Unrequited Love | MYG ✅

Chapter Two

I'm working in my studio, trying to lean closer to my computer as I sit in my office chair. It was quite a feat, but I managed to drag my piano bench in front of me to put my leg up and ice it as needed. The ice numbs the pain and having my leg elevated is heavenly.

Music has been the biggest part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I swear nobody loves their career more than I do. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I wasn't singing or writing my own songs so being a music producer and songwriter is a dream come true. This is what I was born to do. As I look over the song I'm working on, I reminisce about the path that brought me to Korea, to begin with.

Although my family life growing up in a small town in New Hampshire was less than perfect, in fact, it was a hot mess; the universe had blessed me with my best friend, Jae. When She was nine, she moved from Korea to America with her family because her father was offered a job opportunity he couldn't refuse.

Jae and I became fast friends. Since my family didn't take care of me the way they should, I was often alone, and I instantly gravitated to Jae when she moved into my apartment building because we were the same age, and I thought she had kind eyes.

We rode the school bus together and ate lunch together. I helped her learn English, and she taught me to speak Korean. I spent so much time with Jae that her family slowly accepted me as one of their own. They always ensured I was fed and filled the gaps where my absentee, divorced parents failed.

Jae's family instilled a tremendous work ethic in me, and I always tried to make them proud with my grades because they were the only people that even asked about them.

At the end of our senior year in high school, Jae informed me with tears in her eyes that she was moving back to Korea with her family.  Her father had been offered a better job based back home and that she would be attending university there as well. I was heartbroken, but all I could do was wish these people, who I had come to love like my family, the best and promise always to try my best and hold our memories together dear.

Thanks to Jae's family's positive influence, I earned a full boat scholarship to one of the best music schools in Boston, Massachusetts. Jae and I went our separate ways but always stayed in touch, constantly keeping up with each other.

After I graduated from college, I made a small name for myself as an underground music producer and songwriter among the local acts in Boston. Although I would often perform gigs myself, I always felt more comfortable behind the music rather than in front of it.

I began to garner local attention for my signing, which made me a bit nervous, so I started to back away, a bit uncomfortable with the spotlight on me. It wasn't something I could handle. My treacherous childhood had stripped me of my confidence. I realized I was probably meant to be a force behind the music rather than the face in front of it, which pushed me to continue to grow my skills as a songwriter and music producer.

Mixed into all this was my college boyfriend. He was a drummer and laid his claim on me the moment he heard me singing at one of the college bars. I fell in love with him quickly, but as soon as he made me his girlfriend, he often spent his time breaking my heart by ignoring calls, not coming home after his gigs, and eventually, me finding him in my bed with a random girl. I felt like I had wasted my time on someone that was not worth it, and I felt deeply ashamed I had given my heart away so easily.

As I tried to mend my broken heart, my phone rang one day. Jae called me excitedly, letting me know that she had a friend in the music industry who was looking for a new music producer that would help disrupt the way they had been doing things. They desired a fresh face with new ideas and were having a hard time finding someone that looked at music differently.