Chapter 107 - Old Friends, New Relations

Mirae rushed into her apartment and turned on her computer. She did not notice any of her pesky guards on her way home; no doubt they were out on the streets, looking for her. As soon as the screen came to life, she opened up her most advanced software. She developed this to aid one of her clients in finding a lost relative who owed her a lot of money.

It was a carefully designed software which was able to locate people and find their information using only their photos. Even if the person had plastic surgery, the software could detect if a person had ever visited any skincare clinic as well. In fact, it was programmed to find out all the locations a person had ever visited using only their pictures.

She put in the screenshot of the grey haired man into the software and ran an analysis for it. Even though the picture was hazy, Mirae was able to take a split second screenshot which showed the grey haired man's facial highlights clearly. 

The results took around three minutes to pour in. Mirae impatiently tapped her fingers on the mouse as the software analyzed millions of data. Finally, it popped up an answer. Mirae leaned forward, frowning. 

"What?" she was astounded by the results. The last known location of the grey haired man was…

"Looking for me, girlie?" a chilling voice came from behind her. Mirae slowly turned her head to see a grey haired figure sitting in the darkness of her dining room.

"Hello, Jung Mirae," he said, flashing a wide smile.

….

Jiwon was preparing for his gig. His boss had just informed him that he would be performing with a popular idol group, EXOTIC as their backup guitarist. 

He found it ironic that he was being a backup for the group he was supposed to debut with. He approached EXOTIC's singing studio room and knocked.

"Come in," a voice said from inside.

Jiwon peered in to see the three members of EXOTIC sitting there. He recognized them immediately: the blonde one was Ash, the leader of the group, Jinhyun was the main vocalist and Dasom was the innocent looking one. 

"I'm Kwon Jiwon," he introduced himself. "I was assigned as the backup guitarist for the show."

"You know the notes?" Ash asked him. 

"Yes!" 

"Alright," he shrugged. "We'll be practicing here. Since the show will be live, you should practice with us too."

Jiwon nodded and took his position. Soon, they started to practice EXOTIC's new song, 'Day by Day.'

"Stop!" Ash commanded. "Jinhyun, you're going too high with the notes. Tone it down. Dasom, put more feeling into the song!"

"Aye leader!" Jinhyun said in mock salute, snickering. 

Ash rolled his eyes. "Start over again," he said. Turning to Jiwon he added, "Hit the D-string instead of the E-string and we'll see which one goes."

"Alright," Jiwon nodded. After an hour into their practice, the live song still did not sound perfect.

"We'll need to change the tunes more," Ash said in frustration. They had been practicing for days and yet, the song did not sound good enough. 

"We've tried everything," Dasom complained. "We've been practicing for hours! I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Ash said in exasperation.

"But he's right, Ash," Jinhyun piped in. "We need food. Maybe we'll work better with full stomachs."

Ash sighed. "You're right," he agreed. "We might be able to work better after dinner."

Jiwon was not listening to their banter but was reading the song's notes.

"Are you coming?" Ash asked him.

"I'll be right there with you," Jiwon told him. 

"Suit yourself," Ash shrugged and left with his members. Jiwon studied the music noted. Taking out a piece of paper from a desk nearby, he began to modify the notes on it. Scratching off and adding in new notes along with tweaking the lyrics a bit, he spent his time modifying the song.

The EXOTIC members returned only to see Jiwon was scribbling away on a paper.

"What are you doing?" Ash frowned.

"Take this," Jiwon said handing him the paper. The trip looked at it with curiosity. 

"This is…" Jinhyun started.

"Our song…" Dasom continued.

"But a modified version," Ash finished. "You edited the song?"

"You can see if this works with you," Jiwon said smugly.

Narrowing his eyes at the strange guitarist, Ash turned to the others. "What do you guys say?" he asked.

"Let's try it," Jinhyun said. "Who knows, it may sound good enough."

"I'm up for it too," Dasom conceded.

Ash hesitated for a minute before finally saying, "Alright. Everyone take your positions!"

They stood behind the microphones, while Jiwon sat on a chair with his guitar. Jinhyun took a deep breath and began to sing:

"When you were with me,

It felt as if time had stopped

When the first snow fell

When the rain drops poured

The changing seasons

Every minute held our memories"

On cue, Dasom began to sing:

"When you were with me,

I didn't know what love was

Your green eyes searched for me

Yet, I stayed afar

Was it love?

Was it fear?

I turn back time

But you weren't there"

Ash began his rap:

"With every passing minute

I search for your green eyes

In the midst of the crowd

I still look for you

But you are nowhere

The three words I keep screaming

But you don't hear it

When you were with me

The words wouldn't come

And now the words wouldn't stop

But where are you?"

They ended the practice session with a solo guitar note. 

"That was amazing…" Jinhyun said in a daze.

"We did it!" Dasom exclaimed, hi-fiving Jinhyun.

"Great work guys," Ash hugged both of them. They turned to Jiwon, who was putting his guitar away inside his case.

"You're amazing!" Ash complimented him. "You fixed that song in an hour. How did you do it?"

"You gotta write songs from the heart," Jiwon shrugged. 

"Join us for a drink," Ash offered him. "It's the least we can do."

"Alright," Jiwon smiled. 

"I can't," Jinhyun said. "I have to talk to my mom. She's been nagging me all day to call her."

"I can't hold my liquor well," Dasom chimed in. "I'm going to bed."

"Guess it's just you and me then," Ash said with a smile. Jiwon smiled back. They said goodbye to the other two and headed for the ship's bar.

Upon reaching the bar, Ash placed their orders to the bartender.

"Two sojus please," he said to the bartender. Turning back to Jiwon he asked, "How come you didn't go for idol auditions? You'd have succeeded!"

"I was on my way to attend one," Jiwon admitted. "But I had to abandon it."

"Why?"

"I had to go back home and get married," Jiwon informed him.

"Married?" Ash questioned. "Shotgun wedding?"

"No!" Jiwon repiled, feeling flustered. "It was a family arrangement."

"That's tough," Ash commented. "Giving up your dream for your family. You must be extremely close to them to make such a sacrifice."

"Mmm…" Jiwon said. Their drinks had arrived.

"Cheers?" Ash raised his bottle.

"Cheers," Jiwon said, clinking the bottles. They took a sip from the bitter soju.

"So you were forced into a marriage and had to give up your dreams?" Ash asked. "That's tough."

"I wasn't forced into it," Jiwon corrected him. "I was given a choice. My grandfather did not pressurize me. I agreed on my own accord."

"Really?" Ash frowned. 

"Yeah. We were not forced into anything. I agreed to marry my wife out of my own will and give up my dreams to become an idol."

"Are you happy with your choice?" Ash asked him directly.

"It was...it was hard at first," Jiwon admitted. "I left my family's support and we started to live in a small apartment without much luxuries."

"But you're happy now," Ash winked. Jiwon stared at him.

"That song," Ash went on. "It was about your wife wasn't it? Green eyes?"

"It was," Jiwon admitted. "I don't know why, her face flashed in front of me when I was rewriting that song…"

"And you seem to have some regrets and hesitations when it comes to her," Ash observed. Jiwon did not say anything but took a sip from his bottle. 

"You should go and tell her," Ash advised him. "Trust me, what you have right now is much better than the idol's life you had once dreamed of. It's a lonely and sad life."

He added the last part with a bitter note. Jiwon studied him carefully. What does he mean? He wondered. 

"Do you love her?" Ash suddenly asked. "Your wife."

"I...don't know," Jiwon admitted.

Ash laughed. "You chose to marry her, left your luxuries behind to build a new world with her and even wrote a song for her!" he pointed out, still laughing. "Yet, you don't know if you love her or not? Jiwon, are you by any chance in denial?"

Jiwon stared at him. "I'm not in denial!" he protested. "I just don't think I have the heart to love someone…"

"Yet, you're living with her," Ash said. "Writing songs for her. Regretting the last fight you had with her."

"How did you-"

"You mentioned that you wanted to turn back time," Ash said. "In that song. You're screaming those three words and yet can't express it. Jiwon, you're in love."

With that, he gulped down his entire bottle and stood up.

"I'll call it a night," he yawned. "Take my advice. Go and reveal your feelings to your wife. You might not get this chance again."

With that, he waved his hand and walked away. Jiwon gaped at Ash's retreating figure, confused by his words. 

"Love?" he whispered out loud.

Before Jiwon could fully grasp his thoughts, his phone began to ring. It was one of the men who was tailing Mirae back at home.

"This is Jiwon," he spoke into the phone.

"Sir!" the man said from the other end. "We can't find your wife, anywhere! She had escaped this morning from our sight and we looked for here everywhere. When we returned to the apartment to check if she had returned, we did not find her here either!"