Chapter 20
My Bestfriend was all lies.
Eunkwang brought Da Hye to his vocal room and shut the door tight.
He led her to sit on the sofa and positions himself on the play keyboard beside the sofa.
"Let's train now," he ordered, tuning the keyboard to the correct pitch.
Da Hye titled her head wondering why the sudden decision.
Wasn't he still within practice hours?
"Umm," she started.
Eunkwang turns to give her a look. "What?"
"Are you possibly.. uh, jealous?"
Instantly Eunkwang felt annoyance building up within him.
He gave a stern dismiss and turns back to face the keyboard.
Da Hye felt a tingly feeling. She could have guessed Eunkwang was slightly jealous to what happened earlier.
She breaks into a grin and slap his arm playfully.
"Eii, you are jealous aren't you," she joked lightly.
Eunkwang played deaf and started playing a piece on the keyboard keys.
Da Hye knew he was a little upset because that song she played with Hyunsik, used to be their favourite piece back in the days.
"Do you remember? It used to be our favourite duet back in college," Da Hye stated feeling nostalgic.
Eunkwang's lip turn into a firm line.
"Ah, I miss those days!" Da Hye exclaimed as she rested her head back on the sofa and shut her eyes, enjoying the beautiful piece that Eunkwang was playing.
"Hyunsik's voice is wonderful. I felt a different vibe singing with him." Da Hye obliviously muttered.
Eunkwang abruptly stopped playing.
Da Hye popped her eyes open and saw Eunkwang looking away with his fist balled up.
"Jimin-ah, what's wrong?" She began to worry.
He can't be that jealous, can he?
Da Hye moved up to the edge of the sofa and lands her hand on his arm.
Eunkwang turns to her with a frown. "Are you serious about training?"
Da Hye was caught off guard. Her eyes widen in surprise.
hung agape as words got stuck in .
How could he asked such an absurd question?
Without waiting for Da Hye to answer his question, Eunkwang rose up from his seat.
"Forget it," he said and initiated to leave.
Da Hye was further surprised that she grab onto his arm and apologized without a reason.
"I'm sorry Jimin,"
Eunkwang lets out a sigh as he released the tension in his shoulders.
Maybe he was really hurt that I sang our favourite duet with another person.
Da Hye turns Eunkwang around to face her and cups his cheeks in her palms. She gazed into his eyes.
"I'm sorry." She repeats. "You know how serious I am about this, you should know best."
Eunwkang lets out another sigh as he raised his arms and pull her hands off his cheeks. He walks back to the keyboard and settle down.
"Let's warm up your vocals," he started.
Da Hye's face lits up in joy hurrying over to Eunkwang and stands by him as both of them kick off their first ever training together.
*One month later
Da Hye was now allowed to use the vocal room to train her vocals on her own. But that is prior to Eunkwang giving her a song sheet she needed to memorize and perfect her notes by a certain dateline.
However this time, even after a week of intensive vocal training, she could not reach the note expected in the song. As if that was not depressing enough,
Mr Hong has requested to see Da Hye and check on her training. Unfortunately today, Eunkwang was packed with schedule so he could not spare even a minute to help Da Hye with it. But that does not mean he did not care.
Eunkwang finally open up and no longer had moments of rage because he had carefully made sure Da Hye had the very least interaction with anybody. He made sure all her time of the day was filled with training and more training. He could see the improvements in her and he felt proud. He was in fact her trainer anyway.
In his every schedule today, he would sneakily peek into his phone every other minute, hoping Da Hye would give him a call and update him of her vocals. He knew very well about Da Hye being unable to reach that high note for the latest song sheet he gave her, which explains the reason of his anxiety.
"Let's go into commercial break everyone! 5 minutes!" the producer shouted.
The moment Eunkwang heard the announcement, he literally jumped off his seat and headed to the corner immediately dialing Da Hye's phone number.
"Yah, how is it? Got any better?" Eunkwang immediately interrogates.
"Yah, did you think a miracle happen? I just told you about half an hour back that I am still failing, what makes you think I could be any better now? Aigoo." Da Hye reprimanded.
It's not that she was angry at Eunkwang, she was just frustrated at her own self for not being able to do well. She sighed into the phone.
Eunkwang frowned slightly, feeling a little hurt about Da Hye's tone toward him. He was just worried. Not just as a trainer, but as a someone who really cares.
Da Hye snaps and realises the tone she just used on Eunkwang.
Regret starts to overwhelm her.
"Mianhae Jimin-ah. I.. I didn't mean to say it that way. I'm, I'm just a little burdened now."
Eunkwang sighed into the phone.
"That's alright." He muttered. "I.. I need to go," he briefly said and ended the call.
Da Hye wanted to stop him from hanging up but she was a little too late. Now she felt worse for making Eunkwang upset.
"Aish!" She cussed feeling frustrated of herself.
She slam her fingers on the keyboard keys and groaned aloud. She run her fingers on her long hair and took a deep breath.
"Focus, focus!" She told herself. She got no time to waste on all this minor emotions she needs to get her pitch right and make Eunkwang proud.
She recomposed herself and started her vocal practice.
"La la la," she hummed the introduction.
The door to the vocal door creaked open. Hyunsik sneak his head into the room and a smile widens when he saw the back of Da Hye's figure.
"Noona!" He greeted.
Da Hye spun at the call and she smiled gladly seeing Hyunsik approaching her. She'd be lying if she said she was not happy to see him. She was actually relieved that Hyunsik was here.
"How's practice going?"
Da Hye gave a pout. "Bad," she sighed.
"Why, what's wrong?" Hyunsik asked.
She bit her lip, worried about sharing her own incompetence to someone else.
"Come on Noona, it's okay. You can tell me anything." Hyunsik consoled.
She heaved a sigh and gave in.
"I have difficulty hitting a note in the song," she explained, sliding her song sheet toward Hyunsik and point to the specific line of difficulty.
Hyunsik scoot closer to Da Hye.
"Right here?" Hyunsik confirmed.
Da Hye nodded.
"Ah..." He responded, examining the song sheet further.
Hyunsik turned to the keyboard and tested a variety of tunes until he found the right pitch.
"There, I got it. Here, let me help you with this." Hyunsik said with a wide charming smirk.
Da Hye's face lights up in happiness. "Really?"
He gave a firm nod. "Eum."
"Omo, komawo Hyunsik-ah! Jeongmal komawo!" She cried, having tears in her eyes.
Hyunsik cannot help to break into a wide smile and feel euphoria explode within him. He was so happy that he could spend this small time with the person he wants to cherish the most in his life.
***
Eunkwang finally ended his schedule at 7:00pm.
And Da Hye's appointment with Mr Hong was half an hour ago.
He did request to his manager to allow him to skip his final schedule but it was turned down.
He was really worried about Da Hye's progress so he told his manager to drive him straight back to CUBE Entertainment without any detour.
The moment he reached the company, he charged straight to their practice room with no response to any greeting that he received.
He barged into the room only to halt when he saw the scene in front of him.
Mr Hong was shaking Da Hye's hand with a satisfied smile as he praised her and Hyunsik, who was standing by her side.
Eunkwang's fist clenched tightly. He feels rage building within him as an obvious frown spread across his face.
He was about to stomp off the room but he was stopped when Da Hye called out to him.
"Eunkwang ah!" She cried as she dashed toward him.
He controlled his posture and turn to her with a forced smile.
"O-oh?" he stuttered.
"I did it! I really did it!" She exploded in glee, jumping up and down.
"A-ah. Ch-chukkahae!" Eunkwang congratulated with Hyunsik and Mr Hong approaching them.
"Eunkwang, I am impressed with her development. You have proved me wrong." Mr Hong praised.
Eunkwang bowed 90 degrees. "I thank you Sir, for giving us the chance."
Da Hye and Hyunsik did the same in gratitude.
Mr Hong patted Eunkwang's shoulder with a satisfaction nod.
"I'm looking forward to her future performances," The CEO said and left.
Eunkwang sighed as he heard the studio door click shut. He was not sure how good Da Hye was to have gotten Mr Hong that satisfied but he was sure, Mr Hong expected more in his next check on Da Hye.
Burden.
He felt a whole lot of burden right now.
Burden and frustration do not go together.
"Eunkwang?" Da Hye called out to him. "Are you okay?"
Eunkwang snapped from his thoughts. "Huh, what?" He responded.
"We're going out for a drink. To celebrate!" Da Hye cried in glee.
"We?" Eunkwang raised his brows.
"Yeah! You, me and Hyunsik! Let's go, my treat!" Da Hye excitedly exited the room.
The side of Eunkwang's lips twitch in annoyance. He turned his gaze toward Hyunsik and stared.
Hyunsik returned the same gaze with raised brows.
Without a word, Eunkwang took off, walking pass Da Hye who was waiting brightly outside.
"E-eh? Eu-eunkwang where are you going?" Da Hye called out.
Eunkwang stopped and spun in agitation.
"I'm leaving, enjoy your drink."
He did not even wait for Da Hye to respond. He just stomped off.
Da Hye stood in confusion.
Hyunsik finally left the studio and stood beside Da Hye.
She turned to him with a worry.
"Did something happened?" She asked.
Hyunsik shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe he's tired. You know how he is. Let's just go,"
Da Hye did not think through and just followed Hyunsik out.
***
After their drink at a nearby cafe, Hyunsik and Da Hye decided to take a walk along the streets back to their dorm. They purposely took the longer route so that they could walk a little more and enjoy the night breeze.
"Hyunsik-ah," Da Hye suddenly called out.
"Hmm?" Hyunsik responded putting his hands in his front pocket as he turns to her with a charming smile plastered to his face.
Da Hye blushed slightly, looking away.
"Waeyo, Noona? 'Hyunsik-ah' mwo?" He imitated Da Hye.
Da Hye chuckled at his imitation.
"Oh nothing. I'm just..." Da Hye faded off. They both stopped walking and face each other.
Hyunsik raised his brows, hands still in his pocket.
"Thank you, Hyunsik. For helping me today." Da Hye finally spoke, bringing her gaze up to his face, the warmth from her neck rose along with her gaze.
Hyunsik burst into a chuckle.
"Mwoya Noona - "
"WATCH OUT!" A cry exploded in the solemn night.
A cyclist was speeding toward Da Hye.
In fast reflex Hyunsik grip Da Hye by the wrist and pull her into his chest.
Da Hye slammed into Hyunsik's broad chest, shutting her eyes tight as she gripped the back of Hyunsik's shirt.
They stood in shock for mere seconds.
The sound of an owl hooting echoed throughout the silent night sky.
Da Hye lift her head and was greeted by Hyunsik's dark orbs.
*Badump*
Her heartbeat went up a notch.
She swallowed a lump in .
She snapped out of her trance and intended to pull away but in an instant Hyunsik pulled her back into his chest and wrap his arms around her back embracing her tight.
"Ah," She gasped at Hyunsik's at Hyunsik's sudden actions.
"H-hyunsik..." she croaked.
"Stay," he said. "Just for a while."
Da Hye's tensed shoulder drops with a light sigh.
"Noona..." Hyunsik started.
He has been thinking for very long on this. He was contemplating his decision whenever he sees Da Hye.
Endless thoughts would erupt in his mind everytime.
Should I do it?
Would she run away if I say it?
What if I tarnished our already good relationship?
But tonight, all he sees was his chance.
He tightens his grip around her.
Here goes nothing.
"Noona," he began again. "I... love you."
~★~
A/N_ Quite a bunch for a chapter huh? O_o
For now, it's Hyunsik♥Da Hye ;P
Ppyeong~
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