Tbh this was supposed to be posted tomorrow but then I browsed the contents of this chapter so... yeah this shouldn't wait any longer HAHA

Seongwoo felt like he couldn’t breathe. His hands were trembling, palms all wet with sweat but from what? He couldn’t remember. All he knows is he can see Daniel trying to talk to him but why couldn’t he hear him? The brunette was currently holding both of Seongwoo’s elbows to try and calm him down. They’ve probably been at it for minutes now but it felt like hours.

But Daniel was patient.

The dance major raised a hand to Seongwoo’s shoulder and started to draw circles on his back until he was eventually engulfed in Daniel’s arms in a gentle hug. Seongwoo unconsciously clung to Daniel’s shirt while the brunette whispered comforting words in his ear and urging him to slowly count to 10.

After what would probably be 30 minutes of being in Daniel’s arms, Seongwoo’s shaking subsided until he finally realized their position. Seongwoo practically squealed when he suddenly leaned back away from Daniel, almost causing his glasses to fly off at the sudden force. Before his glasses could fall, Seongwoo held them in place and pretended to readjust it to hide his embarrassment (for the nth time by now).

“Th… Thank you..” He muttered and Daniel offered an encouraging smile. Minhyun has always been patient so he stood by the sidelines until Seongwoo finally calmed down. When Daniel gave the subtle signal that he looked fine, Minyhun carefully approached his bespectacled friend and held Seongwoo’s hands in his own.

“It’s quite a heavy challenge for you, I know.” He started while rubbing comforting circles on the back of Seongwoo’s hands, “But please think about it. This is your chance to slowly break out of your shell for your dream.” Seongwoo hesitantly looked up and was greeted with Minhyun’s gentle smile. “Think about it, okay? Let me know what your decision is and I’ll support you either way.” The vocal major gave a reassuring squeeze to his hands before he finally stood up and let go.

Minhyun looked over at Daniel and nodded, silently telling him that he’ll leave Seongwoo to him before he finally left the dorm. The dorm became silent the moment Minhyun closed the door so Daniel gently slid himself to Seongwoo’s side. Daniel picked up Niel who was now on the floor and placed him on Seongwoo’s lap.

“It’s not too bad, you know.” Daniel started with a cautious tone. “I mean, if you think about it, it is a perfect opportunity. You can get your voice known and they wouldn’t even know it’s you.” Seongwoo bit his lower lip, usually one of his telltale signs when he’s in thought so Daniel pushed further.

“You know I’ll be there for you, right?” The latter nodded without hesitation, so Daniel held his hand, “Just let us help you for once. You’ve always been the one helping us with things since you were a dean’s lister. We just want to help you get one step closer to that dream.”

Seongwoo took a deep breath and looked at Daniel, “But Daniel... What if―” The brunette didn’t let him finish by putting a finger to his own lips to tell Seongwoo to stay quiet. “Nothing is going to go wrong.” The smaller male fidgeted with his fingers, “You’ll be fine. Minhyun and I can accompany you when you record the song so you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. Just think about all the times we sang when we were in Incheon. It will only be you, me, and Minhyun.”

Daniel stayed quiet afterward, not wanting to pressure him further. “Just think about it.” He said to conclude his small speech. Daniel grabbed the throw pillow beside him and laid down on the couch to resume watching the Gag Concert that was flashing on the screen. Niel hasn’t moved from his spot. Instead, he’s been playfully biting his owner’s hand to try and get his attention but it only snapped him out of his thoughts.

That was when Seongwoo reached out and poked Daniel’s side. Being the giant ticklish kid he was, Daniel practically jerked up in surprise (And no he did not squeal, it was just a defensive reaction). “Aish… that just shocked the hell―”

“I’ll do it.”

Daniel blinked, “What?”

Seongwoo took in another deep breath, “... I said I’ll do it.”

The dance major blinked again before it finally registered in his brain. The next thing Seongwoo knew, he was now laying down on the couch with Daniel hugging him as tight as he can. “Yes! Now I can’t wait!” Daniel leaned back and took out his phone to instantly notify Minhyun of the decision.

From: Daniel

He’s going to do it!!!

From: Minhyun

Seriously?

I actually thought he’d turn it down.

From: Daniel

He still seems hesitant about it but

He told me just now that he’ll do it.

From: Minhyun

Great! Ask him for a date when

We can record so I can book a

Recording studio in the vocal department.

“Hey, Minhyun is asking when you can be available for recording,” Daniel asked while unconsciously putting his weight on Seongwoo’s shoulder. “Um... Maybe this Thursday and Friday?” Daniel gave a thumbs up and went back to typing.

From: Daniel

This Thursday and Friday!

From: Minhyun

Alright. I’ll set it after class hours.

Daniel placed his phone down afterward and bounced back to Seongwoo’s side with a smile on his face. “...What?” The bespectacled male raised his eyebrow to Daniel’s sudden bounciness. “Nothing,” He replied, “I’m just reaaaaally excited because people will finally hear how beautiful your voice is.” Seongwoo being Seongwoo, hid his face in his hands and hits Daniel out of embarrassment.

~ .oOo. ~
 

The first day of recording, it was now 4:23 pm in one of the vocal department’s recording studios where Minhyun was able to schedule for today and tomorrow. Seongwoo was still fidgety about the whole thing and Daniel had to reassure him once in a while. Luckily both Minhyun and Daniel were patient enough to give him encouraging words to calm him down whenever he starts to look distressed.

“I already had a list of songs planned out based on your unique vocal tone and color so I just need you to pick from the list and we can get one started today, okay? I already have the guides for the songs so you just have to pick any.” Minhyun went over to the console and started to set everything up while Seongwoo browsed through the list.

Majority of the songs were songs Minhyun has heard him sing in the dorms before while others were picked entirely out of an analysis on his singing voice (How blessed is he to have a vocal major as a friend?). Daniel recognized a few of the songs but he wasn’t like Minhyun who had all the analysis down as well as what tones would blend well with Seongwoo’s voice.

They first picked out his usual songs such as Bolbbalgan4’s ‘Galaxy’ and then G-Dragon’s ‘Untitled 2014’ since it was one Minhyun recommended him to try. “Alright, just one more song and we’ll listen to the guides.” Of all the familiar songs he sung on the list, Seongwoo’s eyes would somehow trail back to the song at the bottom part of the list. He’s heard the chorus but not the whole song. Yet, he has a feeling that he could do it well.

“This one.”

Minhyun peeked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, “Kim Jinho’s Love this moment?” Seongwoo nodded and handed the list back to Minhyun. “That’s a song I picked based on vocal analysis so I’m actually curious how this one plays out.” Daniel, who was probably looked like a lost puppy throughout the conversation on vocals, also grew curious about the song choice. It wasn’t a song he was entirely familiar with and he hasn’t heard Seongwoo sing the song either. No doubt even Minhyun was intrigued since it was a song he chose entirely based on his analysis of Seongwoo’s voice.

They first started with ‘Galaxy’, a song Seongwoo has sung multiple times to help him loosen up and relax with a song he was overly familiar with. It took a while before his voice didn’t come out as shaky anymore. Although it did take a bit of encouragement from Minhyun and coaxing from Daniel.

“You did well today~,” Daniel said with a smile while applauding to the smaller male who just came out of the recording room. Seongwoo looked tired with sweat dripping from his temples despite the room being air conditioned so Daniel handed him a water bottle. “So how was it for you today?” The raven-haired male took a swig of the water and handed it back to Daniel to wipe off his sweat with a handkerchief he kept in his pocket.

“It’s... It’s actually exciting! I still find the whole set up intimidating though… And if it isn’t obvious, I also find it tiring.” Seongwoo finished while Minhyun approached them after closing up all the consoles. ”You’ll get used to it. Though with your weak stamina it will probably take a while but you’ll still get used to it.” The bespectacled male glared at Minhyun’s direction.

“We got at least half of the song until the second verse down but I think we can improve on the other parts since you were still shaky during the beginning. It came out sounding like a struggling vibrato”

“You mean during the intro?”

“Yeah, your unique tone only came out during the pre-chorus.”

“I wouldn’t mind recording the intro again first thing tomorrow”

“Alright, I set it at the same time tomorrow so don’t be late”

Meanwhile, Daniel was by the side listening to whatever vocal jargon that came after. Although he was able to throw his own comments here and there and based on what he observed, Seongwoo didn’t seem to tense about the whole contest anymore. He seemed more focused on adapting to the new environment (Where he should have been, Daniel thought to himself.) and finding ways to make his performances better.

It’s probably the anonymous status.

He’s not pressured since his name isn’t exposed.

~ .oOo. ~

The second day of recording, 4:03 pm on a late Friday afternoon. The recording started earlier than yesterday since they didn’t need to go through the song list anymore and they already knew what they needed to do. Seongwoo wasn’t as tense, he seemed more relaxed so recording wasn’t so difficult this time around. Daniel was also in the studio like he promised, throwing compliments here and there to keep Seongwoo motivated and calm.

Daniel didn’t need to call him out, Seongwoo would always glance at his direction after every cut as if he needed Daniel to reassure him every time but Daniel was willing to do so. The entire recording went smoothly with Seongwoo having a bit more of confidence to finish the songs faster.

G-Dragon’s ‘Untitled 2014’ proved to be a little difficult since it had a few high notes in the chorus. Although Seongwoo would pull off the note well, he would sometimes ask for a retake to see if he can do better. The emotions were also a bit of an issue since Seongwoo has yet to experience a breakup but he worked hard to portray the sorrow the song intended to convey. Daniel wasn’t much of a singer like the two, but he didn’t need to be knowledgeable about vocals to know that Seongwoo could really sing well.

It wasn’t too long until Seongwoo finally finished the entire song since they allotted at least two and a half hours that night. “So now you only have Kim Jinho’s Love this moment left and you can leave the editing to me,” Minhyun said as he went over the audio files for today. “I’m actually looking forward to this one, It’s practically going to tell me if I did my analysis right and if this song really does bring out your unique vocal colors.”

Seongwoo was going through the lyrics Minhyun printed out for him while the guide was playing in the earphones he was wearing. Meanwhile, Daniel was already done with his homework for the day and was observing the aspiring singer at work. Seongwoo looked different when he was concentrating. His wire-framed glasses would usually be a factor in his innocent image but today was an entirely different case.

The usually innocent male had his comma hairstyle again.

Although their group has done plenty of study sessions together during their midterms, Daniel hasn’t seen Seongwoo this concentrated. His gaze was solely focused on the sheet with lyrics, taking note of any ad libs he could do or where the tone would change its variation. The glasses that usually softened his image made him look sharper and leaned towards his dean’s lister image while he softly hummed the tone to himself.

Yet, when he glanced towards Daniel’s direction, his whole serious looking expression broke out into a smile as if he suddenly felt embarrassed seeing Daniel watch him from the sidelines like that. He even followed it up with the cute way he blinks! The only thing Daniel thought of was that ‘ indeed duality exists’. Daniel made small fist pump gestures and mouthed a small ‘Fighting!’ which was decipherable enough for Seongwoo to understand. The latter chuckled at the cute cheer before diverting his attention back to the sheet.

After listening to the approved recordings, Minhyun looks back at Seongwoo who still had his eyes glued to the sheet. “Ready for the last song?” Seongwoo took a deep breath and took another look at Daniel’s direction who still continues to cheer him on. He had nothing to lose, just time. “Yeah, I think I’m ready to give it a try.” The vocal major nodded and gestured for him to go in whenever he was ready.

Seongwoo took another deep breath. It was a song he picked out of random just because he felt like he had to. He had no idea why. He didn’t know how the whole song goes either, just the chorus and nothing else and yet he already felt connected to it. When he read through the entire sheet of lyrics, he instantly knew why. When he glanced at Daniel, it only confirmed his thoughts.

It was basically all his thoughts that he never voiced out to the oblivious brunette.

At that moment,

everything in his thoughts clicked.

Seongwoo could practically laugh at himself for not noticing this earlier and how Sungha’s statement so much more sense now.

It has always been you, hasn’t it?

Seongwoo instantly knew just how he needed to put the emotions into his singing.

Just pretend you’re talking to Daniel.

When Seongwoo gave the signal, Minhyun started to play the audio throughout the studio and through Seongwoo’s headset. The soft melody of the guitar resonated through the room and Seongwoo took a moment to close his eyes to get into the emotions. The aspiring singer took a deep breath and started to sing the first line.

Seongwoo focused on his delivery, what tones would go perfectly well with the lyrics, and of course, the corresponding emotions that he should resonate through the entire song. The last element didn’t seem to be a problem though. All he needed was a quick glance to his right and Daniel would instantly come into view. He didn’t know what overcame him at that moment but when the chorus came, his eyes came in contact with Daniel’s and he didn’t avert his gaze. Instead, he just smiled the widest and most genuine that he has probably done.

이 순간을 사랑해요

(I love this moment)

난 그대와 사랑해요

(I'm in love with you)

그대와 난 사랑해요 무엇도 들리지 않아

(I and you are in love. I can hear nothing)

Seongwoo wasn’t sure if Daniel’s widened eyes were because of him flawlessly hitting the notes or him looking into Daniel’s eyes because the lyrics were meant for him. The emotions were pouring out and Seongwoo suddenly felt at ease, his voice resonating throughout the whole studio as the melody harmonizes with his own voice.

It’s probably the memories that also flashed in Seongwoo’s made that made it all the while easier to express his emotions. How he wouldn’t be able to meet Daniel if he didn’t wake up late that day, how Daniel surprised him by visiting his place in Incheon, how he was able to open up about his trauma when he hasn’t told anyone about it, how Daniel always encourages him to sing, and the very silver ring on his finger.

      이 순간이 있었기에

(Because of this moment)

He slowly sang as he looked at Daniel who still remained looking shocked and yet fully absorbed into Seongwoo’s performance.

다 그대가 있었기에

(Because of your presence)

Because of Daniel who made the effort to approach someone as introverted as him, Because of Daniel who surprised him in his home in Incheon, Because of Daniel who always encouraged him ever since to sing when he can, Because of Daniel who still continues to be here by his side as he tries to make himself know,

가능했던 그날을 이제서야 알것 같은 나

(I now know those days were possible)

Maybe he wouldn’t gain the little confidence he now had. Maybe he wouldn’t ever consider joining something like this and just push Minhyun away. Maybe Seongwoo would’ve never been brave enough to face a challenge like this on his own. But Daniel was the very person who convinced him to do it, he was the very person who believed in him and made him feel like he could do anything.

(“Aish, ahjummaaaaaa…” Seongwoo whined before he once again ducks down to adjust his glasses for the sake of hiding. “Yah! You shouldn’t be so embarrassed. You should have some more confidence in yourself, Seongwoo-ah” The said boy could only fidget with his fingers. “I know.. But it’s so hard! Especially when I have to sing.” The freshmen made a frustrated groan. “How am I going to be a singer if I can’t even sing in front of other people besides our neighborhood?”

Sungha chuckled at Seongwoo’s whining but nonetheless, she gave him reassuring pats, “Don’t you worry too much, dear. You’ll never know, maybe someday you’ll find someone who can give you the confidence boost you need.” The ahjumma playfully ruffled Seongwoo’s hair while he chuckled in reply. Good thing he didn’t style his hair today. “I’ll take your word for it. Thanks, ahjumma~” )

Sungha ahjumma… I think I found him.

My confidence booster.

     이 순간을 사랑해요

(I love this moment)

The moment I finally found you.

So there's that... until next time lol 

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