Chapter 9: The Music Room

Sometime later, due to Jonghyun’s speeding, the van arrived at the old music room, the first place Yonghwa had taken Seohyun during the first night of their fake marriage. It was the place where she was introduced to the guitar for the first time, the place where Yonghwa requested they speak banmal and she curtly refused, the place where they sang their first duet, her on the keyboard and him on his acoustic guitar. Where she met her fun brother-in-laws, cut cake with Yonghwa, roughly played him her version of the Banmal song as part of their goodbyes to each other—

“Are you guys coming?” asked Hyoyeon.

Seohyun looked around. Yonghwa was waiting for her to get out. She shuffled through the seats and hopped out. Once she was out, they retrieved their guitars and bass and headed into the building. They were across town from Minhyuk’s father’s restaurant now, and the neighborhood was empty and silent. Seohyun didn’t even want to know how late it was, but she felt better about the complete privacy they would have. Seohyun hung back with Yonghwa while the others walked ahead, chatting happily. Yonghwa would add something to their conversation every once in awhile, but Seohyun stayed silent for the most part. She wanted to remember all of the good memories.

“Is there a bathroom we can use?” asked Sooyoung.

“Sure. It’s right down the hall.” Minhyuk pointed. “We’ll get the instruments set up. A drum set should already be in there.”

“Hyunnie, come with us,” Sooyoung ordered, pulling her arm.

They parted from the boys and entered the bathroom to re-do their make-up and fix their hair. Seohyun had tried to get her hair back to normal after wearing the hat disguise, but now her unnies were able to better help her when she wasn’t in such a rush. Sooyoung reapplied her own lipstick and Hyoyeon fixed her blonde hair.

“So, what happened on the walk? Anymore turn ons?” asked Sooyoung.

Seohyun stared daggers at Hyoyeon, who shrugged innocently. “You told, Unnie?”

“Of course she told. Don’t worry about it. Our secret,” Sooyoung giggled.

“Ottoke,” sighed Seohyun. “I can’t trust you guys with anything.”

“So the walk. What did you two talk about? Did he try to hold your hand?” Hyoyeon pressed for details.

Seohyun shrugged, blushing. “Nothing. We just talked.”

Now there was definitely no way she was going to tell them what happened in that alleyway.

“What about in the van?”

“Please, Unnie, stop pressuring me. He hasn’t done anything.”

Hyoyeon rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her in the mirror. “In other news, it’s time to pressure Jungshin into choosing one of us. We can’t keep playing cat and mouse.”

“I agree. I can’t watch you flirt with him any longer.”

“Me? Jungshin-ah, feed me. Aren’t I so pretty and tall? Don’t you love feeding me? Don’t you want to teach me bass?” Hyoyeon mimicked Sooyoung in a high pitched voice nothing like Sooyoung’s actual tone.

“If you were smart, you’d try to convince him to teach you bass too,” Sooyoung snapped back. “I’ll be getting skinship, and you’ll be banging the drums with Minhyuk, who’s shown no interest in you.”

“Jungshin will choose me,” said Hyoyeon. “I have a tactic.”

“Truthfully, he’s too young for either of you,” Seohyun voiced her opinion. “Jungshin chingoo looks older than he is, but he’s just as naïve as me. He’s a really nice person. Don’t lead him on.”  

“No one is as naïve as you, Maknae,” replied Hyoyeon. “And no one’s leading anyone on. No one’s falling in love, other than you.”

Love? Seohyun felt strange at the mention of the word. She stared at herself in the mirror. The last time she had been here, hadn’t she felt something like that? Not quite but almost. She was starting to think that she had a lot more feelings for Yonghwa than she ever admitted to herself. Why else would she be so affected by him? Why else was she so defensive whenever anyone brought him up? Why had she been so happy to come back to this place? This stuff was too complicated. It was the exact reason why she avoided things like this. She was too deeply involved in her emotions that there was no turning back tonight, but they were too out of control.

“How do I know?” asked Seohyun out loud. “How do I know I can trust what I feel?”

Her unnies looked confused. “If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?” said Hyoyeon.

Seohyun leaned against the sink miserable. “A few hours ago, I was perfectly content. Oppa was just a good memory. And now. Now, he’s making me feel like I’ve been burying something.”

“You have been, for several months. Yes, he’s a memory, but he’s a strong one. Why are you fighting it so much?”

“You know why. I don’t know how to let go,” she admitted.

Her unnies nodded in understanding.

“In moments like this, we have to ask ourselves, ‘what would Beyoncé do?’” Hyoyeon did a hip swing in the mirror, and Sooyoung followed. Seohyun giggled. “She always lets it go.”

“So what would she do?” Sooyoung asked Seohyun as if it were a test question she needed to answer correctly to pass the entire course.

Seohyun looked at her reflection again in the mirror. She was mature now, and Yonghwa had told her she was beautiful and had meant it. “Confidence. She’d be confident.”

“I’ve got an idea!” Hyeoyeon shared excitedly. “You’ll know what to do when I give you the cue.”

“What?”

“Just trust me, Maknae.”

“We better get back before the boys get antsy,” Sooyoung commented. “Ottoke. Are we going to embarrass ourselves with these instruments?”

They left the bathroom, and Seohyun wondered if she would love or hate Hyoyeon’s secretive idea. Either way, it was good to know that her unnies were looking out for her.

…………………………….

Yonghwa was happy the girls disappeared for a little while. He needed to check in with his dongsaengs and make sure things were going smoother than he felt they were. He still hadn’t confessed to Seohyun, and Shin Hye’s texting while they had been trying to get comfortable looked like it might hurt his chances. Luckily, Seohyun had accepted that she was just a close friend—a friend who knew his feelings for the SNSD maknae.

Shin Hye was cool like that. He could confide in her about things like this, and she could confide in him about the same types of things, asking for advice. They had it down to an art so that when he texted her their code phrase “A miracle”, she had sent him good luck and congratulations. He could almost hear the glee in her voice. A miracle stood for the fact that he always said it would take a miracle for him to spend time with Seohyun ever again.

He couldn’t tell if Seohyun liked him or not. Sometimes she was distant, and other times, she acted like she didn’t want to leave his side. He wondered how it would go when he put his guitar around her and helped her practice.

“How are you guys doing?”

Jungshin and Jonghyun confirmed that they were  doing just fine, but Minhyuk was in low spirits.

“I was doing fine until I realized what was happening,” Minhyuk scoffed

“What’s happening?” They all asked him.

“Everyone has a date, except me,” explained Minhyuk. “Hyung has Seohyun, Jonghyun Hyung keeps flirting with Hyoyeon noona, but she and Sooyoung noona like Jungshin. I didn’t get to feed anyone a wrap. I’m the seventh wheel.”

“Minhyuk, Noonas don’t like me. They’re just being nice,” said Jungshin.

“Jungshin, they’re paying more attention to you than to anyone. But I’m not flirting with anyone,” said Jonghyun, strumming a few notes on his guitar.

Yonghwa grinned at him. “Jonghyun, I know your style. Subtle but potent. You definitely think she’s pretty.”

“It’s the blonde hair, isn’t it, Hyung?” asked Jungshin with a knowing smile. “Dae, noona really has become prettier. She’s really funny too. I like it.”

“So she’s your ideal? Good, then let me date Sooyoung noona,” said Minhyuk.

Everyone looked at Jungshin. Was he really going to give up all of the attention?

He stuttered for a bit before flipping his hair charmingly and pouting. “Enough of this. We’re here for Yonghwa Hyung, not ourselves. Honestly, Hyung, we thought you’d confess to Seohyun on your walk to get snacks.”

“I tried. Kind of. We talked and joked around, but she’s not very open. It’s like she’s pushing and pulling and doesn’t even know it.”

“Sister-in-law’s just like that, Hyung. Really shy until you do something bold,” said Minhyuk, beating the bass drum with his foot.

“Sister-in-law?” asked Yonghwa at the sudden use of the term.

“Dae, I miss calling her that.” Minhyuk smiled.

“I told her she was beautiful. That’s very bold, but she didn’t seem to like it.”

“How many people probably tell her that on a daily basis? It’s probably more burdensome than anything. Hyung, be a man. If you want her, let her know. That’s what I would do,” said Jonghyun confidently.

Yonghwa strapped on his guitar and played a short, quick melody. “Well, this man plans to woo her with what I know best. Music.”

Just then the girls entered into the music room, Seohyun leading the way. All of the boys looked up from what they were doing. Sooyoung was tall and glamorous like a model, Yonghwa mused, and Hyoyeon was bright and gave a vibe of a tough girl underneath all that brightness. But Seohyun? Yonghwa’s eyes were glued to her in that cute leather jacket of hers. She had everything he wanted, and no one else could compare. Whatever had happened in the bathroom that had her coming back looking like this, it had stirred something strong in him.  

A/N: Who will Jungshin choose? What is Hyoyeon's cue and will her idea work? Who will end up wooing who between Seohyun and Yonghwa? Will Minhyuk remain the 7th wheel? Will they ever eat those snacks they bought? Answers coming in the next chapter. The next update will probably be on Seohyun’s birthday :D It will include something that might throw people off, that people might not like, but what my mind tells me to write, I must write. I hope you’ll consider it fun/funny and not weird. Thank you for reading! Love and appreciate you guys, I really do! Please anticipate chapters 10-15 :D!

Ps: Am I the only person who has noticed that Seohyun is wearing a lot of blue clothing (especially at airports) these days? My little shipper mind likes to believe it’s for Yonghwa. I just keep remembering that wgm episode where she was going to visit the CN Blue dorm and commented proudly to Yonghwa that she was wearing all blue.

Also, I actually really love Park Shin Hye, but I really like her with Jang Geun Suk lol. I think she’s even closer with him, but all of their friendships are pretty cool and interesting.