When Ken finishes singing the final note of a ballad, I feel goosebumps rise up my arms. He's always had a stunning voice and definitely has one of the best in the music department. With a satisfied smile, he takes a bow and walks off stage. 

"Wow, he's amazing," my best friend, Rae, says from beside me. Yeah he is. "But you're better." I roll my eyes as the teacher dismisses the class for the day. "I mean admit it, you could sing circles around him." Rae is kind of tall, like me, has auburn hair and big eyes. We've been friends since freshmen year and are even studying in the same major, music. 

"We're both good," I state with a sigh. I hear Ken's laugh from the end of the hallway and have to repress a smile. He has such an infectious laugh.

"You two have the best voices in the class," Rae goes on as we go outside into the cold winter air. "He's competition, always has been. I'm surprised you two don't hate each other." 

"Now what would that accomplish?" a voice asks from behind us. We turn around to see Ken towering over us. He's tall with big eyes, full lips and dark brown basically black hair. With height, good looks and the voice of an angel, he's one of the most crushed on guys in school along with his model-like friends: Hakyeon, who's a dance major; Leo, music major; Ravi, dance and music composition double major; Hongbin, music and acting double major, and Hyuk a dance major. 

"Nothing," I answer before Rae can say anything. "You did really good today." 

"Thank you!" he beams. Rae rolls her eyes and I glare at her. Rival or not, the least she can do is be polite. 

"I have to go to piano lessons," she tells me. "I'll text you later." And with that she's gone, retreating to one of the other music buildings. Ken and I both watch her walk away and when she's finally gone, he slips his gloved hand into mine. I smile at him and lace our fingers together. 

"You think she'd hate me more if she found out we were together?" he asks as we walk towards my apartment.

"No, I think she'd hate me. I'd be selling out and compromising any chance of a deal or scholarship I could get." Ken raises an eyebrow at me. "Her words, not mine." He's quiet, his eyebrows still furrowed. "Ken, don't worry about Rae, okay?" I give his hand a squeeze and he grins. 

I take a drink of water as I feel my throat starting to go dry. Ken is helping me with a song I'm having trouble with that I have to sing for class. With a naturally lower voice, singing high notes is a challenge for me. I can still hit them, it just takes a lot of work. Ken, being the wonderful boyfriend he is, offered to help. 

"You're hitting the note just fine," he tells me, playing a scale on the keyboard in my room. "You just have a low voice. I'm surprised she didn't give you a song with a lower pitch knowing that you're an alto." 

"She said I need to challenge myself," I sigh as I look back over the music. " I mean, I can do it. I just get kind of lightheaded because I'm so far in my head voice." He chuckles and shakes his head. "As long as it gets me a good grade and I don't pass out, she can give me any song she wants." I take another drink of water. "Let's go through it again, from the top."

The song I was given was a ballad from an old Broadway show I've never seen or heard of. It's slow, dramatic and good for showing off whatever vocal skills one might have. Ken winks at me as I get on stage and Rae just simply gives me a smile. The song goes smoothly and I don't pass out from hitting such a high note. I let out a sigh of relief when it's all over and take a bow when the class erupts into a round of applause. 

"Another excellent performance from one of our star vocalists," our teacher says from her seat in the front row. "Keep an eye out for her Ken, she may have beat you this round." The class chuckles and I try not to roll my eyes when Rae nudges me with her elbow. I stay after class to work on a couple songs and Ken hangs back also. 

"Why did she say that?" I whine, sitting at the edge of the stage. I swing my legs back and forth with a pout. "She's feeding this rivalry that everyone thinks exists, but really doesn't." 

"Well, as long as we know it doens't exist, we have nothing to worry about," he says optimistically, standing in front of me. "You were really great today." I look at him and quickly peck him on the mouth. His eyes widen and I tilt my head to the side in confusion. "What if somebody saw?! You're always scolding me about that!" 

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself."

"Now you know how I always feel!" I laugh as he gives a dramatic sigh. 

"Can I come over for dinner tonight?" I ask Ken, winding my arms around his shoulders. "Ravi is supposed to help me with some music theory homework...and I heard Leo is cooking."

"Yeah, I won't be there until later because I have to help Hyukkie with something," he answers, placing his hads just outside my hips and on the stage. "Hongbin and Hakyeon should be there, but do you remember where the spare key is?" I shake my head. "Under the welcome mat. We had to move it after-" We hear footsteps and Ken takes a step back from the stage as I drop my arms from his shoulders. We both smile innocently when Rae comes back into the auditorium. 

"Sorry, left my bag," she says slowly with a raised eyebrow. "Did I interrupt something?" We shake our heads. She doens't look convinced but doens't say anything else either. Ken and I sigh in relief when we hear her retreating footsteps out of the auditorium. That was a close one. 

"You two have been together over a year," Ravi points out as he helps me with my homework. He's tall, good-looking with short cut dark hair, covered up by a beanie at the moment, and one of Ken's five best friends. "Why can't you two just tell people you're a couple?" 

"It's just easier in our department," Ken explains as I bite at the pen cap when looking over some notes. "People think we're rivals just because we have two of the strongest voices in our class. Since they think we're always going to be competing agaisnt each other, they don't bother us. So it's kind of an advantage." I nod in agreement. "Plus her best friend hates my guts because we're competition." 

"I still don't understand that," Hongbin pipes up, stretching out on the floor and turning on the tv. All six of them live in that apartment with two people in each of the three bedrooms. Hongbin, like all of them, is tall and good-looking, but has a dimpled smile. "She makes it sound like Ken is going to take away every opportunity from you."

"I know," I sigh, setting down the pen and rubbing my head from a constant hour and a half of studying. " I love Rae, I do, but she acts like Ken will be my demise or something. It's kind of intense." 

We have impromptu performances in class two days later and as always people are ranking who's the best: me or Ken. I honestly never thought of comparing our voices because they are different. I'm an alto, so I naturally have sing in a lower pitch while Ken is a tenor and sings higher. We both have voices good enough for R&B or even ballads which is one of the two similarities besides power. Ken's voice is more powerful than mine and I'm not afraid to admit that. I have some power to my voice but the power Ken has can send goosebumps up one's arms with a single high note. I guzzle down half a bottle of water after my performance because I did not expect her to give me a higher pitched song and I've felt a little under the weather lately. That's the bad thing about impromptu, the professor picks the song, you don't. So they are more then likely to give a student a song out of their comfort zone and borderline out of their range. 

"Alright, settle down," she says, walking up to the front of the auditorium. "Now, as you all know the winter showcase is coming up in December. It's not only a chance for the school to show the community what you've been doing for the last four months, but it also counts for a percentage of your final grade." There's a mix of excited chatter and grumbling. " However this year there is a twist." Everyone falls quiet. "There are talent scouts coming to check out some of the students here. A few of them called to specifically to check out two of our own, and you can probably guess who they are." I feel Rae nudge me with a smile on her face and see Ken's friends give him high fives. We catch each other's eye across the room and quickly look away afterwards. I purse my lips together to prevent the smile I feel coming on. "Anyways, they want a duet from you two and will be choosing one of you to join their label in the spring. Meanwhile, the rest of you will be preparing performances as well." She's overrun by chatter as she dismisses class. 

"I don't know about this," I tell Ken when he's at my apartment after class. "Like, why do we have to duet if they're just going to choose one of us anyway?" 

"Your guess is as good as mine babe," he answers from the kitchen table where he has homework spread out. I stiffle a cough as I take a pot of hot water off the stove and pour some into a mug. I jump slightly when I feel arms wrap around my waist as I add tea to the mug of hot water. "Are you feeling okay?" 

"Just a sore throat," I answer with a nod. I add a few drops of honey and stir it. I turn around in his arms so I can face him."I just don't like this idea of us competing against each other." I grin weakly when he pecks me on the forehead.

"Me either, but we'll just have to make sure it doesn't change anything between us."

"Oh, you totally have to win!" Rae says to me when we're on the phone later that night. "I mean, you're a shoe in to win!" 

"I guess," I answer nonchalantly. She sighs over the phone and I can practically hear the eyeroll accompanied with it. "I just don't get why this is such as big deal, this stupid rivalry. I mean, everybody else cares more about who's going to win then we probably do." 

"It's like the Hunger Games."

"That's probably the worse comparison you could've thought of."

"But it's true! You guys are the tributes and we're the Capitol who just want to watch and see who comes out on top." I physically cringe when she says that.

"Have you actually seen the Hunger Games?"

"No."

"Then you should know that the person that wins is the only person alive at the end." She's quiet on the other side of the line. "Look Rae, I love that you care, but I just wish you wouldn't take this 'rivalry' so seriously. I mean, Ken's a good guy and he's really cute-"

"Are you falling for him?" she bluntly interrupts. 

Maybe.

"No," I answer with false confidence, even though in my gut I know that there's a possible chance I am. "Why?"

"I can just see it happening," she answers simply. I gulp and hope that she doesn't hear it on the other side of the line. "I know how you are. You're passionate and throw yourself into anything that you care about. It's one of the reasons why you're a good singer. " I smile in spite of myself. "But it can also be a downfall because you might lose sight of what's important chasing something else. Plus, Ken is exactly your type." Oh, you have no idea. "The last thing I want to see you do is throw this competition because you think you're in love with some guy. You're too good for that." There's talking in the background on her side of the line and she lets out a drawn out sigh. "I have to go. Talk to you later." And she's gone. 

"She thinks that you'd throw the whole thing just for me?" Ken asks over coffee when I tell him about Rae and I's conversation from a couple nights ago. I nod as I sip my coffee. "That's kind of sweet actually." I punch him in the shoulder and he laughs. "What?! I just feel it's sweet that she thinks you'd care that much about me."

"But it also means she's going to be down my throat about this showcase," I pout, mindlessly stirring my spoon in my mug. "I don't need the added pressure." I chuckle when he locks our feet together underneath table.

"Don't worry about it," he says. "I know she's your best friend and that usually trumps boyfriend, but that doesn't mean she's always right about everything." I sigh and he takes one of my hands across the table. "Just focus on your performance and don't let her stress you out, okay?" 

"You're kind of wise, you know that?" His cheeks turn pink and I smile because I always found it cute when he blushes. "But thanks, babe."