"You feel alright?"

Donghae looks up. It's Jinoo. He's glanced over his shoulder at him. Donghae smiles. Nods. Leans back in the chair. He watches Jinoo click around. There are coloured waves. Audio snippets.

"You've been smiling a lot to yourself..." Jinoo mutters. "But you haven't talked at all... are you sure you didn't completely lose your voice?"

Donghae just chuckles. Lets Jinoo work. The other has his headphones on. He's played the recording.

A date. With Hyukjae.

Donghae still can't believe it.

He hasn't told anyone. Yet. He feels he... shouldn't. Doesn't want to. Jinoo worries about him. He's often telling him: not to run out of his voice energy. Reminds him: he has other talents. Many of them.

Donghae is now... less depressed. About crushed hopes. Dreams. Well... it still upsets him. When he can't accomplish things. Ones he'd thought he could. He's careful. But sometimes his voice fails more often. It ruins projects. Makes him miss recordings. He feels... he lets others down. He can't be depended on.

With Jinoo it's okay. His friend's always understanding. It's just for other works. It can cause issues. So Donghae's sticking to... writing lyrics. Composing. Playing instruments. He's left the singing for others.

"All's good," Jinoo announces. "It should be ready to send off. You want to give it another listen?"

---

"He hasn't answered..."

Hyukjae's so anxious. He knows it. Just from this fact: he's talking to Snowball.

He shouldn't speak to a rabbit. About his problems. Snowball can't help him. It won't be good for Snowball either. He doesn't need to know Hyukjae's troubles. Hear his miserable whining. Hyukjae's passing on his emotions to Snowball. The bunny will feel stressed.

"I'm sorry..."

Hyukjae pecks Snowball's head. Flips onto his back. Pulls the bunny onto his chest instead. Sighs. Starts the white fur gently.

"I still... mostly come here for you..."

It makes his heart race again. Well... he kind of felt it. But he also thought: maybe it's because he hoped for it. He wanted it to be true.

"Aahh!"

Hyukjae covers his face. Squirms from remembering. Snowball hops off.

"Don't come here!"

That's what he'd responded with. That poor man was so shocked.

"No! I-I mean, you don't have to come here to see me, we could..."

And he'd felt everything toppling. Inside. Outside. Everywhere. Thankfully, Hyukjae sat down again. Took a breath.

"Sorry. Um... do you... do you want to, um... meet up somewhere else? Y-You can come here too! That's fine... but I-I work here... so... you won't... get to see me..."

Hyukjae wishes he could've responded differently. Just calmly. Coolly. Charmingly. Can I take you out fo