"The bass is all over the place, you idiot." Smacking the back of Chan's head, I take the seat at the sofa behind him. "Forgot what I said about how song writing is all about expressing your feelings, okay? The message is absolutely beautiful but there are certain technicalities behind it, too."

 

I can sense the pout in his lips as Somi takes her time to laugh about the result of Chan's creation of another genre.

 

"You're the first ones to hear my song and that's what you're going to tell me?"

 

"Me?" Chaeryoung defends herself. "I didn't even do anything."

 

"That's right." Chan agrees. "You're not doing anything."

 

"I thought it was amazing!" Jisung chimes.

 

"You're all that I have, Jisung. Come here. Don't cluster with those backstabbers."

 

"We're literally right in front of you."

 

"Tell me again; why are we doing this?" Somi asks as she calms down.

 

"Are you for real?!" Chan whines, forcing laughter out of our lips. Once our small happinesss dies down, he turns back to us with his arms crossed. "We're doing this because someone might feel left out for being the only one who makes their own songs."

 

"You heard that?" Jisung nudges my side and flashes me a smile, coupled with a wiggling brow. "He's doing it for you."

 

Can we stop laughing please? We've been in this room for a couple of hours already and we haven't done anything but hurt our jaws and stomachs off. 

 

My eyes suddenly land on Jisung's fidgeting fingers, his phone on his lap. Squinting, I can make out some words form the screen.

 

"Jisung." I call, not taking my eyes on the small gadget. "You want to pitch in some lyrics?"

 

His hand flies towards his phone, flipping it down as she violently shakes his head. "No. No. No, I can't do that."

 

"Oh, let's do that!" Chan pipes in. "Maybe you'd have a better luck in gaining someone else's approval."

 

I roll my eyes at him and hold my hand out for Jisung's phone. "I have a name, thank you very much. But let's try. You might really have more chances of winning my approval."

 

"Come sit beside me and try to impress the great producer."

 

"Are you  guys fighting?" Chaeryoungs asks out of nowhere.

 

"Oh!" Somi teases. "Fist-fight. Fist-fight."

 

Hours passed and I felt another yearning crawling through my skin until it couldn't be relieved by simply scratching. I take my guitar before leaving the small room. I want to make something, too.

 

A few steps later, I found Daehwi by the front door. What is he doing here?

 

"Hey there, kid." I greet. "What are you doing here?"

 

"Where are you going?"

 

"To the park. I asked you first, though."

 

"I'll go with you. Are you going to make another song?" He asks, already walking ahead of me. I don't know why, but something tells me there's something's wrong with this kid. "

 

"Can I let you hear mine?"

 

"Oh! Why do I feel a sudden deja vu?" I laugh as I catch up behind him. "Is this your firt time?"

 

"It's mt first time letting someone hear it."

 

"And you's let me be that someone? I'm flattered."

 

Finally arriving at the park, we bought some spicy rice cake at a nearby stand before settling down near the man-made lake. He takes his guitar out and looks at me warily.

 

"You want me to go first?" I ask, placing the food down with which he replies with a subtle nod.

 

Let's see. What should I sing? Feeling the breeze tickle my hair, I close myeyes and let my fingers lead. I let him hear a couple of chord preogressions, a couple of spontaneous notes, before finally letting him hear a song I recently finished. Once my eyes open, Daehwi's sad smile fills my vision. Is he probably... He wouldn't do that, right?

 

He picks up the chords as soon as I was done and his heart finally crosses mine.

 

"It's such a beautiful song. Why are you singing it with such a sad smile?"

 

He chuckles before hanging his head low. "I left."

 

Two words.

 

Two words are all it took for my heart to break.

 

He left.

 

"Can I ask why?"

 

"Willl you still ask me if I say no?"

 

"Was it because of Chaeyeon leaving?"

 

"Partly." He sighs before turning towards the fading colors in the sky. "Woojin wants to leave and   he wants me to come with him. Chaeyeon leaving only encouraged a lot of trainees to follow her."

 

"And you're one of them?"

 

"I really don't want to but I don't want to leave Woojin alone."

 

We sit there in silence as I try to understand his words.

 

For some reason, I can't blame him. I want to tell him to stay but at the back of my head, I'm happy that he did what he did. He's done it. He already left. Both of them did.

 

"Did the others know about this? Does Somi know about this?"

 

"I didn't tell her yet."

 

"When do you plan on telling her?"

 

My question is left hanging as he quietly finish the remainder of the snacks. 

 

He's scared too, huh.

 

"Are you angry?" He asks.

 

Angry?

 

"Me? No, I'm not. Just a little sad." I admit. "I hope that you can go to a company where you can debut fast."

 

"Is it wrong?"

 

"What is?"

 

"To leave?"

 

Is it?

 

It's the same question that echoes in my head every time I get rejected. It's the same word that replays itself whenever I wasn't allowed to do whatever I wanted with my music.

 

"I'm sorry, Daehwi. I don't know." His shoulders drop further as another heavy sigh escapes through his nose. "Is it wrong to do everything to make your dreams come true? Is it wrong to want to be with a friend? 

 

"Dreams often asks for a sacrifice or two. Dream oftens ask for something that we cannot bear to lose. Maybe it's the time and your bond with us that your dream is asking you to give up. It's fine for me, though. Our friendship is not that fragile. Our friendship will not disappear just because we're going on our won for a little while. Besides, someone once told me that we can always see each other on stage. We just have to be patient in order for that day to arrive."