A/N: i know hong seokmin created moving on and as far as i know kyu isnt listed as lyricist; this is fanfiction!!!;; Also fun facts abt the song if you don’t know korean, Moving On’s Korean title is literally ‘On the last day”;; the line “today we parted ways” in this story is usually translated to “today we broke up” but can work either way;;; there's also a bunch of references to chapter 6 :)

“Hi, Heeyoung-ah!” Seokmin waved to her when she entered the recording studio. “He’s almost done. You’re going to eat dinner together, right?”

She smiled back in greeting. “I had a meeting nearby and he found out, so now I’m invited to the dorms for dinner. I’m not sure if Eunhyuk oppa would also be there, but do you want to go eat with us? Kyuhyun’s cooking!”

Seokmin shook his head fondly. “No, I’m good. Someone might get mad if I join in your dinner plans.”

“Who?” Heeyoung furrowed her eyebrows.

But he wasn’t able to answer when a voice called out her name. She looked up to see Kyuhyun in the recording booth on the other side of the glass, waving to her with a grin. “I’m almost done.”

She nodded in response, throwing an ‘okay’ response with her hand knowing he won’t hear her. Heeyoung took the seat beside Seokmin and looked around. “No one else here today?”

“We sent them home a few minutes ago. We’re just wrapping up now, anyway.” Seokmin explained before addressing Kyuhyun. “Let’s try that part one more time?” The composer of the song handed Heeyoung a page. “Here’s the lyrics if you want to see it.”

Her eyes scanned the page, once in a while looking up just to watch Kyuhyun sing so beautifully. “The lyrics are so sad, oppa. Who hurt you?” She joked when she finished reading it. “The part with ‘yes, we parted ways today’ is so good.”

“Oh, I’m not the one you should be asking that.” Seokmin muttered, taking a moment to edit something in the recording. “I just created the melody. He wrote the entire thing.”

Heeyoung’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Kyuhyun wrote all of this himself?”

Kyuhyun’s voice came in through the speakers. “Hyung, I think we’re done, but can you play the entire thing from the top?”

The instrumental began playing as Seokmin turned to face her. “I asked him what he based the lyrics on, and he said it’s from a really painful goodbye a couple of years ago, but he wouldn’t elaborate.” He sent her a meaningful look before turning to look at the front again.

피곤한 눈 비벼가며 그댈 찾던

혹시 어디 다칠까 봐 맘 졸이던

그런 내가 니 옆에 없을 거야 이젠

그러니 마음 굳게 먹어야 해 그대

Rubbing my weary eyes, I looked for you

I was worried that you might get hurt

I, who was there for you, will no longer be by your side

So you have to be strong

Heeyoung read the lyrics with a different view this time, especially with Kyuhyun’s voice singing it in the background. Vivid memories of the day she was set to leave Korea came back to her. The way Kyuhyun arrived unexpectedly a few hours before her flight and mumbled the words that were staring back at her from the page in her hands was clearly playing in her head.

She doesn’t realize how her breathing seemed to have stopped as she read on. Every word being sung felt like they were triggering alarm bells in her head as if they were begging her to listen and listen well.

있잖아 습관에 흔들려선 안 돼

보고 싶어도 약해지면 절대로 안 돼

무던하게 버텨야만 해

쉽지 않을 거 잘 알잖아

금세 지나갈 거야 소나기처럼

You know, you can’t be swayed by your habits

Even if I miss you, I can never let myself get weak

You have to be strong and hold on

You know it won’t be easy

It’ll pass quickly like a rain shower

She blinked at the page as the song touched each lyric. The conversation they had before Kyuhyun fell asleep was so obvious in the song. ‘I’m not going to be there by your side to help you, so you have to stay strong.’ Heeyoung feels the slightest pain in her heart at the memory. They had been so open and serious that day with the reminder that she was leaving soon looming over their heads.

Her own voice echoed back to her as she remembered attempting to comfort Kyuhyun. Those exact words were printed on this paper, in a set of lyrics Kyuhyun wrote himself that was apparently about a painful goodbye.

The song ended, but Kyuhyun had decided to record a certain line differently again, so she took another moment to read everything from the top.

꿈이었나 봐 방금 네가

내 어깰 살며시 토닥이며

잠들 때까지 바라보다

아무 말 없이 나를 끌어안아 주던

It must’ve been a dream that just now you were

Gently patting my shoulders

You watched me until I fell asleep

Then hugged me without saying anything

Heeyoung huffed in disbelief, almost laughing, realizing that he had also written those lines. Did this mean he thought it was a dream?

Sitting close to him and waiting for him to fall asleep had helped her calm down too. She wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t nervous at all about going to work in a different country, but it was something she wanted to try. His presence alone that night had been a great help to her. When she hugged him before leaving, before saying goodbye, it was just instinct. It was to comfort her as much as it was to assure him that she would be fine. 

She had half the mind to jokingly demand to be written in as a lyricist. ‘Give me some credit! I came up with the rain shower line.’ She wanted to say it to move on from the fact that he apparently wrote a song about her. An entire song with lyrics that echoed their conversation. But her eyes fell on a specific part and she felt her entire body freeze.

아마도 작년 이 맘 때쯤

무심하게 하루를 보내다가

그대를 알고 사랑하고

부둥켜안고 서로 좋아하던 그때

Perhaps it was around this time last year

When I was carelessly spending the day

I got to know you and fell in love

The times we used to embrace and love each other

This… This song can’t be for her. The bells in her mind ring again, screaming at her to listen, but… It doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t.

First of all, she had no idea when ‘this time last year’ was or what kind of day it was. Yes, sometimes songwriters would edit things or make up fake information just to fit the melody or match the needed syllable count for each line. Does that matter in this situation? Heeyoung would like to say no. So, that was definitely not her. And every lyric that followed…

No.

“Heeyoung-ah?” She jumped, not realizing she had been so lost in her thoughts, staring at the piece of paper. Kyuhyun was now standing in the same room as her, looking concerned. “I’ve called you three times.”

“Sorry,” she shook her head. “Where did Seokmin oppa go?” She asks, finally noticing that the man sitting beside her had disappeared.

Kyuhyun took the empty seat instead, making Heeyoung tense up a bit, but she tried her best to hide it. “He went outside to check on something for a bit, then he’ll be back. Are you okay?”

“Mhmm.” She replied, not clarifying what it meant, but it was an answer nonetheless. “He told me that you wrote the song?”

A moment of hesitation. “I did.”

She nodded. “It’s good.”

He awkwardly smiled, not knowing what to say when he noticed the slightest hint of her acting tone. “Thanks.”

 “I’m going to go grab something from the vending machine outside. Do you need anything?”

“No, thanks.” He answered, still staring at her with worry. She nodded and sent him a quick smile before continuing to walk outside, hoping that the recognition she got for being a good actress was helping her out at this moment.

Heeyoung left the room, unknowing to the way that Kyuhyun watched her until she was out of sight and oblivious to the fact that he was trapped in an endless cycle of thoughts since he saw her reactions from the other side of the glass, undoubtedly recognizing the lyrics.