So yes, this is Chapter 3, where Siwon actually had some real lines not alot though ^^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyuhyun blamed Star Craft.

Seriously, if he hadn’t lost his battle three times in a row the next afternoon, he wouldn’t have been so distracted that he eventually picked up the phone and called the number. He didn’t write it down. Minho did and gave it to him after they came back from the bar last night.

He talked to the manager of the place and set up and interview on the next Monday’s evening – 7:30 PM. As soon as he was informed with the time, Kyuhyun went from being completely laid back to overall frantic because he knew Siwon would be there for his shift. Well, it didn’t necessarily mean Kyuhyun would meet him but there was a possibility. 

For the next two days, Kyuhyun constantly found himself practicing a song he had chosen to sing if the manger would ask him to at the interview. Despite how much he told himself this was just a silly interview and with his capability, it would be their loss if he didn’t get hired, Kyuhyun couldn’t stop putting too much effort into this and he didn’t like that at all.

For the sake of his own dignity, however, Kyuhyun kept the interview as a secret from all of his close friends. Changmin did spend an annoyed amount of time checking up with Kyuhyun about it and he always got the same answer - “maybe”.

So on Monday night, Kyuhyun picked out a decent outfit, prepared his resume and left the room without giving Changmin the tiniest bit of information. So of course, Changmin thought Kyuhyun was going to Acoustic to “stalk” Siwon again and let his friend be.

Despite how much he wished he hadn’t been, Kyuhyun was quite nervous about the interview. But he shouldn’t be, right? He was a highly intelligent young college student. He could sing pretty well and he had always been considered good-looking even though he could be anti-social from time to time. However, what Kyuhyun was nervous about was what would happen next. What if he got the job? Would he be working with Siwon? Would he actually get the chance to meet the man and interact with him? Would he embarrass himself in front of Siwon? Would Siwon find him interesting and talented as Kyuhyun did with Siwon? … All these silly questions swam inside Kyuhyun’s pretty little head as he walked down the familiar street heading to a more than familiar destination. He tried shaking his head and thinking of something else. He tried going over the song he had picked and fixing his shirt. But after a few minutes, his mind just automatically came back to the curiosity. And before he knew it, he had arrived at the small gate of Acoustic. Kyuhyun closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and walked inside.

Kyuhyun approached one of the staff and asked about the manager and informed her that he was there for his job interview. The employee was more than willing to lead him to a door that said Authorized Personnel Only.

“You’ll find the manger in there”, the girl politely said before leaving Kyuhyun to enter by himself.

“Good evening”, a man quickly said as soon as Kyuhyun was inside. His hands were still busily tidying up his table which was littered which papers, still Kyuhyun paid no mind. He simply smiled and greeted back.

“I’m here for my interview”

“Yes, yes I remember. You are Kyuhyun-shi, correct?”

“That’s right, sir”, Kyuhyun politely said.

“Please sit down”, the slightly older man said gesturing the chair in the opposite, which Kyuhyun then sat on. “Would you like a beverage?” He offered and Kyuhyun attentively refused, not without thanking the man of course.

“Did you bring your resume?” The manager asked.

“Here it is, sir”, Kyuhyun replied after fishing out a couple of pieces of paper and handed to the man in front of him.

“Drop the sir”, the manager chuckled “you can call me Leeteuk-shi” and smiled an angelic smiled at Kyuhyun to which the boy only nodded and smiled back.

When he was done looking over Kyuhyun’s resume with care and consideration, the manager put down the paper and looked at Kyuhyun’s face with curiosity. “You are over-qualified for the job, Kyuhyun-shi and I believe you’ve already known this. With your experience, I’m sure you can get yourself some internships or full-time singing jobs, nonetheless.” Leeteuk stopped for a moment but continued before Kyuhyun got the chance to say anything “I would love to hire you, of course. I’m only curious what about Acoustic that persuaded you to apply for this job.”

Kyuhyun slightly widened his eyes and looked away from Leeteuk’s eyes nervously. He didn’t know how to answer Leeteuk’s question. Kyuhyun, himself, was not sure of his reasons. Therefore, he made up one right on the spot.

“Well, I’m a regular customer at Acoustic and for the past year, I haven’t had to make any complain about the service. I think it would be nice if I can give other costumers a good experience as I have had here.”

“I see…” Leeteuk nodded “If you don’t mind me asking, why, do you think, Acoustic ought to hire you, Kyuhyun-shi? What makes you stand out from the other applicants?”

“Umm… I can sing very well.” Kyuhyun said nonchalantly as if it was an obvious fact. It sounded somewhat smug and Kyuhyun wanted to slap himself for not being control of his own snarky tongue. But seriously, though. It was all right there on his resume. Leeteuk had read it himself. They would look stupid not hiring such an over-qualified applicant as Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun was going to open his mouth and explained his previous words so he would not seem so arrogant, but then he realized Leeteuk was chuckling with his earlier exclaim. The manager was, apparently, finding Kyuhyun confidence and personality amusing and unique.

Leeteuk stayed silent and stared into Kyuhyun’s eyes some more as if examining his words, a small smile graced his face constantly. Finally, he spoke, “Alright, I believe you would be a great addition to the staff of Acoustic, Kyuhyun-shi.”

“Does that mean….” Kyuhyun said with a slight confusion.

Leeteuk laughed, “It means you’re hired.”

Even though he was confident that he would get the job, Kyuhyun felt quite relieved after receiving the confirmation from the manager and a little bit disappointed that he didn’t get to sing the song he had prepared. He couldn’t help but smiled though.

“Now let’s see”, Leeteuk said looking into his planner, “we are currently in need for performers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings – 7 to 9 PM. Are you able of covering this shift, Kyuhyun-shi?”

“Definitely.” Kyuhyun responded excitedly. For a college student, this was the dream schedule for a part time job, since the days were all in the weekend. However, in Kyuhyun’s case, there was another reason why it was so perfect. Friday, might or might not be one of the days where another specific performer worked.

“Perfect”, Leeteuk exclaimed and wrote down a note on his planner before closing it and stood up. Kyuhyun followed his action and took Leeteuk’s extended hand as the manager closed up their interview.

“I will see you here on Friday at 7 PM?”

“I will see you then”, Kyuhyun said and walked out of the manager’s office.

As he was walking out of the coffee shop, realization sunk into Kyuhyun’s brains and he realized he would be meeting face-to-face to the object of his admiration for over a year this week. But before he could start freaking out, a voice called out to him, it was Leeteuk- shi. The said manager caught up with Kyuhyun just before he reached the gate.

“What’s the matter?” Kyuhyun nervously asked.

“I have a small favor to ask, Kyuhyun-shi. The performer who was supposed to work tonight just called me to inform he would be fifteen-minute late”, time stopped at the middle of Leeteuk’s sentence as Kyuhyun proceeded the information and the image of Siwon appeared in his head. “Lots of costumers come around at this hour expect to be entertained. Would you mink take the stage for just a while, Kyuhyun-shi? We honestly don’t have any other performer. It would be two or three songs at most”.

“Um…” Kyuhyun was unable of making any coherent response and Leeteuk mistook this as hesitation.

“I will add an extra hour to your first paycheck”, the manager added hoping to sway Kyuhyun’s mind. Little did he know, Kyuhyun was not scared of taking over the small stage but the idea of replacing Siwon’s spot was somewhat nerve-wrecking.

 After realizing he just took fifteen seconds thinking to himself, Kyuhyun snapped out of his mind and told Leeteuk he would love to perform.

The stage was then quickly prepared. Murmur among the young audience was starting to be heard as everyone wondered why Siwon had not yet to be seen in the cafe. The chatter got louder as a young boy, whom no one had seen before, with a beautiful face and awkward posture walked up to the stage. Although he face seemed stern, nervousness and timidity made a constant presence in his eyes.

Kyuhyun slowly approached the microphone, eyes fixated on it and no one else.

“Good evening, everyone”, he spoke and his sweet voice seemed to calm the small commotion down as it was so smoothing and velvet. “As you all have probably aware, our normal performer is not here but he will be in the next fifteen minutes. So if you could stay and await for his arrival. For now, I will try my best to offer you some entertainment in his behalf”.

Disappointment could be seen on the faces of some young girls but something about Kyuhyun that was so alluring that they simply shrugged it off and decided to give the young boy a chance. For Kyuhyun, he bravely sat down on the wooden chair preparing to sing the song he had prepared beforehand for his interview. There was no instrument around that he could play so he only resigned to singing a capella.

Unlike Siwon, Kyuhyun chose a Korean song instead of the English songs which Siwon always performed. The song was called 7 Years of Love.

After bracing himself and taking a deep breath, the first words passed through Kyuhyun’s lips.

.

.

     chilnyeoneul mannatjyo
     amudo uriga ireoke
     swipge ibyeolhal jureun mollatjyo

(We met for seven years
No one knew we would say goodbye this easily)

Stillness slowly dawned onto the room. Kyuhyun voice was pure, warm, angelic and comforting. Everyone was being hypnotized willingly. Kyuhyun sounded even better than some professional singers out there which made Leeteuk pat himself on the beck for hiring the young boy.

       ureotjyo uuu sigani gamyeonseo naegejun
      aswiume geuriume naetteutgwaneun dareun
      naui mameul bomyeonseo

(But I cried
Time passed it gave me a simple yearning
Different from what my mind was seeing)

His voice slowly made its way around the crowd and continued to awe everyone. Seconds and minutes passed but no one seemed to notice. Even the staff couldn’t take their eyes the newly discovered talent in the café.

While everybody was still being lost in Kyuhyun’s song, a figure reached the gate of Acoustic. He seemed to have been running some distance and trying to catch his breath. After making sure his composure was proper, he proceeded to enter the café but stopped on his track as soon as he heard the strange singing voice and gasped when he finally saw whose voice it was.

Meanwhile, verse after verse was still beautifully sung by Kyuhyun….

        saranghae deutgosipdeon geu hanmadi ttaemune

 (For the only words I wanted to hear was that you loved me)

And when Kyuhyun finished, there was a silent moment for everyone to snap back to reality before the applause began. Even though Kyuhyun realized he was a decent singer, it was still a huge relief to be reminded by many strangers.  

….

There was one person who wasn’t clapping or cheering though. This person seemed to be lost in his own thoughts until one of the staff approached him.

“Siwon-ssi? Did you just get here?” the girl in the uniform asked curiously. Siwon quickly shushed her not wanting the manager to know he was there already before pointing at the occupied stage with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, him?” Thankfully, the girl got the cue and lowered her voice, “he’s only taking over the stage for you. He just got hired like an hour ago. A pretty amazing voice I must say.”

Siwon nodded in agreement. However, before he could urge her back to work to avoid attention, Leeteuk was fast enough to notice and wasted no time to come over.

“I thought you would be fifteen minute late”, the manager questioned, not at all mad.

“Well, it took less time than I expected to fix the problem with my car. Also, I ran a little bit from the parking lot.”

“I see… Well, let me just inform Kyuhyun-shi that you are ready to take over”

But before Leeteuk could walk to the stage, Siwon pulled his arm and earned a confused and disturbed look from his manager.

“No, boss. Just let him sing one more song”

“Why?”

“Please, just… please. Do me a favor and let him sing one more song”, Siwon pleaded and Leeteuk searched his eyes to find himself some kind of explaining but he found none. Also, honestly, it wouldn’t hurt.

“Fine, just one more song and you’ll take over”, Leeteuk sighed in resignation.

“Yes, boss”, Siwon nodded and turned his attention back to the stage.

‘It’s that boy…’ Siwon thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Kyuhyun was done with his second song, a waiter quickly ran up to the platform and whispered to him to wrap things up. Still bathing in the audience’s applause, Kyuhyun bid a short goodbye, feeling quite pity for having to leave so soon.

When he walked down the small steps, a strange figure which Kyuhyun had known too well, was already there waiting for him.

“Thank you for helping out”, Siwon talked to Kyuhyun for the first time ever.

Kyuhyun realized then that Siwon’s talking voice was just as warm and smooth as his singing.

“N-no problem.” Kyuhyun wanted to hit himself for stuttering. He was too nervous, damn it.

“My name’s Choi Siwon”. A hand was politely offered and Kyuhyun shyly took it with smaller one.

“Cho Kyuhyun”, he replied, trying to say as little as he could so he wouldn’t stammer. His eyes focused on their linked hands instead of Siwon’s dark eyes.

“I know”, came the short response and Kyuhyun whipped his head up just in time and caught the mischievous wink from Siwon, before the man let go of his hand and walked up to the stage.

Kyuhyun was left there, rooted to the floor. Siwon’s voice was still echoing in his head.

I know….

‘What was that about?” Kyuhyun thought, his eyes couldn’t seem to leave the subject of his admiration. Although he wanted to stay, Kyuhyun suddenly remembered he had a paper to finish. Biting his lips in regret, he braced himself to walk out of the café shop, not knowing he was being watched.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, congratulation”, Changmin cheerfully said as soon as Kyuhyun stepped into their room.

“What?”

“Oh, c’mon. Stop pretending! I know you got the job at Acoustic”.

“Who told you?” Kyuhyun paused while taking off his jacket, eyes popping out in undeniable surprise.

“So, it’s true, then?” Changmin sat up from his bed.

“How the heck did you know?” Kyuhyun tried to ask again in all seriousness.

“I have my source of information”, Changmin said mischievously, waving his phone. Kyuhyun squinted his eyes, looking at Changmin’s face as if evaluating if he was telling the truth.

“May I ask who?”

“Just a cute boy whom I just befriended, but hoping to further the relationship.” Changmin shrugged his shoulders.

“So basically, an unfortunately boy whom you want to sleep with?”

“Hey”, Changmin quickly said in defense, trying to look offended. “You’re not any better, you know! Don’t act like you’re not doing this because of your own idolization toward Siwon-shi”. Changmin purposely said Siwon’s name with a high-pitched voice and a “fan girl” expression because he knew it’d piss Kyuhyun off.

“I’m only doing this for the money, mind you!” Kyuhyun bit back but Changmin could swear Kyuhyun looked a bit flush at the mention of Siwon. So Changmin let his friend off the hook for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Please leave a comment if you can! Things will get more interesting later on, I promise! <3