His voice eventually stabilized, making it easier for him to hit the notes and would often divert his gaze to his friends when he couldn’t look at the crowd. Moments later, Seongwoo finally reaches the last note and the song finally fades off to signal the end. It’s over. The whole experience was finally over and although Seongwoo should be relieved he didn’t have to deal with his nerves anymore, it was kinda sad to know it all ends here.

Seongwoo, for the last time, bows to the crowd as he continuously mutters out a shy ‘thanks’ to those who kept saying he did a good job or how handsome he looked that night. Though he couldn’t control the blush that crept up his face since he was still quite new to being the center of attention. Moments after he just reached the bottom of the stairs, Seongwoo almost lost his balance when he was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug by not just one, but two people.

Kang Daniel who he immediately identified because of the silver hair and surprisingly, Hwang Minhyun. In the end, all three almost fell off balance when the entire gang was throwing themselves into the group hug while congratulating their friend for a job well done. Seongwoo who stood in the middle of the circle, felt a smile slowly grace his lips and it's not one he needed to explain.

Because now, he was surrounded by the people who supported him all the way. Despite being friends who only met a few months ago, they make him feel like he’s been their friend of 5 years and he could practically cry with just that. Except…

“Yah yah yah! Why are you like this?” Jaehwan teases.

… He did end up crying.

“W-wha…?” Seongwoo questions with a confused expression until his fingers come in contact with the wet streaks along his cheeks. The moment he realized he was indeed crying was when the tears started to blur his vision until it continuously flowed down his face. “Aigoo… Are you okay?” Came Jisung’s usual caring tone as he dabs his cheeks with a handkerchief he had in his pocket.

“I-I’m fine…” He croaks out as he wipes at his own tears, “I guess… I’m j-just… a bit happy and upset at the whole thing” The tension that unconsciously descended on the group was immediately dispersed as they all chuckle and smile at their friend’s adorable antics. “I really enjoyed it so… it’s kinda sad it’s all over now…” He shyly mumbles while blinking repetitively to stop any more tears from falling.

“If you keep crying like that, you’re contacts will eventually fall off!” Minhyun says with an obvious intent to tease. Seongwoo pouts at the statement but he did have a point so he instantly tried to calm himself down (with the help of Daniel and Jisung wiping at his face of course). Although one of the contacts did slip off from his eyes, he was lucky enough to notice it before it fell to the ground.

“Come to think of it…” Seongwoo starts as he puts the contacts back in place. “Where’d you get the blue contacts? I thought you knew where I placed my contact lenses?” He says as he looks at Minhyun who looked equally confused. “I didn’t even know they were blue, I just got whatever case my hands landed on and went out. I didn’t think you bought another color.” The other defends but Seongwoo just scrunches his eyebrows more at the confusing situation.

“I didn’t buy any colored contacts though,” With nothing else to say, Minhyun shrugs so he decides to just shrug it off as well. Who knows, blue contacts could come in handy someday.

“But really, you did great tonight,” Jonghyun says out of the blue but everyone excitedly nods in agreement. “Agreed, I loved how you gradually dragged on that line in the chorus too! It really helped you portray the emotion well,” Minki added. “I still think you could have used a bit more vibrato in the soft parts, but I guess the decrescendos made up for it” Also came Jaehwan’s voice but Dongho gives him a light smack (which probably turned out as a shove with his strength). “Take it easy, he’s still not accustomed to it so just help him along the way” Although he looked like the most intimidating one out of all of them, he was really one of the softest people he’s met.

“He’s right,” Minhyun pipes in, “Just take it easy for now before you go all vocal diva crazy with the criticism. We’re supposed to give constructive ones here” Jaehwan just raises his hands in surrender at the reply of the two other vocal majors, “Alright! Alright! That was just a minor comment! Why does everyone keep attacking me?”

“Though maybe you should have added a bit more power to the last chorus. That could have left quite an impact but I’m sure we can improve on that more.” The fox-eyed male comments and Dongho hummed in agreement, “You shouldn’t restrain your movements too much either, it actually helps you express yourself a lot. Especially head movement. Those can sometimes help you hit the higher notes too, you just wouldn’t think it does.”

“And I’m the one being scolded for giving ‘harsh criticism’?!” Jaehwan complaints with air quote marks.

“Alright, thanks for giving me some feedback though! I’m sure it can help me more in the future!” Seongwoo chirps with a smile.

Jaehwan exaggerates a gasp in disbelief at all the ignorance he was receiving. Everyone else just laughs as he continues to complain with gesticulations while Daniel slips himself to Seongwoo’s side where he automatically wraps an arm around his waist to pull him close.

“You did really well today, I’m so happy for you” He excitedly says after leaving a peck on Seongwoo’s temple (that obviously has him blushing in seconds). “Also…” Daniel whispers, voice suddenly dropping down an octave, “You really look handsome and y tonight, I’m starting to feel scared some people might have fallen for you” Seongwoo swears the arm tightened its hold on his waist yet Daniel had a pout on his face which made him look like a child who was denied of dessert.

“Aish this child…” Seongwoo playfully complains yet he leans on Daniel’s shoulder, “... You know I wouldn’t leave you so easily” He shyly mumbles but Daniel catches every word and it has him brightening up like the sun.

“Get a room!”

~ .oOo. ~

The contest was now over and they were all ready to go out and celebrate. The night was still young since it was just half an hour past nine so they all decided to go out for some meat to celebrate Seongwoo’s milestone of the night. Minki and Jonghyun went on ahead to get them a table while the three vocal majors helped in putting away all the equipment so Daniel and Seongwoo were left to wait.

“You sure you don’t want to go on ahead with Minki and the others? I heard you complaining about being hungry earlier” Seongwoo says to the taller male who had his chin resting on his shoulder. “I can wait. You’ll be left alone if I go. What if you managed to acquire a crazy fan tonight? No one would protect you from them!” He reasons out but Seongwoo finds it ridiculous.

“I don’t think they become sasaengs overnight Daniel, and I only got recognized today. What are the chances of that happening?” Daniel huffed, “Might be small but there’s still a chance. I mean, you just look so alluring tonight” He casually comments but he grins in achievement when he feels the other’s face heat up at his statement. Before Seongwoo could counter, an older man suddenly approaches the duo so Daniel stood back up straight.

“Excuse me, are you Ong Seongwoo?” Says the older man whom Seongwoo recognized as one of tonight’s judges. “Y-Yes, that’s me” He stammers out since he was slightly intimidated, “I’m one of the vocal trainers in Fantagio music, have you heard about it?” How could he not? Of course, he keeps the thought to himself. “Yes, I have.” He says in the most stable voice he could muster in his slightly frazzled state. Why is he talking to me?

“Now that I got a closer look at you, your visuals are really something. You have quite the tone there too, it isn’t low like a baritone. Almost high pitched if I think about it yet it’s not quite something I can put a label on. It’s what actually made you stand out to me tonight and I think you did terrifically.” Seongwoo mumbles a shy ‘thanks’ as he bows to the older male who had a smile on his face. “Which is why…” He starts while he fishes out his wallet from his pocket and Seongwoo looks utterly confused.

The man pulls out his leather Mont Blanc and takes out a small rectangular white card, “I’d like to see you on Fantagio’s next audition.” He finishes as Seongwoo accepts what he now recognized as a business card. His mouth was now slightly parted in disbelief at the entire incident before he snapped back to the situation at hand. “T-Thank you! I’ll definitely give the audition a chance” He enthusiastically says along with a few bows (He couldn’t help it, it was really exciting).

The man nods and gives Seongwoo a firm handshake with a smile, “I sure wish you do. I hope to see you again, Seongwoo. We would be glad to train talent like you” With another bow, the man leaves and Seongwoo was left dumbfounded at the incident...

...Did that really happen?

He thought to himself but the white business card in his hand was all the proof he needed. Before he could even move, Daniel is suddenly leaning his entire weight on him as he was instantly tackled in a bear hug (Good thing he caught his balance in the last second).

“You did it!” Daniel proudly proclaims just in time when the vocal majors finally returned. “Seriously guys, get a room” Jaehwan calls out from afar but Daniel shrugs him off. Instead, he snatches the business card from Seongwoo’s hands and flashes it to the trio. “It happened!” He practically screams, “He got scouted!” He says while practically buzzing on the spot card from Seongwoo’s hands. “You guys!” He excitedly says as he waves around the card in his hands. “Someone approached him for an audition!”

“No kidding?” Minhyun asks as he strides towards Daniel followed by Dongho and Jaehwan to look at the card. “Woah, it’s real alright,” Dongho says while Jaehwan’s jaw practically dropped on the floor. “Well, this calls for a huge celebration! Tonight wouldn’t be enough to celebrate both of these achievements at all!” Jaehwan hollers with excitement (partially because he knows there’s always food involved in any celebration they have).

“Isn’t tonight the―”

“No.” Jaehwan cuts Seongwoo off before he could finish. “We’re celebrating the success of tonight’s event but we’ll have a separate celebration for you being scouted” He declares with a tone of finality. Although Seongwoo seemed against it claiming that one celebration was enough, everyone else seemed to agree with the loud vocalist.

“It’s not such a bad idea,” Minhyun says, “What did you have in mind?” He asks the mandu-cheeked vocalist. “A karaoke room, of course.” The shorter male states as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Before Seongwoo could even refute the idea, the others were already quick to agree as they nodded their heads at the idea. “Sounds like fun!” Daniel says with a small bounce in his steps while Dongho chuckles at Jaehwan who held his chin high.

“Seems you finally thought of something nice for once.”

“Hey!”

~ .oOo. ~

And so, that was how he ended up trying to pick out another outfit the following night since his friends insisted on Jaehwan’s karaoke idea. It wasn’t much really. If anything, Seongwoo was a bit excited since he ditched their last invite to a karaoke for Daniel’s ramen lunch.

The nights were still cold so Minhyun advised him to wear something warm knowing he was sensitive to low temperatures ( “Nothing protects you from the cold when you’re all skin and bones!”) before he left. So now here he was, standing in front of his closet once again staring at the assortment of clothing on display.

“It’s just a casual gathering, isn’t it?” He says to no one in particular… or maybe to the white feline that was now sleeping on his bed. Seongwoo sighed and once again puts on his black jeans (because they’re that versatile, so why not?) and takes out the closest white sweater within reach to put it on. After contemplating for a full minute, Seongwoo takes out a black pullover (which was way larger than the first) and wears it over the white one for extra measure.

Better to be safe than sorry. I can just remove it if it gets too hot.

After he finally dried his hair, Seongwoo combs it down to his natural fringe just above his eyes and gives himself a once over in the mirror. As a final touch, he reaches for his glasses placed by the counter but his hand stops when he spots his contact lenses beside his spectacles. For a moment, he hesitates to choose the contacts over his glasses but then what could possibly go wrong?

In the end, he decided to use his contacts. It’s not like his glasses were going anywhere but the contact lenses expire over time. Seongwoo smiles at the outcome coming out better than expected so he picks up the usual things (wallet and keys) and finally heads to the door where he wears his leather boots studded with silver knobs. Before he could even put on his shoes, his phone dings at a new message.

From: Daniel

Are you still in the dorms?

From: Seongwoo

About to leave actually.

From: Daniel

Great! I just finished.

Wait for me outside?

From: Seongwoo

Slowpoke :P

Alright, I’m on my way down.

It wasn’t long before Daniel showed up at the door of the dorm building where Seongwoo was leaning on the stair railings. “Slowpoke? Really? We practically finished at the same time!” Daniel complains with that usual childish pout on his face. “I still finished up first.” Daniel opened his mouth to retort but he didn’t really have anything else to argue with.

Seongwoo chuckles at the effort and pulls on Daniel’s wrist when the other continues to ‘sulk’over his defeat. “C’mon, I’m sure they’re waiting” Daniel relents and lets himself be dragged by his lover until he eventually slipped his hand into Seongwoo’s. “Is this okay?” He asks and looks up at the latter’s now rosy cheeks who only nods in reply. Daniel beams that blinding usual smile at the sight.

“You’re not wearing your glasses today” The Busan man points out. For some reason, it also makes Seongwoo blush. “Y-Yeah… I um— I figured I’d try something new….” He shyly admits so Daniel gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it. It suits you” He says just as he sweeps part of Seongwoo’s fringe away from his eyes.

“This way, nothing blocks me from seeing the universe in your eyes anymore.” Seongwoo should have smacked him for being cheesy like he always does, but he ended up smiling at the compliment. “Thanks…” He shyly mumbles and Daniel just feels accomplished for not being hit for once.

Their walk to the karaoke was filled with light chatter with their conversation mainly focusing on what they were hoping to sing. While Daniel wanted to go wild with a song like Big Bang’s top hits, Seongwoo’s choices were leaning more towards OSTs and ballads. Just another one of the few things that makes them opposites. It wasn’t too long before they finally made it to the karaoke and went straight to the room number Jaehwan sent them.

The whole gang was already there by the time they came. Jaehwan was already hogging the mic while Minhyun was arranging the food they ordered on the table. Everyone else was crowding on the remote too busy queueing their own song choices for their turn. “And here comes the star of the night!” Jaehwan hollers into the mic to get everyone’s attention (which was 100% effective by the way) and instantly surrounds Seongwoo along with their other friends to congratulate him on his achievements and to give him congratulatory pats and hugs.

Once again, Seongwoo was suddenly reminded how thankful he was to meet such people like this. Looking back to the first few months, he only had Minhyun to rely on. Heck, he didn’t even talk to him the first time they met. Similar to Daniel, it took Minhyun a while before he finally got Seongwoo to loosen up to him.

Come to think of it, he should really thank Minhyun. Basically, for everything. If he wasn’t so persistent about getting him to meet his friends, then he wouldn’t be with this amazing group of people. He wouldn’t have met Daniel in that party either. If he woke him up for his morning class that day, then maybe he wouldn’t bump into Daniel in the halls and Daniel wouldn’t have a reason to approach him that night.

“Now that the Seongwoo is here, why don’t we get this whole thing started?” Jonghyun suggests and Jaehwan wastes no time as he goes back to belting ridiculous high notes while Daniel joins the squabble over food. Seongwoo hears the usual sigh from Minhyun on his right whenever things get messy. “Looks like you’ll be busy later on,” Seongwoo playfully says with a small nudge to Minhyun’s arm.

“No kidding, I heard they were also planning to drink later on if we stayed here longer than expected.” Seongwoo looks at him in a skeptical manner, “I remember you saying you don’t drink though?” Minhyun sighs for the second time and it hasn’t even been five minutes since the whole celebration started. “Exactly why I’m contemplating if I even get to celebrate tonight or become the cleaner the entire evening”

“Don’t forget caretaker,” Seongwoo playfully adds, Minhyun chuckles at the thought knowing it was likely to happen. There was a short pause, Seongwoo fidgets with fingers and mouth opening and closing as if he was struggling with his words. Good thing Minhyun’s eyes were sharp towards the smallest details.

“So what's making your mind troubled?”

Seongwoo flinched, then again he wasn’t really being subtle about his actions anyway. “Well, I uh…“ He was supposed to reach for his glasses but then he remembered he went here wearing his contacts today. “I just wanted to thank you.” Minhyun chuckles, “What’s for? I haven’t done much for you at all”

“You and I know that’s a lie.” Seongwoo replies but Minhyun silently urges him to continue. “I remembered how you kept bugging me about joining Jaehwan’s party no matter how much I said I wasn’t interested. In the end, I did attend that and now you introduced me to these people.” The younger of the two says as he watches the group spread out into the karaoke room. “It’s so different compared to when I used to be alone but I love how there are people I can now rely on.”

“It didn’t seem right to just let you be.” Minhyun replies but Seongwoo shakes his head. “You know how I was, I would probably be content with just knowing you and not bother socializing with anyone else.”

“Yeah, you were a huge nerd I had a hard time pulling you out of your books.” The vocal major casually comments and Seongwoo glared, “Okay fine, maybe I won’t deny that” Minhyun smirks at the smile victory, Seongwoo just rolls his eyes albeit with a smile. “But seriously, I really should be thanking you for pushing me to join. If you didn’t inform me about it, then maybe I would have stayed in the dark and I would still be wallowing in my past failures.”

The fox-eyed male smiles as he rests his arm on Seongwoo’s shoulders, “I knew you could do it, you just needed that small push” The slightly shorter male chuckles and turns to Minhyun. Though he failed to notice the close proximity they had when Minhyun placed his arm on his shoulders. For a moment he blinked, suddenly something pulled him away with so much strength that he felt like he just had a whiplash. The next thing he knew, his head was now leaning back on Daniel’s chest.

What just happened?

Seongwoo blinks the confusion away and looks up see that it was indeed Daniel who has his arms wrapped around Seongwoo to hold up his lithe figure. “You’re getting too touchy!” Daniel protests and… was that a hiss? Minhyun held his hands up in surrender but there was an unmistakable glint of amusement in his eyes. “Relax, Daniel, I wasn’t doing anything wrong” Seongwoo finds the situation amusing.

“It’s okay, getting that close wasn’t intentional, right?” Seongwoo says and Minhyun nods in agreement while Daniels huffs. “I’m watching you, Hwang,” He says while making gestures pointing to his eyes and Minhyun. Seongwoo chuckles and instead leaves a peck on Daniel’s cheek to calm him down. “You have nothing to worry about, don’t you trust me?” He says with a pout and it instantly makes Daniel melt in surrender. “Of course I do, sorry for being childish” The Busan boy gives him one last bear hug before letting go.

“I think I’m going to have diabetes.” Typical Jaehwan. Another banter ensues between Jaehwan and Daniel while the others let them be and ignored them altogether. After a few more songs and drinks, the one hour’s worth of songs in the queue was almost finished and almost everyone has sung their own chosen songs.

All except for one.

“Hey, shouldn’t the reason of this celebration himself sing?” Dongho pipes up from the back while Daniel and the others sang (shouted) Big Bang’s Bang Bang Bang. “Yeah, you’re right. Seongwoo!” Minki calls and Seongwoo, who was munching on some of the nachos, looks over to his direction with a hum. “You should sing a song too!” Minki practically yells (with slight demand) making others overhear him and join on egging him on.

“Yeah, we’re here because of you, right?”

“Are you not going to bless us with your winning voice?”

“I’m sure you can do it”

“You’ll be fine”

Seongwoo gulped at the eyes now all focused on him, waiting for his answer. Although his inner self felt pressured to do it, he knew he had to stop pushing himself back if he wanted to pursue this career. Besides, they already heard him sing. Heck, plenty of the student body did. What could possibly be wrong with singing now? For a moment, he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down with a long and deep breath.

It’s alright, you’re with the people you could be with ‘til the end of time.

The business major smiles as he opens his eyes and nods in reply. “Sure, what’s the next song?” He asks and the others all looked giddy and excitement twinkling in their eyes. Call it cliche, but it was like watching a child grow up in a way. Seongwoo, who used to refuse every opportunity to sing in their presence, was now accepting the offer to do so and that itself was already a feat on its own.

Jonghyun who just finished the last rap song hands the mic over to Seongwoo with a smile. The usual encouraging one that always made Seongwoo and the others feel like they could do anything. The mic was now in his hands just as the song he chose plays, a song he thought was perfect for this very achievement.

Lee Sunhee’s ‘Fate’.

Just when he thought he was meant to stay in the dark, Minhyun and the others enter his life as if they were meant to help him all along. As if fate had all of this planned out for him telling him to make himself known and refuse to accept the dark.

And so with another deep breath, he brings the mic to his lips to sing the first few verses of the song. The room is instantly silenced as they all watch in admiration as their friend has finally come out of hiding in his shell. Seongwoo, who was now the center of attention, continued to sing with the widest smile on his face.

There’s no guarantee what their future will be like. Whether they still stay together or not, it’s not something they can foresee, but it would definitely be something Seongwoo would like. Who wouldn’t want to grow up further with these people? They can never tell what the future holds. But for now, Seongwoo will forever treasure this moment in his heart.

맺지 못한데도 후회하지 않죠, 영원한 건 없으니까

(Even though this cannot last, I won't resent it because nothing is forever)

운명이라고 하죠 거부할 수가 없죠

(This is what we call fate, it's something we can't deny)

내 생애 이처럼 아름다운 날 또 다시 올 수 있을까요

(Will I ever experience another day as glorious as today?)