11. The Broken Hearted Club

Pairing: Chanseul  [Chanyeol and Seulgi]

Concept: Band!Au

[Completed]

Two dry knocks echoed in the room before Chanyeol lifted his head to see who it was. He hadn't heard her because of the loud music swallowing her voice the first time she talked and simply kept playing until she knocked again very loudly. Chanyeol couldn’t tell how long he made her wait, Seulgi could have been standing there for a minute, maybe five or even more and she still would have the same wide smile on her face to greet him. She was always so nice with him.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, I wasn’t sure if the last rehearsal would be here or at the auditorium.”

It had been a few days since she took part in the band but Chanyeol still couldn't get used to her presence and it was a first for the overly confident leader of the Broken Hearted band. Seulgi didn't only make Chanyeol feel awkward, he was always very self-conscious around her and quieter than usual which made him seem cold.

"You didn't have to come, this is a rehearsal for the musicians," he told her as she finally stepped into the band's wide practice room. Chanyeol was unusually not sitting in front of his golden ribbed drums but on a chair near the door with a guitar playing a few chords. “The performance is tonight so we had a few things to check, I don’t usually make the singers come to the last rehearsal since its the day they have to perform I don’t want to uselessly stress them.”

"Wendy told me she usually comes so I thought I should do the same," Seulgi explained. She stood in the centre of the room without really knowing where to put herself. If she went to sit at the back far from him it would be rude but she didn't want to make Chanyeol uncomfortable by sitting right next to him.

"It's not because Wendy does something that you have to do it too, you're replacing her on stage not as a person."

“Yes of course, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was," Seulgi apologized before looking down.

"Don't apologize," Chanyeol said as soon, realizing that he sounded more harsh than he intended to. "It's not something to apologize for, it was a good initiative."

Seulgi thanked Chanyeol with a slight bow and remained as awkward as ever standing alone in the room while the tall senior continued to play with his guitar. He didn't know what to say and he wished he could invite her to sit next to him, maybe they could talk a bit and he would reassure her about the dreadful performance she would have to do tonight. Maybe he would even teach her a thing or two about guitars or how he created Broken Hearted if she was interested, he just wanted to hear Seulgi’s voice and talk to her. But nothing could come out of Chanyeol's mouth, he was frozen like always.

"I didn't know you could play that," she smiled. "How can you play so many instruments?"

"It's not hard," he mumbled.

"Wendy said you were self-taught,” Seulgi commented as she hesitantly took a step towards him to see the guitar better.

Chanyeol nodded a bit bashfully.

"You're the leader of a well-known university band, a successful music major who already composes music and a self-taught musician who can play various instruments," she enumerated.

"And I'm good at sports," he proudly added.

"I'm not good at any of those," she shyly said before opting to sit next to him. “You must be a genius or something.”

"But you're an amazing singer," Chanyeol retorted as soon. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't."

"I hope I'm not too bad considering that's my major."

"No you're great, really great," he assured her.

In fact, Seulgi's voice was what he liked the most about her. It was full of emotion, clear and it could be powerful or very soft depending of what the song required. Her technique wasn't at Wendy's level but it was beautiful in a different way, so beautiful that it mesmerized Chanyeol. He didn't hesitate one second to take her at the auditions after hearing her sing Doll by Kangta.

Even if Wendy had recommended Seulgi to him already and requested that she would replace her for the school's festival performance while she rested because of her sore throat, Chanyeol wanted to be fair and made Seulgi audition like everyone else nevertheless. In the end, it didn't change anything because she got it and the result was the same but for Chanyeol, everything changed. He completely fell for her voice as soon as he heard it but he soon realized that Seulgi's voice was not the only charming thing about her.

He had acknowledged the fact that she was pretty a long time ago when she started to come to their concerts to see Wendy but he never tried to know more about her. Chanyeol didn’t think much of Seulgi at first but after getting to know her a bit, he fell for her. First, it was her voice and then her personality. If Chanyeol had an ideal type, he figured it would be Seulgi: nice, genuine and passionate. He knew it was crazy to fall for a person he barely knew and the fact that it all happened in a few days was shocking to him too but he knew what the nervousness he felt when she was around meant. The stuttered words, the unusual loss of confidence, the pounding heart and the sweaty hands were not just a clue, they were an answer to a question.

Do I like her?

“Are you nervous for tonight?” he hesitantly asked her.

“Just a bit,” Seulgi smiled. “I know it’s going to get a lot worse when I’ll be backstage though.”

“Just take a few deep breaths and try to think of something else,” he advised her. “Anyways, if anything happens I’m right behind you.”

“Would you stop the show if I forgot the songs’ lyrics or something?”

“I hope I won’t have to go that far and that it doesn’t happen but I guess I could,” he tried to reassure her. “But you’ll be fine, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Seulgi chuckled.

“D-do you know how to play guitar?” Chanyeol said after a pause. Seulgi shook her head and gaped when he handed her his large acoustic guitar. “Maybe I could teach you a few things, if you’re not too bored of course, until the concert, if you don’t have anything else to do,” he added.

“Really? You would do that?” Seulgi blurted. “I learnt a few things from a friend but I can’t do anything else so that would be very helpful.”