The Stories You Hid Under That Damn Flirty Mask

Lee Yong returned to his band's studio with his other members.

Tunes flew naturally, and the music was filled in the studio. The same music he had missed for months came naturally to him at this point. He could not stop new tunes and ideas that popped into his head.

He knew his band members were looking at him with concern, as he did not even move an inch for the last two hours. He did not even care about their concern as he finally felt alive.

He heard two lines of lyrics in his voice at a base voice he rarely used in the song sung in his mind. He wrote the words on the sheet of paper with other random lines that popped into his mind suddenly.

'You carry yourself with such grace and poise,

But I can sense there's more beneath the noise.'

He scribbled the lines that came to his mind on a separate paper as he wrote the music and strummed the guitar.

Lee Yong didn't even know why, but a particular set of lyrics kept repeating in his mind. He lost count of the time it repeated in his mind.

'Your shinning eyes rivalling the stars

But you left me with tears

As I wonder all about all your scars

And the stories you hid under that damn flirty mask.'

Finally, Lee Yong felt alive and light as he wrote a tune fitting the line that had been repeated in his mind since he saw the choreographer's dance. He felt the tune needs improvisation. But for the first draft of the tune without any polish, he felt it was a great fit. He hummed the tune for a couple of minutes before playing it on his guitar as he sang it.

He did not realise the new choreographer had entered the room when he was so focused on his guitar.

The clap from everyone in the room made Lee Yong remember his audience. Looking around, his eyes fell on one person who did not clap for him.

"That's nice. The tune needs to be slightly more melancholic for that line than what you are playing." Choi Haneul spoke as their eyes met.

Lee Yong was stunned to see his muse standing in front of him. After writing tune after tune for the last two hours, he begrudgingly accepted that their new choreographer had become an inspiration for his music. But he was not mentally prepared for his muse to listen and give suggestions for the song he was still writing.

Choi Haneul did not realise the stunned expression on the band leader as he looked around the room and asked everyone. "I heard you have not left the studio in a long while. So I thought of inviting you guys for lunch. Your manager will be there as well."

"Where are we going?" Na Hyun Joon asked as soon as he realised the band leader was stunned and chose silence as a companion. He knew someone was the reason behind it and chose to talk about it with their leader later.

Hyun Joon looked at the someone who entered their life today and the studio now and did not even realise he had left their band leader speechless.

With an eye roll, Choi Haneul stated the obvious. "Company cafeteria."

Lee Yong's brain finally became online, and he decided silence was no longer his companion. "Shouldn't you take us out for a treat for successfully winning the bet and joining us?" He asked Haneul with a small smile.

Choi Haneul was surprised by the smile and the tender look on the bandleader's face being directed at him. He could not believe it was the same person who had been reluctant earlier that day to let him be their choreographer but brushed it off as nothing. He was about to respond to Lee Yong but heard a mocking snicker from behind.

Choi Haneul knew who it was just by the noise. After all, he would never forget the guy who ruined his life. Even though anger coursed through every vein in his body, he controlled his expression as he casually turned to face the backstabber as if they had no feud.

Bang Su Jin smiled when his eyes were spitting fire at Haneul for returning to the company after all these years.

"He can't afford to take you guys to a decent place. That's why he is taking you to the cafeteria. As his friend who trained with him once, I will treat you guys on his behalf tonight?" Bang Su Jin entered the studio as if he had all the right to be and started to look around the place.

Haneul was worried Su Jin might have cast his eyes at celestials, but he did not let it show on his face.

"You guys can have that dinner without me. I have a prior commitment for today evening." Choi Haneul brushed off the offer and showed an indifferent attitude towards the band he was supposed to help. After all, no one knew how to push Su Jin.

Lee Yong understood the bad blood between Haneul and Su Jin without explanation. He saw how Haneul's body tensed when he heard the snicker, and his facial expression turned ugly before calming himself as if everything was fine. Everything happened in a few seconds, and he could see all of it as his eyes never left Haneul's face.

Lee Yong had interacted with Bang Su Jin as they were all from the same company and working on music. They were not friends, but they were definitely not enemies. Just a mere acquaintance.

Between Haneul and Su Jin, he did not need to think about who he wanted to support.

"Then you can have dinner with the Celestials team tomorrow, Haneul. You go ahead with your plans today." Lee Yong spoke to their new choreographer with familiarity as he ignored Bang Su Jin.

"I can fit the dinner into my schedule and be with you guys tomorrow." Bang Su Jin had no shame as he included himself with the Celestials team.

"It's team dinner. Since when are you part of Celestials?" Lee Yong stood up and placed himself between the tiny choreographer and Bang Su Jin as if there would be a physical altercation between them.

But Choi Haneul wanted the physical altercation to happen and threw a fist or two at Su Jin.

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I am not good at lyrical writing. I tried my best to write an original one:

'Your shining eyes rivalling the stars.

But you left me with tears.

As I wonder all about all your scars

And the stories you hid under that damn flirty mask.'

But later, I realised I was spending more time with lyrics and decided to take some help. I wrote this with the help of chatgpt:

'You carry yourself with such grace and poise,

But I can sense there's more beneath the noise.'

Comment your thoughts on the lyrics. It will help me decide if I should rely on myself or take some help from AI.

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