Now let's take our pride and go toward a bigger world with
a bigger dream

Chaerin and Yoongi stood side by side, staring up at dilapidated old structure that was a poor excuse for an apartment complex. Neither one of them was making the first step to go inside.

Feeling incredibly small in the building's shadow, Chaerin tried to think of some things that she was leaving behind, things she would surely miss. But only one came to mind: Grandma Min. That wonderful old woman was the only thing left in Daegu that Chaerin had any sort of attachment to, everything else was gone. Her house, her things, her grandmother, they were all taken away. But she had Yoongi at her side, and that's all she truly needed.

Still, this was frightening for her. She was in an unfamiliar city, with nothing but a suitcase, a friend, and a bit of saved up money.

"Are we really doing this?" Chaerin asked nervously.

"Yes. Yes we are," Yoongi replied.

"Really?"

"Really. Are you ready?"

"No."

"Are you ready now?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Clinging to each other's hands, Yoongi and Chaerin walked through the doors of that old building.

The inside was just as shabby as the outside, and more grimy than either of them would have liked, but it was all they could afford. The building manager looked nothing less than bored when they approached. The old man tossed the keys at Yoongi, told them to keep it down after 11pm, and then went back to reading his paper.

Yoongi grabbed the keys and they started up the stairs. Five flights of steps later, they were both panting and groaning from how heavy their suitcases seemed to be all of a sudden. But eventually they made it to apartment 5E and opened the rusty lock. Since Chaerin wasn't 18 yet, Yoongi's name was the only one on the lease, so they only had one set of keys right now. Chaerin made a mental note to get a copy made for herself.

It had been four months since Chaerin's grandmother died. Social services had agreed to let her stay with Grandma Min until she turned 18 years old but Chaerin couldn't stand to be in that town anymore. Ever since the funeral she had felt an overwhelming pressure on her mind, urging her to move, scream, to do anything but just sit there and whither away. Yoongi had been experiencing a similar feeling. The music had been beating at the walls of his skull ever since that day at the piano with Chaerin. It was like a constant flow of new lyrics, new ideas, new ambitions. He wanted to be a musician, he was absolutely sure of it. And each passing day made him even more anxious to reach his dream.

With Yoongi wanting to be a musician and Chaerin chasing an acting career, they both agreed that Daegu wasn't where they needed to be. So they packed their bags and got on the cheapest bus to Seoul. If they were going to make their dreams into reality, this was the place they had to be.

This was the fresh start they both needed.

The apartment door swung open with an ear piercing screech from the rusted hinges. Yoongi and Chaerin stepped inside, flicking on the ceiling light. The apartment itself had an open layout, the living room and kitchen were only distinguished by the change from wooden floors to tile. There was one small bedroom off to the left of the front door, directly opposite the kitchen. A closet room was left of the kitchen space and a bathroom sat right of the only bedroom. The walls were an off-white color that hosted several mystery stains, the only furniture was a beaten up old couch and a dresser, and the windows were in need of cleaning. But overall, for the price that they could afford, it wasn't completely terrible.

"Well this is..."

"Gross," Yoongi finished Chaerin's sentence for her.

"It's not gross," she argued, "It just needs a little work, that's all."

Yoongi snorted. "Well we can work on it once we have more money, but for now let's just unpack."

While Yoongi took to unloading some of his clothes into the brown dresser that sat in the bedroom, Chaerin inspected the kitchen appliances and made a list of things that they would would absolutely need to buy. As he dumped the last of his socks into the dresser drawer, Yoongi froze. There was something he and Chaerin hadn't thought of.

"Chae," he called, stepping out into the living room.

"Yeah," she responded even though her head was stuck in the fridge, inspecting the empty shelves.

"There's only one bedroom." He found this to be problematic, but he also knew that he would give Chaerin the bedroom and would sleep in the living room himself.

"So?" Chaerin didn't seem to find a problem with the bedroom shortage.

Yoongi shifted on his feet awkwardly. "Uh well, I think you should have it, and um, I'll sleep in the living room."

He really thought he was doing the nice thing. He'd been trying to be nicer ever since Chaerin broke down, but when she turned to look at him like he's grown a unicorn horn, Yoongi was left confused beyond belief. Did she not want the bedroom?

"Tell me you're kidding," Chaerin spoke, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Um...no?" His response came out like a question even though he hadn't meant for it to.

Chaerin rolled her eyes. "You really are dense, aren't you?"

"I—"

"Yoongi you thick-skulled dimwit, I don't want the bedroom," he tried not to take offense to her name calling, she'd been a bit snappy lately.

"We should buy a mattress," she stated. Yoongi failed to see the connection to their conversation. She sighed. "That way we can set it up in the living room and one of us can sleep on the mattress and the other can take the couch."

Yoongi was still confused. He stood in the bedroom doorway, looking like a lost puppy, which made Chaerin smile a bit. She walked towards him and laid her hands on his shoulders, shaking him a bit.

"Yoongi, I don't want the bedroom because it's going to be your studio."

"My...my what?"

"Your studio," she chuckled. "If you're going to write songs and record properly then you need a studio. You know, somewhere you can go where I'm not bugging you twenty four hours a day." Chaerin spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," he mumbled, a blush of embarrassment creeping up his neck.

"Silly boy," she teased him, pinching his flushed cheeks.

"Hey! I'm still older than you! Seriously, it's like you have no respect," Yoongi grumbled, rubbing his stinging cheeks.

"I respect you plenty," Chaerin countered. "It's just that it's way too much fun to tease you." Sending a wink in his direction, she walked away, leaving Yoongi behind with his mouth hanging open.

A studio. She wanted him to have a studio. A place where he could write and record his music. He hadn't expected that, but to say that he was feeling all warm and fuzzy from her words was an understatement. Chaerin had said to him long ago that she would support his music career, but this was something else. She willingly gave up the bedroom—and with it any sense of privacy that could be managed in this tiny apartment—all so that he could make music.

Chaerin really was something else.