Chapter 4

The First

Walking down the hall fully absorbed in Mino’s song he wondered if he would be able to play it well.

    “Your room is pretty plain isn’t it?” Mino said while looking around as they entered the room.

    “I just moved in didn’t I?” He replied picking up his guitar before sitting down on the bed. He expected Mino to sit down on the chair opposite him, but he sat down next to him on the bed instead.

    "Should I just play it then?" he asked and Mino nodded. 

    "Mind if I record it?" Mino asked looking for his phone. It was in the last pocket he checked forcing Seungyoon to wait for quite a while. For some reason was he even more nervous now than when he had been playing in front of the three guys before. 

The melody was easy enough and once he had played through it once was it pretty easy to remember. He played it a few times more as it was pretty short while watching Mino's smile grow wider and wider for each turn he played it. 

    "Let me just change this part" Mino began and started writing a different version on the side of the original changing the tune slightly. He played that version and it sounded even better. 

    "It’s good" he praised after playing it with the changes once more. It was the first time in a long while he had gotten to enjoy process around music creation with someone and it felt really special. "Since I’m helping you, do you mind showing me the next part?" Seungyoon asked, feeling bold just for asking, but Mino nodded enthusiastically and opened the notes on his phone where he had kept some lyrics. 

    "I haven’t memorized them yet" Mino explained before he began rapping. The verse was about facing challenges with a bold heart having faith that things would work out in the end if you put your mind to it. 

    "That’s really inspiring" he praised once Mino finished. The flow of the words were so smooth and the wordplays so clever he couldn’t help but to be impressed.

    "Thank you, I got the next part ready too, but I can’t sing it well. I was thinking of having one of the girls in my class sing it, but you can give it a try if you want to" Mino said while scrolling down to the next part of his lyrics. 

Mino sang it first and Seungyoon didn’t think it was bad at all, but decided to give it a go just because Mino had suggested it. 

    "Whoa! Thats good" Mino cheered once he was finished singing and he smiled in return, it wasn’t bad at all, that he could agree on. "Should we try the whole thing from the beginning then?" Mino asked and he nodded a silent yes while picking up his guitar again. 

He played the intro, then Mino rapped his verse before he followed with the chorus. It was pretty good, there was no denying that.  

Once he was finished singing they sat in silence, it wasn’t uncomfortable because it was a moment of appreciation. It only got awkward when they both started speaking at the same time. 

It was only then he became aware of how close they were sitting, Mino’s thigh pressed against his own and with his hand that was still holding the phone showcasing the lyrics resting lightly against his leg as well. 

He turned and was about to say you go first, when Mino said it before him. He was so flustered by this that he had completely forgotten what he was about to say in the first place. 

They both laughed and Mino got up, he put his guitar to the side and got up too. Somehow it felt like the spell lifted now that they both were back on their feet and an indescribable feeling of disappointment washed over him. 

    "What is your plan now" he asked, realizing his question was poorly phrased as soon as he said it. 

    "What?" Mino asked looking puzzled. Seungyoon got this odd feeling in that moment that Mino was looking at him, yet not really at all. As if he was hyper focusing at something in the far distance behind him. 

    "I meant with the song?" Now it was his turn to lose focus, eyes wandering down Mino’s neck, lingering on one of this tattoos before slowly looking downwards until he at the end was staring at his feet. This odd tension between them, what had he done to create it? He wondered, now unable to lift his gaze. 

    "Only sensible thing to do would be to record it I believe" Mino said after taking way longer than usual to respond. At least it felt that way to Seungyoon. 

    "Think the girl at school will help you out then?" he asked, forcing him self to look up. Something told him another wave of disappointment was about to hit him and he braced himself. 

    "Honestly, I’d rather have you" Mino said and their eyes met in that moment. A strange feeling spread though his chest at that moment and it became stronger and stronger until it started to feel overwhelming. It was happiness, and something else, but he didn’t have time to reflect on it because someone knocked on the door in that moment. 

    "Do we get to hear the song or what?" Seunghoon asked and Mino spun around in that moment turning towards the door. He took the moment to put his hands to his face, he could practically hear his own pulse and he feared that his face had gone red because he felt hot. 

    "Let’s get a second opinion" Mino said without turning back towards him and he picked up his guitar following after Mino back to the living room. 

They had preformed the song to the other two a couple of times and they had both praised it highly. Jinwoo had said it was like something you’d hear on the radio, something old and young alike would enjoy despite it being rap music because it sounded so fluid and engaging. Seunghoon had praised it too, but he was more focused on Seungyoon’s part saying he made the lyrics come alive when he sang. 

Laying in bed thinking back to earlier that day he felt a hint of the same warm feeling in his chest and it made him smile into the darkness of his room. Even when he closed his eyes could he see Mino’s expression clearly and it brought out an entirely different kind of happiness in his heart. 

Having agreed that they would indeed attempt to record the song he felt even more excited about the coming days. If Mino had suggested they’d go and start working on it the same evening he would easily have tagged along, even if it was pretty late when Mino left their apartment. 

Now he could only hope they would start on it soon, because he was excited and he really wanted to see Mino again. Although he felt a bit strange acknowledging that last part. 

Once the weekend was over and university life started for the rest of his room mates had the mood in the apartment changed. Everyone was more stressed and the first week flew by so quickly he was surprised when the weekend came knocking. 

A couple of his school friends were going out that Friday evening to celebrate surviving the first week, but he opted to skip out this time as he would rather spend some time working on his first individual project. 

He had also been in contact with the student radio on campus after discovering one of their flyers by the canteen. Having sent an email earlier in the week they had invited him by for a chat and now that he was just leaving the room having finished with that chat he felt really excited. 

They had welcomed him with open arms and introduced him to their different projects. It was usual for new members to join one of the projects, but because they were short on people that semester had he joined two. 

One of them was a music show, playing songs, taking requests and talking about music. 

The other was an advice column where students could send in dilemmas, questions and occasionally confessions. The other students had assured him it wasn’t just love life counseling, but the looks they were giving each other while saying it made him think otherwise. 

Despite his small worry about that last part with the love counseling did he feel really excited about the whole radio thing and he really wanted to thank Mino for suggesting it. He weren’t sure if he should just knock on the door and tell him about it once he got home, or if he should request getting his number from Seunghoon or Jinwoo who surely had it. 

He didn’t manage to make up his mind on how to contact Mino until he arrived home. Once he was there he ran into Zico by the front door. He was leaning on the wall typing on his phone at rapid speed. 

    "Hello" he said, intending to walk by to his apartment, but Zico looked up and grabbed his arm forcing him to halt. 

    "Don’t just say hello and walk by, tell me! How was your first week!" Zico exclaimed before stuffing his phone into his pocket. 

    "It’s been good, I just joined the student radio which seems to be a really fun activity" he told him happily and Zico nodded. 

    "That’s a good one, I heard they needed more people. It’s pretty time consuming though and they do live stuff too" he continued doing that thing he did when he stared the person directly into their face without completely making eye contact. 

Deciding not to comment on this as he had yet to actually experience what it was like working on a radio broadcast he just gave Zico a small smile before asking what his week had been like. 

    "Busy, like expected, but good to be back for sure. We get more freedom the second year to work on whatever we want to specialize in" Zico explained and he could easily see how that would be nice. 

    "What are you specializing in then?" he asked, stomach grumbling now as he was already returning home late because of the whole radio thing. 

    "Everything, well not everything, but everything I need to set up my own production company later" Zico said as a wide smile began spreading across his face as he said it. Seungyoon admired his attitude and how goal oriented he seemed to be. 

    "We are collaborating with the guys over at preforming arts too this autumn, some are adding music to video recordings, but Mino told me he got a new song he wants to record so we figured we might just do that for school" Zico said excitedly. 

Suddenly he weren’t feeling all that hungry anymore and his urge to get home staggered a little. 

    "What kind of song would that be?" he asked attemptin