The next afternoon, after his therapy session, his mother went to the Korean embassy to submit the requirements for his new passport. Chanyeol asked Kyungsoo if he could play the guitar again.

“Do you want to practice for your performance tonight?” Kyungsoo asked, taking out the guitar from its case.

“Aniyo,” Chanyeol answered, smiling as Kyungsoo carefully positioned the instrument against his torso. “I don’t even know what I’m going to play yet.”

Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows. The nurse had asked them at lunchtime if Chanyeol was confirmed to perform later and the CEO said yes. He had about less than a couple of hours to prepare.

“I’m probably just going to play what comes to mind,” Chanyeol said casually, beginning to strum. He thought about the song in his head, the unfinished one he had been putting off for weeks. “Kyungsoo-ssi?”

“De, Park sajangnim?”

“Could you write down something for me?”

Kyungsoo quickly looked for a piece of paper and retrieved a pen from his backpack. “Of course.”

The CEO stayed quiet for about a minute, though, as if thinking deeply.

Chanyeol started playing the beginning notes, at D sharp minor. His voice was of a lower register. While he could reach falsetto to some degree, he wouldn’t really consider himself a singer per se. He imagined singing it in Kyungsoo’s tone, and so that was what he did.

Kyungsoo was startled when Park sajangnim began to sing, and he automatically took down notes:

Oh manhi haengbokhae boyeo haengbokhae boyeo

(Oh, you really look happy, you look happy)

Seulpeudorok areumdaun noel bomyeon

(When I see you, so beautiful that it’s sad)

Geuga silhjuneun anha silhjineun anha

(I don’t hate him, I don’t hate him)

And then Chanyeol suddenly had the idea for the fourth line, thus concluding one verse:

Neoreul cheonsacheoreom usge hanikka

(Because he makes you smile like an angel)

And then he just kept playing the same chords for the verse, didn’t know how the pre-chorus would go yet. He didn’t even have a title.

Kyungsoo scribbled the Hangul characters efficiently, trying not to be too awed by the richness of the CEO’s singing voice. He sounded phenomenal, a solid baritone that was also fluid and warm… He suddenly found himself asking, audaciously, “W-Will you be singing that song tonight?”

Chanyeol turned his head to his direction, but he was still strumming his guitar, and then he shook his head.

“Y-You should, though,” he heard the sous chef tell him.  “That was… pretty good.”

Chanyeol gave an embarrassed laugh. Kyungsoo liked that?  “Um… it’s not ready. That’s all the lines I have right now.” The flush kept rising to his cheeks, as he set his plan into motion. Even he discovered that this was completely sneaky of him… “My… voice is a little bit lower than that, though. Would… you sing it in that key… and I’d accompany you?”

Silence.

Chanyeol’s fingers stilled from strumming.  Too presumptuous?  “Y-You don’t have to, if…”

“I… forgot how it goes.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol bit his lip to prevent an amused smile from forming. “I’ll sing it in my normal tone, okay? And then you can go…” He wondered if Kyungsoo knew about pitches, since he did mention belonging to a choir before. “Maybe C sharp?”

“De,” the sous chef answered softly.

So Chanyeol began to play and sang the first few words by himself.

The next thing he knew, Kyungsoo was seamlessly joining him before the first sentence was over.

There it was, Kyungsoo’s velvety vibrato.

He was singing with Kyungsoo, finally.

How Chanyeol wished he could record this…

After they finished the verse, Kyungsoo nervously asked: “H-How was that?” Actually he was acutely listening to Chanyeol’s register to focus whether he was on perfect pitch or not.

“That was brilliant,” Chanyeol remarked, grinning now as he realized that Kyungsoo’s voice was so ideal for R&B and soulful songs… and this particular song was turning out to be one. The writer’s block he was experiencing was because he hadn’t found the right singer for it! “I hope you help me write the lyrics down, in case the inspiration strik