karaoke machine | p.js

3.06

Before Jisung had even realized, the end of March was steadily approaching along with the NCT Dream Comeback. It was their first full album in a bit while but Jisung was confident that Czennies would like their new album.

During the time that Jisung worked with Naerin on the repackaged album, he had found that his anxieties of working with her were nothing short of silly. Naerin continued about her day as though she and Jisung were just casual coworkers.

When she saw him she would give gentle nods of recognition and then go about her day. During recording sessions, the conversations were always short and brief, usually starting with a simple 'how was your day?' and ending somewhere along the lines of 'it was alright' or 'it's been good'.

If Jisung hadn't been so busy between preparing for the comeback and working on the repackaged album, he might have been really upset by that. However, he hardly got more than a few minutes to sit down before he was whisked back into work. That's why when the final product of the additional repackaged album songs came out, Jisung was beyond amazed and relieved that all their hard work had paid off. 

That was why as Jisung prepared himself to go on stage he felt confident that Czennies would like the new album and the repackage. Even though he was confident, the pre-performance jitters had Jisung anxiously practicing his lines in the corner of the waiting room.

Just as he started to quietly sing his lines to himself, he heard Chenle call across the room.

"Oh! Did you bring food?"

Jisung turned as Chenle went rushing for the door. Naerin smiled at Chenle as he quickly swooped him to take the bags of drinks and take out food from her. The NCT Dream members all welcomed her, some of them still getting their makeup done.

Jisung felt himself relax a bit when Naerin walked in. He took a deep breath as he stretched his neck back and forth. His body always tensed up whenever he was about to perform.

As Jisung finished stretching his neck, his eyes fell back on Naerin as she offered some coffee to Jaemin, who sat at the makeup station.

Naerin felt eyes on her and looked toward the back of the room. Realizing he had been caught, Jisung turned away and continued practicing on the wall.

"Don't worry about him, he always does that," Renjun said as he took a dip of the ice Americano Naerin brought.

Naerin nodded but her eyes lingered on Jisung even as she turned her body away.

It wasn't long before the group was called to prepare for the stage. Naerin gave the group a thumbs up, saying that she'd watch from the waiting room television. As he left, Jisung felt a swirl of nerves again. He jumped up and down a few times to loosen his body moving before grabbing his in-ears and microphone pack.

"Hey, I'm just here to check your microphone," a voice said to Jisung as he tried to string his microphone string into his outfit.

Jisung looked up and his eyes widened a bit. It had been a while since Jisung last saw Kangdae. It wasn't that Kangdae had changed much but Jisung noticed that his face slimmed a bit and it seemed as though he had gained some muscle.

"Oh, it's you," Kangdae said blankly.

"Uh, hi," Jisung replied, giving a short awkward wave.

Kangdae signed and instead of saying anything else, he started to help Jisung put his microphone on. Once situated, Kangdae turned to leave right away. Jisung was still adjusting his in-ears when he saw Kangdae start to leave.

"Wait," Jisung said.

"NCT Dream, on standby," the director said from the entrance to the stage.

Kangdae glanced at the director before Jisung, "Dude, they're calling you,"

"I know, but-" Jisung hesitated. Why had he stopped Kangdae? It hadn't really crossed Jisung's mind until then but Kangdae must have known about Naerin debuting under SM. He must have also known that Naerin would be working with Jisung.

Yet Kangdae said nothing to Jisung. If anything, Jisung would have expected Kangdae to tell him off right here. It wasn't like Kangdae to not give an earful when it came to his friends. And considering the past, Jisung was sure that Kangdae would do anything more now than ever to prevent it from happening again.

"What?" Kangdae scoffed, "Do you want me to yell at you that badly?"

Jisung was taken aback at how Kangdae had perfectly read his mind, "I- what? No."

Kangdae sighed, his head shaking a bit as though he was truly disappointed by Jisung's response. "Look, if you want to meet up and talk, fine whatever. Just get on stage," Kangdae pointed to the director and the rest of the NCT Dream members as their names were announced on stage.

Cursing quietly. Jisung rushed to his group and in just a short moment, he was blinded.

The moment his eyes cleared, everything he had just been thinking about disappeared as he turned to greet his fans. Jisung felt a rush of adrenaline as the cheers grew louder when they walked on stage.

For just a moment, Jisung forgot that nothing else existed other than being on stage.

–––––

"Your soulmate is an idiot," Kangdae said as he entered the NCT Dream waiting room to find Naerin and the other NCT Dream staff. Upon hearing the criticism toward Naerin's soulmates, the staff turned their attention away from the television to glance at her.

Naerin turned calmly to meet Kangdae, "Did he say hi?" Naerin asked.

Kangdae sighed and sat down next to Naerin, "He wanted to talk, seems like he's curious about you,"

He glanced at Naerin but her face never changed. She watched carefully as NCT Dream performed her stage. But Kangdae didn't fail to notice that Naerin's eyes followed Jisung as he moved across the stage.

"He really is amazing," Naerin said softly.

"Holy shit," Kangdae grumbled as Naerin turned to hit him.

"It's not like that," Naerin hissed.

Kangdae rolled his eyes but in the back of his mind, he already knew what was happening. It was just like when Naerin first met Jisung. Kangdae knew the narrative well. Slowly but surely these feelings would creep up on Naerin, and she would fall for Jisung. And then it'll all come to an abrupt end when he breaks her heart once more.