𝖷1 𝖨𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖲𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝖲𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌

21. Chances Are

"No, it's great. I love it," I convinced Seungyoun as he was giving me the tour. He was downplaying the whole thing, saying that the studio wasn't that good. "Easily the best recording studio I've seen all day."

Seungyoun chuckled. We strolled through the hallway. He'd keep looking over at me to see if I was still interested.

He stops at a door. "This is usually the one I use. It's not the best. It's actually kind of a mess."

"Seungyoun," I stop him from going on, "just show me."

He pushes open the door to reveal an aesthetic of a room. Turning on the lights which were tinted to this cool toned blue, it set the atmosphere. There was a comfortable looking couch and coffee table. Mini fridge, shelf filled with CDs, cabinets, microwave, small coffee machine, and throw pillows.

That was just one side of the room.

On the other was the actual booth, outside the large panel with all the controls and one of those big screen desktop computers. Comfy looking desk chairs lined the booth. A keyboard and a guitar lined the outskirts of the room.

Papers littered every surface of the room. The table tops, shelves, the floor, etc.

"It's so cool in here," I exclaim, admiring the room.

"You think so?" He walks further into the room. He sets his things down and pulls out a chair for me. I take a break from looking around to sit down. I give him a grateful nod.

My hands go to search through the papers in front of me. They all had different words, possibly lyrics, and other musical notes.

"Are these all song ideas?" I ask.

Seungyoun turns to me in his chair. He'd been setting things up on the computer. "Yeah. What you're looking at are ideas for a new song. At your feet are the notes for 'Like Always'. Somewhere over there," he leans back in the chair to point across the room, "are the notes for 'Flash'."

He goes back to the computer. "Quite the organizational system you got here," I joke. He laughs softly. "What's the new song idea?" His eyes meet mine.

"You want to listen?"

With headphones on I could hear the soothing ballad. Unlike their usual dance songs. I close my eyes and fully take in the song. It was only instrumental, I can assume that they hadn't recorded it yet.

As if reading my mind Seungyoun says: "The lyrics aren't complete yet so we haven't gotten a chance to record it, but that's essentially the music done. I'll fix it up when we do record."

"It's good. Really good," I assure him. "It's weird. Well maybe not weird but odd because it kind of reminds me of a song that my parents used to play at home. And this one time, I don't remember why, I don't think I even knew why, but my mom was sad and my dad put the song on and told her 'I'm here for you'."

Seungyoun furrows his eyebrows. "'I'm here for you'," he questions.

"I don't know why but that memory has always stayed in my mind. I've always admired my parents love for each other."

"I'm here for you," he repeats. It looks like he was deep in thought.

"Yeah, my parents are so in love with each other. I hope to find a love like that someday."

He doesn't respond and I feel awkward just sitting there.

"So, did you write the song all by yourself?"

Seungyoun smiles while shaking his head. "I had some help from Dohyon. The kid is almost 10 years younger than me and is already better than I am. If only he had the same resources he'd be one of the best music producers in the world."

"Are your parents okay with the band?"

He thinks about it in his mind before answering. "They think it's a hobby so they're okay with it. If they knew how serious this all is for me they might think differently."

"Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?"

"Yes," he said with such certainty. "There's nothing I'd rather be doing. I love writing songs, getting creative. And my friends, I love spending time with them. I hope we have what it takes because I can see us doing this for years to come."

"I know you have what it takes. You're all so talented."

Seungyoun stares at me for a while appreciatively. I tried to hold his gaze but something seemed off. Then he went to hold my hand and I froze in my spot. The only thing that came to my mind was how upset Minhee was when I left.

What was wrong with me?

A good looking and interesting guy who is clearly into me is right in front of me and I'm thinking about the one person I don't want to be thinking about right now.

"What's wrong, Jiah?" Seungyoun asks noticing my change in mood.

I anxiously bite my lip before looking up at him.

What do I even say in this situation?

"Seungyoun," his grip on my hand loosens. "You're really amazing. I mean it, but—"

"You're in love with Minhee." He lets go of my hand.

My eyes widen. "That was not what I was going to say."

"No, but it's the truth." He looks away. I just look down at my hands. After a few seconds he continues. "You really don't see it, do you?"

I give him a confused look.

"You and Minhee are so perfect for each other."

"That's," I hold back a snort, "a joke." Why would he even say that?

"It's not," Seungyoun was determined at this point, "I don't think I've ever seen two people who are more meant to be."

Minhee and I don't even get along. All we do is bicker and make fun of each other. But I guess it is kind of fun. Maybe that's just how we work.

"Minhee and I are just friends, besides I don't think he'd even want to be with me after today."

Maybe Dongpyo and the others were telling the truth about Minhee. Not that it mattered now.

"Jiah, I haven't been a good friend to Minhee. I knew how he felt about you and still I..." he let the sentence drag on. He notices my upset and confused state. Suddenly he stands up. "C'mon, lets get you home."

He started going to the door but stopped when he realized I wasn't moving. My eyes stared longingly at the booth before looking back at him. A smile pulled at his lips.

"You want to mess around in the recording booth, don't you?" Seungyoun asks.

"Well," I started to say, "I was thinking that I could sing 'Icy' and you could make me sound like a Chipmunk."

Seungyoun just laughed and walked back over.