“Let’s take it to the top, Jieun,” Junghwan says cheerfully, not noticing how they had practiced for 5 hours straight already. There were groans and sighs that passed by and Junghwan turned deaf ear. Jieun smiles at him tiredly and takes deep breath and taps the microphone.

Jongdae, Ailee and Daehyun were on the usual table, drinks displayed on the table and watching Jieun practice the songs that are up for tonight’s party. They aren’t always there to watch her practice her songs, but Daehyun would be always there to watch her practice between the days in the weeks.

Drinking his fruit juice or some wines, he would watch her practice until the endless hours of time dissipates and the night shines above the expanse sky, opening the curtain of clouds. He would watch her with a bright smile that never fails to amuse her whenever she would spare a glance to the younger.

She would practice with her gentle soft voice which Daehyun never gets tired of no matter how many songs she sang. Her voice calms his heart and soothes his soul like an angel’s voice and he could sigh in content.

Daehyun could spend hours listening to her voice without getting tired and Jieun would always ask him if he was tired of listening to her voice and he would respond with a shake of his head.

He longs for her voice, the intricate of true music and the voice of hope and light. His was different from hers. His voice was the art of self music and the voice of selfish desires and shadow. Their world of music was different from each other.

He was in the shadow while she’s in the light.

His husky, deep thorn voice was nothing compared to her light feather voice and how he envies her a lot when he first heard her sang, up until now. He wonders why he was desperate of her voice, how he longed to hear her voice every time.

He doesn’t know and he hopes he’ll find it soon.

Watching their best friend sang up on stage makes them smile at ease. Jieun always wanted to be a singer in a bar and how likely she is a singer for the country. She would always tell them that she’ll be a singer in the future and her hard work in the old days paid off.

After hearing her practice one more time, Junghwan finally calls the practice and let them have their recess for an hour before the club opens.

Jieun settles herself next to Daehyun and rested her head on the table before letting out a long sigh.

“Finally!” she huffed out with less enthusiasm and Jongdae has to pat her back to console her misery. Ailee takes a shot and Daehyun snorted at her whine.

“Singing for 5 hours and a half isn’t misery, you know,” Daehyun comments and takes a sip on his fruit juice.

Jieun lifts her head up and glowered at him.

“Yah! Why don’t you sing in my place, you brat?!” Jieun growls at him and he laughs nervously.

“No way, Jieun. You know I can’t sing very well.”

Ailee rolled her eyes whilst Jongdae snorted in return.

“Yeah, right. Our precious Dae baby doesn’t know how to sing,” Ailee snickered earning her a glare from the younger.

“I’m not a baby…” he trails off with a pout on his face. Jieun looks at his sulking face and side hug him.

“Aww, don’t sulk Dae. It doesn’t look good on you. You look like a pathetic kitty that has been kicked out by his owner,” she sings teasingly and smirks when Daehyun slapped her thigh playfully.

“Yah!”

Jieun laughs followed by the two making Daehyun pout more, but his lips curve into a smile as a familiar melodious laugh rang on his ear.

~*~

Whenever Jieun looks at Daehyun, she finds him breathtakingly beautiful. Yes, not the other way around. She finds herself comparing to Daehyun. She was everything not Daehyun. Daehyun has his husky, deep-like voice that caresses her wings while she has nothing but feather-like.

She would envy him, telling him that she would like his voice because it’s very melting to one’s soul and heart. It gives out this tingling feeling while her voice doesn’t.

Daehyun would laugh it off, telling her that her voice is the one he envies a lot. Hers was the voice of an angel while his was nothing but a wind, humming into nothing but itself.

“Jieun, I’m a wind of many voices, carrying it into different places. You are the voice of music, the one and only and even the wind doesn’t need to carry it out. I’m a wind who is selfish for voices, wanting to be music itself, but I can’t. I can’t be something that I can’t be,” Daehyun once told her as they were taking a cup of coffee on one of their free times.

When Daehyun told her that, she wonders how Daehyun could even think about ridiculous things like that, but she doesn’t counter it. She already knows that even when they were high school students back then.

She was the ‘light’ and Daehyun would be the ‘shadow’. Two equal beings separated with different desires and the shadow would always long for the light whilst the light waits for the shadow.

Daehyun only needs to take another step but whenever he does; Jieun would always be ahead of him. It was always a step, one step it all it takes, but it could never be reached no matter what.

Jieun and Daehyun, they are like Ailee and Jongdae. Jieun and Ailee would be one step ahead of them and they would fill their gaps as they walk behind them.

“You know, Jieun?” Daehyun asked as he watches her write some lyrics to her song. She didn’t spare a glance to him and just hummed.

“Yeah?”

Daehyun smiles sadly, “If someday our voices would become one, do you think, I’ll be able to hold your hand someday?”

“Huh?” she casts a look on him, confused at what he is trying to say. He smiles at her and she doesn’t recognize it for the first time.

“It’s nothing. Go back to what you are doing, Jieun. Don’t mind me,” he motioned her to continue to what she was doing and she just nodded numbly and continued off where she has last stopped. She didn’t really paid attention to what he said at that time, what he meant about it.

His question didn’t affect her when she was still studying but thinking about it now after a few years passed, his question would linger a bit, but she wouldn’t ponder about it.

She would think about it later.

She takes a sip on her frappe, putting her locks behind her ear. Daehyun joins her a bit later, begging her to treat him for lunch. He explained that Jongdae starved him to death and Ailee kept teasing him about his embarrassing moments during middle school.

“Jieun-ah! Treat me for lunch!” he says with a -eating grin contrasting with his pleading eyes and Jieun resists throwing her frappe on his face.

“No,” she flatly says. A frown was the reaction and she secretly smiled.

“Come on! Please?” Daehyun begged, hands clasped with her free hand and she looked at him incredulously.

After a few more minutes of begging, she finally gives up and treated him for lunch. Watching Daehyun pumps his fist into the air and showers her a lot of thanks, Jieun smiles at the younger.

It was true, indeed.

Daehyun was selfish, he desires nothing but for him while she gives and thinks of others.

It’s kind of ironic how two notes have been separated, but she doesn’t push through it.

It’s better this way, a hum of music they are.

It’s short, I know. Unedited, as usual. The next chapter would be longer than the previous and this one.

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