The next couple of days involved Seomin constantly trapped in the recording studio. She threw herself into her music, recording and rerecording every song to please her ear. At one point, her album producer asked her to stop in order for everyone to rest and eat. She apologized and allowed everyone to take a break while she continued to practice on her own, underlining words that she had trouble pronouncing clearly. If speaking in Korean was difficult, singing was ten times more difficult. Donghae had also asked her to use lyrics without any Romanization. To help relieve the stress of singing using Hangul lyrics, Seomin began doodling little drawings beside important words to remind her what the word was. Every sheet of music, all twelve songs, had doodles and markings all over the page.

As she murmured words repetitively to strengthen her pronunciation, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Seomin glanced up to see a bowl of clear vegetable soup in front of her. She followed the arm to see Donghae’s familiar face. “You should eat too,” he said urging her to take her own break.

“Thanks.” Seomin spooned the soup, letting the hot liquid slide down . She didn’t realize how hungry she was until her tongue had tasted the delectable herbs and vegetables in the soup. Donghae made himself comfortable, sitting on an unused amp in the room, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. She flicked her eyes to him from her soup and smiled, happy to finally see a familiar face today.

“Stop staring and eat. Your soup is getting cold!” Seomin blushed and hurriedly ate, scooping every last vegetable. When there was not a single drop left, she sighed and threw the foam bowl into the garbage. “Whenever you’re singing and you’re hungry, always drink clear soup, okay?”

She nodded and excused herself to the washroom. When she returned, the producer and sound team had returned, ready to resume her recording. Seomin entered the recording booth and thanked Donghae once again. As he turned to leave, she cleared to get his attention. Once he turned around, she asked, “I feel bad, but do you think we could record our duet once more?” She wanted that song to be as perfect as her title track.

“Sure. Let the producer and sound team know they can leave when I come. I want to put my own touch on the sound.” Seomin nodded and watched him leave before resuming her recording. The producer let her know that the songs they had rerecorded so far sounded much better than before. She thanked him and looked at her cellphone sitting on the music stand. It was already eight in the evening. They had three more songs before the producers could go, and another song before Seomin and Donghae could go home. By midnight, Donghae had returned in time to listen to Seomin’s last recording with the album producer. She finished her song and thanked everyone in the studio, letting them know how much she appreciated their long hours of work with her. This was not the first time they had recorded late into the night. It was just that Seomin wanted her album to be near perfection. When the producer left, Donghae fiddled with the sound as if he knew exactly what he wanted. Donghae asked her to sing a couple lines and was satisfied by what he did. He entered the room and helped her set up his own microphone. “Ready?” he asked.

“I am, but where is your guitar?” The last time they recorded, Donghae had brought his guitar to play.

“Oh, I must have forgot to tell you. The guitar was recorded separate so that the microphones don’t pick up anything but our voices. It makes for a much clearer sound once we put the two together.” After his explanation, they sang the song a few times, helping one another fix each other’s mistakes, mostly on Seomin’s part. They left the booth to listen to their recordings, and after a short discussion, chose the recording that sounded best with the guitar. Donghae combined the two recordings, and they silently listened to the song. Seomin smiled, noting each part where they had looked at one another, smiled at one another. Those places often sounded the most perfect in her ears. Once the song ended, Donghae placed the recording onto the disc and took it out, putting it in a case. “Now we just have to send