I Can't Sing!

     Hae Jae-Woo lay the bottle down and crossed his arms. Cass jerked up in shock and gasped in anger. He shook his head like a wet dog drying off. "Why you little," Cass began to threaten.

     Hae Jae-Woo stood his ground. "If you don't want to end up unconscious like Jiho, I suggest you sit back down."

     "Cass, you should have known better; just because he lost his memory, does not mean he lost his personality. Sit down," Rhee Min-Jun stated with a sigh. Hae Mina almost said something about Hae Jae-Woo acting like her, but knew to keep her mouth shut, so she continued to stand firm. However, the fact that Hae Jae-Woo had ever acted in the way she had, just now, upset her. He had better control of his temper than she did, and he knew doing such a stupid thing could get him in trouble. At least she had the excuse of a memory loss, what had he had?

     They must really like him, if he did something like I just did, and I didn't have to bail him out of jail or rescue him from the hospital.

     Cass puffed up but dropped back onto the couch muttering something unintelligible. Hae Jae-Woo had no time to relax as Cass dropped his guard, for Kyung Jiho began to mutter as he escalated into consciousness. Hae Jae-Woo's, and everyone else's, attention diverted from Cass to Kyung Jiho within seconds.

     Kyung Jiho's dark brown eyes slid open but remained half shut. "Turn off the light," he demanded. Yang Dae-Su lowered the light beams to dull. The room now had an eerie feel that drained Hae Jae-Woo's comfort, but he would still hold his ground. "I feel like the metal door in the gym slammed into my face," Kyung Jiho stated; "What hit me?" Kyung Jiho held his hand to his jaw.

     "I did," Hae Jae-Woo replied. Kyung Jiho's eyes jumped to Hae Jae-Woo and narrowed. He went to stand, but found he was not quite conscious enough to do that and lost his balance. He dropped back to the chair.

     "Jiho, let me fill you in," Cass stated; "Jae-Woo got in a car accident, returned today, hung out with the low-class brat—Chang Minsu—interfered with your fight, knocked you out, doused me with a bottle of water, and he's lost all memory of Nightide and our music."

     "Why would you disobey your…Did you say he forgot?" Kyung Jiho's eyes widened in panic. He jerked from the couch, snatched Hae Jae-Woo's wrist and pulled him into the recording room. Before anyone could stop him, he shut the door and locked it. Kyung Jiho then faced Hae Jae-Woo. "Listen to me, Jae-Woo," he stepped closer. Hae Jae-Woo stepped back; "If you can't sing for the next performance…"

     "I can sing!" Hae Jae-Woo declared but wanted to bite his tongue. I can't sing! What am I doing? If I sing and they see I'm a girl…Of course they are going to want me to sing! Why didn't we think about this before? I'm in so much trouble.

     "Alright, then do it. Just like before you have to prove it to me. If you can sing like before, then I'll let this incident slide, but if you can't, your life is going to be a living nightmare."

     I can't do this! Mr. Kyong is going to kill me! Why didn't he think this through?

      Kyung Jiho backed up and glared. Hae Jae-Woo remained frozen. His fear was far too great to argue. Kyung Jiho was one thing, but Mr. Kyong's wrath was another. A shiver crept up Hae Mina's spine. If Kyung Jiho thought he could make her life miserable, then he thought wrong, only Mr.Kyong could destroy her and Hae Jae-Woo. Although Kyung Jiho and his family were a force to tremor before, they could not compete with the villainous thoughts belonging to Mr. Kyong. Only he knew of the truth of their past and he had made it quite clear in the last three weeks what he intended to do if she were caught and Kyung Jiho fired them.

     Music started in the background. An unfamiliar melody danced into the room, but when the words joined, Hae Mina knew them by heart. Hae Jae-Woo had written this song down for her, and told her it was the most important song that belonged to Nightide. This song she could sing, but, if she did her problem remained.

     At least, if they catch me now, I can explain and have it over with. Perhaps, the others will understand enough to outdo Jiho. Perhaps Mr. Kyong will be happy that they will wait. And if they don't… She could not delay anymore. She knew time was out because Kyung Jiho had turned to leave. With a quick gulp, Hae Mina swallowed her fear and forced herself to sing the song as Hae Jae-Woo. She forced her voice to remain as close to baritone and tenor as she could manage as she filled the words with the emotions she knew was necessary for the song.

    Hae Jae-Woo's softly sung words echoed in the room. His melodious voice lulled the others into attention. Jeremy stood mouth agape, gum missing, and wide eyed before the glass. Yang Dae-Su's eyebrows were raised in amazement and he stood, much like Jeremy in front of the glass. Duskin perched forward on a stool with a pleased smiled plastered to his young features. Cass had his arms crossed, but he could not fight the admiration in his eyes. Rhee Min-Jun leaned against the wall with his eyes closed and listened to the tune that seemed to be filled with a massive amount of grief.

     Hae Jae-Woo stopped as the song came to its end. Kyung Jiho opened the door and stalked out. Hae Jae-Woo made his way to the lobby area, expecting this to be the end of the ruse.  Before anyone could comment, Duskin spoke, "Jae-Woo, how is it possible that, even though you were in a car accident and you lost your memory, you improved your singing? Your voice seems softer and holds more emotion than before. Before you were fantastic--a little rough in places--but now you are perfect."

     "I thought you sounded awesome before, but now...just wow," Jeremy stated with a bright grin.

     "You managed to lose your gum again," Cass chuckled.

     "Again?" Hae Jae-Woo gave them a confused expression.

     "Yeah, he did the same thing when you sung the first time," Yang Dae-Su replied with a shrug.

     "At least I didn't fall off the stool," Jeremy shot at Yang Dae-Su with a grin. Yang Dae-Su frowned and a tinge of red touched his ears.

     Jae-Woo ignored their comments and faced Kyung Jiho. As the leader, he was the one who needed to do the accepting. "Good enough," he muttered, "you can stay, but if you don't practice…" Kyung Jiho let the sentence float as he walked out of the room.

     "Woo hoo! This is more exciting than the first time! Come on let's head out to our rooms!" Dae-Su exclaimed.

    Hae Jae-Woo followed the group out of the practice room but Hae Mina's mind fought to grasp with the fact that she managed to fool them. Either Hae Jae-Woo sounded similar to an alto or she did an excellent job of pretending to be a baritone. Before now, she had never thought she possessed any artistic abilities, let alone the ability to sing well. But with their comments fresh in her mind, a warm feeling settled in her chest and she found herself smiling. I guess I sing well, she admitted to herself.

     As the group ventured through the halls, Jeremy chatted excitedly about Hae Jae-Woo's improvement, the upcoming concert, and how amazed their fans were going to be. He paused his rambling as he pulled out his room key, a thin white card with a bar code on it. "What room do you have?" he asked Hae Jae-Woo.

     Hae Jae-Woo dug in his pockets until he found the small platic card. He examined the number then slid the card back into his pocket. "402."

     "Awe, man. We don't get the same room. Who has room 402?" Duskin, Cass and Kyung Jiho raised their cards in the air without looking back.

     Great, I'm dead! her stomach dropped then she realized fully what those words meant.  Wait, we share rooms! The group stopped before a dark brown door with the number 402 on it.

     "So what's the plan?" Duskin questioned, his words were directed to everyone, but his eyes rested on Hae Jae-Woo.

     Why is he asking me? she wondered.

     "How about a game of soccer?" Yang Dae-Su suggested.

     "Sounds great. How about it, Jae-Woo?" Kyung Jiho gave Hae Jae-Woo a dark look.

     "Uh, maybe next time. I want to make sure my things are put where I want them."

     "Afraid to lose?" Kyung Jiho challenged with a smirk.

     "Not a chance," Hae Jae-Woo scuffed even though, in truth, Hae Mina had no idea how to play soccer.

     "Rematch will have to wait, anyway. I need to go to Hawaii for the next few days," Rhee Min-Jun input.

     "Again?" Kyung Jiho asked.

     "You go to your girl more often than Cass changes them," Yang Dae-Su complained, his voice a whine but he was smiling.

     "Well, that's a drastic comparison," Cass laughed, "I change girls every couple of days."

      "Don't we know it," Kyung Jiho stated rolling his eyes, "The rest of us can practice so the next time we play against Jae-Woo and Min-Jun, we at least have a chance."

     "Sounds good," Cass agreed.

     The group parted, and Hae Jae-Woo entered the room. There were three identical wooden beds located downstairs only a few feet separating them. The white wall, near the stairs had two closets on it. The wall to the left had a door and a closet. Hae Jae-Woo opened the door to find a bathroom complete with sink, shower and toilet. He then commenced to searching for his bags. With a sigh of relief Hae Jae-Woo found them upstairs. At least I get some privacy. I'd hate if I was down there with them.  Hae Jae-Woo collapsed onto the bed and stared at the pale white ceiling. Before he knew it, he was sleeping.