Chapter 8 / One Step At A Time
Chorong's POV

Changsub pushed the metal door up of his music shop and I stood there, thinking that 'Wow, it really exists.'

This guy really loved music.

A closed shop that has a transparent glass door appears before me. It has all the posters of indie bands and non indie bands that some I don't know of, and also posters of singers like Park Hyo Shin, Huh Gak and Kim Bum Soo.

You would think that this guy doesn't listen to Kpopㅡbut at the small corner of the glass window, there are posters of Girls Generation and SISTAR, plus Super Junior and BEAST.

"They aren't called BEAST anymore, you know." I commented.

He frowned and slid the key inside the lock. "Yeah, this shop was last opened two years ago."

"Oops."

"Yeah." He said again and then he pushed the door open and we headed inside.

"This is haunted." I said.

"Dusty but not haunted."

I chuckled and finally, I looked around inside the shop. Andㅡ"Wow, this is quite a shop."

"Yeah."

"You really are out of your mind."

"What?"

"Why didn't you take care of this? Or asked someone to take care of it? Look at these precious musical instruments! And these records! Jeez, Changsub, I'm sorry but can I punch you?"

"No."

"Okay."

When I turned to him, he was running his fingertips on a dusty acoustic guitar. "I did ask someone to take care of it. Naeun." He said.

And then we were quiet.

I took a deep breath. "She's really getting in my nerves."

He smiled to himself. "Don't. She's a really nice girl. She just fell in love with someone else."

"BS." I said, as in bull.

He turned to me. "What?"

"Nevermind." I turned my back on him and browsed through the CDs.

He followed me behind. "Do you think your ex was a bad person just because he broke up with you?"

I turned around sharply and it was so wrong because now we're so closeㅡand it's so weird. "N-no!" I said. "Of course not."

He smiled sideways. I hate that smile. Not literally. I just can't explain it. "I feel the same way about Naeun."

With the sound of her name, I turned my back on him again. "You have a complete collection of Girls Generation's albums!"

Now he's beside me, leaning against the CD shelves. He smiled sheepishly. "Naeun liked them a lot."

I groaned. "Ugh, Naeun and her lingering memories."

He chuckled. "Yeah, so what's your ex's name?"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Let's not go there."

"OK, I don't want to doubt he even exists, but does he really exist?"

I glared at him. "Seriously?"

"I was kidding."

Oh, now he's kidding.
But I don't find it funny so I kept quiet and he took this negatively the way he should.

"OK, I'm sorry! I know you're just protecting him because he's a public figure. So maybe I should call him, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

I couldn't help it. I grinned. "You're a nerd."

"Hey! Just because I read Harry Potter books?"

"Wow. I thought you would have watched the movies."

"Like you did?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I chuckled goofily. "Yeah."

"The books are good. Also, they helped me fall asleep."

"Ohmygosh! You are the worst."

He smiled. "You are. Ask the bookworms."

I rolled my eyes at this. "Whatever."

We were quiet again but it wasn't awkward. Maybe we were just lost in our own thoughts. I browsed more CDs and then I heard a sound that made me stop what I'm doing.

I turned around and saw Changsub sitting in front of the keyboard. He was pressing keys randomly. "I haven't played in so long." He muttered almost to himself.

I just watched him and then he started playing for real, on the dusty keyboard. His slender hands moved so gracefully as if he didn't stop playing for two years at all.

And he was playing my song.

To Us.

I stared at him in astonishment. My mind is running a thousand miles per second. Alright, maybe not. But I couldn't process it. Lee Changsub was sitting there, his hands pressing on the keys softly, he's playing my song and he looked amazing as the sunlight reflected on his hair, the only light we had at that moment.

He looked peaceful. I felt peaceful.

He started humming the song and then he looked at me with this shy smile that made my heart beat a little harder against my chest.

. . What is this?

We were created during tough times,
Maybe it was then that everything faded
Now, I think it's shining a little more
Can you feel it?
You can feel it
Right now, us
Put us into that beautiful mind

He sang the lyrics more slowly with the pace of the keyboard sound. I think this is the most beautiful cover of the song. I wish Eunji and Namjoo could hear it. Besides, I don't think Changsub would let me film him. And I don't think I want to film him. I want to keep that particular moment only to myself.

When he ended it, he rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "I gotta admit, the song gave me the Last-Song-Syndrome."

"You listened to it recently?"

He nodded. "On my way to the coffeeshop, it played on the radio."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For playing and for singing itㅡvery awesomely!" I said with a wide, wide grin. It almost didn't feel normal.

"I didn't know what to play and it crossed my mind."

"Maybe I can treat you to another milkshake next time."

He chuckled. "I may not decline that."

Silence.

Think of something to say, Chorong. What is wrong with youuuu?

"Um, Chorong?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should sign me up on an agency."

I looked at him, eyes widening. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "I think I want to sing again."

I covered my mouth with both hands and jumped a teeny-tiny bit for a few times. It made him laugh. I made him laugh! Making him smile is one thing, making him laugh is another! "That's the best thing you ever said to me. OK, so which companies do you wanna audition in?" I asked.

And we sat down and listed all the good companies we know, then we googled the ones that are currently holding auditions.

"Bana entertainment!" Changsub suddenly said. I stopped what I'm doing and turned to him.

"What?"

"They're holding auditions. I think I should go there."

I froze for a moment. "Oh," I said. "Yeah! That's good."

"On Friday."

As Changsub and I parted ways, I couldn't help thinking why of all companies, he had to choose the one owned by Jinyoung and his family.

But I'm not selfish, so I'm not going to stop him. Also, I admit they're a good company.

I pushed the door open to the Karaoke House and Bomi greeted me with a smile. "You're back!"

"Yeah."

"How's my brother?" She asked eagerly. I almost forgot that I texted her today to say that I'm meeting up with his brother.

I smiled at her. "He agreed to audition on friday."

hang open. She totally has the same reaction I had so I laughed. "Ohmygosh! I can't thank you enough, Chorong eonni!"

But what did I do? Did I really help Changsub decide on it? Anyway, I let myself feel happy because today, I'm really, really happy.

#

Changsub's POV

I've just had the electricity of the shop fixed all morning and now I plan on cleaning it up with Eunkwang and Sungjae even though the latter was just really sitting casually.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Hyung, you're really shoving me away these days." He replied.

Eunkwang laughed. "Just let him shove you away. Shouldn't you be at college?"

"Why's everyone asking me that? Jeez. There are such things as breaksㅡlike Christmas break, spring break, summer breakㅡ"

"If you're gonna stay, don't just sit there." I told him.

He frowned. "OK, fine. I'm cleaning."

And he did. He started wiping the shelves and the CDs clean. Eunkwang was polishing the instruments and I cleaned the floor and the walls.

After that, we went for a drink in the middle of the day.

"Galbi!" Sungjae said joyfully.

"Thanks for the food, Lee Changsub." Eunkwang said and grabbed a slice of galbi with his chopsticks.

"Guys," I called them as they were about to put the juicy, tasty galbi in their mouth. They looked at me with an annoyed expression. "So, uh, I decided to sing again."

They both put the galbi down and turned to me.

"WHAT?!" They asked at the same time.

"Chorong noona has something to do with this, isn't she?" Sungjae asked.

"What? Who's Chorong?" Eunkwang asked, confused.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, she helped me convince myself but I justㅡthoughtㅡwhat if I try again?" I said almost every word with a pause because I realized that Chorong, indeed, played a big part on this and I was suddenly afraid I'm taking everything so fast. What if I'm not really ready to make music again?

"One step at a time, Changsub-ah." Eunkwang said and patted my shoulder.

"What?" Did I say that out loud? From where?

Sungjae was grinning. "I like Chorong noona. She's good for you."

"It's not like that!" I said defensively.

"I didn't mean it like that." He replied with a sly grin.

Eunkwang started wrapping a samgyeopsal with lettuce. "Who is this Chorong? Why don't I know about her?"

I frowned. "Is that really more important than the fact that I'm doing music again?"

"You said it yourself. She played a big part on this!" He said.

Jeez. My mouth. "She's a songwriter who wants to work with me." I said.

Sungjae's mouth quirked up despite his cheeks looking like balloons on each side. "That's the exact same thing he told me, hyung!" He said to Eunkwang.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you want me to tell you?"

"That he's your next potential girlfriend."

I threw a lettuce at him. "Shut up! Don't even think about it."

But Eunkwang was also grinning ear to ear. Clearly, they're more happy about this. I threw a lettuce at him too. "You shut up too!"

"Hey! I'm older than you!" He said.

"Age is just a number."

"Aishㅡ"

"Anyway," I said. "I have an audition on Friday."

Nonchalantly, they both said: "You'll do well."

I don't know if they trust my talent that much, or they just don't care.

As if Eunkwang could read my mind, he said: "Your talent can't be missed."

And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt motivated.

#

Chorong's POV

I sat on the chair next to my mom's hospital bed after placing the flowers I brought on the side table. I caressed her soft hair and smiled.

"Hey, mom. How are you?" I started. I always start with this before I tell her about myself. I always talk to her, hoping that somehow she could hear me.

I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the sound of the beeping of her heart monitor and the silence of the room. "Mom, I feel nervous today somehow. I know someone who's going to audition today and I'm coming with him. I guess we are friends. Maybe we are." I said. I know I'm babbling but I really hadn't told anyone about Changsub yet. "Am I nervous for him? Or am I nervous because I might see Jinyoung there? I'm not really sure, mom. The last meeting with Jinyoung wasn't good."

I laid my head on her bed and held her hand. "When you wake up, you'll probably look for him. You'll probably get shocked that we're not together anymore because we were just inseparable, right?" I chuckled bitterly. "I don't want to stop believing in love because I love you, mom. But you know, the kind of love women give to men? I think it's hard to believe now that it could last. I mean, dad left us. Jinyoung left me. It's tragic, but I guess the truth is, we will never really know if someone we fall in love with really has that courage to stay for a long, long time. I mean, always. I didn't realize until now that 'always' is a big, big word."

I sat up straight and tucked strands of her hair behind her ears. My mom is beautiful even in her current state. "That's why you should wake up soon," I told her. "Because you're my always."

As I left the hospital, I was searching for some kind of song to send to Changsub, to motivate him and I came across one that's just perfectly fit so I sent him the link.

Listen to this. Meet me at Moonlight's. On my way now.

#

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to leave feedbacks. Mehehe.