Chapter Text
“Consider it an adventure,” Riku had said.
Yushi, being Yushi, went with it and said, “Okay.”
That was almost half a year ago. Today, the two finally finished unpacking their things in their new apartment. It was a few minutes' walk from the university they had transferred to, just on the outskirts of Seoul. The vibes were completely different from Tokyo, Yushi had noted. It wasn’t his first time in the city—he had spent a few vacations here with family when he was a kid. He and Riku had worked hard on their Korean proficiency, and the university had considered them good enough to enroll, so Yushi figured they were good enough to live in the city on their own.
“Why do you have so many denim jackets, Yu-chan?” Riku said, not looking up as he continued sorting through boxes of their stuff.
“Be careful with those,” came Yushi’s reply. He was busy by the fridge, double-checking the groceries they had bought that morning. “You think we’ll survive on ramen and eggs for a couple of days?”
“That’s the same thing we ate back in Tokyo. We’re still alive.”
Yushi shrugged at that. Riku had a point, but Yushi did sometimes miss a good old-fashioned home-cooked meal. He made a mental note to get some kitchen supplies when he could.
“Aha!”
Yushi looked over at Riku, who held up his Bluetooth speaker.
“Found ya. Do you mind?” Riku turned to Yushi, already connecting his phone.
Yushi didn’t bother replying when the music started to play—a cacophony of strings reverberated in their small apartment. Yushi had heard that song multiple times by that point. He reckoned it was Riku’s current earworm.
World, listen to me.
The two continued with their chores, bobbing their heads to the song and enjoying the music. Yushi leaned against the small kitchen counter as he finished up, watching Riku air guitar to the song.
“Wah,” Riku exclaimed, “I should get a new bass.”
“You didn’t bring yours with you?”
Riku pouted at Yushi. “I didn’t want to risk it getting wrecked on the move.”
Both of them had been part of a band back in high school. They enjoyed music, often spending their weekends at the karaoke place. Yushi wondered if there were any here in Seoul. Riku had been the bassist, while Yushi—surprisingly—was the frontman. He didn’t mind it at the time; they only ever played at and for their school during festivals. It was one of the best memories Yushi had: performing on stage—something he hadn’t done since then. Not even during their first year of university, when they were still in Tokyo.
Yushi was a singer at heart. It was something he had grown up with. His mother and he often sang together when he was little, and Yushi’s love for the art simply blossomed as he got older. These days, Yushi tended to sing when he was alone—a habit he had recently developed as a university student.
For Yushi, singing on stage with a band was an entirely different experience from just singing by oneself. At this point, having gone so long off-stage, Yushi wasn’t sure if he missed it or not. At the moment, his favorite stage was the shower, and that was probably how it would stay for a while.
“Aren’t those expensive?” Yushi asked.
Riku nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I stopped by a music store while you were out, took a good look around, and I think I found one that suits me—” Riku paused, recalling another detail he decided to omit. “—that reminds me, we still need to look for part-time jobs.”
While they had stipends to live off of, it wouldn’t hurt to get some additional cash. Yushi and Riku had discussed it at length during their journey from Japan, and they agreed on maybe finding a job as wait staff or something similar that wouldn’t take too much of their free time as full-time college students.
Yushi walked over to his messenger bag on the couch and pulled out a leaflet.
“I found this on our way back from the store earlier,” he said, handing it to Riku. The pamphlet read 藤永コーヒー
“Oh, Japanese?” Riku said as he read through it.
“It’s a Japanese-themed café and bakery,” Yushi pointed at the address. “It’s just down the block from here.”
Yushi had passed by earlier in the day to check out the place; it looked like a quaint Japanese-style home. It stood out among the plain apartment buildings surrounding it. He had peeked inside and saw that it was relatively small but filled with customers. Yushi could smell the coffee and freshly baked pastries and considered grabbing some to take home, but remembered how tight their budget was during their first week in Seoul.
“That’s perfect!” Riku said, taking a picture of the leaflet. “We should drop by tomorrow after orientation.”
“Sounds good to me,” Yushi said as he took the flyer and folded it back into his bag.
The music on the speaker switched in the moment of silence between the two, and it only took a second for them to look at each other when the new song started. Without missing a beat, and like a habit the two childhood friends had shared, they began to sing along.
飛べ fly high!
The two friends smiled at each other, Yushi grabbing his phone as a makeshift mic while Riku air-guitared with gusto, making their way to the open space in their living room as they sang together.
汗と血と涙で光る翼で いま 全部 全部置き去って
This was a common occurrence in their dorm back in Tokyo. It hadn’t been well appreciated by their neighbors, though—especially during exam week.
飛べ fly 高く fly
サイハテノミライへ
Before they could continue, a sudden tap tap tap came from the floor, and the two exchanged panicked looks before shouting apologies in both Korean and Japanese toward the ground. Riku dropped the volume on his speaker, and their short-lived concert came to an end. He laughed as he turned off the music and slapped Yushi on the arm, who was smiling widely at him.
“Guess we can’t do that here, too,” Yushi mumbled.
“Not a good first impression on our neighbors,” Riku laughed.
000
It had been a day since they settled into their apartment. Yushi yawned as they walked out of the auditorium where the orientation for foreign transfer students had been held. He looked over as Riku yawned as well. They had spent all night the day before getting their stuff out of boxes and into their new home for the next few years. Sleep hadn’t come easily for Yushi—he’d been a bit jittery, a little excited about starting at a brand-new university.
“I can’t believe you fell asleep.”
“I did not,” Riku denied, looking hurt at the accusation.
Yushi nodded at Riku’s chin jokingly, pointing out spit that wasn’t there. Riku wiped his mouth anyway and pouted when Yushi laughed at him.
“They said there’s a student organization fair this week,” Riku said a while later. “You think that’s it?”
Yushi followed Riku’s gaze and spotted a bunch of tables and tents laid out in the open courtyard. There were a lot of students milling about. It looked like it was mainly for freshmen, but considering they were transferees, it seemed appropriate for them to check it out. Riku apparently thought the same thing—he had already linked arms with Yushi and begun dragging him toward the event.
There were a lot of club options, Yushi found. From baking and woodworking to even K-pop, it was quite an interesting student culture, he thought. The university sports teams also had booths. Yushi stopped at the football club’s booth, reading through some accomplishments and tryout information. He decided to leave once he sensed someone from the booth starting to approach him.
Yushi made his way to the baking club’s booth, where they had free samples of a variety of bread, pastries, and sweets. The food was free, so Yushi wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to take some sneakily. He grabbed a frosted cookie and noticed the student in charge of the booth was busy talking to others, so he nabbed a few more before sneaking off.
Meanwhile, Riku had managed to collect an impressive haul of freebies and pamphlets. Yushi watched from the sidelines as Riku smiled and naturally acted cute to get even more stuff.
“Yu-chan!” Riku, with a lollipop in his mouth, came bounding in his direction, waving a small handmade flyer. “There’s a guy there looking for band members!” He pointed over his shoulder at an unspecified booth. “I wanted to show you as soon as I got this, but got distracted with the other booths,” Riku confesses.
“We should definitely try out,” Riku said, reading over the details of the auditions. Yushi shifted his attention back to his friend.
“Looks like the guy giving these out is a drummer,” Riku continued, scanning the piece of paper. “And there’s a link to their SoundCloud! We should check ’em out.”
“You want to?” Yushi asked.
“Yeah,” Riku said, pulling the candy from his mouth. “We should go together—I missed performing with you.”
It had been a while since Yushi last performed, let alone sang for anyone other than himself. He thought he’d lost a lot of confidence in that regard, and he didn’t see anything fruitful coming from it—just a waste of time.
“Hm… I’m not really interested.”
“What?” Riku responded in disbelief. “I thought you had fun with the band back in high school?”
“That was just high school—and besides,” Yushi looked around at the sea of students milling about, “I’m sure they’ll find a better singer. There are so many students here.”
“Well, I’m gonna check it out. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I won’t, but sure.” Yushi peeked at his watch. “Anyway, it’s almost time for our appointment with the café. We should get going.”
Riku nodded, placing the lollipop back in his mouth as he let Yushi lead the way.
000
Sion smiled brightly as a student took a flyer from him. He bowed in thanks and followed up with his usual spiel: introducing himself, the band, and what they were looking for. The band had originally consisted of five members—Sion's older brother, two of his friends, Sion, and Jaehee. The older ones had since graduated, and not wanting to stop producing music, Sion and Jaehee agreed to find new members.
While Sion was studying sociology, Jaehee was part of the music department and had access to the university studios—their base of operations. Sion reckoned he spent most of his free time there alone with his drums, to the point that some people had begun to assume he was a music major.
The Japanese word didn’t get lost on Sion, who handed the boy with a lollipop a flyer. Sion began introducing himself and the band, then had the boy fill out the sign-up sheet before he left. He looked over the piece of paper and felt content with the short list he’d collected so far.
Sion decided to take a short break and left the leaflets at their makeshift booth before making his way toward some of the booths giving out food. It wasn’t long before he found himself at the baking club’s booth, helping himself to some salt bread.
He was politely listening to a student talk about the club as he took a bite of the bread. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a pale hand reach for some sweets in a basket at the edge of the booth. Sion leaned just a bit and saw another student swipe one or two pastries. He chuckled to himself and ignored it—until he saw the same boy doing it again.
Sion looked over and noted the boy’s cat-like behavior. He watched as the boy nabbed a few cookies. He had pale skin and an inquisitive look on his face as he stole the free treats. Sion noticed the scar on his cheek. He smiled to himself when he saw the boy bite into a cookie, glancing around as if committing some kind of crime.
Cute , Sion thought.
Interested, Sion considered approaching the boy and maybe chastising him for his very serious crime of stealing free food, but before he could move, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
“Hyung!”
Sion looked over to see Jaehee walking up to him. He looked back to where the cute little bread thief had been, but to his disappointment, the boy was already gone. He looked around briefly, trying to find him, before giving up and turning to Jaehee.
“Hey.”
“Any good prospects?”
“Lots of interested parties,” Sion replied. “Can’t say we’ve found anyone until we hear them play and sing, though.”
Jaehee nodded. “I met a bassist at the music store yesterday, by the way.”
“Are they any good?”
“I don't know. He told me he used to be in a band in high school. He was looking for a guitar and said he just moved to town to attend this university.”
“Did you get his name?” Sion looked at his friend expectantly.
“Uh,” Jaehee furrowed his brows, trying to recall. “Oh!” He started patting down his back and front pockets before fishing out a piece of paper. He handed it to Sion. “He gave me his number.”
Sion took it without looking, staring at Jaehee instead.
“Did you tell him you were looking for band members?” he asked after a beat of silence, trying to read his usually stoic and straightforward friend.
“No, why?”
Sion gave Jaehee a look of disbelief and finally glanced down at the piece of paper—with a number and a name, ‘Riku,’ followed by a little cat doodle and a heart. Sion looked back at Jaehee and held up the paper for him to see.
Jaehee didn’t understand why Sion was staring at him like that—until he looked at the number, name, and drawing.
One… two… “Oh.”
Sion burst out laughing.
“Jaehee-yah!” He patted the other boy on the back. “You were being hit on and you didn’t even know.” He kept laughing, covering his mouth with his free hand.
Jaehee just took the number back and stuffed it into his pocket, feeling his face heat up. He tried to ignore his hyung’s laughter.
He stood there and waited for Sion to compose himself, fixing the stack of flyers in his hands. Sion cleared his throat and offered some random advice about knowing when people were interested—Jaehee didn’t pay attention to it.
“What was the name again?” Sion asked once he finally calmed down, walking back to their makeshift booth and flipping through the sign-up sheets.
“Riku,” Jaehee muttered, following him.
“Ah, here—” Sion pointed at the name. “Yeah, I think it's the same guy. Same number.”
“Mhm.”
“Mhm?” Sion repeated, smiling at Jaehee, his mouth threatening to break into another fit of laughter.
“Was he cute?” Sion teased.
“Goodbye, hyung.”
“Jaehee-yah!” Sion mock-called as he watched Jaehee walk off with some speed. He shook his head at his friend.
Sion wondered if this Riku guy was any good—it’d be fun to see him and Jaehee in the band together. He laughed to himself as Jaehee disappeared from sight. Taking the stack of flyers in hand again, Sion turned back toward the baking club’s booth for a moment, wondering if the bread thief was still around.
Maybe it wasn’t just the smell of bread hanging in the air today.
001
“You look terrible.”
Riku turned to Yushi, who was putting on his apron. “I was working on an audition reel for the band thing last night.”
“Really? I didn't hear you,” Yushi tilted his head.
“You're welcome,” Riku replied as he grabbed his apron and started putting it on. “Had to borrow a bass from the music department. Good thing I know a guy,” he added with a smile.
It was a week after orientation, and both had landed jobs at the café. The owners were natives of Ishikawa and had moved to Korea about ten years ago. They had a son, Sakuya, who was a freshman at the same university as Riku and Yushi.
Riku refused to believe Sakuya was a college student at first, convinced he was a middle-schooler at best. Suffice it to say, Riku found Sakuya incredibly cute—along with his best friend, Ryo, who was equally adorable in Riku’s eyes. Those two always appeared together like they came as a set.
“I’m still waiting for a callback, though.”
“Maeda-san,” the owner called from the back of the store, “could you come with me to pick up some ingredients?”
“Hai!” Riku answered enthusiastically. “Time to earn myself a new bass,” he grinned at Yushi before leaving him alone at the front of the store.
It was Sunday morning, and early enough that there were just one or two customers—all already served. Riku and Yushi worked weekend shifts and sometimes helped out early in the morning if the shop was expecting deliveries. They’d run into Sakuya and Ryo multiple times, helping out at the store as well, but hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know either of them very well.
Riku still considered them his adoptive children. Yes, that’s right—even after knowing them for less than a week.
Yushi heard the slide of the front door as a customer entered. “Good morning,” he greeted—maybe too quietly. I should improve on that, Yushi thought.
The man approached the counter and stopped just a step short, staring at Yushi. Yushi stared back, sensing a strange familiarity—a handsome face, brown hair with dark roots peeking out. He was likely a student at the university; maybe that’s why he seemed familiar.
Yushi averted his eyes when the man stared a second too long, which seemed to snap him out of a trance.
“You’re… new here,” the man said, eyes darting to Yushi’s name tag. “Yushi.”
Yushi didn’t understand why he felt flustered by that, but he nodded in response. “What can I get for you, sir?”
“Oh, um…” The man looked up at the menu. “One Americano, please.”
Yushi couldn’t help but notice the tips of the man’s ears start to flush red. He took the order, prepared the coffee, and completed the transaction in a few minutes. It might have been his imagination, but Yushi felt the man watching him as he worked.
The man lingered for a moment after receiving his drink, as if he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Yushi watched as he sat near the front door by the window.
Lucky, Sion thought as he settled into a seat he chose because it had a nice view of the window—and definitely not because it faced the cute bread thief from a week ago, whom Sion had definitely thought about and was convinced he’d probably never see again.
Sion didn’t believe in love at first sight, but even he couldn’t deny that Yushi was… easy on the eyes. That’s fine to think about a stranger, right? He’s allowed to believe people are good-looking. He’d seen him what, two times tops?
Sion watched as Yushi took an order from another customer. He spoke in a soft, cotton-candy-like voice and smiled politely. He looked so adorable then—
Sion was startled when Yushi suddenly turned toward him and caught him staring. Sion sharply looked down at his coffee, feeling heat rise up the back of his neck.
Sion decided that was his cue to get up and leave. He walked out as nonchalantly as he could, ears burning with embarrassment. He bumped into someone as he sped out of the store, muttering an apology.
Yushi had watched the whole thing, unsure of what had just happened. He finished the customer’s order and stared out into the street, thinking about how the mystery man had looked at him. He wasn’t sure yet if it was sweet or creepy.
“Tadaima~” Riku’s voice came from the back of the store. Yushi’s attention shifted, and he went to meet his friend.
Yushi greeted the owner as Riku started bringing in sacks of flour. Behind him, Sakuya and Ryo—whom the owner and Riku had picked up along the way—held trays of eggs.
“Hello, Yushi-hyung!” Ryo greeted happily. Ryo technically didn’t work at the café, but he’d been friends with Sakuya since they were little. He was practically family.
Yushi bowed in return as he took the tray from them.
“Guess what,” Riku said to Yushi, “these two also auditioned for the band.”
“Really?” Yushi turned to the younger ones.
“Lead guitar,” Sakuya pointed to himself, “and rhythm guitar,” he pointed at Ryo.
“The other way around, Saku-chan,” Ryo replied, dragging Sakuya outside to gather the last of the supplies.
“Real good singers too,” Riku told Yushi. “We should invite them over for karaoke… or…” Riku raised his eyebrows at Yushi, “…you could try out for the band?”
Yushi just rolled his eyes and started taking inventory. “You should man the register. I think a customer’s waiting.”
Riku made a face as he peeked into the store—and sure enough, someone was at the counter. He quickly attended to them as Yushi looked over everything they’d just brought in.
It was interesting to Yushi that he and Riku had ended up working at a café where the owner’s son happened to be into music like them—more so that they’d auditioned for the same university band. Funny, that.
Sometimes, Yushi wondered if fate was real. He chose not to dwell on it and went back to work.
001
“There’s no such thing,” Sion says as he sorts through the cards he made for the auditionees, each holding their info and his notes. He had already told Jaehee about the mysterious bread thief incident—and how Jaehee should let him know if he ever saw the guy on campus. Not for any reason other than to prove the guy exists. No other reason at all.
Now, Sion had just told Jaehee about his encounter at the café he frequents, and Jaehee told him it must be fate.
“I’ve never seen you so caught up with a stranger. Yushi, was it?” Jaehee says as he helps Sion with the cards, taking the ones Sion passes to him. “Is he, like… out of your league?”
Sion pauses to give Jaehee a disapproving look. Jaehee raises his hands in mock surrender.
“You’ve been talking about him non-stop for the past few—”
“I think we have our bassist and guitarists,” Sion declares, changing the subject. He lays out his notes on the soundboard for Jaehee to see. “I think these three work well with us and have the same sound. What do you think?” They huddle over the applications in the middle of one of the university studios.
“Maeda Riku, Hirose Ryo, Fujinaga Sakuya…” Jaehee reads. “Are they all Japanese?” He glances at Sion, who looks just as surprised.
“I didn’t notice that.”
Sion notes how Jaehee’s eyes linger a moment longer on Riku’s name. He hadn’t planned it, but Riku was a really good singer and bassist—an easy choice, even without the apparent bias Jaehee might have.
“I believe one’s a transferee and the other two are freshmen. Do we need to learn Japanese?” Sion jokes, but then continues with a hint of doubt, “Do you think that’s going to be a problem?”
Jaehee shakes his head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. The university has Korean proficiency requirements for foreign students, if I remember correctly. Should I start sending invites for the final callbacks?”
“Yeah, that would be great,” Sion replies, gathering the cards from the sound booth. A thought crosses his mind, and he spaces out for a moment before quietly turning to Jaehee, who immediately speaks up when he sees the look on Sion’s face.
“No, hyung. I think it’s very unlikely any of those three know your mysterious bread thief.”
Sion stammers, “I—I wasn’t going to ask that.”
Jaehee just shakes his head. “Oh!” he suddenly exclaims. “I just remembered, I have the sample for the song you asked me to work on.” He pulls out his laptop and plugs in the aux.
“Really?” Sion moves behind Jaehee to look over his shoulder as the younger boy pulls up the files.
“Got some inspiration last night after you sent me that origami ASMR video.”
Jaehee lets the feedback die down before pressing play.
The studio comes alive with an artificial synth. A few beats in, the drums kick in with a steady thump. Jaehee starts to hum the melody he had in mind, having not recorded vocals yet. Sion nods along, drumming in the air as the soft tss tss tss of the hi-hats comes in. He gives Jaehee an affirming nod as the tambourine sounds and the percussion hits fast and strong.
“Wah,” Sion grabs Jaehee by the shoulder as the incomplete production ends. “It sounds so good, Jaehee-ah. Can we try to do a demo for this now?”
“We could, but you haven’t started writing the lyrics yet, hyung.”
“Oh, right.” Sion rubs the back of his neck. “I forgot about that part. I got too excited hearing your work.”
Jaehee chuckles. “Consider it a starting point. We also don’t have a frontman yet, though. No one caught your attention?”
“Not really,” Sion replies honestly. Many excellent singers had auditioned, but none completely matched the sound they had in mind. He’d considered a few but figured he needed someone perfect for the part. “Maybe the auditionees can recommend someone.”
“I guess that works too. Anyway, I’ve got music theory in five. I’ll see you later, hyung.” Jaehee begins packing up his things.
“Alright. Don’t forget the invites!”
“I won’t!”
002
Riku received a callback that night. He was ecstatic when he told Yushi about it—of course, it involved another attempt to convince his friend to try out himself.
“They’ve probably already found someone,” was Yushi’s logical response. Riku just pouted at him before realizing his callback date was the same day he and Yushi were scheduled for the closing shift at the café.
The café was set to close earlier than usual that weekend, as Fujinaga-san and his family were leaving for a trip. He had asked Yushi and Riku to keep the café closed to customers but still come in, since a scheduling mix-up meant deliveries would still be arriving that day. They had originally agreed to split the shift evenly—until Riku’s callback changed the plan.
“I don’t have anything better to do anyway. It’s fine,” was Yushi’s response, which earned him a full-body tackle hug from his best friend.
“You owe me,” Yushi said once he could finally breathe.
“100%,” Riku smiled.
That’s how Yushi ended up watching over an empty store on a Saturday night. Fujinaga-san had given them permission to help themselves to a cup of coffee if they wanted, but this early in the semester, Yushi felt like he’d already met his caffeine quota for the year.
He looked up at the slowly ticking clock and then down at his phone, where a message from Riku read, “I’ll bring home dinner for you! Thanks again for covering for me,” followed by a cat sticker.
Yushi looked over the empty store and decided to clean up—just to have something to do to pass the time. He grabbed some supplies from the back, put on his earbuds, and turned on some music as he picked up the broom.
002
Sion stood and clapped as Riku finished his set in the studio. Riku pulled off his headphones, fixed his hair, and set the bass down to the side, raising a questioning thumbs-up at Sion and Jaehee through the soundbooth.
Jaehee returned the gesture. Sion met Riku as he exited the booth, clapping him on the back.
“You’re definitely in,” he said, offering a hand.
Riku smiled as he shook it, then turned to Jaehee, who nodded.
“Welcome to the team.”
They were finally doing it—keeping the band alive. Sion felt giddy. Riku was the last of the three callbacks, and all of them had been excellent. Each player brought something unique, yet together, they fit the sound Sion had imagined. It couldn’t have gone better—well, almost.
“By the way,” Sion added, “let me know if you know a lead who might want to join us.”
“I have a friend,” Riku said, pausing to consider, “He was our frontman in my high school band. He’s actually here in Seoul with me. Said he’s not interested… but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask again.”
“Sounds good. Send him our way if he changes his mind.”
Sion had invited Jaehee and Riku out for dinner afterward, but Jaehee mentioned he had plans—a sentiment Riku echoed a second later. Sion looked between the two, both avoiding eye contact, and let it go.
He shrugged, letting them know the first full-team session would be next week. They both gave quick affirmations before leaving together. Sion didn’t comment. Instead, he began cleaning the studio, then decided to reward himself with something from his favorite café. With the band nearly complete, it felt earned.
By the time Sion made it to the café’s street, the sun was low in the sky. It was quiet for a Saturday evening, but he was relieved to see the lights still on. His stomach growled as he adjusted the bag on his shoulder—only then realizing he hadn’t eaten since morning.
As he neared the door, disappointment hit— Closed . He pursed his lips and pulled out his phone to search for other nearby options. He moved to sit on the curb when he heard it:
Someone was singing.
Inside the store, Yushi had gotten into it. What started as quiet humming behind the counter had turned into full-on belting. With earbuds in and the store empty, he let himself go—sweeping to the rhythm, singing like it was his stage.
괜찮은 옷을 입었던 날
그렇게 너를 만났던 건 lucky
He breathed in time with the beat, voice smooth, eyes closed, swaying to the rhythm. He grabbed the broom and used it like a mic stand, moving into the chorus.
나 착하게 살아서 그래
Yushi holds the last syllable, swaying to the rhythm as the beat kicks in. He grabs the broom, turning it into a makeshift mic stand as he sings the chorus:
너의 이름을 부르고 너의 손을 잡아도 되는 나
부서지는 햇살은 나만 비추나 나 이렇게 행복해도 돼
So lucky, my love…
Sion had peeked through the window when he heard the voice. At first, he couldn’t see clearly—chairs stacked on tables, lights low—but someone was definitely in there. And their voice… it was one of the best he’d ever heard.
Circling to the front, Sion noticed the door was slightly ajar. He hesitated, then gently pushed it open, just enough to get a better view. Goosebumps pricked his skin as he saw the singer.
Yushi.
Sion couldn’t believe it. He stood frozen just beyond the threshold, watching as Yushi performed—eyes closed, lost in the music. Sion couldn’t hear the instrumental, only Yushi’s voice, and somehow that made it even better. He remembered what Jaehee had said about fate. Maybe this was it.
같은 나라에 태어나서
같은 언어로 말을 해서
Yushi danced lightly, still unaware. Sion stayed quiet, smiling to himself, completely mesmerized.
저 하늘의 햇살은 너만 비추나 너 그렇게 눈부셔도 돼
So lucky, my love…
When Yushi suddenly launched into a rap, Sion let out a soft, amused laugh. Yushi's expression turned confident, each line delivered clean and smooth.
사진 속의 환한 미소와
너와 나의 환상의 조화
I think I'm a lucky guy. 너무 좋아
우린 지금 꿈속의 동화
Yushi stopped dancing, holding the broom like a mic as he braced for the final chorus—only to open his eyes and see the mystery man from last week smiling at him.