“This is the home theatre, and in here is the mini-gym,” Kyungsoo introduces, taking Haerin and Yunjae through the doors on the first floor of his house.  “You’ve seen the kitchen and the living room,”

Haerin might be nodding and listening outside, but inside, she is unbelievably blown away.  What kind of house has a mini-gym, for God’s sake? And it’s only the first floor.

He then slides the glass doors open and the warmth of the morning air washes over Haerin’s cheeks.  “This is the-“

“Backyard and swimming pool,” She cuts him.  “I can see that,”

“Uh-huh,” Kyungsoo steps on the wooden boards making way from the house towards the swimming pool.  “I don’t use it that much.  But the kids do,”

Haerin nods in understanding.  “You mean your friends?”

“Yeah, them,” Kyungsoo smiles.  “Kai, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Suho and Sehun.  They’re practically balls of energy.  Can’t sit still even for the slightest moment,” He reaches out to help Haerin up the bridge’s levels.

Laughing at the way Kyungsoo puts his friends, she trails behind him with Yunjae, walking up the wooden bridge that cuts the swimming pool and leads to the little house at the end.  Yes, there’s a bridge above his swimming pool.  At each ends, there were water fountains that shot water that sparkled in the air, falling downwards into the pool.  If Haerin were to live in this house with Yunjae, she wouldn’t need to go anywhere.

“And this, is where we’ll be singing,”

Kyungsoo pushes the door to the little house open and Haerin got that close to fainting.  The home theatre, the mini-gym, the living room, the kitchen, the backyard, the swimming pool, and now this.

It was basically a luxurious, deluxe studio.  A long, black couch rests to the wall beside the door with a mini-fridge beside it.  Lamps in the soundproof ceiling cast generous light over the whole room and the walls were lined with mirrors, from the ceiling to the polished floors.  A gleaming, black grand piano sits with all of its glory at the far corner of the room.  Drums are placed adjacent to it and a row of different-sized guitars; acoustic, bass and electric, were hung on the wall.  Across the row of guitars were shelves of music books and sheets, tidily arranged alphabetically.  Beside it, sophisticated-looking speakers with a sophisticated-looking player in between is placed close to the mirror.  Three condenser microphones stand in the middle of the room and even with all that, there were still a lot of space separating the door and everything inside.

“There’s the operator’s room behind the mirror at the far end,” Kyungsoo points at a vague outline in the mirror.  “For recording and stuff,”

“Holy mother of God,” Haerin mutters, walking into the room as if hypnotized.  She trails her fingers lightly over the instruments, the books in the shelves, the piano, and come to stand in front of the microphones.  Kyungsoo’s house is everything she could ever ask for.  This studio is everything she could ever ask for.

‘This is so much better than karaoke,’ Yunjae signs and rushes over to his sister as she squeals excitedly at him, pulling him over to sit down at the piano. 

“He plays?” Kyungsoo asks, leaning onto the mirror beside the piano seat.

“Oh, very well,” Haerin grins.  “He can’t sing so the piano is all he’s got.  Goes to part-time at a place nearby my house.  With me, of course,” She pats her brother proudly.  “Yunjae-ah, Na Yoon Kwon’s Expectation,”

With a little salute, Yunjae’s hands glide over the piano, playing the intro to the song.

“You sang this sometime in the rooftop, didn’t you?” Haerin tilts her head to look at Kyungsoo, who seemed taken aback by the question.  She starts singing before he could say anything and he finds himself listening very closely to the way the song she’s singing fills up the whole room.  The way she says the words to the song as if she were speaking, the way her hands move in little gestures, the way her eyes stared off into space and yet still carried so much at the same time and the way she would shut her eyes whenever she improvises; it all enthralled him in a way no other voice did.  Not even Baekhyun’s when he’s the best singer aside from Kyungsoo in the group.

I love you

My heart will never change

I’ll just pretend that the world borrowed you from me

You just have to tell me that you’ll come back to me

The hum of the piano’s tunes stops as Yunjae takes his feet off of the pedal.  Kyungsoo could see that the two were drowning in the afterglow of the song because only after a moment has passed since the song ended did Yunjae start gesturing.  ‘You sound really nice, noona, as always,’

“I sing you to sleep every night, Yunjae, don’t you get tired of complimenting me?” She chuckles lightly.  Haerin stands up and catches Kyungsoo’s eyes.  At the intensity of his gaze, Haerin clears .  “We’re supposed to be here to hear you sing, not me,”

Kyungsoo blinks repeatedly and opens his mouth to say something, only to close it again.  “You’re really good,” He blurts out when Haerin raises an eyebrow at him.  “And I mean it.  Heck, I didn’t know you could even sing! You- I was- Wow- And Yunjae’s skills are no joke, too! It’s- I mean- why don’t you sing much, Haerin?”

He notices the way Haerin’s eyes flicker towards Yunjae before she hums in thought and answers playfully.  “No reason,” She grins a dazzling grin at Kyungsoo.  “If not singing means listening to you sing up on the roof, I won’t even utter a note,”

***

When Yunjae remembered that he had something important he had to do, it was time for them to go.  And still, they didn’t get to hear Kyungsoo sing.  Haerin helped him clear the dishes and wipe the tables before he walks them out his house.

“It was nice, having you two over,” He says, grinning.  “You should come again.  I’ll get the kids to come along,”

“I think I’d be paying your house a lot of visits,” Haerin chuckles, turning to Yunjae, who nods in agreement.

As Yunjae turns his back to walk out the gates, Haerin trots back over to Kyungsoo and pats his arm awkwardly, a thin smile to her lips.  “I’ve been wondering why you never got to the end to that song; Na Yoon Kwon’s Expectation.  I’m really curious,”

Leaving Kyungsoo in a daze, Haerin leaves his house with a small wave, just like how they first met.