Of all the surprises Taehyung had brought me, this was by far the worst. Even if I wanted to win something so bad, I didn't expect me joining a karaoke contest. The thought of Taehyung being discreet with me completely extinguished the moment he suggested such idea. Not to mention he had only heard me singing out of tune just once, how dare he used the word “beautiful”? Mocking at me?

“Go do it yourself.”

I shot him a glare and stood up, walking away. Taehyung wasn't bothered by my impolite reaction though. He quickly caught up with me and nudged my arm playfully as we started strolling to. . . well, nowhere.

“What's with you, Wheein-ssi?” - He didn't even hide his giggle - “You don't want to win?”

“Could we just play anything but getting on the stage?”

“What's wrong with it?”

“I don't like it.”

“But you sing well. We will have high chance to win . . .”

“No “we” here. I'm just not comfortable singing to people, ok? Just do it yourself if you want to. You sing well, too.”

“Nah. . . You're being critical today. . .”

“I'm not!”

“Or. . .” - He let out a sniffing laugh - “You only want to sing for me, yeah?”

“Shut up!”

I cut him off with another glare and quickly detached myself from him, darting my eyes around for any other game with high possibility to win. But nothing caught my eyes. They either were too crowded - like the archery area, always packed with people - or required too much physicality - like the hand wrestling. I then made my way through the busy grass field, turns after turns past lots of people - young girls in trendy bohemien outfits, guys in cool black leather jackets and jeans exuding rock and roll vibe - and finally found myself stop in front of the main stage.

It was an hour before the main performance and the stage crew was still busy reviewing the equipments. Meanwhile, festival goers were allowed to freely take over the stage to sing however they wanted to and receive random gifts from the organizers. There was no contest like we had expected. Yet the girl on the stage right now was pulling an impressive performance with her cute yet jazzy rendition of “Dance the Night Away” by the well-known girl group Twice. I nodded along to her singing in amusement. She sounds better than a lot of idols these days. And I envied her for being brave to get on the stage like that, whether for a contest or just a random performance.

Speaking of getting on the stage. . . 

Gosh! I had left Kim Taehyung behind.

***

Damn it. He didn't bother to pick up my phone. Did I unintentionally hurt him or such? Nah, Taehyung didn't look like he would hold a grudge, much less the only harsh word from me to him was a mere Shut up. 

Nevertheless, I had arrived at where to got to so waiting was the only thing to do next. Taking off my cap and wear it backwards, I settled down on the grass field, just like the other early spectators, and texted him briefly.

“I'm at the main stage. Where are you?”

“Wheein unnie!”

“Noona ah!”

Having heard my name called, I put down my phone and hastily turned around to see Hongsol and Juyeon sprinting towards me. Their “quest” for game prizes must be a huge success as Hongsol now looked like a hall of fame board to display all kinds of gifts, the majority of which I doubted to credit to Juyeon.

“What's up Kwon Hongsol?” - I commented as soon as they came sitting down next to me. - “You look like a moving accessories store.”

“Geez unnie. . . It's not a proper greeting to one of the best player of the festival's game section.”

She pouted and fixed the position of the stuffed animal she was wearing around her waist so that it looked like the toy was hugging her. What a weird way to wear accessories. She could've gone back to the tent and left it there instead of bringing it here. Or. . . well, except for it was her way of stating that it was one of the many gifts Juyeon had got for her today. I bet no one but me and Taehyung would realize that implication.

“Right.” - I laughed. - “As if you won all of these.”

“You didn't know a bit.” - Hongsol slightly shook her head and then went on commanding Juyeon who was holding a big bag full of drinks - “Tell her, oppa.”

Juyeon took out from the bag a beer and handed me as he shyly said, eyes glancing at Hongsol. Meanwhile, the girl's grin widened with satisfaction and all I could do was screaming inside at their obvious flirting.

“Well. . . Hongsol did win me a few games. . .”

“I am the shooting champion.” - Hongsol snapped, almost interlocked her right arm with Juyeon's left had she not realized in time not to do so. - “This oppa only came in second.”

“You distracted me at the last shoot.”, said Juyeon wryly.

“I just put this animal on then. How could you say it was distraction?”

“It was hilariously distracting, Hongsol ah.”

“Nope if you hadn't had your eyes on me. Admit it oppa. . . You've been watching me, eh?” 

Hongsol her playful mode and started teasing Juyeon. And Juyeon still kept himself in the timid mode with little reaction but shy smiles and occasional blunt words to brush off her continous teasing. Somebody please remind me that these two still need an official confession to become a couple! They were already acting like one! I laughed at myself for such a dry joke and opened the beer Juyeon got me, turning my eyes back to the stage. I had been listening to Juyeon and Hongsol bickering and hence, didn't pay attention to the performances. Taking a sip, I almost choked and spit it out. Not that the beer tasted bad. It was for the person that had just started singing on the stage.

“Oh .” - Hongsol was the first to exclaim - “Ain't that Taehyung oppa?”

I unconsciously nodded in confirmation. Yes, it was Kim Taehyung. In the same outfit he had worn since early morning, now with a red bandana on his forehead - I didn't know when and where he got it though.

“It's truly him. Wow. Interesting.”

Juyeon commented from next to Hongsol with a smirk. The strange reaction from Taehyung's close brother instantly caught our attention as Hongsol questioned him right away.

“Oppa what's with that reaction?”

“Taehyung hyung. . .” - Juyeon shrugged. - “. . . Sings well but he has performance anxiety. He couldn't join any performance in our company for that. But. . . Yeah. Now it's cool. He's definitely singing here.”

Wow. Just wow. Finally I was enlightened. I still remembered Taehyung telling me he didn't want to join any performance nor stand in the spotlight. It turned out that the reason wasn't his quirky personality at all. But at the same time, I was shocked. I didn't expect someone who always looked positive and bright like him would experience mental problem. Really, he was such a master of concealment. I took another gulp of beer, trying to hide my sudden feeling of guilt for thinking bad of him.

“What a shame.” - said Hongsol, sounding a little bitter. - “He does sing amazingly. But oppa, what's the song name, eh?”

“Dimple.”

I blurted out the answer even before Juyeon could respond. I didn't remember exactly when - perhaps after my first time visiting the stargazing site - but one time I and Taehyung traveled home together, we decided to kill time by looking at each other's playlist and finding out how many songs we had in common. And there was this song called Dimple that appeared in both as one of the most played songs. Back then, I would never think he would choose this song to sing to many people, much less singing this also meant overcoming his anxiety. 

“Juyeon oppa.” - I heard Hongsol ask Juyeon as Taehyung was still belting out notes even though he was motionless on the stage. - “Don't you think Taehyung oppa sings this for Wheein unnie?”

“That makes lots of sense to me.”

For the first time in the last few minutes, Juyeon agreed with Hongsol on something. And that something was a tease aimed at me.

“Don't joke around.” - I scowled. - “He's just provoking me for not daring to go on that stage.”

Did I sound so stupid? Perhaps yes. Because both the juniors burst out laughing and Hongsol even cried out an “Unnie ah!” filled with tons of sarcasm.

“Stop it Kwon Hongsol!”

I brushed her hands off my shoulders and grimaced in inconvenience.

“Unnie” - Hongsol wiped a corner of her eyes for too much laughing. - “He could've chosen any other song but he chose this Dimple one. And who the hell here has dimples? No one but you.”

She was trying to knock some sense to me. But despite how much it might make sense, I didn't want to accept that he sang this for me. It was all Hongsol's assumption.

“Now I doubt he is using me and Hongsol to get closer to you, noona ah.”

And Juyeon's.

“You guys better shut up.”

I said bluntly and went back to the beer can on my hand. Taehyung had almost reached the end of the song. Thanks to the two annoying juniors, I didn't get to enjoy the whole performance. Yet having heard him sing Winter Bear before, this should be as well a nice performance. 

Should I tell him to sing it again some times later? Then that's what's called singing FOR ME. 

It took a bit long for Taehyung to get off stage after the performance and reunite with us at our spot. He had to make way through the festival goers flocking to the main stage. And as the area was getting more and more crowding, I and the two alleged lovebirds had to get up and stand close to each other while the first artist - real artist - started her performance.

“Nice singing.”

I said half-heartedly as Taehyung grabbed the only soda from Juyeon's bag and opened it. Those were my first words to him after he got off stage though. Hongsol and Juyeon had already showered him with all kinds of compliment and of course, teasing for his performance the moment he appeared. Yet to my surprise - and somehow confusion, Taehyung looked like he didn't get the joke from those two. He just naively brushed them off by nagging at Juyeon for only buying one can of soda for him and then quickly settled himself at the space next to me, away from the annoying Ju-Sol couple.

“Thanks.” 

Taehyung replied shortly. And in the flashy lights from the stage, I caught sight of sweats trickling down his face. I wasn't sure if it was an instant reaction from the heat among this crowd or an aftermath from stage anxiety. But I was sure of what to do. 

“Take this. . .” - I said, reached into the pouch I was wearing at my front, took out the wet tissue pack and passed to Taehyung. - “. . .to wipe your sweat.”

“Oops. Thanks!” - Taehyung beamed but he hadn't yet received the pack from me. Instead, he pulled out from his jeans pocket a folded piece of paper and carefully exchanged it with the wipe pack. - “By the way, this one is for you, Wheein-ssi.”

I looked at him, mentally questioning his action. Why giving me something at this time? Still with my doubtful mode on, I glanced at him once more before looking down on the folded paper and opened it. It was a 20,000 won gift card at GS25. 

“What's that?”

“Told you. It's for you” - He answered nonchalantly and began vibing to the music - “I got this from the performance earlier. It turned out that you could win anything once you got on that stage.”

“You won it. Not me.”

“Nah, because you said you were afraid of singing in front of people, I just did it for you. Just think of it like you have won something today.”

“You know that kind action ain't make me feel good at all.”

“Come on, Wheein-ssi. It's no big deal at all. Just take it and treat me. . . erm. . . An ice cream?” 

And as if that wasn't uncomfortable and confusing enough, Taehyung then paused for a second and leaned closer to speak to my ear. 

“But anyway, don't bother what the kids said. I'm totally cool with whatever you feel.”

He finished with a big smile and a light pat on my right shoulder. Only then did I realize if I ever tripped backwards, I would fall into his arms as he was standing on my left and he had just touched my right. Not to mention his lips was only a few centimeters from my face. . Such close distance made me realize Taehyung had a charming smile. And plus his husky voice, it was a combo that screamed iness. I shivered, hastily broke the stare I was giving him and looked down at the beer I was holding, mentally cursing Lee Juyeon for choosing a beer with higher alcohol volume than usual. Yes, those observations being made under the effect of alcohol was invalid to represent my perspective.

I squinted my eyes and tried to reply him coolly.

“Geez. . . That doesn't even get on my nerves.” 

And in an attempt to divert the topic and get myself out of Taehyung's sudden force of attraction, I turned my attention to the stage and exclaimed as I recognized a familiar artist.

“Oh them again?”

“Have you seen them before?”

“It was a homecoming festival for Chung Ang University alumni 3 years ago. They performed there.” - I joyfully recalled the memory. Such beautiful one. - “Under the rain. We were all soaked but it was amazing.”

As if all the coincidences aligned tonight, the moment I ended my words, I felt heavy raindrop patter against my face. And they quickly grew in number. Doubled. Tripled. It was not a sprinkle, it was a downpour that came.