Jihoon pushed open the door to the vocal practice room, leading Jieun inside like a proud older brother on a mission.
Inside, Taeyeon and Jessica were lounging around, chatting casually—until they caught sight of him.
Their jaws practically hit the floor—not just because Jihoon had walked into a room he hadn't set foot in for the past year, like it was cursed or something, but also because of the tiny girl nervously clinging to his side.
Who... was she?
Jihoon noticed their wide-eyed stares and chuckled, gently nudging Jieun forward.
She shrank back behind him like a shy kitten spotting two big dogs. Jihoon crouched a little to meet her eye level, flashing her a warm, encouraging grin.
"Jieun-ah, it's okay," he said softly. "These two unnies are friends of Oppa."
"The short one glaring over there is Taeyeon Unnie, and the blonde hair next to her is Jessica Unnie. Go on, introduce yourself, hmm?"
Jieun hesitated, fidgeting with the hem of her sweater, but after seeing Jihoon's reassuring smile, she mustered her courage.
She bowed politely, hands glued to her sides.
"Hello, Unnies. My name is Lee Jieun. I'm Jihoon Oppa's younger sister. Nice to meet you!" she said in a soft but clear voice, her cheeks turning the cutest shade of pink.
Taeyeon's curiosity was practically written all over her face, but there was still a lingering awkwardness from the whole "biting Jihoon by accident" incident a few days ago.
She threw a sneaky side-glance at Jihoon before turning her full attention to Jieun.
But as the leader-in-training of their soon-to-debut girl group, Taeyeon quickly put on her best unnie smile and waved Jieun over.
"Hello, Jieun! We're that idiot oppa's friends," she said sweetly—then gave Jihoon a subtle death glare so sharp it could cut steel.
"Come sit with us, don't waste your time hanging around him too much. He's just a bad influence," she added with a playful huff, her sugary tone shifting just enough for everyone to catch the jab.
Jieun giggled at Taeyeon's words but still looked up at Jihoon, waiting for his permission like a polite little soldier.
Jihoon shrugged, totally unfazed by the slander. "Go on, sit with them. Trust me, you'll learn more from them than from me," he said, ruffling her hair gently.
Jieun happily trotted over to sit beside Taeyeon, leaving Jihoon to plop down next to Jessica.
Jessica arched an eyebrow, giving him a teasing look. "I didn't know you had a sister. Keeping secrets from me, huh?" she said, leaning in slightly.
Jihoon chuckled. "She's actually my cousin. Just moved in with me recently while her parents are working overseas. So... I'm her temporary guardian now." He said it casually, but there was a hint of pride in his voice.
Jessica's eyes widened. "Ohhh, so you're playing 'oppa guardian' now? Look at you, all grown up!" she teased, nudging him with her elbow.
"Then what brings you here today, Mr. Guardian Angel?"
Jihoon leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Jieun wants to learn singing... dreams of becoming a singer. So I brought her here to start. But somehow... it turned into a 'buy one, get one free' promotion."
Jessica burst out laughing. "So you're the freebie! Poor Jieun, having to drag around extra baggage!"
Before Jihoon could fire back, Taeyeon twisted around and asked, half-shocked, half-delighted, "Wait, wait—you're gonna start learning vocals too? Are you thinking of becoming a singer now?!"
Jihoon pulled a dramatic face. "Please. I just don't wanna get roasted anymore when I sing demo tracks for my OSTs!" he said with an exaggerated pout.
The girls all broke into laughter, giggling and bumping shoulders like they'd known each other forever.
Meanwhile, Johan Kim—who had been busy checking some sheet music on the side—finally turned around and clapped his hands to get their attention.
"Alright chatterboxes—time to get serious," he said, half-joking.
"Since we've got two newbies today, Taeyeon and Sica, we'll do a fundamentals recap. Good chance for you two to polish your basics too. And for the little rookies..."—he pointed dramatically at Jihoon and Jieun—"time to catch up!"
And just like that, their first real vocal lesson began.
At first, Johan had planned to just wing it with Jihoon—maybe make him sing a few scales for fun. But once he heard Jieun open her mouth and sing...
He froze.
Her voice wasn't just good. It was special.
Clear, pure, yet full of hidden colors—like a diamond still waiting to be polished.
Johan blinked, realizing he couldn't treat this like a joke. Jihoon was already better than he let on, but Jieun?
She had the kind of raw talent he didn't want to see wasted.
With a grin, he rolled up his sleeves. "Alright, kiddos. Forget the easy stuff. We're doing this properly."
Training stretched longer than anyone expected.
Before they knew it, two whole hours had flown by.
By the time they wrapped up vocal practice, the sky outside had already dipped into evening hues, soft and lazy.
Jihoon, Jieun, Taeyeon, and Jessica all trudged out of the practice room together, sweaty, tired — but weirdly happy.
Taeyeon lagged behind, walking in tiny hesitant steps. She opened her mouth several times like she wanted to say something, but every time someone passed by, or whenever she got too shy, she clamped it shut again, pretending nothing happened.
Finally, gathering all her courage, she blurted out, "Jihoon-ah!"
"Huh? What's up?" Jihoon turned around, catching her awkward fidgeting.
Sensing the moment, Jessica leaned in with a cheeky grin and whispered to Jieun, "Come on, let's go buy drinks with unnie~"
Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed Jieun's hand and practically fled the scene, leaving Taeyeon and Jihoon behind.
Taeyeon let out a huge breath of relief the second they disappeared.
She fumbled through her pocket, pulling out a small tube of ointment and thrusting it toward Jihoon.
"Here!" she said, looking everywhere but at his face. "For your arm... According to the pharmacist, it's supposed to help with scars."
Jihoon raised an eyebrow, amused. He didn't take the ointment — instead, he casually rolled up his sleeve and flashed his arm at her with a big grin.
"Look, it's almost healed! Good as new!" he said proudly, acting like nothing had happened — Jihoon's way of easing her guilt.
Taeyeon peeked at his arm, then immediately pouted. "Ahh, I shouldn't have wasted money on this!" she grumbled. "This stuff was expensive, you know!"
Jihoon chuckled. "Then just return it and get your money back?"
"I'm serious!" Taeyeon whined, shoving the tube at him again.
Seeing her like that, Jihoon's teasing side kicked in. He smiled, reached out, and gently ruffled her hair.
"You didn't do anything wrong, dummy."
"Good friends fight sometimes, they mess around — it's normal! Don't beat yourself up over it."
Taeyeon slapped his hand away, cheeks puffing up.
"Yah! Stop touching my head like you're some ahjussi! You're younger than me, remember?!"
"Being tall doesn't give you head-patting privileges!" she huffed, muttering under her breath.
Jihoon laughed. "I really didn't see anything that day, you know," he said, trying to sound innocent.
Taeyeon narrowed her eyes. "Really? You seriously didn't see anything?" she said, her voice full of disbelief.
Jihoon leaned in with a smirk and said, "What do you want me to say? That I saw something... or that I didn't?"
That question completely fried Taeyeon's brain — her mental CPU glitched so hard it was like her processor short-circuited, with imaginary smoke swirling above her head.
If she said she hoped he didn't see, she'd sound ridiculously petty.
If she said she hoped he did, she might actually die of embarrassment on the spot.
While Taeyeon's mind twisted itself into a thousand knots, Jihoon, unable to resist pouring gasoline on the fire, flashed a devilish grin and leaned in just a little closer.
"Honestly," he said, voice dripping with mischief, "even if I wanted to sneak a peek, there wasn't much to see anyway. Your chest's so tiny, Taeyeon-ah!"
He wasn't done.
Jihoon waggled his eyebrows playfully and added, "But hey, your skin's crazy white — pretty impressive, compared to, you know… other areas."
He even had the nerve to signal with his eyes, blatantly glancing down at her small chest.
But before she could process the magnitude of what he had just said, Jihoon was already sprinting down the hallway as though his life depended on it.
His footsteps echoed, and Taeyeon stood there, too stunned to react immediately.
It wasn't until Jihoon had practically disappeared around the corner that the full weight of his words finally clicked into place.
Taeyeon's face, which had already been flushed from the teasing, now went an even deeper shade of crimson—she could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks, and her body temperature was rising by the second.
Her foot stomped in frustration as she balled her fists, ready to explode.
"Y-YA!!! LEE JIHOON!! YOU'RE DEAD! I'M GONNA USE THIS WHOLE TUBE OF OINTMENT ON YOU — WHETHER YOU NEED IT OR NOT!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping, maybe even praying, that Jihoon would hear her. But of course, he kept running, oblivious to the fury he'd just unleashed.
Jihoon, still running, shouted back shamelessly, "Taeyeon-ah, why don't you keep it for your nighttime activities!"
"You know.. creams like that can be a great... lubricant for pleasure! Hehe!"
The words hit her like a slap to the face, and for a moment, Taeyeon froze completely, her eyes wide with confusion. What… what did he just say?
Then, as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head, the full meaning of his dirty joke hit her like a freight train—she could practically hear the gears grinding in her brain as she pieced it together.
Her face, if possible, turned an even deeper shade of red, practically steaming with rage and humiliation.
Her face flared up even redder, practically steaming now, with a might coming from her lung, she scream.
"YAAAAAA!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU PERVERT!!! AHHHH!"
Her voice was so loud, so piercing, that the entire building—hell, probably the whole block—could've heard her war cry.
[Author's Note: Heartfelt thanks to Wandererlithe, JiangXiu and Daoist098135 for bestowing the power stone!]