Yongguk sat in his dorm, spinning his pen around his thumb as he rested his head on other hand. He tapped his pen on the sheets of scribbled paper, his mind was blank. Damn! Damn this writer’s block! He cursed in his mind, releasing the pen in his hand and letting it fall on the desk. He leaned back into his seat, covering his face with his hands as he moaned in his usual low tone.

“Welcome aboard, Yongguk,” A voice echoed in his mind when his mind flashed back where he was in a fancy office and he shook hands after signing an agreement. “Oh, do try to end promoting as Jepp Blackman,” the voice said, Yongguk remembered a grin that followed after the sentence. “Remember, you’re no longer an underground rapper anymore,” the voice continued with Yongguk’s flash back of a man in a neat suit with his back turned at him.

Yongguk sighed in frustration. What’s bothering me? He thought, standing up from his seat and grabbing his greenish army jacket, flinging it over his shoulder and slamming his room door closed behind him. Writer’s block and an unknown thought disturbing him? I can’t take this anymore.

Yongguk walked down the empty streets late in the night, breathing the fresh cold air in, he felt slightly, just slightly better. He sighed again, walking down the slope with his hands in his pockets, he briefly glanced into the boutiques he passed by. He was pretty clueless of his destination until he heard loud music booming from a distance.

He lifted his head towards the direction of the music, noticing shades of disco lights at a quiet corner of the alley. Teddy-hyung’s bar. That was great, just what he needed right now – a drink. He pushed his hands deeper into his pocket as a cold breeze blew by, he started jogging towards the bar.

When he got in, the bar was crowded with late-night hip-hop youngsters, drinking to their hearts content. The bar was bustling with chatters and laughter whilst underground performers performed on a narrow stage. It was not grand, but many of them underground artists loved to hang and chill at the bar. Yongguk squeezed through the crowd, searching for an empty seat.

He soon spotted an empty seat at the bar top and made his way towards the seat. He pulled out the seat and then comfortably rested himself on the high chair as he waited for a bartender to come over, not noticing the blonde beauty beside him who originally only turned to briefly glance at him, but ended up staring instead.

“Jepp Blackman?”

Yongguk froze at the sound of the name that he was supposed to stop using. He looked up, trying to hide his horrified expression and coming face-to-face with her – long blonde hair, dark cat eyeliner with a gloss to finish off her full black dressing. His heart skipped a beat at the gorgeous view that was right in front of him.

She had an excited look displayed on her lovely face. “It’s you isn’t it?” She asked, slightly turning her torso towards him. God, she was an angel! His heart melted at the sound of her voice ringing in his ears.

But he could not.

“I’m sorry,” he pretended that he was unable to understand, “What?”

At that moment, he saw her excitement fade. She sighed, turning back to her drink, fiddling with her cup. “I’m sorry,” she apologized with a gentle smile. “I mistook you for someone else,” she explained, gracefully taking a sip from her glass.

No you didn’t.

Yongguk was in awe. How could a person look so badass yet so angelic at the same time? There was just too much perfection that he could take. He tried to look away but it was difficult for him to resist. Was it love at first sight? He had no idea. He continued taking peeks at her until she turned to him again, taking a good look at his face.

“You sure you’re not Jepp Blackman?” She asked again, she seemed really confident that she recognized him, yet there was a small part of her that doubted which Yongguk felt relieved when he saw it.

He chuckled. “Heard of the name,” he lied. Boo, Guk! Just boo! He mentally gave himself a thumbs-down. “People tell me we look alike,” he continued. “Who is he?”

“Who is he?” She repeated her question with a tone full of disbelief. “He’s a lyrical genius!” She said with the excited look on her face back again. “I love his mixtapes and those low toned raps, ugh!” She expressed.

Yongguk chuckled. So she’s a fan?

She then straightened up when she heard him chuckle, realizing that she was going overboard with her fangirling. She blushed whilst tugging on her earlobe. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I got carried away,” she nervously grabbed her cup and taking another sip.

“You come here often?” He then asked, hoping to start a smooth conversation with her. He had forgotten all about his frustrations and that unknown disturbing feeling he had earlier just now.

 “Only when I’m free,” she answered, fiddling with her glass again.

He smiled and then stretching his hand out towards her, “I’m----“

“Guk!” A bartender called out with his arms opened wide for a hug.

“Oh, hyung!” Yongguk called back with his deep husky tone. He stood up from his seat, giving the bartender a brotherly hug.

“What’s up? So you finally decided to drop by my bar, huh?” He said patting Yongguk on the shoulder and then noticing the blonde girl beside Yongguk. “Oh, Chae-ah!” Yongguk looked at his hyung with a baffled look when she got up to give him a hug.

“Hey, Teddy-oppa!” She greeted him with the sweetest eye smile.

“Yah, Guk! You know Chaerin?” Teddy asked, gently slapping on his arm.

“Uh,” Yongguk said, still in confusion. Are they together? “No, we just met,” he said turning to Chaerin as she nodded in agreement.

“Seriously?!” Teddy then said with an exaggerated tone. “Ah, Guk, great timing then,” he said gently pulling Chaerin closer to their circle. “This girl here is a gem!” He pointed, boasting like a proud dad, “She writes, composes and raps!”

“Wow,” Yongguk whispered to himself, impressed. He smiled. Daebak.

“Ani, ani,” she then denied, “I’m still a beginner,” she said, turning red.

She’s cute.

“Bull,” Teddy immediately wiped off her humble remarks, “You gotta listen to her stuff sometime, Guk,” Teddy continued putting his arm around Chaerin’s neck. “With all that gizibe stuff going on in there, I couldn’t stop listening to it after I started!”

“You do hip-hop?” Yongguk then asked, finding it hard to believe judging by her angelic figure.

She smiled with a hint of embarrassment, “Only when I’m free,” she replied. “I’m in fashion, hip-hop’s my hobby,” she explained.

“Right,” Teddy then patted Chaerin on the back, “You guys get better acquainted, it’s getting busy,” he said when another group of youngsters entered the bar. “The usual for you, Guk?” He then asked before leaving them alone.

“Yeah,”

“You’re a regular here?” Chaerin then asked, taking her seat back at the bar top again as Yongguk followed behind her.

“No, I’m just close with Teddy-hyung,” he said, “It’s my first time here,”

“Yah, Guk!” Another bartender then approached him with two beer bottles in his hand. “Teddy sent you this,” he said as he placed the drinks on the table. “Drinks on him, order as much as you want,” the guy then winked and left.

Yongguk chuckled. Is he trying to get me drunk? He took the bottle and took a sip from it, feeling relaxed as the gassy cold liquid flowed into his body.

“I didn’t get your name,” Chaerin then said.

Yongguk turned to her, “Ah, sorry,” he apologized, realizing how absentminded he was. “It’s Yongguk, Bang Yongguk,” he said putting his hand out for a handshake, flashing his gummy smile that made Chaerin gasp secretly.

Chaerin flashed an eye smile back, shaking his hand. She felt an invisible force of electricity run through her veins when they touched. Is it because he looked like Jepp Blackman? She found her heart racing looking at his gummy smile and hearing his deep husky voice. Could he be a doppelganger? How could two different people look and sound so alike?

She had never seen Jepp Blackman before except through blurry, low resolution photos that were on the internet. The only thing that she could connect herself to him was through his music and lyrics that he recorded and posted online. She enjoyed each and every one of them, they were her inspiration. Despite all that, she could have sworn that she absolutely positively saw some Jepp Blackman in him.

Chaerin slowly released their hands as she went back to grabbing her glass, as if trying to cool off her blushing heat through the cold surface of the glass. She bit her lip and nervously lifted her glass to take in another sip when she saw Yongguk smile from the corner of her eye.

“Will I get the chance to see you perform?” He then asked, causing her to choke on her drink. Chaerin covered as she coughed when Yongguk hurriedly grabbed her napkins. “You alright?” He asked, gently patting her on the back.

Chaerin looked at him with her hand still over and smiled. “Excuse me,” she coughed again with a tint of pink glowing on her cheeks this time. Knock it off, Chae! You just met him! She then cleared which still felt itchy, “I never really thought of performing,” she replied honestly, slowly removing her hand away from her lips. Come to think of it, why didn’t I? “I guess it’s because of my busy schedule,” she added.

He smiled and then holding his drink out to her. She then smiled back as she picked her glass up and gently colliding their drinks together. The both of them then began talking about their own backgrounds, their own stories and countless randomness about themselves through the night.

He learned that she grew up in various places besides Seoul, that she took up fashion instead of music because her parents thought that music was not a respectable career, that she did not give up anyway as she secretly composes songs late in the night when she was unable to sleep, that Jepp Blackman was her inspiration and if she could, she would love to have a discussion of his lyrics over coffee.

She learned that he had great passion for music, especially hip-hop, that his parents actually was against his dream of building his future career on music either, that he took up the challenge to excel in his studies so that his parents would allow him to pursue his dreams, that he was actually disturbed by an unknown thought earlier the evening which landed him here right now.

They clicked so well that no one would have guessed that they were actually strangers who had just met each other three hours ago.