Namjoon’s POV 

I saw it. I saw the tears she was holding back, the tears she tried to disguise through her smile. Maybe she thinks no one would notice, but I did. I knew her almost all my life and the smile that I see now is far different from how it’s really like. Wheein’s smile is full of joy. It’s bright, alluring and contagious. Her eyes mirror the happiness she holds inside whenever she smiles. Her grins are those of little puppies that makes one automatically return the gesture in glee. 

And that’s not the kind I’m seeing right now as her smile doesn’t even reaches her eyes. It looks dull, it looks forced and it isn’t Wheein’s smile--not at all. Instead, what I see is a girl struggling to keep her true emotions locked deep within where no one could ever reach.

“Jung Whee In” she said shortly and accepted my hand and right then and there, I felt this sudden urge to pull her in my arms and apologize for everything and say that I never meant any of the words I said nor everything I’ve done that only caused her pain. But I just couldn’t do it. 

“There!!! See? It’s not so bad isn’t it?” Taehyung exclaimed as Wheein pulled her hand back. I’m still looking at her but she just avoids my gaze and pays attention to Taehyung instead. 

“Did anyone already told you how annoying you are?” she said, hitting him. 

“Ouch! What was that for?” 

“Nothing. Just that you deserved it.” she replied flatly. I know that she did it only because she wanted to change the mood and act like the tension didn’t happen. I then just went on with the flow as we finally proceeded with our meeting. Seated against the circular table at the corner of the studio, we had no choice but sit ourselves besides each other. I was in the middle with her in my right and may the heavens forbid that I might lose focus because of her. I wanted to play it cool but hell do I always stutter whenever she talks. God, I am so whipped. 

“So if we’re gonna pick a song and re-arrange it, what genre would fit us?” Taehyung asked and to my surprise, Wheein and I answered at the same time. 

“R&B” 

We both said. I turned to her the same time she did and I was just about to say something when she pulled her gaze away from me and back at Taehyung. “R&B was really my genre, that’s why I’m suggesting it.How about you though?” I know it. I know it’s her genre and her voice is really meant for R&B songs because for Pete’s sake whenever she sings with the kind of vocal techniques that she has, it’s like an angel was sent by the heavens for the world to hear her sing. I wanted to say it, brag that I know and I heard her sing already, but I didn’t. 

“...But I guess R&B would be great too. Let’s start choosing the song now so we could talk about how we’ll be re-arranging it.” I heard Taehyung said. I didn’t hear his suggestions so I just nodded at him and he went on to get the laptop. We began browsing for an R&B song we could use. We just had to pick something that would suit both their voices, arrange it well, and we’ll be fine. But no matter how we scroll through songs, I can’t read anything. I can’t focus that I don’t even know if the songs we’re playing are good or not because my mind was so preoccupied with someone that’s sitting closely at me. Since I am the one who’s sitting in the middle, they had to move their chairs closer to me so they could also see the monitor and whatnot, so yeah, you get the picture. 

“I don’t think it’s good enough. Let’s search for more.” she said.

“Whoa, finally you said something I’d agree on.” Taehyung teased, smirking at her and she just rolled her eyes. We searched for more but we didn’t find anything good nor something that would actually fit us. And then it hit me. 

“How about Lay it Down?” 

I know I’m the one who said it but what I heard was not just my voice. Doubting my thoughts, I turned to her and seeing how she looks confirmed that we really did said the same thing for the second time around. 

“Oooooh, you guys are so in-sync, it’s amazing.” Taehyung commented as Wheein ignored him, taking the laptop from me and began searching for the song herself. “Listen to it first and let u--me know what you think.” she was about to hit play but then she asked, “Oh wait, I forgot to ask, what pitch is your voice?” 

“I’m low-pitched.” 

“Oh perfect. Here, let’s listen to it first.” she placed the laptop back in front of me again and hit the play button. As the song ended, Taehyung clapped and raised his hand on me for a high-five. “Give me five, hyung!” I took it and when he did it to Wheein, she raised her hand like she’d do it but I know her too well that she’s just faking it. As if she’s reading my thoughts, she actually did it--pulling her hand back before Taehyung could actually get a high-five from her. 

“Psh, what a bummer.” said Taehyung, sticking out his tongue as Wheein just shrugged her shoulders she countered, “If it’s you, then I’ll be glad in being a bummer. Pleasure’s mine.” 

After a few more minutes of them bickering, which I half liked because at least it made her feel less awkward being in the same room as me and half disliked just because. I just didn’t like it. We started discussing on how we’ll be performing the song on our own version, throwing suggestions and commentaries from time to time. I was the one who’s writing things down, taking notes of the things that could actually be useful for the song. We even wrote down some of the lyrics that can be of use, omitting some that won’t go well with the message we’re trying to relay.

“What about this? Opp-- N-namjoon would begin the song with an emotional rap, since we’re aiming for a song that has depth, then I’ll start singing the hook in acoustic with Taehyung harmonizing with me on the second part of it.” she was leaning in towards me as she said this, noting everything down on as she tries to show us how her suggestions go. “We can also use your raps as the verses and the actual verses of the song as the pre-chorus.” 

I nodded at everything she says because I could actually see it working out for the song. What can I say, she’s really good at her craft. “Then right here, at the bridge, we’ll escalate the song by mixing the rapping and the vocals together.” I said, writing down as well. 

Nodding, she replied “That’s right. We can add beats in the mid-part of it so the song would reach its peak smoothly. It’s such a turn off if we’d just escalate the song without a build-up.” Writing it down, I added, “So we’ll add basics here, and then on this part--” 

“Wait, you’d be doing 16 bar verse right?” she asked, looking at me intently in the eye. This is one of the many characteristics of Wheein that I love. Whenever she talks to someone, she stares right into the eye, making it seem like she actually can see right through other people’s soul. Her gazes are intense and I don’t know if she knows that she has a habit of maintaining long eye contacts. This habit of hers, I admit, makes my heart race every single time she’d look at me like that. 

“Wouldn’t it be too long for an intro? Especially if you’d be singing the hook in acoustic? I guess, it’d be just right to have an 8 bar verse before your part.” 

“Hmm, okay then, wait.” she gets another piece of paper and began writing on it. “I think it’d be better to start the song with my part. So the hook would be accompanied by guitar, then Taehyung would harmonize at the second part. Then, I’ll be putting your part here so you’d have 16 bar verse.” she showed me what she wrote and thoroughly analyzing it, she actually makes a very excellent point. I took the paper from her and began noting down my additions. She leaned close to me to have a better look at the paper that I subtly hitched my breath. 

Clearing my throat I said, “So if this would be the case, I’ll be able to add r&b trap beats on the rap part and by the time the hook part comes again, there would be enough build-up. Then we’d be mixing the rap and vocals together at the bridge part and we’d be dropping the beat at the very end.” 

“Make it wavy chill trap beats, I bet it would sound better.” Smiling at her, I winked at her. “It really would. Knowing how cool my voice is.” The moment I winked at her, I thought I was possessed. Where did I even get the courage from? Thankfully and surprisingly though, she let out a laugh. “Really? Are you sure it won’t be ruining the song? Others might think there’s a dying rooster who secretly joined the team and suddenly had a participation.” 

“A dying rooster?? Where did you get that?” I said and laughed with her. Then I stopped and just stared at her, I don’t know what kind of expression I’m wearing that she straight up avoided my gaze and pretended to look down on the paper instead. I guess I made it so obvious how I missed her laughing because of me. I guess my eyes betrayed me that she was able to see the guilt I’ve been holding on all these years. Attempting to talk to her again, I was stopped when someone cleared his throat. And that’s when I realized that we’re not alone in the room. He’s been quiet and I was so immersed with working with Wheein that I forgot he’s in the room with us. 

Was he watching us? Did he noticed? Part of me doesn’t want him to notice anything but who am I kidding? I would like it if he’d notice that something’s going on between Wheein and me because honestly, I’m not liking it how close Taehyung was becoming to her. I know it’s too early to judge but the thought of---never mind. Maybe I’m just overthinking things. 

“What’s with you two? If I didn’t know better I would of thought that you guys have known each other already. You guys are so in-sync! I was so stunned.” said Taehyung in an overly excited manner. Why did it even crossed my mind that he’s gonna notice something? The boy’s just so out of this world. That just makes him so cute. 

“Oh yeah? So stunned that you didn’t even suggested something, huh?” I sai