“So I’ll see you this evening at Palawan Beach at Sentosa?”

“Mmm, I’ll be there.” Looking up from packing the last of your course materials into your backpack, you were met with a smiley Taeil due to your positive response.

He waved the phone in his hand, the secret signal between the two of you which meant “I’ll call you later.”

Watching as he turned to leave the lecture hall for his next module, you smiled silently to yourself, already looking forward to the wonderful evening ahead with you. It was the end of the semester, and Taeil had suggested going to the beach to be in touch with nature as a way to unwind. You readily agreed; it was a good idea for both of you to be able to relax and unwind after this crazy, stressful semester. You immediately backtracked on your progress with Taeil over the last 8 months.

Over the course of a mere 8 months, you and Taeil had become so close to the point where you can confidently say that you knew him inside out. You spent hours with him hunched over tables whilst poring over thick books, be it at the library, cafes or the green ground around your campus. On less demanding times of the years, you found yourself beside Taeil most of the time, as you two sat comfortably next to each other in movie theatres or walked through parks and streets, admiring the architecture brought to you both Mankind and Mother Nature. Gradually, you knew all his little habits, like how he would chew a pencil between his lips or hum a little tune to himself when he’s nervous. You also knew the little quirks of his personality, like how he absolutely cannot do aegyo and how his aegyo sessions always end with him being super embarrassed and you having cramps in your stomach from laughing way more than you should have. On the slightly darker note, you also saw him through late nights when he’ll stay up late to churn out essays or assignments. There were also times where he simply ran away to some remote island off the coast of Singapore to escape from the expectations and stifling city life. To sum things up, you stood with him under the storms and walked side by side with him under the warm suns and both of you appreciated having one another.

But despite all this, there was still one thing you haven’t seen from him yet.

-

“Taeil, sing for me will you?”

“Huh? I can’t…” Under the orange hues of the setting sun in the distance, you could see a clear red blush spreading out on his cheeks as he turned his face away from you, his hand instinctively reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

“Please? I’m sure it’s beautiful; I hear you hum to yourself sometimes. It doesn’t have to be anything grand, just something familiar to you.”

“You really want to hear me sing?”

“Since the day you told me you loved singing.”

Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, he finally caved in.

“Alright, but you can’t laugh at me.”

“I promise. Now go!” You clapped your hands together like a movie clapperboard, signalling for him to begin.

The voice that flowed out of him was velvety and smooth; complementing the song very well as the emotions of the song was conveyed through his soulful singing, instead of the lyrics. The song was one that was very familiar to you, as you recognized the lyrics to Bruno Mars “When I was your man” instantaneously.

The English words flowed out of Taeil so effortlessly; you didn’t even notice the inaccurate English pronunciation of some words. He wore a pained expr