[G28] SING ME (LIKE A CHOIR)
Prompt Code: G28
Title: Sing Me (like a choir)
Rating: g
Word Count: 4k+
Summary: Jongin is a YouTuber who makes acoustic covers of songs. Upon public request he decides to make a collaboration video with the faceless singer and fellow YouTuber Dyo, whose voice has stolen Jongin’s heart.
Warnings: None
AN: Kyungsoo singing in English is pure perfection, thank you very much. And if he and Jongin were YouTubers I’d watch their videos all day long. Enjoy the reading!
THE CHAINSMOKERS - DON’T LET ME DOWN (Acoustic Cover)
Kim Jongin
1 day ago - 2, 538 views
Find The El Dorado 1 day ago
Excellent cover!! Can’t wait for the next one xoxo
Flowers Over Boys 1 day ago
THIS IS SO GOOD OH MY GODDDDDD YOU’RE SO TALENTED
Bey’s Lemonade 11 hours ago
Pls check out Dyo’s Music!!! It’d be great if u guys could collab
Incorrect Vlogger 10 hours ago
OMG YES PLS COLLAB WITH DYO’S MUSIC, MY LIFE WOULD BE COMPLETE
I Didn’t Kill Sirius Black 2 hours ago
DYO JUST POSTED A VIDEO OH MY LORD GO CHECK IT OUT PLS
xxLolliLolliPopxx 34 minutes ago
Please do a collab with Dyo’s Music!!
SooMan 20 minutes ago
PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS DO A COLLAB WITH DYO
Those were just a few of the hundreds of comments posted under his most recent video, an acoustic rendition of a song he hasn’t been able to take out of his head for the past weeks and there’s still a whole bunch of them practically begging him to check some channel called Dyo’s Music and to collaborate with them.
He’s been making videos and uploading them to his channel for almost two years now, but he started to become recognized after some website featured one of his covers in an article and now he has thousands of subscribers and his videos have hundreds of thousands of views. He never thought that one of his hobbies would become not just a way to express his emotions but also a platform for reaching out to thousands of people. He never sings, though, because he’s very insecure of his voice so he lets his guitar do the talking most of the time, though on occasion he would start humming along to the song he was playing.
He ignored who this Dyo’s Music guy or girl was, but they seemed to have gained some popularity among people and for some unknown reason they wanted them to collaborate. Curiosity gets the best of him in the end and types “Dyo’s Music” into the search box, and clicks on the video at the top -a cover of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” that was uploaded barely a few hours ago and has barely a few hundreds of views. He sits back and waits for it to load, reaching out for his iced tea and taking a sip in the meantime.
And then his mind is blown away.
The singer -a young man- seems to prefer having his face hidden and all Jongin can see is a black, long sleeved V-neck shirt and a very neat bedroom in the background, and he just wishes he had a face to match to the smooth voice and impeccable English (his is kinda broken). He finishes watching the video and immediately goes to his channel to check the rest of the uploads, hoping there’s one where the mystery singer’s face is shown, and feels his heart racing in excitement as he goes through them.
There are covers of Maroon5, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Sia, The Weeknd, some more from Justin Bieber and even some in Korean, and his rendition of each song is absolutely perfect. Jongin notices that this Dyo guy tends to sing acoustic, lower key versions of the songs instead of sticking to the original tempo and beat, and he can understand now why people were requesting for him to collaborate with Dyo.
Jongin has the guitar skills while Dyo has a voice as smooth as melting chocolate; it was sweet yet intense, and his voice was able to seep into your pores and crawl under your skin, making your little hairs stand on edge during the entire song. In Jongin’s case, he also found himself holding his breath whenever Dyo hit a high note or pulled a flawless falsetto.
Yes, he’d love to collaborate with Dyo’s Music -no, he needs to. He also needs to know the face behind the most glorious voice he’s ever had the blessing of hearing. He feels purified, even, and when he checks the time he finally notices that almost an hour has gone by since he started checking Dyo’s videos and he had a sudden awakening.
The information about Dyo is scarce, consisting of links to his Facebook and SoundCloud pages and finally a contact email that Jongin saves for future purposes, and goes through some more disappointment when the Facebook page still doesn’t provide a picture of the singer’s face. He returns to his YouTube Channel and clicks on one of Dyo’s videos, allowing his voice to lull him to sleep.
--
From: Dyo K.
Sent: March 21st, 2015. 15:34 P.M.
To: Kim Jongin
Subject: RE: I saw your videos and…
… and I saw yours too. You’re very talented and I love your covers. Thank you for contacting me, I’d be delighted to collaborate with you. Do you use Skype? If so, please add me and we can talk there. My username is…
Jongin has to read the message twice to make sure his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him, because Dyo just replied to the email he sent earlier in which he briefly introduced himself and suggested they worked together per request of many of his viewers, and he’d gotten an affirmative answer.
He was going to collaborate with Dyo, the guy with the most angelic voice ever and who had stolen Jongin’s heart unknowingly. Dyo’s true identity remained a secret from the public eye, but Jongin hoped he would be lucky enough to soon have a name and a face to think about while Dyo’s voice gave him chills and made his heart beat erratically, as if he were on a rollercoaster.
Naturally, he adds Dyo on Skype that same afternoon and leaves him a message asking him to let him know when he’s available for chatting, and then waits. And waits. The wait is becoming unbearable at this point but it’s been only a few hours since Jongin left the message for Dyo and since the guy has a life of his own it’s highly probable he just hasn’t had the chance to reply. He definitely isn’t ignoring Jongin, right? Why would he?
“Holy snakes…!” Jongin exclaims when a message notification from Skype pops up, and immediately clicks on it to open the conversation window with none other than Dyo himself. He can feel his blood pumping and heart racing in excitement, and promptly reads his reply.
Sorry, I had classes earlier and just saw your message. This is the very first time I do anything like this so I’m really excited. Your covers are amazing, by the way.
And that’s how it all starts. That’s all it takes for Jongin to get completely hooked onto Dyo and his shy yet charming personality, complemented perfectly by his rich and smooth voice that soon would be used to sing another wonderful rendition of some song they fancied and Jongin would be playing his guitar not only as accompaniment the song but also to try to win Dyo’s heart.
Chatting is all they do at first, simply talking about the music they like and getting to know each other, and is during their conversations that Jongin learns that Dyo is a year older than him and despite his apparent shy and reserved personality he’s actually a really smart and funny person with a somewhat weird sense of humor.
It’s after a week of chatting with Dyo that Jongin gets a message on Skype one night and he immediately pushes aside his text books in favor of focusing entirely on the other, reading his message and immediately breaking into a wide grin. Talking to him always puts him in a great mood.
I know this is weird but could you give me your opinion on something? I’m practicing another song and I’m too shy to ask anyone else…
Jongin replies with a yeah, of course! and then Dyo is calling him. Jongin stares blankly at his screen for a moment before he realizes what’s going on and quickly accepts the video call, glancing around to make sure his room is decent enough for the other to see. Disappointment creeps under his skin as soon as a black graphic shirt appears on his screen instead of the face of the person he’s been longing to see, but he can’t afford to complain and make a scene just because the other is reserved and would rather not show his face to someone who’s relatively still a stranger.
“Hi!” Dyo chirps, and his voice sends chills down Jongin’s spine. His voice is still as deep and smooth when he talks, and Jongin hopes he isn’t imagining the excitement tinging it. Jongin immediately sits up and smiles brightly at his computer screen, even waving at it (and thinks that if he were a dog his tail would be wagging with the same enthusiasm). “Sorry for asking you this all of a sudden, but I need an honest opinion and you’re very reliable and honest.”
Why yes, he is.
“Don’t worry, I’m flattered I was even taken into consideration! So what song are you practicing?” Dyo shifts a little.
“You know James Bay, right?” Jongin knows him. “I’ve been kind of obsessed with “Hold Back the River” for a couple days now and I wanted to try making a cover of it but our voices are quite different so I’m not sure if it sounds decent enough or if it’s actually a complete disaster.” Jongin lightly rolls his eyes and props his elbows onto the desk, resting his chin on his hands.
“Let me hear and I’ll tell you then. Whenever you’re ready.” Dyo nods and clears his throat before taking a deep breath, and then begins to sing. While it’s true that his voice is nothing like the original singer’s, it somehow fits the song just as well and it’s now that Jongin is enjoying an a capella version of the song that he realizes how powerful Dyo’s voice actually is.
There isn’t any background music yet Jongin is completely captivated, and he can’t help but marvel over the singer’s flawless pronunciation and ability to convey both simple and complex emotions through just voice, the slightest inflection being just enough to make Jongin forget how to properly breathe. Dyo has that effect on him and he’s completely unaware of it.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Dyo calls once he’s done singing, startling Jongin who promptly straightens up and clears his throat, eliciting a low chuckle from Dyo. He knows then he’s going to dream of it and probably be thinking about it all day long tomorrow. “How bad was it? I’m open to criticism so don’t hold back.”
“Are you kidding me? It was amazing!” Jongin exclaims and Dyo brings his hands to his face, and Jongin imagines him squishing his flushed cheeks. “You struggled to reach the high notes the way he did, though, but let me tell you something.” Dyo visible tenses, and Jongin smiles softly in an attempt to ease him. “Don’t try to imitate him, Dyo, but rather use that awesome voice you have to make the song your own. That’s how it sounds best.”
“Thanks,” says Dyo after a few seconds of silence, and Jongin can tell that he’s smiling. “Just one more thing…” Jongin’s eyes widen when the camera suddenly adjusts and a face materializes in his screen, and it takes him a moment to acknowledge that this face belongs to the voice that has unknowingly lulled him to sleep several times and makes his heart flutter. “My name isn’t Dyo. My name is Kyungsoo.”
--
Dyo’s real name is Do Kyungsoo and his English is so good because he lived in L.A. for five years, and he never shows his face in videos because someone once told him he looked funny when singing and ever since he’s been very aware of his facial expressions. Jongin doesn’t think that he looks funny at all.
Rather, he looks deep in emotion with his bushy eyebrows knitted together and eyelids hiding his eyes for a second when the lyrics get to him, and Jongin wishes he could jump into the screen and appear in Kyungsoo’s room and touch him, just to reassure himself that he’s real. How could anyone be so talented?
Lately, more often than not, Jongin has caught himself humming to love songs under his breath.
And, when he gets home and sees the notification that Kyungsoo −aka Dyo− has just uploaded a brand new cover that just so happens to be of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”, he loses it. His voice is so clear and smooth and loaded with emotion and Jongin crosses his fingers, secretly hoping the song isn’t dedicated to any girl in particular.
The set-up is the same one he uses on every one of his videos: a faceless singer and a neat room in the background that allows the viewer to focus on Kyungsoo’s voice, except this time there’s something different. This time Kyungsoo’s mouth can be seen, and Jongin notices that he keeps smiling through the entire song. Near the end of the video, once the song has come to an end, Kyungsoo bites his lip for a split of a second as he waves to the camera right before it fades to black, and Jongin can almost see the singer’s subscriber and view count skyrocketing.
Naturally, Jongin leaves a comment under Dyo’s video, feeling special and somewhat important to be the only one who knows the singer’s real name and face. Heck, they’ve even video called twice! When people see his comment they’re going to connect the dots and realize that the collaboration video is impending because yes, Jongin and Kyungsoo are now friends.
Kim Jongin 2 minutes ago
This version is so much better than the original! I’m still blown away by your talent ;)
As predicted, soon there’s people leaving comments on Jongin’s latest video −one where he’s playing the Mario Bros theme on his guitar to his dog Monggu− and most of them are about him and Kyungsoo, urging them to make a video together, and Jongin can’t help but be amused by the effect he and the singer have on people. Oh, just imagine how crazy it’ll be when they finally give the audiences what they’ve been asking for!
“So you saw my video?” Kyungsoo asks later that night, during a video call. He’s wearing baby blue pajama pants with little ducks printed on them and a white plain T-shirt, while Jongin is still wearing the same shirt from earlier and no pants. Just his underwear.
“I did, as soon as I was notified.”
“What did you think?” Kyungsoo squints at the screen for a brief moment, then reaches to the side and slips on his glasses. He requires glasses to see, but during the day he wears contacts and at night he sticks to his regular round glasses that takes a couple years off him and makes his lips look even more plump. Good for his eyes, bad for Jongin’s heart.
“I’m not a fan of Justin Bieber but if it’s you singing his songs, I can deal with it.” This makes Kyungsoo laugh, obviously embarrassed, and he shifts a bit. “Seriously, though, it was amazing. Except for one little thing.”
“And that is?” Jongin grins (dumbly) and reaches out for his guitar, showing it at Kyungsoo before perching it onto his thigh. “Are you gonna sing for me?”
“No, you’ll be in charge of the singing and I’ll just accompany you. Whenever you’re ready.” Kyungsoo nods and takes a deep breath before counting to four, and then Jongin begins playing. They go through the entire song, and once it comes to and end and Jongin strikes the strings for one last time they’re both smiling proudly at their accomplishment. “Ah, I wish I had recorded this! It was perfect.”
“Are you from the area?” Kyungsoo asks then while Jongin puts away his guitar, and the guitarist hums and nods in confirmation. “I was thinking we could meet up this weekend, if that’s okay with you. We could practice and maybe even record some songs.” Jongin cocks his head and finds, upon further inspection of Kyungsoo’s face, that he’s blushing. It’s faint, but Jongin is certain that his cheeks look a little pinker than usual.
“Sounds like a plan. Write me your address and I’ll be there with my guitar, ready to make some music.” A smile blossoms on Kyungsoo’s face and Jongin thinks that, if he was Kyungsoo’s boyfriend, he’d indeed never let him go.
--
Weekend finally rolls about and Jongin is standing outside Kyungsoo’s place, waiting for someone to get the door after ringing the bell announcing his arrival. He lives by himself while Jongin still lives with his mother and their dogs (his sisters are married and his father works out of town), so that explains he can sing to his heart’s content without being called out for it.
Does Jongin look good? He hopes so, because he spent half an hour trying to decide on what to wear and ended up going for black pants and a comfortable T-shirt layered with a plaid one. After a moment the door flies open revealing the inhabitant of the apartment, and the first thing Jongin notices is that Kyungsoo’s eyes are so much more bright in real life.
“Hey, come on in.” Kyungsoo says, stepping aside to let Jongin inside, and shuts the door. Jongin takes off his shoes and beams at the other, finally taking in the singer’s appearance. He’s shorter than him but well built, his lips are so much more plump than they look on camera and his hair isn’t jet black but rather a very dark shade of brown and holy snakes, Jongin is so overwhelmed to be in Kyungsoo’s presence that he can feel his knees wobbling a bit. “You okay there?”
Yes, and no. Jongin is thrilled to be here but he’s started to wonder what’s the protocol for meeting someone you’ve been Skyping with and listening to them sing on a daily basis for the past weeks. Should they shake hands? Maybe hug?
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit nervous.” Jongin admits, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling timidly at Kyungsoo.
“Same here. I can’t believe a YouTube superstar is here, talking to me.”
“I’m not a YouTube superstar!” Jongin protests, making Kyungsoo laugh. “I was just lucky enough to get featured in some article but let’s be real. Among the two of us, you are the most talented.”
“Now you’re flattering me and being delusional. I’m pretty much average.” Jongin raises an eyebrow because if someone like Do Kyungsoo is average, then what does that make the rest of them? “Let’s go to my room, I got everything set up there.” Jongin obliges and follows Kyungsoo to the space where he doesn’t only sleep but also records his videos, the faint smell of lavender and something citrusy immediately tickling his nose.
“So here’s where the magic happens.” Jongin comments, setting down his guitar and pulling a chair while Kyungsoo occupies the swivel one by the desk. A video camera is already set up, as well as a microphone. Jongin is familiar with these devices so he naturally isn’t intimidated by them, and therefore begins to take his guitar out of its case. “What do you feel like singing?”
“How about ‘Girl on fire’?” Kyungsoo suggests, shrugging.
“The one from Alicia Keys?”
“That one.”
“Let’s do it.” Jongin agrees, perching the guitar onto his thigh and looking for the tabs in his phone, taking five minutes to practice until he feels comfortable and confident enough to pull it off. Kyungsoo’s been warming up his voice in the meantime, mumbling under breath and tapping his knee with his fingertips. “I think we’re ready.”
“We are.” Kyungsoo reaches out to turn on the camera and microphone, and Jongin realizes upon looking at the small screen that this is going to be the very first time Kyungsoo’s whole face would make an appearance on camera.
“How about we do a bunch of songs? Just record the whole thing and then we can pick which ones make the cut.”
“I’d like that. Ready?”
Jongin nods and the rest is history. Their synchronization is impeccable, and whoever didn’t know about them could easily think they’ve been doing this for years while in reality this is the very first time they do this. Once the first song is over they take a minute each to pull themselves together, then another to discuss what comes next. They end up doing covers of Fly to the Sky’s “Missing You”, Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” and even Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out”, and it’s then that they stop because Kyungsoo needs to give his throat a break and Jongin’s fingers seem to need one too.
Half an hour later they’re sitting on Kyungsoo’s floor with their backs against the bed and legs stretched out, a box of pizza and two glasses of soda being the only things separating them.
“We should do this a weekly thing.” Kyungsoo suggests all of a sudden, licking the grease off his lips and reaching for another slice of pizza.
“You mean, coming over and recording new songs for our channels?”
“Mostly you coming over.” Jongin looks over at Kyungsoo, his eyes wide and teeth sunk in his half-eaten slice of pizza. “And we could do other stuff besides practicing songs and making videos. Stuff friends do. Maybe we could even hang out sometime.”
“That’d be nice.” Jongin admits, smiling brightly at Kyungsoo. He wondered if holding hands was among the “other stuff” they could do.
--
EXO - SING FOR YOU FT DYO’S MUSIC (Acoustic Cover)
Kim Jongin
1 week ago - 35, 570 views
Cécile J.P. 1 week ago
My mind has been blown away ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Blue Ribbons 5 days ago
THIS IS SO GOOD OH MY GODDDDDD YOU’RE SO TALENTED
Mockingjay Jay 5 days ago
Dyo’s vocals <33333333
Baekhyun’s Toenail 5 days ago
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? ARE YOU GUYS FRIENDS?? PLEASE DO MORE COVERS TOGETHER
Alice Park 4 days ago
Woah woah woah! You guys are amazing!
SooMan 3 days ago
OHMY G OD YOU DID IT I CANTB ELIEVE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY COVERED THIS SONG
This was the fifth collaboration video they did together within a span of three months, and people still left comments praising his guitar skills and Kyungsoo’s voice −except, of course, they didn’t know of his real name and still referred to him as Dyo. Jongin had been right about the effect they had on people, because they had become incredibly popular and now Kyungsoo’s covers got thousands of views within hours. And he’d started to show his face on camera, too.
Jongin has his headphones on while the camera is pointed at him, his eyes trained on the way his fingers slide across the strings of the guitar though he would occasionally glance up and give a small smile to the camera, the music still flowing into his ears. He’s so focused on it he doesn’t notice Kyungsoo walking in and standing behind him, and it’s only when he feels arms locking around his neck and the pressure of plump lips against his cheek that he snaps out of his daze.
“I’m not editing that out.” He declares, removing his headphones and turning his head lightly to the side to look at Kyungsoo who simply shrugs.
“Then leave it. That might help clear up some rumors and questions about our relationship.”
“Rumors?” Jongin raises a brow and from his position he could see the blush spreading across Kyungsoo’s cheeks.
“People are asking if we’re dating.”
“We are.”
“I know.” Kyungsoo chuckles and rolls his eyes, still hugging Jongin’s neck. “Wouldn’t this be a great way to come out to them?” Jongin falls silent then and briefly glances over at the camera, a grin forming on his face as he turns to look at the other.
“We just did.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he goes pale, realization dawning upon him. “We’re live.” Jongin turns to the camera again, giving a dazzling smile to their invisible audience. “And yes, we’re dating since last month.”
This earns him another kiss, this one on the lips for their audience to see.