karaoke machine | p.js

3.05

Jisung was dreading the recording session that day. Every time he thought about his, his heart would start beating frantically against his chest as his anxiety started to bubble over. He wasn't scared about the recording session. He had done so many that it was just a part of his normal life.

What really set him on edge was that he would be doing it with his soulmate. His palms were sweaty and he couldn't keep his mind focused on one thing for too long. Jisung's knees bounced up and down anxiously as he waited for Renjun to leave the recording studio.

Jisung was glad that SM wouldn't be creating a behind-the-scenes recording for the additional songs for the repackaged album. If they did then the fans would only see how stressed and anxious Jisung was.

The door to the recording studio creaked open and Jisung turned his gaze over earnestly. Renjun stepped out of the studio, a smile on his face as he chatted idly with Naerin. Jisung immediately stood up, his body feeling awkward and foreign.

As Renjun and Naerin got closer, Jisung became increasingly aware of how much taller he was compared to the two. His hands felt too big and he felt uncoordinated on his own feet.

"Did you write the lyrics on your own?" Renjun asked Naerin, not having spotted Jisung yet.

"I co-wrote them," Naerin replied, her eyes drifting to Jisung.

Jisung heard the lyrics to the song. It would be a continuation of their Love Trilogy songs. The lyrics of the song resonated within Jisung's mind for days since the first time he heard them. It made his head spin but the meaning of the song was quite simple.

To My First would be a song about moving on from the memories of a first love.

Jisung was no idiot, he knew exactly what the song was about. He knew that it was a song that Naerin had written to convey her feelings after the two had broken up. Looking back on their firsts, their memories, and the very mundane and simple things about love.

The message of the song was simple.

It wasn't just an ordinary love song. It was a song about Naerin's first love.

It was about how she finally moved on from him.

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"Let's start with the chorus?" Naerin said to Jisung through the studio communication. She adjusted some of the dials on the mixing console from where she sat in the main control room. She hadn't looked over at Jisung yet, "We'll start with the melody and then make our way around to the rest of the song. Let's not worry too much about layering for today since it's just our first run-through,"

Jisung nodded, glancing through the glass that looked out of the studio room. His heart pounded against his chest, threatening to jump out at any moment.

"Let's go from 'I say goodbye'," Naerin said.

The recording went smoothly but Jisung couldn't deny that his voice shook a bit as he sang through the chorus for the first time. If Naerin noticed she didn't say much, her only comment was to steady his voice.

Naerin never said anything more than the typical comments, asking him to re-sing parts or trying to adjust his vocal tone to match the feel of the song. Jisung couldn't tell if she was like this whenever she worked or if it was only toward him. But the overall atmosphere in the recording studio was exactly like when Jisung usually had recording sessions with the other SM producers.

If anything, it almost felt a bit colder. By the time Jisung finished, his nerves had gone down significantly. It was as though Naerin was just any other producer he had worked with. Jisung couldn't tell if he had done well in the studio or not. Naerin didn't give any hints as to if she liked his recordings or if she was just complacent with them and he would have to rerecord them later.

Stepping out of the sound booth and toward the control room of the recording studio, Jisung stepped in quietly as Naerin discussed with another producer how she wanted to try and add more layers to the end of the song.

Chenle and Renjun were both seated on the couch in the recording studio, their eyes only lifting a moment from their phones to look over at Jisung when he entered. Plopping down next to Chenle, Jisung pulled his beige bucket hat further down to cover his eyes.

"She complimented you," Chenle whispered to Jisung.

"What?" Jisung asked, unsure of what his friend was trying to get at.

Chenle lifted Jisung's hat a bit so that he looked into his eyes. Jisung leaned back in surprise at how close his friend's face was. "Naerin complimented you right as you left the booth. You probably thought she didn't like your session right?"

Jisung's eyes widened a bit at his friend's intuition.

Renjun glanced over at Jisung and couldn't help but smile when he saw his expression. Jisung was praised often for his dancing abilities and his career as an artist. But something about this was different than the other times. There was a glow to Jisung's face as he leaned back a bit more comfortably on the couch. His lips twitched into a smile as he tried to stop himself from grinning too widely.

Naerin glanced toward the three NCT Dream members, her eyes immediately drawn to Jisung. He looked happily at Renjun and Chenle, a large grin trying to make its way onto his face but he held himself back. In the process, Jisung's cheeks bunched up as his eye smiles betrayed him.

And before she knew it, a smile had made its way onto her face as her eyes finally drifted away from her soulmate.

a/n ––
sorry for the short filler chapter
i've been pretty busy with school recently but
i promise i'll try and get more chapters out soon
thank you for being so patient

@injoontz