Muse / Chenle

Track 1

Laufey, From The Start

Chenle didn't always want to have diarrhea. At times like this, however, he would consider it.

There was absolutely no way he was enjoying the fact that he was in his lecturer's office during semester break and before his normal wake up time (12pm). His only escape would be if he had diarrhea or any other sudden illness but he'd much rather have a natural excuse than one he'd have to put energy into faking. All he really wanted to do was vegetate until a reasonable hour would call for him to start his day which typically would be in the evening.

"Can you stop looking at me like that? You're scaring me," Taeil muttered from behind his desk as he typed away on his computer.

"I naturally look like this," Chenle deadpanned. His resting bitch face, especially at barely eight in the morning, was said to resemble a face that would give orphaned children nightmares.

"Why did you want to see me so urgently? School starts again in a few days anyway."

Taeil held up a finger, motioning that he'd be just one more second before he would give Chenle his full attention. He was the youngest lecturer at the music faculty of NUA and second youngest of the whole campus overall; he taught composition and songwriting, of which the latter Chenle was a student of the previous semester. Taeil, or Mr Moon as he was endearingly called, was frequently mistaken for a fellow student due to his simple, youthful style of dressing. Which, this morning, seemed to include his pyjamas and bunby slippers.

"So, I wanted to see you because you got a B for my class," Taeil said when he was finally done.

"Yeah? I passed, right?" Chenle felt a nervous thump in his chest. He felt disgraced enough that he broke his straight A streak; if it turned out than his B was incorrectly higher than his actual grade, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

"You did, but you're aware that this school has a special rule that students who receive a grade three tiers lower than their average has to get extra credit," Taeil sighed. "You've had an A+ average since your first semester and the one subject you flunk is mine? The dean is going to jump my butt, Chenle."

"But you were the one who gave me the B."

Taeil gritted his teeth. Chenle had always been infamous for his straightforward remarks, yet he'd always say them in such a way that was neither rude nor would it soften the blow. He was a good kid nonetheless, just extremely sharp and brutally honest which was not for the faint hearted.

"Actually, you barely even made a B," Taeil clarified. "Your last assignment was to write lyrics for a song about the genre that was randomly picked out for you, remember?"

"Yeah."

"Chenle, you were supposed to write about true love."

"I did."

"No, you did not. You just rewrote the wedding vows from Addams Family Values."

Chenle huffed. "It's called inspiration. You said we could take inspiration from anywhere we want."

"Well, what you did was not inspiration, it was borderline plagiarism," Taeil pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's like you weren't even trying to write one on your own."

"Look, I'm sorry," Chenle expressed sincerely. "But lyrics are my weak spot. Especially about...true love? Sounds like a cringefest to me. I don't know what I can write about that."

"Can't you write about your own experiences?"

"I don't have any."

Taeil started rubbing his temples. "Okay, anyway, the reason I called you in is to sit you down and just have a brief introductory discussion about the extra credit you have to do. Just so you know, it's not going to be a minor assignment."

Chenle crossed his arms, taking a moment to seriously think about it.

"Can I say no? Can't I just repeat the subject this semester?"

"Nope. You have to complete the extra credit or you won't be eligible for graduation until you do."

"Geez, who came up with these rules? Fine. I'll do the extra credit."

"You have to write a song. A love song, completed with lyrics and its instrumentals. You also have to perform it at the Kick It Festival at the end of this semester," Taeil explained before taking a second to reprimand Chenle for cringing. "And you will not only be graded by the quality of your lyrics, but also the quality of your performance. If you write about a heartbreak, I need to be sobbing in my seat when I hear it. Can you do that?"

"Do I have a choice?" Chenle raised an eyebrow. "Also, it kind of seems a bit much just to bump my B to an A."

"A plus," Taeil corrected him.

They continued discussing the project—not that Chenle was really listening as he was already in information overload—until a set of three courteous knocks on the door signified that their time was up. Taeil reminded Chenle to see him once a month to check up on his progress and sent him off. With a slight bow of his head and a mumble of "Thank you", he went on his way out, opening the door to a girl that looked way too alive for it to be morning.

She tossed him a friendly smile that he didn't have the opportunity to return as he was too stunned; most people didn't dare look his way and he didn't usually bother smiling at strangers either. At least, he thought that was the reason he was stunned. In the brief second that she passed by him, Chenle experienced the longest second of his life—long enough for him to take note of her pink glasses, the curls that framed her face and the shiniest smile he'd ever seen. 

The girl bounced into Taeil's office and gently shut the door, greeting the pleasantly surprised lecturer with an impossibly bright grin.

"Good morning, Mr Moon. Based on what I mentioned in my e-mail about my dissertation, I just want a few pointers on the impact of romantic poetry on song lyrics—"

"Ah. Please have a seat before you launch our meeting," Taeil chuckled. "And good morning to you too, Aein. It's nice to see you."

hello everyone! and welcome to Muse ♡
it's my greatest honor to start this story on my birthday.

also upon the creation of this story, i've come to realize how much my writing is influenced by taylor swift's writing. she's a heavily descriptive writer and turns songs into full stories when you only read the lyrics (speak now, the story of us, atw, cardigan to name a few) and i believe that's why many have pointed out how descriptive my writing is. soooo yeah if you're not a fan of taylor swift then i recommend not reading this book LMAO