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“How about we give it a try?” Mr. Lee tells Seunghee inside his office.

“Really Mr. Lee?” she replies.

“Yeah, here. Look,” he hands her the schedule of performers in the bar for the coming month and points her name on the list. The third performer in the line up every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

She’s speechless. Seeing her name as one of the performers instead of her old band is quite amazing.

“One group has left and got casted on a bigger venue so I’m hiring you. Starting on the third week, you’re gonna be part of the performing teams. Congratulations!” he says.

“But don’t I need to audition to get listed?” she’s still in denial though.

Mr. Lee snorts and utters, “I heard you sing at the festival so don’t worry about it. You have my thumbs up,” he gestures both thumbs up.

She finally expresses her gratitude with a wide, thankful smile, “Thank you Mr. Lee!” Then she stands up and bows 90 degrees infront of him, “I’ll do my best!”

Mr. Lee only smiles at her with a nod. Then he recalls how he decided to cast her.

Flashback

“Please Mr. Lee, give Seunghee a chance to perform!” Jeonghan is bowing 90 degrees infront him.

“Come on, Jeonghan-ssi. Get back to your seat. You know how it is here,” Mr. Lee replies with a frown.

Jeonghan sits but doesn’t give up in persuading him. “I have a video of her performance at the festival with her band earlier this year. Please take time to hear it.” He searches for the video on his phone.

“No, I already have a group to cast. They’re waiting for my call.”

“Just one minute! That’s all it takes. Please Mr. Lee.”

“You just won’t give up do you?”

“Just one minute. Here, please listen.”

Jeonghan plays her video, it’s a little dark and hazy, but the sound is loud and clear. It plays Seunghee singing ‘Brighter’ on the night of the festival. Mr. Lee is all ears on it, if not all eyes. And when Jeonghan is about to stop the video after a minute, Mr. Lee stops him.

“Isn’t she-“ about to press the stop button.

“No, don’t stop it. Let it continue,” Mr. Lee tells him.

“Sure.”

Jeonghan is having a nice feeling about it. Mr. Lee is closing his eyes and listening to every bit of detail in her voice. It’s a positive feedback from their strict pub manager.

After the song, Jeonghan asks, “So how about it Mr. Lee?”

“Give me a copy of that and I’ll think about it.”

“Sure sir.”

Jeonghan shares him the file eagerly as Mr. Lee watches the young man tremble in excitement and exude the feeling of being in love. He just sighs, young people have a very different way of thinking in this era.

End of flashback

“Go ahead, get your songs ready by next week,” Mr. Lee tells her.

“Yes, Mr. Lee!” Seunghee replies and walks out of the room overjoyed.

“Oh, how nice it is to be young and in love…” Mr. Lee murmurs with a smirk.

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It’s almost time to go and S3 has just ended their last song. Seunghee has also ended her shift and is waiting for them at their VIP lounge. They’re still all sweaty and are catching their breaths when they meet Seunghee. She’s smiling at them positively like something good happened.

“You guys were great tonight, as always. S3 jjang!” she cheers on.

“Thanks noona,” Seungkwan and Soonyoung replies as they sit on the couch wiping their sweats with tissues.

Jeonghan quickly notices her different mood and sits beside her. She picks up a tissue and wipes some wet spots in his face softly.

“I have good news for you,” she says.

“Really? What is it?” he utters, awaiting her revelation.

“I’ll be on the line up of performers starting on third week!” she exclaims.

Jeonghan can’t believe it. After a few times of begging and asking Mr. Lee to give her a slot, he finally did it. “You did it! Congratulations!” he gives her a tight hug with unexplainable happiness.

“Yes! I don’t know how Mr. Lee went about it, but he did!” she utters, hugging him back, delighted.

“Wow! Congratulations noona!” Seungkwan greets.

“You deserve it noona!” Soonyoung adds.

Jeonghan and Seunghee let go and she replies, “Thanks you guys. I’ll finally do what I love most again.”

Jeonghan just can’t feel more grateful. This sight of her, expressing utmost felicity, is priceless. Now he realizes just how much her music means to her.

“I’m sure the crowd will be amazed when they hear you,” Seungkwan says.

“This is great! We can finally share this lounge with you!” Soonyoung expresses.

“Yeah,” she replies, still all smiles at them.

“This is another reason to celebrate!” Jeonghan brings up his glass for a toast. “Fill your glasses up you guys.” Seungkwan and Soonyoung obliges and Seunghee reaches out for an empty glass, but Jeonghan stops her by grabbing her wrist, “No, not you.”

She only pouts at him with a frown. “You’re here, so why can’t I drink?”

“I’m here that’s why you can’t drink,” he emphasizes.

Soonyoung and Seungkwan can relate and both don’t react to their sweet talk but smirk for some reason.

“Bottoms up!” Jeonghan toasts.

The three boys give it a toast but before Jeonghan can gulp down his drink, Seunghee carefully snatches the glass from him and drinks it all before he can even react. The two other boys are just amazed of what they saw and end up cracking and clapping on their side before even emptying their glasses.

“Whoaa!! You rock noona! That was epic!” they say simultaneously in complete awe.

Seunghee finishes the glass and puts it back on the table. Quickly, she turns to her betrayed boyfriend with a lovely smile, as her world slowly begins spinning around in her head.

Jeonghan can hardly believe what she just did that he’s speechless and just blurts out a warning, “Don’t you sleep on me later.”

“What?” she murmurs.

And shortly after that moment, she passes out on him which completely shocks all of them later. She simply collapses onto his arms without even saying another word. And from the looks of it, she’s knocked out, of the strong beer they’re drinking.

Seungkwan and Soonyoung just chuckle at the side, thinking she’s faking it.

“Hey, I’m not gonna fall for this, Seunghee-ya,” Jeonghan holds on to her, but she just keeps on falling even closer to him. “Hey!” He tries to shake her, but she’s not budging. “Seunghee-ya? Are you kidding me?” She looks like she’s seriously sleeping so from then, he realizes it’s not a trick. “She’s really down guys, I have to take her home.”

The two boys are shocked of his statement.

“Like really?” Soonyoung blurts out, eyes widening.

“Is noona seriously--?” Seungkwan adds, also in a state of shock.

“Yeah, so I’m out guys. See yah tomorrow,” Jeonghan bids, carrying his drunk girlfriend again. Maybe he has to get used to this. But no, on the other hand, he just has to stop her from drinking everytime.

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Like the last time, he has to use up all his might to take her to his apartment. Finally, they are now entering their home and in a few meters away, he’ll be able to lay her on the bed.

After a moment, he enters the room and puts her to bed in all gentleness, even though from the looks of it, he won’t be able to wake her up no matter what he does. As she lays there on his bed, she stirs in her sleep with a soft murmur. He can’t help but stare and so he sits just beside her on the bed. This time, she’s not just a neighbor to him anymore. And like the last time, he reaches to caress her hair tenderly. He smiles to himself, she’s too helpless at times. She’s a little careless and too lenient on others. He then touches her face, sliding down his thumb repeatedly over her rosy cheek. She’s too beautiful, but sometimes can be a little moody. She’s all that and she’s his girlfriend. That’s what makes her even more fascinating.

Thinking about all that, he hasn’t noticed that he’s already shoving his head to give her a kiss. But when he realized it’s not right, he diverts his lips to land on her forehead and plants a fatherly kiss right there. He kicks himself inside for almost intruding in on her sleep and just chuckles. “Good night Seunghee-ya.”

He then walks out of the room and shuts the door, leaving her in her deep slumber.

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In the middle of the night, Seunghee awakens. She feels like she needed to change and brush her teeth. So she walks out of the room and passes by the sleeping Jeonghan on the couch. He’s sound asleep and she doesn’t even want to wake him up. She recalls the scene at the bar, where she’s smiling at him after drinking his glassful of beer. Then there’s nothing after that. She can still taste the beer in her mouth, it’s too strong that maybe she passed out right after. And maybe she’s entirely right cuz they’re at home now.

She takes a quick shower, changes into her pjs and then brushes her teeth. On her way back to the room, she glances at him again. He looks so lonely and cold. It makes her want to take him to the room with her. But instead, her feet lead her to him. She sneaks under his sheets carefully, her back facing him and puts his arm around her waist as she shares the piece of pillow with him. He murmurs on his sleep and finally awakens of the fuss she’s done.

“Seunghee-ya?” he mutters his eyes half open.

“Go back to sleep,” she orders.

He doesn’t understand what’s happening but the feeling of her body close against him is warm enough to comfort him in this cold night. So he doesn’t say more and just wraps his arms around her even tighter and falls asleep once more.

She smiles in her sleep. She thinks, maybe it’s alright for them to share the same bed at night. That thought runs in her mind so she’ll give it a try. They’re together so why not.

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Early morning, both of them wakes up to the loud sound of Seunghee’s phone alarm. They’re still entangled sweetly before opening their eyes but in a second, they’re already sitting down on the couch.

“Ah… can’t you tone down that alarm? It’s too loud for early morning,” Jeonghan whines and groans, still half-asleep.

“Yeah, I’ll get it,” Seunghee walks into the room and shuts her phone.

Minutes later, she still hasn’t gone out of the room so he wonders, “What’s taking her?”

He paces his way to the room now fully awake. He peeks inside the room from the door and finds her laying on the bed, supposedly sleeping, her back upfront.

“Hey…” he walks over her and when he’s standing just hovering at her, she surprises him by turning around and pulling him, making him fall on the bed on all fours just above her.

“Got ya!” she giggles sweetly at him and it makes him wanna go crazy in such an early morning. She’s driving him crazy.

“What’s the deal Seunghee-ya?” he grimaces cuz he’s just about as surprised as she wants him.

She stops laughing and stares lovingly at him. “I don’t want you to use the couch anymore. You can sleep in here whenever you want. This is your bed after all.”

“What are you--? And you?” he’s still shocked about it.

“I’ll share the bed with you.”

“No, no, no…” he finally bolts up and sits on the bed.

She follows right after and sits beside him, “Why? Is it that bad of an idea?”

“It is. I can’t. You can’t make me,” some things are already floating in his mind as to how the she would end up with him on his bed and it’s too early in the morning for god’s sake. He shakes his head off of it. This is all her fault.

“Why? It’s okay. Just don’t do anything funny,” she tries to persuade him.

“That’s the thing. I can’t promise you, I won’t do anything! Let’s just forget about this bad idea okay? Come on, let’s prepare breakfast.”

He walks out on her and she just can’t help but sigh. She only wants him to be comfortable and now he’s the one angry with him. Is it really bad for him to share the same bed with her in his room? She just can’t get the thought right.

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TO BE CONTINUED…

Published: 02/02/18