Chapter 33: Unwanted Encouragement

Yuna's POV

We were supposed to be finalizing our performance plans. Supposed to.

Instead, we had spent the last thirty minutes going in circles, and at this point, I was seriously considering faking an illness just to escape.

Leo, leaning back in his chair like he had already accepted his fate, spun his drumsticks between his fingers.

"We should just do a cover. Less stress, fewer chances of public humiliation."

Noah, who was sitting cross-legged on top of a desk like some music prophet, shook his head.

"If we're debuting as Meloruin, it should be our own song. First impressions matter."

Lena, barely glancing up from her phone: "Or we could just do nothing."

I was starting to think Lena had the best idea.

Then Kai, who had been quiet until now, turned to me. "Got any ideas?"

I froze mid-sip of my drink and nearly choked. "Huh?"

Kai, completely unbothered, rested his chin on his hand. "You've been thinking about it, haven't you?"

I quickly looked away, suddenly finding the cracks on the table very interesting. "Not really."

Milo raised an eyebrow. "That's the guiltiest 'not really' I've ever heard."

Before I could argue, Ethan—who had been scrolling through his phone like this whole thing was a waste of his time—muttered, "Well, the poll in The Sacred Chaos of Meloruin group chat says we should perform an original."

Leo shot up in his seat. "We put that to a vote?!?"

Lena frowned. "Wait, who even voted??"

Milo checked his phone. "Uhh… eighty-five people?"

I blinked. "We don't even know eighty-five people."

Ethan, still scrolling, shrugged. "Apparently, you do now."

Noah smirked like this was all part of some master plan. "Looks like the universe has spoken."

Leo groaned dramatically, dropping his head onto the table. "Great. We're doomed."

Lena sighed, finally putting her phone down.

"Fine. We'll do an original, but if we crash and burn, I'm blaming all of you."

Kai just grinned. "Noah, you're on lyrics. Everyone else, we refine it."

I didn't say anything, but deep down, I felt it—that tiny spark of excitement.

Maybe, just maybe, this might actually be fun.

Break time. Finally.

Stepping out of the practice room felt like escaping a sauna made of stress and questionable decision-making.

The hallway wasn't much better—bands were scattered everywhere, some tuning their instruments, others loudly debating over their setlists. A few were actually practicing.

And unfortunately, some of them were really good.

One band in particular caught our attention. Their sound carried down the hall—tight, confident, annoyingly impressive. Noah slowed down beside me, frowning.

"Damn. They sound polished."

Curious, we peeked into the open door.

And that's when I saw her.

Avery.

She stood at the mic, voice powerful, the band behind her completely in sync. She wasn't struggling, second-guessing, or winging it—she was thriving.

Then, just as I was about to move on, she turned her head and met my eyes.

Brief eye contact. Just a second. No words.

Then she turned back to her band like nothing happened.

Which, honestly? Fine by me.

Lena, however, was already whispering like we had just walked into a crime scene.

"Oh, hell no."

Leo, clearly trying not to look panicked, muttered, "Think she's in the competition?"

Kai, ever the observer, barely glanced inside before looking at me. His voice was casual, but there was a hint of curiosity in it. "…You good?"

I blinked at him. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

Because really, I had no reason to care. Avery wasn't some nemesis of mine—she was just someone who liked to pester me, for whatever reason. And I? Did not care.

Except maybe one thing did bother me.

The creeping realization that every other band here sounded amazing.

The panic set in almost instantly.

Ethan, who had been scrolling through his phone like he was looking for emergency exit routes, muttered, "Guys. We're doomed."

Milo, always one for practical solutions, nodded. "Maybe we should back out."

Leo nearly choked. "Dude, don't say that! If we panic now, we really won't stand a chance."

Ethan groaned. "I mean, listen to them. They have actual arrangements. Meanwhile, we spent twenty minutes arguing over whether our setlist should have 'vibes' or 'rage.'"

Kai, completely unfazed, stretched his arms over his head. "Nah. Let's just get better."

He said it so simply, like that was the easiest solution in the world.

I wanted to believe him. I really did.

But all I could think was, we are so unprepared.

Noah was in full songwriter mode, which meant exactly two things, his notebook looked like the conspiracy wall of a detective losing his mind, and everyone else was making his life harder.

I sat cross-legged on the floor, watching the disaster unfold with a can of soda in my hand, mentally preparing myself for the headache that was about to happen.

"We need a strong opening line," Noah said, tapping his pen against the page like he was summoning divine inspiration.

Leo, lying on his back with his feet propped up on the couch, didn't even lift his head.

"What if we just start with an explosion?"

Noah blinked. "An explosion."

"Yeah, like BOOM—then straight into the chorus."

Kai, sprawled out on the other end of the couch, snorted. "So, we're writing a song or filming an action movie?"

Leo shrugged. "Why not both?"

Ethan, who had been scrolling through his phone like this wasn't his problem, finally chimed in. "How about something poetic? Like… Even the stars collapse for you."

Leo gagged. "Gross."

Milo, sitting in the corner, lifted his head slightly. "It's not bad, but it sounds like a wedding vow."

"See?!" Leo pointed at Milo. "He gets it."

Noah sighed, scratching something out of his notebook. "Okay, so no explosions, no collapsing stars—"

Kai tapped his fingers against his knee. "What if we start with something more raw? A single moment that pulls the listener in?"

Noah considered it. "Like what?"

Kai glanced at me. "Yuna, thoughts?"

I nearly choked on my drink. "Huh?"

"You've been thinking about it, haven't you?"

His tone was casual, but I could see the knowing smirk forming.

I turned my attention back to the notebook, avoiding eye contact. "Not really."

Which was a lie. Because, unfortunately, he was right.

I had been thinking about it.

Without meaning to, I started humming a tune under my breath, just a small fragment of a melody stuck in my head.

Noah's eyes snapped up like a predator locking onto prey.

"Wait. Do that again."

"Do what again?"

"The thing. The melody."

I blinked. "I wasn't—"

Kai was already playing a few chords on his guitar, adjusting to match the tune. Noah scribbled frantically.

Leo, grinning, nudged Ethan. "And that is how Yuna gets tricked into caring."

I groaned, but I didn't stop humming. The melody stuck.

Noah finalized the structure.Kai refined the melody.And somehow, between the chaos, I found myself silently helping with the lyrics behind the scenes.

By the time we were finished, Kai nudged my arm lightly. "Guess that means you're in for real."

Rolling my eyes, I took another sip of my drink. "Yeah, yeah."

Kai grinned. "Good. It'd be annoying if you backed out now."

---

Sleep? What's That?

It wasn't that I couldn't sleep.

It was that every time I closed my eyes, the song played on repeat in my head like a broken record.

At least now, I had my own room again.

After spending months trapped in my younger cousin's unicorn kingdom—where everything was some shade of pastel pink, and I woke up every morning tangled in stuffed animals—I was finally free.

No more glittery curtains. No more judgmental glass-eyed dolls lined up on the shelf like they were plotting something. No more getting poked in the ribs by a tiara every time I turned in my sleep.

My own space. My own bed. A normal blanket that wasn't covered in hearts and stars.

Peace.

Or at least, it should have been peaceful.

Instead, I was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, my phone resting on my chest.

Three weeks.

That's how long we'd been seriously working as a band.

One week.

That's how much time we had left before the All-Out Band Competition.

I sighed, unlocking my phone and scrolling past the messages in the group chat—Meloruin & Co.. Most of them were Lena sending memes about our 'imminent doom', Leo suggesting we 'just have fun'(as if winning wasn't part of the fun), and Ethan spiraling over stage presence.

I ignored all of it and opened an old folder hidden in my files.

Unfinished drafts. Half-written lyrics.

Melodies I'd played around with but never let anyone hear.

I pressed play on one of them.

Soft, familiar chords filled my ears, followed by my own voice—hazy, unpolished, barely above a whisper.

I write for other people. Big names. Celebrities who would slap their names on the lyrics I spent nights perfecting, lyrics that no one would ever know were mine. It had been my job. My thing.

But now? Now I was on a break. A self-imposed break. Because apparently, I had let myself get dragged into a band—my own band—where I was supposed to be part of the music instead of just handing it off to someone else.

I locked my phone and tossed it onto my bed.

My fingers tapped against my knee. The urge to fix things, to write, was still there, tugging at the back of my mind. But I forced myself to ignore it.

I wasn't going to get sucked into it again.

Not when everything was already so complicated.

Mornings at Aunt Rosa's were finally peaceful.

The garden was my favorite spot in the mornings. It wasn't fancy.The only sounds were the occasional rustling of leaves, birds chirping, and the distant hum of motorbikes passing through town.

It was my escape.

Well, it was… until the front gate creaked open.

I didn't even need to look up. I already knew who it was.

"Figured I'd find you here," Kai's voice came, smooth and unhurried.

Of course.

I took a long sip of my coffee, staring at the horizon like if I ignored him long enough, he'd disappear.

"You do know normal people knock, right?"

Kai didn't answer, just stepped inside like he owned the place. His movements were lazy, deliberate, like he had all the time in the world.

The morning light hit his dark hair just right, making it look even messier than usual—like he'd just rolled out of bed and decided, Yeah, let's go annoy Yuna first thing in the morning.

He had his guitar slung over his shoulder, the strap hanging loose. He wasn't even holding it properly, just letting it rest casually against his back as he walked.

He sat on the bench across from me without asking, stretching out like he belonged here.

"Nice morning," he said, resting his arms along the back of the bench.

I finally looked at him. His expression was unreadable, but there was something almost amused in his eyes—like he was waiting for me to react.

"It was," I muttered.

Kai smirked, like that was the response he wanted. Then, without warning, he took his guitar and started strumming, the sound filling the quiet space between us.

I hated how effortless it was. He wasn't even thinking about it—his fingers just moved like they belonged there, like the guitar was just an extension of himself.

I tapped my fingers absently against my mug. Not on purpose. Just… out of habit.

Kai noticed immediately.

"You're already thinking about the song, aren't you?"

His tone was too casual. Like he wasn't trying to call me out—just stating a fact.

I barely reacted. "I never said that."

"You don't have to. I can tell."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what exactly gave it away, genius?"

Kai just plucked another note, watching me with that same unreadable expression.

"You've got that look."

I narrowed my eyes. "What look?"

"The Yuna Is Secretly Thinking About Music But Will Absolutely Deny It look."

I scoffed. "You're so annoying."

"And yet," Kai said, tilting his head slightly.

"you haven't told me to leave."

I opened my mouth to argue—but damn it, he was right.

Kai didn't push any further. He just went back to his guitar, fingers moving lightly over the strings. The melody was simple, soft, almost lazy. I wasn't paying attention, but at some point, my foot started tapping along.

And before I could stop myself, I hummed.

Just for a second. Just one quiet note under my breath.

The second I realized it, I stopped.

But Kai had already heard.

He didn't react right away. Just kept strumming, his expression unreadable. Then, after a long pause, he spoke.

"If you ever feel like writing again… you should."

My grip tightened around my mug.

It was such a simple thing to say. Just words.

But somehow, it felt too close. Too real.

I swallowed, looking away.

Kai didn't press. He never did. He just stretched lazily, slinging his guitar strap back over his shoulder. Then, in the same easy, effortless way, he stood up.

"Anyway," he said, glancing at me one last time, "see you at practice."

And just like that, he walked out the gate.

I watched him go, my fingers tightening around my sleeves.

It's not that easy, I wanted to say.

But the problem was, deep down… I was already thinking about it.

To be continued