Today was our second session in the recording studio. I had prepared a lot for this session, spending my nights going over all parts of the song many times in the practice rooms until my throat had gone sore. I had finally memorized most of the lyrics, and familiarized myself with the chorus, even though there was no chance that I would get that part.

"You guys are looking bright today." The vocal teacher said, as she came into the studio.

"Neh, songsaengnim~" Minnie responded cheerfully, flashing a smile.

"So, let's start where we had left off last week. Ah, right, we're still splitting the parts, and I think we left off at you, Yoonmi. So you can start off today by singing the first verse of the song."

I repeated my vocal warm-up exercise a few times, before starting to sing from the very beginning. The pronunciation wasn't difficult as I had practiced a lot, and the melody of the verse was in a moderate range as well, perfect for me. Ending off right before I got to the chorus, I breathed a sigh of relief, as I had done better job than before, with all the practicing that I had done this week.

"Hmm, Yoonmi, that was okay, but something was lacking. It just felt..." Our teacher said, trailing off as she gestured, trying to find the right word.

"It felt flat, like it needs more emotions, right?" Minnie interjected.

"Yes, exactly. You need to have more emotions! I know it might be difficult to express them in Korean, but try your best to relate yourself to the lyrics."

I cleared my throat, trying to sing the verse again. Think sad thoughts, think sad thoughts!

"Better, but it's still needs a bit more." The teacher said, writing down some notes in her notebook. "How is your understanding of the meaning?"

"Okay, the song's basically about a girl falling in love with a guy but missing her chance to confess to him before he already set his eyes on someone else." Minnie said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Minnie. Yes, so Yoonmi, try to feel the lyrics, feel the sadness flowing through the words as you watch them having a good time together. Feel the regret, knowing that you could have had a chance together. Now try it again?"

I cleared my voice, ready to sing the part again. How was I supposed to portray these emotions without having experienced--

Chen and Minnie, splashing water at each other on the beach.

I closed my eyes, feeling the beat of the song with its smooth melody.

Chen and Minnie, feeding each other at the rest stop.

The words rolled off my tongue like it was second nature.

Chen and Minnie, smiling at each other as they left the practice room together.

My stomach churned uneasily with these thoughts.

"See, that was perfect! Okay, it's settled then, you will get the second verse of the song."

Somehow, it seemed like this song was starting to relate to my life a lot.
 

After spending the rest of the afternoon in the recording studio, we finally finished up our tentative recordings and all that was left to do was wait for the song to be put together and edited. Meanwhile, we headed downstairs to the atrium, where a portion of the trainees and idols gathered to practice for the upcoming SM Town concert. Being the newest trainee, I was sure that I wouldn't be performing, but our vocal teacher had led us there to learn from the practice experience.

We were the last group to enter, and by then, the director had already begun giving directions to the idols there. I turned my in-ear translator on just in time to catch some of what he was saying.

"Oh good, you guys are here. Now, I don't think you guys are scheduled to perform this time, but we could always see some displays of talent here, don't you think?"

I looked around the room noticed that it was just the main vocalists of various idol groups there today, so the director must be looking for some sort of vocal performance for this concert.

My heart suddenly jumped a little as I recognized one of the faces there- Chen. He was standing in between two female idols who I didn't recognize, looking so casual in a plain tee and sweats, with his hair was parted at the center, bangs brushed to either side. He met my eyes after a while, shooting a smile my way.

"Okay, so I was just explaining to these guys here that we need a unique collaboration between two main vocalists, but we can't just put on any performance." The director furrowed his eyebrows, looking around the room and scrutinizing each of us. "It has to be something refreshing, something that we haven't really done before. Fans always love that; you throw together a new combination of idols and they'll go wild!" The director said very enthusiastically.

The director had already selected a few duets that would be covered at this concert, and after that, it was time for the idols to sing. Each idol had to sing a part of the song to give a sample of how it would sound with their vocal timbre, and the director then paired them off based on that.

"Hmm, I really like the way this sounds with your voice." He said to Chen. "You have great power and clarity in your vocals, not making it sound too thin or too airy."

"Neh, kamsahabnida," Chen replied, dipping his head.

"Now who would be a good partner for you though?" The director squinted in concentration, inspecting each of the female idols on set.

Starting with the first girl in the lineup, the director asked each of them to sing the chorus of the song with Chen. To his dismay, none seemed to fit the part perfectly.

"Stop! Cut!" He shouted to a really pretty idol, who was just slightly taller than me. "It was good, of course it was good, your voices are both great. But that's not the point, your voices don't blend well together. Taeyeon, your voice is much too soft and even though Chen was holding back, he was still overpowering you."

When the next idol stepped up, he complained about a different issue.

"You guys don't have any chemistry! I could tell that this performance was going to fall flat already. Fans need some excitement, huh?"

"Director-nim, can I try it?" A voice from beside me said. I turned to see Minnie waving her hand at the director excitedly.

"Huh, a trainee? You are welcome to, even though you're not scheduled to perform, but hmm if it's good then I'm sure we can work something out."

Minnie stepped forward to the front of the room and stood beside Chen. After an exchange of shy smiles, they started singing the chorus of the duet. Although Minnie technically wasn't the main vocalist of our group, she had a voice that was definitely good enough to be the main. Their duet flowed nicely and sounded very smooth, but most of all, they had much better chemistry than with any of the other idols.

"Cut, cut, cut!" The director said, as they neared the end of the chorus. Minnie frowned at his interruption.

"Was it not good enough, director-nim?" She asked, pouting with a hint of aegyo.

"Ah, it was really good, especially the chemistry you guys had, it was like you both really related to the song. You know you're a very good performer for a trainee?" He replied, making Minnie smile immediately. "But, once again, your voice is much too soft to match with Chen's. The texture just isn't really right for it."

Minnie let out a sigh, continuing to pout at the director, then returned to her spot among our group. 

"Well now, since we're auditioning these talented and young trainees, why don't you come up next and try it too?" I looked up to see the director pointing right at me.

"M-me?" I asked, uncertainly, pointing at myself. The director nodded and waved me over. I tried to hide the grimace on my face as I knew I was doomed for sure. Now was my chance to embarrass myself in front of not only all of the trainees and idols, but also in front of Chen.

I swallowed nervously and slowly walked forward to the spot beside Chen. I could see Minnie giving me a look of disapproval from the crowd. I turned towards Chen hesitantly and snuck a glance up at him. I saw those warm brown eyes gazing back, encouragingly, as he nodded at me. We then started the song.

Luckily for me, the song was in English and also was not too difficult to sing in terms of range. That meant less of a chance of embarrassing myself, so I just relaxed and gently swayed to the beat as I sang. I thought I would have to force myself to not break eye contact with Chen's intense gaze, but instead, I found myself falling into those mesmerizing orbs even further.

His powerful gaze, so gentle, so affectionate, so loving.

My heart pounded rapidly, and this time I wasn't sure it was just from nerves. 

We reached the end as our voices slowly died down, before I realized that we had not been cut off by the director. Chen was smiling at me, his lips curving up in his usual lovely grin and eyes turning into crescents.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have finally found the one!" The director said, his voice booming off the walls of the hall. While the other trainees calmly applauded, I could see Minnie rolling her eyes at me, her arms crossed tightly in front of her.

"You voice has a really nice timbre to it, very rich and has so much potential. It matches very well. I know range won't be a problem with this song, and wow, can I say that that was just one amazing performance?"

For the first time, I felt like I did something right in my life.

Thanks for the support <3 finally some interesting chapters coming up ahead ^^ 
How are y'all feeling after hearing about Chen's musical? 
and how are y'all surviving after LUHAN'S RELOADED ALBUM CAME OUT???? o m g  I'm dead