Since Yongguk never saw Kim Sungwon before he didn’t expect to run into him ever again. But sometimes the world loved to prove him wrong.

Exactly the next day he met him again.

He had just finished a long exhausting report about his newest project. His brain was feeling like it would explode if he’d work more, so he decided to get himself a coffee. What he didn’t expect was to meet the stranger from the day before in his department’s kitchen.

“Hi.” He was greeted happily while the other man stood leaning against the kitchen counter sipping his coffee. “You’re also here for a break?”

Ignoring the question Yongguk scrutinised Kim Sungwon. He didn’t have the alarming air around him anymore. In the brightly illuminated room he looked relaxed and not much different from all the other workers. Yongguk nearly laughed at himself for thinking that the other looked dangerous. But he was still cautious

“What are you doing here, Mr. Kim?”

“Why so formal? Call me Sungwon.”

Yongguk returned the statement with a raised eyebrow. The other smiled.

“I’m drinking my coffee.”

Sungwon smirked. The manager didn’t know what he should think of the man. The tone the other used was as if they were already friends and he just wanted to . Sungwon sighed.

“I’m here for the financial report from Nahyun. I believe she’s in charge of the financial planning in your project.”

That made more sense. But still it wasn’t enough for Yongguk. Was he really a member of the company?

“So, you’re from the financial department?”

Sungwon slapped his forehead.

“Oh sorry, I forgot that you don’t know who I am. I’m your contact person over at financials.”

With a few steps, he walked over to where Yongguk was standing and extended his hand to shake it. The other hesitated a moment but then relented and shook the other’s hand. This moment seemed to be the sign for the other that they were friends, because from then on Sungwon seemed to pass his free time at the managing department flirting with Nahyun or annoying Yongguk with his presence.

“Are you annoyed, my dear friend?” Sungwon asked, a smug look on his face.

Yongguk only answered with a raised eyebrow, keeping his trusty poker face on. But over time Sungwon started to be able to read his eyes like a book.

“Aw, come on. You like me. I’m like your only friend here.”

He seemed to think that he was important to the other so that he pulled some strings and ended up as the financial advisor to the managing department occupying the same room as Yongguk. Shortly after he rose to be the most favourite person of the whole department lazily chatting with everyone and walking from desk to desk to socialise. He also had a habit to keep the glass doors to their office open saying it was better for the whole team if he wasn’t this isolated from them. The whole team loved him.

He also had a magical way to appear whenever Yongguk had a slip in concentration and started to hum softly. After some time he didn’t even notice the other was in the room or just chose to ignore him while he hummed trying to concentrate on his work.

“You still didn’t answer my question why you didn’t join the music industry you know.” Sungwon once reminded him after one of his humming episodes.

Yongguk furrowed his brow annoyed that he got disrupted while working. With a lot of effort he managed to get his eyes of the report to glance at Sungwon who was openly staring at him.

“I did.”

Sungwon grimaced.

“That doesn’t count. It’s not exactly an answer, is it? Or you really think that it’s your destiny to work for SonTech?”

Yongguk felt like a tightrope walker, not quite sure if it was a trick question or if Sungwon genuinely wanted to know. Thinking hard he returned to look at the papers on the desk. The other man interpreted the silence as the end of the discussion and sighed. He rearranged all his notes before straightening up in his seat to get back to work. Just as he wanted to start he heard a soft grumble.

“I didn’t get accepted.”

Yongguk’s furrow deepened. Why did he say that?

Sungwon seemed happy to get any information at all and smiled broadly before he realised the words. Immediately a dark look crossed his features.

“So you applied and you didn’t get accepted?”

Yongguk gave an affirmative nod while pretending to look over his papers.

“But why? You have talent! You should be in the music industry gracing the ears of the world with your music. You’re not made for an office job.” The male got a little agitated over Yongguk’s words and started talking louder. The later got so shocked of this reaction that he automatically shushed him. He looked in the direction of the door to see if someone had heard. But through the open doors and the glass wall he could see that the whole team was happily working on their tasks not realising that one room further their superiors were talking not so nicely about Mato Planet’s system.

Sungwon huffed.

“We can’t even talk freely in our own room.”

To this Yongguk gave no answers preferring to ignore his colleague. He didn’t want to get into trouble. It would have consequences if the higher-ups found out they criticised the system even if it seemed trivial. Just showing their discontent towards the choices made for their best interest will be labelled as ungrateful. He didn’t need the problems that came with it and he didn’t want to bring the investigators to his friend’s and family’s doors causing them to worry.

After a while the silence was broken again by Sungwon.

“Do you want to sing? Like on a stage? In the open?”

These were the only words said for a long time. But the man didn’t give up and fed a few more morsels of info to his new friend.

“I know a place where you could perform freely.”

The thoughts in Yongguk’s head got all jumbled at this statement. Doesn’t he know that what he’s talking about is dangerous? It’s not allowed to make music unless it’s approved by the government. If anyone found out they would be in trouble. But wouldn’t it be nice to sing again? No! The examiners already deemed him unqualified for the music industry. But he wasn’t bad, was he? Everyone told him that he was good enough. Oh, how he wanted to make music openly. But that would cause trouble. He didn’t need trouble.

Yongguk pressed his lips together and stared blankly at his papers.

Sungwon sighed.

“Well, you don’t have to answer right now. But I know you love music.”

-

The next few days Yongguk ignored Sungwon. Of course, it was not completely possible since they worked in the same room. Sungwon was trouble. The ominous feeling returned and Yongguk wished badly that he could turn back time and undo their first meeting.

Sungwon seemed to respect his friend’s silence. He didn’t talk about music again and he also never asked about the offer anymore. But the longer the silence lasted, the more Yongguk thought about it. Sungwon’s words started to nag at him. He had the talent, why wasn’t he allowed to achieve his dreams and become a musician? He loved music. Now he was forced to make music hidden away in his room and nobody would listen to his words. Those words that he had written to be heard remained silent.

Once Yongguk looked up from his work, not being able to concentrate and noticed Sungwon staring at him. His facial expression showed neither happiness nor sadness. He simply stared at his friend from across the room.

Suddenly Yongguk felt uneasy. It crawled slowly across his skin. He felt as if many people were staring at him, not only the man sharing the room with him. What if the government installed cameras, bugs or even arranged a spy? What if Sungwon was someone sent to test his loyalty to Mato Planet? What if they knew that he didn’t want to work at Sonic Technologies? What if they knew about his music?

Suddenly confronted with the worst-case scenario he stiffened up as all other thought were wiped away. Absentmindendly, he grabbed for his glass to drink a drop of water promptly knocking it over. Momentarily panicking because of the spreading puddle on his desk he didn’t notice Sungwon coming over with tissues until he was already standing right beside him. He froze at the close proximity of the man and stared at him while his friend cleaned up the mess wordlessly. Yongguk felt himself calm down a little as a few of the disturbing thoughts disappeared.

He didn’t look like a spy. But then again, a spy didn’t want to look like a spy. Yongguk frowned. There was also a possibility that he was just overthinking things. Maybe Sungwon really wanted him to do music. Maybe he really loved the songs he’d written in school. Maybe he really thinks that the evaluation team misinterpreted the test results and he really should have been put in the music industry. This thought calmed Yongguk further however the anxiety still remained. Sungwon’s opinions could get people arrested.

Days passed with Yongguk turning his thoughts around and around not arriving at a satisfying answer. Anxiety made itself at home in his heart. Worries occupied his thoughts, paired with his wishes which tried to escape from their confines but were pushed back again into the depths of his cautious mind. His own future was at risk as well as his parent’s. He would not allow himself to think of these treacherous possibilities again.

-

Yongguk never thought that he would accompany children on their school outing on his only free day of the week. But here he was trailing behind the huge group of children and teachers making sure that nobody got lost, while his parents were leading the group with a few other teachers.

He actually had wanted to continue writing some lyrics to his new song but now he was stuck on a mountain with tons of kids who loved to attach themselves to his tall, skinny figure. They remembered him from his former visits to the primary school. In their eyes, he was like an older brother to them. At the moment he had two tired boys hanging of his hands. It was cute, but he was definitely not in the mood. He sighed internally. Why couldn’t he just tell his parents no?

Suddenly the weight disappeared from his arms. Surprised he looked down and saw the boy running up to the others.

“I figured you wanted them off you. Since you didn’t seem that happy. I hope I didn’t assume incorrectly?”

He turned towards the voice and saw a small woman standing beside him. He vaguely remembered that his parents introduced her as one of the teachers. Being preoccupied with his thoughts he naturally hadn’t listened. She smiled at him brightly. He didn’t remember her name. Feeling uncomfortable, he unconsciously walked faster while mulling over her words and thinking of an appropriate answer. She was persistent and followed.

He shook his head.

“No, no, they haven’t been a bother. I was just thinking about something.”

She blinked embarrassed.

“Oh, sorry.”

They walked on in silence. His mind easily ignored as he walked on in indifference. Clearing his mind of all his worrying thoughts. It was nice to escape his office. The fresh air and the shining sun painted the world in a much more positive light. Plus his parent’s presence was like a safety blanket. He felt more secure in his decisions to remain in SonTech and hide his music for a carefree and secure life.

“I heard you work at Sonic Technologies?”

The teacher snatched him out of his thoughts. It took him a while to notice that she formulated the sentence as a question. He answered with an affirmative grumble a little vexed that he was interrupted in his calm indifference.

“That’s amazing!” Her voice was really animated and she rambled on drowning Yongguk in words that he tuned out quite soon, occasionally nodding and mumbling something to keep her thinking that he was listening. Absent-mindedly he took a boy in his arms who had run up to him not wanting to walk anymore. He felt content there. Just being there. People enjoying their time with him.

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I have no excuse for not updating for this long. I just kinda lost the feel for this story for a while. But now I'm back and hopefully I can upload more.