Kyungsoo stared at her expectantly. But she sat still. There was no way she could muster the courage to look at him. Not after she’d failed yet again to finish or even start their song. Her stomach was churning into a cyclone, making it almost impossible for her to stay in the room. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about sprinting out of there multiple times. But common sense kept her seated, and somewhat sane, and silent. But it also kept her anxious, which would explain her violent scribbling into her notebook.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked hesitantly.

Nari turned her head frantically towards him with big eyes full to the brim with shame.

“I thought you might rip through the paper,” he explained carefully.

“Sorry, sunbae…” Nari replied weakly.

“Don’t be sorry to me. Be sorry to yourself, after all it’s your notebook you’re ruining.”

She glanced away from him willingly to look down at her song writing book. To put it simply, there were more holes than paper in its current state. Which, Nari thought, funnily enough, summed up the state of her song as well. She couldn’t contain her sigh.

“Are you having trouble with the song?” Kyungsoo asked cautiously.

She felt her heart sink at his words. Despite the many times she’d experienced it, she could never get used to the feeling of failure.

“Do you need help?” he asked again.

She didn’t want to answer. She didn’t want to admit it all.

“Do you want me to help?” he asked for a third and final time.

Her chest tightened like a tap being squeezed shut. Those words made her feel so grateful but she could never admit it to him. She just had to try harder.

“No, sunbae. It’ll work out.”

Kyungsoo nodded gradually and Nari told herself he believed her but deep down she knew he’d bring it up again.

“Nari! How’s the song going?” Zitao asked as he scrambled over to their table.

She felt her eyes brim with the tears as her emotions built up even further, basically begging her to let it go.

Kyungsoo turned to him with his aggressive eyes telling him to shut up. Then Zitao’s cheerful smile quickly shifted into a queasy one.

“Well, it’s okay if you haven’t got anything yet. I mean, I haven’t finished my rap lyrics either,” he added carefully.

He kept his queasy smile uneasily as Nari looked up at him with a weak one.

“Zitao, just stop,” Kyungsoo stated before rising from his chair.

He grabbed Zitao’s shoulders and, despite the many protests and attempts at escape, Zitao was pushed back to his partner across the room.

With his distracting presence removed, Nari subconsciously returned to her mindless state of scribbling in her notebook, like some kind of default procedure.