“Are you going somewhere?” 

I startled when Jaera appeared in the doorway to my room. I put down the mascara I was about to use and turned my head way from the mirror in favor of looking up to her. 

“I’m going the post office and then meet up with Chanyeol.” 

“I see.” My housemate invited herself in my room and kneeled next to me on the ground. Before I could react, she pulled the mascara out of my hands. “You have long lashes already; you don’t need this. But you could use some contouring. Can I?” 

“Yes.” 

I remained unmoving as Jaera opened up the contouring palette I never use. She picked up some of the lightest shade with a brush and started applying it on my face. 

I watched her work silently. In my head, however, I was busy with thoughts. 

The night before passed with too much pizza and one too many She Was Pretty* episodes to talk. I usually wouldn’t mind the latter: it feels really great sometimes to just sit down, eat and watch something. But this time it didn’t feel right: the more time passed, the heavier the weight of holding back became. 

“You’re so fair, even this shade is a little dark for you.” Jaera murmured under her breath. The of the brush were tickling on my skin. “Don’t move.” 

“I’m trying.” 

“Do you want to put on lipstick or tint?” 

I didn’t even have to think. 

“No, I will forget about it and smear it across my face the first second.” 

My housemate smirked. 

“Wise choice. I’ll put some blush on you though. You look like a ghost right now.” 

My everyday look is Ghost Number Two from any Korean horror movie ever. I nodded encouragingly. 

“Okay.” 

I was waiting with my words until she finished. When she put the palette down to look for blush, I cleared my throat. 

“So, did Baekhyun talk to you?” 

“Not yet. I told him to just get on with it but he keeps postponing. He tells me it’s because of a test or whatever, but I don’t believe him. I know him. He’s ting his pants, he just, for some reason, doesn’t want to admit it.” Jaera shared, eyes fixated on the different shades of pink in the compartment. 

I scanned her face for any sign of disturb but I found none. From her words and her expression, it seemed like Jaera is curious what Baekhyun is about but she’s not too worried about it. Definitely not freaked out, as she said in her message last night. 

This observation gave me the final push I’d just needed. 

“He said he thinks he misses you.” 

Hearing it out loud, it wasn’t the best way to phrase it. 

“Does he, now? Funny. We hang out the day before yesterday.” 

“No, he...” I paused for a second, unsure if Jaera is playing stupid and if she does, I should press the topic or let it go. I continued carefully. “He asked me if you’re seeing anyone and if he should talk to you or not. I said he should because he seemed really lost.” 

Jaera swiped the apples of my cheek with the brush and lightly turned my face towards the mirror with a finger on my chin. My reflection showed a healthy-looking girl now but with an ugly frown across her forehead. 

“If you keep frowning, you’ll have wrinkles sooner than you’d like.” Jaera pointed out before asking. “Did Baekhyun ask you to tell me this?” 

"No. But I thought you should know.” 

I started to feel stupid I even brought the topic up. Apparently Jaera didn’t find it such a big thing. Nonetheless I broke my promise to Baekhyun. Did I just make a fool out of myself? 

Before I could sink in my swamp of misery, Jaera lightly backhugged me and resting her chin on my shoulder, made eye contact with me in the mirror. 

“I can almost hear you thinking.” 

“No, you can’t.” 

“You’d be surprised by how expressive your face is. It has “I ed up” written all over it right now.” Jaera said with a chuckle. “It’s okay, Bina. You made no harm. At least now I know why he’s acting like that... And it makes sense he told you.” 

“It does? How?” I asked, ridiculed. 

“You’re oozing this ‘you-can-tell-me-anything' aura. It’s hard to keep secrets from you.” 

“You’re doing well though.” 

“I have talent.” Jaera remarked flippantly and scooted back on the floor. “You’re going to the post office, you said?” 

“Yes.” 

“I have a letter to send. Would you take it for me?” 

“Of course.” 

While Jaera went to fetch the letter from her room, I stayed in front of the mirror, conflicted. Thanks to my intervention, Jaera knows what Baekhyun wants but... what now? As opposed as I was to the idea at first, now that I was involved, I was curious what will happen. Of course, Jaera didn’t give me an answer – only Baekhyun needs to hear that. Regardless, I felt disappointed. And I hated it. This is not my business, I told myself and moved to my dresser to change my clothes. 

My housemate re-appeared when I was putting in my earrings. 

“I finally found it!” Jaera exclaimed and put the letter on the table. She broke into a smile when she looked at me. “That’s a nice sweater. Is it new?” 

“Yes, thanks.” 

It was beige and scattered with different types of butterfly, form-fitting yet comfortable. It was love at first sight in the shop. 

“You look great in it.” 

I turned to her eyebrows raised. There was something ambiguous in her tone.  I was about to ask what is up but the doorbell stopped me. 

“I’ll answer it.” Jaera said and went to the door. A few seconds later she loudly exclaimed. “Kim Sabina, you have guests!” 

After one look in the mirror (that blush worked wonders!), I swiftly exited the room. 

To my pleasant surprise, I found Jongdae in the kitchen. 

“Hi!” 

“Hello, Bina!” Jongdae chuckled and returned the light hug I gave him. On his right a small girl stood whom I was yet to meet. “Sunyoung, here is Bina. Bina, this is Sunyoung. She’s older than you.” 

“Hi, unnie.” 

“Hi, Bina.” Sunyoung exclaimed before elbowing Jongdae in the rib. “Did you really have to mention my age? You’re horrible.” 

“What, I just wanted to get it out of the way!” 

I chuckled at their banter. 

“What can I help you with?” 

I occasionally help Jongdae out with translating: he’s a Media student so for his research he needs to read a lot of articles and studies in English. He speaks some but when he finds something beyond his level, he comes to me. (And if it’s beyond my understanding too, we hit up the internet and trying to make it work.) 

Jongdae looked a little sheepish as he spoke up. 

“Sunyoung and I are doing a presentation together and one of our sources is giving us some problems.” 

“By that he means we don’t understand a thing from an article and we need someone who’s better at English.” Sunyoung took over then flashed an awkward smile at me. “Sorry we just came over like this. If you don’t have time now, we can come back on Thursday. It isn’t due until next week.” 

I opened my mouth to give my response but quickly closed it as I saw Jaera slowly shaking her head behind Jongdae and Sunyoung. I immediately understood why she did that – I tend to have priority issues. If it wasn’t for her, I might have stayed with Jongdae and Sunyoung, even though I promised Chanyeol I’ll make a visit. I reminded myself I’ll thank Jaera later for her mindfulness. 

“I have a few errands to run but Thursday is okay. As to when exactly, we can schedule it later.” 

“Thanks, Bina, I knew we can count on you!” Jongdae grinned. 

Sunyoung rolled her eyes at him. 

“Thank you. We’ll better get going.” 

“Let’s go together! I’m leaving now too.” 

“Okay.” 

I waved goodbye to Jaera and went down the elevator with Sunyoung and Jongdae. They were going back to the library to continue brainstorming on that project they got. 

“It’s called ‘The Influence of Online and Offline Comments’.” Jongdae shared when we were walking on the streets. 

I zipped up my jacket quickly. It was slowly turning October; the wind grew stronger and the trees in front of our apartment complex had started to shed their leaves. 

“Offline comments too?” 

Sunyoung nodded. 

“It’s something like comparing real-life interactions to virtual ones, it’s quite interesting.” 

“Yes. You would automatically think opinions from the people around you matter more but studies have proven it wrong.” Jongdae added. “For example, when you upload a picture on social media -” 

“Rusty, is that you?!” 

I froze on the sidewalk hearing that. My heartbeat sped up increasingly and I felt so overwhelmed suddenly, I was gasping for air. 

From the opposite direction, Shim Dayoung walked towards us with a beaming smile on her face. I thought this got to be a joke of some sort. A bad one. 

“You know this girl?” Jongdae asked me in a serious voice. 

“Yeah.” I responded weakly before clearing my throat. I needed to get myself together. This was just a ridiculous reaction. 

Dayoung arrived in high spirits: her hair was long and blond, drastically different from the black bob she sported during high school. She was still as bubbly as ever though. I guess only her appearance changed. 

“Oh my God, it’s been a while, isn’t it? I almost didn’t recognize you for a second, Bina, you’ve changed so much! Your clothes, your hair.” Dayoung ranted. “You must have lost weight too, you look good!” 

“Hi, Dayoung. How are you?” 

“I’m doing well. I’ve just moved back here. You know, I was in America! California, actually.” 

“I know.” 

As much as I did to not see anything about her on the internet, her pictures and posts kept coming up thanks to our mutual “friends” interacting with her. I was seriously considering logging off for life. 

“It was amazing! I’m planning to go back after graduating. I could imagine settling down in California. All the sunshine and the nice people! It was such a good year.” Dayoung said before carrying her gaze around my company. I didn’t fail to notice it lingered a millisecond longer on Jongdae. “Who are your friends? We could sit down together like this sometime. I have so much to tell you about! We really should catch up, don’t you think?” 

“We could, some other time.” I answered tentatively. “I’m sorry but we’re kind of in a hurry.” 

“Oh, I see. That’s fine. I’ll just message you later. Bye, Bina. It was so nice to see you!” 

“Bye, Dayoung.” 

I let out the breath I was unconsciously holding after Dayoung left. Jongdae placed a hand on my shoulder. 

“Is everything okay?” 

“I just didn’t expect bumping into her.” 

“Well, she was sure happy to see you. I thought we’ll be stuck here forever, by how much she talked.” Sunyoung commented before glancing at me. “High school classmate, right?” 

“Yes. How did you know?” 

“I know the feeling. I usually run away when I spot someone from high school though.” 

I had to smile at that. 

Jongdae wasn’t so cool about it. 

“If you do meet her again, don’t go alone.” Seeing my confusion, he elaborated. “I don’t like her attitude.” 

“She’s a talker alright. But she’s... not harmful.” 

I had no idea why I’m defending Dayoung, out of all people, but I felt like I needed to. 

Sunyoung chuckled. 

“Yeah. That’s a bit too much, Dae, don’t you think?” 

“No, it isn’t.” Jongdae stated before smiling at us girls. “Let’s go!” 

The rest of our walk passed with more talk about their project. We parted ways at post office and when I stood in line in front of a counter I let out a big breath. I was glad they didn’t ask more. I didn’t want to talk about it. 

* * * 

Chanyeol lives in an apartment complex similar to the one I share with Jaera – except he’s not sharing with anyone and his neighbors are less tolerant than ours. 

“Were my eyes deceiving me or did I see a complaint about you plastered on the noticeboard down in the hall?” I asked Chanyeol after he let me in. 

Chanyeol scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He had sweatpants and a hoodie on, the strands of hair peeking out from under the hood were unruly curly. I concluded he must have spent the whole day at home. 

“I bought a new amp and had to try it.” 

I imagined him rocking out on his electric guitar on full volume, too passionate to give a damn about the noise he’s making, and I had to chuckle. So Chanyeol. 

“Maybe you should try it at the studio next time. There’s no one to raise a complaint there.” I advised while taking off my coat. Chanyeol was behind me and it took it from me automatically. I flashed a smile at him in response. “Thanks.” 

Besides his tiny apartment, Chanyeol also has a tiny studio. He rents it from a friend for a cheap price and it’s in a secluded area, away from the nightlife. We were supposed to gather there today but Chanyeol said it’s better if we meet in the apartment instead, last minute basically. 

“The studio is getting cold” came the explanation. 

I looked at him in disbelief. 

“You haven’t bought a new heater yet but you bought a new amplifier? Chanyeol...” 

“It was on sale, I had to take it!” He defended his choice before laying a loose arm across my shoulder to navigate me towards his bedroom. “I’ll buy a heater next, don’t worry.” 

Entering the room, I felt prepared for the usual “out-of-placeness" - Chanyeol is not a messy person per se but he has a lot of clutter and not much free place, therefore his room is always a bit busy. This time, however, I found almost all surfaces empty and clean. 

“Look at that. Are you moving?” 

“Kyungsoo was here before you, I had to put away a few things.” Chanyeol informed me dryly before plopping down onto the worn beanbag by the window, in the corner. Almost automatically, he pulled one of his guitars in his lap. “Now, tell me about your first Chinese lesson. You struggled a bit though, isn’t it?” 

I told him everything, from arriving late to making a new friend. As expected, Chanyeol laughed hard at my clumsiness. 

“I wish I could see the face you made when you realized you walked into the wrong classroom.” 

“At this point, I obviously have no luck.” I stated bitterly and slid down from the edge of the bed to the floor. There’s a comfy, blue rug right there I like sitting on. “And what about the demo? How is it coming along?” 

Chanyeol stopped strumming for a split second then continued the smooth melody he was playing naturally. 

“It’s... coming along.” 

“You said you’re kind of stuck?” 

“I am but not in the way I might have sounded.” 

Chanyeol put the guitar down and reached for his laptop on the nightstand. I followed his eyes going around on the screen with a frown. What does he mean by not in that way? Is he stuck or not? 

After a few seconds of setting up, we were sitting next to each other on the floor, with the laptop in Chanyeol’s lap and a couple of earphones in. Well, in my ears at least – no matter how hard Chanyeol searched, he couldn’t find another set of earphones to plug in the splitter. He must have just put it somewhere away while cleaning up in haste. 

“We can share.” I offered. 

“No, you have to hear everything correctly.” He opposed and without further ado, put the other piece in my ear as well and pressed play. 

The guitar playing filling the earphones was very gentle and flowing. Instead of glancing on the screen to read the title (tentative title, basically, since Chanyeol hasn’t finalized such things as titles yet), I closed my eyes and let the music tell me what it is supposed to represent. 

Chanyeol’s compositions usually can be put into two categories – they're either pure joy and fun, or a bit gloomier and bittersweet. The last time I was shown these songs, I found more of the latter. I didn’t ask why. I guessed it has to do with his last relationship and it’s a subject Chanyeol doesn’t talk about. This time, this song Chanyeol let me listen to specifically, didn’t fit any of the categories. It didn’t sound gloomy, but it wasn’t happy either. It was something entirely new. It felt like a rush of fresh, clean air was caressing my face after opening the window on a sleepy, spring morning. 

And there was that rush of excitement I’ve always felt when a song touched my soul. I pulled out one of the earpieces and put into Chanyeol’s ear next to me. He looked at me in confusion. 

“You have to listen how good it is.” I replied. 

Chanyeol made no moves but his eyes followed my fingers as they retreated. When our eyes met, I smiled at him. I was hoping he understands how impressed I am with his new composition. Chanyeol has no confidence issues but when it comes to his music, he can be a little self-conscious. Whether my message came across or not, Chanyeol smiled back. His smile was like the sun appearing on the horizon that very same, fresh spring morning. It took my breath away. 

I just couldn’t look away. My eyes remained on Chanyeol’s and my heart started to fill up. I was wondering, what would happen if it came too close to the brink or even more, it overflowed? What is this feeling at all, that is close to burst out of my chest and flood everything? And why is it all happening because of Chanyeol? 

I had so many questions at once and although I needed answers, I found the feeling too comfortable to move on. Looking into Chanyeol’s eyes felt comfortable. But when I blinked after a long moment and realized I have been staring, not looking, I casted my eyes on the ground. 

It startled me when there were suddenly long fingers lingering by my ear. The first thing coming to my mind was that Chanyeol wants to take the earphone back since in the meantime the track ended. But a few seconds passed and Chanyeol just gently pulled his fingers along my jaw, all the way to my chin. As he tilted my head upwards, our eyes meet again and I shuddered. 

"What do you think?” 

I was so overwhelmed at first, I wasn’t sure what he means. But then, just like closing the window to shut all sunshine and spring air out, I became conscious of where I am and what I am doing. 

“It’s new.” I responded, my voice coming out unusually breathy. “It sounds nothing like you’ve composed before... but I like it the same. Actually, I might like it more than I like ‘Heavy’. That song you need to work on a bit more.” 

My joke hit the bar. Chanyeol chuckled and with a featherlight pat on my cheek, took his hand back. 

“I want to include this in the demo but I’m torn because it doesn’t fit with the rest. I’d like to show versatility but I want some cohesion to remain between the tracks, you know? I thought you could help with an opinion.” 

I nodded in understanding, secretly in awe at how committed Chanyeol is to his music. 

“I think you could fit it in if you make something similar to this... or just change up one of the other songs, like adding an intro, so it goes on seamlessly. What’s the title, by the way? I forgot to check it.” 

“Oh, that...” 

Before Chanyeol could have said, I spared a glance at the screen and gasped. 

“You don’t have any title for it yet?” 

“No. I finished this recently and since then I couldn’t really come up with anything.” He told, his voice a little quiet. “If you were to name it, what name would you give?” 

I hummed. My thoughts wondered back to the feeling I’ve had during listening and my heart skipped a beat.  

“Sunrise.” 

I expected Chanyeol to make fun of me for coming up with such a cliché - ‘cause it was, in fact, a cliché title - but he just put on that goofy-looking half-smile I associate with him. 

“That’s actually very fitting.” 

“Does this mean you’ll use it?” 

“Nah, but I’ll consider it as an option. Want to see what we’re going to play on Friday?” 

“Of course!” I exclaimed giddily. “You’re performing at Relax this weekend, right?” 

“Yeah. Minseok hyung said we can expect full house.” Chanyeol shared, immensely proud. For a reason, I might add: their duo is quite possibly the first acoustic band at our uni to do so. 

“He almost co-owns the place. He must know.” I chuckled and perked up seeing one of my favorites on the lists of songs I read off the screen. “You’re doing ‘Tenerife Sea’**!” 

We spent the rest of the evening going over their performance list, showing each other new music we recently found and came to love, and closed it off with Chanyeol practicing. 

Getting a bit sleepy with the day slowly turning to night, and Chanyeol’s pleasant strumming, I settled on the bed and just watched him play. With the street lamps lighting up on the streets in the background, perfectly seen thanks to the big windows, and the small night lamp providing the only light inside, the atmosphere became very cozy and relaxing. 

“Don’t fall asleep. You have to go home some time.” 

“I know. I won’t.” I promised, fighting the weight on my eyelids that were threatening to close. “Keep playing. It’s nice.” 

I got a small chuckle as a response. 

I blinked up to Chanyeol’s form on the beanbag. His hair was falling over his eyes as he leaned above his guitar. His fingers were moving on the strings languidly, with practiced ease. It made me remember the first time I met Chanyeol. It was just like this – he was playing the guitar and I was staring at him in awe. At the same time, it felt different now. Maybe because I knew Chanyeol now... or maybe because I saw him a different light, different from all the previous times, suddenly. 

*She Was Pretty (English title) is a Korean rom-com starring Park Seo-jun and Hwang Jung-eum. I wholeheartedly recommend it, it's really funny and romantic!
**Tenerife Sea is a song by Ed Sheeran. You can listen to it here

Imagine sharing earphones with Chanyeol  (///Σ///)

Chapter 3 is here! I'm sorry, once again, for bringing the update this late. Hope it's worth the wait! I'm satisfied with this chapter per se but I'd like to know what you think. Could you please let me know your thoughts in a comment? Subscribe if you want to follow the story and give it an upvote if you love it! Oh, and thank you for the close to 100 views. I feel so grateful :')

See you soon!

xoxo: haran
(@haran94)