The loud sound of a stereotypical telephone ring drug Ryeowook from his slumber; he groggily reached for his cellphone, answering it with a mumbled “hellooo?” as he tried to sit up.

“Ryeowookie? Wake up! You wanted to go somewhere, remember?”

“…Zhou Mi hyung?” He definitely still sounded half-asleep and he looked up toward his clock: ten thirty-two. Oops.

“Yes, it’s me, silly! Where’s your apartment? I’ll come pick you up.”

Suddenly, Ryeowook was wide awake. He broke out in a cold sweat, his heartbeat starting to accelerate in a way that he really didn’t like. “No! Um, no, that’s okay; I’ll just meet you at Coco Bean in…thirty minutes. That sound good?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just—”

“No, it’s fine! I need to drop by there for a second anyway. I’ll see you then, hyung! Thanks!” He quickly hung up the phone, running a hand through his hair. That was close. He climbed to his feet, nearly slipping on the torn pieces of paper on the floor in the process. He glanced at them for a second before shaking his head and simply shoving them into a pile next to the wall. He didn’t want to deal with them right now. Yawning, he dug through his closet until he settled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve argyle sweater; practical, comfortable, and warm. After throwing on his clothes, he grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He had to move quickly. It kept the unwanted thoughts away.

~~~

When he got to Coco Bean, he immediately spotted the figure of his model friend, who was wearing both a hat and sunglasses today, hoping he wouldn’t be as easily recognized by the general public. Ryeowook waved and jogged over to him.

“Hyung!”

“Someone overslept some, didn’t they?” Zhou Mi asked with a hint of a smile on his face. Ryeowook bit his lip.

“Maybe a little…” he muttered, looking up when Zhou Mi laughed.

“I don’t care if you slept in, silly boy. Now, where do you want to go?”

The younger man thought for a minute. “Can we maybe go to a small music store somewhere first? I want to…look at some sheet music.”

Zhou Mi nodded immediately. “Of course! Come on!” He led the way to his car, obviously pleased. This was progress. Ryeowook hadn’t looked at sheet music for nearly a year and a half, not since his final project in college. Maybe looking at the music would help rekindle that spark in him, that desire, that dream.

~~~

It was indeed a small music store. It was nestled in between a large restaurant and a clothes store and was decorated in a rather nondescript manner but it seemed cozy and, for lack of a better word, special. Zhou Mi grabbed Ryeowook’s arm and drug him inside when the younger man hesitated, reminding him that it was his idea.

Ryeowook felt his hand begin to shake slightly upon entering and he rammed it into the pocket of his jacket, hoping no one saw. “Um…hyung…I don’t—”

“Go on and look! I’m going to go talk to the manager for a second, okay?” Though he was officially a model, Zhou Mi loved to sing. He had discovered this little shop several months ago, immediately falling in love with the selection. They carried hard-to-find sheet music, as well as CDs of lesser-known artists. Zhou Mi had quickly made friends with the owner and always made a point to drop by to talk when he was in the area.

Slowly and carefully, Ryeowook stepped toward a shelf of sheet music, lifting one of his hands and running it over the paper. He picked one up at random, letting his eyes slide over the title and the notes, hearing the song in his head as he did so. “One Fine Spring Day…” he murmured, suddenly unable to help himself. “The arrangement is gorgeous…”

“You’ve picked a good song there.”

Ryeowook nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, whirling around so quickly that the hat he’d borrowed from Zhou Mi fell off his head. The man laughed as he bent down to pick up the hat; it was the man from Coco Bean, the one who ordered a café latte to go every day.

“I think someone lied to me and is contemplating this singer thing.” The man handed the hat to him, a hint of a playful smile on his lips, a smile that turned more somber as Ryeowook shook his head violently.

“I wasn’t going to sing it. I was looking at…I was just admiring…the composition…” he said weakly, wishing he hadn’t asked to go to a music store and could disappear right then and there.

“Oh? Do you compose music?”

“No!” Ryeowook protested even more violently at this than he had to him becoming a singer. When he realized how upset and angry he actually sounded, he cringed. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap…”

The man looked at the small man curiously for a moment as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Something was seriously bothering his favorite little barista but he wasn’t sure what it was. Eventually, he just sighed, gently taking the sheet music out of Ryeowook’s hand and selecting several more of his personal favorite songs off the shelf.

“You bought me my latte yesterday. I’ll buy you these.”

“No! No, you don’t need to do that, really, you don’t!”

The man looked directly into Ryeowook’s eyes. “Use them as inspiration or a reminder. Try singing them. Try playing them on an instrument, if you play. Music is always written to be performed and should never be left on the page, no matter what you might think.” He then disappeared from view, heading toward the cash register.

Ryeowook stood, frozen, for a second, his mind reeling. Music is always written to be performed.

“Not always,” he whispered, looking close to tears. “Not always.”

“Not always what?” Zhou Mi appeared beside Ryeowook, looking confused. The younger man quickly shook his head.

“Nothing. Let’s go. I’m done here.”

Zhou Mi noticed the lack of sheet music on Ryeowook’s general person and mentally sighed. Guess this trip hadn’t done as much good as he’d hoped it would.

“Hey, Ryeowook-shii!” The man was back, pressing a thin bag into Ryeowook’s hands. “I sincerely hope you have a good day and think about what I told you,” he said cheerfully before turning and disappearing into the back of the shop.

“Who was that?” Zhou Mi asked, staring after the man.

“A guy that comes to Coco Bean every day,” the other answered automatically, unconsciously clutching the music closer to his chest. “Can we get lunch now, hyung?”

“Sure, yeah. Then do you want to look for some clothes?” Zhou Mi’s voice held a note of excitement at the idea.

“Yeah. That’d be good.”

The pair left the shop silently, each one wrapped in his own thoughts.

~~~

After a full day of shopping, Ryeowook and Zhou Mi found themselves at a movie theatre, waiting, rather impatiently, for Kibum, Sungmin, Kyuhyun, and Leeteuk to appear. Ryeowook had left his various bags in Zhou Mi’s car and was currently bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, scanning the crowd for any signs of his friends. Through the rush of shopping, he’d ended up in a much better mood than he’d been in that morning.

“Wookieee, calm downnn!” Zhou Mi whined, unable to understand how in the world he had so much energy.

“But hyunggg, we’re going to miss the movie if they don’t hurry up! After we got them tickets and everything!” A figure passed by in front of Ryeowook and he almost immediately stopped bouncing. “Oh! Hyung, I’ll be right back!” he chirped, chasing after the man. Now would have been a productive time to have known his name, he reflected, but it couldn’t be helped. “Sir! Siiiiir!”

The man hesitated, turning and catching sight of the running boy behind him. He smiled, stopping and waiting for the other to catch up.

Ryeowook bowed deeply when he got closer. “I’m very sorry for how I talked to you earlier and I wanted to thank you for buying the music for me,” he gasped out, not looking at the man, who simply laughed.

“It’s fine, Ryeowook-shii. Don’t worry about it. Have you looked at the pieces?”

“Not yet. I will later. I’ve been busy.”

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow for my usual café latte.” He turned to leave.

“WAIT!”

“Yeees, Ryeowook-shii?”

“Um…” Unsure of how exactly to say it, he ended up just blurting out, “What’s your name?” Immediately, he flushed a light red.

“Jongwoon. Kim Jongwoon,” the older man replied before pointing back toward Zhou Mi. “I think your friend is waiting for you.”

“Thanks again, Kim Jongwoon-shii! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Ryeowook gave him a sweet smile before dashing back toward Zhou Mi and the others who had arrived. Kim Jongwoon. It sounded musical. He liked it.

~~~

After the movie, Ryeowook had Zhou Mi drop him off at Coco Bean, despite the other’s protests. It was a nice, clear, but cold, mid-winter day so he chose to take a chance and walk home instead of riding the bus as he’d originally intended. He moved silently through the bustling streets, holding two bags of clothes in one hand and clutching the thin brown paper bag holding the music to his chest with the other. About halfway home, he stopped, sitting on a nearby bench and reaching into the brown bag, pulling out four crisp pieces of sheet music; he was suddenly very curious about what Kim Jongwoon had bought for him.

There was One Fine Spring Day, but he knew that. He took a moment to run his fingers over the notes on the page before looking at the next three.

Coagulation, If You Love Me More, and Please Love Her.

Even just a quick glance at them told him they were ballads, really gorgeous ones. Then he noticed the piece of paper that had fallen out from between the pieces. Curious, he picked it up, his eyes sliding over the quickly-scribbled writing.

            Ryeowook-shii, I don’t know what’s bothering you, but I know something is. If you need anyone to talk to, you can talk to me.

  Despite himself, Ryeowook smiled. “Silly Kim Jongwoon-shii…you didn’t give me your number.”

~~~

By the time he got back to his apartment, he was half-frozen but he didn’t particularly care. He dropped his bags off in his room, shrugging off his coat and throwing that on his bed as well before heading to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he sat in front of his little TV, munching on a bowl of leftover rice and a couple of kimchi pancakes as the lively figures of Kim Tak Goo and Yang Mi Sun argued at each other on the screen.

Ryeowook yawned through the ending credits about an hour later. “Bed time, I think,” he mumbled to himself. “Gotta get up early…” Yawning again, he made his way to the kitchen and dropped his dishes in the sink, resolving to wash them the next morning. He headed toward this bedroom, gently picking up the bag of sheet music that was on his bed. He looked at them one more time before tucking them away in a corner of his closet.

“Thank you, Kim Jongwoon-shii, but I can’t. They are pretty songs, but I can’t.”

With a sad smile, he brushed his teeth and collapsed on his bed, falling into a fitful sleep several moments later.

~~~

Sungmin and Ryeowook were busying washing the windows the next day when the door opened and a figure stepped in, looking a little frazzled.

“Kim Jongwoon-shii!” Ryeowook blinked in surprise at how disorganized the man looked today; his black hair was messier than normal, his v-neck gray t-shirt was wrinkled beneath his bulky coat, his arms were full of papers, which he promptly dropped onto a table before beginning to attempt to straighten them. The little barista hurried over to the man.

“Here, let me help you…” He began to grab some of the papers, placing them neatly on top of each other. Then he noticed exactly what it was he was holding in his hands. “This is…sheet music…”

Jongwoon nodded. “Yup.”

“But…why do you…have a bunch of sheet music?”

“I’m a vocal coach. I teach aspiring artists and I’ve been hired by some entertainment companies to help their trainees. I was on my way here when I dropped the music I was taking to one of my students this afternoon.” He pointed outside. “And the fact that it started to snow didn’t help.”

Ryeowook giggled. “No, I guess it didn’t. Here, let me get you something to help you warm up…” He hurried back behind the counter, getting to work. Sungmin put down his cleaning supplies and went over to help Jongwoon.

“Hi!” he chirped, grinning. “I’m Lee Sungmin, one of Ryeowook’s friends. I’ve seen you in here before, but this is my first time actually talking to you.” He picked where Ryeowook left off, organizing the music.

“Hey, Sungmin-shii. I’m Kim Jongwoon, or Yesung, if you prefer.”

“Yesung?”

“A nickname of sorts, I guess. The entertainment company that first hired me gave it to me. They tried to convince me to debut as a ballad singer and use that as my stage name but I declined the proposal. Being a solo artist doesn’t interest me much. If I was to debut, I’d rather be part of a group.”

“Ohhhh…” Sungmin handed Yesung the neat stack of music, nodding in understanding.

“Sungmin-shii, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything.”

Jongwoon stole a quick glance at Ryeowook, who was busy behind the counter and not paying attention to the pair. “Why is Ryeowook-shii so against being a singer and even looking at music in general?”

Sungmin sighed, shaking his head. “No one is really sure. Something happened to him when he was in university and he gave up all of his dreams after that, but he won’t talk to anyone about it. No one knows what happened.”

“Jongwoon-shii!” Ryeowook hurried over a second later, carefully carrying a steaming cup in his hands. He held it out to the other. “It’s roasted rice tea. It’s really good on cold days.” He smiled happily, his skin tingling where Jongwoon’s hands touched his as he took the cup.

“Thanks, Ryeowook-shii.” He smiled back. Sungmin looked between the two of them before he dashed off toward the back, giggling to himself. Those two…

“Oh!” Ryeowook fished in his pocket for a second before pulling out a small piece of paper and holding it up in front of Jongwoon’s face. “Jongwoon-shii, how am I supposed to ever talk to you if I don’t have your number?”

Yesung blinked as he read the note, then burst out laughing. “Oops.”  He held out his hand; Ryeowook immediately understood what he wanted and put his phone into the outstretched hand. Yesung fumbled with the phone for a minute before handing it back to him.

“There you go. My number’s saved in there. Call or text me sometime.” He pressed a couple of bills into Ryeowook’s hand. “For the tea,” he explained, and then collected his things. “I’ll see you later!” He disappeared out of the door.

Ryeowook gripped his phone tightly, grinning from ear to ear. For some reason, having Kim Jongwoon’s phone number made him very happy.

Yay! Chapter Three~! As always, any comments/critiques are greatly loved and appreciated~ :3
I love you!

love,

afallingstar