Chapter 7 — Rising Voices, Fading Clues
Jay / Kang Jae-rin's POV
The first time I walked into the recording studio alone, I almost turned around and left.
The hallway smelled like coffee and new equipment. Posters of famous Korean singers covered the walls, and every step I took echoed softly on the polished floor.
Three months ago, I had been performing on a street corner in Hongdae with a cheap microphone and a borrowed speaker.
Now I was standing inside a real studio.
I adjusted the black mask over my face, a habit I had developed without thinking. Even though the people here already knew me as Kang Jae-rin, I still kept it on most of the time.
The door to Studio B opened.
"Jae-rin?"
I looked up.
It was Park Hyun-woo.
"Come in," he said with a small smile.
Inside the room, producers were sitting behind a huge mixing desk. Headphones hung from the microphone stand in the center.
My song lyrics sat on the music stand.
My song.
I swallowed.
One of the producers turned his chair toward me.
"Ready?"
I nodded, even though my hands were shaking.
Park Hyun-woo noticed.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"A little," I admitted.
He chuckled lightly.
"That's normal. Even famous artists get nervous before recording."
That made me feel slightly better.
I stepped into the recording booth and placed the headphones over my ears. The world outside suddenly went quiet.
Just me.
The microphone.
And the song I had written on sleepless nights.
The music started.
For a moment, my mind drifted somewhere far away.
A noisy classroom.
Someone throwing a pen at someone else.
Edrix laughing loudly.
Ci-N arguing with the teacher.
Angelo trying to keep everyone under control.
And Keifer leaning back in his chair with that annoying smirk.
My chest tightened.
I quickly pushed the memories away.
That life was gone.
I closed my eyes and began to sing.
The lyrics came out softly at first, then stronger.
The song was about leaving.
About feeling like you didn't belong anywhere.
About running away and hoping the world might finally give you a place to breathe.
When I finished, the room was silent.
For a few seconds, no one said anything.
Then the producer's voice came through the headphones.
"…Wow."
I slowly removed the headphones.
Park Hyun-woo was smiling.
"That," he said, "was perfect."
I blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
One of the producers nodded.
"You didn't just sing it," he said. "You felt it."
Of course I did.
Because the song wasn't just a story.
It was my life.
Later that evening, I met my friends near the Han River.
Yuna was already jumping up and down before I even reached them.
"How did it go?!"
Minjae laughed.
"She hasn't even sat down yet and you're interrogating her."
I finally smiled.
"It went well."
Yuna screamed.
"I knew it!"
Sora clapped excitedly while Jisoo nearly spilled her drink.
"You're going to be famous," Minjae said.
I shook my head quickly.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
But deep down… something inside me was starting to believe it.
Weeks passed.
Then one morning my phone exploded with notifications.
Yuna burst into my apartment without knocking.
"JAE-RIN!"
I jumped up from the couch.
"What happened?!"
She shoved her phone in my face.
"My Hidden Voice – Kang Jae-rin"
My first single.
Released overnight.
Views were climbing rapidly.
Ten thousand.
Fifty thousand.
One hundred thousand.
My hands started shaking.
"Is this real?"
Minjae walked in behind her holding a laptop.
"It's trending," he said.
"Trending?" I repeated.
"In Korea."
For a moment the room spun slightly.
Somewhere across the world…
People were listening to my voice.
And they didn't know anything about the girl I used to be.
They didn't know about Section E.
About my past.
About the pain.
All they knew was the music.
And maybe that was enough.
Still… that night when I sat by my window watching the lights of Seoul, a quiet thought crossed my mind again.
I wondered if anyone back home had heard the song.
Keifer's POV
The music in the bar was loud.
Too loud.
But I didn't ask them to lower it.
Because silence was worse.
Silence reminded me of her.
I sat alone at the corner table of my private bar while the bartender placed another drink in front of me.
"Last one," he said firmly.
"You said that three drinks ago," I muttered.
He crossed his arms.
"And I meant it this time."
I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
The door opened.
A few seconds later someone sat across from me.
I didn't even need to look up.
"Aries."
"You look terrible," he said.
"That seems to be everyone's favorite comment lately."
He ignored that.
"Any news?"
I shook my head slowly.
"Nothing."
The private investigators had spent months searching.
Airports.
Passenger lists.
Hotels.
Immigration records.
Nothing.
It was like Jay had erased herself from the world.
Edrix and Ci-N arrived a few minutes later, followed by Angelo.
Angelo looked the most tired out of all of us.
Probably because Tita Gemma cried almost every day.
"She would've called you at least," Edrix said quietly.
I stared at the table.
"Maybe she didn't want to."
"No," Ci-N said firmly. "Jay's not like that."
But none of us really knew anymore.
Weeks passed like that.
School.
Searching.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Then one afternoon something strange happened.
I was driving when the radio suddenly changed songs.
A soft piano started playing.
Then a voice.
A girl's voice.
Clear.
Emotional.
Familiar.
I froze.
The lyrics were about leaving a place that never felt like home.
About disappearing so no one could hurt you anymore.
My chest tightened.
I pulled the car over.
Why did this voice feel so familiar?
The host on the radio spoke after the song ended.
"That was the rising new artist Kang Jae-rin with her debut single 'My Hidden Voice.' The mysterious singer has quickly gained attention online, especially because she always performs wearing a mask."
A masked singer.
I frowned slightly.
Something about it bothered me.
But I shook the thought away.
Jay couldn't sing like that.
Could she?
Later that night I met the others again.
Edrix was scrolling through his phone.
"Have you guys seen this new singer?" he asked.
Ci-N leaned over his shoulder.
"Oh yeah. She's everywhere online."
Angelo glanced at the screen briefly.
"What's her name again?"
"Kang Jae-rin."
My chest tightened again.
Why did hearing that voice earlier feel like someone reopening an old wound?
I grabbed the phone from Edrix.
The video showed a girl on stage.
Wearing a black mask.
Singing into a microphone.
The crowd was silent while she performed.
Her voice filled the room.
For a moment… something inside me shifted.
It wasn't the same.
But something about the way she sang…
The emotion.
The pain.
It reminded me of someone.
I quickly handed the phone back.
"Good voice," I said casually.
Then I stood up and walked away.
But later that night, alone in my room, I searched the name again.
Kang Jae-rin.
Videos.
Articles.
Performances.
Every single one showed the same thing.
A masked singer.
A mysterious girl.
No real identity.
I leaned back in my chair staring at the screen.
"Where are you, Jay…" I murmured quietly.
Because even though the world was moving forward…
Even though months had passed…
A part of me was still stuck on the day she disappeared.
And I had no idea…
That thousands of kilometers away…
The girl I was searching for was already becoming someone the whole world would soon recognize.
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Heyyy lovely readerrss hope u like this chapter I think this is my longest one yet I will upload 1 or 2 more chapters today hope u like my story please do comment💖💖