A/N: Multiple updates for both of my fics within a week.. Aren't you guys happy? :P I'm like spending all my holidays on writing.. lol. 

Anyway, this is one of favorite chapters! ^^ A long one to make up for the shorter chapter previously. 
I had a bit of difficulty writing the first half of the little 'storm', but I totally love the ending. 

Hehe, read on, and you would know why when you reach the ending. ^^

p.s. warning for coarse language in this chapter. 
p.p.s. the real storm starts next chapter. 

The music was cut off again. Kyuhyun looked up at Sung Jae through the glass as he slid the headphones down to his neck. His eyes flickered from Sung Jae to the sound technician and back again, waiting anxiously for someone to speak up.

After running through the song once, Sung Jae started the recording from the chorus. Two hours have passed since then, but they were still stuck on the first line of the chorus.

“Come out.” Sung Jae commanded calmly.

Kyuhyun hesistated but moved quickly as he saw the anger in Sung Jae’s eyes. He closed the door of the inner studio and stood beside Sung Jae’s chair, breathing heavily. He clutched his hands tightly together to stop his hands from shaking.

“You weren’t even half as good as I thought you would be.” Sung Jae said coldly, as he turned his chair to look at Kyuhyun. The sound technician distracted himself with his phone. Kyuhyun tried to control his expression, but the suddenness caught him.

“It’s useless knowing all the vocal techniques if you can’t even get the basic emotions right.”

“Sorry.” Kyuhyun muttered, staring at the floor.

“You should be sorry to yourself. There are many out there who are much better than you, but don’t have a chance to become a singer.” Sung Jae paused to look at his watch.

“I’ll give you twenty minutes. Consider whether you want to give up on debuting.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened in horror.

“No! I can do this! Please give me another chance!” Kyuhyun croaked. He reached out for the door handle to the inner studio, wanting the recording session to resume.

“THEN MAKE SURE YOU SOUND MORE DECENT THAN AN AVERAGE PERSON!”

Lyrics sheets flew towards Kyuhyun, hitting his face before it fell to the floor mockingly. Kyuhyun flinched. He froze for a few seconds before flusteredly gathering the sheets from the floor.

“Twenty minutes. If you can’t understand these lyrics, don’t you dare step into my studio again. Don’t even dream of becoming a backup singer.” Sung Jae snorted.

Kyuhyun bit on his lower lip.

“I—I”

“GET THE OUT OF HERE!” Sung Jae bellowed, sending a shiver down Kyuhyun’s spine.

Kyuhyun clutched the lyrics sheets tight and scrambled out of the room. He ran as fast as his legs could take him to the end of the corridor, where the stairway was.

Slamming the door tight behind him, Kyuhyun’s knees gave in and he slid down against the door. A sharp pain tackled his chest and he gasped for air, only to realize that he had been holding his breath in. He fought against the urge to cry, but tears clouded his sight and trickled down his face.

“Consider whether you want to give up on debuting.”

“Make sure you sound more decent than an average person.”

“Don’t even dream of becoming a backup singer.”

Being a singer had always been Kyuhyun’s dream since he was twelve. Even when his father threatened to disown him, he had persisted on the path. He was so close to fulfilling his dream, but now, a producer was telling him to give up.

All these years of practice… do I really sound worse than an average person?

Kyuhyun’s lips trembled. He buried his face into his knees when he heard the echoes of his sobs in the stairway.

What if Dad was right? What if I am really not suited for this path?

I can’t. I don’t want… Kyuhyun shook his head violently, grabbing his hair tight.

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“So for this line—” Sungmin’s eyes shifted towards his phone on the table that vibrated for the fifth time.

He waited till the vibration passed and attempted to continue what he was trying to tell Yesung.

“This—” The phone’s vibration started again. Sungmin glared at his phone.

Sitting on the sofa behind Sungmin, Ryeowook looked up from his book.

“Maybe you should take that, hyung. It seems urgent.”

“Yeah, it might be important.” Zhoumi agreed as he worked on his laptop.

Sungmin moaned. He reached out for his phone, planning to throw it into his bag when he noticed the caller on the display.

Kyuhyun?

He checked the time on the clock.

Isn’t he recording now?

Sungmin pressed the button on the control panel. “We will take a break.”

Yesung nodded and walked out of the inner studio. Sungmin redirected his attention to his phone, but before he could answer, the vibration died.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kyuhyun knocked himself on his head when the call got directed to the voicemail again.

What am I doing.

He had spent the last few minutes calming down and hardly managed to convince himself to give another shot at the recording – and his entire singing career. Subconsciously, he scrolled through his contacts list and stopped when he saw Sungmin’s name. Before he knew it, he was begging for the composer to pick up at his sixth call.

What am I expecting? Maybe he doesn’t even give a damn about me.

Kyuhyun gave a mocking laugh at himself. He pulled his knees towards his chest and laid his head down against his forearm.

He mulled over the options he had.

1. Give up and go home.

2. Attempt to digest the lyrics again alone.

3. Call another person for help.

Option one wasn’t viable. He would regret for the rest of his life if he gave up now. Option two would hardly be effective – he had studied the lyrics endlessly for the past week. Option three was the most probable, but who else can help him? Heechul? Donghae?

Just then, the vibration from his phone startled him. He frantically pressed 'answer' and whipped the phone to his ear without looking at the display.

“Hello? Kyuhyun?” Sungmin’s voice came from the other side of the line.

He called.. He called back!

Kyuhyun broke into a smile of slight relief.

“Hyung…” Kyuhyun’s voice cracked.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Kyuhyun-ah! Are you okay?” Sungmin ignored the glances the three singers threw at him.

“H-hyung…” The voice sounded weary and as though Kyuhyun had been crying.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hyung, why did you give up on becoming a singer?”

Sungmin froze, shocked at the unexpected question.

How did he—

Then Sungmin remembered that Donghae was close to Kyuhyun and had most likely told him about their past. He mulled over the answer he should give.

“I—My dad objected. He didn’t like me giving up most of my privacy for the career.” He opted for the answer that he had repeated to many that asked him the same question. It wasn’t a lie. His father did not support him becoming a singer, but that wasn’t the entire reason he left his previous company when he was still a trainee seven years ago.

“Why are you asking this? What happened?” Sungmin was more concerned about Kyuhyun than to dwell on his own past.

“Sung Jae sonsaengnim… he told me to consider… giving up…” The voice that came from the phone was close to crying.

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