karaoke machine | p.js

1.05

Jisung couldn't help but stare at Naerin from where he sat on her bed. It wasn't the first time Jisung had gone to Naerin's apartment but every time he felt conscious of his actions. Naerin rarely invited him over when her brother was home. The two opted to go to a small obscure cafe instead.

Today was different only in the sense that Naerin said she had a project to finish for class. Her back faced Jisung the entire time as she stared at her two monitors working with a music program. She had her hair tied in a messy bun and her headphones were pulled over her ears. They blocked out any noise so that Jisung couldn't hear what she was working on.

"You've been staring at me for the past ten minutes," Naerin said catching Jisung off guard.

He flinched and looked down at his phone which had turned off in the time he wasn't using it. "Sorry," Jisung apologized opening his phone again.

"Do you want to listen?" Naerin asked, turning around in her chair to look at Jisung. He looked up at her and found that she was smiling gently at him.

Nodding, Jisung got off her bed and went over to stand by her. Naerin passed Jisung her headphones and watched as he placed them over his head. Clicking the play button, Jisung scanned the computer, watching as the player went through all of the harmonies and layers that Naerin had added.

Listening to her track was captivating leaving Jisung with the urge to listen to her voice more. The song had a lo-fi hip-hop beat and her delicate vocals left a chill R&B vibe to it as well. Her song was defined by the distant falsetto of her voice and delicate and textural instrumentals. But behind all of that was a booming drum that resonated through Jisung's body.

"This is really good, noona," Jisung said when the song finished, "Your voice is amazing,"

"Thanks," Naerin smiled and Jisung could see a glimmer of pride in her eyes. "I used to take a lot of lessons when I was younger,"

"I heard you were a trainee," Jisung said as he took a seat at the edge of Naerin's bed. He saw the muscles in her neck tense.

"Yeah," Naerin nodded, "It wasn't really my thing,"

Jisung stared at her for a moment, hoping that she would open up to him about her time as a trainee. He only knew what his members knew, the short tabloid article was the only thing that gave him any insight into her time as a trainee.

"Where did you train?" Jisung asked.

"XXX Group," Naerin replied, putting her headphones down and going to sit on the bed next to Jisung. She gently placed her head on his shoulder. Upon contact, Jisung immediately felt at ease with her next to him.

"Did you have a good time?" Jisung asked.

Naerin didn't reply right away. "You can ask me about it," she said after a moment, "You probably read something, right?"

Jisung hesitated before nodding, "My members recognized your name. Jaemin found an article about your time as a trainee," he hesitated again, this time feeling a bit guilty from bringing up the topic despite how curious he was, "You don't have to–"

"Don't be silly, you already asked," Naerin teased but her smile slowly disappeared. Naerin tried to brace herself for what she was going to relive in her own mind. It wasn't a terribly horrible memory for her, Naerin had made a lot of friends in her time as a trainee. But she couldn't deny the unease that had settled when she started telling her soulmate.

"I was really badly injured before I left the industry," Naerin started.

"What?" Jisung asked, surprised by the sudden confession.