Evening finally came and dance lessons for the day had finished up an hour ago. When lessons had ended Sungjae tried once again to get Changsub’s attention but to no avail. Changsub had disappeared within seconds of the instructor ending the lesson with a long speech about determination and perseverance being an essential requirement to reach success in the idol business.

With lessons complete and Changsub nowhere in sight,  Sungjae immediately rushed to the dorm to prepare for the meet up Eunkwang had set up for tonight. The first thing he did upon arriving was take a quick shower to wash away the day’s sweat from practicing. Despite the long day of training Sungjae found himself energized and excited but also a little anxious. Looking forward to the night ahead he decided to dress comfortably in hopes that it would alleviate his anxiety that he could feel building up in the pit of his stomach. He chose a plain black t-shirt and loose khaki shorts that reached his knees.

While making his way quickly out of the dorm, thoughts of being honored with the gift of hearing the angelic voice from last night again pumped his heart to the max and fired up his body with enough adrenaline that he noticed his anxiety from earlier dissipating.

Outside the exit he ran into a group of trainees gathered nearby. There were three of them. One he hadn’t had the benefit of meeting yet. The other two were Eunkwang whom he had met earlier this afternoon and the last but not least was Changsub. They seemed to be casually joking around because they were all laughing and giggling. The stranger had a very pretty smile with eyes that disappeared completely whenever he did. Eunkwang appeared to be the of the joke because he didn’t seem pleased but yet played along and laughed with them. Changsub seemed to be genuinely happy to be there with his friends unlike before when he was with him. This made Sungjae hesitate. What if Changsub didn’t like him and rejected his request? His foot faltered at the thought and he started second guessing his ability to convince Changsub of being his tutor.

Eunkwang looked over and spotted Sungjae silently observing them. “Hey, Sungjae-ah. There you are. Are you ready for the best night of your life?” Eunkwang shouted excitedly towards him. Sungjae smiled and laughed a little at Eunkwang’s gestures. He really liked Eunkwang. It was like he sensed Sungjae’s self doubt and tried to uplift him. This was going to be a good night. He had no doubt about that. Sungjae’s eyes shifted from Eunkwang to Changsub and hesitantly waved at him. Changsub smiled in return, acknowledging him and that was all Sungjae needed to let go of any self doubt he was having.

“We meet again” Changsub said, smiling with his cresent eyes. Sungjae nodded and smiled back.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met yet. My name is Hyunsik. Nice to meet you.” Hyunsik greeted.

“Hello, I’m Sungjae. Yook Sungjae.” Sungjae introduced himself.

“Now that we got that out of the way how about we start heading to the Noraebang. We don’t have that much time before we have to be back for curfew. Luckily, it’s not that far. Just two blocks away.” Eunkwang instructed while walking over and grabbing Sungjae by the shoulder to guide him to their destination. They were walking in silence for a bit before Eunkwang broke the ice.

“So, Sungjae-ah. How old are you? How long have you wanted to be a singer?” Eunkwang asked. “As for me, I think I’ve been studying to be a singer since I was born.” Sungjae observed Hyunsik and Changsub walking slowly ahead of them.

“I’m 14 this year and I think it’s about the same for me although I’m not sure if it’s to the same extent as your’s. But I’ve always felt attracted to singing and begged my parents to let me pursue my dream. They didn’t want me to but we came to an agreement that if I didn’t pass the audition that I would continue with my studies. Luckily, I passed my audition with flying colors and now  I’m here.” Sungjae grinned happily. Remembering all that he had gone through for him to be here now he knew that he couldn’t take anything for granted. Everyday was an opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming a singer.

“Really? That’s awesome that you could come to an agreement with your parents. Your parents must really love you.” Hyunsik broke in on the conversation. “As for me, my father is a well known singer so I guess you could say that I’m following in my father’s footsteps. How bout you, Changsub Hyung?”

Sungjae eyes turned toward Changsub paying close attention to his answer. Changsub didn’t answer right away. He seemed to be debating on how to answer the question.

“Hm..well, if I think about it carefully I think I’ve been singing since I was a child. I’ve loved singing in Noraebangs since I was young so I think it was only natural that it would become my lifelong dream to pursue it as a career. It something that comes most natural to me.” Changsub answered, turning his head back to look at Sungjae and Eunkwang, as if to see if he gave a satisfactory reply to the question.

“Wow! It seems like we were all born for music.” Sungjae excitedly said. Everyone laughed with amusement at his response. Sungjae couldn’t help but to laugh along with them. The energy around them had become liven and he was enjoying this immensely. He was grateful that Eunkwang had changed the atmosphere easily by just posing a simple question.

“Oh, we’re here. Now let’s sing our hearts out tonight.” Eunkwang said while reaching into his pocket for something. “By the way, do you guys have any money?”

Everyone looked at each other with questioning eyes and then back at Eunkwang. “I thought you were paying. It was your bright idea to come to the Noraebang tonight.” Changsub said in disbelief. “I didn’t bring any money thinking you were paying.”

“I don’t have any money. My allowance doesn’t come in until tomorrow.” Hyunsik said. “It appears we walked here for nothing.” Hyunsik sighed with discontent. Changsub seemed upset and disgruntled at Eunkwang.

“Well, I have a coupon for 50% if you bring four people along.” Eunkwang informed them in hopes that it would mediate everyone’s anger at him.

“It doesn’t help much if none of us have money in the first place,” Changsub exclaimed.

“How much does it cost for the room?” Sungjae asked. Hyunsik and Changsub turned their heads in his direction. “I have money but I’m not sure if it’s enough. So, how much is it?” Sungjae really liked that all of their attention was now focused on him.

“It’s usually 20,000 won for an hour but since Eunkwang say’s he has a coupon for 50% it should only be 10,000 won.” Changsub answered. “So, do you have enough?”

Sungjae reached into his pocket to grab his wallet. Opening it, he carefully counted his money. He was glad that he decided to bring his wallet otherwise this trip would have ended early and he wouldn’t have the chance to get close to Changsub and make his request. Luckily, he had enough.

“Yes! I have enough. Let’s go!” He shouted out with glee. They raced inside, happy that they didn’t have to go back to the dorms yet with dissatisfaction. They were met with a middle-aged woman standing behind a desk and computer. She had a look of surprise and bewilderment. Probably because they had all skipped and danced around once they entered the building.

“Hello! We would like a room for an hour. I have a coupon here for 50% if I bring four people.” Eunkwang said to the clerk behind the desk. He handed the clerk the coupon and Sungjae gave her the money for the room. They were escorted by one of the staff to an available room. 

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This was actually a little long but I noticed the chapter started to look a little too long so I decided to cut it in half for now. I guess you could say I had fun writing this chapter. lol I will probably put up the rest in the next two days once I add a little more to it. Please let me know how I'm doing. I think I'm getting the hang of dialogue. :D