Before the call ended the night earlier, I considered cutting off my own tongue and throwing it into the trash bin so I could take back asking J to feature in my songs. I always considered myself to be an idiot of sorts. But last night was the one night I was happy to be an idiot for a second. Hearing J say 'Of course' with excitement in his voice made me jump up and down on my own bed--the bed's spring made so much noise it ended up waking my neighbors and I had to hear them complain behind the thin walls. 

Back to work at Angel-in-us, I'm in a better mood today than most days. When a person gets enough sleep, it changes a lot. 

"I'm glad there aren't many people now."

Hoseok makes his comment while extending his arms above his head to stretch out his tensed muscles.

"Have you been dancing a lot, Hoseok-ah?" I hear Seokjin ask. 

"Yeah! You should try it, Seokjin-hyung. It's great exercise!"

"No thanks. I'd rather cook at home."

"For your new boyfriend perhaps?"

"What? What new boyfriend?"

"Heeeeeey, don't play with me! I know you found yourself a new beau. Am I right, Yoons?" 

I hear what is presumably a nickname that Hoseok has made up for me on-the-spot which, in return, I dislike. 

"What did I say about nicknames, Hoseok-ah?"

"...uuhh...don't make them?"

"Learn to follow along maybe?"

"Learn to not be so uptight maybe?"

"Yah!"

I'm about to take my ballpen to stab Hoseok with it but Seokjin swoops in the middle of us and blocks me from going near our playful and annoying co-worker who's laughing his off. Even sticking his tongue out at me, I do the same.

"It's like I'm working with children."

"Feels like three to me."

A fourth voice joins in the conversation. To our surprise, we turn to the direction where the voice came from and it's our manager. He had been watching us from a distance, after stepping in from the backroom door to behind the counter where we're all standing. We all stand in attention and place our hands in front of us, bowing slightly in apology. Our manager just raises his hand, and moves it back and forth with the back of his palm facing us. It's as if he's gesturing 'do what you want, I don't care'.

I bow again to add to the apology and eye Hoseok to get back to work, Seokjin does the same.

On this slow business day, I man the counter and wait for any customer to arrive. The cafe only serving a single customer, who already has their drink and pastry on the table, I place my attention to the notepad beside the counter. The notepad has notes, doodles, scribbles I make while deep in thought. Anything I see, I write down as possible muse to the music I create. 

I flip the notepad to a clean page with only these words at the header "SERENDIPITY".

I have the melody in mind and even the music and beat ready. It plays in my head and I scribble words that hopefully can form lyrics in the end.

None of this is a coincidence
I'm just going with the flow

I jot down every word, every phrase I can think of with the song at the back of my mind. I continue to write lyrics, and I only imagine J as I go along.

Ever since the universe was first formed
Everything has been planned
Just let me love you

The words flow right out of me the moment J came to mind, as if this song has always been meant for him. I imagine J's voice as the Vocalist and my heart pounds at the thought of my music being sung by an Angel.

My Angel, My World
Just let me love you

Love me now, touch me now
Just let me love you

The first night J sang to me, my world was instantly altered. A night of darkness and nightmares, briefly it was peaceful. 

The world is different from yesterday
Just by your happiness

His call is the only one I wait for at night. Like how the winter cold calls for the warmth of spring, and spring blossoms wait for winter's return.

When you call me
I go to your flower
As if I've been waiting
We bloom until it's cold
 

"Yah! Yoongi! Customer!"

My train of thought cut short by the exclamation of my name, my Manager shouts and tells me a customer is in line waiting to order.

Although my day started with very few customers, it ended with a mass of people desparate for coffee in their system. The only peace I had were the 15-minutes of writing on my notepad and inspiration thanks to J. My mind has been completely overtaken by him. His agreement to my request to record a song reignited the passion I had nearly lost in music. I was about to lose hope in my non-existent career but J's kindness made be reevaluate my near decision to quit.

As I'm walking home, I quicken my step. I'm sprinting back to my apartment so I can hurriedly work on recovering my laptop's data.

I input the password on my apartment door and zoom inside, leaving my bag at the front of the step. I hear the door close and lock behind me and search for my laptop. Among the clutter of clothes and open bags of chips, cartons, and plastic, I successfully find my samsung laptop on the floor next to an empty cup of ramyun. I grab the laptop and search for its charger next. I see it still plugged on the socket and plug the extension to the laptop. 

The laptop turns on after charging and I search for the song file. I dig through folders and folders of unfinished music and I find the file I need.

"Serendipity - No Lyrics.mp3". An incomplete song just 2 minutes 27 seconds long. I expect it to be about 4 minutes in length but without lyrics, I didn't know how to continue it. However, with inspiration overflowing, I open the song file and listen to recall.

I arrange the song and add the lyrics I had written earlier today. I fix in additional lines, albeit corny and oddly romantic, I could care less. I only await J's reaction to the song that had reawaken me.

I spent the last 3 hours stuck to my laptop, editing, re-editing, and deleting sounds and lyrics to the audio file. I work with what I have in my laptop but there's only so much I can edit with just a basic set-up. The time for J to call me draws near and the alarm finally wakes up. The clock strikes 10 in the evening. Seconds after the alarm of my sounded off, "Sleep Service" appears on the home screen.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Hyung!"

"Hey, J."

"How was your day?"

"It was okay."

"Just okay? Nothing exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing in particular. Except..."

"Ooh! Something happened! C'mon! Tell me!"

I go into detail how I spent some time drafting lyrics for the song which got me inspired. 

"You wrote lyrics, Hyung?! That's awesome! What was the inspiration?"

I freeze. Do I share with him that he's essentially my Muse? Is it not creepy to say so? I debate internally and stutter non-sense in the process.

"I-I... uh... the... well... inspiration is..."

"Hahahaha. You sound nervous, Hyung."

"You're making me nervous!"

"Hahaha. You're so cute."

"What?! Cute?!"

J just called me cute. Internally, I want to make a complaint. He just called me, a customer, cute. This isn't a comment one would expect to hear over the phone by a person who they never met in person-- a comment made by a person who's supposed to pay attention to their manner of speaking with a customer. I wanted to lash out since I don't enjoy being called cute in general but hearing J's laughter curbs my desire to snap. The way his giggle echoes. The way he becomes out of breath after laughing so much, the volume of his laugh diminishes until he inhales again. It's not me that's cute... it's J.

"J, would you like to listen to the guide song¹ I made?"

"Of course!"

I set down my phone and reach for my laptop which had been at the foot of my bed since the beginning of the call. I reach over and pull it towards me, the charger disconnecting from its socket; however, I have no worry since the battery was in a hundren percent capacity. I open the audio file with my voice as the guide. I warn J, jokingly, that I am not the best singer. He laughs and rebuts saying I don't give myself enough credit for my talent. We agree to disagree and I play the song for him. 

As the song plays for two-and-a-half minutes, not a word escapes J's mouth. No utterance, no sound. I fear that he hates it. There's a growth of expected dissatisfaction which I expect. Call me pessmistic, but I don't expect anything positive if J's not saying a single word while listening. 

Is my song that bad? Is music not for me at all?

Althroughout my episode of uneasiness, a glimmer of hope presents itself in a voice. 

He clumsily sings back to me the same lyrics and melody which I assume he wrote them down while listening to the guide. Without a word about the song itself, J continues to hum along.

"I like the song, Hyung! You're an amazing music producer!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes!!"

"Then why were you so silent while listening?"

"I was enjoying it. I didn't want to ruin the vibe by talking."

When he said that, I was overjoyed. His positive review of my song made me feel at ease. If he were to add his vocal color to my music, it'd be the combination I could only dream of.

"Hyung, does my voice sound okay?"

J asks me, uncertainty filling his mind. I reassure him that it's fine. He doesn't need to sing perfectly since this is only a sample. I encourage him again and tell him it'll turn out great no matter what. I don't see it but I'm sure he smiled back at me.

Although I don't have the rest of my equipment, all thanks to the bloody rain, I still made the song work. J sings over on speaker phone and a cheap USB mic attached to my laptop captures the audio and records it at full volume and maximum recording functionality. 

J sings back the lyrics to me as if he had been singing the song his entire life. Such professionalism, even though he's inexperienced. I stay quiet and let J sing the entire song. In impressive time, I press the button the stop recording and start piecing it together. I type and click away on my laptop, adjusting everything that I hear using my headphones. I feel guilty that I'm not saying a word back to J who's just waiting, I pre-warned him that once I'm in the groove, there's no stopping my editing. 

"Done," I say with a sigh of relief.

I hear J clapping at the other end.

"You work so fast!"

"Only because I have the best singer who didn't give me a hard time with it."

"Hehe. You flatter me. Can I listen to it now?"

All at once, I feel my stomach churn. I'm afraid of what J might say. Maybe he's just being nice earlier and only recorded the song to please me as his customer. Maybe the song actually sounds awful but he entertained my request and did it for the sake of completing tonight's sleep service. The entirety of my mind is filled with agonizing thoughts of dissatisfaction and letdown. It brings back memories of Daegu--

"Hyung, will you play the song for me?"

"Ah... sorry, J... I spaced out. I-I'll play it. Hold on."

The song plays. Again, J is silently listening. A melodic voice singing the lyrics I had written back to me. I find myself falling for hi----s voice. His voice. Yes, his voice is what I love. It's the voice of a professional singer in the making. 

"You're so talented, Yoongi-hyung."

"No no... I'm not."

"You seriously are."

There sits awkward silence. J is so kind, his constant compliments is something I am unaccustomed to. It's an odd feeling to have as a person with a dying passion--the sound of praise with an ounce of motivation.

"Will you promise me something, Hyung?"

"What is it?"

"That you'll continue making music."

"Eh? Continue? I... I dunno..."

"I know you like making music. I just don't want you to give up on your dreams. There's a lot more you're not telling me and you don't have to. Tell me when you're ready."

It's as if J is able to read what's on my mind. I'm hesitant to respond and even with such hesitation, he's able to see right through it. There is so much I wish I could share but I don't know what the limit is. J is learning more about me and in such a fast pace that time is just an illusion to me now. Each second I spend talking and listening to J, time freezes. He gives me all the reason to try to be better, and provides me comfort that's hard to find.

"Hey, J..."

"Yes, Hyung?"

"I'm actually traveling to Daegu tomorrow."

"Oh! That sounds fun! What's the occasion?"

"My Dad's Memorial."

"Your Dad's Mem-- oh my god, I'm so sorry! I said it was going to be fun. I'm so insensitive. Hyuuuuung, please don't be mad at meeeeeee."

"Haha. I'm not mad. Don't worry about it. Easy mistake to make."

"Does that mean you won't be available for a call tomorrow?"

"Yeah..."

"No big deal. I can fix that."

"Fix it? How?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow, Hyung. For now, we should get you to bed."

Like an obedient child, I listen to J and hide my laptop and other music-related attachments on the floor and any empty, clean space I find. I close the lights and lie down on my bed, head on my pillow and legs under the blanket. I close my eyes, concentrating on J's voice as he sings his lullaby. 

Goodnight, sweet Prince.
Goodnight, blue sky.
Goodnight is not the end
Goodnight is not goodbye

I'm here for you
I'm here always
Sleep well, sweet Prince
Tomorrow is a new day

The night ends, and a new day begins with the voice of an Angel. 

AUTHOR'S NOTES

1 - A Guide Song is a song with or without lyrics, but the melody recorded. Sometimes it may include lyrics but it's not always the case. A guide song is just to guide the singer who will record the official version.

AUTHOR'S COMMENTS

Hey, what's up everyone! I am incredibly sorry. It's been too long and I didn't mean to be on a long break... I'm sure a lot of you have forgotten this story exists. It's been an interesting year, I'd say. A lot has happened to me, to you, to BTS, to everyone! But I'm happy to announce that I'll be attempting to write again. I have this story I want to continue because the plot is my absolute favorite. I also have another YoonMin story in the works. With the holidays coming up, I think I'll have more time to write than I did before. Let's see, shall we? I apologize if this update is shorter compared to the rest of the chapters. My writing is rusty but I wanted to update after a long time. I promise I'll make the next chapter even better!

Meet you in the next chapter soon!