Even when the sun was not up, the lights in one room of CUBE Entertainment was – to be specific, it was the dance practice room. The music from the stereo was blast but thank god, the doors were closed. The room was surrounded by mirrors and there was one person inside.

The person wore a loose shirt and pants with sneakers and danced to the rhythm of the music. Fourteen tracks had finished but he wiped his sweat, only to replay the whole disc again and danced again.

The door opened and Yo Seob walked into the room, not surprised at that sight. He was already expecting Ki Kwang to be practising at such early hour. Yo Seob smirked and sat down on the chair, “Hello, my friend. How’s your day?”

Ki Kwang sighed and turned off the music. Yo Seob handed him a bottle of water and asked Ki Kwang to sit beside him. Frowning at the sight of Yo Seob, Ki Kwang shook his head, “Why are you always disturbing my practice every morning? You know I don’t like it when people interrupt my dance session!”

Yo Seob laughed and shrugged, “I don’t know. It would have helped if you weren’t so noisy every morning and disturbed my sleep! Do you know how loud your music is?”

“Yah, you are the one with sensitive ears!” Ki Kwang retorted.

It was true. Yo Seob had sensitive ears. That meant he could hear things easily. He could even hear a pin drop when the room is filled with noise. That explained his perfect sense of tone and pitch for music.

Ki Kwang added, “Besides, I offered you to stay at my place but you refused.”

“Let’s not start that again, okay. I don’t want others to say I got this career due to connections.” Yo Seob repeated for the umpteenth time.

Ki Kwang wore his jacket and nodded, “I know. I know. You can carry on sleeping in the small and stuffy dance room for all you want!” He nudged Yo Seob’s shoulder and asked, “I’m hungry. Let’s go!”

“Hungry? I don’t think the stores are even open yet!” Yo Seob pointed at the sky which was still dark and gloomy.

“I bet the main office has some ramen hidden there. Let’s borrow some.”

Ki Kwang left the room with Yo Seob mumbling to himself, “Borrow? You mean steal…”

-

“Ah! Ramen tastes so good after an intense dance practice!” Ki Kwang slurped his soup down like a hungry wolf while Yo Seob looked at him with disgust.

Yo Seob ate his ramen slowly and commented, “Is it worth it?”

“What?”

“The endless hours of dancing. The perspiration you sweat out at the practice room. The time you spent in this company.” Yo Seob added one after another.

Ki Kwang tilted his head, “I still don’t understand.”

“What I mean is,” Yo Seob stopped eating and became unnecessarily serious, “You spent so much time on dancing and practising in the company without knowing the future. You never know whether all these hard work will pay off. You don’t even know when you are going to debut. The life of a trainee seems like digging a tunnel without knowing where the end is. Is it all worth it?”

After hearing his words, Ki Kwang scoffed and retorted back, “Yo Seob, is it worth staying in the studio for days to write songs worth it to you?”

“That’s different. I was scouted by the staff after I was spotted at the streets with you. Besides, my career is fairly stable now… unlike yours.”

Ki Kwang smiled after knowing Yo Seob’s concern, “I know what you mean. But sometimes life’s like this. I know Heaven’s fair. I believe one day, I’m going be happy and successful. If I’m not, it just means the end is not here yet.”

Yo Seob leaned on his hand while resting his elbow on the table, “I don’t get it, still. You know you can reach your goal of being a singer or idol if you just approach Mr Lee…”

“Look, Yo Seob. You are the one who said it is lowly to depend on connections to reach your goal. Now you’re teaching me to do the same?” Ki Kwang stopped Yo Seob from speaking.

“Come on! He’s the CEO of the company and he’s your…”

“Not a chance,” Ki Kwang spoke firmly, “If you’re going to persuade me to approach him again, I’m not going to be your friend anymore, Yang Yo Seob.”

Yo Seob gave up and offered some noodles to Ki Kwang, “Alright, alright. Don’t get angry. Say ah!”

Ki Kwang rolled his eyes, “Look, I’m not gay okay. If you keep offering food like this, people would think we’re not straight. I am hearing from people that we hang out too much.”

Upon hearing, Yo Seob broke into a loud laughter, “Are you serious? I am the last guy on Earth to be deemed as gay! Girls…”

Ki Kwang squinted his eyes and scrutinised Yo Seob’s face slowly. Yo Seob became uncomfortable, “Why are you looking at me this way?”

“You’ve been very happy lately.”

“No, I have not.” Yo Seob’s expression became stiff.

Ki Kwang pointed at him, “Aha! You’re in love? You’re in love! You’re in love, Yang Yo Seob!”

Yo Seob covered his mouth and shushed him, “Lee Ki Kwang, shush!” Ki Kwang gave his eye smile and giggled. Yo Seob decided to give up and let go of his hand, “Aish, how can you read me so well? Are you psychic?”

“You can never hide anything from me. We’re high school friends, remember?” Ki Kwang shook his head while smiling to himself, “So tell me. Who’s this special girl that caught the eyes of a workaholic? Someone in CUBE?”

“I only met her once on the streets.” Yo Seob confessed and realised how idiotic and pathetic that sounded.

Ki Kwang choked on his water and exclaimed, “What? Are you kidding?”

“I know! It sounds ridiculous!” Yo Seob defended himself weakly, “You should have seen her for yourself. She’s so beautiful inside out. I have never seen such a girl like her. She’s just… perfect.”

Ki Kwang sat next to Yo Seob, “Can you introduce her to me?”

“To a player like you? No thanks.” Yo Seob pushed him away.

“Eh, I don’t steal my friend’s girl,” Ki Kwang said, “I just want to see how she looks like to have captured your attention like this. I haven’t seen you describe a girl like this since… forever.”

Yo Seob and Ki Kwang were done eating by now. Yo Seob took the cups and threw them into the bin. He walked away from Ki Kwang but not forgetting to finish the conversation, “Soon.”