Updatey updatey!! Sorry I have been incredibly busy these days - finals are coming up!

The updates are still gonna come a bit slow, but once I'm done with exams(in early June) it should be all good!:)

Thanks for the support so far and keep letting me know what do you guys think!

This is a slightly shorter+buffer chapter but I promise things will get interesting from next chapter on! (I think heheh)

Here goes the 2nd chapter!

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July 2014 was an incredibly hot month.

So hot that it’s almost suffocating.

“Hey Matthew, let’s grab an early dinner and come back to watch the live broadcast!”, Taehyung said breathlessly as he paused the music after the song for practice ends.

“What for?” Matthew raised his eyebrow, Taehyung isn’t usually the type who catches soap drama live broadcast.

“Kara project! It’s their finale today, results will be announced right after the performance.”

“Oh”, a flashback of the encounter with Somin came back to Matthew. He has seen Somin a few more times after last time, but she is always in the middle of a practice so Matthew decided not to interrupt. “I hope Somin gets it.”

“Oh so Somin sunbae-nim’s your bet? I feel like it’s either Youngji sunbae-nim or Sojin sunbae-nim though, they are always ranked very close no.1 and 2.” Taehyung said as he turns off the speaker, “Wait, Somin? Matthew do you know her? I swear she has been here way longer than we have been here she is definitely our sunbae-nim.”

“Sort of, we talked for a bit last time.” Matthew shrugged his shoulders, which Taehyung acknowledged as the signal as Matthew not being bothered to go into detail. They have been best friends – if not best bros for more than 3 years now. Having almost debuted together, they share so much in common and live together. They can decipher each other’s actions without even speaking up.

Matthew was zoning out while packing up. He isn’t entirely sure why he hopes Somin to get it. He knows the other girls in the programme too, although not very well. He wouldn’t say he’s the closest to Somin, it’s just…there’s something special about her that he can’t seem to wipe off since they met that day.

Somin seemed like the living embodiment of perfection to him. After that day, he went back and mindlessly watched some Kara project and PURETTY videos. He still doesn’t understand what vibe does Somin give off, he can see that she is very flexible and can be easily tailored to suit many different images. But then what is she really like? She seemed to be bright when they talked, but she has a mysterious aura when she performs. It’s almost like she has been through too much and wants to be an independent individual in this world, and Matthew indeed thinks that she has been through so much that he probably won’t be able to understand.

They had omurice in a restaurant nearby then rushed back for the results. The room was full of fellow trainees who each had different bets. They went back just in time for their final performance.

“Wow she looks like Hara sunbae-nim”, one trainee pointed out when the camera landed on Somin.

Indeed she does, Matthew thought to himself. But no she is different to Hara sunbae-nim.

The tense atmosphere didn’t go away as the night progresses. Different trainees were close to different girls on the show, they were each praying for their friend’s best. After all, they have all been through a lot and even if it’s not their turn to debut yet, they’d still be happy for their friends to have a chance at debuting. Not to mention that it’s the group KARA that the winner will be joining.

As the girls lined up for the final results, Matthew didn’t even notice he clenched his fist tight.

“And the winner is…… Youngji!”

As the room naturally goes into a round of applause, Matthew can’t help but let his gaze stay on Somin. She is just smiling calmly and embracing Youngji whenever Youngji looks like she needs a hug. She stood there with a supportive look for her friend, but Matthew noticed that strand of sadness hiding underneath that graceful smile.

His heart slightly aches for her. This is the second time that she didn’t get it.

As the room of trainees dismiss and go home, Taehyung decided to stay for a bit more and practise. Matthew decided that he’s done for today and decides to go home first. He mindlessly hopped onto the wrong bus and just zoned out. As he realises he is at Hangang where the beautiful night lights on the bridge span shines.

He got off the bus and absent-mindedly walked along the river bank. The breeze feels gentle and soft but there is this stifling feel to it. Suddenly he noticed a familiar figure sitting on a bench.

“Somin?” Matthew slowly approaches the figure, she turned around to give him a saddened smile, “Hey”. Matthew noticed the trail of dried tears but said nothing. He sat next to him, resting his rucksack on the grass. They just sat in silence for a few minutes, Matthew carefully glanced at her and asked, “Hey, you feeling okay?”

Somin gently shaked her head, “but there’s nothing that I can do right?” Matthew noticed her voice being more mellow and tired than usual, which he believes it’d cause every human being to want to give her a hug, but he didn’t. She spaced out staring at the lights, “I tried my best, and yet I’m not going anywhere.”

“But hey, you did well, like really well.”, he smiled at her, giving her a light pat on her hair. He can smell the scent of her shampoo, it’s sweet and refreshing just like Somin’s smile is to him usually. He wants her to be well, he wants her to be happy.

“The company is still keeping me, they say maybe they’ll put me into something else.”, Somin turned to look at Matthew and met his puppy eyes. They are so gentle and Somin’s heart slightly moved. They are sitting really near each other but she didn’t think too much because he’s from LA and that makes her think that maybe he’s more casual with female friends than usual Korean guys. She can smell the scent of his minty shower gel mixed with a bit of his sweat. She sees that he is concerned about her which made her heart skipped a beat. She smiled at him, “hey it must be really hot for you to sit here with me after practice, just go home and get some rest.”

He knows that she is putting up a tough front, no one would be resilient enough to survive two unsuccessful debut experiences. But maybe, maybe she doesn’t think they are close enough for him to stay here with her yet, or maybe she just wants some lone time. He nodded and asked, “but you’ll be ok right?” She smiled and joked, “just go, I’m ok I’m just gonna sit here and skip some practice when I can do it with an excuse.”

Matthew smiled and waved goodbye. After a few steps, he turned around, “hey, let me give you my phone number.” Somin turned around with a confused look, Matthew went on and said, “you know, if one day you feel like asking someone to just hang and have ice cream or some cold drinks just ask me, Matthew the biggest sweet tooth/ the nicest guy will be totally up for it.” She chuckled and passed him her phone. He entered his phone number and returned it to Somin and left. Somin looked at his mascular back and read what he saved his contact as:

“Big Matthew”

She smiled. He indeed is one of the people with biggest heart that she knows.