karaoke machine | p.js

3.01

━━ February 2022
2 Years Later

It was one of those days for Jisung, one of those days when he wished that everyone and everything would disappear. The blinding hot pink and red that decorated the company building was enough for Jisung to remember why he hated this day every year.

Jisung already knew that he would be roped into a huge party celebrating Jaehyun's birthday. But on top of it being Jaehyun's birthday, it was also Valentine's Day.

The excessive amount of hearts and sparkles that decorated the lobby on SM almost had Jisung turning around to head home.

After all, he was surrounded by couples. During the two years since Jisung last saw his soulmate, almost everyone in NCT had bonded with theirs, leaving Jisung the only member to no longer be in touch with his.

Jisung had never been the jealous type, but during days like these, he really wished that he could just sleep it away. He kept his head down as he made his way into the company, avoiding the stares of the staff and the occasional trainee.

Having a bit of time before practice started, Jisung made his way to the little coffee shop on the floor below the practice rooms. Not to his surprise, it was packed since it was so early in the morning. The specialty drinks for that day were all pink-colored and love-themed.

Jisung let out a long sigh as he stepped into line and waited for his turn to order.

After finishing ordering his drink, Jisung went to stand off to the side when he felt someone bump into him. Turning to see who it was, Jisung found himself looking down at one of the female trainees who would be debuting soon.

Song Dahee was only a year younger than Jisung but she looked so youthful that she could have been mistaken for a sixteen-year-old. Despite her deceitful young looks, she stood only a few inches taller than Jisung.

"You're here early," Dahee said with a smile.

"We have practice for our next performance stage," Jisung said with a nod of his head, "I'm guessing you also have practice?"

Dahee nodded, "I'm meeting up with some of the girls before to get some food,"

Jisung nodded but as Dahee continued to go on about her plans for that day, he found his attention drifting away. His eyes wandered past her shoulder toward the entrance to the cafe. For a second Jisung thought his eyes were deceiving him.

"Actually, I was wondering," Dahee said, her eyes looking up at Jisung eagerly, "Would you want to get coffee with me sometime?"

"Uh, hold onto that thought," Jisung said, her words not registering in his mind, "I'm so sorry, I have to go," he gently gave her a pat on the shoulder before rushing out of the cafe.

He was so sure that his eyes hadn't deceived him. He could see her face clearly in his vision, the soft look she had given him when their eyes connected. Jisung was absolutely certain that it was her.

Jisung's heart was pounding into his chest as he rushed out of the cafe, looking frantically left and right for the girl that he so desperately wanted to see. The ring on his finger felt heavy as he rushed for the elevator.

As Jisung got closer to the elevator the door started to close. The elevator was packed but standing right at the front of it was a girl with bright doe eyes. Her lips sat perfectly in a natural pout as the door closed.

Jisung swore softly when it closed and immediately made a beeline for the stairs. As he ran up the stairs, something in the back of his mind told him to get off on the recording studio floor. He burst through the stairwell door, rushing to where the elevators would eventually drop everyone off.

As he rushed toward the elevator, he passed one of the hallways, and his eyes were immediately drawn toward the woman who walked down the hall. He had to backtrack, stumbling into that hallway with heavy breaths.

"Naerin?" Jisung called out, his voice sounding out of breath and foreign to himself. It felt like his lungs were forcing the air out of them, his heart slamming into his rib cage as he felt his hopes rise.

The young woman stopped and turned to look at who called her name.

She looked just as beautiful as the last time Jisung saw her. Her face was slimmer, more mature than it had been two years ago, her hair was now a golden brown that framed her face perfectly. Her eyes met Jisung's and for a moment they just stood frozen.

Jisung went to take a step toward her when Naerin's attention was pulled away from him.

"Rin, you're late, what took you so long?" the voice of one of the in-house producers said, "Hurry up, we're running behind schedule,"

Naerin turned to look at Jisung once more, her eyes scanning his face before she turned away. "Sorry, it was busy in the lobby today," she said as she went to enter one of the recording studios.

Jisung felt his mouth go dry as he tried to force himself to move. But every muscle in his body at that moment wouldn't listen to him. He tried to force himself to go after her. But the pounding of his own heart threatened to make him drop to the floor right there.

When Jisung had finally come to his senses, it had been from the buzzing of his phone. Unable to take his eyes away from where Naerin had disappeared, Jisung picked up the phone.

"Hey, where are you? Practice is starting," Renjun's voice scolded over the phone.

"Huh?" Jisung said. He pulled his phone from his ear and looked down at the time. Sure enough, Jisung was fifteen minutes late for practice. "Ah, sorry, I'll be right there,"

"Come quickly, we have a lot to go over today,"

And with that, Renjun hung up on Jisung.

Despite telling Renjun he would be right there, Jisung couldn't get himself to move. He was torn between chasing after Naerin or leaving for his prior commitments. His heart ached and yearned to be by her side, reminding Jisung why he had been so in love with her two years ago. But his mind told him to get himself together.

Even if he wanted to see her, what would he even say?

Jisung wanted to see Naerin. He wanted to be by her side, he knew that much from just seeing her for a brief moment.

But he didn't want it to be like this.

He just had to hope that fate would bring them together again.