2/4.

Jieun twiddled her thumbs and did another side glance. The living room suddenly felt so tiny and the air was suffocating. Suffocating with silence. This was almost as bad as the first time she went to the underground club.

 “Is your knee OK?” He had spoken. He spoke first. If she could kiss the ground with gratitude she would do it now. Instead she peered at him in question. “You fell down the other day and scraped your knee.”

 “Oh, yes,” said Jieun as she remembered. That very day when they had bumped into one another, just like a scene from a movie. Even the thought of it made her insides smile like a dizzy fangirl. “My knee’s fine, it was a little scratch.”

Not really, she nearly wept like a baby when Hana had bandaged it.

 “Ah, OK.”

Again the silence. Jieun glanced at the clock. Hana had been gone for fifteen minutes and Jieun couldn’t even do a countdown for her return. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn’t know how to start. She was worried if she asked or said something odd, he’d totally be put off by her and then they’d definitely fall into the despair of awkwardness.

 “So, um, how’s the underground?”

His right eyebrow quirked slightly and she felt herself sink. Oh God, she could see the gates to Awkward Land.

 “The underground train or the underground club?” he asked with his deep voice. She stared at him blankly, unsure of a response. “I’m kidding. The clubs are great; it’s basically my second home.”

 “Yeah, I can see that. You’re completely comfortable when you’re on stage,” said Jieun. “I mean, not that I know that, it just means like you seem comfortable on stage.” He smirked slightly. “What do you rap about?” This was one thing that bugged her since their first meeting. This time he stared at blankly. “I mean, I tried listening to the words but all I heard was a fumble and speed of words so I couldn’t really catch everything. But your voice was really nice.”

That was not how she wanted to end her sentence.

He chuckled. “I rap about everything; from my day to day life, other people’s experiences, and the issues we face today. Love, life, hopes, dreams. Everything around you can be an inspiration.”

 “Hmm.”

 “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, I just, never thought much about rapping or rap in general.”

 “Why is that?”

 “Well, it’s not exactly the most friendly music genre is it?”

Yongguk turned to her, interested in her statement. “Friendly music genre?”

 “It’s not is it? From some of the rap that I’ve heard, it’s too hard and violent. It all seems too rough and edgy and it doesn’t quite appeal to everyone.”

 “Like you,” said Yongguk and she blushed. “Here, let me show you some of my favourite artists.” He scrolled through his music player and held out one side of his earphones for her to listen. She stretched her neck out a fair distance (well, she was sat on the other end of the sofa), resulting in an uncomfortable position where her top half was bent, slightly tilted to the right side.

When Hana returned, she found Jieun and Yongguk sitting next to each other, seemingly to have had no connection whatsoever, except for the set of earphones that linked them together.

By some odd chance, they got each other’s phone numbers. They were out one day and something about Hana's battery dying and Himchan losing his (new) phone and they needed to get in touch with Yongguk. She had secretly saved his number when she checked back her dialled numbers. Now all she needed was a reason to call him. She didn’t know why she wanted to call him, but she felt this urge to. And she could come up with nothing.

But then her phone rang and the name that came up surprised her. She counted to six before picking up (four was too short, five was in between and six was just right).

 “Hello.”

She heard a crackle over the line. “Hello? Yes?”

 “It’s me, Yongguk. Uhh, you called me earlier?”

 “I did? Oh, it must’ve accidentally dialled you when it was in my bag.” False. She dialled his number and then dropped her phone into her bag and rustled it to make it sound like it dialled him on its own. She crossed her fingers and toes, hoping he’d believe her. “I’m sorry if it disturbed you in any way. You know technology these days.”

 “Yeah.” They both stayed inaudible. Her fingers were still crossed when he spoke up. “How have you been, Jieun?”

At the mention of her name, she bit her lip. “I’ve been good, busy with work and assignments. And you, how are you doing?”

 “I’m fine,” he replied. There was a loud sound and she could hear his deep laughter. “Sorry, Jieun, I need to go for a bit. I’ll call you back later.”

 “Oh OK, yeah, that’s cool.”

When the phone call ended, she had no expectations of him calling back. In fact, she was convinced he had used that interruption as an opportunity to cut the call short. Guys never called her back. And it was not like she really cared whether he did or not. She didn’t like him; she was interested in his passion for rap music, yes. She wanted to learn about this rap music. But she didn’t have any thoughts of him becoming her boyfriend.

Wait, did daydreams count as thoughts? Daydreaming about date scenarios with Yongguk only happened occasionally. Like every time one of his original songs came up on her music playlist (which she had conveniently titled it as Yongguk’s). And it wasn’t her fault that it repeated every so often, that’s what her music player did on its own. Technology.

Caught up with her mind conversation she didn’t realise her phone was ringing and it might’ve been past counting till six when she picked it up.

 “Hi.”

 “Hey,” he said smoothly. “Himchan just got a new phone and he’s acting like a ten year old. He says hi by the way.”

 She chortled as she heard Himchan’s chattering voice. “Tell him I say hi back.”

 “So, what are you up to this weekend?”

 “Nothing much. I might do a bit of cleaning. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up the mop and pail. The dust is calling for war,” she said without any thought. “It grosses me out to think that majority of the dust that we collect are actually our dead skin. Can you believe it? We’re just like snakes!” She paused. “Or butterflies. Butterflies sound nicer than snakes.”

 “I suppose so,” said Yongguk as he laughed lightly. “How about a night out?”

 “Huh?” She immediately sat up and the lights in her head were flickering. Was he asking her out?

 “I’m doing a show at one of the Hongdae clubs and I thought maybe you’d like to come along,” he said.

 “You know, I still think rap is an unfriendly genre right?” she said teasingly. Since she listened to his playlist so many times, she discovered the different sides of rap. She still preferred her soft ballads and smooth R&B tunes, but the occasional rap songs that came up (yes, from her Yongguk’s playlist) were nice too.

 “If you come this weekend, maybe you’ll be able to come up with a rap or two.”

They both laughed.

 “I highly doubt so, no matter how hard I would try. But I guess I could make it,” said Jieun.

 “Alright. And just a heads up, we don’t really have a dress code but um, dress comfortably.” Yongguk said this delicately, hoping she wouldn’t feel insulted. The sound of her giggles came to ear.

 “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a smile. Her heart was beating fast and she wanted to jump around. She was dying to spaz out and tell someone and squeal like a teenage girl.

Why? Because maybe it wasn't just his passion for music she was interested in. Maybe it was him. 

So I've decided to continue from the previous chapter as a small series. As of now, I've decided with 4 parts. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to my new subbies and readers! :) 

Also, Bang Yongguk's toplessness at the concert *faints* Hot dayum he's yummy.