#kpopau

“Still no wind.” “Don’t like it. The Veil’s too calm. Like it’s watching.” “Stop talking like that.” “I’m serious. The sea doesn’t just go quiet unless it’s hiding something.”

Laughter. Nervous. Forced.

I tried to open my eyes. My lids were heavy, stinging with salt. My skin burned in places - chafed, bruised. Cold. 

Where was I?

Who-?

Who was I?

Something shifted beneath me. The scrape of rope. Wood. Boots thudded close. A shadow moved above me, blocking out the light. 

“Wait - what the hell is that?” “Starboard side! Look!” “Is that a person-?” “Shit. They’re still alive. Pull them in.”

Hands grabbed at me - rough, fast, urgent. 

I couldn’t fight. Couldn’t speak. 

A face hovered over mine as the world tilted and spun. Dark hair swept back by wind, a gold ring glinting in one ear, eyes sharp and searching. 

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

My lips cracked as I tried to form a sound. My voice came out broken. 

I should’ve had one. A name. 

Somewhere, deep beneath the noise, I found it. 

“...Isla.”

And then the darkness took me again. 

“They say the sea keeps what it loves. And if it ever lets you go, it only means it’s not done with you yet.”

— from Sailor’s Myths & Maritime Curses, Vol. I

I woke to the smell of salt and wood and something older than either. Something deep. 

The sway came next - gentle, rhythmic, like I was being cradled in a massive, creaking hand. Water lapped softly against something hollow beneath me. Not waves. Not the rush of surf. Just... gentle movement. Steady. Strange. 

Then came the voices.

Distant, low. Muffled at first, like I was underwater still. 

“Still no wind.” “Don’t like it. The Veil’s too calm. Like it’s watching.” “Stop talking like that.” “I’m serious. The sea doesn’t just go quiet unless it’s hiding something.”

Laughter. Nervous. Forced.

I tried to open my eyes. My lids were heavy, stinging with salt. My skin burned in places - chafed, bruised. Cold. 

Where was I?

Who-?

Who was I?

Something shifted beneath me. The scrape of rope. Wood. Boots thudded close. A shadow moved above me, blocking out the light. 

“Wait - what the hell is that?” “Starboard side! Look!” “Is that a person-?” “Shit. They’re still alive. Pull them in.”

Hands grabbed at me - rough, fast, urgent. 

I couldn’t fight. Couldn’t speak. 

A face hovered over mine as the world tilted and spun. Dark hair swept back by wind, a gold ring glinting in one ear, eyes sharp and searching. 

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

My lips cracked as I tried to form a sound. My voice came out broken. 

I should’ve had one. A name. 

Somewhere, deep beneath the noise, I found it. 

“...Isla.”

And then the darkness took me again. 

When I woke again, it was in a small, swaying room lit by candlelight. My limbs ached. My mouth was dry. I was lying on a thin mattress on the floor, wrapped in a coarse blanket that smelled faintly of smoke and salt. 

The walls around me were wooden - curved with the hull of a ship. Nets, rope, and half-patched maps cluttered the space. There was a single round porthole, the glass streaked with salt. Through it, I could see the horizon: endless ocean and a sky choked with clouds. 

A ship. 

I was on a ship. 

I sat up slowly. My legs were sore, but whole. Scraped knees. Bare feet. No injuries that explained the empty feeling hollowing out my chest. 

More than just a bruise. 

Something was missing. 

The door creaked open. I tensed. 

The man who stepped in looked younger than I expected. Tall, broad shoulders, brown eyes set into a serious face softened by something kind. His long coat swayed with the motion of the sea. 

“You’re awake,” he said. His voice was warm. Gentle. “Good. You’ve been out for a day.”

He crouched, careful not to crowd me. 

“You said your name was Isla. Do you remember anything else?”

I tried. I really did. 

But it was like chasing shadows in a storm. Every thought slipped away the second I reached for it. 

“No,” I said softly. “Nothing.”

His expression didn’t change, but something flickered behind his eyes - sympathy? Worry? Suspicion?

“I’m Seonghwa,” he said. “First mate. We found you drifting near Siren’s Veil.”

“Siren’s…?”

“A cursed stretch of sea. You’re lucky we passed through when we did. Not many would’ve stopped.”

My mouth was dry. “Was I alone?”

Seonghwa hesitated. “As far as we could tell. You should get some rest, though.”

The way he said it didn’t convince me. 

That night, I dreamed of the sea. 

Not from the surface - but beneath. I was deep under water, light streaming through a blue world that pulsed with something alive. 

I could breathe. 

My hair drifted weightless around me. Fish darted past like living streaks of light. 

Then - a voice. 

“You gave it up.”

Another. Older. Darker. 

“You asked for this.”

I turned. 

A figure moved in the distance, fast and graceful - not swimming but slicing through the water like it belonged there. 

I woke choking on air. 

Sweat clung to my skin. My legs ached. My hands were shaking. 

And the floor beneath me was wet. 

I looked down. 

Saltwater. 

The boards were soaked - just around me. There was no leak. No water anywhere else in the cabin. 

Just under me. 

The water started rising around me. And soon it filled the cabin to the very top. 

I couldn’t breathe. 

Why couldn’t I breathe?

The water was everywhere. Pressing against my eyes, and my throat. I wanted to scream, but couldn’t even open my mouth. I was drowning. 

I woke with a start. My sheets soaked in sweat. 

But no water, no cabin filled with water. 

The crew was louder above deck. The world exploded into colour and movement and sound. Voices clashed with seagull cries and the snap of canvas in the wind. 

The sea was endless in every direction, a living, breathing thing under the ship. The sails groaned overhead. Seabirds screamed across the sky. 

I became aware, all at once, of the men watching me. 

Pirates, no doubt about it - their clothing worn but well-kept, weapons strapped to belts, calloused hands and wary eyes. They stood in loose clusters, some working, some resting, all curious. 

The first to approach was the one I recognised - the sharp-eyed man who’d spoken to me when I first came to. 

He smiled wide now, lopsided and too charming. His dark hair was swept back, his hands moving as much as his mouth. 

“You made it,” he said. “I was starting to think you were a ghost. Or a very pretty corpse.”

“Wooyoung,” Seonghwa said behind me, warning in his tone. 

“I’m being nice!” The man turned to me. “I’m Wooyoung. I saved your life.”

“I thought I pulled her up,” said a taller man nearby, leaning against a mast. 

“That’s Yunho,” Wooyoung muttered, rolling his eyes. “Always ruining my moments.”

Yunho grinned. He looked like he belonged to the sky - bright, open, the kind of face you trusted before he even spoke. “Glad you’re awake. You were out cold when we found you.”

“I… thank you,” I said. “All of you.”

“You’re welcome,” said another voice, flatter than the rest. 

A man stood apart from the group, arms crossed. He had striking features and sharp eyes that didn’t smile. “But don’t thank us just yet.”

“Yeosang,” Wooyoung said under his breath. “Suspicious by nature.”

“She came from cursed waters,” Yeosang said, although it wasn’t unkindly. Just blunt. “And she doesn’t remember anything. It’s not unreasonable to be cautious.”

“Ignore him,” said another voice, deeper. Calm. “You’re not cursed. Well, probably not.”

He stepped forward with a quiet presence, not loud but impossible to ignore. Built solid, with strong hands and a steady look that landed on me without judgment. 

“I’m Jongho,” he said. “If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks,” I murmured. 

Then, finally, a hush rippled through the group. 

The man walking toward me had no reason to command attention, but somehow, he did. 

He wasn’t the biggest, or the loudest, or the most intimidating. But the moment he stepped onto the deck, the air shifted. 

Black hair fell just above his eyes. He wore dark clothes layered under a coat with gold trim, and a blade hung low at his hip. 

But it was the way he looked at me - like he already knew me - that made my breath catch. 

“Isla,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Just a statement. I answered anyway. 

“Yes,” I whispered. 

“I’m the captain around here.” His voice was calm. Measured. “This is my ship.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“You didn’t,” he said simply. “We pulled you in. You were half-dead. You remember anything yet?”

I shook my head. 

His gaze held mine for a long moment. 

“Keep an eye on her,” he said to Seonghwa, then turned away without waiting for a response. 

I climbed the ladder up to the deck in the dark, heart still hammering. The sea stretched black and endless around us. 

That’s when I heard the shout. 

“Captain!”

Jongho stood near the edge of the ship, one hand on the railing, the other pointing into the waves. 

“There was something in the water,” he said. “Watching. It dove back down.”

Hongjoong appeared beside him, calm even now. 

“Wreckage?”

“No. Eyes. Something... alive.”

The captain looked to me. So did Jongho. So did the sea. 

After a moment, Hongjoong exhaled. 

“You brought something with you, Isla,” he said quietly. 

“Or something’s come looking for you.”

When I woke again, it was in a small, swaying room lit by candlelight. My limbs ached. My mouth was dry. I was lying on a thin mattress on the floor, wrapped in a coarse blanket that smelled faintly of smoke and salt. 

The walls around me were wooden - curved with the hull of a ship. Nets, rope, and half-patched maps cluttered the space. There was a single round porthole, the glass streaked with salt. Through it, I could see the horizon: endless ocean and a sky choked with clouds. 

A ship. 

I was on a ship. 

I sat up slowly. My legs were sore, but whole. Scraped knees. Bare feet. No injuries that explained the empty feeling hollowing out my chest. 

More than just a bruise. 

Something was missing. 

The door creaked open. I tensed. 

The man who stepped in looked younger than I expected. Tall, broad shoulders, brown eyes set into a serious face softened by something kind. His long coat swayed with the motion of the sea. 

“You’re awake,” he said. His voice was warm. Gentle. “Good. You’ve been out for a day.”

He crouched, careful not to crowd me. 

“You said your name was Isla. Do you remember anything else?”

I tried. I really did. 

But it was like chasing shadows in a storm. Every thought slipped away the second I reached for it. 

“No,” I said softly. “Nothing.”

His expression didn’t change, but something flickered behind his eyes - sympathy? Worry? Suspicion?

“I’m Seonghwa,” he said. “First mate. We found you drifting near Siren’s Veil.”

“Siren’s…?”

“A cursed stretch of sea. You’re lucky we passed through when we did. Not many would’ve stopped.”

My mouth was dry. “Was I alone?”

Seonghwa hesitated. “As far as we could tell. You should get some rest, though.”

The way he said it didn’t convince me. 

That night, I dreamed of the sea. 

Not from the surface - but beneath. I was deep under water, light streaming through a blue world that pulsed with something alive. 

I could breathe. 

My hair drifted weightless around me. Fish darted past like living streaks of light. 

Then - a voice. 

“You gave it up.”

Another. Older. Darker. 

“You asked for this.”

I turned. 

A figure moved in the distance, fast and graceful - not swimming but slicing through the water like it belonged there. 

I woke choking on air. 

Sweat clung to my skin. My legs ached. My hands were shaking. 

And the floor beneath me was wet. 

I looked down. 

Saltwater. 

The boards were soaked - just around me. There was no leak. No water anywhere else in the cabin. 

Just under me. 

The water started rising around me. And soon it filled the cabin to the very top. 

I couldn’t breathe. 

Why couldn’t I breathe?

The water was everywhere. Pressing against my eyes, and my throat. I wanted to scream, but couldn’t even open my mouth. I was drowning. 

I woke with a start. My sheets soaked in sweat. 

But no water, no cabin filled with water. 

The crew was louder above deck. The world exploded into colour and movement and sound. Voices clashed with seagull cries and the snap of canvas in the wind. 

The sea was endless in every direction, a living, breathing thing under the ship. The sails groaned overhead. Seabirds screamed across the sky. 

I became aware, all at once, of the men watching me. 

Pirates, no doubt about it - their clothing worn but well-kept, weapons strapped to belts, calloused hands and wary eyes. They stood in loose clusters, some working, some resting, all curious. 

The first to approach was the one I recognised - the sharp-eyed man who’d spoken to me when I first came to. 

He smiled wide now, lopsided and too charming. His dark hair was swept back, his hands moving as much as his mouth. 

“You made it,” he said. “I was starting to think you were a ghost. Or a very pretty corpse.”

“Wooyoung,” Seonghwa said behind me, warning in his tone. 

“I’m being nice!” The man turned to me. “I’m Wooyoung. I saved your life.”

“I thought I pulled her up,” said a taller man nearby, leaning against a mast. 

“That’s Yunho,” Wooyoung muttered, rolling his eyes. “Always ruining my moments.”

Yunho grinned. He looked like he belonged to the sky - bright, open, the kind of face you trusted before he even spoke. “Glad you’re awake. You were out cold when we found you.”

“I… thank you,” I said. “All of you.”

“You’re welcome,” said another voice, flatter than the rest. 

A man stood apart from the group, arms crossed. He had striking features and sharp eyes that didn’t smile. “But don’t thank us just yet.”

“Yeosang,” Wooyoung said under his breath. “Suspicious by nature.”

“She came from cursed waters,” Yeosang said, although it wasn’t unkindly. Just blunt. “And she doesn’t remember anything. It’s not unreasonable to be cautious.”

“Ignore him,” said another voice, deeper. Calm. “You’re not cursed. Well, probably not.”

He stepped forward with a quiet presence, not loud but impossible to ignore. Built solid, with strong hands and a steady look that landed on me without judgment. 

“I’m Jongho,” he said. “If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks,” I murmured. 

Then, finally, a hush rippled through the group. 

The man walking toward me had no reason to command attention, but somehow, he did. 

He wasn’t the biggest, or the loudest, or the most intimidating. But the moment he stepped onto the deck, the air shifted. 

Black hair fell just above his eyes. He wore dark clothes layered under a coat with gold trim, and a blade hung low at his hip. 

But it was the way he looked at me - like he already knew me - that made my breath catch. 

“Isla,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Just a statement. I answered anyway. 

“Yes,” I whispered. 

“I’m the captain around here.” His voice was calm. Measured. “This is my ship.”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“You didn’t,” he said simply. “We pulled you in. You were half-dead. You remember anything yet?”

I shook my head. 

His gaze held mine for a long moment. 

“Keep an eye on her,” he said to Seonghwa, then turned away without waiting for a response. 

I climbed the ladder up to the deck in the dark, heart still hammering. The sea stretched black and endless around us. 

That’s when I heard the shout. 

“Captain!”

Jongho stood near the edge of the ship, one hand on the railing, the other pointing into the waves. 

“There was something in the water,” he said. “Watching. It dove back down.”

Hongjoong appeared beside him, calm even now. 

“Wreckage?”

“No. Eyes. Something... alive.”

The captain looked to me. So did Jongho. So did the sea. 

After a moment, Hongjoong exhaled. 

“You brought something with you, Isla,” he said quietly. 

Until this day, you remained to be a lonely man who is still holding on for girlfriend who is now your ex after an unforgettable 3 years of relationship. You didn’t want it to happen, which is the reason why its still hard for you to forget it. However, there’s also another thing that keeps you uncomfortable every night when you suddenly think of her.

You’re aware to yourself to you are the cause of each other’s downfall. Back then, you didn’t admit it because of something that pulls you back. Although the consequences was that she had to watch you disappear and leave her with many questions she may be wondering at that time.

Regret eats you alive, and it disturbs you. That’s why if only an opportunity will be given to you someday, you’ll use it for one particular purpose: and that is to apologize for what you’ve done. For the peace of both worlds that once shared but has now gone apart.

That is until one day, when you were on your way home riding a taxi, the driver was playing this channel on the radio where it tells a random story from an anonymous person. You suspected that this is probably the main point of the show. As you gave it a listen, you also found it even more investing not only because of that person’s story… but also to the voice of the DJ narrating.

It almost sounded like… her. 

You shook it off, not wanting to let the delusions get onto you. Yet you couldn’t blame it for happening, everything reminds you of her. You’re the one who still deeply attached for Sejeong.

The story wasn’t finished yet and you’ve reached the destination. Before you were dropped off, you asked for confirmation to the taxi driver what’s the radio channel he’s tuned in. He answered and gave it a little extra information that its currently popular which made you thanked him before leaving.

He didn’t bothered asking more, but if he did then your response would probably be only that you wanted to listen more to this show. But no, there’s more to that. Realizing that it grants people the freedom to tell their unspoken stories to others, an idea was formulated in his mind.

Meanwhile, a week later, Sejeong who has been doing great these days notably due to the new installment of her own radio program called “Confessions Beyond The Nightsky” after a friend encourages her to be a DJ. She always wanted to try using her voice more not only through singing when she came up with an idea from her friend on how she’ll do that.

That is to become the voice of the voiceless for people who had something to say deep within them but unable to do so because of hesitations in their emotions.

“Thank you again to our second sender for getting in touch to our program! Again, I wish you all the best to your decisions in the future and if you know to yourself that it’s the right thing to do, then go ahead for it..” Sejeong now in her alias known as DJ Sam for work, said on the mic as she refolded the paper she was reading.

“Many people would probably gonna be so related to what Danica said in her letter, especially on being the breadwinner of the family.” She added with a tint of sympathy in her face. “Okay and now for our last sender to this week’s episode, let’s take a look beneath its story!”

She grabbed the envelope that was given to her by the manager. She unwrapped it and revealed its content. “So this one is coming from a guy named (your other name). I hope you are currently listening to me right now YNN because yours is up next to be told by yours truly. Let’s begin with our last story.”

“Dear, DJ Sam. You can just call me by the name of YNN, that’s the name my ex-girlfriend loves to call me.”

Sejeong paused for a moment. A strange familiar feeling crept up inside of her. His image emerged in his mind brought by the suspicious message. 

“I just want to share a little bit about us first. I’ll just gonna call her “Sesang”  h-”

Sejeong felt like her heart dropped after pronouncing that name. This wasn’t just a normal coincidence anymore. Her speculations were right, this was indeed coming from the only person… the only man she is thinking of.

“Sam, is anything okay?” The manager asked her dumbfounded state. She gulped and nodded. “I’m fine. I just… remember someone.”

“Okay, sorry listeners if I stopped for a moment.” She said, shifting back to bring a professional despite trying to conceal herself from getting exposed. “To continue, he mentioned that her name is going to be Sesang in his story. Sesang and I had a relationship that lasted for 3 years.”

It came from him. She confirmed it in her thoughts. She forced her emotions not to burst out with just a reminder of you.

“She was my first and definitely I could tell the best I’ve ever had. Setting aside the thoughts of me looking for somebody else or not, but I just have this confidence of mine that I could never find another woman who as perfect as her.” She continued, a bittersweet smile formed on her lips.

“Our relationship was something I would cherish for the rest of my life. It was unforgettable, a once in a lifetime moment of mine, and definitely because I got to spend those times with her. I still couldn’t believe these days that I got to make her fall in love with me too. 

Knowing how much of an average guy I am before while she is the center of attention by most of the guys back then in our campus because of how breathtakingly beautiful she is. Maybe her being conservative of me and I just doing what I always do that separates me from the rest was probably the reason why we ended up together.

Our relationship was nothing more of a rollercoaster ride. We had a lot of ups and downs, we did struggled during the early period when we get to convince both sides of our families to accept each other which fortunately I did. I was so happy, because all I ever wanted is to officially call her mine without any limitations.

I was proud to have her as my girlfriend and so did she, that’s why I know she must be highly disappointed of me when the end of us didn’t went the same as how we started.” 

Sejeong sighed for a second, she already expected that this is about to get heavy the longer it gets. “Yes, I blame myself. I am well-aware that I was the cause of our separation. Back then I became insecure, I was depressed, and I was scared. All of that whenever I just remember her, and knowing how my family went rock bottom when my dad got scammed abroad by his relatives of moving to another country for a better job opportunity.”

Sejeong started to furrow her eyebrows as she became more focused on what you have been mentioning in the letter. She didn’t know any of this and narrating your story would be the only way to reach the answers she was begging for a long time.

“Financially and emotionally, my family was torn apart because of what happened. My dad became very stressful and desperate to rebuild all of what he spent to provide for us that it affected his mindset and his personality. It caused him and my mom to argue, I tried to to be the bridge to get them back together but instead it just grew worse to the point they weren’t communicating with one another anymore. 

That’s why most of the responsibilities of attending to every concern regarding about us not only in the house but through stuff like my brother’s studies, I catched them all. It affected me as well that I had to abandon my dreams and look for a job to contribute since my dad’s salary wasn’t enough anymore. All of the burden started to get onto me, that I slowly changing from the type of person that Sesang used to love me for.”

“She did noticed that, I know she was.” Sejeong recalled the times she had to witness him suddenly acting cold, short-tempered, and unable to be present at times when she needed him, painfully agreeing to what you’ve said. The following lines referred to what she had thought, which confirmed it further.

“I tried to mask it whenever I’m close or I’m facing her but I just can’t. The responsibilities I’m carrying is too heavy for me to withstand. Which is why I thought that if I have to let go one important thing, maybe it’ll do for the better and it’ll won’t continue to affect us any longer.

“I didn’t want to… but I chose to let her go.” Sejeong squeezed her eyes shut to fight her tears. Her heart clenching as she seethes how those words sting. “My family needed me more. I know she does but… I just can’t keep on bringing her more to my problems. I can’t let myself be with her, making her believe that she’s spending time with the same guy that she loved from the beginning.

“I know I’ve gone different. I tried to fight it but it’s too exhausting that I just wanted for us to be free.” Sejeong’s hands trembling as she grips the paper. “I was the one who ended our relationship, and here comes the biggest mistake that I regret within this day, DJ Sam. 

I refused to tell her why. I told her nothing. I just left her there, probably wondering if she was the problem instead. I just said that it’s for the better and I just couldn’t do this anymore.”

That memory was still fresh for Sejeong as well. Standing in front of their house, watching you walk away wiping the tears on your eyes, desperately calling for your name to come back but you never did.

“I disappeared for 2 years. My family returned to the province and we got assisted there by my mom’s relatives. Fortunately, our life slowly went better and it eased me for doing a lot to them. I just hope that my happiness for my family was just as same as I am for me and Sesang. The cost of my decision was that it led me to sleepless nights, regretting my actions of cutting ties with her like it was nothing.

That’s why Sesang, if you’re out there, listening right now to DJ Sam’s show as she read this letter of mine for you, I want you to know I thank you for everything that we had and despite our breakup, I never stopped loving you.”

Sejeong curses under her breath. This is getting too much of a struggle of her to endure this amount of gut wrenching moment for the sake of her job and to not get embarrassed at the public. It was just handwritten sentence, but imagining him and his voice speaking it out loud for her and for the whole world to listen how much he regrets leaving her and that he still has her in his heart, she can’t deny that it touched her a lot.

She smiled through the pain and admired your final paragraph. “I should’ve fought for us. I’m sorry if you had to be the one I have to sacrifice for. I don’t know if what I did is right, but trust me when I tell you that you doing fine these days, probably together with somebody who won’t break your heart and value your love unlike me is what I wish for you to be.

But if you ever want to talk, I’ll be here waiting and I won’t ever go again. With love, YNN.”

Sejeong breathed deeply before closing the letter and smiled bitterly. “Wow. That was… pretty tragic.” She chuckled and wiped her tears. “You guys may not see me right now but I’m literally tearing up, I know some of you may be as well.” She faked her own surge of emotions to fool everybody.

“Well uhm, thank you YNN for that wonderful yet heartbreaking letter.” Sejeong cleared her throat and reached for some tissue that was handed to her by her manager. “You made some of us emotional here in the studio so great job, I suppose.”

“Anyways, here’s what I could say to your story, YNN. I know you’re listening right now just as she is too. You don’t have to wait anymore because I’m sure she has heard your words of longing and sorrow. 

And if I would be the one in place of her, I’d say that I forgive you.” She smiled within her teary eyes. She looked at her manager and some of the staffs monitoring her, she lowered her herself as she leans at the decision she had to do. 

To end both ends’ unresolved conflict for good.

"YNN… or should I say, YN… you have no idea how many nights I stayed up, wondering why you left. I thought maybe I wasn’t enough, maybe I did something wrong. But hearing you now…" She pauses, collecting herself. 

"I realized you weren’t trying to hurt me. That you gave up on me and abandon me like all we had was nothing. You were trying to protect me in the only way you knew how. But the thing is… I never needed protecting from you. I just needed you just as how I much I am willing to be there for you.”

A shaky exhale comes through the mic. "I won’t lie—hearing this now, after all these years, it’s a lot to sink in. Part of me wants to be angry, to tell you that you should’ve trusted me, that we could’ve faced everything together if you had just let me in. But another part of me… another part is just relieved to finally hear the truth.”

She hesitates for a second, then says, "I don’t know what this means for us. I don’t know if we can go back to who we were. But if there’s one thing I do know, YN… it’s that I hear you. And after all these years, I think it’s time we finally talk… maybe in that way, it can pull us back together just like the old times.”

Then, after a long pause, she adds with a hint of warmth in her voice. “Now for your letter, here’s a song that we would like to dedicate for you.” One of the crew in charge of the sound system then played “Talking To The Moon” by Bruno Mars.

As the songs ends, Sejeong steadied herself as the silence lingers between them. When she finally speaks, her voice is softer than usual, a mix of vulnerability and quiet strength. 

“And that’s the final story for this week’s episode of Confessions Beyond The Nightsky, thank you everyone again for listening! This has been your DJ Sam…. now going off air!”

___________

honestly? if someone had told you, that you would have volleyball captain, park sunghoon wrapped around your finger you would laugh at their face and certainly not the cute and giggly kind.

but as you watch him come up to you for like the nth time today, similar to every other day, you would be the fool not to believe them at that point.

“hi, y/n.” he says a smile gracing his face.

“sunghoon, you do know this like the fifth time you’ve come up to me during practice just to say hi right? and that’s not counting the four other hand waves you’ve given me.”

sunghoon, cheeks burns pink, it was a force of habit at this point. no matter how much he tried to avoid you, not like he wanted to anyways, if it wasn’t his eyes, the boy would physically gravitate towards you every single time without even noticing.

“well, i have an excuse this time. i actually came up here to ask you something.” If the blushing of his cheeks weren’t a quick give away of his nervousness, the cute tremor in his voice surely was.

“oh, what is it then?” without looking up from your clipboard, sunghoon take it as an opportunity to ask you what’s he’s been dying to ask you for a couple of weeks now, if you looked him in the eye at that moment he wasn’t so sure he would be able to go through with it, no matter how confident he was.

“go on a date with me.”

what? you were not death so you were sure you heard him correctly, but still.

“uh, you want me to go on a date with you? but why?”

confusion and hurt etches on his face at your question, as you prance on realizing just how bad your words had sounded. “i mean, why me?” the tilt of his head encourages you to elaborate.

“i’m socially awkward, i don’t really get along well with people outside of my friend group, i have a bad attitude, and there is a line of pretty girls who would kill to go on a date with you.”

sunghoon finds your rambling rather cute, it’s not like he didn’t know any of this information already. the both of you coming from very different social status at school, while sunghoon was very social, popular and very much liked at school, girls lining up just to get a glimpse of him throughout the halls, you were quite opposite of him.

you were a loner aside from your two reoccurring friends he would see you at lunch with. you weren’t not like at school but nobody really knew who you were, always keeping to yourself. as for your bad monotonous attitude? he thought it was cute, knowing full well it was only because you weren’t the best at expressing yourself, always giving everybody the wrong impression or idea, which may have lead to some very offended students.

sunghoon likes you just the way you are, so it irks him just a bit to listen to you list all these, qualities you deem flaws, but he wouldn’t tell you that at least not yet, he rather tease you first. “well, i think you would be the prettiest girl in that line.”

even if it wasn’t the first time for sunghoon to call you “pretty,” or even “cute,” you could just never get used to it, he simply has a way of making you dig the sole of your right shoe into the glossy wooden floor of the gymnasium bashfully.

“i-i never said i was in that line.” sunghoon eyebrows quirk at that.

“i would like you to be though.” even as his confidence seems to deter, he presses on, wanting a proper answer from you, hopeful it was one that invoked a late night date, that ends with a stroll at the nearest park while eating ice cream, possibly holding your hand if you allow him to.

“is that a no to the date?” his question, has your down cast eyes shoot up suddenly just for them to look away just as quickly. sunghoon can’t seem to take his eyes off of you making you want to turn into a putty right in front of him.

“o-oh, i never said that either.” every time sunghoon ever held a conversation with you, it always seemed like a push and pull feeling. it left him confused many times but a part of him knew that’s just how you are, and honestly? he found it cute, you were cute, so he would willingly pull you as much as he could and would take as many pushes as you want to give.

“so, is that a yes then?” he grins at your lack of eye contact, cute.

“uh-maybe.” he chuckles at your response, it being so you. as much as he wants to press on for a definite answer, he doesn’t know the full extent of your limit. no matter just how much he would love to tease you to find out he doesn’t, as you pull a strand behind your hair, the red tips of your ear giving away your embarrassment.

he chuckles, reaching for the top of your head, before he could ruffle it into a mess, you flinch not used to the physical contact of a guy.

“oh, i’m sorry. i got a head of myself, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” sunghoon retracts his hand to his side. distress with the idea of making you uncomfortable unintentionally, he only wishes he could kick himself for his bad habit of not keeping his cool whenever you were around.

raising your clipboard to cover your tainted cheek, you shake your head, to make him understand he misunderstood your actions. the frown forming on his face, has you clearing your throat, and pulling down the clipboard to speak much more clearer than you have been doing this whole time.

“no, it’s not that-i guess you you can say-that perhaps you just make me just a bit nervous in a good way is all.”

sunghoon’s frown ebbs away, only to switch to a look of widen eyes, and disbelieve at your clear confession. “oh.”

“why are you smiling at me like that?” you ask his looked of disbelieve turns to another of happiness, as if he had hit the jackpot, and in his world he did.

“cause you just told me i make you nervous.” well not that he didn’t know, if he wasn’t so sure he would have thought you were either nervous all the time, or simply emotionless, but you confirming that his presence made you nervous in a “good way” as you said, he was first pumping the air in his head.

“is it that shocking?” you asked out loud, more to yourself really.

he didn’t respond to your question either way. opting out to make a deal with you instead, evident that this conversation would see no end. no matter that he just wants to talk to you for the remainder of the hour, he couldn’t. if coach catches him slacking, sunghoon would be running endless lap around the the school til he saw fit, especially as team captain.

“how about we make a deal? if my team wins the mock game by 5 points difference, you’ll let me take you on a date.”

you didn’t have to consider much, but you firmly believe in his capability to score more as team manager. “if you score a difference of 10 i’ll go on a date with you.”

“you must really not want to go on a date with me, uh?” he jokingly asks.

“no, i just have faith in your abilities to beat them with a 10 point difference.”

“okay, a 10 point difference, and i also get to hold your hand after practice, it’s only fair if we both add something, no?”

sure it was fair, but now you were blushing again. “okay, deal.”

“perfect,” just before he could turns to go back to his team, he speaks again, “just so you know, i’m not going easy on them.”

“well, as team manager i would be upset if you did.”

with a beaming smile he directs at you, he reaches over your head once again unconsciously, still out of bad habit thought this time you don’t flinch away as he ruffles your hair.

you were unsure who was more nervous leaving the gymnasium, but as you walk hand in hand with sunghoon, he blames practice for his sweaty palms even after he had taken his shower. Though truthfully, he thinks it might just be too early to tell you just how nervous you make him feel, he still has to take you on a date first!