Go Eunhye did not own the recording studio, but she tended to act like it. She was close friends with the owner and was good at running the business. Under her careful care, several well-established indie bands had recorded some of their most popular albums there, and as a result the walls were decorated with signed posters and albums. Eunhye also gave voice lessons out of the studio. She was waiting for her two o’clock appointment, a man named Kim Minseok. He was late; it was almost two-thirty.

A woman with a bubblegum pink ponytail leaned on the front desk, behind which Eunhye was sitting.

“Did he ditch ya?” she asked.

Eunhye looked up at the woman over the rim of her heart-shaped glasses. She sighed, drawing it out longer than she needed to.

“So far. He’s lucky I don’t have any other clients coming in today, you know? I just don’t understand. I’ve never had anyone come this late before, Jiyoung,” she said.

“I don’t know what to say either,” Jiyoung told her, shaking her head. “He sounded really sincere on the phone.”

Eunhye groaned. “If he’s not here in the next five minutes, I’m going back to work with Wheesung on that new chick’s album.”

“Sounds like a plan. Anyway, I’m going out for a while. I have to go to the store to get snacks and drinks to refill the break room,” Jiyoung started to move away.

“Oh! Will you get some of those ginger drinks? They were so good,” Eunhye requested. The owner only nodded and waved as she left the building.

The other girl slumped in the rolling chair and pursed her lips. She ran her fingers over the desktop, tracing pictures of flowers, circles, and her name in about a million different styles of writing. When she glanced up at the clock, there were still thirty seconds before her five minutes were up. She pushed herself up to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. Just as she turned to leave the room, the front door opened. She looked back to see a man standing there. Crossing her arms, she spun around to face him.

“You Minseok?” she questioned. He nodded.

They were both silent for a minute, sizing each other up. Minseok was skinny, with muscular arms that were covered with tattoos, and piercings ran throughout his ears. He had a baby face of sorts, but he covered it up with smudged eyeliner and a cold expression. Eunhye was tattoo-free, but she had several piercings as well. She wore a tank top and knee-length shorts, and a second shirt was tied around her waist. Half of her head was shaved; the other half of her hair came down to her collarbone.

“You’re late,” she finally voiced.

“I know. Something came up, and I couldn’t get out of it,” he said. He was definitely a tenor.

“You could have called.”

“Are you going to cancel the lesson?” he asked. He sounded worried. She studied him for a minute more, then sighed.

“Nah, follow me. The practice room is this way.” She gestured for him to follow her down the side hallway.

“So why are you here anyway?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Are you wanting to sing professionally or is this just a hobby?”

“I’m actually already in a band,” he said. She looked over her shoulder at him.

“Which one?”

“EXO.” Instead of seeming proud, the way Minseok spoke made her think that he was almost ashamed of the fact.

“If you’re in EXO,” she began slowly, “then why are you coming to me?

He shuffled his feet, staring at the wall, and pursed his lips. “I don’t know – to get better maybe?”

She eyed him for a minute before taking a seat at the piano.

“Well, let’s start with the basics. Do you know solfege?” she asked.

His ears turned pink as he shook his head.

“It’s the name for the singing scale; you know, do re mi fa sol la ti do.” She could not help but smile at his embarrassment, although she was a little annoyed that she would have to start at the very beginning. Usually singers already knew the solfege notes, so she could start with going through the scales.

“Do re mi fa…” he trailed off.

“Sol la ti do,” she finished, “And then down the scale is do ti la sol fa mi re do. Do might not be the note you always start on, but it’s always the first note in that particular key.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

It took only around five minutes for Minseok to memorize the notes. By the time he was done, they had just ten minutes left of the time he had paid for. He was shuffling his feet again, and it was honestly starting to annoy Eunhye. He was supposed to be standing still be the piano, especially considering it was his first lesson. Experienced singers could move around and dance; rookies needed to stand still and make sure their posture was perfect.

“Before we start singing, you need to stand… correctly.” She scrunched up her nose.

“What do you mean?” he questioned, his voice sharp and quick like a hand slamming on a table top.

“Your feet need to be shoulder-width apart.” She kicked at his foot until he moved it.

“Stand up straight with your knees slightly bent.” He rolled his shoulders back a couple of times, and they came to rest in a square shape. They were broader than she originally thought.

“Do you know where your diaphragm is?” she inquired. He shook his head.

“That’s why I always recommend taking anatomy,” she murmured. She glanced at him for a second, trying to appraise what his reaction would be to whatever she was about to say. She debated for a moment, but she went ahead with what she had planned.

“Do you mind if I touch you?” she asked.

“Go ahead.” He smirked. She snorted. Rockers were all the same. Still, she put her hand over the lower part of his stomach. She felt him shiver at the touch of her cold hand.

“Your diaphragm is right around here. It should go out every time you take a breath when you’re singing. If your shoulders move, you’re doing it wrong. Also, don’t breathe through your nose. Singers are mouth-breathers on stage and during practice,” she instructed, “Now, breathe in.”

He did as she instructed, feeling a little reluctant to allow his stomach to move out. He was so used to it in for photos and shows that he had forgotten that it was fine to relax.

“That’s it. Now just do that a couple more times, and we’ll pretty much be done for today,” she said.

“We barely did anything!” Minseok protested.

“You were late,” she deadpanned, “and I’m not extending your time – not today at least. I have other things to do.”

“So… You’re willing to meet again?” he asked. He sounded unsure.

“If you pay me.” Eunhye gave him something close to a smile. He felt a grin tug at his own lips, wanting to mirror hers, but he stopped himself. Still, she was able to see a crack in his image, if only for a second.

“Would you help me with a specific song?” he questioned.

“Is it already written?”

“Mostly, but if you could help me work out the kinks…” he trailed off.

“Sure. I haven’t had too much to work on since Wheesung got back from his military service. What’s it called?” She leaned forward to rest her arms on the piano.

“I haven’t really decided yet, but I’ve been thinking about ‘Smoke Signals,’” he told her.

She nodded. “Sounds nice.”

Eunhye ended up leaving the studio close to four. She had been planning on staying later than that, but Jiyoung had kicked her out after learning that Eunhye had spent the past twenty-four hours in the studio. She had been composing and recording and arranging songs for who knows how long until she had passed out on the floor of the recording booth.

Since a popular indie band followed by their groupies were coming into the studio at the same time she was leaving, Eunhye decided to go out the back way. The unexpectedly frigid autumn wind made her shiver. She clutched her bag closer to her body, hoping to at least partially shield herself. She was about to go down the stairs when a male voice spoke up.

“Are you leaving?” Minseok asked. She turned to see him leaning against the railing. It almost looked like he was sitting on the cool metal. However, the thing that shocked Eunhye the most was the lit cigarette that he held between his index and middle fingers lazily. A small puff of smoke escaped his lips with his next words.

“Want me to walk you home?” His tone was an odd mix of condescension and sincerity. It was like he genuinely wanted to walk with her, but at the same time he had to maintain an image.

Without a word she plucked the cigarette from his hand and crushed it against the concrete with her shoe.

“I was kind of in the middle of that!” he snapped.

“And for some reason I thought you were serious about singing,” she snapped right back.

“Of course I am!” He furrowed his eyebrows. “That doesn’t mean you can just take my stuff though!”

She rolled her eyes. “Smoking doesn’t just ruin your lungs – which you might need to breathe – but it also ruins your voice. If you keep smoking you will not sound all that great, and you certainly won’t be able to hit the notes you want to. So it’s smoking or singing. You can’t have both.”

Minseok walked towards her until her was only a few centimeters from her. He bent down to her eye level, his nose brushing against hers.

“Say I quit. What will you do to distract me from the withdrawals?” he breathed out.

“You smell like an ash tray,” she answered, not missing a beat, “and replace it with a healthier habit. When you feel like smoking, go for a run or something.”

“What if,” he began, his voice dipping lower, “instead of smoking, I spent my time kissing you senseless? All night, just you and me in my apartment.”

Eunhye would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little interested in his offer. She barely gave herself time to think before she replied.

“That would take a coffee and at least two dinner dates.” She stepped away from him and started down the stairs.

Minseok was frozen in place. He was obviously not expecting anything close to an agreement.

“Are you coming? I probably need some caffeine if I’m going to be walking all the way home. I’m running on three hours of sleep,” she called over her shoulder.

“Fine, Baby Doll. Do you want to get dinner afterwards?” He jogged to catch up with her, snaking an arm around her waist when he did.

“Three hours of sleep, remember?” She shook her head and spun out of his grip. “And no touching before coffee!”

from your evil author,

Juliette