The next three weeks consist of intense practice for the showcase. I've either been in class, the studio, my apartment or Ken's apartment. If I'm not doing homework, I'm practicing because I could use this deal. One, because who wouldn't want a record deal? Two, because it would prove to my parents that I'm not chasing some unrealistic dream. They don't really approve of my choice of career....like at all. Which can be discouraging at times, but I love singing and I know for sure what it's what I want to do with my life. 

"You're sick, you should rest," Ken tells me when I start coughing in the middle of the song. "Don't aggitate your throat." He hands me a bottle of water and I begrudingly take it. "You have a cold, babe. A couple days off won't kill you." I pout, which is short lived because I start coughing again. Ken, literally, has to drag me to the couch and have me lay down. After taking some cold medicine, he drapes a blanket over me. I grin when he quickly kisses me on the forehead before falling asleep.

"Did you not practice at all the last two days?" Rae asks me as I rehearse my parts from the duet a couple days later. My throat feels better, but the rest of me feels like I got hit by a bus. I shake my head. "Why?" 

"I was sick," I answer with more edge in my voice than intended. "Anyone with ears can hear that." She rolls her eyes. My phone rings and it's Ken calling. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much," he answers simply. "Do you want to rehearse tonight after dinner at my place? Maybe around 6?" I look at the clock on the wall and see that it's 5:30 right now.

"That depends," I say with a faint smile on my face. "Are you cooking?"

"The chinese restaurant down the street is cooking." I laugh and immediately turn away when I see Rae eyeing me. 

"Uh, that sounds great. I'll see you tonight." I hang up my phone and start gathering my stuff. "I have to go work on something with another classmate. So, I'll see you tomorrow!" She rolls her eyes and I try not to pay it attention because I get to see the boyfriend tonight after two days of being confined to my room. 

"Still don't have an appetite?" Ken asks me as I poke at my orange chicken. I was more excited to see Ken then I was to eat. One of the bad things about having a cold is that you literally want nothing to do with food. Nothing. Like I've had to force myself to eat just in order to take medicine. I shake my head as Ken tries to hand me a crab cake. "When was the last time you ate?" 

"Then last time I took medicine," I answer, taking his hand across the table. "Which is why I'll eat in an hour when it's time for me to take more, okay?" He rolls his eyes, but nods before giving my hand a squeeze. 

"Well, even with a slightly froggy voice you still sound incredible," Ken compliments after we've been running through the song for the last hour. We've agreed that I do the lower parts and he does the high parts. Even though we're both more then capable of doing both, we thought that singing in our comfortable range will not only cause less stress, but show our voices at their best. 

"Thank you," I say with a smile as I sit on the piano bench next to Ken. I rest my head on his shoulder and he rests his head on top of mine. I hit random keys on the piano and he chuckles. "You know, we haven't been on a date in a long time." 

"Hm, that's true," he says with a thoughtful expression on his face as he lifts his head off mine to look at me. "Let's get dinner this Friday, at that fancy french restaurant you like downtown." I smile when he laces our fingers together and it makes a discordant noise on the piano." It'll be our one year anniversary anyway." 

"Aw, you remembered!" I exclaimed, pinching his cheek. I start laughing when he whines like a little kid. "But that sounds lovely." He pecks me on the cheek and I pout.

"I can't really kiss you! One of us needs to stay healthy." 

"You know you could be practicing instead of going out to dinner with this mysterious boyfriend of yours," Rae scolds as she curls my hair. I roll my eyes. " You still havne't told me who the guy is." 

"Because you'd barely see him" I lie easily. Rae knows I have a boyfriend, she just doens't know who he is. However, she does think I spend too much time with him and that he's hindering my potential. "Why are so hard on me about this?" 

"Because I don't want you to do something stupid like throw everything away for a guy," she explains, finishing up the last curl. I turn around to look at her. "I saw my sister do it and now she's working at some company as an associate when she could've been the CEO." 

"What did she do?"

"She fell for one of the guys in her internship. She ended up helping him with an important presentation and he got offered a job instead of her. As soon as he was chosen for the manager position, he dumped her. One stupid guy ruined her career. I can see you falling for Ken because he's just your type, but I don't want you to just in case he does to you what that intern to my sister." 

As I sit at the restaurant waiting for Ken to get there, I think about what Rae said. It's a sad story, especially because her sister is one of the smartest girls I've ever met. It that the guy used her, but I don't think it's fair for Rae to hold that against me and my boyfriend. I mean, Ken would never hurt me like that.

It's 7:45 when the waiter passes by again, refilling my glass of water. Ken is forty-five minutes late.

"I'll give him a few more minutes," I say to him with a smile. He nods. I snack on the breadsticks as the minute hand continues to rotate around the clock. I wipe away a tear at 8:30 when Ken still isn't here. The waiter comes back with a brownie and ice cream. I open my mouth to tell him I haven't ordered anything but he shakes his head. 

"It's on the house," he tells me with a sad smile. "I'm sorry about your night." With a bow, he walks away and I chuckle at the dessert. It's nine when I'm walking out the restaurant and I see a cab pulling up right in front of the restaurant. My jaw locks when I see Ken getting out of it.

"I'm so, so sorry!" he exclaims, running up to me. He tries to hug me and I take a step back. "Please, don't be mad at me."

"Then you'll need one hell of an explanation," I answer in a shaky voice. 

"Well, I was practicing for like an hour before we were supposed to meet and then our instructor came in and said she could help me with a part I was having trouble on-" he rambles off. I cut him off with a laugh, the sound sharp and bitter. 

"You were practicing?! That's why you missed the dinner of our one year anniversary?"

"We lost track of time-"

"For two hours?!"

"I'm sorry for trying to work hard on something that's actually important!" We stand there in silence. He runs a hand over his face in frustration and I look at the ground as I focus all my energy on not crying. Something that's actually important...then what am I? 

"How about we just don't see each other for a while, okay?" I suggest with a nod. "Except for rehearsals and in class, no contact. Maybe then you can focus on something that's 'actually' important." 

"That's not what I meant," he sighs, taking a step closer to me. I chuckle as I feel more tears fall. 

"It sure doesn't seem that way." A sad expression crosses his face and I can literally feel my heart starting to break. "Good night, Ken." 

I throw myself into practicing the weeks leading up to the showcase. Ken and I only speak during class and at rehearsal. He tries to initiate conversation outside of the showcase, but I usually change the subject back to the matter at hand. After three weeks of trying, he gives up. Now, it's like we're actually competing. We don't compliment each other on class performances or give tips or advice to the other for things to work on during rehearsal. We're solely focusing on ourselves and giving our best performance despite the other being there. 

"We need to talk" a voice says as I'm sitting down in the library and looking over music theory notes. I look up to see Leo, Ken's best friend. He's tall with fair skin, soft features and dark hair. He's the quiet one in the bunch but is also the father figure of the group. I raise an eyebrow at him as he sits in the chair in front of me. "Ken has been miserable for the last month." 

"Well, I'm not much better if that's what you're asking," I state, taking both ear buds out. He shakes his head. "Then what is it?" 

"You're awfully grumpy," he points out with a faint frown. 

"Because I have work to finish before practice later tonight." He gives me a look and I sigh. "Leo, we're not talking for a reason and he's your best friend, so he'd be more than willing to tell you all about it." Leo raises an eyebrow at me. "Please just let me get back to work." He nods,not saying anything as he stands.

"Just don't let this stupid showcase ruin your relationship," he advises. "You're one of the best things that's happened to him."

Ken and I have rehearsal later that night and it goes just like the rest of them have the past few weeks. Singing the song a few times through and repeating parts that can use a little tweaking. It's an hour later when we're both packing up our stuff to leave. 

"Good luck tomorrow night," Ken mumbles before he leaves the room. 

"You too," I say not looking up at him. If I look at him I will most likely crumble and that's not something I want to happen the eve before our performance. I let out the breath I was holding when I hear the studio door close.

It's the night of the showcase and Ken wasn't in class or at sound check. 

"Where the hell is he?" I irritably ask Ravi as one of the tech people is giving me my microphone. "We go on in fifteen minutes."

"I don't know," Ravi answers with a shrug. Our instructor has me meet the scouts and agents here and it only makes the knot in my stomach tighter. It gets closer to the time for me to go on stage and Ken still isn't here which seriously ticks me off. He's not only singing but playing the piano which is not a skill I possess. I'm called onto the stage and the empty piano only shakes me up more because I have no idea how to do this without the piano...or a partner. I see Leo dashing to the piano and he beckons me to it as he starts playing. 

"Ken isn't going to make it," he tells me quietly as he plays the instrumental intro of the song. 

"I kind of figured," I answer through clenched teeth as I try and keep smiling at the audience. 

"He was in a car accident," Leo tells me. I feel my stomach drop and my heart skip a beat. I look at Leo to see a sad look on his face and I know he's serious. He was in an accident? Just now? Is he okay? "The cab driver didn't make it, but Ken isn't in the best shape either." It gets to the start of the song, my part, and when I try to sing no sound comes out. My throat is dry, my heart is beating way too fast and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach at the thought that Ken might be seriously hurt. I look at Leo and give a small shake of my head. I look out into the crowd at all the expecting faces and then think about the most important face that isn't there, and is supposed to be up there beside me. 

"I'm sorry," I say into the microphone before sitting it down on the piano and following Leo off stage. 

"Where are you going?!" I hear Rae demand as soon as Leo and I are backstage. She roughly grabs my arm and turns me around. 

"My boyfriend is in the hospital," I answer and then shake my head because I don't want to lie to her anymore. "Ken is in the hospital." She blinks and a look of shock, disgust and betrayal crosses her face. "I can't do this without him, so I might as well be with him." 

"You're as dumb as my sister," she scoffs. I don't have time to be hurt because Leo is grabbing my wrist as pulling me to the parking lot. 

Mild concussion, fractured tibia, bruised ribs and a broken hand. Apparently the cab driver was texting on his phone and ended up running a red light, causing them to get T-boned by a SUV. The doctors say Ken was really lucky and that it easily could've been worse. The guys have been in and out, answering phone calls from Ken's friends and family. I sit in the comfy chair in the corner of the hospital room as the guys go get something to eat. I'm playing Piano Tiles on my phone when I hear mumbling. The mumbling gets louder, I look up and see Ken's eyes are opening and he's looking around the room with a confused expression on his face. His eyes widen when he sees me in the corner. 

"Hey," I greet, sitting my phone down and walking towards his hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a bus," he answers, going to run his hand through his hair before he see's the bandage wrapped around it. "What happened?"

"Car accident," I answer simply. "Cab driver was texting and he ran a red light. You guys got T-boned by an SUV." Ken sighs, wincing, as he lays his head back on the pillow. 

"I missed the showcase didn't I?" I nod. 

"But I did too." His eyebrows shot up into his hairline in surprise. "I got the news about the accident right before our performance and...I couldn't do it. Not without you, I couldn't." I hesitate slightly to grab his hand, but he meets me halfway and links our fingers together. I look down at our hands I realize that it's been almost a month since we stopped talking to each other. 

"Thank you," Ken says quietly. I look up at him. His face has a couple scratches on his face, but he still looks pretty darn handsome nonetheless. 

"For what?" I ask him with a tilt of my head. 

"For being here even though you easily could've won that stupid showcase." I chuckle and give his hand a squeeze, then quickly apologize when he winces in pain. 

"It wasn't worth it if it meant losing you." 

"Oh that's so cheesy!' 

"But it's true!" We're both laughing and I feel bad when he winces and holds his stomach. "Babe, take it easy." He beams at me and I smile.

"I missed you calling me that."

"Now who's the cheesy one?" 

"I'm pretty sure you both are," Hongbin states, walking into the room with the rest of the guys in tow. The volume increases immediately and I feel like in a matter of minutes we're going to get kicked out...which we do when Ken's family comes in and there's almost ten people in the room. 

"Ken, lay down!" I scold when he's up and walking around the kitchen as soon as I walk through his apartment door. I've been coming over every day to see how he's doing. He's technically on bed rest, but the guys said he's been stubborn since he got discharged. 

"I was thirsty!" he defends, closing the refrigerator as he limps back over to the futon with a bottle of water in hand. I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him and smile when we pull away. "Hi." 

"Hi," I repeat with a smile. I peck him on the mouth one more time before helping him lay back down on the futon. I sit beside him as I pull out all my homework. Our instructor had me meet with her today regarding the showcase seeing as neither of us performed. I'm quiet as Ken watches tv. "Alright, what did she say? I can't handle this suspense." I glance at him and he has an expression of anticipation, interest and fear all rolled into one. 

"She was kind of disappointed but could understand under the circumstances," I explain, not looking away from the notes. I look at Ken and he has this child-like, hopeful look on his face. "But, she explained to them what happened and they're asking for us to come in for auditions." 

"All of them?!" 

"All of them!" Ken's face lights up and he looks like he's about to stand up and dance until slowly laying back down on the futon. " I'll celebrate properly later." 

"That's a wise choice." He narrow his eyes at me and I peck him on the cheek. He turns his attention back to the tv for a moment, before looking back at me. "What?"

"I'm sorry about the fight," I apologize as I graze the faint scar on his cheek with my fingertips. "It was dumb-"

"No, you had every right to be mad at me," he says with a nod. He takes my hand and laces our fingers together. "I didn't mean what I said at all. You're very important to me." I smile sheepishly and he chuckles. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I really am." 

"Let's just put it in the past and not let anything come between us again, okay?"

"Even Rae?" I sigh because Rae hasn't spoken to me since the showcase and that was almost two weeks ago. I figured she'd be mad at me, but I didn't think she would completely shut me out. What she said at the showcase had hurt knowing how she feels about her sister, but the silence hurts even more. 

"Even Rae," I confirm with a nod. "I know she doesn't approve of us dating, but if she really cared about me she'd just want me to be happy, you know?" Ken nods. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For the moment, let's just focus on which record label we'd want to join." He chuckles, but nonetheless starts gushing about some label his friend knows called Jellyfish Entertainment...