BAE SUZY thinks she's got everything figured out. But then a visit from a family friend turn her life upside down and throws all her beliefs into question.
NAM JOOHYUK is still reeling from a breakup that shattered his heart and his startup business...
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"Take it from the top," I said.
"Again, dude? Come on," Subin said. "Can't we break for a minute? My fingers are tired of clicking."
"Two and a half weeks until we play, we have two songs down, last I checked that's not a set. We're outta here in twenty, Bin, you can make it. Maybe if you took off the hat."
"Nope."
Jisoo wiped his brow along the sleeve of his T-shirt. "It is kind of hot in here."
Practice had become too intense for a garage - twice a week was about all the neighborhood could handle before someone called to complain. We decided to pool some work cash and spring for space at Lot 23, a warehouse turned rehearsal studio between an restaurant and a strip mall on the far end of town beyond the old rails. They had four rehearsal rooms, and Astro was taking up one of them too. Small town, even smaller rehearsal space, we were bound to run into someone we knew. The competition made us work harder.
Subin lifted his electric piano keyboard. "I'm gonna pass out, Hyuk, just let me grab a water."
"Fine," I said. "Hurry."
I strummed the opening of the next song, turned to Jisoo. "He'd come prepared, at least - chugging from a water bottle he brought with him. After sipping he trickled some over his hair, shook it out, and laughed. I had to give him props - I'd never seen someone work do hard or make that much process in such a short time. He attacked it.
"You really think we'll be ready?" he asked.
"Yeah." I kept thinking about that jar on Jasper's desk - If you're gonna blow it, blow it big! We sounded better - would we be out best by Jasper's bar. Probably not, but we'd go down trying. The door creaked open.
"Now we're down to fif-" I stopped. "Sungkyung?"
"Hey, Hyuk. I saw Subin in the hallway." She smiled. Her presence lightened the room - a butterfly coming through an open window. My knee-jerk reaction to seeing her pissed me off - my nerves turned to live wires. Would that ever stop?
"What are you doing . . . oh, I guess . . . Astro," I said, answering my own question.
"Yep, getting ready for the battle," she said, looking behind me.
I turned. "Oh, Sungkyung, that's Jisoo, our new member and developer. Jisoo, Sungkyung."
Jisoo nodded at her and stood up. "I'm gonna see what's taking Subin so long. Be right back."
She was silent, toeing the floor with the tip of her boot, until he left the room.
