LS Ch 51

When Jewoo arrived at the address Yiwon had given him, the building below was a commercial complex with a café. After taking the elevator to the top floor, the fourth, and ringing the doorbell, he waited for a moment before Yiwon, who had already arrived, opened the door.

“Come in.”

Yiwon stepped aside as if to invite him in, but instead, Jewoo gestured for Yiwon to come outside.

“Why?”

Confused, Yiwon was pulled outside, and Jewoo kissed him. After the light kiss, Yiwon blinked, his eyes wide, and stared at Jewoo without a word.

“Feels good. It’s been a few days.”

Smiling brightly, Jewoo spoke, and Yiwon let out a delayed chuckle, clearly trying to suppress his emotions. It wasn’t the words “I missed you” that were said, but it seemed the message was understood.

“You’re not trying to settle for just this, are you?”

As if the recent kiss wasn’t enough to satisfy him, Yiwon squinted his eyes and looked at Jewoo. With a playful smile, Jewoo passed by Yiwon and walked inside. Yiwon shook his head, as if resigned, and followed.

“Welcome!”

As soon as they entered the hallway, a loud voice startled Jewoo. Although he hadn’t expected Yiwon to be alone, this greeting was more enthusiastic than he had anticipated.

“Hello.”

Jewoo greeted the person with a bow.

“This is Raun, a member of the same group as me.”

Yiwon introduced the other person.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from Yiwon.”

Raun said with a bright smile, and Jewoo glanced at Yiwon. What had he said? It seemed unlikely that it had ended with just simple drama co-stars, and Jewoo couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. When their eyes met, Yiwon just smiled back.

Ah, I’m still uneasy.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

Yiwon’s added words seemed even more significant.

“Wait… do you know everything?”

Did he know that they had decided to date?

Jewoo questioned with his gaze, and Yiwon, unsure whether he understood, only laughed. The answer came from Raun instead.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Raun grinned and even mimed zipping his lips with his hand. It seemed like he knew everything.

“We’ve been like brothers since we were little, so it’s impossible to have any secrets between us. We’ve spent practically every day together.”

Raun explained, but it didn’t make complete sense to Jewoo. While that might have been true when they were actively promoting, Yiwon had been doing mostly solo activities recently. As Jewoo had seen firsthand, Yiwon even lived in a separate place now. Plus, he had been mostly staying in a different region during the drama shoot. It seemed odd that his group members knew so much about him.

“That guy was so happy when you got your wish fulfilled, it was like he was celebrating for himself.”

“Wish fulfilled?”

“Jewoo hyung, can I call you hyung? I’m two years younger.”

Raun grinned and held up two fingers. He looked much older than Yiwon, but the fact that he was only one year younger than him surprised Jewoo.

“That guy watched every single show you were in, Jewoo hyung. He watched them so much we had to tell him to stop. Ah, should I not be saying this?”

Raun glanced at Yiwon for approval. Yiwon smiled and reassured him that it was fine.

“I’ve already told him everything. Jewoo hyung knows.”

“Really? You even researched his shows from when he was a child actor?”

Jewoo had already heard from Yiwon, so he wasn’t too surprised, but he still felt a bit embarrassed by how much Raun had gone out of his way to learn.

“Please feel free to treat me casually. Even though this is the first time we’ve met, I feel like I already know you from all the stories I’ve heard.”

Unlike Yiwon, who had initially been shy, Raun was quite sociable. With no barriers whatsoever, he approached Jewoo with a warm smile, and Jewoo nodded, caught off guard by the friendly gesture.

“Even if it seems like something’s off, Raun hyung produced most of our songs. He’s more talented than he looks.”

“More talented than what?”

Raun flinched at Yiwon’s teasing and wrapped his arm around Yiwon’s neck. It was clear from their little gestures, words, and expressions that they had spent a long time together. They were completely comfortable with each other.

Watching how Raun acted like a younger brother and more familiar with Yiwon than he had been with Jewoo made Jewoo feel a bit strange. But it made sense. He had only known Yiwon for a few months, but Yiwon had spent nearly a decade with his group members, including during their trainee days. The time they had spent together was incomparable.

“Did you bring the track? Can we listen to it?”

Thankfully, before Jewoo could get lost in his thoughts, Raun brought the conversation back to business. He handed over the USB with the OST track, and Raun plugged it into the computer to find and open the file. The music started playing from the speakers, which were connected to the wall.

“Wow, this is great. Who’s the composer?”

Raun asked, genuinely impressed. His eyes had completely changed from earlier, and it was hard to believe he had been joking around just moments ago. After listening to it several times, he asked Jewoo if he would sing it.

“I practiced it alone, so I might make mistakes.”

“It’s fine. We’ll fix anything that’s off. That’s why we’re here. I just want to hear your voice and check the key, so feel free to sing comfortably.”

After answering that he understood, Jewoo started preparing, and Raun played the track from the beginning again. As the music played, Yiwon and Raun’s eyes fixed on Jewoo. Unlike when he was acting, it felt like the gaze was making him nervous.

Jewoo began singing the lyrics he had memorized over the past few days to the rhythm of the music. Since he had listened to the track enough to memorize it, he thought he was roughly matching the timing, but there were moments where he wondered if the pitch was right. However, after a few lines, he became absorbed in the content of the drama embedded in the lyrics. As the theme song of ‘Haeyul,’ the emotions of ‘Haeyul’ from the filming came back to him.

The music stopped, but only silence followed. Jewoo and Raun both stared blankly at Jewoo. Jewoo, unsure if he had made a mistake, couldn’t say anything and just kept glancing at the two of them.

“Wow…”

Raun let out an exclamation a beat late.

“What’s this? Jewoo hyung, why is your singing so good?”

With a shockingly honest compliment, Yiwon muttered beside him, “Right?”

“There were a few off-pitch parts, but it’s so captivating that you don’t even notice those. Maybe it’s because you’re an actor. Your voice is so compelling. Your diction is great too.”

Raun, genuinely impressed, mumbled and shook his head in disbelief.

“Hyung, have you ever thought about releasing an album? I can produce it for you.”

Jewoo was taken aback by the unexpected and out-of-the-blue suggestion, and Yiwon quickly stepped in to tell Raun to stop with the over-the-top flattery. But Raun didn’t stop. He praised Jewoo’s voice, saying it was a waste not to sing with it. Only after Yiwon half-threatened him, saying that if he kept going, he’d find another studio to practice in, did Raun finally calm down.

Afterward, Raun seriously pointed out the parts that Jewoo had missed. He gave advice on subtle pitch differences that weren’t noticeable when just listening, or on how to manage the timing in certain parts, and Jewoo marveled at the expertise of the professional.

After about an hour of listening to Jewoo’s track, they started on the duet song he would be singing with Yiwon. As before, Raun first had them sing together. Since it was their first time singing together, there were slight timing mismatches here and there. While Jewoo flinched each time, Yiwon seemed not to care at all.

“The harmony sounds great. Yiwon, are you using your real voice now?”

Yiwon nodded, and Raun made a long “hmm” sound with his nose.

“Definitely, that’s better for this song. Jewoo hyung’s voice is clearer than I expected, so there’s no need for you to use a higher tone. Your current tone matches hyung’s voice.”

Jewoo thought that Raun’s explanation made sense, as he had felt the same thing while watching the drama yesterday. It seemed that Kang Yiwon had never used his real voice for acting or singing until now.

“You probably don’t need to adjust the tone. There are times when the timing is off in the parts where you sing together, so you just need to match that.”

Raun immediately pointed out the issue that Jewoo had felt himself. After explaining a few other small things he wanted them to adjust, they resumed practicing. However, the duet wasn’t any easier than singing solo. While the song itself wasn’t difficult, the “together” part was tricky. Even though they didn’t need to adjust the pitch drastically, a small mistake could throw off the harmony. A slight timing issue, whether a little too fast or too slow, was immediately noticeable.

“You guys, Raun and you, are amazing.”

After repeating the same song about ten times, Jewoo genuinely felt respect for idol groups. Trying to harmonize with someone else was far harder than he had imagined. Meanwhile, idol group members performed together as one, singing and dancing. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much effort it must take to make their synchronized choreography sound and look so flawless.

“It’s because it’s your first time. Once you get used to it, you’ll pick up the tricks,” Raun said with a smile, as if he understood Jewoo’s struggles.

“If it’s too hard, do you want to try doing what I say?”

Jewoo turned around, wondering what Raun was about to suggest, and saw Raun grinning slyly.