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Yun-Jin takes Ji-Woon in as he records his new vocal track, letting her thoughts wander places she would usually pull herself from. It's late so the urge to drift off is strong, but they need to finish recording the song. Deadlines are coming and the executives are getting on her back. Still, her mind is pulling her away. She tries her best to pay attention (“Too sharp,” she quickly writes in her notes), but the voice in the back of her head has other ideas.
She sees the passion in his eyes as he reads his lyrics from the page and the voice asks if that’s how he looks when he records their screams. She sees the enthusiastic grin on his face as he takes a breath and waits for the next line and wonders if that’s the last thing they see. Do they get to see the intense, powerful performer he becomes on stage as they let out the last few cries for help?
Is that what she will see? Will Ji-Woon put on a performance for her as the light dies in her eyes and her screams of pain start to fade? Will he put her cries in one of his songs to archive her death for eternity?
“Yun-Jin!”
She pulls herself back from the spiral she fell down and waves for him to come out. He rolls his eyes and leaves the recording room, muttering under his breath about distractions. Following their usual routine, Yun-Jin hands him her notes and watches him as he plops down in the nearby chair and looks at what he needs to re-record.
She watches his fingers as they gently tap out the beats, up and down his thigh as he hums along with the notes. She almost went back into her thoughts when she saw him look up. He’s caught her staring again. She wants to look away, but his gaze is too strong. She sees a smile grow on his lips and she feels a gentle buzz up her spine. “Been staring a lot today. Something on your mind?”
Yun-Jin tenses, unsure of what to say for a moment. She quickly turns back to the mix table and busies herself by rewinding the track and listening again. “No, just a bit tired.”
She hears Ji-Woon shift in his seat. No papers rustling, no tapping, no humming. He doesn’t buy it. “Seems like something’s distracting you. A daydream then?”
She ignores the subtle shake in her hands as she turns the dials on the table in front of her. God, she needs a drink. “I guess you can call it that.”
Ji-Woon stands up and walks to her, coming into her vision out of the corner of her eye. He leans over her, one hand placed on the table and the other on the back of her chair. He’s so close, she can smell his fading cologne and the cigarettes she’s told him to stop smoking. “Tell me, Yun-Jin. Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
She successfully ignores his honey-tongued voice and the things he was implying, choosing to think of an answer that doesn’t give her away. What could save her life and not mortify her at the same time? What would satisfy him without giving away the other thoughts she’s ignoring everytime he gets this close to her?
She turns her head and looks up at him, giving him the performance he wants. “Whenever I look at you… I see my future.”
It's the truth. Yun-Jin sees her future in Ji-Woon. She sees him turning on his phone to record her scream as he begins to cut her up to his liking. She can almost hear him laugh as she yells out his name like he wants. She can see that perfect smile on his face as she feels her blood drip down her bare skin and onto the floor. She hears the song her voice becomes, her cries out to him becoming his chorus. Her voice coming out through the speakers at his next performance. His fans scream in adoration, listening to their voices in one song together.
She can see Ji-Woon likes this answer, so she sweetens the pot in hopes of maybe keeping him off her trail. “You perform our songs very well. I can only see us going up from here.”
He pulls away from her, clearly satisfied with her answer. “Well thank you. And you’re very good at handling anything that comes our way. I’m sure we’ll be working together for a long time.”
Ji-Woon goes back into the recording room and her stomach flips. Yun-Jin thinks this must be what hostage negotiations feel like, walking around on eggshells and praying the person with the gun doesn’t change their mind. Only with this, she’s playing both negotiator and hostage.
She sets up the track and watches him begin to sing, trying to ignore the now slightly louder voice in the back of her head. It tells her the comfort of knowing she'll live for a while will be short lived. And it's right, she knows how this will end for her. She would be his final masterpiece.
His magnum opus.