“Igeon beeauutiful liee~” Taekwoon starts, his tender voice enunciating the first line from Wonshik’s composition.

“No hyung, the melody isn’t quite right.” Wonshik interrupts him, shuffling himself closer and pointing a sharpened pencil at the crisp A4 sheet. “The ‘lie’ should drown out at the end.’

“Liiie~ liiie~ Okay.” Taekwoon takes a breath in, closes his eyes and tries once more. “Igeon beeauutiful liiie~”

“Yes! Perfect!” Wonshik praises. “This next line should be a lower octave, almost as if you are speaking and not singing.”

“Nae majimak geojitmal~”

“That’s great.”

“Jugeul maankuem apaaado~ neoreul wihae nan, gamyeon soge nareul gamchune.” Taekwoon opens his eyes to find Wonshik gazing at him. The feeling makes him slightly uncomfortable, so he bows his head lightly and pulls his legs closer to his body.

Wonshik can’t help but smile at Taekwoon’s shyness. He has known the older boy for nearly four years and every time they were this close, he could see how nervous it made him. He knew that Taekwoon enjoyed the time they spent together, they had a certain bond: hard to pin down but easy to recognize. When they were together, it was as if they were confined in a secret garden, where no one could find the gate to enter. Where the hedges were too tall, too overgrown and too dense for anyone to climb over or through them.

“You really are an awesome singer. I wish I had your vocals.”

Taekwoon lifts his head, blowing his bangs out of his eyes as he did so. “Thanks. You aren’t so bad at rapping yourself.”

That, Taekwoon knew, was an understatement. Even though Wonshik was on the early side of his twenties, he had a power to his voice, a certain roughness that rivalled Choi Seunghyun’s. Sure, he still had a lot to learn, but his current technique and delivery were wonderful to listen to. His alternating speed and steady pace always seemed to mesmerize, they commanded attention and Wonshik, for the most part, grabbed the attention by the reigns and rode on top of it.

“Geoul, soge, bichin na, jasinege dasi moreobwaa” Wonshik begins, the words spilling out of his delectably thin lips and into the hushed atmosphere in his bedroom. Whilst rapping, he alternates glances from Taekwoon, to the sheet, to mid-air, and back to Taekwoon. The look of approval on the older boys face revs his passions, and he spits the words out in unison with the slight nods coming from his supportive partner.

~

“I really resonate with the persona in the song.” Taekwoon states when they had finished their first practise session.

“Yeah? How come?” Wonshik spreads his legs out on the hardwood floor and pats his thighs gently, waiting for Taekwoon to answer.

“He reminds me of the person I see myself becoming when I fall in love...”

Wonshik gulps. There was a reason he composed this song, and the words that were coming from Taekwoon’s mouth seemed awfully similar to the feelings he had when he wrote the lyrics. He smirks slightly, half from knowing that his partner had a similar personality and the other half from knowing that Taekwoon had no clue about how alike their mind sets really were.

After a brief pause, Taekwoon continues. “…I feel like I will always love the other person more. They will never know how much I feel for them, because I will find it hard to express my emotions.”

“Uh-huh…” Wonshik felt livid, fascinated by the parallels between himself and Taek.

“I also think they will not want to be near me as much. I think they would want to be distant. I would prefer that though. I will be