"...It's a beautifully sunny day, our temperature today is maxing at 70° with no clouds in sight. This is Hana Young with you at The Sound, 91.1 FM."

I started the 'Deep End' track, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms behind my head. I muted my microphone and sank into the music.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤... 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 91.1𝘍𝘔."

I had been saying that catchphrase for a year now, since I started working at this radio station in the middle of Seoul. When this opportunity came up, I immediately moved to Korea to work my dream job.

Something about radio intrigued me. My father used to lean back in our lone rocking chair on the porch on a particularly warm day, the radio on the rail beside him, listening with a peace and content that I always admired. Those radio hosts narrated my childhood, as well as almost every memory with my father on the porch of our little farmhouse, the perimeters of which were lined with a white pickett fence, completing the perfect picture of a cozy homestead.

But our little farmhouse on a hill, our family, my life wasn't perfectly happy forever.

Nothing ever could be.

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦~

"Hey."

Did someone say something? I was too enveloped in the lyrics to open my eyes and look up, or care.

𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵-

"HEY!"

"JESUS CHR-" I jumped in my seat at the sudden shout, causing my headphones to slide off and hang around my neck. I glared up at the owner of the annoying voice which had interrupted my brooding.

Hyunjin smiled down at me before taking a sip of coffee.

I noticed that he was holding his cup, full of liquid, almost directly over the audio console.

"Get that away from the sound board," I waved a hand, eyeing his dangerously hovering cup of coffee.

He smirked, and just to spite me, he moved to hold the coffee directly over the spread of electronics on the desk in front of me.

"No, " Hyunjin simply stated, flashing another mischievous grin.

I tensed, gasping through my teeth.

"Hyunjin, if you spill that, you're so dead."

He rolled his eyes, motioning toward the setup. "This stuff looks cheap anyways-"

"As if you would know anything about radio equipment," I commented with a scoff.

He ignored me and continued, "-It's probably only, like, 10 million won." Taking another sip of his Americano, he studied the setup before shaking his head in disapointment, as if it was the equipment's fault that it was so cheap.

Hyunjin came from a moderately well-off family; he always used to brag about the prestigious school he studied at and his wealthy background. During the year that I've worked with him, though, he changed. He started to gain more confidence in his love for music, dance and artistry and his interests in those usually took the lead in my conversations with him.

That was something I loved about him, and I was glad that we shared the same passions, and could talk with each other comfortably about them. But whether Hyunjin talked about art and dance or playfully bragged about anything and everything, his attractive elegance never faultered. His sleek black hair, almost touching his shoulders, was tied half-up today with a white ribbon, which brought together his fashionable outfit.

He always carried himself with an admirable grace, but the image of Hyunjin spewing out his coffee in surprise was anything but elegant. It was, however, absolutely hilarious.

"300 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯??" He repeated in disbelief, covering his mouth after his latest sip of Americano left it. "...That's my apartment!"

He glanced at the equipment, quickly snatching his coffee away from it and stepping back.

I nodded smugly, patting the setup like it was a child I was proud of. But all this stuff wasn't even mine. "Yep, at least, that's what Chan told me."

Bahng Chan, our boss and manager, lovingly built this radio station up himself - well, not the building, but the radio part. He's nurtured it for years. Radio and music is also his passion, and he's given as much love to us, his employees, as he has the station. He's such a soft, lovable guy, and since I met him, I've looked up to him and admired him for the work and dedication he's put into this place.

Speaking of Chan, he walked into the studio with a pair of headphones around his neck and a tablet with which he was dutifully monitoring the broadcast. He ran a hand through his wavy hair, recently dyed blonde.

"Chan, you never told me you were so rich," Hyunjin watched him skeptically over the rim of his cup, his eyes gleaming with fresh interest.

Chan ignored him and looked to me. "Hana, the set ends in seven minutes, have your info ready, yeah?"

"Info?" I glanced over to Hyunjin, leaning back on the desk with his legs crossed. "Were you just here to annoy me, or do you have something for me?"

He tossed a notebook in front of me with a smile before taking another sip of coffee. "Both."

I picked it up and flipped through it, scanning Hyunjin's neat cursive handwriting. As the journalist for our team, Hyunjin had the duty of acquiring any exclusive news and information and bringing it back to be broadcast to Seoul for the day.

𝘈𝘌'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 "𝘚𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦" 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥...

𝘊𝘌𝘖 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘗𝘈𝘎𝘌 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦...

𝘏𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘫𝘪𝘯'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦...

I looked up at Chan for confirmation as I read the next line, confused. "A new intern?"

A pen had somehow ended up in his hand, and he was twirling it between his fingers as he pored over the broadcast statistics on his tablet. He nodded absentmindedly, without looking up. "Yeah, good guy, amazing voice. Very talented." He checked his watch. "He should have been in at 7:00..."

He lifted his eyes to meet mine as he added with a smile, "I thought he could co-host with you."

I hesitantly smiled back.

𝘊𝘰-𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦...?

Since I started working here a year ago and Chan assigned me as the DJ for the morning hours, I had gotten used to working by myself. I was also pretty good at it, but...

I liked the idea of doing this with someone else, having someone to laugh with on air and drown in the emotions of the music off air.

I checked the clock on the wall. It was almost 8:10. Wasn't he supposed to be here by now?

A subtle set of clicks resounded throughout the almost quiet station as the front door, then the studio door opened and closed behind someone rushing inside.

The man's low voice startled me as he spoke with a quick bow towards all three of us.

"Ah, I'm here! Sorry I'm late."

My head snapped towards the door and I studied him for a moment, my eyes widening.

𝘞𝘰𝘢𝘩... 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦?