Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.  

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Jieun’s POV

            The sound of a loud thump alarmed my senses, forcing my eyes open to see an exhausted Kikwang lying in an extremely awkward position on the floor. His right hands still held loosely on to mine so I assumed that he lost balance after falling sleep on the stool beside my bed. With a tired yawn, I pushed my blanket away and hopped off the bed to Kikwang’s side, poking his puffy cheeks in an attempt to wake him up. From the looks of his face, he probably ate ramen last night instead of going to a restaurant with his family.

            “Kikwang-ah,” I whispered into his ear, poking his cheeks repetitively. The way his body was sprawled over the cold hard floor, face illuminated by the gentle glow of the crescent moon made this seem more like a murder scene with no blood. After five more pokes he turned his head towards me and opened his eyes with a weak smile.

            “Why does my head hurt so much?” He groaned, pulling himself into a sleeping position with his back leaned against the bed as he rubbed the back of his head. I laughed softly joking,

            “You fell off your stool and hit your head on the floor you klutz.” He smiled weakly at me, his eyes were filled with concern and the sincerity in his expression forced me to turn away.

            “Are you okay now, Jieun?” He asked. The two of us were sitting on the dusty floor of the small clinic-sized hospital in Jejudo. I nodded with a cheeky smile recalling my words from earlier in the day,

            “I told you not to worry, didn’t I?” He gave me a sarcastic chuckle and turned his eyes away, his lips slightly curved downwards into a frown. Did I say something wrong to trigger his mood change? I tilted my head slightly, staring at him when he suddenly turned back and gasped,

            “Ah matda! Eomeoni said that the moment you wake up we’re leaving back for Seoul.” He proceeded to pulling his cell phone from his back pocket; the screen slightly cracked from his careless collision with the floor and pressed the number one. I giggled at the fact that his mom was number one on his speed dial, not that it was something to be embarrassed about. When Kikwang’s mom picked up her phone he left the hospital room to speak to her which gave me a moment to let out a sigh of relief. The past four days were more hectic than I imagined for them to be. My head was throbbing on the side, so I grabbed an ice pack from the counter and held it against my head, scurrying to the window. In the distance I could see bright lights flashing, but things were always further than they seemed. In my head I imagined it to be Seoul, and I honestly couldn’t wait to go back home—or should I say, back to my dorm. Pulling my view back into the hospital room, I caught a glance of the beach down below. Watching the gentle tides come and go sent inevitable shivers down my spine. I couldn’t fight the fact that I felt apologetic to Kikwang, because I do see how hard he works to impress me all the time but leading him on like this taught me one thing. Emotions aren’t something that can be changed by forcing it.

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            After a tiring day of three consecutive vocal classes followed by a musical composition presentation, I felt like my throat was deprived of water even after drinking two litres and my feet were sore from running from building to building in an old pair of flats. Too tired to think of anything else, I placed a band-aid on each blister on my heels and flopped onto my queen sized bed. Ever since Eunjung moved out of the dorm after being scouted by Core Contents Media, I’ve had the whole room to myself. I had to admit, without her here nagging me every so often I became somewhat sloppier than I would have liked. Without her bed taking up half the room, I was able to fit in a queen sized and have more room for my musical junk. With my back lying comfortably on my blanket, I reached over to my backpack with my right hand and pulled out a bright pink folder labeled with the words ‘Original Compositions’. I made a gentle ‘hmm’ sound as I browsed through my old songs. Even though I was physically exhausted to my core, my brain didn’t want to rest just yet. My eyes trailed out the window of my dorm room, watching the tree branches sway gently. Despite the aching in my legs, I managed to pull myself to the window. My signature picnic table was clear and empty, just waiting for me to pay a visit after over a week of neglect. Grabbing my messenger bag that was hanging off the frame of my bed, I exerted myself further to rush down to the picnic table. I would let myself relax a bit outside with the refreshing cool breezes and wait for inspiration to hit me. If I could compose a new song by next week, I would be able to submit it as a bonus assignment to exempt the rest of my catch up assignments piled on me from transferring into the class so late.

            “Aish, jinjja!” I groaned, grabbing onto my pained ankle. I twisted it slightly while running to the picnic, but when the pain subsided I limped the rest of the way there and sat on my usual side. Looking up into the sky with a clear sheet of paper in front of me and a sharpened pencil in my right hand, I smiled towards the sun and closed my eyes, feeling the gentle breeze kiss both sides of my cheeks. In a soft but steady voice I began to sing my new lyrics in a completely random melody,

            “Why is the sky so much more blue?” As I sang my right hand wrote them down.

            “Why is the breeze so perfect today?” After writing the two lines I felt myself enter into a writer’s block, except I was writing lyrics rather than a story. Allowing myself to enjoy the wonderful weather of pre-winter Seoul, I lay my head down on the tables surface, my hair spreading over the paper to cover the lyrics and closed my eyes, waiting for another pang of inspiration to come to me. With my mind so at peace, rather than coming up with music I drifted into a deep sleep; one that my tired body yearned for all day long.

Wooyoung’s POV

            As I took my first step off the airplane into the Incheon airport, I cherished the air that I deeply inhaled with an overjoyed smile plastered on my face. Korea didn’t have a particular scent other than kimchi being eaten at local cafes, but the simple fact that I was back home pleased me. My eyes scanned the airport, and the fact that I understood every single sign I could read built up my excitement. Taecyeon and Suzy on the other hand were both more nonchalant than I about returning, but as least neither of us had to return alone. A representative from JYP Entertainment met up with us the moment we got off the airplane, flashing his business card like an FBI badge to prove his authenticity. We gladly followed him into a black car with darkly tinted windows. The only schedule for today was to officially register as trainees at JYP Entertainment and after receiving our flashy ID cards, we were free to do whatever we pleased until tomorrow.

            “After our meeting at JYP Entertainment are you planning on seeing Jieun?” Taecyeon asked as he rolled down one of the back windows to let the cool breeze fill in, only to be scolded by the driver. Frustrated, he rolled the window back up and sat with a pout like a disciplined ten year old.

            “Perhaps,” I sighed, resting my elbow on the arm rest. Ever since the airplane took off in Vancouver, I had been wondering how I would make my appearance to Jieun. Was this even the right time for me to make myself seen? At this point I still wasn’t sure if I was confident enough to not be pitied by her again.

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            After the mountain load of paperwork, we were finally able to verify our trainee identification cards and after tucking it tightly and securely into my wallet, I began ‘googling’ bus routes to Seoul’s Institute of the Arts on my mobile phone. Taecyoen and Suzy left before I did to greet Taecyeon’s family at last. Suzy seemed extra nervous today considering she hadn’t met his parents for over a decade, but her cool and unshaken personality kept her anxiety hidden well—aside from her lack of insulting comments and stuttering words. Making my way to the bus stop, I debated with myself whether I should really see her today or not. After getting on the bus, I knew I had to see her today—even if she didn’t see me just yet. The institute wasn’t a long ride from the JYP building, and before I even had time to plan my sneaky route into the institute, I was already outside.

            “Kamsahamnida,” I graciously thanked the driver and hopped off. I was now face to face with the building that less than a year ago, tore my pride to pieces and sent me running like a coward. Convincing myself that I would have a better chance of bumping into her on the outdoor campus, I zipped up my sweater as high as the zipper would go and pulled the hood over my head. Even in my mind I would imagine that I looked slightly more stalker-like in the day than I would have liked but at least no one would recognize me. I recalled that Eunjung also attended this school and if she caught sight of me, I had no intentions of dealing with whatever chaos followed. Slowly I made my way to the back of the building where students liked to hang out and sit against trees on the grass with their guitars or music scores and looked around for a short, skinny, brown haired girl with a pixie figure and pale skin. It never occurred to me that she could have dyed her hair during the time span that we were apart. After circling the entire outdoor campus, I felt my heart sink with disappointment. I didn’t even see a girl that looked remotely like Jieun let alone Jieun herself. Heading back to the exit, my peripheral vision caught sight of a petite girl with her head rested on a picnic table, her hair sloppily waving in every direction the wind blew. I had to admit, it was the chocolate brown hair color that caught my eyes, but as I ventured closer to her, my heart started pounding faster. I wanted to deny myself from getting my hopes up but I couldn’t help it. When I was finally in front of her, it didn’t make me even a millisecond to recognize that it was Jieun. I had found Lee Jieun! Heaven couldn’t have made this possibility more perfect for me. I took a seat across from her at the picnic table and glanced at the sheet of paper that was crinkled under her cheeks. Brushing her hair off, I read the lyrics over and over in my head. Who had inspired this new song from her? I was curious to know. I pulled my oversized hood off my head and rested my chin on my arms, admiring her sweet sleeping expression. It didn’t matter how much had changed since we last met, because as I watched her sleep, it felt like we had never even been apart. She still managed to retain her innocent appearance. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she made a soft groan as colder winds began kicking in. Instinctively, I pulled off my sweater and wrapped it around her shoulders like a blanket. Immediately, her troubled face formed a peaceful smile. Seeing her smile made every hardship I went through feel so much more worth it, and after a quick glance at my cell phone I saw that it was time to go back home.

            “Johta…” I heard her mumble in her sleep the moment I turned my head away. Her eyes were still sealed tight so I was sure she was sleep talking. When I turned my head back, I noticed her cell phone vibrating under her palm’s loose grasp. Curious, I moved her fingers over to read the caller ID.

            “Lee Kikwang?” I asked no louder than a whisper. They both had the last name Lee so was this guy a relative? I never recalled Donghae mentioning him before, and since Lee was an extremely common surname, I made the worst case scenario my assumption. It was Jieun’s current boyfriend. Sliding the phone out of her grasp I flipped it open and held it to my ear.

            “Jieun-ah, where are you?” The male voice asked frantically with uneven breathing. I guessed that he had been running for quite a while. I never answered.

            “Ah, you’re at our picnic table right? Don’t move I’ll come right now.” He added after a long moment of silence. When he spoke again so naturally I concluded that Jieun was one who seldom answered his questions. It was oddly comforting to know that her quiet personality kept with her from high school. Without answering again, I flipped the cell phone closed and slid it back under her palms. Before making my ‘great escape’ I slid a sloppily folded piece of paper under her pink folder. As I took my leave, I found myself humming to the melody of ‘Maybe’, the original song written and composed by Lee Jieun, the first song we ever sang together but certainly not the last. 

A/N: I'm so sorry I promised I'd update on Wednesday but now it's Sunday and I finally update. I guess summer isn't giving me much of a break either. Well, WOOU IS BACK! (: Sorta~ haha ^^! Hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment! The song Jieun started writing in this chapter were the first 2 lyrics of "Good Day by IU"...the english translation hehe. 

Emotions aren't something that can change by forcing it.

-Jinguk (Dream High)