3 years later

Jisoo’s PoV

I felt the harsh yellow lights illuminate the room as I entered. The sharp lights reflecting off of the shiny surfaces of the room. I stared at my reflection on the large wall-to-wall mirrors for a moment before I entered the threshold of the room and closed the heavy door behind me. I dropped off my bag next to the couch near the back of the room before I went to the speaker system and a random song so that it wouldn’t seem so empty in the room. I then made my way to the middle of the room to begin stretching my stiff muscles. I felt the heavy bass of the music vibrate from my feet and throughout my entire being giving me a sense of the music playing in the room. I purposely made it loud for this very purpose. No matter how loud it was, it never seemed to be loud enough.

After I had finished stretching I slowly began to start going through some basic dance moves. Warming up my body with the constant buzz under my feet. As time went on I felt droplets of sweat begin to form on the surface of my skin and roll down my now damp exterior. After a while, I decided to transition over to more of an intense dance routine that I had been working on. I selected the song to which the dance belonged and made the song go on loop. It was only a matter of repetition. I imagined the melody of the music playing in my head. The smooth singing of the owner of the voice. The many instruments which created this one piece. I let every note play in my brain and let my limbs move perfectly calculated with the steady buzz which went through my entire being. I continued over and over again. The repetitive 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. Once that was done, it came once again. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. It was only when the buzz of the music was abruptly cut off I stopped the repeating numbers from continuing on again. I froze in the middle of my motion and stayed in that position for a second before straightening out and turning towards the speakers which I knew the unannounced guest to be. I turned around completely to be faced with Jisuk. A warm smile on his face.

Hey. How’s it going? His lips read. I put a smile on my face before replying back.

“It’s going well. Just getting in some dance practice.

Don’t overwork yourself. You have time. Take it slow.

“It’s been three years. I can’t wait forever. The fans can’t wait forever. I have to get back out there eventually.”

I know. But I don’t want you to rush into it. I want you to be 100% ready.

“I am ready. I realized how much I missed being on stage. I want to be out there. Soon.”

You know you should really wear the…

“What?” Instead of repeating what he said he made a pointing gesture to his ears before lightly tapping on them. “They’re uncomfortable. Especially when I dance. And I can’t live with the thing on forever.”

You should still wear them when you’re talking with people. You can’t always just have your eyes on their lips. It’s going to send a wrong message.

“It doesn’t even help that much.”

It still helps though. Just put it on.

“Ugh. Fine.” I went over to my abandoned bag lying limply on the floor and rummaged through its contents before I found what I was looking for. I got the two small devices and shoved each one into their respective ears before turning them on. “Happy?”

“Very.”

“It’s not like I still won’t look at their lips. These stupid things only help me pick up a little bit. Even if I do hear people it’s barely a soft whisper. Sometimes they don’t even help.”

“A little bit is better than not helping at all. And I’m pretty sure if you increased the volume on those ‘stupid things’ then you’d be able to hear better.”

“I doubt it.”

“I know you can hear my voice at a whisper without the aids. They’re supposed to amplify those whispers. You just don’t like wearing them because you don’t want to look ‘broken’” I looked down at the ground. Staring at the white tips of my shoes.

“I just don’t want to show weakness to my fans. I only want to show my best self to them. I don’t want to disappoint them.”

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