.:8:. Mistake : Sign
Have You Ever
♫ Cho Sunhyun ♫
I check my make up once again in front of the mirror. It's all good and I comb my hair, making sure that I'm settled.
It's not that I am really concerned about make up things. I'm not that good about make up either if you compare me to Yuseon; well, she is a model anyway. But I try my best to look good at least when I'm going to perform.
Today is the day Musique will perform together again. It's for the event where we are invited by Doojoon and we're going to perform in less than fifteen minutes.
If I was worried about Yuseon's presence today, everything has turned up and down within the last hour of our preparation together.
Yuseon and her friends appeared as first performer today and none of us attended the early performances because Gikwang had classes and Hari was busy with her projects.
Or at least that's what they told me.
When we did our rehearsal last night, I felt something was really unusual between them. They barely talked to each other unless it's a necessary. As if they wanted to finish the rehearsal as soon as possible.
A week has passed since the conversation I had with Hari in my kitchen. But after that we managed to talk like what we always do so I shove the negative thought, about the possibility that she has a crush on Gikwang.
Hari must be teasing me that night. I mean, if she really likes Gikwang, why doesn't she tell me about it. I believe she thinks of me as her best friend. I'm trying to be least cocky here anyway.
But I can't help myself to think that there must be something happened between Hari and Gikwang in the last three days. They avoided the chances to be left alone by themselves in our basecamp.
I know. Maybe I'm just being sensitive after what Hari said to me but it never happened before; Gikwang loves to and Hari never loses her sarcasm.
Until now.
Even now they are not talking to each other at the backstage room. Gikwang is busy with his guitar while Hari is busy with her phone. Their backs are facing each other.
"Hey, did something happen?" I finally speak out about my thought. I can't go on the stage with this curiosity lingering on my brain. I need to know. "Why are you two not talking to each other?"
Both of them stop doing their activities. Gikwang turns to look at me and Hari takes a glance at me. But none of them say a word.
"So?" I raise my eyebrow and cross my arms together, demanding an answer from them.
"Because there is nothing we need to talk about," Gikwang answers calmly. He returns to his guitar and plays the melody again.
"Just like what he said," Hari murmurs with monotone. She turns her gaze back to her phone and busy with whatever only-she-knows is she's doing .
And I'm really sure that there is something between them now. But as much as I want to force them to tell me, we need to get ready for our performance.
We're called to the stage by one of the event committee. Even Doojoon comes over to greet us in person, thanking us to make our times for his event. He wishes us good luck before we step on the stage.
"Welcome Musique to the stage!" the MC shouts, gaining applauses from the audiences. I wave to the audiences and I can see banners of our group name are everywhere.
Some girls are screaming when Gikwang waves at them. My eyes find Yoseob, standing on the front row. He waves casually at us and I flash a smile to him; he always watch each of our performances as his support for us as friend.
Gikwang stands in the middle with his guitar, his usual position. Hari takes the microphone and I stand in front of the keyboard. I take a deep breath and exchange looks with Gikwang.
He nods slightly as a sign to start the song. Hari does the ad lib beautifully, making the guys to clap in excitement.
The performance is flawless. We sing two songs in a row, gaining louder and louder cheers from our fans. But something happens when our performance is near to the end.
Hari forgets to sing the last refrain together with Gikwang. So instead of their voices in a harmony, Gikwang sings the refrain by himself. I can see that Gikwang gives a quick glance on Hari but she doesn't sing the refrain part.
Luckily no one notices this. Maybe they think it's only another improvisation from us for the performance. But both of me and Gikwang know it's not right.
After Gikwang thanked the audiences, Hari is the first one to leave the stage. She rushes to the backstage room and I run to chase her. She grabs her bag and leaves the backstage room without any word.
"Wait, Hari!" Gikwang grabs her wrist to stop her but she tosses his hand away. My eyes widen in surprise because of her sudden act. She walks away with unpredicted expression.
"Now you need to explain what happened," I glare at Gikwang. "Don't you dare tell me nothing happened. I never saw Hari like that before. She never made a mistake on live performance."
"I...," Gikwang sighs with frustration, leaning his back to the wall. "I don't know. I don't understand."
He looks at me with guilty expression, "I made her hate me. Probably."
♫ Yang Yoseob ♫
When I noticed that Hari didn't sing the last refrain together with Gikwang, I knew something happened between her and Gikwang.
I helped Gikwang on composing the song so I know they supposed to sing the last refrain together. Even though they could act as if nothing was wrong on the stage, they couldn't fool me.
Actually I noticed their unusual acts since three days ago. When we're together for lunch or at Musique's basecamp, they rarely talked. I even dare to say that they never talked unless it's for their preparation to perform.
I have asked both of them but they assured me that there's nothing happened. But after saw Hari failed from perform perfectly, I can't believe in their answers anymore.
I try to find them at the backstage after talking to Doojoon. Suddenly someone bumps my shoulder accidentally, making me to stop and turn around.
"I'm sorry, I-" I stop when I see who bumped me. She looks at me with expresionless face as if she doesn't know how to react after her mistakes.
"Hari," I murmur her name. I pat her head as she looks down at the ground. She doesn't cry but I can see that she is holding something inside her heart. "Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry...," she mumbles. She sighs heavily and looks at me, "How could I forget to sing the refrain with him? I can't believe I'm so stupid."
She hits her forehead rapidly with her own hand so I stop it, grabbing her wrist to stop her from hurting herself, "Easy, Hari. It's a minor mistake. No one noticed it."
She lowers down her hand and sighs again. She looks really tired somehow.
"Do you want to talk?" I pat her head again, comforting her. "I'll walk you home. Come on."
I walk pass her and she follows me; I know she doesn't want to talk with Gikwang now, considering that she has a problem with Gikwang and she just made a mistake on stage.
I don't say a word. I just walk side by side with her. She is the one who needs to talk about what happened and I don't want to rush her to tell me; she needs time to adjust her feeling.
After around ten minutes walking in silence, Hari finally decides to start talking.
"How can I differentiate whether someone is teasing me or not?" she asks with doubt in her tone.
It must be Gikwang. What did he do that makes Hari to be confused like this? Aigoo... a popular guy sure has his own way to change a heart of a girl.
"Well," I clear my throat, "when someone is teasing you just to make fun of you, they usually will laugh at your reaction. If they don't, you'll know for sure."
Silence fills the air again.
"Gikwang...," Hari walks with her eyes on the ground, "...almost kissed me."
"What?!" I stop suddenly. Did I just hear it right? Gikwang almost kissed Hari?
"No, no, not lips," she quickly blurts out with burning red cheeks. Even her ears are red. She lowers her voice again, "He almost kissed my cheek..."
I feel jealousy fills my heart again. If Gikwang was only teasing her, he's getting out of the line and I must talk to him about it.
But if he was serious...
What if he was serious? Doesn't it mean they like each other? Doesn't it mean Hari will be happy that Gikwang likes her too?
Aish, it's not good. For me, at least.
"Or maybe it's just my feeling," Hari continues walking. I follow her behind, listening to her carefully. "Maybe I was thinking too much. I mean, there is no way he will like me. There is no way someone will like me."
"Yah, don't say that," I scold her softly. "You have a lot of fans, Hari. They like you and I think someone out there maybe is falling in love with you. You just don't know about it."
Yes, it's me, Yoon Hari. This foolish guy in front of you is in love with you and he doesn't have any courage to tell you.
We finally arrive in front of her house. She turns to face me and smiles weakly but sincere, "Thank you, Yoseob. Thank you for listening to me."
"You're welcome," I smile, feeling relieved that she has a smile now on her face. "Take a good rest. We'll talk again tomorrow, okay?"
She nods and tilts her head, "Can I ask you a question, Yoseob?"
"Sure," I frown. I'm not expecting her to ask me a question. My head is filled by the fact she just told me about Gikwang but I try my best to keep calm so she won't worry about me. "What is it?"
"Are you in love with someone?" her question makes my heart to skip a beat. "You know, your encouragement is like what someone will say when they are in love too."
If only I can tell her that I am in love.
With you, Hari.
But there is no way I can tell her. Her heart belongs to Gikwang.
I smile and caress her cheek with my hand gently, "Maybe."
My heart is beating really fast now but I don't care; if I can't tell her my true feeling, at least I can show her the signs.
Because she never looked at me the way she looks at Gikwang.
Because I'm only her best friend and nothing more.
I step closer to her and land a kiss on her forehead. I step backwards again and smile sheepishly to her, "Good night, Hari."
I turn around, trying to control my heartbeat. I walk with wandering mind as I head back to my apartment.
That is my first sign.
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