Yoseob's POV

“Ohh!” I belt out, forcing the note out of my diaphragm. The background music stop and I open my eyes to catch my breath.

“Mhmm, that was good,” Junhyung comments good-naturedly. He fans himself with a nearby folder, looking anywhere but at me. The rhythmic tapping of his shoe intensifies his obvious fidgeting. I clear my throat, hoping to drive his attention back to me. It worked and the tapping deliberately stops. A strained smile works its way on his lips and I couldn’t help but to feel guilty.

“Yah, gwenchana. Hyunseung can just sing that part,” I say, trying to keep my voice light. His eyes stare right into me and immediately I sensed his confliction. He was feeling bad.

I scoff silently as my face starts to heat up. “I’m fine.”

Junhyung visibly gulps. “Yoseob-ah,” he starts, “maybe you should—,”

I put on the headphones, effectively blocking out his voice. Reading the lyric sheet once again, I pretend to appear unaffected although the shaking of my hands can’t seem to stop. I lower my hands, annoyed that I can’t even do something simple--such as holding up a piece of paper-- properly.

I close my eyes, allowing exhaustion to bear me down. My stomach sinks and my throat starts to constrict once again. Heat pricks and the sudden itchiness attack. I try to swallow it down but a ball in my throat prevented me from doing so. Frantically, I search for my water bottle while desperately stopping the tears from falling.

A hand drops on my shoulder, the warmth providing a conflicted mix of comfort and disappointment. “Here,” Junhyung says, handing the water bottle to me. I take it, hoping my hands have stopped shaking. “Yah, go home and take a rest. I won’t tell the others about your condition.”

I nod silently as I take a painful gulp of water. “Arrasseo,” I manage to say without my voice cracking. Silently cleaning up, I take my lyric sheet and headed towards the exit. I turned back one last time and smiled apologetically towards Junhyung.  He nods reassuringly and I take my leave.

I was thankful that the others didn’t suspect anything. As I left the recording studio, Doojoon quietly entered and the rest have been too focused on practicing their parts to have caught on. Telling manager-hyung that I have personal matters, I was able to quietly leave the building without stirring up another dramatic episode.

Why am I doing this? To be honest, I didn’t want “Breathe” to repeat itself again. I was so close from reaching the end of my career. So close to the bottomless pit that I’ve pushed myself into.  When I found out that I needed to get surgery for my throat, I saw everything flash before my eyes in that instant. Like an Olympic athlete that was one step away from the gold medal, I became threatened by the possibility of having everything taken away from me. Training for three years, four years, and then five. Those years almost became a history of irony if it had so happened that I was forced to give up my dream.I don’t know when exactly things began changing. When my voice transformed itself to my lifeline, driving me out of a different level of loneliness. One where I can be surrounded by so many people but inevitably be drawn and into isolation.

Plagued by my fears, I walked with heavy footsteps out the building heading to my car. I kept my head lowered as not to draw any unnecessary attention and focused entirely on the sidewalk. Quietly, I unlocked the doors and slipped through, keeping my eyes downcast. I was just about to put my keys into the ignition when a tap on the glass startled me, causing my keys to drop onto the car floor.

“Aish,” I curse as I reached down to grab them. My gaze turned towards my window and I sigh heavily as I found Hyuna. Her long, curly black hair curtained over her face, effectively blocking it from the fans’ view. However taking extra caution, I looked around to check if any had spotted her. Again, she tapped on the glass but this time with increasing urgency. With my patience slowly thinning, I set my keys into the ignition, turning my car on and rolling down my window.  “Yes?” I ask, not bothering to hide the aggravation in my voice.

“It took you long enough!” she rolled her eyes as if I was at fault. For a second I was tempted to run her over, but I stored the thought away.

“What is it Hyuna? Make it quick, there’re fans around. What trouble are you pulling this time?” I grumble.

She huffed, “Just let me in your damn car before you and I both get caught.”

I roll my eyes, defeated and unwillingly unlocked the doors and gestured for her to get in. Annoyed, I yet again looked around in caution for any fans. I try not to think about the past “adventures” I had been dragged into as I noticed her figure dart sneakily around my car to get inside.

“Hurry up!” I hissed as she came within ear shot. Frustated, I reached over to the other side and opened the door for her to slip through.

She makes time to flash me a grin and shuts the door. “Thanks,” she says, sending me a wink, “now drive.”

Exhaling a deep breath, I grumbled quietly to myself as I backed out into the road. Glancing behind my shoulder, I let my hand reach towards the back of Hyuna’s seat. She flinched noticeably but did her best to conceal it. I raise my eyebrows in suspicion but decided best not to say anything rashly. Silently, I entered the road, stealing quick glances beside me every once in a while.

“If you keep doing that, we’ll end up in a car accident,” Hyuna sighs, keeping her eyes on the windshield.

I clear my throat awkwardly, re-adjusting my hold on the steering wheel. “Ani…it’s just, you haven’t said anything since we left and I’m still wondering why you’re in my car.”

“Why does it matter? We’re friends, aren’t we? Besides, you let anyone in your car anyway. Who knows how many girls have been in here,” she argues.

I sat there quiet for a moment, surprised. "Yah, are you alright?" I ask cautiosily. It seemed like that's all I've been doing lately, being careful. "Did something happen?" Reaching upon a red light, I take my time to examine her, looking for clues that might unravel her.

She turns to meet my eyes and I flinched at the sudden scrutiny I was in. I grip onto the steering wheel more tightly, forcing myself to meet her gaze. She wasn't getting anything out of me. Her eyebrows raise challengingly, "Nothing. Nothing happened." My eyes hardened in her response and finally, she breaks. "Just drive oppa, we'll talk later."

I huff, dropping my gaze from her exhausted dark brown eyes. “Fine.” I break away from the storm that it is surely conjuring and I return back to the safety and security of the uniformed highway.  

First chapter is up! I wrote it in Yoseob's POV but the future chapters will probably be in third POV. Thanks for reading and look forward to the next update! :)