It's been more than two months since you and Henry started dating. Those two months, for you, were filled with happiness, romance, and anxiety—but not for the reasons you had expected. Leaning on Kibum the whole way, you had learned to think less of him, although you weren't sure if you could ever forget him completely. But each time you had a nightmare about him, or each time he clouded your thoughts too much, you could always talk to Kibum, and he would always be ready to soothe you.

            No, the anxiety was fueled by something entirely unexpected—the upcoming showcase. Just a couple more weeks until then, and since all your friends were performers, their anxiety plagued your life as well, forgetting about the fact that you, too, were stressed about your own final exams. Song Qian would come into the dorm late at night after hours of practice, often begging for a massage or for you to cook some meal. Ryeowook continuously asked you to listen to his composition each time he made the smallest adjustment, seeking reassurance like an insecure puppy to make sure it sounded okay. Kibum was consistently with Han Geng and his other tall friend, who you had yet to meet but always saw him with, and your phone calls and visits with him became fewer and far between. Even your hoobaes were too busy with end-of-the-semester activities to grab a meal with you. 
            All you had was Henry, and you were glad he didn't push his stress on you or ignore you, like the others did. He just asked you to sit there and simply be there with him, allowing you to relax, or study, all the while listening to his beautiful playing. Maybe because this was his first showcase and he couldn’t fully grasp the gravity of it, but he never seems stressed about it.
            One day you asked him why.
            He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not an easily stressed person, I guess. Maybe because I've been playing violin my whole life? Performances are fun for me," he said with a grin.
            You were impressed with his words. He was so different from all your friends right now, that you truly enjoyed being with him more than anyone else at the moment. No thoughts of him ever crossed your mind.

                                                                                                               ~*~

            Ryeowook hummed out the line he had just been playing on the piano, trying to make sure it sounded right. He tweaked one note, lowering it a half-step and hummed it again. He was busy scribbling on the sheet music to notice someone had walked into his practice.
            "Sunbae?"
            Ryeowook squeaked and jumped, turning around so suddenly he had whiplash. Wincing and rubbing the sore spot, he laid his eyes on his intruder. 
            "Oh, Miyoung! Annyeong!" he said, quickly scrambling to look more composed.
            She flashed her famous eye-smile before saying shyly, "How is you composition for the showcase going?"
            Ryeowook glanced at the sheet music that scattered all over the place when he had jumped. "It's alright, I guess. I'm still unsure."
            "Do you mind if I take a listen?" she asked hopefully.
            "Not at all, not at all! _____ would be happy I didn't ask her to listen instead. I've probably already asked her ten thousand and one times," he said with a chuckle, not the least bit regretful.
            Miyoung looked surprised. "Does _____ unni know how to play piano?"
            "Not even a bit," he said, shaking his head emphatically. "But she's a good, patient audience, no matter how many times I ask her."
            "Ryeowook sunbae," Miyoung said, hiding behind her hair a little, "I would always be glad to listen to you play."
            He smiled down at her, watching as she sat next to him on the piano bench. When she was settled, he didn't speak to her with words, but rather with his music. She listened intently as he lost himself in the piece. He softly sang the parts Kyuhyun was meant to sing, anxiously trying to give her a proper feel of how it would really sound. He slipped further and further into the song, feeling the music more and more, almost forgetting she was even there. And when he finished, it was like steeping out of a trance—for the both of them.
            "Wow," she breathed.
            Wookie swallowed all the emotion clogging his throat from his music. "Yeah…what'd you think?"
            "It was so beautiful, sunbae!" she said, still awestruck.
            Wookie blushed happily. "What part do you think needs fixing?"
            She considered it seriously, flipping through his sheets to carefully read each line. He couldn't help but feel his heart beat a little bit faster as her hair fell across her shoulders, her eyes concentrating on his own music. "The bridge," she decided at last. "Maybe you should try lengthening it a bit, for a smoother transition."
            His eyes lit up. "Yes, you're right! That would be perfect!" He made a quick note to himself, then turned to her and said softly, "Thank you, Miyoung-ah. You've been really helpful. Should I help you with your piece, just to be fair?"
            She shook her, feeling slightly embarrassed as she replied, "I'm not in it. I'm too young, and I wasn't invited."
            Sheepish, Ryeowook quickly opened his mouth to apologize and soothe her, but she said in a rush of words before he could say anything,
            "But I know a way you could help me, instead…"
            "What is it?"
            "You could go on that date with me and our friends, like you promised all that time ago." She hid behind her hair again.
            Ryeowook smiled gently at her again. "You know, I'd really like to do that. Besides, do you know Jongwoon sunbae? The one who helps other students around the vocal department?"
            "That sunbae with that scary gaze and the husky voice?"
            "Yeah, that supposedly 'scary' sunbae has been begging me to get him a date ever since he overheard me calling you."
            Miyoung and Ryeowook laughed together, both secretly feeling like this was the start of something special.

                                                                                                               ~*~

            After a little more of typing up your study guides, you stretched, reaching your fists up to the sky and yawning. You were so engrossed in your work that you hadn't even notice Henry had stopped playing. He had his backed turned to you and was bent over, intently staring down at something.
            You put down your laptop and made your way to him. Peeking over his shoulder, you asked,
            "What are you doing?"
            He yelled and started, hitting the crown of his head against your jaw. You both stumbled back, pain causing you to wince. 
            "Noona, I'm sorry! You just startled me, that's all!" Henry looked at you, abashed. He ran to you, still rubbing his head, cradling your face gently with his other hand.
            "It's okay," you said lightly. "But what were you so focused on that I scared you so much?"
            "I wasn't scared," Henry huffed. "And nothing much, I was just texting Eunyoungie."
            Eunyoung? Your mouth twisted unpleasantly, but you quickly adjusted your expression before he could notice. "Oh, okay."
            "Yeah, she was just asking me about the showcase. She wants to come."
            "That's nice of her," you replied neutrally.
            "Noona, do you think you could watch with her? She doesn't know anyone in the university except us, and her sister, but Qian jiejie and I will both be performing."
            You hesitated. You'd do it for Henry, but the thought of you enduring Eunyoung's presence made your jaw clench.
            "I don't know, Henry…"
            His face fell. "That's fine, that's fine. You probably had plans with other people, anyway."
            You touched his cheek and mumbled guiltily, "I wish I could, but I'm already sitting with Miyoung and the other girls."
            He looked a little happier, now that your uncertainty had a reason, and he told you earnestly, "I know, I just want you and Eunyoung to get along. She's my best friend and you're my girlfriend. Once you spend a little more time with Eunyoung, you'll see how awesome she is. She's really laid-back, and she never acts fake, and she's just really friendly to everyone."
            You felt your muscles—your jaw, your fists, your eyebrows, everywhere—tightening at his continuous praise for Eunyoung. 
            "I don't think we could ever get along, Henry," you said through your teeth.
            He looked surprised. "Why not? You two are the greatest girls I know."
            "I'll let you figure that one out for yourself." Without another word, you gathered up your stuff and left, leaving poor Henry to sit there in utter befuddlement.

                                                                                                               ~*~

            "Try again," Siwon encouraged. 
            Kibum said frustratedly, "Even if I do it a hundred times, it's still not going to sound right."
            "You were the one who wanted to do a confession scene," Siwon pointed out. Kibum shot him a look and Siwon held up his hands defensively, "Just saying!"
            "You're right," Kibum said, chewing on his lip. "I just thought it would be the best way to show a lot of raw emotion, y'know?"
            "But it's the opposite. You don't have nearly enough emotion for this monologue."
            "I know!" Kibum groaned, running hand through his hair. 
            "Hey, man, it'll be okay. We can still work on it. You have the words memorized, your breathing's good, your posture's great; it's just the looking for the right emotional delivery we need to work on."
            "You should be a teacher."
            Siwon laughed. "No thanks. I'd rather pursue my dream than teach it." He sobered up and said, "Isn't there someone out there you could put in your heart while you perform this speech?"
            "That's not really the best acting technique. I don't want to be myself; I want to be the character."
            "Sometimes," Siwon said slowly, "you have to put your own experiences into your acting, so you can sympathize with your character."
            Kibum grinned at his friend, saying, "You're good at this. Next time, we're gonna work on your monologue, so I can have a chance to lecture you like this." Then Kibum pondered seriously for a moment, trying to remember the last time he bad confessed to a girl. Finally, he gave up and said, "I don't know, Siwon. It's been a long time since talked like that with any girl."
            "Think harder," he pushed. "You're twenty-one-years-old. There has to be someone!"
            Kibum thought harder and admitted reluctantly, "Well, there was this one girl from church. That was so long ago…from before I was even here, at SNU."
            "And?"
            "Eh? Do you need so many details?”

            Siwon raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening expectantly. So Kibum continued, “I really liked her. I’d liked her for a long time. I bought her a ring, and she broke up with me on my birthday, before I could even give it to her, and that was it. She was my first love, though." Kibum scowled at Siwon—not angrily. "You have an uncanny way of making me talk. It's weird...I'm not like this with anyone."
            Siwon grinned, dimples appearing. "I hear that's quite a feat, considering how reserved everyone says you are, and how I've only known you for two months. But besides that, you should try and use how you felt when you gave her that ring."
            Kibum got up willingly enough, and started to give his monologue again before Siwon stopped him halfway through. "It's too awkward!" He waved his arms around, as if he could fan out all the awkwardness.
            "Why am I like this?" Kibum said agitatedly. "Why can't I just act?!"
            Siwon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The way I see it, you're trying too hard to hold back all these lovey-dovey emotions. Clearly, you hold some resentment to that poor church girl."
            "Not resentment," Kibum corrected, sitting back down next to Siwon. "Just…the way she broke-up was too harsh."
            "In that case, forget her," Siwon decided. "Isn't there anyone else?"
            "The only other girl in my life is _____. She's like a sister to me," Kibum stated, not even considering the idea.
            "_____?" Siwon asked. "She's your friend that I always see around at your apartment, right?"
            "Mhm."
            "She's really pretty," Siwon said, almost to himself. "She must be smart, too."
            Kibum turned to face him, his turn to raise an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Siwon instructed, "Just imagine you were confessing to her."
            "Mwo?!"
            Siwon rolled his eyes at Kibum's sudden childish behavior. “It's just acting. She's beautiful, smart, talented—in your head, strip away every preconception you have of her. In your head, see only what's outside. Don't see the woman you've come to know. How would you feel, confessing to someone like her?"
            Kibum swallowed, his throat suddenly thick. What if _____ found out he was thinking of her like that, even if it were just acting? What if it still didn't work, and the emotions still were wrong?

            Or worse, Kibum feared, what if the emotions came out just right?

A/N: Lots of important but little things happened in this chapter...I won't reveal it all, cause that wouldn't be fun very fun, would it? ;DDD But it seems kinda filler-y, because of the lack of major action, but every character and every word has a significance~~make sure you don't blow over anything by accident ^^ I think You've made good progress, haven't you? It seems you can hold conversations with Henry and just be with him, without seeing him as a second version of your ex, which is good. Hopefully, it will remain happy...but seems like Eunyoung is causing trouble in paradise 0_o Remember how determined she was a couple chapters back? Seems like a lot's gonna go down at this showcase.

Another interesting thing is Kibum's first love story...which is a true story, btw XD It's from a variety show about love Kibum was in, and he was sharing an experience about a delinquent girlfriend. I just rewatched it, to make sure I got the details right, and it really inspired me with Kibum's character. Kibum speaks really well, doesn't he? ^^ I think it's just when he's in shows with the members, he doesn't mind letting them have the spotlight. He's never seemed selfish about spotlight; at least, I never thought so. He's really witty, too. Gahhhh I love him. And I just started watching his newest drama, and he's sooooo good. I think he genuinely loves acting. Not only that, but he's sooooooooo good at it. Even though he's my baby, when I'm watching his drama I see his character, not him. Only when he does soemthing really cute I'm like OMG THATS MY KIBUMMIE<3

Okay. That's it, I think. Kyaaaa I really love writing Kibum. I love researching on Kibum to find out more about his personality. And I love writing his personality as realistically as possible. I love making realistic Kibum do the things I want him to do. It's so great *sobs* //oh, the life of a fangirl.

Okay, that's really it, I swear. Thanks so much for reading!!!!! :DDD And all your comments and sibcribing really mean the world to me!!!!!<3333<33333<3333

P.S. Since I don't have the photoshop, and no one offered to make me a poster, and since I don't really trust a non-reader to make me a poster, what would you guys think if I just put a picture on the top? Should I make it all Kibum, or should I alternate between the other male characters?