Notes to my Heart | TAEIL

Chapter 14

After his rehearsal with Iseul, Taeil was walking with the girl out of the training facility when he caught sight of Haechan practicing in one on the rooms.

"You go ahead, I just wanted to check in with Haechan. I'll see you tomorrow." Taeil said to Iseul, giving her a wave.

"Ah, as expected. Moon Taeil being the best mentor you could ask for." Iseul said with a grin before waving back. "Bye!"

Taeil knew his ears were red from Iseul's comment as he shook his head, entering the practice room. Haechan immediately stopped, greeting his mentor before turning his music off.

"Haechan, I have a question for you." Taeil said, stopping in front of the boy. "Why do you always practice alone?"

"I..." Haechan didn't seem to know how to answer the question. "It just helps me focus."

Taeil could easily tell that the male was lying. "Do you have any friends here?"

"Yes." Another lie.

"Who?" Taeil asked, crossing his arms.

Haechan was avoiding his eyes, shuffling his weight between his feet as he listed two males from their team but Taeil had never seen Haechan talk to them.

"Haechan." Taeil said, putting hand on the boy's shoulder, making Haechan look at him. "This is a competition but it's going to be hard to get through it completely alone. Practicing is always the most important but it doesn't hurt to make a friend or two."

Haechan slowly nodded his head. "Okay, sunbaenim."

"Good." Taeil said, giving Haechan a pat before stepping back, giving Haechan a small smile. "Now show me what you've been practicing."

...

Iseul enjoyed singing rehearsals so much more than dancing ones, so when Ten began choreographing their piece for the performance, she was struggling like there was no tomorrow.

She was thankful for Taeil, who ask Ten to go slower when she couldn't get the steps or stayed back late and help her until she was able to perform them decently. Iseul was getting closer and closer to her mentor with each passing day, and she was glad that they got along so well.

The all-star challenge for this week was a duet, so Taeil had selected the two lowest ranking members of their team as a chance to help them earn votes. It was an interesting method, as it could be risky too. If they didn't do as well as they could have, they could actually lose votes.

Iseul was glad she wasn't chosen though, this week's challenge was enough to keep her busy.

"Okay, that's it for today, make sure you go over it. I want to finish it all tomorrow." Ten said before the team thanked him.

"Before you go though," Taeil said as Iseul noticed one of the show writers poking her head into the studio. "I want to talk to each of you one-on-one, so stay back for a bit for that."

They nodded their heads and Taeil called one of their names to follow him before exiting the studio with the writer.

"What do you think that's about?" Haechan asked as he sat down on the dance floor beside Iseul.

Iseul took a look around her, noticing that the other members of the team were in another corner, chatting. "Me?"

"Yeah, who else?" Haechan asked with a small chuckle.

Iseul was surprised that the male was talking to her. Normally, Haechan kept to himself, especially being one of the highest ranking competitors. He was definitely the one that kept most of the group looking good, the ace.