coming undone! | gayeon

chapter 16

If the thought of living peacefully from the moment he had escaped being Gunil's roommate had ever gone through his head, it had been dispelled by the time he and Gunil were in the same room. Jiseok cursed under his breath, casting a spell on everything he knew because he was there—so close to him. Gunil didn't even look in his direction or talk loudly to anyone in the room, but he was there. He was a few metres away from Jiseok and the latter could feel his presence.

Band rehearsal, that was it. They were supposed to play together for they had to practise occasionally. They were preparing to release new songs soon as well, so training on how to play them as a band was the key now.

Jiseok sat on his seat, situated in the front row, slightly on the left, and he took his guitar into his hands, uneasy by the way it felt abnormally heavier than ever.

He was not ready to face the challenge of playing with his band. Okay, he could do it only with their bassist, lead guitarist and synthesiser but not the drummer. He had to bite his lower lip in order to withstand the moment his ex-roommate presented a plan of action.

They were here to play all the new songs and discuss whether everything looked good to them. In Jiseok's opinion, everything was alright, even though Simon and Tina had a hard time synchronising together.

He wasn't willing to work with them.

"Let's start with..." Gunil wondered. "Maybe 'Good Enough'."

"Aren't we gonna fall asleep?" Tina questioned, Gaon gazed at her as she stood, bending her bass a little forward. "I suggest playing 'Bad chemical', Simon's finally gonna do anything." She snorted, throwing a nonchalant look towards the synthesiser.

"I play almost nonstop." He chuckled, his ears getting red. "It isn't my fault that it is quiet," he pointed at his instrument, but Tina only growled in response.

"I doubt so."

"So, how about 'Sucker Punch'?" Gunil asked and everyone decided to go for it.

They played a few songs, Jiseok was feeling anxious all the time, Tina and Simon were arguing and the rest practised exemplarily.

When they finally played 'Good Enough', Jiseok got thoughtful. It was his song. He wrote it when he missed him and could not accept that they were separated, and now he was supposed to sing and play the whole melody with an emotionless face.

They even listened to the demo together once, Jiseok felt his stomach clutching and Jooyeon had no idea what to say. It was beautiful yet having such insight into his feelings petrified him.

The way Jiseok expressed the whole days of his longing made his heart crush into a million pieces. He then realised how much being alone drained and damaged him, and probably for the hundredth time he felt glad that they were next to each other again.

"Jiseok," Gunil's voice resounded in the practice room, making the said boy shiver. "Jiseok, you are playing out of tune and too fast," he commented and all the said boy could do was nod awkwardly and sit still in his place.

They resumed the song from the second verse and Gaon was the first one to sing. Everything seemed to be going okay until Gunil stopped them again. For God's sake! Jiseok wasn't even playing any bad.

"Jiseok, do it properly," and he felt his blood boil, Gunil was talking to him as if nothing had happened. Just as if everything was as usual. "You have to sing it lower."

"Are you mute?" Taehyun giggled and received a scolding look from Tina. Everyone knew about the situation between them and yet the guitarist had the audacity to make jokes about it.