Lost in Your Voice

Kwangmin sighed for the umpteenth time today and thought back to that very special night.

That night he was bewitched by a melodious voice.

“Great Job out there!”

She had said, with one of the most sincere and joyful smiles he had ever seen. Normally such simple, overused sentences that came out automatically from the dreary staff and confused idols after music shows had never affected him like it had that night.

It was like magic.

Her voice was so different from the high-pitched shrill sounds of other female idols. It was low and warm, soothing and pleasant to his ears. Kinda like a mother’s voice when they would read you a bedtime story. He had wanted to hear more, but the timing had been oh so wrong. She had slipped away even before he could give a reply and had left him with a heavy heart that day. He had searched for her the following days, but to no avail did she appear within his sight.

He sighed once more.

“MOTHERFU- Kwangmin, just what is your bloody problem?!”  Donghyun roared in blatant irritation. The younger male had been sighing nonstop these days and although the leader wanted to be nice about it, Donghyun just couldn’t help but show his frustration.

“Hyung, don’t get mad. There’s a reason why Pikamin’s been so moody these days you know,” Youngmin stated. He plopped right next to his brother and gave him a smug smile. Not getting any type of response from his younger twin, he frowned and turned back to his iPad game.

“What the hell would cause him to act like a sissy?” Ouch. Kwangmin winced a bit. ‘Uncalled for Hyung, Uncalled for.’

“He’s in love.” Minwoo popped out of seemingly nowhere, startling the leader to curse once more in surprise. Hyunseong and Jeongmin dropped their conversation on dinner and stared at the brown haired twin in astonishment.

“What?!” The older line chorused in unison. ‘When, How, and Who?’

 Kwangmin hadn’t mentioned anything at all about having a crush on anybody nor had he shown signs of being in love other than sighing and looking lost. That wasn’t too unusual for them, but it had increased more than the usual they were used to.

“It’s obvious. But he won’t tell us who it is. I’m guessing it’s a female idol he met during one of our music performances.” The older twin stated once more, growling in frustration at his stupid game. Why the hell had he chosen the most complicated route in his RPG game?

‘Damn Youngmin and his physic powers.’ Kwangmin cursed in his mind. He knew his hyungs would pounce any second and ask a ridiculous amount of questions or scold him on the dating ban and he knew that he certainly did not want to be in the dorm any longer. He stood up and stretched, back aching from sitting down too long and went in his room to gather a few things.

“Just where are you going?” Donghyun hissed at the boy nearing the door, eyes darkening with a dangerous glint.

A warm jacket, his phone, and his wallet, he ignored the incredulous looks from his hyungs and sauntered out of the room with a simple, “I’ll be back in a few.”

He would be in so much trouble later, but he really didn’t care too much. He could always make it up, he thought as he put on a black face mask.

The streets were almost empty this late at night. Kwangmin was extremely thankful no one had recognized him at the moment and sighed in content as the breeze caressed him. He didn’t know why she had been invading his thoughts. He had so many things to do that were much more important than moping around over a girl who probably didn’t even have time for him, but using the fact that he was a hormonal teenage boy was a good enough excuse for now.

Twisting into a more deserted alleyway, Kwangmin took a few more turns that would’ve confused anybody new to area and continued down to a small, hidden coffee shop. Despite it being hard to find, it had a moderate amount of customers in the day, except at night due to the dark, intimidating alleyways. Taking of his face mask, he stepped in to meet the warm and familiar atmosphere of the shop. The smell of coffee was neither too strong nor too faint. It was just right and soothing to him.

“Hello Minnie-ah, how are you this fine evening?” A sweet, yet slightly rough voice asked from behind the counter.

“I’m doing great Ahjumma, I hope you’re doing well yourself.” He replied sincerely. “May I get the usual, please?” She gave a warm, crinkly eye smile to him and turned around slowly to prepare his coffee. Over the years he had continued to visit her, his tastes had matured from the overly sweet hot cocoa, to pitch black coffee.  Although it was a strange change, she never asked why a sweet young man like him would like something so bitter and plain, everyone had different tastes after all. After a few gentle movements, she twirled around gracefully and handed the warm crème-colored mug filled with love to the patient boy.

“It’s on the house, Sweetheart.” Although he wanted to protest, he knew she would end up slipping the money back into his pocket somehow. Instead he smiled and gave an earnest, “Thank You.”

Giving her a kiss on the cheek, Kwangmin turned to sit in a more secluded booth to relax. In his younger years, when he was lost after running away from a training session with his previous company, he cried and cried until this woman had taken him in for a cup of hot chocolate. He continued to come back, not telling anybody, not even his own twin brother about this shops existence. This coffee shop was his secret alone.

Or so he thought.

The bell on top of the door jingled slightly, causing Kwangmin to look up warily at the intruder. Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought, and went back to sipping the hot concoction in front of him.

“May I get a medium-sized cup of Hot Cocoa please?” Almost spitting out his coffee, Kwangmin did a double take at the figure in front of the counter. It was her. The woman with the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Why in the world had he not noticed earlier? She thanked the Ahjumma for the free hot cocoa and went to sit on the other side of the shop.

Kwangmin knew that it was now or never. He had to talk with her, he just had to.

“Amber-Sunbaenim!” He called, heart thumping ridiculously fast against his chest.

Amber jumped in surprise, almost spilling her drink and turned to look at the person who had called her. It was a boy she recognized from the rookie group ‘Boyfriend’. She stopped herself from laughing rudely at the strange name, simply because that was not professional and she wanted to give a good impression, and gave an awkward wave to younger male. She was usually the friendly one to other idols, but because of her inward struggle to figure out his name, she found it hard to want to start a conversation.  But she guessed he could be the one to start it instead.

He waved her over and with an adorable, shy grin, he asked, “Would you like to sit down with me?”

She couldn’t refuse, not with his sweet, absurdly big, innocent eyes staring straight at her. So she sat and introduced herself formally. “I’m Amber Liu of f(x). It’s nice to meet you.” She was still struggling to figure out his name, but she knew that he was one of the youngest, had a twin and was the second rapper of his group. Amber tried not to blush when he smiled dreamily at her and sipped a bit of her hot cocoa in slight embarrassment.

“I’m Jo Kwangmin of Boyfriend. It’s wonderful to finally talk with you Sunbae.” It really was, he had wanted an opportunity to talk to her and now, like his prayers had been heard, he could.

 “Really? I’m glad. So what is a young boy like you staying out so late for?” She asked, pleased at the now comfortable atmosphere.

Oh god. Her voice was magnificent to his ears. He could just lose himself into it and not worry about a damned thing. But, it would be rude not to answer her questions, so he replied, heart somersaulting each time she spoke to him. Minutes went on, them talking about anything and everything, just trying to get to know one another.

Amber learned that Kwangmin likes Pokémon, especially Pikachu, a lot. His favorite color is black, and that one day he wants to play the bad guy in a movie, to which she couldn’t help but snicker at, much to the younger boy’s dismay.

Kwangmin learned that Amber has won two gold-medals from taekwondo competitions, likes cats more than dogs, and that she dislikes eating junk food, in which he stared at her in mock disgust.

The thing that surprised Amber the most was that Kwangmin liked pure black coffee. She wondered how someone as sweet as him could like something so bitter. She asked him and was met with a simple, “I don’t really like the taste, but I love the aroma and the fact that it makes me more aware of things.” He had a mature way of seeing things, she noted. Kwangmin asked her why she liked hot cocoa and was met with a, “It relaxes me and I can’t help but smile thanks to the sweetness of it.” And their conversation on coffee stopped.

They continued on to other things, random ideas spouting about. Some things neither knew much about, but talked about anyways. Time passed, neither knew how long until Amber looked at her phone and gasped in horror at the time. They had been talking for more than three hours! She had promised she would be back at the dorm in an hour and a half. She groaned in frustration, knowing she would be punished for breaking her promise.

“Sorry Kwangmin-ah. I have to go now, and you should too. It’s really late.” She said with a look of pity.

'Already? No way. Time flies way too fast.' 

“Amber-Noona. Could we meet again tomorrow?” He asked, trying his best not to sound desperate.

She blinked and replied with a simple, “No.” Kwangmin’s eyes widened at her blunt answer, and a frown etches onto his handsome face.

Amber saw the change in expression and giggles a bit. “But,” She continued, “We can do it the day after tomorrow.” His expression brightens and he nods happily at the older woman in front of him.

Heart twisting and turning, stomache filled with butterflies, he looked at his sunbae with loving eyes. “Did you know that you have a very beautiful voice Noona?” He said, taking a hold of her free, warm hand and squeezing it softly before letting go.

Amber patted the boy on the head, eyes twinkling in acknowledgment. “I know.” She said, grinning cheekily. With a simple wave, the bell to the shop jingled and Kwangmin sighed in content.

They next time they met, maybe he could try something a little bit sweeter. 

Something like a cup of Hot Cocoa would be nice.

But first, it was time to go home.

I take forever to write a single chapter. Kinda sad really. I hope you guys like this one even if the pairing is a bit strange.

Kwangmin’s ideal girl is ‘girls who are a bit silly, but as bright as sunshine. I’d like her to be kind-hearted, and have the ability to understand others.’ And because of that, I picked him to be in my oneshot with Amber.

I usually write up to 2,000 words, So I think I should tone it down a notch so they can be easier to read, don't you think so? Please leave a suggestion on what characters to write about and leave critique please. It would help a lot.