[High School — Year One]
Jae-hyun didn't speak on his first day.
He answered roll call with a nod.
Handed in assignments early.
Ate lunch under the staircase.
No one noticed.
No one ever did.
He was seventeen, alone, and technically still living "at home"—though home had become more of a roof and less of a life. His parents stopped talking to him except for commands.
They called it discipline.
He called it disappearing.
---
Music?
Gone.
He had thrown out every sheet.
Wiped his MP3 player.
Blocked out every melody with static.
Because music was dangerous.
Music had cost him everything.
And yet—
Every time the wind rattled a gutter,
or a pencil tapped against wood,
or someone hummed out of tune in the hallway—
His heart hurt.
---
[His Classmates]
They called him "Quiet Boy."
Some were kind.
Most weren't.
One girl once asked, "Do you even have a voice?"
He smiled politely.
And said nothing.
---
Sometimes he caught himself watching the music room as he passed it.
Once, he stood at the door. Just listening.
There was laughter inside.
Chords. Harmonies.
It made his chest ache.
He turned away.
---
He made it through the year.
Barely.
He kept his head down.
Got good grades.
Didn't join clubs.
Didn't make friends.
But he was surviving.
Or so he told himself.
---
[Late Night — Winter, First Year]
He woke up to shouting downstairs.
Again.
His father was drunk.
His mother was sobbing quietly.
It was the same script, different day.
Jae-hyun didn't move.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
The same crack he used to trace as a kid was still there.
It had grown.
Like everything else in the house—
Tense. Thin. Waiting to split.
---
He reached under his bed and pulled out an old cassette player.
One that still worked.
He hadn't touched it in over a year.
He pressed play.
It was static at first.
Then—
His voice.
Soft. Shy. Imperfect.
From the school showcase.
Just a recording Jiho had given him, years ago. "For proof," Jiho had said, "that your voice exists."
Jae-hyun listened to the whole thing.
Then rewound it.
Then broke it in two.
---
[High School — Year Two]
He transferred to a new school.
Fresh start.
New uniforms.
New teachers.
New rules.
He changed his major to Audio Engineering.
It was the closest thing to music that didn't involve performing.
He thought maybe… maybe if he stayed behind the scenes, it wouldn't hurt as much.
He wouldn't have to feel as much.
---
And it almost worked.
Until he met someone who refused to stay quiet.
---
[First Encounter — Studio 3B]
It was raining again.
Jae-hyun had been given studio access as part of his scholarship.
No one used Studio 3B—it was old, dimly lit, full of scratched-up equipment.
Perfect.
Until someone barged in, mid-hum.
"Yo—who's using my mic?"
Jae turned.
There he was.
Kang Min-woo.
Senior. Loud. Ridiculous hair.
That voice. Deep, honey-smooth, a little rough at the edges.
Trouble.
Jae-hyun blinked. "It's not your mic."
Minwoo raised a brow. "Sure sounds like you think it's yours."
Silence.
Then, grinning, he said, "You're the scholarship kid, huh? Audio Engineering? You're supposed to be quiet."
Jae-hyun said nothing.
Minwoo tilted his head. "Okay. Quiet Boy it is."
And just like that—he pulled up a chair beside him, kicked his feet onto the desk, and started talking.
---
Minwoo didn't stop talking that day.
Or the next.
Or the next.
He'd barge into the studio while Jae was mixing, humming half-written songs, throwing potato chips at the console, ranting about his exes, and dragging Jae into arguments about tempo and love songs.
It was annoying.
Chaotic.
Alive.
---
Jae hated it.
And also—
He didn't.
---
Minwoo didn't ask why Jae flinched at loud sounds.
Or why he never wore headphones in both ears.
Or why he slept in the studio sometimes instead of going home.
He never asked.
But he stayed.
And that?
That was worse.
Because Minwoo saw him.
And Jae-hyun didn't want to be seen again.
Not when he was still learning how to exist.
---
One night, Minwoo handed him a drink and said:
"Why don't you ever sing?"
Jae stiffened.
Minwoo shrugged. "You've got good pitch. I hear it when you mumble lyrics to yourself."
"I don't sing," Jae said flatly.
"Why not?"
"Because people don't listen," he muttered. "They… leave."
Minwoo was quiet for once.
Then said, "I don't plan on leaving."
Jae-hyun almost believed him.
Almost.
AUTHOR: "There's alot of homework and im too busy with school!! T-T I'LL BE LEAVING THIS NOVEL ON HIATUS!"