TRACK 19
LOVE SONG
YEON
I like the way that we've fallen into a routine since Liz's birthday a couple weeks ago.
It's kind of the same one we had before that, but things feel slightly different now.
Like she's allowed us access to a part of her life that we didn't even realize we'd been missing from.
Our schedule is still grueling and only going to get worse from here on out, but the moment we step foot through that door, we aren't the idols stretching ourselves too thin preparing for a comeback.
We are merely men looking to come home and spend as much as time as possible with their girl.
I'm tucked into one corner of our u-shaped sectional watching four of our members play a card slapping game at the table.
In Se is leaning with his head on my shoulder watching them too.
Yoon Ji has beaten Jae-un no less than ten times now, the latter growing increasingly frustrated.
Pretty soon I see him dropping out of the game like Dav En did.
The man in question is leaning back against the couch on his phone not paying attention to them anymore.
Flicking my eyes to the left like I've done all night, I have to slightly look around Seong Su on his tablet in the middle of the u to see Liz cuddled into the other corner, reading her book.
Her hair is pulled up in a messy bun. Her sleeveless shirt is twisted on the side where she's been fiddling with it while she reads.
The shirt overlaps her leggings and hangs down to her thighs. She looks comfortable and cute.
It's only about ten minutes later or so that she closes her book gently with a soft sigh and rubs the hardcover front.
I've already been keeping an eye on her, so I easily notice when she does this and ask, "Did you enjoy it?"
She glances over at me with a sweet smile. "Very much so. Probably my favorite read of the year so far. I'm going to stop by the bookstore tomorrow and see if they have the second one. If I go missing, just know that I'm alive and you can likely find me in the corner of the store reading it."
"Or you could just always bring it home to read," I tell her, not liking the idea of her sitting on the uncomfortable chairs and floors of the store when she could be comfortable here at home. With us.
Seong Su's fingers fly across his tablet before he hands it to her, not giving her a chance to respond. "You can check on their website to see if it's there or not."
Thanking him, she takes it and gets excited after a few seconds. "They have it, so I'll definitely be stopping by there tomorrow."
He takes the offered tablet back from her, typing on it a few times again. "Just go to the pick up area and give them your name."
"What?" she asks, quickly looking back to him.
"They'll have the second and third book waiting for you," he says easily, still looking down and missing the utter shock on her face. "I got you the third one too so that way you'd have it since you finished the first one so fast."
Typical Seong Su behavior. Towards us anyway.
This is the first time I've watched it happen with her.
He may not seem like he's paying attention because he's always working, but he listens and cares.
I smile down the couch at them. Too bad he's not focused right now, because he'd see the look that she's giving him that almost makes me slightly envious that I didn't think of doing it first.
"Seriously?" she asks, leaning toward him. "I could absolutely kiss you right now."
Poor Seong Su does what he always does around us, shies away from the affection. She freezes as her expression drops and she slowly pulls back to her corner, rubbing the front of her book again. "Thank you for doing that."
"No problem," he replies easily, not even realizing that he's hurt her feelings.
In Se pinches my side softly, so he's been paying attention too, and so have a few of the others. Kyung included. "You know, sunshine, I'm quite disappointed. You told us before that you can play guitar, but you've never let us hear it."
Whatever he's trying to accomplish, he at least gets her to laugh. "And you won't either. I haven't played in years."
"Aww, come on, Lizzy," Dav En adds in. I'm not even sure he was paying attention to what just happened, but is helping with the distraction, nonetheless.
"Please," In Se tacks onto the end.
She laughs again. "I don't even have my guitar. It's in storage back in America with the rest of my things I didn't need to bring with me."
"You can use mine," Seong Su offers absentmindedly, still looking down at his tablet. Of course, hearing the conversation and missing the social cues like always.
"No, that's okay, really," she says, looking back down to her book with her smile slowly fading again.
I flick my eyes over to Kyung just as Seong Su finally looks up, but not at her. He glances at In Se. "Go get it out of my room. The picks are in my desk drawer."
In Se jumps up like someone set his pants on fire and runs off. She tries to talk them out of it, repeating that she hasn't played in years and probably doesn't even remember how to, but Seong Su doesn't let her off the hook with that excuse.
"Depending on how long you played," he says, "you don't really forget. It's kind of like muscle memory."
About this time, In Se practically runs back into the room, handing her the guitar and pick. She takes it from him with a grumble. "I cannot believe I'm going to do this."
She finally looks at Seong Su. "Do you care if I tune it?"
He smiles. "Go ahead."
After a few seconds, she strums the strings a few times, then immediately starts the tune of a song we're all familiar with.
It's been kind of a jam from her country for years and years.
If I'm not mistaken, one of us even sang it one time, but I can't recall where or who it was.
Then she starts to sing. Her voice is perfect and in tune.
She has Seong Su's undivided attention now.
He's even set his tablet between us on the couch.
When it ends, we all clap, making her blush and cover her face with one hand.
"Will you play another one?" Dav En asks, he and Yoon Ji shifting their bodies to be closer to her. In Se, who'd sat on the floor beside him when he handed the guitar off, does the same.
She's looking down at them with a smile, shaking her head. "Fine. One more, but that's it. This one is a little more rock, but it's fun to play."
When her hand starts strumming the strings again, she is right, it's harder than the first one, but she still doesn't miss a single chord.
I let my eyes wander over my members. All of them sitting in complete awe of this beautiful, talented woman.
Especially Kyung. I can see exactly what people mean when they say someone has stars in their eyes, because that is Kyung right now in the way that he watches her play.
Dav En pops up on his knees as the song ends. "One more, please. You can have any favor you want."
"You're insatiable," she says, making his forehead crease because he probably doesn't know that word. He doesn't care, though, since she starts to play.
She's halfway through the song before I see the change come over her in the way that her smile fades and her shoulders drop. When it's over, she hands the guitar over to In Se with a tight smile. "I'll be right back. I need some water. Singing made my throat dry."
I look over at Kyung who is peering at Seong Su, probably to see if he's going to go after her.
"You hurt her feelings," I tell him.
Seong Su's head turns my way in surprise. "How? I didn't do anything."
"You flinched away from her like you do us," I explain softly.
Realization dawns on his face, and he cringes before standing up to follow her steps out of the room.