Almost two weeks since Chanyeol moved to Jindo Island, the summer school holidays began in mid-July and Jongin began staying at home during the day more often than before. In fact, Jongin was almost always at Kyungsoo’s home if he wasn’t out doing whatever it was he usually did outside.

Chanyeol wouldn’t have mind that at all if it weren’t for the fact that Jongin was actually distracting his work.

Chanyeol spent all day in his room, alone, while he recorded and worked on writing new songs. In the past week since he came up with the 7-second snippet he was actually quite proud of, he hadn’t actually made further progress than that.

What he had come up with was barely even 30 seconds long and although it could and had potential to be worked on, Chanyeol still found it very difficult and he actually felt hesitant of continuing further with it.

Chanyeol was so afraid that his expectations and goals wouldn’t equally translate to the final finished product. He was fearful of the impending disappointment he might or might not feel when it was completed, because it would have been for nothing.

Chanyeol had big expectations and this new song he would release could either make or break the rest of his entire career in the music industry after the plagiarizing scandal he was guilty of.

If the song flopped, Chanyeol would forever be remembered as a plagiarizer with no songwriting talent or skills. No artists or record labels would be interested in collaborating with him or would even want to be associated with his name.

However, if it was a hit and successful, Chanyeol would redeem himself in the eyes of the public, the artists, the fans and even his own record label who was basically dissociating themselves from him to save face.

Chanyeol had to really make it big or go home. Chanyeol had even begun to wonder what it is he would do if he had to retire as a music producer or a songwriter.

He didn’t really possess any other marketable skills which weren’t music related. With a tarnished name and if he couldn’t clear it up, he would be jobless in an industry that relied heavily on connections and reputation.

Chanyeol was actually miserable and very much afraid of the thought of being jobless and he even thought of maybe just permanently moving to Jindo Island and becoming a farmer or fisherman if all else failed.

At least most of the people here didn’t actually knew him or cared about his scandal, so he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed if he was recognized by people as that music producer who plagiarized and had it cost his entire career.

Although the thought of it was scary, it hadn’t happened yet and Chanyeol still had the time and opportunity to make a comeback in this fast-paced and oversaturated industry while he was still ahead.

Now, Chanyeol had this one hurdle to get over, and that was Jongin loudly blasting music over his phone and Bluetooth speakers in the living room just outside of Chanyeol’s room.

Chanyeol needed silence with minimal to no background noise while he was recording and that wasn’t possible since Jongin was at home during the day because of the summer break.

This hadn’t been a problem when Chanyeol was home alone during the day, while Kyungsoo was out at sea and Jongin was at school.

For the past few hours, Chanyeol had been procrastinating and occupying himself with different things, hoping that Jongin would turn off his music and quiet down eventually. That never happened though and by noon, Jongin was still blasting his music loudly

Furthermore, Chanyeol didn’t want to be that cranky adult who kept telling the kids to quiet down and stop having fun because he needed to work, but he really needed to do that now.

It did make Chanyeol realize he was getting quite old. In fact, if he had been a young father, he would be old enough to be Jongin’s father now.

Chanyeol certainly didn’t want to be a killjoy because he had hated it too when he was having fun as a child and the adults would tell him to stop because they needed to do something.

Chanyeol had to do it though and with a heavy sigh, he got up from his chair and left the room to find that Jongin was doing some floor dance moves in the living room.

Jongin had pushed aside the low table and the pillows they use to sit on, so he could have more space as he was practicing some sort of dance move Chanyeol couldn't bother to know.

The music from his phone and connected to his Bluetooth speakers were still blasting a dance beat very loud on maximum volume. It was even louder outside here, Chanyeol found out.

“Oh hey,” Jongin greeted Chanyeol, continuing his dance moves until the track ended just a few seconds after. Only then, Jongin got up to pause his playlist as he stood up facing Chanyeol, sweating and slightly panting.

Chanyeol had his hands in the pockets of his shorts as he nodded back at Jongin, trying to figure out what to say and as nicely as possible.

“So yeah, what’s up?” Jongin asked, with his hands on his hips as he was steadying his breathing, dressed in just a wife beater and shorts, “Do you need me to go to the store for something?”

“No, not really,” Chanyeol flustered a bit. He actually held on tight to the reputation of wanting to be that cool, relatable adult whom the kids and teenagers could hang out with and admire. Chanyeol chose to talk about another subject instead, “I’ve been hearing you play music all day. I’ve just been wondering what you are up to.”

“I’m practicing for a dance competition that is going to be held in a few weeks time. It’s going to be held in Mokpo and it's going to be the biggest event in the South Jeolla province. I’ve heard that some famous choreographers from Seoul are going to come here and scout some talent too,” Jongin quickly answered, sounding eager and excited.

“I see,” Chanyeol understood, “So that’s what you’ve been up to. Are you really interested in dancing?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jongin’s face lit up, “I get dance lessons from the performing arts center here since there are no dance schools on the island and I’m the secretary of the dance club at school too. It’s pretty small though, there are just six members including me.” Jongin then took his phone off from the tabletop and opened some videos to show Chanyeol, “Here are some of our dance covers. We even covered a song you composed for CBX too.”

Chanyeol went “Oh”, and tried his best to not look disinterested when Jongin was beaming and excitedly showing Chanyeol his dance covers together with his group from school.  

“You’re pretty good,” Chanyeol had to admit. He didn’t know much about dance but he had seen many in his career and Jongin certainly had the potential for dancing, from the looks of it.

“Thanks,” Jongin continued smiling wide, happily swiping for more clips to show to Chanyeol as he explained the next video, “Oh, this is the one of me dancing with the troupe from the performing arts center here.”

This time, Chanyeol was actually genuinely interested in what was being shown to him. He hadn’t suddenly gained an interest in dancing but he was very fascinated for the song that was being played in the background of the video of Jongin dancing with his troupe from the local performing arts center.

The song in the background of the video was being played over a computer but it was a traditional instrumental track that was often played live with also traditional Korean instruments.

Chanyeol had never heard of this song but he liked the tempo and the drum beats accompanying it in the background even from the first listen.

“Wait,” Chanyeol halted, pausing the video and then turning to Jongin, “What was the song playing in the background? Do you know the name or the artist who recorded it?”

Jongin shrugged, “I don’t think the song even has a name. It’s in this compilation CD at the performing arts center which was recorded by the musicians from there. We just practice dances from the songs.”

“From the performing arts center on this island, you mean?” Chanyeol asked further.

“Yeah,” Jongin confirmed, “Why do you ask?”

“Can you find me the person who recorded this song if I go to the performing arts center?” Chanyeol questioned.

“Like, today?” Jongin tilted his head slightly.

“Yeah, today is good too if that’s possible or even tomorrow. Can you take me there?” Chanyeol sounded growingly impatient.

“I don’t know about that,” Jongin rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from Chanyeol, “The performing arts center is pretty far away. We can’t get there on my bike because it’s on the side of a mountain and the bus doesn’t stop there either. You’d have to tell Kyungsoo-hyung to bring you there. It’s his off day tomorrow.”

“So Kyungsoo can help me find this person there?” Chanyeol continued to ask.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure, to be honest,” Jongin revealed, “Some of the songs are really old and were recorded ten to twenty years ago. I can’t even tell you if the person who recorded the song is still alive today. Besides, why do you want to find the artist so badly?”

“It’s a songwriting thing. You probably won’t understand-” Chanyeol tried to explain as he rambled on, “-but I believe that this is what I need and if I can talk to the artist, I can find some inspiration or use it a sample for my work. But this time I will make credits where it is due of course so nobody accuses me of plagiarizing. This is just what I need in this industry which is currently obsessed with electronic music. Incorporating traditional samples and blending it with a new genre is new and quite unheard of, so it is time to show them that I am still indeed original.”

“Uh…,” Jongin was at a loss of words to say, “Good for you, I guess.”

“Yes, it’s good indeed!” Chanyeol exclaimed, forgetting the real reason why had came out of his room in the first place.

Chanyeol quickly left and returned to his room, shutting the door and putting his headphones on as he discarded the thought of needing the silence to record, choosing to busy himself with the music producing software as he came up with a new catchy beat which he already envisioned to be a hit.

Jongin didn’t understand any of that for sure but he didn’t feel like it concerned him anyway. Jongin quickly returned to practicing his dance in the living room, with his song playing over the Bluetooth speakers but less loud this time.

Jongin left the house a few hours later, leaving the house in entire silence like the way Chanyeol wanted it to be. Except, Chanyeol was too busy blasting his own music over his headphones while crouched in front of his computer trying to work very hard and come up with something.

In the evening, Kyungsoo came home with containers of already cooked food from one fisherman’s wife who had made extra to give away, which they did on a regular basis. In return, Kyungsoo gave away some of the fish he had caught that day.

Not needing to cook, Kyungsoo only needed to lay out some plates and cups for them to have dinner with when he got home.

Jongin usually took care of the chores such as sweeping, wiping, laundry and occasionally mopping when needed, in exchange for staying there, so Kyungsoo didn’t need to do much that evening.

Jongin didn’t come home for dinner that evening so it was just Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, although they left some food for Jongin later on when he got back.

After they were done eating, Chanyeol helped to clean up while Kyungsoo did the dishes.

Kyungsoo finished doing the dishes even faster than it took Chanyeol to wipe the table, clear away the bits of food that dropped on the floor and then sweep the living room.

While Chanyeol was still sweeping out the dust on the floor all the way out to the porch outside, Kyungsoo was sitting on the platform outside the door while he was picking away at his teeth with a toothpick.

Near the door where Kyungsoo was relaxing at, Chanyeol stopped sweeping for a moment and while he still had the broom in his hand, he brought up the request he had been intending to ask Kyungsoo all day.

“You’re not working tomorrow, right?” Chanyeol started the conversation.

“Yeah, I take a day off once or twice a week,” Kyungsoo answered.

“So that means you’re free tomorrow?” Chanyeol inquired.

“I will be, why?” Kyungsoo looked up at Chanyeol standing beside him, pushing his head back to look.

“I was wondering if you could take me to the performing arts center tomorrow. I heard this song from Jongin’s phone which was recorded there and I’d like to find whoever wrote or performed the original song,” Chanyeol replied, still gripping the pole of the broom with both hands.

“Oh, the Namdo performing arts center where Jongin goes to,” Kyungsoo understood as he nodded along.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Chanyeol affirmed. He had looked up the place online too after Jongin mentioned it. 

“Sure, I can take you there tomorrow. What time would you like to go?” Kyungsoo smiled, chuckling a little as he continued to look up towards Chanyeol.

“Is eleven to twelve noon alright with you?” Chanyeol suggested.

“Of course, we’ll go around that time then,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“Yes,” Chanyeol pumped a fist, feeling a whole lot prospective already, “Thank you so much.”

“No problem. I’m not doing anything tomorrow anyway so I might as well show you around the island,” Kyungsoo smiled back.

“Speaking of which, where is Jongin? Did he go back to your parent’s place?” Chanyeol questioned, looking out from their bright porch and over the wooden fence towards the small road which was dark at night, lit by several and spaced apart street lamps.

“Nah, he’s probably over at a friend’s house to practice for this dance competition,” Kyungsoo revealed, “He won’t be going home to our parent’s place anytime soon.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol reacted, choosing not to say or ask anything further, remembering that Kyungsoo said something about their parents still being mad at Jongin for something he didn’t want to talk about.

The last thing Chanyeol wanted to do now was to be involved in some family drama or dispute he knew neither head nor tails about.  

The following morning at half-past eleven, after breakfast and a few hours relaxing at home, Chanyeol hopped into the passenger seat of Kyungsoo’s truck as the younger man drove them down to the island’s performing arts center.

Jongin had slept over at his friend’s house and was still there that day so the house was left empty while they were gone.

The performing arts center was located on the other side of the island from where Kyungsoo’s house was at. The drive there, even on empty roads with barely existent traffic on the island took at least half an hour before they arrived.

Jongin was right about the performing arts center being on the skirts of a mountain. There was a rather inclined but well paved and built road leading up to the center, which was almost impossible for someone on a bicycle to get there with unless they decided to walk up.

The buil