As soon as the rest of the members left, Seungyoon scoffed. “Don’t believe a word Taehyun says. I’m not a tyrant. I’m just a little picky, but that should be understandable if the tracks we’re making are eventually going to be heard by our many fans. We can’t sell bad music; that’s a disservice to both the company’s reputation and our fans. You understand what I mean?” Jieun relaxed slightly and nodded; she understood and empathized completely.

“I’m pretty picky about how my songs turn out too,” she nodded and Seungyoon paused.

“You do?” She nodded.

“I used to write songs before joining the company,” she answered.

“I think YG told us about a new trainee he found performing on the Hongdae sidewalks. Was he talking about you?” Jieun nodded.

“That’s how I was recruited.” Seungyoon smiled, impressed.

“Street scouting is pretty rare in YG, you know. You must be really good if you caught his eye.” She smiled, not knowing that it actually came off as a bit sad.

But for her sake, Seungyoon pretended to not notice. Instead, he steered the discussion to relate to the objectives they had to fulfill today. “You said you used to write your own songs?” Jieun sat up a little straighter and nodded. “If it’s not asking too much of you, could you sing one of them for me?” Her eyes went round and fell slightly ajar.

“N-now? In here? For…you?” she squeaked, and he pretended not to notice her alarm, instead nodding encouragingly.

“Why not? I need to get a feel for your style and the color of your voice so we can work on something that could show off the best of what we can do as a team, right?”

Despite his sound reasoning, Jieun struggled to form an argument in her mind. “I haven’t played guitar in months and forgot all the chords”? “It’s been too long and I don’t remember any of my original works”? Or, in worst case scenario, “I’m coming down with the bug and can’t sing properly at the moment maybe later”?” But Seungyoon could read her like an open book.

“I’m sure you remember at least one of your compositions, no matter how long it’s been since you last played,” he urged, making her face turn red at getting caught. “And if guitar is an inconvenience to you, I’ll play. Just let me know the chord progression.” He retrieved the black beaut from its case, allowing Jieun a moment to feast her eyes on it while he adjusted it so that it rested comfortably on his right leg. Before he could do anything to it, Jieun suddenly reached out with a gentle hand and ran it up and down the worn strings; it was apparent that this guitar had been broken and repaired multiple times.

Seungyoon sensed her resolve crumbling with every passing second she spent admiring his guitar. Finally, he couldn’t withstand his own laughter and he held it out for her. “Or you can play it, if you’re feeling up to the challenge.” Her cheeks turned pink again when her initial intention of trying to create excuses of why she couldn’t play was called out again. Nevertheless, she wrapped her long, bony fingers around the neck and took the gorgeous instrument from Seungyoon’s hands. He’d never felt so happy to have someone take his precious guitar off his hands.

With great anticipation, he watched as she expertly checked if the guitar was tuned and adjusted the tuning pegs accordingly. Judging by the familiarity in her actions, she really was no amateur in handling guitars. She strummed her thumb down each of the strings, making sure that it was tuned. But even as Seungyoon clocked her obvious experience with the instrument, he was nowhere near prepared for her singing.

Even now, I am still remembering
The last night of October.
After exchanging meaningless words,
We separated.
From that day, was your gloomy expression
Showing your true feelings?
Without being able to say a word in explanation,
Will I have to forget you?
Although the seasons that always return
Bestow upon me dreams,
The dreams I can’t achieve make me sad,
They make me cry.

When she drew to a gradual end, she rested her hands on top of the body of the guitar and waited on pins and needles for his verdict.

But he didn’t know what to think; when Jieun began singing, he’d decided that her voice wasn’t the kind that turned heads right off the bat. That was the effect of powerhouse vocals like Ailee. But the longer one listened, the more it filled your head and heart with something sweet that kept you sitting through until the end of her song. It made you begin to see something beyond a song’s catchy tune or funky beat; it made you see past what a mainstream pop song becomes popular for and appreciate the emotional depth of the song’s lyrics.

Seungyoon couldn’t even remember the last time a voice had such an effect on him.

Jieun began to grow worried with his silence and cringed. “Was it…that bad?” Seungyoon blin