15B's song to the album, Switch. It was one less song to worry about.

At the rate she was going, she needs four more songs to go. She had created two catchy songs with a nice deep beat just a couple days ago, and they have been sent to other composers in the project to touch them up, adding in last effects as well as lyrics to match. No, she wasn't particularly a songwriter, but she does have her spurts of inspiration every once in awhile. (Some good examples? XOXO and Don't U Wait No More).

The beats, the manipulation of sounds, the mixture of instruments, that was more Jiwoo's style and she was okay with sticking just to that.

Unfortunately, the young composer didn't think she would ever be struck with a dilemma. Maybe it was the pressure of her upcoming deadline, all the songs have to be fully created by two and a half weeks for NCT 127 to begin recording. Then there was the pressure of creating amazing songs that will have to be on par with the high expectations from her SM mates.

No matter, she had plenty of time... Kind of... somewhat?

Jiwoo let out a frustrated shriek, tugging at her messy dark locks. She stared intently at the soundboard before her, the computer screen on the program she always used for work. Blank, not even a starting note to inspire her to continue from.

"What am I going to do?" she sighed. She stood up from her chair and went over to collapse on the plum-colored sofa. She snatched her creme blanket and wrapped herself in its warmth, throwing the softness over her face so she could muffle more of her screams of desperation.

Where was the inspiration?

Why wasn't it coming to her?

Really, out of all days to have composer's block, it had to be at such a crucial time.

Eyes peeked out from the folds of the blanket to stare at the neat row of traditional smiling masks hanging on her walls. "Yah, please give me good fortune, hmm? I can't let my company down," she murmured to the faces with a displeased frown. "You've worked before, can you please give me the inspiration I need soon? This is the biggest project Soo Man-sshi himself gave me, I have to do this right!"

Jiwoo gazed at the masks, as if to wait for an answer. She then blinked in realization and shook her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. With a groan, she plopped down face into the cushions, letting her mind run wild with possible song ideas.

She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep.

The tired composer was deep into her nap until she heard voices coming outside her room. That itself was extremely weird, as the seventh floor of the company building was for the most part restricted to employees and trainees. Not even debuted idols were allowed, unless they have special permission to. This seventh floor was strictly meant for the utmost concentration, the silence perfect for working composers and songwriters alike. The perfect place for Jiwoo to do her magic.

But now it was significantly noisier, male voices resonating in hushed chatter just outside her room. Voices that are definitely not meant to be on this floor at 2 a.m. in the goddamn morning.

Jiwoo sat up with the blanket still tucked around her body, gazing out the square window of the door, just to see a glimpse of anything out of the ordinary.

There it was.

She spotted a cluster of people, all male she guessed, passing by, very suspiciously. Narrowed eyes, she debated on what to exactly do. Whoever they were should be punished for coming into a prohibited area of SM, turning them in was what Jiwoo will have to do.

With a roll of her eyes, the girl forced herself off the sofa and shuffle over to the door. She made to look out the window again for a better glimpse of the intruders.

Except she wasn't quite expecting someone to be peering through the window back at her.

Terrified shrieks echoed through the whole floor. She blinked, mouth agape, then once coming to her senses, her hand shot out to the door handle to swing it open.

Before her, four boys yelled even louder at her grand entrance(exit?). All were huddled together, eyes closed shut, screaming bloody murder against the opposite wall. Jiwoo gawked at the four, familiarity striking her.

Four of her boys.

"Yah!" She shouted to grab their attention. They all momentarily halted as they finally looked up at the young woman. Embarrassment then crossed each of their faces. "Criminy, why are you guys on this floor? This floor is restricted to those who don't have permission."

They all exchanged nervous glances and with the way Jiwoo's gaze hardened, they shrunk back more.

She made note of the boys who were before her. To her knowledge, these were the four youngest out of NCT 127.

Haechan.

Mark.

WinWin.

And Jaehyun.

Should she really be surprised to catch mischievous lads? She shouldn't, but she made sure not to ease up her disapproving stance.

"W-We, erm, heard th-that this was a haunted floor," Mark sputtered out rapidly. "And we kind of w-wanted to check it out."

Jiwoo crossed her arms. "Dear god, a restricted floor does not equal a haunted floor. Which knucklehead told you this floor was haunted?"

Eyes instantly darted towards the tallest of the bunch, Jung Jaehyun. Jiwoo then averted her gaze onto him, curious to what he had to say in this matter, as to why he decided to tell his dongsaengs about a haunted seventh floor. The male gulped under the composer's intimidating stare. "I was just joking around," he meekly replied, head hung in shame. "We weren't even supposed to be up here too long... And not get caught."

"Well, who knows, maybe you wouldn't have if you all weren't so loud." Her eyes swept over to the other three, causing them to flinch back. "Also why on earth were you all screaming? I'm not that ugly, am I?"

"N-No!" the Chinese boy responded next to their defense. "You just..." His words trailed off.

"You look like a ghost!" Haechan picked up for him. "I mean, just look at you."

Jiwoo clicked her tongue at the youngest. "Um, excuse you, I am older than you so you better watch your mouth, boy."

Sure, the blanket, her rat's nest of hair, her pale face, and dark circles under her eyes altogether may be a bit scary to look at in a dimly lit hallway at the dead of the night, but for goodness sakes, does she really look like a terrifying ghost to them?

"You don't even look that much older than us though," Jaehyun cut in next.

"But I have access to this floor," Jiwoo shot back, arms crossed over her chest.

"How?"

The girl stopped herself. She shouldn't be giving away so much information about herself, especially not to these boys. Calm down and recollect, this wasn't the time to reveal that she was their main composer.

Or else they might get bad luck.

"What's going on here?" All five heads turned towards the source of the new voice. A wave of relief washed over Jiwoo at the sight of the tall man, while as the boys bowed respectfully.

"Hello, Seokju-sshi," the four murmured in greeting, shaky and frightened of the possible consequences to come.

"May I ask why you four are on this floor?" Seokju asked in a stern tone. The lads were about to pee their pants, Jiwoo felt some subtle sympathy for them. "You should very much know that people who do not have access up here is prohibited."

Jiwoo sighed as she cut in, "Cut them some slack, alright?" Haechan, Mark, WinWin, and Jaehyun all looked like the heavens have opened up for them. They gawked at Jiwoo, their eyes absolutely twinkling with appreciation. "Hmm? Come on, let's just let them go. I'm sure they learned their lesson." Jiwoo peered over at the boys, sending them a threatening grin. "Or else I'll go haunt them like the ghost they thought me to be."

And for the night, the partial NCT 127 members were escorted out of the seventh floor by Seokju with just a warning. They should consider themselves lucky that Jiwoo decided to save their butts.

"Oh!"

As if a lightbulb flashed above her head, the sudden inspiration to compose another song came to mind. Jiwoo beamed brightly as she shuffled back into her studio to get down to work.