Pride was the vice that led him to his own demise

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He always prided himself on his ability to make music. To him, his works were nothing but masterpieces. 

Hongjoong spent the majority of his life in the studio, often neglecting his school duties, family and friends. If you were to ask him to choose between his songs and his friends, there's no doubt he would choose his works. 

And nobody- absolutely no one could tell him that he wasn't the best producer because, in his mind, he was. He is. 

In his mind, no one could beat him when it came to song making. He made the best songs in all of Seoul, he even sold a few to some big names in the music industry.

The amount of pride he had in his music was dangerous, perilous to himself and to those around him. He had so much pride- so much faith in the quality of his music that those who were to insult any of his works would have to face his wrath. 

He didn't take criticism. After all, why would he need any? He was the best after all. 

But one particular day, one man made the mistake of insulting his works. One of the songs he had been working on for months. This one, Hongjoong would describe as perfection; the perfect song for anyone to sing. 

He smiled as he listened to it one last time, then switched it over to his USB. He smiled at it, admired it: his pride, his joy, his perfection. 
He would treasure it forever and no one could touch it. No one else deserved to have something as great as this. It's almost like a god created it. 

He had a thought. "I am a God" he softly said to himself. He tucked the USB in his pocket and made his way to producer Eden's studio.

"Hyung~ I need you to listen to this!" he said excitedly as he burst through the doors of Eden's studio. Eden was gathering papers when Hongjoong came through the door, and in front of him sat another man who Hongjong was unfamiliar with. 

"Ah, Hongjoong" Eden greeted. He signaled for Hongjoong to come in and he did. "Take a seat. I was just about to call you in" he told him. Hongjoong sat next to the man, gazing at his handsome looks as he did. "Who...?" he questioned as he looked to Eden. Eden began to speak again, saying "This man is the reason I was going to call you in. Hongjoong, I want you to meet Namjoon, one of the best producers and lyricist I know" he said. Namjoon began to stand, extending his hand to Hongjoong, but Hongjoong only sat there and stared blankly at Eden, then a smirk grew on his face. 

He stood and he shook his hand. "The best producer, you say?" Hongjoong questioned as he locked eyes with Namjoon. Tension filled the air as Hongjoong shook the man's hand for quite some time. They wouldn't have stopped if it wasn't for Namjoon pulling away. 

Namjoon rubbed the back of his head in a moment of humbleness. "Not the best, just one of them," Namjoon said. Hongjoong just nodded his head. "Why did you want me to meet with him, Hyung?" Hongjoong asked, not wanting to conversate with this Namjoon character anymore. 

"Oh, you know that song you've been working on, what's it called, uh-"

"Aurora?" Hongjoong answered. "Yes! That one." Eden said. Hongjoong looked at Eden then reached for his pocket where the USB was. "What about it, Hyung?" he asked. "Did you finish it?" Eden asked, and Hongjoong slowly nodded his head. 

Eden clapped his hands. "Well, I wanted Namjoon here, to listen to the song and give his feedback and if you would allow it, make a few changes in my stead," he said. Hongjoongs eyes grew wide, anger already filling up in his gut. His eyes darted from Eden to Namjoon then back to Eden. "Hyung, are you serious!? Who is he to judge my work?" Hongjoong spat out in anger. Eden quickly stood up and went to him. 

"Hey, hey. Calm down, it's okay. He won't judge it..." he said as he hugged Hongjoong. He stroked his red hair, attempting to cool Hongjoong down. He knew how serious he could and would get about his work. He never let anyone else judge or listen to it before its release besides Eden. 

Hongjoong moved away from Eden. "I'm fine" He assured him. "I'm fine. I just don't get why you can't do it, Hyung," he told him as he sat back down. He quickly glanced at Namjoon who just stood there fiddling with his hands. 

"I have a meeting to attend, with your father. I can't miss it like I did last time, Joong" Eden said, sadly. Hongjoong sighed. "Okay, I understand. But all I have to do is let him listen to the song?" he questioned as he rubbed between his eyes. 

Eden nodded his head. "And if you will...allow him to make some changes. Please, Hongjong. For me, okay?" Eden pleaded with Hongjoong to just comply with his request. Hongjoong sighed and nodded his head again. "Sure, whatever" Hongjoong waved him off. 

In excitement, Eden jumped from his chair and began to gather his things. "Then I'll leave you two to- you know- do your thing" and with that, Eden left for his meeting leaving Hongjoong and Namjoon in the studio. 

Namjoon stepped forward. "So..." he started. "No small talk, Namjohn.".

"It's Namjoon-"

"I really don't care." Hongjoong spits furiously. Just the thought of this man judging the masterpiece he created infuriated him. He just wanted to punch a wall or something, but he's doing this for his hyung, Eden. 

With Eden in mind, Hongjoong cooled himself down and plugged the USB in one of the many computers in the studio. 

"Now, Before I play this song, I want you to know that it's most likely- no- it is the best thing you will ever hear in your entire life. So I don't think there will be any need for you to tweak anything...no need for changes, got it?" Hongjoong said, his face as serious as ever. Namjoon rolled his eyes. "Yea, yea, definitely. Got it."

They both sat down and Hongjoong played the song for them. While he boped his head to the song, tapping his feet and quietly singing along, Namjoon sat there with a stern face. A face that said he would make no blind judgments about this song. If possible, he wouldn't let this song get out with any flaws because of the perfectionist he is. 

The song ended and Hongjoong smiled to himself. 

"I really did create a masterpiece-" he chuckled to himself. Then he switched his attention to Namjoon who sat there, stroking his chin with a serious look on his face. Hongjong smiled at this. His song really made this man freeze up. The power his music holds.

"Didn't I tell you? This song is the best thing-" 

"No." Namjoon said and Hongjoongs eyes widened. "No, it's not the best thing I've heard. If anything, the song was mediocre" Namjoon said, upfront. He didn't hide anything he felt. He was serious when it came to these kinds of things and he wasn't going to play around.

Hongjoong froze up, looking straight at Namjoon. He began to shake and tremble, that familiar bloodthirsty anger wrenching at his gut. His pupils dilated and his fist balled, his nails digging into his delicate skin. 

"What? My song...mediocre? You must be joking" he laughed. Namjoon shook his head which made Hongjoong drop his smile. "I've heard better. And there are a few things I would definitely change about the song-" Namjoon began to discuss, but Hongjoong cut him off. 

"You're not changing a single thing about this song!"' he yelled. His anger grew more and more, but Namjon didn't flinch one bit.  "If you could just calm down, we could talk about this calmly-" 

"Talk about what? I know my song is good. It's way better than anything you've ever composed. You don't know what you're talking about! You've been blinded by all those trashy songs you've written. None of them can compare to mine." Hongjoong screamed. Namjoon sighed.

Hongjoong knew nothing good would come from being with angry...nothing good ever comes from it. So he headed for the door, but that one thing that made him turn around, the one thing that ticked him off more was what Namjoon said next. 

"You'll never get anywhere with that attitude." he sighed. 

"W-what?"

"People won't want to work with you, no matter how good you claim your songs to be." Namjoon folded his arms.

"S-shut up! You don't know anything" 

"Then you claim this to best your best song?" he asked with a smug smile. "This song is trash" he scoffed.

And just like that, that little something in Hongjoong that held him back broke apart and split into tiny pieces. There was nothing to hold Hongjoong back anymore, usually the back up would be Eden, but he isn't here...

Hongjoongs murderous rage filled him completely and he grabbed the nearest thing he could-  which happened to be one of Eden's 'Song of the Year' trophies- and hit Namjoon in the head as hard as he could. He did this over and over and over again until his breathing beginning to weigh him down and his lungs began to hurt. He kept doing this 'til blood covered the entire studio and his entire body. 

It wasn't until he stopped did he come to. He came out of his rage filled blackout and stared in shock at the mess he made. 

"N-no...I.." he said. He looked at his trembling, blood covered hands. 

"I didn't mean too.."

He looked over at Namjoons still body that laid lifeless in the swivel chair. Tears of regret began to flow down his cheeks, falling down onto the wooden floor. He began backing away from him, pulling out his phone. Immediately, he called the only person he could rely on at the moment. 

"Hyung..." his quivering voice barely came out as a whisper. His hands shook as he tried to hold onto the phone- the phone was already slipping out his hands due to the blood that stained them.

"Hongjoong, I can't talk now, I'm-"

"I...I killed him, Hyung"