Hyukjae walks in, head held high, ready to scream at the manager for letting someone else perform instead of him and his band, for this is probably the last time he is going to be able to get on stage, when his eyes fall upon the man who's currently occupying the stage. The man's eyes are closed and he is strumming the guitar gently with his small yet densely veiny hands.

Hyukjae's scream of anger dies in his throat as he extends his arm to stop his drummer Kyuhyun, who's right behind him, from barging over to the manager, and then stops in his own tracks, mesmerized as the voice of the said guitarist fills up the nearly silent club. This is new, Hyukjae thinks.

The man sounds so beautiful and mesmerising that Hyukjae can't help but place his guitar on an empty stool next to him, and start walking forward so he can get nearer to the low-set stage in order to get a clearer view of the gorgeously young man.

Hyukjae stands there, right at the foot of the raised platform, smoking the cigar he's holding, and blows the smoke out in a less than elegant manner, making the balladeer frown down at him disgruntledly, mid-song.

Yet hyukjae closes his eyes and lets the warm voice sink into the emotionally empty crevices of his heart. 

Over the time he's spent in the music industry he's heard a billion singers but no one has come close to the chocolate fudge-like deep nasal voice this man in the pink silk shirt is singing in.

Right when Hyukjae is thinking about turning around and asking the manager here who the young man is, he hears the ending lyrics of the sad ballad and somehow, something inside him cracks and falls apart. He's heard these words before. Not in a song but in a letter.

"I loved you severely, I loved you

I was able to give you everything

You were able to throw me away

I loved you"

These lyrics!!! They're familiar!! 

As he begins to shuffle through his own thoughts in order to locate the source of the words, he realises that there's only one man who could be the ballad singer.

.

Donghae could recognise that face anywhere. The sharp eyes, the round nose and those plump lips. Aahh, the luscious lips. 

He recognises the said man immediately, starting from the moment he enters the club up till the time he reaches the foot of the platform.

The face has matured, it is sharper and more handsome, the body has grown yet he still seems slim, the shoulders are broader than they were before and the gait is so charismatic that it makes people, both men and women, all across the club turn towards the said man.

As Donghae reaches the last verse of his song, he stutters at a few words when the man who is standing in front of him makes eye contact with him and then keeps his gaze fixed on him. 

The cigar between his lips looks attractive but Donghae feels like the moment the smoke reaches him, he's going to start coughing. So as soon as he's done with the song, he does not stay on the stage a second longer than is necessary.

Donghae gets off the stage amidst a deafening applause and barely manages to give a smile and a small wave before he's fumbling down the stairs and being covered by his manager, Ryeowook, who is younger than him by a few years.

"Hyung," Ryeowook shouts over the continued applause as Donghae steadies himself by holding on to his guitar as if it is his life line, "You were great up there but what happened at the end? You looked scared and confused, even conflicted. Did something happen?"

Donghae shakes his head, gesturing Ryeowook to follow him back to the tiny dressing rooms that the owner of the club set up a few years ago for the artists who came over for the daily performances.

But he's barely even halfway there when someone roughly grabs him by the elbow and

shoves him up against the wall, pushing Ryeowook to the side in the process. 

But ryeowook isn't an amateur. He's been a friend of Donghae's ever since their university days, he knows that despite Donghae's rather bulky body, the man always tries to avoid confrontations of any kind. This man could be someone who's interested in Donghae or it could be a crazy fan who wants to corner Donghae and Ryeowook is having none of that. 

But as he makes a move and grabs the stranger's arm in order to twist it and pull him away from Donghae's body, Ryeowook is surprised when Donghae shakes his head and glances at him

"It's ok Wook. I know this guy," there's an underlying bitterness in Donghae's voice as his eyes don't meet Ryeowook's, "Can you find a place to wait so I can talk to him in the dressing room. It won't take long." 

Ryeowook seems very suspicious about the man and when he runs his eyes up and down the said man, he grows even more wary of him.

Someone who looks like this; chains around the neck, ear pie