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It’s been days but Jeonghan hasn’t seen Seunghee at all. It’s a shame that he can’t get a hold of her. She’s almost not home. She goes home late and she goes out late too. It’s always In conflict with his schedule. And of course he can’t really take his work for granted. So he just waits for the time to finally meet her. And besides, he’s still dying of embarrassment. Might as well let a few days pass to let it all die down a bit.

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Minhyun and Seunghee are together sitting at one of the tables in the restaurant tonight. They’re trying to come up with a new song for their performances. She’s all witty and perky, and he just feels like something’s wrong with her.

“What’s up with you?” he asks. He’s holding his guitar and she’s writing the lyrics and notes down beside him.

“What? What’s up?” she has no idea what he’s asking about. She looks at him clueless.

Her eyes are so pretty, her nose is so perfect and her lips are naturally reddish, all the words he’s about to say caught up in his throat. And his heart starts racing he doesn’t even know why. They’ve done this so many times, and why he’s feeling enchanted now is something new to him.

“Never mind. Just continue writing,” he tells her.

She just grimaces at him and writes down the notes. “What was that note again?”

“It’s a c-sharp,” he says while strumming the guitar.

Minhyun is confused. Is he getting attracted to her? After all this time? Why just now? So many questions explode in his mind right now that he puts it instantly into the song they’re making. Maybe he just needs inspiration.

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Seunghee’s late going home again. It’s past 12 and she’s only about to enter her residence. She looks up her room and she finds someone standing by the corridor. In one look, she knows it’s him. It’s Jeonghan and he’s staring down at her too.

She finally meets him at the corridors. While approaching him, she feels nervous. It’s the first time they face each other like this and it’s apparently nerve-racking. Jeonghan feels the same and he’s embarrassed to the core but he has to push this through. It’s his fault for causing her that disturbance. So once she’s close enough, he speaks.

“Anyounghaseyo...” he starts by bowing with the greeting.

She greets back politely, “Anyounghaseyo.”

“I won’t beat around the bush. I’m really sorry for the other night. I was meaning to apologize to you these past few days but I couldn’t catch you. You were always out,” Jeonghan honestly says.

It’s still a little awkward but she accepts, “It’s okay, at least you didn’t really make a mess inside my place. You only slept quietly.”

He laughs shyly scratching the back of his head. “I’m really sorry that happened. Please be sure to properly lock your door so I won’t be able to barge in accidentally again.”

She laughs, “Well, that is the big point right. I don’t know why I left it open. I was sure I locked it. But anyways, please hold your liquor well and drink moderately.”

He nods, “Yeah. I usually do, that night was just an exception. Anyways to make it up to you, please accept this simple gift.” He hands her a cake he bought at the store. But on her other hand, what he sees is a bag of the same brand of cake. “Oh, you bought one?”

Seunghee notices it herself. She has just passed by the cake store since she’s been craving for sweets since a few days back. “Ah, what a timing. I just bought one on my way.”

They both let out a chuckle. It’s too coincidental.

“I think you should have that tonight. I can’t eat more than what I have here,” she tells him.

“Ah...yeah. Too bad. Alright. I’ll make sure to make it up to you next time. Thank you. Oh by the way, we haven’t really been formally introduced yet. I’m Yoon Jeonghan.”

He extends his hand to her. She reaches out for it and they shake hands.

“Oh Seunghee,” she says. “And by the way, there’s something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

She can’t really let it slide anymore, this is the perfect time to confront him about it. Jeonghan smirks at himself. He instantly knew it’s about the loud morning music.

“About the music-“ they say at the same time.

They end up laughing together and Seunghee gestures for him to go first.

“Well, I’m sorry about that too. I was just testing the loudness of the sound system I bought. I was sure disturbing you but I had no choice. The warranty’s void if it exceeds a month you see,” he explains.

Though he’s obviously lying, she can clearly see it in his eyes, she accepts it for humanitarian reasons. “Okay... I hope you’ve checked the unit well by now.”

“Yeah, no more loud morning music,” he smiles slyly.

Tonight, they finally officially meet. It’s still a little uncomfortable but it’s all good. It’s their first time actually facing each other like this and it’s nice. Seunghee thinks he’s decent enough and Jeonghan thinks she’s really pretty close up, even way prettier than he thought. They both erased the way they thought each other was to better images of themselves.

Seunghee decides to go in first, “I’ll go inside now. I still have an early schedule tomorrow. Have a good night Jeonghan-ssi.”

“Thanks, you too Seunghee-ssi.”

When Seunghee enters her place, Jeonghan shortly walks inside his place too. It’s a great night, finally, for both of them.

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Seunghee and her band are idling away the afternoon for the night. They’re inside the restaurant as usual when Elkie arrives and runs to them with a piece of paper.

“Guys! I got us a slot at the festival. Here!” Elkie presents them the confirmation of the festival coordinators for the band SMDJ.

All the band members affirm the news and they are all hyped about it. This festival is one big event and mostly well-known local bands and idol groups usually attend it.

“Wow! You’re truly a blessing to us Elkie-ya!” Jonghyun utters.

“What are you, our manager? I thought it’s Minhyun’s job?” Dongho adds.

“I was busy so I told Elkie to take our request to the coordinators,” Minhyun replies.

“Ah... So it was you all along,” Dongho mutters.

“Yeah, it was me all along. You don’t look too glad about it,” Minhyun remarks.

Seunghee just smiles at them and gives Elkie a hug. “Thank you, Elkie-ya!”

Elkie hugs her beloved unnie back, with the three boys watching them. Then Jonghyun thought of an idea.

“Group hug!” Jonghyun exclaims.

Dongho follows Jonghyun’s lead and the two boys almost crush the two girls under them with their barbaric, annoying embraces.

“Yah!!” the two girls yell at them together, squirming under them and they set them free quickly with annoying smiles.

They start hitting them together and the two boys start laughing with them. It’s happy view from where Minhyun is as he also chuckles at the side. Seeing his band well means everything to him. And he wants to preserve it as it is.

But in the middle of everyone, there is Seunghee. For a moment, there’s only her in his eyes. He knows the thought of her is bothering him but he doesn’t want it to affect the band. He knows he’s not supposed to fall for her cuz it might ruin the band. He’s not supposed to, but even if he knew, his heart can’t lie. And what his heart says right now, is what his mind is fighting.

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The S3 members are hanging out by the park that same moment. They’ve just picked up their approved registration to the festival stage coming up in two weeks. It’s actually the same festival Seunghee’s band is performing at. They also have the list of guest performers on hand. Soonyoung knows someone from the coordinators and he asked for a copy of it.

“This is our chance for a big break. There will be sponsors present there for sure,” Seungkwan says.

“Absolutely. We just have to stand out among these other 25 acts,” Soonyoung utters.

“This is a handful. How are we supposed to outshine these other groups?” Jeonghan mutters.

“Ah, don’t worry too much hyung. Once they see us perform, I’m sure they’ll remember us a little,” Soonyoung encourages.

Seungkwan scans the list, “Wow, 16 will be there and Black Velvet. This will be tough.” Then he stops at a name that looks familiar, “SMDJ? Where have I seen that name?” Seungkwan thinks it through and finally remembers, “Ah! That’s the band performing at Elkie-ssi’s restaurant nightly.”

“Your neighbor hyung, your neighbor,” Soonyoung clarifies.

“Ah… Seunghee-ssi. So she’s in a band. I wondered what’s keeping her late all the time. But where the hell did they get this name from?” Jeonghan asks out of the blue.

“Ask her,” Soonyoung says. “You’re acquainted now aren’t you?”

Jeonghan knows where his talk leads to that he has to frown before he even says it and he does.

Soonyoung smiles at him and adds, “How did it go hyung? Did she tell you to drink moderately?”

“Ahhh… I knew it,” Jeonghan just shrugs and rolls his eyes.

Seungkwan just snickers at the side. Soonyoung continues to tease Jeonghan after that, that Jeonghan just keeps his silence. He knows his dongsaengs are just not gonna let him out of it. For once in his life, he has done something so humiliating.

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When Seunghee arrives by her neighborhood, Jeonghan has only just walked into the area too. Luckily, they meet at the corner of the street before their apartment. It’s 12AM and they’re both surprised to see each other cuz it’s actually the first time they get to enter their homes at the same time this late.

“Seunghee-ssi,” Jeonghan greets.

“Jeonghan-ssi, seems like you’re late tonight,” Seunghee notices.

“Ah, yeah. My group, we’re planning for something. I have a vocal group with my friends you see.”

“A vocal group? Are you performing somewhere?”

“Well, yeah, at the festival.”

He wants to see her reaction, even if he knows she’s gonna be there too. Maybe she still doesn’t know he’s gonna be there. And she really has no idea. He watches as her face slowly light up in delight.

“Really? My band’s performing there too. I guess we’ll bump shoulders by the event then. Oh yeah, I’m in a band anyways.”

She’s smiling at him and he can’t take his eyes off her but he has to, for now.

“That’s good. Maybe by rehearsals we can meet then,” he says.

“For sure. And that would be hectic,” she replies.

They walk up the stairs now and eventually reach their doors.

“I’ll be seeing you around Jeonghan-ssi. Good night.”

“Sure, good night.”

Seunghee goes in first and he reminds her again before closing her door. “Don’t forget to lock your door.”

She only smiles at him and then shuts her door gently.

Jeonghan smiles to himself. He’s delighted. Who thought they’re both music-oriented. It’s the first time they’re gonna be on the same event and on top of that, they’re already acquainted. He can say hi to her without being awkward anymore. It’s a first and he’s gonna enjoy it. He’s also looking forward to her stage. He has never seen her perform and he’ll surely watch her on that event. At the same time, he’ll also pull off the best performance. For the sponsors and for her to see how he shines.

On the other hand, Seunghee is just glad. She’s excited to be seeing him more often on the event and on other events to come. And maybe, get to know him better. She’s just glad they both love music. It brings them closer and it’s perfect.

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TO BE CONTINUED…

Published: 09/01/17