191230

The early morning shift is always the worst, but Seulgi only grinds her teeth as she gets out of bed. She feels a little disoriented but at least it is summertime, so it's not terribly cold on top of the unpleasant four o'clock at the crack of dawn.

The morning news broadcast starts at six but she has to be there at least an hour prior to going on air. She can't really complain; she has just been promoted, so of course she has to prove herself. She knows that she'll be getting the short end of the stick for as long her colleagues feel it's appropriate to exploit her circumstances or until a new person shows up, whichever comes first.

She braves through her morning routine. A quick shower and five minutes of stretching to get the blood pumping; a small sandwich for now and a bigger one to go. She makes a cup of coffee to drink at work, not knowing if the service crew will have had the time to stock up on the instant 3-in-1 packets before her shift starts. She puts on a light moisturiser and the clothes she prepared the night before. At four thirty am sharp she is out of the flat, hopping into the taxi already waiting for her. About fifteen more minutes and her day will officially begin.

The sound engineers seem to already be there – or at least Jaehyun, the youngest in their crew, is. Theirs is a relatively small radio station, so they do have a broadcast break of three hours between three and six am. Park Chanyeol, who often mans the night shifts during weekdays, would have long left by now. Some of the scripts are waiting on the table in the booth though, the testament to Jaehyun's diligence.

Seulgi greets him amicably once she's in the room, passing him by on the way to her work station. She's already left her personal belongings in the small office which she shares with a few workmates.
The man greets back and follows her, looking around nervously. Seulgi wants to snicker at his predicament, but this is pretty much a regular occurrence and has become a routine in the last few months. Jaehyun is not overtly young but it is his first job out of uni and so he often gets anxious over small details. It doesn't help that his supervisor and the most senior member of their team, Changmin, is of an opinion that one learns the best while hands on the job and therefore tends to leave the junior to his devices.

Seulgi notices that Jaehyun went as far as taking the trouble to reorganise the papers left the previous night and sweep the table and the microphone covers with a wet cloth.
She makes a mental note to tell Jongdae later - he'll have a laugh. He always likes to tease the new crew members, completely disregarding the fact that he himself was a fumbling mess when he first started. The thought brings a smile to Seulgi’s face for the first time this morning, though she does envy her boyfriend the simple luxury of staying in bed until at least eight, no care in the world.

The rest of the early morning is spent on quiet preparations, interrupted only by the few expected appearances of the staff and a writer with more scripts.

When the broadcast finally starts, Kang Seulgi is as confident as ever. In the few years it took her to get where she is now, she's learnt a thing or two about this job. Her voice carries through the microphone with the usual strength and grace she's always been complimented for. After the first fifteen minutes, she takes a sip of her coffee, eager to relieve the dryness of . She knows that she'll have to repeat the cycle six more times until nine am.

It’s the news broadcast at six thirty am – that's when it starts getting progressively worse. Seulgi’s throat unpleasantly contracts, forcing her to swallow down the sensation anyway in order to finish the reading. Once Changmin gives an okay to pause, she quickly stands up to stretch. It's hot, isn't it?, she mouths at Do Kyungsoo who enters right after the music break starts. He's the second announcer who runs the morning show alongside her, though his shift starts at seven and lasts until almost midday.

He shrugs, neither confirming not denying. It’s nothing new, though. He’s always been a man of few words.

Seulgi resolves to fanning herself with the spare notebook that she has found on the table until they have to go on air again. She doesn't feel a hundred percent any longer, but she says nothing as she sits down and quickly looks down at the scripts. Since nothing new has been added to the file last minute, she will repeat most of the same announcements that she already has in the last hour.

 Kyungsoo greets the listeners for the day and this time properly introduces the seven o'clock news, forcing the woman to focus for a little longer.

At eight, she has no choice but to motion at Jaehyun, apologetically asking him for some water. She doesn't like to order him around but he's the closest – bar Kyungsoo who's on the other side of the table, reading his script and sarcastically commenting on every bit of information he conveys, whether the script requires it or not. He couldn’t help her even if he noticed the plea.

The youngest sound engineer comes to the rescue, passing the bottle through the open door, one that Seulgi greedily gulps down. Only then does she realise that she is actually covered in cold sweat. However, the relief is but a momentary one. She only shakes her head at Kyungsoo's inquisitive gaze from across the room, not even able to articulate what's happening to her.

One more news report and I'll be free to lie down in the office and take some rest, she thinks to herself as she looks at the big digital clock hanging above the entrance to the booth. It is eight thirty nine am, and the seconds are running. She thinks that she hears Changmin say something to her, but despite having her headphones firmly on her head, it appears to come from afar. Kyungsoo too, he opens his lips to say something for real but the woman only sees them move, not really able to make out any meaning. Everything slows down.

Seulgi stands up, but is unable to prop herself straight. She reaches out in an attempt to hold on to the surface of the wooden table in front of her but it’s for nought.  Her palm only slides over it as she staggers sideways, losing balance and falling to the floor. The world turns black.

She comes around abruptly, drawing a deep, desperate breath. She's on the sofa in the common room, Jaehyun and another reporter from the Chinese section that Seulgi is vaguely familiar with (was it Zitao?) hovering over her with unsure expressions on their faces. The moment they notice her awakening, they look positively relieved.

Jaehyun rushes closer, helping her sit up when she makes the move to. The other man offers a bottle of water which she takes gratefully.

'What happened?' She finally rasps at no one in particular. Jaehyun winces.

‘You scared the heck out of us. Don’t you remember? You collapsed in the booth just now. Kyungsoo hyung caught you just in time.’

‘I-I’m…’ Seulgi is at a loss of what to say. She does remember the incident but it’s hard to process what and how this occurred. ‘How long was I out?’

‘Not long, a few minutes…’ Jaehyun replies unsurely. When Seulgi moves to look at the time – yet another digital clock, of which they have plenty around because what’s more important in a radio station than punctuality? – it’s already eight fifty three. That is not just a few minutes.

‘The news report!’ Seulgi momentarily remembers, starting at the realisation that there is no one left to do her job. She tries to stand up at once, but this time it’s Zitao who intervenes, gently placing a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from making additional movements and possibly injuring herself again.

‘They have already found somebody,’ he says, his voice low. Jaehyun nods.

‘Jihyo noona was already in the writers’ room about the ten o’clock news broadcast. Changmin sunbaenim asked me to get her immediately.’

Seulgi nods, a little resigned but mostly relieved. Never in a million years would she expect a situation like this, and yet the show must go on.

‘Do you need anything?’ The man asks again. ‘I’m so sorry, I need to get back to the broadcast room, there’s not enough people in there right now. Tao hyung can stay for a while, can’t you?’ Zitao nods silently but Seulgi quickly dismisses them both with a pained smile.

‘I’ll go to my office to rest for a while. I’m sure it’s nothing. But-‘ A grip on Jaehyun’s sleeve stops him mid-way and he turns around to face the woman again. ‘Just don’t say anything to Jongdae if you see him today, I beg you.’

Jaehyun frowns, not knowing what to say to that.

‘I mean… I won’t if you don’t want me to but it might be a little too late for such promises. It was not just me in that room, you know. Not to mention the few people who have passed us by once you were lying here unconscious. I almost called the ambulance myself.’

Seulgi sighs. Of course. If not Kyungsoo then certainly Changmin would eventually notify either Seungwan or Jongdae, the two people she is closest to. They would have no choice but to. 

‘Fine, never mind.’ The woman gives up. ‘I’ll go rest for a bit and then take a taxi to the hospital. I was going to get a check-up anyway.’ It’s a lie – she had no such intentions but now it will be impossible to avoid it. Both her boyfriend and her roommate will be on her case until she does.

'If I knew how much you eat, I'd have never offered to pay,' Seungwan jokes to lighten up the atmosphere between them.

Looking at Kim Yerim eat her food of choice (today it's a burger - a second one within the last 20 minutes) is a spectacle which can evoke both amazement and a slight disbelief. Seungwan has already learnt this much during their first meeting. Awkward and still mildly regretful of her rush decision to reach out to the younger, the two spent the majority of their meeting avoiding each other's gaze and chewing on their ramyeon as quietly as possible.

To be honest, if things continue this way, they might as well stop trying to build something which was perhaps never meant to be built in the first place. Seungwan initially thought that as persistent as Yerim has been, she'd be the first one to start talking and then blabber about everything and nothing just to keep the conversation going. But after the first, short lived wave of boldness, the younger's personality turned out to be quite introvert. There also seem to be many topics which either Seungwan is ambivalent about raising or Yerim unwilling to discuss. That left them staring at one another and loudly slurping their noodles last Monday afternoon.

'I could have paid for our food today,' the girl defends, pushing her long hair out of her face.

'You don't have any money,' Seungwan reminds her. It is, of course, not true but Yerim understands the implication anyway. Yerim's debit card belongs to her mother and Seungwan will not take anything from the woman.

They sit in silence for a while longer. Coming to Lotteria was Yerim's choice - partly due to her junk food craving but also the close enough proximity to her school which she has to go back to for her cram classes later in the evening.

'I'll probably have to get going soon,' Seungwan says, looking out the window. The joint is located right at one of the busiest crossings so it is constantly alive with activity. 'I still have to look over the scripts before my broadcast.'

Yerim looks up, finally showing signs of paying attention beyond mindless chewing.

'I don't know what to say,' she admits randomly, never breaking the stare.

'Oh, there's nothing to really say to that-'

'I mean, I don't know what to say to you. I guess I thought... It'd be different.'

'How?' Seungwan asks after a moment of no further comment – she gets it now. Yerim shrugs but it's not an uncaring shrug. It instead betrays her anxiety.

'I don't know.'

Seungwan can only suspect the meaning behind the words, seeing how Yerim once again lowers her gaze to her sandwich.

She picked the younger up from the school's back gate where unsurprisingly, she had been standing with the boy that Seungwan was already slowly becoming familiar with – Lee Donghyuk. They'd smoked, no doubt about it – both reeked of menthol mixed with tabaco and Seungwan couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in displeasure. But there was no point lecturing either of them – Seungwan has a feeling that if there is any resemblance at all between herself and her half-sister, it is that nobody can make them do something that they aren't willing to.

The boy then nodded at Seungwan in greeting and then at Yerim in good-bye, passing her the bag he'd had on his other arm. He left.

'You don't make friends easily, do you?' Seungwan's question sounds more like a statement. It's a roundabout way of saying, You don't seem to have any friends.

Yerim looks up sharply, a little bit of scorn and a little bit of embarrassment marring her features all at once.

'Apart from that non-boyfriend of yours, that is.'

'People in my year are all idiots. Can't help they're all envious of me. Not like I need them anyway.'

She doesn't elaborate on why exactly she'd be the subject of envy of other students and Seungwan doesn't ask. All that is said with an air of indifference that at first glance would seem nothing more, but perhaps due to Seungwan's own personality, she can quite easily recognise for what it really is. Loneliness. Unhappiness.

Why else would a girl like Kim Yerim, who seems to have everything and more, look for somebody like Son Seungwan, especially knowing the complicated relationship between them? The answer is quite obvious now. Quite frankly, at this point Seungwan simply pities Yerim, which is probably why she still hasn't left, despite the progressing awkwardness.

'Can I come and hang out while you work?' Yerim asks out of the blue. Seungwan frowns. It'd be relatively easy to explain to her workmates who Yerim is without actually telling them the truth, but...

'Aren't you supposed to be in class soon? I don't think it's a good idea to skip.'

Yerim moulds the response over in her head, probably weighing down whether or not it's worth it. The school is bound to call her parents and that can potentially quickly turn into a familial argument.

'Whoever invented summer courses...' She grumbles but doesn't say anything else, thus settling the matter.

'Is there anything you actually like to study?' Seungwan questions, pushing her unfinished packet of chips towards the other girl. Yerim hesitates for a moment but eventually replies quietly,

'I used to like art but my mother made me drop the subject this year. Says I won't have any need for it on my application to law school.'

'That's a shame. Do you like music?' The other nods. 'What kind of music?'

'Rock, classical.' Yerim shrugs.

'You play anything?' She shrugs again at another question.

'Violin. Had to stop this year as well. Otherwise I wouldn't have enough time for cram school.'

Seungwan quietly sighs. She's not even surprised. Yerim is not the first and certainly not the last victim of overbearing parental care.

The lull in their conversation after the statement is inevitable; after all, there is nothing much Seungwan can say – without mentioning her mother – that would console the younger student.

'I play guitar... Well, just a little bit. But I can show you some time if you'd like,' she offers instead.
It's the first time this afternoon when Yerim's eyes brim with genuine interest, and maybe also a dab of admiration. She sits up straighter.

'For real?'

'Uhm, yeah, sure.'

It's harder than expected, to bond with a teen much younger than herself and with so many obstacles preventing the usual conversation flow. But maybe a common activity with bring them closer together, to afford the time for both to open up. It's not a bad idea. It's a start and maybe even a lifeline to save this ship from sinking before it has even left the shore.

'You can stop by my flat when you have some time. I'll ask a friend, he has a spare guitar I can borrow for you. But I don't really know that much, I normally mostly play chords by ear.'

'That's alright. It doesn't matter.' Seungwan can tell that Yerim is willing to cling onto any given excuse to continue this relationship but straight out talking is too much too soon right now.
They finish their food and Yerim walks Seungwan to the subway entrance.

'By the way...' Seungwan stops just before the staircase down. Yerim looks at her in question. 'That friend of yours... Donghyuk. He's not in some kind of gang, is he?' Yerim frowns, snickering after a moment of disbelief.

'What are you talking about?' Seungwan shrugs innocently.

'I don't know. He seems like a guy from the wrong side of tracks, the smoking and all. I get it, girls like bad boys.’ Yerim winces at the statement. Seungwan clears . ‘Anyway, I just wanna know in advance if I'll have to deal with some angst later.'

It's Seungwan's way of showing worry without out rightly saying that she fears he's bad influence. She also doesn't want to lecture the person she technically barely knows but caring, even for strangers, comes naturally to her. She just doesn’t know if Yerim will appreciate it when said straightforwardly.

Her half-sister quietly chuckles at the comment, looking at Seungwan mostly in amusement.

'Depends,' she finally replies. 'His father is the mayor of Busan and they do say that politicians are all a bunch of gangsters.'

Park Sooyoung is usually one of the first ones to arrive to the Wednesday night dance class. The main reason behind such decision is that she simply doesn’t have a stable partner to pair up with, so coming early at least secures her the first pick in the already drastically shallow pool of single men that tend to show up to such events. She has lost hope to find a boyfriend here – after all, not many unattached (and more importantly heteroual) men would say that this was their first choice of evening entertainment. But from time to time, a nice gay man or an elderly gentleman sign up to participate and Sooyoung is not ashamed to say that she virtually pounces on their company.

She has never been deterred by a lack of opportunities, mostly because she tends to assertively create her own.

The last few weeks have been different, though. A man appeared out of nowhere and it’s a man who is not half bad looking, even if the attractive shy smiles on his lips are few and far between. He dances really, really well though he claims to be a beginner at salsa. Not much older than her and not attached, if the reluctant reply that she weaselled out of him the other week is any indication.

And Sooyoung has had a really rough dating year – or perhaps a decade if one were to be precise. Her first boyfriend cheated on her, while her second turned out to be a foot ist which is not something that she is particularly into and so things just got progressively weirder from there. The guy she dated for two years in between graduation and employment (and which most of her friends abhorred for his indecisiveness and lack of initiative, so different from Sooyoung’s own personality) broke up with her the night she thought he was going to propose. Since then it’s just been a string of really bad Tinder dates and bizarre sogaetings set up by her university companions who at this point are all married and simply pity her.

And there is nothing worse than going on a date with a friend’s younger cousin just because he’s the only available person that they can think of. It’s a miracle that Sooyoung has remained positive for as long as she has.

When the man walks through the door roughly five minutes before the start of the class, Sooyoung wastes no time approaching him. She gets to him just as he carefully folds his formal jacket – he no doubt came straight from work.

‘Sungjae-sshi,’ she greets, sending him her best smile. The man sends her a small, albeit pained looking smile in return.

In the last few weeks, her shameless flirting must have given him a bit of a headache, at least that’s what it looks like. However, whether it’s of a bad kind remains to be seen. Sooyoung knows when she’s not welcome and she’s not desperate, she can easily get the hint. But Yook Sungjae has never once out rightly rejected her company or looked uncomfortable at her remarks. If anything, he always looks rather conflicted, as if undecided what to do with her rather obvious interest towards himself. Sooyoung will take that.

‘Care to partner up with me tonight?’ He merely nods and gestures at the dance floor where the other participants are already gathering.

‘Are you sure you’re new to this? You dance very well.’ It’s true that Sooyoung doesn’t like wasting time but more than that, she really dislikes awkwardness. She is not about to allow a ninety minute silence stretch in between them.

The man only sends her another smile.

‘You’re too kind.’

‘No, no. It’s true. I hope you stay until the end of the course, then I’ll have somebody to dance with who doesn’t stomp on my toes every three steps.’ She makes a face at him to which he genuinely laughs.

‘You’re funny,’ he admits to which she shrugs.

‘I know.’ The self-assured statement makes him laugh harder.

‘It’s only for a few weeks,’ he eventually replies quietly. ‘I’m the best man at one of my friends’ wedding and they insist that I dance a Latin dance with the bridesmaid as part of the reception entertainment.’

Oh.

‘So… where’s the bridesmaid?’ This time it’s Yook Sungjae who makes a face.

‘In Ontario, Canada. Arriving two days before the big day.’

Sooyoung bursts out laughing much sooner than the ironic suspense would call for it but she cannot help it. The man only nods, completely understanding her reaction.

‘How is that going to work?’

‘I’ll learn the steps and hope for the best?’

‘Well, if you care for some help, I’m here for you,’ Sooyoung replies, not bothered by how eager she sounds.

‘Oh... Thank you.’ He averts his gaze. Sooyoung inwardly sighs. She doesn’t know what it is that holds him back from sending her clear signals, whichever way they might be.

When they finish the class an hour and a half later, the man retrieves his jacket from the nearby chair and nods in goodbye before quickly leaving. Sooyoung grabs her bag and the bottled drink she brought and hastens her steps to catch up with him.

‘Sungjae-sshi.’ This is becoming a little embarrassing, even Sooyoung has to admit that. ‘I meant it. We can meet to practice together if you’d like.’

They’re already on the parking lot when she reaches his pace. He turns to her, nodding.

‘Thank you for the offer, but I think it should be fine.’

‘Well, then…’ It looks like she will really need to swallow her pride with this one and just go for it. It’s been three weeks. ‘How about a coffee some time?’

He stops at the words, the pained smile back on his face. Before he has the sense to speak, a little girl runs up to them, hugging Sungjae’s legs.

‘Appa!’ The man looks between the girl and Sooyoung, now completely resigned. Sooyoung’s brain shuts out.

‘Appa..?’ She whispers before she can stop herself. She also sees an older woman a few feet away, smiling at them. ‘You said you’re not married.’ The words come out harsher than Sooyoung intends for them to but taken by complete surprise, she forgets her etiquette.

Sungjae sighs.

‘I’m not,’ he replies, leaning forward and hoisting the toddler up. ‘Byulyi-yah, were you a good girl for grandma?’ The girls nods.

When he notices that Sooyoung is still there, frozen, he sighs again.

‘I’m sorry if I… Anyway, it’s just very complicated right now. Believe me, you don’t want to have anything to do with me and with this.’ When Sooyoung remains speechless, he can only add. ‘I will see you next week... I hope.’

A/N: I hope all of you who celebrate it have had a good Christmas and all the best for the New Year. New decade, huh? I'd still like to believe that such a round number means something so I'll probably sit down tomorrow and write up my resolutions. Though the only one that comes to mind after the series of tragedies from the last few months is, Live my life and don't hold back any longer. I think I'd like to wish this to all of my readers as well. Less hestiation, more courage, my friends.

Since we already have too many nct guys crawling in this fanfic, I took the liberty to insert the only k-pop man whom I thought was somewhat appropriate to be written alongside Joy and who has not yet done anything for me to start hating him (bless BTOB).

Please, comment and upvote if you like. See you next year~

Title: Melee - Rhythm of Rain