The Reason? - Yoon Jeonghan

Chapter 12

     Time was running, everybody knew that, especially with a new album in the making and live performances lining up in the schedule. Jeonghan being announced to be on a break proved to be a good choice from the company for many reasons. First being Ophely's quality of dancing, which was pathetic, and second being her voice. That was something that nobody would ever forget, anybody present at the event would never dare let that memory go. The day Ophely sang instead of Jeonghan, that day it was clear that an adapted body wasn't everything. No, practice and talent was a must to have. One that she didn't have. The result was a sight to see. A piece to hear.

     Shattering.

     Ophely, quite awkwardly standing in the middle of the recording studio, had read over the lyrics in front of her as she waited for the others to get ready. Even though she couldn't understand everything that the boys were saying, she was confident that she knew how to read and pronounce Korean, even though her practice hadn't been long. It seemed that being in a body that knew the language helped to make the learning quicker.

     But at that very moment, she was reading over the lyrics as the song played in the headphones sitting on her head. She wasn't used to being in a place like this one, this was new to her. To stand in front of a microphone behind a glass window with other people scrutinising her, observing every move of her mouth and bob of her head.

     Ophely kept encouraging herself in her head. If learning Korean was in the body and she could remember some of the basics quickly, such as reading and writing, then singing should be the same as Jeonghan's body would know what to do.

     Oh how wrong she was.

     It was like her original body, that was tone deaf, was still hers. The boys didn't know whether to laugh at the sight of Jeonghan unable to sing, or at his inability to sing. Ophely was seriously off key, though she knew how to keep the timing right. Her voice, or Jeonghan's, was far from nice to hear. The members who had come to witness Ophely singing in the booth all encouraged her to try again, but nothing seemed to work. Ophely could not sing, and that was final. Jihoon decided to stop pushing her when she became more and more agitated by the fact that she couldn't even hear what was wrong with her singing and how to improve it.

     It was clear that Ophely couldn't be a substitute for Jeonghan anymore, that idea was out of the window as soon as she had started singing half an hour earlier. The screeching was not close to Jeonghan's. Not as smooth and not as nice, not as pleasant. At all.

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     Dancing had gone alright (as far as we could say), but they would have to teach her singing from the very beginning. And not from a halfway point, she knew nothing in the art of singing. Hopefully they could make the two get back into their own bodies as quickly as possible. Because the situation needed a dire recovery. The need to get both back in their bodies was coming greater and greater with each day passing.

     The boys had been able to class their eyes while watching Ophely dance, but they weren't able to shut their ears while she sang. They had to endure as much as the vocal trainer could, which didn't surpass the half hour that day.

     Time had passed since the boys had witnessed Ophely singing so poorly, and even after singing and vocal classes there was no progress. The boys were starting to wither in desperation. But she was also giving herself a hard time, with the added responsibilities of Jeonghan, she had to take care of her own studies, for which she had midterms right after the winter holidays. The status of idol was only added on top of her previous studies she couldn't let go off. And exams weren't something you could miss or do by distance, the risks were much too high.