[2017]

You watched the singer of the night hit the high notes while you wiped the wine glasses carelessly. You mumbled to the lyrics of the song which she was singing and deep inside your heart you were yearning to be like her one day. It was never easy to achieve something like that and having lived to a quarter of a century you sometimes thought about just giving up your dream and settle for something less. Something more stable.

“Why aren’t you up there?”

You heard a voice and you knew who it was immediately.

“Because my job is not a singer unlike someone,” You replied and sighed while you passed Taehyung the menu.

He smirked before sitting at the chair at the bar and flipping the menu open.

“Anything new?” He asked and looked up at you.

Every time he did that, you felt your heart skipped a beat and you could not help but felt nervous. Taehyung was wearing a white low v top with a black blazer over it and you could tell that he had been working out lately. His chest muscles looked better than before you could feel your cheeks getting redder before you realized he had just asked you a question.

“Erm..” You blinked, “No, just the same old menu,”

“Hmmm….” He said and flipped the pages back and forth, “I will just get a vodka cranberry then,”

“Alright, one vodka cranberry,” You took the menu back from him and began to work your magic.

Taehyung was watching you while you mix the drink with another and he smiled at you when you made eye contact with you. You tried to stay cool and focused on the cocktail. Sometimes you wished he did not grow up to become so handsome as compared to the past. You guys had been friends for about 15 years as he was the first friend you made when you move to Daegu and since then you guys had been inseparable. Taehyung was a year younger than you but he sometimes he treated you like a friend and because of that you sometimes scolded him for not calling you noona.

You only started noticing his good looks when he had hit puberty. You noticed how he had lost his baby fats on his face and how deep his voice had changed one day. You thought your ears were playing tricks on you when he called you that day when his voice changed.

_

[2011]

“Hello?” You answered your phone as you tried to put on your shoes at home.

“Noona!”

“Who’s this….?” You stopped your action in confusion as you looked at your phone again. It said ‘Poop Head’ on the screen but that voice did not belong to Taehyung.

“What do you mean who’s this?” That unfamiliar voice continued. “Did you delete my number because I accidentally spilled water over shirt yesterday and I didn’t apologize to you?”

“Wait what…?” You were surprised by how the stranger knew what happened the day before. But the only person who spilled water over your shirt yesterday could only be…

“I’m Taehyung!”

“Taehyung??” You covered your mouth in shock, “What’s wrong with you? Did you get a cold or something?”

“What do you mean?” He replied, “Oh…”

“Your voice…” You said while holding your phone by tilting your neck to the right and continued putting on your shoe.

“My voice broke,” He laughed. “Cool right?”

“I don’t know…” You admitted and walked out of your house. “I couldn’t even recognize your voice,”

The moment you walked out of your house to the main road you saw Taehyung at the side and he closed his flipped phone and ran to you before picking you up and spinning you around.

You were surprised by his actions and that was when you felt something. Something which made you feel fluffy.

“Put me down!!” You hit him on the shoulders before he finally placed you down and he just kept smiling at you.

You adjusted your school skirt before asking, “Why are you like this in the morning?”

“I passed!” He raised both of his hands into the air and you could see how excited he was especially since his mouth became more rectangular than before.

It took you awhile to realize what he meant. He passed Big Hit audition.

“Wait so what are you now?” You looked at him.

“I’m a trainee now!” He exclaimed and swung his arm over your neck. “I’m going to Seoul,”

You paused in your tracks and looked at him, “When?”

“I don’t know,” He stopped and looked at you too. “The woman in charged told me that they will speak to my dad first about school and everything… I can’t leave suddenly as well,”

“Oh…” You felt your sank suddenly. You were glad that Taehyung passed the audition but at the same time you could not imagine him leaving Daegu and going all the way up to Seoul to start his life as a trainee. Who would you eat supper with in the middle of the night? Who would you go with to the arcade near school after class ended?

You remembered that the entire day you were not able to focus in class and you kept thinking about how Taehyung would be leaving and it just made you sad about it. You had not live a single day without him and everything just happened so sudden.

“Noona,” Taehyung called out for you as he waited for you at the school gate like every day.

You were still not used to his deep voice and he laughed at your reaction when you jumped just now.

“So… did they tell you again when you’re leaving?” You asked him again and stole a glance at him while you waited for the bus.

He shook his head and played with his phone. It was then when you noticed he had grew up so much as compared to before. You could not remember when he was still shorter than you but you suddenly felt like everything had gone by so quickly. You were almost about to graduate from high school and in matter of years, you and him would become adults.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He said without looking up from his phone.

You immediately looked away and then you looked at him again, “I was just thinking about the future…”

“Why?” It caught his attention and he closed his phone.

“I don’t know..” You shrugged and played with the strap of your backpack. “I mean you are going to be performing on stage and what if you get too famous?”

“What do you mean by get too famous?” He laughed and leaned against the bus stop stand.

“You get fangirls and you won’t recognize me,” You said softly.

“Why would I not recognize you?!” He laughed at your silliness. “I’m going to Seoul to train to become a singer, I’m not going there to get my brain washed,”

You were not sure why but you still felt kind of sad at the point of time. Taehyung noticed that you weren’t being yourself and was about to say something but the bus came and you boarded the bus immediately.

He took the seat beside you and leaned over to slide open the windows and you felt your breath stopped for a bit. It was not the first time he did that but it was the close proximity which made you gulped. You looked out of the window as you tried to calm yourself down but Taehyung placed the left side of his earphone into your ear and you flinched in surprise.

He smiled at you and began to play music from his phone. You knew he always liked to share the music he listened with you and today was no surprise as well. It was a classic song from Celine Dion and you noticed him tapping his fingers lightly on his thigh and bobbing his head according to the beat. You looked outside of the window again and enjoyed the breeze, not sure if it would be last time like this before Taehyung left for Seoul.

_

You were right and the next time you saw him was when you moved up to Seoul a few months later when you got accepted to an university in Seoul.

You guys agreed to meet at the restaurant just near his company as he told you he only had time to meet you during his lunch break. When you finally met Taehyung you were surprised as to how much weight he had lost within that few months of moving to Seoul and you wondered if he were starving himself.

“Noona, you got prettier,” He said to you as he poured water into your cup after ordering the lunch set.

“Cut the crap,” You replied to him, “You look so skinny right now, I feel like I should report to the government that your company is not treating you right,”

“Ehhhh~” He passed you the cup of water and said, “You know how idols have to look skinnier in real life right? I would look fat on screen if I don’t lose weight,”

You scolded him and gave him a whole lecture on eating healthy and having enough rest before he told you to stop talking so much. You ended up laughing like old times with him as you realized how much you had missed his companion. You guys caught up on each other’s life and he told you so much how hard it was to dance for hours without resting. You could not imagine he was really living his life as a trainee and it would be soon for him to debut.

“Where will you be staying?” He asked with his mouth full as he picked up the kimchi with his chopstick.

“My parents found a place near school for me,” You spoke and pushed the plate of kimchi closer to him. “I hope uni life treats me well,”

“I bet it will be fun,” He replied you, “Meeting your future boyfriend and having fun at MTs,”

The word boyfriend made you look at him and you immediately looked away when he looked at you at the same time.

“Taehyung ah!” A voice called out suddenly.

You noticed there were two other guys dressed in the same winter jacket as him. One of them had really small eyes and the other one looked so soft like a mochi.

“Hyung!” Taehyung smiled and raised his hands, asking them to come over.

“Hello~” You greeted them and bowed lightly at your seat while they took the seats beside you and Taehyung.

“She’s a close noona of mine from Daegu,” Taehyung introduced you to the two boys who looked at you attentively.

“Daegu?” The small eyed boy lit up, “I’m from Daegu too, my name is Min Yoongi”

You shook his hand and told him your name before smiling at him. You thought that perhaps your eyes were playing tricks on you but you saw him blush slightly.

“He’s Jimin from Busan,” Taehyung waved his chopstick in front of Jimin and introduced him to you and you shook his hand too.

“Hello noona, I’m Park Jimin,” He was shy but nonetheless greeted you politely.

“You better remember them because they are going to be famous one day like me,” Taehyung told you cockily as he scooped a spoonful of his rice before eating it.

“Don’t be too sure yet,” You sighed and watched him moved his shoulders up and down and Jimin began to follow what he was doing.

“Guys behave yourselves,” Yoongi commented and Jimin and Taehyung immediately stopped moving and ate their food quietly.  

“Neh,” They replied and you tried to hold back your laughter as you noticed both of them were scared of Yoongi.

As you and Taehyung arrived at the restaurant earlier, you and him finished your food and greeted the boys good bye before heading to a convenience store nearby.

“I think Yoongi hyung likes you,” Taehyung said casually as he peeled of the icecream wrapper which caused you to choke on the melona you were eating.

“What?!” You coughed in between and looked at him.

“He doesn’t really care much about other people,” Taehyung continued and patted your back with a little bit too much of a force and you swat his hand away. “I could tell how he was trying to be authoritative and all just now in front of me and Jimin,”

“Yeah but you can’t just judge from that,” You tried to ignore Taehyung about his assumption.

“Wanna bet?” He raised his eyebrows at you and leaned against the counter.

Suddenly you felt like a few months back when he did the same thing. It reminded you of that time back at the bus stop. Somehow the way he leaned against a wall, a counter or anything made you find him really good looking and that was something you wished to deny.

“Alright?” You shrugged, feeling confident that in no way Yoongi had any liking at you. He just seemed to be shy around girls. Maybe.. That was what you thought. “What are we betting for?”

“Granting each other a favour?” Taehyung suggested and took a bite of his ice cream.

“That’s it?” You looked surprised. “I thought you will be asking me to treat you food or something,”

“That’s still a favour anyway,”

“Whatever,” You pushed him lightly and he just smiled at you.

“Just for a few hours and you will be granting me a favour soon,” He his ice cream and spoke.

“Why are you so sure?”

“Just wait and see,”

_

Taehyung was right.

Within an hour or so, you received a text from a number you had never seen before.

“Hello, I’m Yoongi. We met just now at the restaurant. Oh! I got your number from Taehyung and I was hoping if I can meet you again…”

Crap, you thought in your head.

Now you really did have to buy Taehyung a meal.

_

[2013]

So that was the first reunion you had with Taehyung after coming up to Seoul. You guys still tried to meet up often but soon enough you started university and was busy with the campus life whereas Taehyung was getting busy with his training too.

When a senior of yours confessed to you when you were a sophomore in university, you ended up dating him just because you did not really like like him but you did not really not like him too. It was alright. When you told Taehyung that you got a first boyfriend he became very protective of you and demanded to meet the guy and asked a lot of questions about him.

Yet soon enough, he left for army and you ended up ending the relationship because the conditions were harsher than you thought it was. Taehyung also told you secretly that he was dating someone and you wondered how he had the time to date since he was always busy training and sleeping. You did not really care until one day he called you drunk, telling you that he broke up and his ex thought that he was too childish and preferred someone to be more manly. Since then he asked you a lot of questions about what kind of guys girls like. Even though you told him it differed from person to person he tried to work on his body and when you saw him a few months later after his broke up, you were more than shocked to see how much he had bulked up.

“Cool huh?” He tried to flex his arms and showed you his muscle.

“Yeah right,” You passed him a can of soda before sitting beside him on the couch.

“How much are you paying for this place?” He asked opened the can of soda before looking around your small house which you rented.

“450k won a month,” You sighed and thought about your financial status, “At least I’m graduating a semester earlier than my batch mates,”

“Wow…” You could tell Taehyung was amazed by how you were able to live alone like this because he knew you hated being alone. That was why he ended up being your friend back at Daegu because other kids thought you were a scaredy cat. It was his first time visiting your place even though it had been years since you moved to Seoul.

“I’m hungry,” You looked at the your phone and realized it had been more than 30 minutes since you ordered the pizza. “Why are they not here yet?”

“You know I’m only eating carbs with you because we’re close,” He said cheekily and tried to annoy you by putting his legs on your lap as he made himself comfortable on the couch and laid horizontally, taking up the entire space.

“Ya..” You tried to push his legs away, “I’m going to pull your leg hair,”

When he heard that, he immediately removed his legs from you as he knew you were not kidding when you said things like that. There was a time when you did pull his leg hair and he legit screamed at you so loud that you freaked out and cried. Since then you guys made a deal to not do that to each other.

“I thought we made a deal a few years ago not to do that?” He said and held his legs together.

“Yeah I know but you were on the verge of breaking that promise which we made,” You smirked and folded your arms together.

“You’re mean,” Tae Hyung gave you a look and took out his phone to reply to the messages that he got.

As you chuckled to yourself after seeing his reaction, you began to hum to a song which you were hooked onto recently and flipped through the channels showing on your tv.

Tae Hyung was just replying to his hyungs’ messages when he heard you sing to a song which he knew of too. Your voice struck him as a surprise because honestly you always went rather wild when you hit the noraebang with him. It was not as soothing and clear like how he remembered.

He continued to stare at you as you bobbed your head left and right and switched the channels.

“Noona…” He called out.

“Hmmm?” You asked without looking at him.

“Since when can you sing like that?”

“What?” You laughed as you turned to look at him and turned back at the tv. “I’ve been singing like this for years. Don’t you know that?”

“Why didn’t I know that?” He asked and shifted his legs before looking at you seriously. He used his hands and placed them together like a camera capturing your face.

You looked at him and hit his hands away. “Stop it,”

“Ah wae~~” He said and placed his hands together again, trying to ‘capture’ your face, “You’re gonna be great as a singer too. Should I tell my company that they should hire you too? Maybe you can be the first female trainee in my company,”

“Stop joking,” You laughed and now it was your turn to place your legs on his lap. “I’m too old to be a trainee and besides it’s not like its something I would want to do,”

“Why not?” He asked and you were surprised to see that Tae Hyung just let you placed your legs on his lap without complaining. “I like your voice,”

“Hmm?” That made your heart skipped a beat. You never had that feeling so long you almost forgot how it felt.

He was being serious and you could tell that he was being serious. I mean you did like to sing but you had never given any thoughts about becoming a singer like how he was. When Tae Hyung passed the audition for Big Hit you once thought about going for audition too but that time you were just not as confident and your parents were not supportive of you of becoming a singer. You were more dedicated towards your studies and the effort paid off when you managed to get accepted into a university in Seoul.

“I seriously think you need to consider about your future again, noona,” He told you with his eyes wide.

“Tae Hyung ah,” You shook your head, “I appreciate how you like my voice but this isn’t something I can just decide by myself. I’m almost done with under graduate studies and soon enough I will be looking for a job and-“

“And you’re gonna regret not listening to me,” He finished your sentence.

Your jaw dropped as you realized how crude he sounded.

“Ok, I’m sorry,” He placed his hands together as if he was begging you, “But I feel that your voice needs to be heard out there,”

“Okay…” You said, “You sound as if I really have a great voice or something,”

“You do!” He flung his arms up in frustration because that was what he was trying to tell you.

“No, stop it Taehyung,” You felt irritated by how persistent he was too, “I just like singing, I don’t want to make it as a career,”    

“But you can,” He looked at you with his eyes beaming. “And noona you owe me something,”

“What?”

“Remember that promise we did when I said Yoongi hyung had a crush on you?”

“Oh crap. We’re still not over that?!” You gave yourself a face palm, waiting for the worst.

“Please go for any audition,” He said and placed your legs down lightly while he shifted closer to you on the couch, “Just go and I will stop bugging you,”

You sighed in defeat as you knew how stubborn Tae Hyung was. Once he’s set on something, he would not give up. “Alright…”

“Yes!” Tae Hyung punched into the air, “You won’t regret it and I will help you,”

At that time, your doorbell rang and you were so glad that the pizza delivery man had save your life from Tae Hyung.

_

Within the next few weeks, Tae Hyung made an effort to practice with you in his company’s studio whenever he’s done with practice. Sometimes you wondered why he was so insistent in helping you with your vocal lessons because he did not have to do that. Sure, you were grateful for him because ever since then you did once begin to think about singing as a career. Yet, the reality pulled you back in when you were busy handling team projects back in school.

“Good luck today!” You received a text from Tae Hyung and smiled to yourself while you walked towards a bar for your audition. It was nothing huge but they were just looking for some rookies who were able to fill up a gig every Friday and the weekends.

You gulped when you noticed the number of people who had turned up for the audition. Females and males with a wide age range. However, you felt better when you realized you were not the only one who were trying to odds of becoming a singer too.

After waiting for about 30 minutes of so, it was finally your turn. You made your way to the small platform before introducing to two of the guys who were about to judge you.

They gave you the signal to begin and you cleared your throat and palmed your hands by your side as you tend to get sweaty palms when you’re nervous.

You had been practicing for weeks and even you yourself knew that it was getting better. However, you did not know what happened when you opened your mouth.

Your voice was soft and it did not come out what you expected. You even surprised yourself but tried to stay calm and manage to finish the short verse of the song which you prepared. You could tell the judges were not paying attention the moment your voice went out of range and you bowed and left the platform immediately when you were done.

You felt like crap. You hated yourself for trying out and believing in Tae Hyung that you actually had a chance of becoming a singer like him. You were nothing like him and you wanted to cry. You could feel the tears building up in your eyes as your vision slowly began to get blurry.

You felt your phone buzzed while walking out of the bar and you whipped it out from your pocket. It was from Tae Hyung.

Your heart sank when you saw what he texted you.

“Noona! It’s final! I’m debuting for real!!! I’m finally debuting!”

You felt conflicted. After 3 years of hard work, Tae Hyung was finally debuting like what he had dreamed of. A drop of tear fell on your phone screen as you blinked. You sighed while wiping the tears which began to slide down on your face.

“Wow.. congrats! :)” You typed and pressed sent to him.

You had to feel happy for him. He was your best friend and your closest dongsaeng. But never again were you going to try and audition again.

_

[2016]

“Hey didn’t you say you are close friends with him?” Your co-worker pointed to the tv at the coffee shop while you guys were waiting for your drinks to come out.

You looked at where she was pointing and realized it was Tae Hyung on the screen performing at music shows. It was their promotion for Blood, Sweat, Tears.

“Yeah,” You smiled awkwardly as you usually did not disclose much information about him to other people. They would usually bug you for more information about Tae Hyung since he was a worldwide star now.

“Wow, it’s so cool to have a celebrity as a friend,” Another of your co-workers commented and you just smiled at her.

“Ya, I think you’re getting too popular these days,” You typed on your phone while walking back to the office with your other co-workers, “All my co-workers could recognize you on the tv,”

“Is that a good or bad thing?” Tae Hyung replied you almost immediately which took you by surprise because you thought he was working now.

“Good and bad,” You typed and continued, “Your treat next time,”

“But you’re my noona, shouldn’t you buy me food instead? XD”

You rolled your eyes as you saw his reply. “You earn like 10 times I earn every month,”

“That is only peak idol period. I told you I almost died about 2 years ago because of my low income, don’t compare,”

“And I saved you by cooking for you and your other members,” You giggled and crossed the zebra crossing and finally reaching your office.

“We will never forget your graciousness,”

“I’m back in office, ttyl,”

“Alright~”

Since Tae Hyung’s career as an idol took flight, you guys had been meeting less but still kept in close in contact with each other through text messages. You became focused on your studies and graduation and after that you landed up with a job as a telemarketer. It was nothing fun or exciting but it gave you a stable income. Your dream of becoming a singer went right behind your head and ever since the incident, it became a trauma to you and whenever Tae Hyung tried to convince you again, you would end up not talking to him. He eventually gave up because he could not fight with the stubborn you.

You did still get jealous when he invited you to his concert and seeing him living his dream made you feel happy for him. He was really charming and when he held the mic, it was like seeing him shine on stage. There were so many fans and you felt so proud of him being loved by so many people. Every time you thought about singing another shot, the horrible memories would flood into your mind and you always dismissed the thought immediately.

Right now, you were back to your desk and you took a sip of your iced coffee before putting on the earphone speaker and began your work.

“Good afternoon Misa Cosmetics, how can I help you?” You said with a happy voice as you began to key in several words on your computer.

“Yes, I was wondering if I can use vouchers to make purchase the foundation set that your shop is offering now?” A customer asked on the other line.

“Oh, I’m sorry to let you know but our product-“ You were speaking halfway before you got cut off by the customer.

“Sorry can you hold for a minute, I got an incoming call,” She said abruptly.

“Sure,” You replied, slightly surprised but nonetheless you waited for her to get back to you again.

You fiddled with the mouse you were using as you realized the sticker which Tae Hyung gave you were slowly peeling off.

“내 피 땀 눈물~ 내 마지막 춤을~” You sang casually as you pressed the corner which the sticker was coming off. “다 가져 가아아아아아~”

After a while, you realized your customer had been two minute away from the phone call and you wondered if she was still on the line.

“Hello?” You asked.

“Oh hello~” She replied.

You were surprised because it was as if she had been waiting for you to speak first.

“I am so sorry, I thought you were still on the other line,” You apologized as you felt embarrassed that the customer had actually listened to you sing for like a full minute maybe. You cursed at yourself internally as you also realized how unprofessional it was to sing when you were on a call even if the customer was not on the line.

“No, it’s fine!” You could tell that she was rather happy and she continued, “I thought you had a nice voice and I just continued listening,”

“Oh…” You were stunned and did not know what to reply because it was the first time someone had complimented you after so long, “I’m still sorry about what happened just now. Let me tell you more vouchers you were asking just now,”

You got back into your working mode and before you ended the call with her, she told you that “Perhaps you should try as a singer, I like your voice,”.

It was kind of creepy to hear someone whom you had never met to comment about your voice but it still made you happy for a moment. Slightly. Because all that trauma appeared in your mind again. You shook your head and brushed away those thoughts while you continued working.

_

Tae Hyung was waiting for his hair stylist to set his hair and he began to check out some music videos like how he used to be. Recently, he managed to discover a new website where ordinary people with extraordinary voice uploaded their music files or videos on a channel. He was scrolling down when he saw the tile of a video which caught his attention.

“Telemarketer sings BTS Blood, Sweat, Tears”

Tae Hyung raised one of his eyebrows as he was curious about what it was. He was even more surprised when he saw the number of likes and comments as the video was uploaded about 3 hours ago. Usually such videos would have thumbnails of the singer themselves but this one was just pitch black.

He immediately clicked on it and he read the description of the video while it loaded.

“I heard this unnie singing to BST and I thought it was amazing!!! She did not know I was done with an incoming call and I had to record it when I heard it. Sorry unnie for not telling you but I thought your voice needs to be heard and shared with other people TT”

The video began to play and Tae Hyung was nodding his head as he realized the person singing had really good tempo and her voice was surprisingly good. When she reached to his part he realized something.

He knew who this voice belonged to.

His eyes widened as he looked at the description again. Telemarketer… That’s what you were working as. Tae Hyung felt his heart beating faster and faster and when he scrolled through the comments to look for more clues to confirm his intuition, he was hoping that it was you and at some point hoping that it was not you.

He paused and his mouth opened in shock when he read one of the comments.

“Daebak… can you tell me which company you called? I just want to call and see if I can hear her voice. She’s so good!”

“Yeah~! She works as Misa Cosmetics!”

Misa Cosmetics. That’s where you worked.

Tae Hyung gulped and blinked again to make sure he was seeing it right. He knew you could sing and he knew he was not wrong when he heard you sing for the very first time back at your house. He just thought he could make your dream come true by helping you back then.

He was guilty of himself when he saw you crying back then that day. And your refusal to talk to him about what had happened made him feel bad for himself. It took you awhile to open up and since then you would try to divert to another topic whenever he brought up things related to audition and singing again.

However, this time, Tae Hyung was sure of himself. He was sure he could help you in a more proper way.

_

 

Hello!

It's been a long time since I've written such a long story but I believe it is going to be a two-shot to it. Hopefully I will update the next chapter soon! Thanks so much for reading and have a nice day~ ^^