Poetry is one way of conveying emotions.

It serves as a creative expression or release of feelings through the use of language and aesthetics with some containing rhyming patterns. When combined with the most compatible melodies and sound, the emotions could resonate and touch even the toughest of hearts. It’s no wonder why some individuals aspire to devote their lives in the field of music. Along these aspirants is a boy who is currently in his freshman year in college with what would most probably be the rarest name in Korea.

20-year-old Ong Seongwoo has long since aspired to be the singer that could move and inspire people with his music. Anyone would think that with those kinds of dreams, he would most definitely be a vocal or performing arts major. Unfortunately, the young lad ended up in a business major. A course way off of his preferences. Of course, Seongwoo himself was disappointed but he can’t blame it on anyone else but himself.

Seongwoo wrote down Vocals as his first choice along with a minor in dance in hopes of achieving his dreams. Like any other course under the performing arts, he had to undergo a talent test to prove that they are indeed worthy of the limited slots offered in the course. Seongwoo has wanted to sing in front of an audience for as long as he can remember…

…. But there was a teeny tiny problem.

Seongwoo was an extremely shy person that would be reduced to a stuttering mess whenever he meets new people. To top it all off, he has never sung in front of a crowd besides his family. When faced with a big crowd, it’s as if someone would shove down things in his throat that would prevent his voice from coming out. The talent test was one of the most humiliating events that he has ever experienced.

It’s natural for the students to feel completely jittery and nervous when they have to face the scrutinizing eyes of the panel of vocal experts. At first, Seongwoo thought it was only the anxious feeling of performing in front of a crowd that made his palms all sweaty. But the moment he stepped on stage and faced the crowd, his mind went completely black and his body became paralyzed. The nerves were greater than he thought that he could barely finish his introduction without stuttering.

As if embarrassing himself wasn’t enough, the remaining confidence within him immediately fled and left him facing the crowd on his own. His legs felt like jelly and his hands trembled with the intense feeling of anxiety overcoming his brain. Seongwoo managed to open his mouth, but the efforts were in vain when no sound came out. Not a single note or sound was made and Seongwoo felt helpless at the invisible force that kept his voice at bay. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push it away. No one had to think why failed the talent test when it was plainly obvious.

It was an entirely different matter when he took up his audition for the dance minor he chose to take. If Seongwoo wanted a chance to audition for an entertainment agency then no doubt he had to know a bit of dance to make himself a top pick among the others. In contrast to his vocal audition, his expressions and attention to details were spot on that he was practically radiating confidence. It was no surprise that he passed the audition for a minor in dance. Sadly, he had to take up dance along with his parent’s choice which was a business major.

And so that was how Seongwoo ended up being a Business major with a minor in dance. Although it was disappointing, he chose to look at the brighter side of things and was glad he at least got the minor in dance. Maybe he can slowly start building his confidence there.

Ong Seongwoo was now halfway through his freshman year and he could proudly proclaim that he was doing great. He negotiated with his parents to let him keep his minor in dance if he could keep his grades associated with his business degree high. Although his parent’s loved it when he sings for them, they didn’t think it would be good to pursue a career in the field of music let alone dance. In the end of the first term, he became a dean’s lister which effectively shut his parent’s comments on his minor in dance for good.

During the day, Seongwoo would be preoccupied with his business-related classes while he diligently attends his dance classes in the late afternoon. By the end of the day, it leaves him exhausted but nonetheless, he enjoys his dance classes more than his business ones. Though if he wanted to keep the dance classes, he had to put some effort into business. Which is why he was now under the light of his desk lamp typing away his homework on his laptop with the sound of the silver ring on his index finger tapping on the table when he’s trying to think.

Not too long after that, his roommate entered and spotted him working on his homework.His roommate Hwang Minhyun was a vocal major with a minor in business which made some of their classes match. Other than Minhyun, Seongwoo doesn’t really have anyone else since he usually finds Minhyun's company enough.

The newcomer looks over Seongwoo’s shoulder to peer on to his roommate’s work. “Are you already doing our homework for Business Ethics?” Seongwoo glanced to his side and readjusted his glasses to make sure it was indeed his roommate. “Yes, I am.” Minhyun only blinked in reply, “Isn’t that due in two weeks?” The younger male just shrugged and gave the other a sheepish smile, “Might as well finish it now before the other profs drop all the workload in the last minute.” The older raven-haired male hummed in acknowledgment before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower while Seongwoo went back to typing.

Not long after, Minhyun came out of the bathroom. Hair all wet and dripping with a towel on his head to dry it off. “Oh, I almost forgot to mention--” Seongwoo looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, “The performing arts students are going to throw a party tomorrow in Jaehwan’s house, you coming?” Seongwoo blinked, “I’m not a performing art student though?”

Minhyun raised an eyebrow, “Said the kid with a minor in dance”

“Oh, does that count?”

“Of course it does, so are you coming or not?”

Seongwoo glanced at the word files scattered all over his desktop, “... Well, I have another paper to do tomo-”

“Then it’s settled, you’re coming with me tomorrow”

“Wait what? I didn’t--”

“You need a break once in awhile and this is it. I can even introduce you to my other friends”

“I have my own friends.”

“I’m technically you’re only friend”

“I’m happy with one companion thank you very much. But fine, I’ll go with you if it means you’ll stop bugging me about having no friends”

Minhyun chuckled at his small victory and patted Seongwoo’s head in a teasing manner.

“See you tomorrow night then” Seongwoo only groaned at the hand before swatting it away in which Minhyun responded with a laugh before retreating to his room. “Don’t stay up too late.” Seongwoo only waved him off, “Yeah, I know. Just one more and I’ll call it a day.”

Unfortunately, that's not what happened at all. Seongwoo got immersed into finishing the paper that he almost forgot he started at around 11 pm and now it almost four in the morning and he still had an 8 am class later on. The raven-haired male groaned and ended up making a mess of his hair out of frustration. He couldn’t care less so he took a quick shower and brushed his teeth before going straight to bed and dozing off to dreamland.

Seongwoo woke up the next morning when a ray of light was directed at his face but he only groaned and covered himself with his blanket.

Wait, sunlight?

The 20-year-old freshman quickly sat up and wore his glasses before checking the time.

7:51am

“!” He quickly muttered to himself and pushed the blankets off of him to jump out of bed. He only had 9 minutes to catch up to his 8 am finances class and unfortunately, food had to wait until the end of his morning schedule.

“Finally up I see,” Minhyun said as if it was the most casual thing ever that Seongwoo’s eyes twitched in annoyance. “I can’t believe you didn’t even wake me up when you know I have an 8 am class!” Minhyun scoffed, “Last time I did that, I got smacked in the face and had to nurse a small bruise for three days.” The younger of the two groaned when he couldn’t retort with a comeback, it was true anyway.

“I hate you.” He replied with the blankest expression ever before he ran to the bathroom while Minhyun chuckled at his roommate’s antics. After what would most probably his fastest shower yet, Seongwoo hurriedly dried his hair and combed it down to the typical coconut-like hairstyle he usually sports. Thank god he wasn’t like those people who styled their hair every morning. After giving himself a once over, he quickly brushed his teeth, wore his usual silver ring on his index finger, and bolted out of the dorms.

Gauging the distance from his dorm, it should take him at least five minutes to get there. Luckily, dancing has done his endurance some good and now he was only a few blocks away. “Just another turn and― ow!”

Suddenly he collided with what he would have thought was a wall if he didn’t hear it groan in pain. Although he was the one who fell to the floor, his instant reaction was to release a stuttering mess of apologies at the pink blob. Meanwhile, his hands were frantically sweeping the floor in search for his glasses that probably flew off when he fell.

“Here,” said a voice to his right and he felt relieved when the pink blob handed him his glasses. Seongwoo stuttered out a quick thanks and another apology before he wore his glasses and got back on his feet. Unfortunately, he was too embarrassed to raise his head while doing a few more bows with another stream of apologies before he was back to running for his class. Seongwoo was greatly relieved when he saw his professor was just about to enter the lecture hall, at least now he was sure he didn’t miss anything.

The business major was now in a cafe across the campus after his morning schedules where he sat in his usual place by the window in the corner. While he was in the middle of organizing his planner to insert the new assignments, his phone rang and he swiped on accept without a second thought.

“Hello?”

“This is your ever-so-loyal friend Minhyun, just dropping a reminder that you agreed to go with me to Jaehwan’s party later on in case you forgot.” Seongwoo blinked and stared at the vacant evening on his planner. “Oh damn, I suddenly saw in my planner that I actually planned on doing a paper this evening. Maybe ne―”

“Don’t even try, I can see you staring at your empty planner outside”

True enough, when Seongwoo looked outside the huge glass pane, Minhyun was right there with his phone to his ear and waving at him. Seongwoo sighed and rolled his eyes while Minhyun smirked in victory before entering the cafe to occupy the vacant seat in front of his friend. “Knew you might try to bail out of this one.” Seongwoo let out an exasperated sigh, “Why do I even have to tag along when they’re YOUR friends?”

“Which is why I’m going to introduce you to them” Minhyun stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But why..” Seongwoo whined and for a second, Minhyun thought he was talking to a middle schooler. “Oh c’mon, even you know connections will eventually be necessary for the future.” Seongwoo sighed, “Yeah, I know but―”

“No buts” Minhyun cut him off before he could come up with another excuse like ‘they’re performing arts majors and I’m not’. “But Minhyun... My verbal abilities are close to none! It took me 3 months to fix my speech patterns around you and you even thought I might have liked you that way!” Minhyun chuckled at the ridiculous memory, “Don’t worry about it, my friends already know about your speech problem. I’m sure they’ll be considerate about it”

Seongwoo gave it a thought and saw the determination in Minhyun’s eyes and sighed. He knew that look and it was definitely an I’m-not-giving-up-so-you-should-stop-trying kind of expression and so he had no choice in this at all. “Okay fine! If this doesn’t work out then you owe me.” Minhyun leaned back with a smile as if he just facilitated the biggest business deal of all time. “No worries, I wouldn’t let you meet them if they weren’t going to make you comfortable.”

The next thing they knew it was already nearing 2 pm and Seongwoo still had his late afternoon dance classes to attend. Minhyun made him promise to go back straight to the dorm when his class finished so they could prepare for the party together and Seongwoo just nodded and bid him a quick ‘see you’ before heading back to the campus for his dance class.

When he got back to the dorm that night, Minhyun was just about to take a shower in preparation for the party and Seongwoo made no rush to prepare. If anything, he was probably trying to delay time as much as he can but Minhyun wasn’t having any of that. By the time Seongwoo finished showering, Minhyun already picked out his clothes for him and the younger male had no choice but to comply. “Come on you slowpoke, wouldn’t want to be late.”

“How the heck did you even pick this out? It’s way too... Minhyun.” The older male laughed at the comment. The clothes he picked out was basically a dress shirt he found in Seongwoo’s closet and a pair of black jeans. “You were already delaying on purpose so I had to find ways to make sure you didn’t waste time.”

A comfortable silence filled the air before Minhyun noticed the usual thin frames sitting on the bridge of Seongwoo’s nose as well as his usual coconut hairstyle. “Did you really not make an effort on purpose? It’s like I just made you change clothes.” Seongwoo rolled his eyes in reply. “Oh please, it’s what I always look like. Not like I had to style myself for a party or anything.” Minhyun hummed in acknowledgment. In contrast to Seongwoo’s opinion, Minhyun had his hair in a comma style since Seongwoo procrastinating to the max had given him so much time. “Suit yourself.”

Minutes later, Minhyun finally parked in front of a house with loud music blaring through the speakers from the backyard. Just as Seongwoo expected, it was the typical college party with plenty of drinks and drunken interactions that he couldn’t wait to go home.

Just as he was already thinking of excuses to escape, Minhyun’s friends came over and greeted Minhyun. “Took you a while, I was on the verge of driving to your dorm to force you out.” Said the man who looks about the same age with slightly feminine features. “Chill Minki. I already promised I would come.” Seongwoo looked over the composition of the group, a boy with diva-like vibes, one that looks ready to kill (Seongwoo unconsciously gulped), and one who could pass for a Pokemon look-a-like if he tried.

Minhyun glanced to the bespectacled coconut head who was unconsciously hiding behind him, obviously suffering from his extreme lack of experience in human interaction. Minhyun gently held his hand and gently pulled him towards his side to make his presence known.

“By the way, this is my roommate Ong Seongwoo. He’s the one I usually mention to you guys.” Minhyun has always mentioned how Seongwoo would struggle with speaking whenever he planned on introducing him to his friends and this is the first time they finally met face-to-face.

The Pokemon was the first one to reach out a hand, “Hey, I’m Jonghyun but some people call me JR. Nice to meet you!” He said with a kind smile that no one could possibly doubt. Seongwoo hesitantly reached out and shook Jonghyun’s hand “S-Seongwoo… Ong Seongwoo.” The bespectacled male replied with a voice barely passing a whisper. Minki was quick to follow Jonghyun’s introduction “Choi Minki, as you heard Minhyun mention earlier.”

When it came to the most intimidating looking friend, Seongwoo practically froze that it took them a while until Seongwoo finally shook Dongho’s hand after being coaxed like a child to do so... And retreating to Minhyun’s back afterward. Minhyun only shook his head, it’s a cute sight after all. He would prefer a shy Seongwoo over the sarcastic side he has discovered in the past months.

Minhyun’s friends finally went on their way after their introductions and Seongwoo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when the tension in his body finally disappeared. Minhyun could only chuckle at the sight. “That was most definitely the most exhausting thing you made me do, you owe me!” The older male raised an eyebrow, “I only introduced you to my friends, what’s so hard about that?” Seongwoo looked back at his friend with a glare, “You know damn well why.”

Minhyun only chuckled with obvious amusement in his tone, I’ll just go fetch us a drink then. “Minhyun you know I don’t dr―” When Seongwoo looked to his right, Minhyun was no longer there and he instantly felt a surge of panic rising. After inviting me all the way here how dare he just leave me! I can’t believe this!” Seongwoo tried to keep his distance from the other party goers. Luckily, his appearance doesn’t attract too much attention as he navigated through the crowd until he reached a more ‘peaceful’ corner of the house.

Seongwoo was debating whether he should ditch Minhyun and go home when a tap on his shoulder suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts. “Hi,” said the man with pink hair and broad shoulders that make Seongwoo feel small. “U-Um... Hi..?” Why is he here? Why is he talking to me? I don’t even look that interesting, so why?? Dammit, Minhyun this is all your fault―

“Sorry b-but..” Seongwoo couldn’t retain eye contact at all, bit by bit he was becoming a stuttering mess again at the presence of a new stranger. “U-um.. who are y-you?”  The pink-haired male with a sheepish smile while he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.  “Ah, sorry. I guess you don’t remember me then?” Although a bit inaudible, Seongwoo succeeded in getting words out “Well the.. T-the p-..pink hair kinda... Looks familiar..?” The slightly taller boy smiled. Seriously, who smiles this much anyway?

“Yeah well... You did drop your glasses that time so I guess you didn’t see me clearly.”

It took a while before the statement finally processed in Seongwoo’s brain.

“Ah!” The bespectacled male immediately became flustered when he remembered bumping into a ‘pink blob’ earlier that day. His instant reaction was to, of course, bow repeatedly alongside an endless string of apologies mixed with stuttering here and there.

“I-I..sorry... I’m so sorry! I d-didn’t bump to me- I mean I didn’t mean to bump you! It’s just- Minhyun and finances and-“ The much larger male held his shoulders to make him stop bowing and Seongwoo’s eyes widened at the sudden gesture. “Hey it’s alright, I’m not hurt or anything,” The pink-haired male said with the most calming smile.

Seongwoo sighed to calm down his thoughts and looked back only to avert his eyes. “Sorry..” The other guy smiled and let go of his shoulders. “Alright, so let’s do this properly. I’m Daniel. Kang Daniel and I major in dance.” He stated with the most blinding smile with an outstretched hand. Seongwoo visibly hesitated at the hand but the other guy was just way too nice to be ignored so Seongwoo slowly reached out and loosely held the other’s outstretched hand. “S-Seongwoo. Ong Seongwoo... Business major... freshman” He muttered but it was audible enough to be understood.

“Oh! So you’re a freshman too? I kinda thought you might have been older, sorry” Daniel replied with another smile. Before Seongwoo could reply, Minhyun suddenly came into view. “There you are! I thought you might have ditched on me by now. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if you did, I’m actually more surprised you’re still here” Seongwoo felt greatly relieved now that his only friend was here but Minhyun didn’t seem to sense his relief when he spotted his companion.

“Oh Daniel, I see you’ve met my roommate.” The said male widened his eyes by a fraction as the realization sank in. “Ahh, so you’re that Seongwoo... I guess that explains your stuttering. I thought you were just really nervous” Seongwoo glared at Minhyun with a ‘Do-you-tell-everyone-about-this’ kind of expression but the so-called friend only smiled as if he has done nothing wrong at all.

-so... I’ll um.. Go on ahead. Still staying?” Minhyun thought about it and shrugged, “Yeah I guess I’ll be here for a while” The younger of the two nodded and looked over at Daniel “So yeah... I’ll just uhh.. go. Yeah. Bye” Daniel made a small wave with his usual smile and Seongwoo made a quick wave before he finally left to go back to the dorm.late s“It’s getting