Yookyung smiled sadly at the items in front of her before locking them away at the back of her closet, alongside her dreams.

“I guess I’ll have to stop now. There’s no point in me continuing this if my life’s already been laid out in front of me. You were a fun little secret. Thanks for being there for me.” She whispered as she fondly gazed over her now closed cupboard door. She laughed bitterly when she left her room as she felt like she could almost hear her mother’s voice, ordering her to straighten her back and fix her posture.

♡

“Come on!”

“Where are you pulling me to this time?”

“Just be quiet and follow!”

“Oi! Kyungsoo! I demand that you stop this instant.” The latter screeched.

“Why?”

“First just tell me where you’re taking me.”

“No.”

“Fine then, see ya.”

“No Naeun, stop. Please.”

“Well?” Naeun crossed her arms waiting for her answer.

“If I tell you, will you promise not to go?” Kyungsoo pleaded. Naeun hesitated.

“… Fine.”

“Dance studio four.” Kyungsoo stated.

“I’m leaving.” Naeun her heel but Kyungsoo was quick to catch her wrist.

“Nu-uh, a promise is a promise. Plus, no one’s there at the moment.” Naeun groaned in defeat.

“But why me? Of all people?” She questioned.

“Because. I need your help to pick a song for the end-of-term performance.”

“That’s in two months!”

“Exactly! I need to start working on what I’m going to show the audience!” He argued.

“Fine. Just don’t expect me to do it with some cheesy grin spread across my face.” Naeun muttered cynically.

“That’s cool with me, now come on.” Kyungsoo beamed whilst dragging the poor girl behind him.

When they arrived at the studio, the pair sat down on the floor as Kyungsoo spread out sheets and sheets of, what seemed to be, lyrics. As well as CDs.

“What are all of these?” Naeun asked in amazement.

“Songs.” Kyungsoo replied simply.

“I realised that. But I mean, I don’t recognize any of them.”

“That’s cause they’re self-composed.” He said whilst shuffling the papers around. Naeun stopped moving for a moment and looked at the boy.

“You? Write songs? And why didn’t I know about this?”

“You never asked.”

“Kyungsoo!” Naeun threw her hands up in the air.

“Are you going to help me? Or are you just going to make a fuss over nothing.”

“You are so annoying Kyungsoo.” Naeun rolled her eyes.

“Well now you know, don’t you? So help me, pleeease.” He gave Naeun his best puppy-dog expression.

“Ew. Fine I’ll help. Just take that” She circled her finger in the air, around his face, “look off your face. It ain’t cute.” This only made the boy pout more of course.

“Why are you such a bully?”

“I’m allowed to be.”

“And why is that?”

“Because we’re cousins.” The girl smirked. Kyungsoo sighed and tutted before letting out a grin.

“Of course.”

“Now what is it you need help with Kyungsoo?” She said looking around.

“Well first, I need you to help me choose the lyrics and after that you need to help me pick the accompaniment. Lay, up at the music department, was kind enough to send me a few samples that I could use as the instrumental.” Kyungsoo explained. Naeun chewed her lower lip thoughtfully as she flicked through all the different lyrics.

“This one.” She pointed at one of the sheets lying on the floor.

“What is love." He read the song's title aloud.

"Out of the dozen songs to choose from of course you would pick that one.” Kyungsoo smiled sadly but knowingly.

“What?”

“Oh nothing. Yeah I think it could work.” Kyungsoo forced a bright expression.

“I really like it. It seems so… real.” Naeun thought evocatively.

“You have no idea…” Kyungsoo mumbled, soft enough for Naeun not to notice.

After listening to all the different CDs Lay had lent Kyungsoo, they finally settled on track 02. It had an interesting, almost western introduction that faded into the backbeat, which meant that attention wasn’t taken away from the powerful vocals.

“But wait.” Naeun paused.

“Hm?” Kyungsoo looked up at his cousin.

“It says that this is a duet…”

“Indeed.”

“So who’s singing it with you…?” She tilted her head.

“…Luhan.” Kyungsoo nervously waited for her reaction.

“Oh.” He let out a breath of relief as she responded.

“Does that mean…” She went on to continue.

“Does that mean what?”

“Does that mean that he helped you write the song?” She squeaked at the end. Kyungsoo was reluctant to answer but did so anyway.

“Actually, this was the only song I didn’t write… Luhan composed this song himself, I just helped him arrange it…” He confessed. Naeun closed her eyes and pursed her lips. She stood up in complete silence and made her way out door without even glancing back at her cousin. Kyungsoo fell back onto the wooden surface with a thud. He lay on his back for a while, deep in thought. He closed his eyes and exhaled. It could’ve been worse, he told himself. She could’ve kicked me.

----

It's extremely short, I know; and I'm sorry! But I really wanted to do a more Naeun focused chapter so you could get some insight to her character and why she acts so coldly to the boys. I know I haven't given much away but I don't want to rush the story. I hope it's okay. I'll try to update quickly :)

@lilschein: Thank you! I feel like the first few chapters sound a bit prissy? Is that even a word? Anyway, this chapter was far more casual and I think it's a lot easier to read. I may go back and edit the others if I have time later on :)

P.S. I know Luhan didn't compose 'What is love?' but let's just imagine he did shall we?

----

I edited a line in this chapter. I had an idea for the next chapter, which I'm writing now. It used to say "Kyungsoo! We've literally known each other our entire lives!" But I changed it so that now it only says "Kyungsoo!" - You'll see why in the next chapter :3

Anyway yeah, sorry about the inconvenience. If you get a notification saying I've updated, it's only because of this small bit. Sorry! The next chapter should be up soon.