Lead

Jieun stepped out onto the empty stage and looked down at the space below her. It was just her and the lights upon her, and she could feel the music begin its surge in her heart.

"Are you all set?"
Jieun's reverie was interrupted and she remembered that she wasn't alone.
"Thanks, unnie. Thank you so much for everything."
The older girl casually waved a dismissive hand at Jieun. "No big deal. We like to be the first to introduce up-and-coming acts, so we were excited to invite Brown City to the club. I don't know why you wanted to come so early, though - it's hours before the show."
"Just...just to get to know the space." Jieun was on the brink of sinking into reverie again.
"Well, whatever you want, I guess. Let me know if you need anything - I'll be down that hallway."
"Okay, unnie. Thanks again."
"Yup." And the older girl disappeared through the door.

Jieun walked to the center of the stage and plopped herself down. She tucked her legs in underneath her and rested her hands on either side of her, on the stage. It was strange how the stage felt so, so big but so, so small at the same time. She could cross the stage in just a few steps, but it was also this great expanse open to her.

Jieun closed her eyes. Her mind began to drift, partly due to sheer tiredness. She hadn't been sleeping much these past few days. At this point, she had gotten used to the long hours she had to work so that she could pay for lessons at the music academy. But now that she and her friends at the music academy had made this band, she had even less time on her hands. On top of normal high school homework, she had to go to band rehearsals, gigs...More exhausting than that, though, was the additional strain of having to come up with even more lies to her parents to account for the hours spent at rehearsals and gigs.

But Jieun wanted this so so badly.

Jieun wouldn't let herself think too much about it. If she started to get caught up in her thoughts again, then she would think about how it felt like her chest was being wringed dry when she was criticized at music academy, how it felt like pure joy bubbled up from her core when she hit those high notes, how sometimes it felt like the too too real possibility that she could never make it as a singer loomed over and pressed on her lungs....

Jieun forced her eyes to flash open and she stood up. No, she couldn't allow herself to drown in that sea of horrible thought again. She needed to sing now, needed to hear her voice to reassure herself that she could do this.

But where was that microphone? Jieun took a cursory look around, but the lights on her made it so that all she could see was blackness swell out around her.

So Jieun couldn't see him, but Yoseob could see her.

Yoseob's band was going to play this club that night, and as he always did, he came in some hours early. He liked to be alone on the stage and just close his eyes to feel that tide of music filling all of the cavities within him. There was nothing he wanted or needed more than to sing and have melody pervade every aspect of his life.

He had so much love and respect for music, and when he saw this girl standing on the stage, his stage, he couldn't help the judgment leaping to his mind.

Ugh, one of those pretty girls who think that they can be singers just because they have a pretty face.

But Yoseob tried to put that thought away, and somewhat in an effort to make amends for his snark, he called out, "You looking for a microphone?"

Jieun jumped and almost like a cartoon, she jerked her head from one side to the other. "Who's there?" Jieun honestly could not see anything but the orbs of white from the stage lights and she felt a strange sense of violation that somebody else had been there during her time on the stage.

A boy emerged from the edge of the stage, holding out a microphone. In drastic contrast to his skinniness, his cheeks rounded out a good-natured smiling face. The grin was almost impish - the combination of that smile, that nose, those ears made this boy come off as a mischievous rascal.

This boy clearly doesn't take music seriously and he's just in a band on a whim to get girls or something. The thought just popped up in Jieun's head.

But this boy was trying to be nice, so she should be nice, too. "Oh. Thanks." By this point, they had approached each other and each of them surreptitiously gave the other a quick once-over. Yoseob held out the microphone with one hand, and Jieun's fingers fluttered around it, her pinky accidentally landing on Yoseob's index finger. Yoseob pulled his hand away and it flopped to his side.

"I don't mean to be rude, but...who are you?" Yoseob asked. And he really didn't mean to be rude - Jieun could tell that.
"Ah, I'm Song Jieun. Lead singer of Brown City - we're playing this club tonight."
A look flitted across Yoseob's face. "Nice to meet you. I'm Yang Yoseob. Lead singer of Cipher. And we're supposed to be playing this club tonight..."
"Oh, but there must be some mistake..." Jieun's face squinched up in a cute way as she looked quizzically at Yoseob.

As if on cue, sounds of arguing in the hallway reached the two singers' ears.
"What are you talking about, you booked Cipher to play tonight - we already booked Brown City!"
"I don't know when you booked Brown City, but Cipher was booked a long time ago!"
"So was Brown City! The lead singer is already here, preparing!"
"And the lead singer of Cipher is here, too! It's not like I can send him away!"
"Well, I can't send away Brown City either!"

At even hearing the possibility of being sent away, Yoseob's heart hurtled downwards. They couldn't send him away, they couldn't. He needed to be on that stage. He needed to sing.

"Well then, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know! We'll just have to have one of them come back some other time!"

Oh no oh no oh no. Jieun could feel her body tense up to keep itself from caving in. What if they sent her away and never took her back? What if there was somebody in the audience who could make her a singer, but she didn't get the chance to impress them? What if -

"No, that's not fair. Maybe we'll ask both of them to share the set tonight?"

Hey! Hearing this idea elicited a territorial response in both Yoseob and Jieun. There was no way that they would give up any of their time on that stage.

Suddenly, the people matching the voices were in the room with Yoseob and Jieun. The unnie that had let Jieun in and a guy Jieun had never seen before came into view.

"Hi." The unnie was being super awkward about this. "Listen, there's been some sort of mix-up. We've accidentally scheduled both of you to play tonight. So...we were wondering..." The unnie trailed off.
The guy rolled his eyes at his co-worker's hesitation. "Could you guys just share the set tonight?"

Yoseob and Jieun simultaneously bit their lips and gave each other sidelong glances. Yoseob was about to speak up on his behalf, but Jieun beat him to it.

"Shortening our sets really isn't an option...And isn't it a bit unfair that we have to lessen our performance time because of your mistake?"
Yoseob was a little taken aback. It's not that Jieun said it meanly, but running through the core of her words was a thin sturdy wire of steel. For some reason or another, this girl was not going to back down. That was pretty cool of her.

The older girl nervously put her hand in her hair. "Uh yeah...We're really sorry about that...We admit it's our mistake..."

Yoseob spoke up. "Great, so then we won't have to bear a penalty for this, right? So we should be able to perform at least as long as we would have if things had gone as planned."

"Right, we're so so sorry. How about...how about if we give each of you another night in addition to tonight?"

Yosoeb and Jieun turned to each other and shared barely perceptible grins.

"That sounds okay to me..." Jieun said with an impassive face.
"Sounds good to me, too," said Yoseob.
"Okay. Good. Whew!" The older girl's shoulders lowered in relief.
"But wait...are we allowed to do that?" her co-worker asked.
"Oh..." the girl faltered. "I think so...I mean, maybe we should check? Can you both come with me?"

So Yoseob and Jieun followed the co-workers to this room then that room then - oh! Maybe this room? They would get a hold of somebody only to be referred to somebody else. The two young singers were getting more and more exasperated as their preparation time trickled away.

Finally, they found the woman who they had been looking for in the first place. Yoseob and Jieun could barely contain their rage when the lady didn't even look at them and with a wave of her hand, dismissed them with a "Yeah, sure, do what you want."

Yoseob and Jieun finally returned to their stage, and by that time, their respective band members had arrived.

Both Yoseob and Jieun gave the stage one more longing look and then they turned to their bandmates. They separated and settled into their positions with their own bands.

So Yoseob and Jieun spent the last few hours before the show in their own separate places with their own separate groups. They didn't see each other at all for those few hours. But then, it was finally time for the show to start.

Yoseob stood just off the stage and fidgeted with his tie. He was usually a T-shirt and jeans kind of guy, but as the lead singer, he needed to look the part. He never was sure if he tied the tie correctly, though, and it was feeling a little strange so he tugged and tugged at it, trying to make it feel right.

"Here, you did it a little bit backwards." Yoseob saw slender fingers wrap around the knot of his tie. He found himself feeling a little bit afraid to look up from the silken material and those hands all entangled in it, but he didn't need to look to feel how close Jieun was.

Jieun was trying to concentrate on tying the tie and tried to tell herself that her hands were shaking because of her excitement about performing. After fumbling for a little bit, she finally got the tie right and bravely sneaked a look up as she patted the tie to signify completion.

Yoseob's hands touched the tie right in the same place that Jieun's hands had just been. The thought flashed in Jieun's mind how Yoseob's hands were so large and strong - an indication of a force and power that Yoseob's baby face distracted from. Yoseob's eyes were cast down, but too far down to be looking at her. "Thanks."

"No problem," Jieun said, so so close to Yoseob's ear, and then she walked away. Her hair whirled around her as she looked back once to smile. Thinking that he was safe, Yoseob had managed to bring his eyes up, only to catch the full power of Jieun's gaze. Yoseob felt the corners of his lips rise of their own volition and then she had turned the corner and was gone.

The lights went down and Yoseob turned his attention to the black of the stage in front of him. The cheers of the crowd swelled up and he inhaled all of that energy right in. This was where he belonged.

"And put your hands together for...CIPHER!"

Jieun watched as Yoseob ran up onto the stage, those beautiful hands raised over his head. She saw the way those hands gripped his microphone - so hard as if he was terrified it would be taken away from him if he let go.

It was the same way she held her microphone.

And then music started to reach Jieun's ears and her grasp on her own microphone tightened. Yoseob's voice pierced right through her heart and she had to hold tighter just to keep herself from splintering into a million pieces. His voice was so rich with depth and power and that underlying desperation that was only discernible to those who felt it, too.

Jieun's eyes couldn't leave Yoseob the entire time Cipher performed, but she wasn't looking at his face. She didn't need to. All she needed was his voice. But she found herself gazing at his hands during the whole set. They didn't stay in the same position around the microphone; they were always moving. His fingers would flare up and then back down around the mic. His free hand would open up as if he was collecting the rays from the stage lights. Jieun was utterly fascinated.

When Cipher's set ended, Jieun was still in a bit of a trance. It wasn't until Yoseob briefly put his hand on her shoulder and said "Break a leg" that Jieun realized it was her time.

Yoseob retracted his hand from Jieun's shoulder and awkwardly ran it through his hair. Jieun didn't even seem to notice as a glint took over her eyes and she went up the stairs to the stage.

The lights went on again and the spotlight rested on Jieun. Yoseob's eyes took in how beautiful she looked - the lights created a halo around her. He then found himself staring at her hands. Jieun's fingers were significantly different than his. Hers were thinner, more delicate. But they were oddly familiar in the way that they waved up and then back down around the mic. Her other hand opened up and then closed, and he felt the tendrils of her music likewise close around his heart. He recognized that quality of her voice that he knew was also in his own - that quality of just being helplessly in pure deep love with melody.

Yoseob stood entranced for Brown City's entire set. All too soon, the last echo of vibrato in Jieun's voice faded away. Yoseob physically shook his head, trying to clear himself of the haze he was in. Now that her voice was gone, he could hear the resounding applause of the audience. Yoseob sprinted up the steps to the stage and took his place at Jieun's side.

Yoseob and Jieun looked at each other and smiled. They didn't have to say anything - they understood each other perfectly.

And for a moment, just a moment, they held hands as they looked up at the lights upon them and took their final bow.