eleven songs // jung jaehyun

best part [pt. 2]

↳ best part - h.e.r.

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩

you sat backstage, your leg bouncing up and down. your heart was pounding against your ribcage and you weren't even on stage yet.

you and jaehyun had practiced a few more times together since monday, but only in class. he had not asked you and even though you had gotten more comfortable with him, you were not about to ask him. no way in hell. you had learned harmonies in the chorus so it would sound more full. jaehyun's obsession with having the best performance had actually gone a long way. you had to admit, it sounded pretty good.

"i still don't understand how you're going to perform a song with jung jaehyun," yujin said from next to you. she had been trying to calm your stage fright down for the last 15 minutes as the other groups in singing class performed. you and jaehyun were scheduled to go last since he was the star of the show and the person everyone wanted to see. you would have preferred to go third, so that you weren't the first impression, but also by the end of it, you would be forgotten.

but at the same time, your partner was jung jaehyun so no one would forget no matter whatever order the performances were in. this thought prompted another wave of nerves.

"it was random," you told yujin.

"i heard doyoung is gonna announce the first school dance today!" yujin said, trying to distract you from your thoughts. doyoung was in student council, and often made those type of announcements.

"will you be my date?" you asked her, and she laughed.

"of course i will," yujin giggled.

"y/n," doyoung walked up to you and tapped your shoulder. "i hate to tell you this, but you're up next."

"oh," you said, standing up stiffly. you saw jaehyun getting ready to go on stage.

"you can do it, y/n!" yujin patted you on the back.

"thanks, girl." you gave her a small smile to show her that you were trying to be okay, and made your way over to jaehyun. a random teacher handed you a mic and you took it.

"hey," jaehyun said to you softly.

"hey," you replied, giving him a closed lipped smile. 

jaehyun furrowed his brow at you. "are you nervous?"

you grimaced and looked down at your feet. "yeah. i have really bad stage fright."

"hey, look at me." jaehyun used his pointer finger to lift your chin, and his brown eyes met yours. "you're gonna do amazing, okay? you're a really good singer, i heard you! don't worry about what everyone else thinks and just have fun."

your heart beat against your chest harder but this time you didn't think it was the nerves. he was looking at you with such focus and concern that for a second you forgot about everything and just got lost in his eyes.

as instantly as the moment started, it ended. you snapped out of it quickly and smiled at him. "thank you. i feel a little better now."

"you guys can go on now," doyoung yelled to you from behind.

"you got this, y/n." jaehyun whispered to you before walking out on stage.

you followed, gaping at the view of the entire high school sitting in front of you. the auditorium erupted with cheers, most likely because of the boy you were about to sing with.

you reached the middle of the stage and just stood there for a second, waiting for the audience to quiet down. the amount of people in your school seemed at least 5 times larger now, but you tried to take deep breaths as the cheers began to die down. all sounds from the audience were finally replaced by the guitar that you knew so well.

jaehyun turned to you, and you saw a glint in his eye. he needed you to do well. so you closed your eyes and sang your first run.

the audience melted away as you tried to focus on the music. the beating of your heart and the shaking of your hands started to feel as if they weren't your own body anymore.

about halfway through your verse, you felt ready to open your eyes. the audience was silent, all staring at you, some with their phones out to film. you turned your head to see jaehyun watching you, and when your eyes met his, he gave you a reassuring smile. he brought his mic up to his mouth and joined you to sing the lower harmony in the chorus as you continued the melody.

you stared at each other as you sang, and somehow you forgot the audience was even there. it felt like the first time you were singing with him. everything felt fresh and new as you heard him sing the sweet lyrics in his verse. he sang his make love lyric, but the difference this time was that he was looking at you. your stomach did a full flip and you almost choked, but you could have sworn you saw a little pink on his ears.

you joined him again for the chorus, and you realized that all your nerves had disappeared. singing with jaehyun made you feel strangely comfortable. his words of encouragement from earlier must have made a bigger impact than you thought.

"where you go, i follow, no matter how far. if life is a movie, then you're the best part."

jaehyun's eyes sparkled from the lights.

you finally reached the outro, and once again, you closed your eyes to be able to properly reach the high notes. you really did feel happy as you harmonized with jaehyun. this was your first real performance, and you sounded really good. you sang the final run, slowly opening your eyes, and you felt a hand lightly touch yours.

you turned to jaehyun, shock on your face. his touch turned into a full on hand hold when the audience erupted into cheers, but jaehyun was not looking at them. his eyes were stuck on you, and his face almost looked... proud?

"good job," he mouthed to you.

you bit your lip and looked away as the two of you bowed. you looked back up at the audience, who were still cheering and clapping. you pulled your hand away from jaehyun's and crossed your hands over your heart. you felt your eyes watering. this moment was beyond meaningful.

you made your way offstage, head on a swivel to find yujin. the tears in your eyes were threatening to overflow, and you needed to find your best friend.

you finally saw her, sitting in a chair. she appeared to be looking for you, excitement written all over her face.

"yujin!" you yelled and ran to her. she got up from her chair and wrapped you in a big hug. "yujin, i did it," you cried into her shoulder.

"you were amazing, y/n. i knew you were good but i didn't know you were that good!"

"i was so nervous, i can't believe i did it." you pulled away to see her face, not caring about how your tears messed up your makeup.

 "shh, y/n." yujin wiped your tears with her thumb. "why are you crying?"

"i don't know. it's just, that was my first performance ever, and i was able to overcome my stage fright and just do it, and i loved it. it was the most amazing feeling."

yujin smiled at you. "i feel like a proud mom," she said. "you were so good."

"thank you," you sniffled, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand.

"but what was that?" yujin's eyes burned with mischievous excitement.

"huh?" you asked, cocking your head.

"with jaehyun!"

"what about it?"

"he held your hand! what do you mean, 'what about it?' he literally initiated it!" yujin smiled giddily.

"oh, he was just proud because he helped me not feel nervous."

"y/n, he literally stared at you the entire time."

"because we were singing together!" you said, hitting her arm. "can you relax?"

you both laughed.

"okay, fine," yujin said, and you made your way out, arms linked together.

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩