Yoobin leaned against the back of her chair as she waited patiently for her advisor to come in for their meeting that he’d called. She lightly tapped her fingers against the wooden arm rests of the seat, patterns to the latest piece she’d been working on for her upper level piano class. The door creaked slightly, the handle clicking open. She turned her head to see her advisor slowly make his way into the room, in his arms was a mountain of sheet music. She quickly stood and took half the stack without a word.
“Thank you, Yoobin-ah.”
She nodded with a bow as she set them on the desk and took her seat once more.
“What was it you needed to ask me about?” She nervously looked to the side.
“It’s about the Fall Honors Recital.”
Her head snapped towards him, she had missed the auditions and was too nervous about them to even ask for a private audition.
“T-the recital?”
“Yes, I want you to perform as accompaniment for it.”
“Me? I-I missed the auditions for it, sir.”
He grinned, “I know, but the board has elected you as the appointed performer for this semester.”

Once a year they selected one student for each semester who didn’t audition to perform for the honors recitals. Yoobin ran her hands through her hair as she looked over the sheet music for the performance. She was paired with some vocal performer, she didn’t know the details. She only knew that they had a private rehearsal at 3:00 in the music buildings private practice rooms. She pulled the key she’d been given to the room out of her cardigan pocket and turned the gold object over in her hands. Room 492.
It was 2:30, she decided better to be early than late. She wasn’t really sure who the performer was but she didn’t want to step on toes with the vocalists, they were known to be a bit much most of the time.

She called for the elevator and once the glass doors dinged open she stepped into the box. The doors slid shut and it beeped four times before opening on the fourth floor. She made her way down the hall to find the room her advisor had told her to go to. 492, it was the last door on the right hand side of the hall she’d turned down. She pressed the key into the lock and turned the handle.

The door finally pushed open and she saw a young man with orange-ish red hair seated at the piano bench holding sheet music. He lifted his eyes to meet hers from where he sat.
She bowed quickly, standing up straight she spoke.
“Hello, my name is Yang Yoobin. I’ll be your accompaniment for the recital.”
He stood up finally and bowed as well.
“My name is Yoo Kihyun, nice to meet you.”
He stood up straight and stood a no more than four inches taller than her.
“Have you read through the sheet music yet?” He questioned as he moved to stand in the center of the room.
Kihyun waited patiently for the piano student to finish setting up her music. She finally looked over at him.
“I haven’t really looked at it, I only got it a couple hours ago.”
He fought back a sigh, she was unprepared.
He’d been working on that solo for months, ever since August when his advisor had helped him pick it out.
Her dark brown eyes met his, she blinked a couple times and then turned back to the music in front of her.
“I hope you don’t mind a bit of sight reading.” She chuckled as she flipped open the booklet.
He tried to laugh, unprepared.
She let her long, thin fingers rest on the keys. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“Ready?”
He said nothing, only nodding in agreement.

Yoobin was already done with this boy’s attitude, she looked at him and began playing the piece she’d been given right before lunch. Her fingers slid from key to key, filling the room with classical Korean music. She wasn’t much for old Korean songs, she was used to playing more European songs.
He opened his mouth and let out a stunning voice.
The words fell from his lips effortlessly, in amazement her fingers fumbled. He stopped dead in the middle of the note and glared at her sharply.
She offered him a semi-apologetic smile and cracked her knuckles before resting her fingers on the keys once more.

“Maybe you should just play through it a few more times without me singing.” Kihyun commented as he looked over at her.
She turned her eyes up to him, an eyebrow quirked. “How gracious.” She muttered quietly, barely loud enough for him to hear.
She began to play the music, her rather short black hair falling along the sides of her face.
He watched carefully. She was probably some girl who got lucky during the auditions for the honors recital. The sound of a dissonant chord struck his ears and he cringed. He was hoping that he would have gotten a good pianist, but it seemed that luck wasn’t quite on his side at that exact moment.
She merely paused and went back to the beginning of the song.
“If you want to sing you can, I’m sure the practice wouldn’t hurt you.” Her comment came quietly from almost beneath the striking of keys.
His eyes narrowed as he looked over to her.

Yoobin shifted her eyes quickly over to Kihyun who was standing there watching her. She wasn’t exactly sure why she’d been paired with him but she was guessing it was because he was probably one of the stars of the recital. The recruited pianist was usually matched with the top ranking vocalist of the cycle. She wasn’t sure that’s how it always worked but it seemed to usually.
He finally began to sing once more and she almost rolled her eyes. He sounded beautiful but it was almost sour on her ears.

An hour past painstakingly slow, finally she closed the key cover and looked at him.
“You should probably stop singing for the time being, it’s not good for your throat.”
He stared at her like she was an idiot.
“I know that, I’m a vocal performer.”
She shrugged and picked up her sheet music.
“When do you want to meet tomorrow?”
“I get out of my choral class at 1:15.”“Okay, I get out of my studio at 1:45. Any time after that.” Yoobin turned to look at him as she placed the folder of music into her bag.
“Fine, 2:00?”
“Sure.” With that she turned and exited the room.

She let out a loud groan as the elevator doors shut tightly.
“He thinks he’s an idol.” She muttered under her breath.
The elevator paused and the doors opened on the third floor. They slid open to reveal Yoongi before her.
“You look pissed off.” He commented as he leaned against the wall of the elevator.
“I was asked to be an accompanist for the honors recital,”“You were asked? That’s quite the honor.”
“Yes, but I got paired with an idol-wannabe.” She grumbled out.
“Who?”
“Yoo Kihyun?”
The blonde shrugged with no real response to the name.
“Oppa, I’m gonna kill him at this rate.”
“No, it’ll be fine. Play well that way I can cheer you on during the recital.”

Kihyun looked at his group text with his friends.
Min-puppy : Was she cute?
SHOMINATOR : That doesn’t matter, did it go okay?
Kihyun let out a sigh, it was painful to be in the same room. She wasn’t very friendly, she seemed to have a lot to say under her breath.
It was fine I guess? She isn’t too friendly? Whatever. It was fine.
Hooney : Who was it? Maybe we know eachother.
* Each other, and her name is Yoobin.
Hooney : Whatever, I think I’ve met her in a piano class. She’s really good. But she’s also a hardass about everything.
MAKNAE : Maybe she just doesn’t like you guys.
With a roll of the eyes Kihyun tucked his phone back into his pocket and made his way across the quad. The cool air of the late fall early winter was starting to chill everyone. The trees shedding their leaves quickly, he tugged his sweater sleeves down over his hands again. He made his way towards the library in hopes of seeing either Hyungwon or Hoseok.

With a sigh Kihyun sat down across from Hoseok and Hyungwon in the library.
“Why are you so annoyed? I’m sure she isn’t so bad.” Hoseok questioned glancing up from his book.
“She hadn’t even looked at the music before she came into the practice room, it was unprofessional.”“She isn’t a professional.”
“-but she wants to become one.”
Hyungwon closed his book and looked at the older boy.
“Just give it time, you have three and a half weeks until the recital.” Hyungwon finally said.
“She should already know it.”
“She was chosen for a reason.” Hyungwon reasoned.
Kihyun folded his arms in exasperation, neither of them were listening to him at all.

Yoobin glanced at her phone again as she waited for her piano class to start, she silently watched the minutes pass by. The door to the piano studio opened and she watched as the white haired Lee Jooheon walked into the room. Jooheon awkwardly shuffled his backpack behind his piano bench, glancing up to make eye contact with Yoobin.
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but closed it quickly and looked back into his backpack.
She raised a brow to herself and turned her attention back to her phone; she scrolled patiently through her instagram feed. The door opened a few more times and finally the clock hit 1:00, she tucked her phone into her bag and sat up properly on her bench as she looked to see her adviser pull out the sheet music for the class.
“Good afternoon, today we’ll be going through some chorals and then there will be a free work period for those who have solos or are accompanying for the fall recital.”
Some people stirred in their seats, mostly the non-piano majors who were their for the required piano course with the BM.

Kihyun glanced at his phone to see the time 1:50, if she was late he would give her one more chance to prove that he shouldn’t request a new accompanist. As the clock shifted to 1:51 the door unlocked and swung open to reveal Yoobin who was a rather cluttered looking mess, her bag tossed haphazardly over her shoulder hair in her face as she quickly closed the door.
She said not a word as she moved to the piano bench, she set her bag down and pulled the booklet from her bag. She set her things down on the ground and took her seat on the bench.
He fought back the urge to offer her a rather bitter hello.
“Hello, I hope your class was good.” She said passively as she flipped through the booklet to the first page.
“Yours as well.” he replied back as he glanced back down at his phone hoping not to look at her.
Hooney : I was thinking of the right girl, she was working on a song during our class… maybe yours.? Idk tho
Yoobin cracked her fingers as she got ready to play the piece she’d dedicated over an hour to the night before and in the class before their scheduled rehearsal. She already had a good deal of it almost perfected.
She began without so much as a spare look at the vocalist. She knew that it didn’t matter if she asked him, she would get a snide look or even a remark that she didn’t feel like dealing with for the time being. Her fingers struck down on the keys lightly as she began the song that she didn’t hate but still didn’t care for much.
With a second of delay he prepared himself to sing, as it came to his que he began to sing softly.
Her fingers fell easily from one key to the next; as the page turn got closer she cautiously began to hit the keys with a single hand.

Kihyun watched as she flipped the page with some difficulty and falter of notes. She regained her skill as soon as her second hand returned to the keys. There was a little relief in the idea that she was learning the music.
He sang more and as the next page turn was getting closer he moved to her; the staff drew to an end on the page and he quickly turned it for her.
Yoobin spared not a glance but nodded her head in appreciation.
He raised his voice towards the end of the song at the climax of the vocals and then came down quickly. The decrescendo leaving the piano a solo sound in the room as the song drew to an end.

The new found silence of the room made Kihyun shift slightly, he glanced at her score and cleared his throat again.
“It sounded really good.” He finally said after a few moments.
“Yeah.” Was all she said in response.
“Again?” He questioned as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
She cast him a small smile and nodded.

The days slipped past, a rehearsal ever afternoon for the two music majors.
Hooney: Hyung! When is the performance? I have to go for my piano class
It’s in four days.
Hooney: Cool! Were all comeing i think
*coming
Hooney: Whatever
Kihyun twisted the key to the private practice room, he glanced over at the piano and he saw that Yoobin wasn’t there yet. He frowned, she had started arriving earlier and earlier as they’d rehearsed more and more. He didn’t like to think about the fact that he was slowly developing feelings for her. He took a seat on the piano bench and opened the cover, he tapped a few keys creating a simple melody. Yoobin made it look easier than it really was.
The lock turned and the door opened, inside walked one of the professors for the piano majors.
“Good afternoon Mr. Yoo, I regret to inform you that Miss. Yang won’t be here for at least two days.”
Kihyun paused before speaking,
“Why?”
“She’s fallen ill and is on bed rest for a couple of days, it seems she’s caught a case of bronchitis. However, she should be here and healthy for the recital on Friday.”
Kihun nodded slightly and turned to pick up his bag once more.
“Well have a good evening.” The professor turned on his heel and left the room.
Kihyun paused before putting his bag back down. He took his seat again and pulled out his own sheet music.

Yoobin pulled on her facemask and began shuffling towards the music building, she knew that she couldn’t miss out on a rehearsal because the performance was in a week. Keeping her head down she went to the stairs, she ran up the steps and finally made it to their room. She shoved the key into the lock and opened the door, much to her relief Kihyun sat on the piano bench. He looked up at her, seemingly startled.
“Y-you’re supposed to be in bed.” He stuttered out looking at her.
“Why do you know that?” She questioned.
“Well, one of the piano professors came in and told me. Shouldn’t you be resting though?”
“No, I can’t afford to miss any of these rehearsals.”
He looked at her with wide eyes, she examined his handsome face.
Their time together had allowed her to see the less negative side of the singer; he wasn’t always bitter and negative.

Kihyun looked over at her as she sat on the bench and set out her music. Her skin looked paler than usual, dark circles under her large eyes. She rested her fingers on the keys and glanced over at him. He nodded, still worried about her health. She began the song, taking time with each keystroke to make sure she was doing it correctly.
He began to sing, softly at first and then slowly louder.
The song reached its climax and he began to lower his voice and the tone, his vibrato more noticeable. Yoobin’s cheeks lifted for a second into what he figured was a smile and then returned to her resting concentrating face. The song drew to an end and she looked at him.
“I realized that you’ll have to stand during your performance to get a good mark, you should probably stop flipping my pages.” She chuckled, her voice sounding hoarse and dry.
“You - you should get some hot tea or something. We can take a little break and go get something warm, I think it would be nice for my throat too.”

Kihyun just hoped that she’d go for the idea, after a few seconds she nodded. She stood from her seat and grabbed her bag.
“You should be wearing something warmer than just that hoodie.” He muttered.
“No, I’m fine. I’m not even that sick.”
“Right…..Because your voice normally sounds like that. Yoobin-ssi, it’s okay to be sick.”“Not before this recital.” Was all she said.
He shook his head and passed her his heavier coat for her to wear over her hoodie. She looked at him with an exasperated expression.
“What if you get sick?” She commented.
“Then I’ll sing anyways, plus ten minutes of cold air isn’t going to get me sick.”She took the coat and pulled it on over herself, with that he turned to the door and opened it.
“Let’s get soup and hot tea.”

Yoobin glanced at Kihyun out of the corner of her eye, he pulled his sweater sleeves down over his hands in order to keep them warm. She felt bad for him giving her his coat, she should have brought her own.
“Kihyun-ssi, do you want your coat back? You look cold.” She croaked out.
“Nope, I’m good thanks.” He said quickly, he led her towards the Dim-sum shop on campus.
Hot Chinese tea, she thought with a slight smile.

Kihyun looked at the girl sitting across from him, she and pulled her mask down to take a drink of her tea.
“So, when did you get sick?” He questioned before taking a sip of his own tea.
“I started feeling ill on Friday night, my throat was kinda sore after we’d finished but I have to keep goin’ ya know?”
“Yeah, but if you feel worse please don’t push yourself.”
She turned her eyes up to meet his, her thin face blushed from the cold and a possible fever.
“I can’t afford to miss this show, I have to prove that I was the right choice for the appointed pianist.”
The whole world froze for a split second, she was the chosen accompanist? That meant that she was the best pianist from her major for the cycle, that meant that he was the best sing for the cycle.
As his world unraveled around him the soups they’d ordered were brought to them.

Yoobin glanced up from her soup, Kihyun stared at her dumbfounded.
“What?” She croaked.
“You-I, Well…..I didn’t realize you were the appointment for the semester.”
“Yeah?” She raised a brow and turned her gaze back to her soup to take a spoonful.
“Yeah…” He trailed off, he took a bite of his soup to fill the silence.
She shook her head, a smirk falling on her face. She knew that he had thought she’d skidded by in the auditions but in all actuality she was one of the better performers of her major.

“My throat is better now,” Yoobin commented as they made their way back towards the music building.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that.” Kihyun said glancing at her, the sky was turning an orange pink hue behind them.
“Do you think that we’ll be able to get more work done, I think we’ve got most of it memorized….well you do.” She chuckled quietly as she walked a pace ahead of him.
“I think we’re doing okay, we have it almost down completely. With the amount of time we have left I’m sure we’ll do fine.” He looked at her again and saw the light catching her clear skin, the orange glow hitting and catching on her slightly tanned complexion. Her usually cold appearing eyes glittered in the evening lights. Slowly but surely the lamps across campus began to flicker on one at a time.
“Kihyun-ssi?” Her quiet and still raspy voice called.
He glanced over at her, she’d fallen in line with his steps.
“Yes?” He asked, trying not to seem like he’d been staring at her.
“Thank you for not requesting a different pianist.”
He froze for a second, why did she even know that he’d thought about that.
“I’m glad that I didn’t….” He mumbled.

Yoobin yawned as she put the cover on the keys, Kihyun looked over at her.
“You should make sure you rest up, do you have any classes tomorrow?"
She saw the worry in his eyes.
“I have my piano studio before we rehearse.”
“.....Okay, but make sure you rest.”
“I will, promise.” She extended her pinkie to him with a slight grin on her face.
He took it, his pale cheeks slightly reddened.
“Okay, but let me walk you back to your dorm? It’s late now. It’s almost 10:30 at night.”
“You don’t have to.”
He gazed at her and continued to pull on his bag.
“I do, that way your warm on the way there and I’m warm on the way back.”

Kihyun stared at his ceiling waiting for his eyes to close, he could hear Shownu rustling around doing what not over on his side of the room. The idea of Yoobin sitting on her side of the piano bench filling his mind, she had invaded his thoughts for at least a week. Her long thin fingers spread out across the keys effortlessly.
“You seem restless.” Shownu’s quiet voice spoke.
“Mm, yeah.”
“Mm.” Was all he said, translated that meant he was listening to anything Kihyun had to say.
“Remember that pianist I kept complaining about?”
“Mm-hm.”

“Well, I guess she was chosen for the recital. She didn’t have to audition or anything like that, but before I knew that I had begun to think that she was incredibly pretty and witty and I don’t know she’s just kind of on my mind. Also she’s sick but she came anyways. I don’t know if its the grade she’s working for or if maybe she’s been thinking the same way about me or...I don’t know?”
“Mm, ask her.”
“Hyung, I can’t do that. She’s….different.”
The room went silent and Kihyun heard Shownu’s chair swivel around.
“Well, maybe that will make it easier to ask her. If you’re this worried about it, wait until the end of the recital and see what happens.”

The sound of the piano playing could be heard before Yoobin had even put the key into the door. Pulling it open she saw the head of Lee Jooheon at the bench, Kihyun standing beside the piano.
“This room isn’t for you, last I checked you weren’t a piano major.” Kihyun’s annoyed voiced commented as he looked at the younger boy seated.
“So? I’m still doing music stuff.”
“Jooheonie, may I sit at the piano?”
The youngest in the room jumped slightly. He turned to see Yoobin, he stood quickly and bowed to her.
“I’m sorry, noona.”
She offered him as much a smile as she could.
“It’s okay, if you’d like to stay and turn the pages you can...is this why you weren’t in studio?”
He hung his head slightly,
“I was actually doing my accounting homework, but I got done and realized I still needed to rehearse the piece for the studio.”

“Jooheon, I can turn the pages. You don’t have to stay.” Kihyun said quickly, he valued his time with her alone.
“Kihyun-ssi, you’re supposed to stand during the-”
“It’s okay.” He cut her off quickly.
She blinked at him, after a second she nodded with a minor shrug.
“W-well, have a good time hyung….noona.” Jooheon stood and elbowed Kihyun with a slight grin as he passed him.
Kihyun fought the urge to roll his eyes as he looked over to Yoobin, she wore her mask once more.
“Did you rest?” Kihyun asked as he took his seat beside her.
“I did, I slept until almost noon but I got up to make sure that I made it to class and had some lunch.”
“Good…” He trailed off smiling to himself.
“Did you rest?”
“Yeah, I finished up some papers for my finals but other than that it was uneventful.”
Except for the fact that she kept you up all night, running through your head… He thought almost bitterly to himself.

The afternoon drifted into the night time; they sat side by side at the piano, not playing a note.
“Changkyun is really a pain.” Kihyun chuckled as he explained the maknae’s ability to hurt himself no matter what he was doing.
“How long have you known Jooheon?” She asked, he could hear the smile in her voice although he couldn’t see it through her mask.
“A couple years, he really likes composing so he offers me songs to sing. We live in the same dorm, he’s actually roommates with Changkyun. Our friend Hyungwon is roommates with Minhyuk.”
“Oh? Who’s your roommate?”
“His name is Hyunwoo, but most people know him as Shownu.”“Ah, my roommate transferred to Busan around a month ago. She’s a marine biology major.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”

The night dragged on, glancing at the clock on the wall Yoobin realized that it was already 8:30.
“We should probably run the song a few more times and work through the page changes.”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and met his gaze, she quickly looked back to her sheet music.
“Sounds good.”
She turned her body fully to face the piano and she rested her fingers on the keys.
“Ready?”
“Mm-hm.” He hummed to her as he shifted slightly closer.

Kihyun felt his heavy eyes peel themselves open, the clock on the wall said that it was 12:45. He felt a weight on his side, he glanced down.
He was met with a sight that made him faint of heart, Yoobin’s nose buried into his chest. The lights in the room were still on and she was sound asleep.
He held as still as he could and reached for his phone on the side of the piano. He picked it up and glanced at the screen, on the screen were messages in the group chat from all of his friends.
SHOWMINATOR : Have any of you seen Kihyun, he isn’t back in the dorm.
Min-puppy : no but he’s probably fine. maybe he found some cute girl lmao!! XD
living turtle : I think I saw him in the music building
Hooney : He’s rehearsing for his recital with Yoobin-noona he wanted to be alooooonneeeeee with her . he kicked me out wtf man rood.
SHOWMINATOR : Ah, okay. Thank you.
The only ones not having commented being Hoseok and Changkyun.

Yoobin stirred on his side and he froze, afraid he’d woken her up. He glanced down again and saw that she was still peacefully sleeping. Her mask under her chin, allowing him to see her full rosy hued lips.
She had started to doze off during one of the later runs of the song, her fingers falling clumsily against the keys rather than the usual excellence she displayed.
He felt his own face getting warm, trying to ignore the butterflies that filled his stomach he turned to reply to the texts from his roommate.
I’ll be back to the room whenever I can, I dozed off rehearsing for the recital.
He got a reply quicker than he’d assumed he would.
Okay, be safe.
He smiled to himself ever so slightly.

Yoobin opened her eyes and was slightly blinded by the amount of lights in the room with her. She felt the thing she was resting her head on shift slightly, she could hear a heartbeat resonate against her ear. Her eyes flew open wider, she was laying against a person. She sat up slowly to see Kihyun sat beside her, his face a shade of pink she’d never seen before.
“I-I’m so sorry.” She croaked, her voice still not awake or fully better.
What if she’d gotten him sick. What if he couldn’t perform for the recital?
“No, it’s not a problem. Rest is important.” He offered her a sweet smile. Her face felt warm at the sight of him blushing and smiling at her.
“I-I should go to my dorm, I’ll see you tomorrow?”
She quickly stood up, she shuffled her sheet music into her bag and picked the bag up.
“I should walk you back, it’s one in the morning.”
“It’s no big deal, I have pepper spray.”
“I’d be happier walking you back.” He muttered, glancing at her up through his lashes.
She felt her heart skip a beat, why did he have to be so attractive and nice.
“Mm. Okay, we should hurry though. Don’t you have class tomorrow?”
“Nope, they got cancelled because of the recital.”

Kihyun watched her hand beside his as they walked side by side towards her dorm. Carefully he reached out and grabbed her hand.
She cast him a glance but laced her fingers through his, he grinned to himself.
The night time air cold and still around them as they walked across the campus. He didn’t want to break the comfortable silence that had built around them in the night.
She came to a stop in front of her building, the dorm large and looming above them. They were quite a distance from his dorm but not too far that it was totally unreasonable to walk her home. Yoobin turned to face him and bowed before pulling her hand out of his.
“Thank you for walking be back, please be safe. Here take this and let me know when you get back okay.”
She passed him a small slip of paper and turned to swipe into her building.
Kihyun waited until she was inside before examining the paper she’d handed him, written down were digits. He felt the grin that had been growing all evening get wider at the sight of the phone number in his hand.

With a simple text to Yoobin of ‘Made it - Kihyun’, he pushed his key into his door and saw Shownu hunched over his laptop at his desk.
“Glad to see that you’re still alive, what happened?”
“I dozed off while we were rehearsing.” the singer said simply in response, hoping not to divulge any more information than he needed to.
“Ah, was Yoobin-ssi with you then?”
“Hm? Yeah, she was. Why?”
“Just curious, Minhyuk is gonna start talking if you don’t say anything to him in the chat.”
“He’s fine, nothing happened. I walked her back to her dorm and it was fine.” “Is that all?”
“Well, yes. What else would have happened?”
Yoobin smiled at her phone as she saw the text from Kihyun come in saying that he’d made it back alright.
She leaned back against her pillows and pulled out her laptop to finish up the rest of the papers that were going to be due for her finals.
She glanced down to see another text message from Kihyun.
Yoo Kihyun : Rest, you’re still not better all the way. I’d hate for you not to be able to perform in a couple of days. See you tomorrow?
Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll rest.
She had never been more thankful for not having a roommate until that moment, she knew that her face was completely red and she had a mile wide grin on her lips. He was so adorable and she wasn’t sure why he decided to be quite so cute.
She was thankful that he hadn’t requested a switch and that she hadn’t quite at the beginning, it was rather rewarding to hear his lovely voice and see his smiling face every afternoon. She closed her eyes, the papers off to the wayside for the time being. She wanted to cherish the feelings of butterflies in her stomach for just a bit longer.

“You don’t hate her anymore?” Hyungwon smirked slightly as he sat across from Kihyun in the dining hall.
“I didn’t hate her, you’re exaggerating.”
“Is he?” Wonho questioned looking up from his laptop.
“Yes.” Kihyun huffed.
“I don’t know that he is…” Wonho snickered to himself.
“Whatever.” The singer grumbled looking back down to his stew.
“Anyways, your recital is tomorrow right?” Hyungwon asked, his gaze on the kimbap on his plate.
“Yes.”
“You gonna go on a celebratory date after?” The voice of Changkyun asked.
The three at the table turned to see their youngest friend taking a seat at the table beside Hyungwon.
“Shut up.” Kihyun grumbled once more.
“So, yes?” Jooheon commented as he sat on the other side of Kihyun.
“Honestly, I shouldn’t have to put up with you clowns.”“You love us.” Minhyuk commented as he sat down beside Wonho.

Looking down at her phone Yoobin saw a text from Kihyun.
Yoo Kihyun : Instead of rehearsing tonight, we should go get something to eat. Let us both rest before the recital, of course that’s if you’d like to. We don’t have to at all.
She smiled to herself before thinking up a response
That sounds good, but lets go off campus.
Yoo Kihyun : Okay, meet at the station near campus at 6?
Okay, see ya then.
She felt her face warm up, she kept thinking about their fingers laced together as they walked to her dorm two nights before. She’d kept a bit of distance the previous night, making sure the practice ended before the sun was too far down so that she could walk back by herself. She didn’t want to get too attached to something that she couldn’t for sure have. It may have just been a fluke that he was looking at her like that or that he’d let her sleep on his chest at all. He was tired as well, that was the explanation she’d provided for herself.

Kihyun ran his fingers through his hair once more as he waited for Yoobin to meet him at the station, he wasn’t going to call this a date but he wanted it to be one.
He raised his eyes to scan the crowd again, finally he saw a familiar head of black hair moving towards him. Yoobin made her way over to him quickly with a slight smile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” She said softly as she got close enough for him to hear her.
“No, it’s okay. I was early anyways.”“Hongdae?”
“Sounds good.” He replied as he saw the small smile on her lips.
She looked amazing, as she usually did.
“You look like you’re feeling better.”
“I am, I really started feeling better last night. I think I’m over my sickness.”

The sat on the small cushions of the Indian restaurant they’d chosen, the warm lighting casting a beautiful golden hue off of Kihyun’s porcelain skin. Yoobin brought her chai up to her lips and offered him a grin. He met her eyes and smiled back.
“Tomorrow is the big day, you ready?” She laughed softly.
He nodded taking a sip of his own tea before speaking.
“Yes, I think tomorrow is gonna go well.”
She glanced down at his hands as they rested atop the table, a few silver rings glinting in the lights. His thumb tapped against the table top lightly to the beat of the music that played faintly in the background.
It was silent for a few more minutes.
“Your food.” The waiter said with a smile as he set the food before each of them.

Sitting on the train they didn’t say anything to each other, Kihyun was fighting the urge to question if she wanted to go on a date after the recital. He’d just wait until after the concert, that was all he’d do. Not earlier, not later. Just wait for the concert. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, she gazed on the window of the train as they passed through Seoul. The neon signs whizzing past the window at lighting speed. Slowly the train drew to a stop at their station, he stood and offered a hand to her. She smiled but didn’t take his outstretched hand, rather standing up on her own. He turned and walked off the train, Yoobin right behind him. They got to the outside of the station.
“Thank you for coming with me.” Kihyun commented as he led her onto the street.
“Thank you for inviting me, it was far more entertaining than going over the song again.”
“Agreed.” He chuckled.

Yoobin could feel Kihyun’s eyes on her, she shook it off as they walked towards her dorm. She fought the urge to take his hand in hers like she almost had on the train, but she knew that after the concert they wouldn’t see each other. She and Kihyun may have shared a major but they were very different concentrations. It was best to try and keep any feelings out of the equation, plus it wasn’t worth it to be shot down for some vocalist or maybe a cute swim team girl. It wasn’t probable that he would want a pianist, soccer player. She had already decided to cut it off outside her dorm so as not to feel sad after the recital. They slowly got to her building and he paused a few yards away from the front door of the building.
“May I ask you something?” He asked quietly.
“Mm?” Yoobin averted her eyes away from his.

Kihyun felt his throat tighten as he plucked up the nerve to ask her on a real date, her eyes flickered to the street lamp beside them on the sidewalk.
“Did-well, did you maybe want to go on a date with me tomorrow- or whenever, after the recital?”
He felt the breath catch as she froze in front of him.
“I-I’m sorry…” She trailed off, she turned her face away and spoke again, “I don’t think that would be best.” She turned quickly and swiped into her dorm.
He stood outside in the cold feeling like an idiot.
He turned on his heel and began to walk back to his dorm where he could sit and think peacefully.

With a sigh Yoobin sat on her bed, he’d felt obligated to ask her out.
“Great...tomorrow is gonna be great.” She frowned as she glanced in the mirror across from her bed.
She pulled out her sheet music and looked over it, fingers miming the actions in the air. She let out a small sigh and looked down at her phone.
Min SUGA : you never told me when the recital was. it’s tomorrow right?
Yeah, sorry. I forgot.
Min SUGA : it’s fine. 6 right?
Yep.
She fell back onto her pillows and stared at the off-white of the ceiling. The feeling of his heartbeat still resonating in her ears as she closed her eyes trying to ignore everything.

Kihyun stared at his phone, debating whether or not to send her a text trying to ease what would probably awkward tomorrow.
“You seem more uptight than usual, what’s wrong hyung?” Jooheon commented looking over at the music major with a rather exasperated expression.
“Nothing.” Kihyun snapped quietly, he didn’t need to explain himself to anyone.
In the end it wasn’t worth getting worked up over, or sending a text to her. He guessed he’d just read the signs wrong, she wasn’t interested in him at all.
“You’re sure you’re okay? I don’t like seeing you look this upset.” Jooheon commented from his seat in Kihyun’s room on the floor.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”“Recital nerves?”
“I guess you could call it that.” He mumbled almost to himself.
As the hours began to dwindle down, Yoobin made her way to their rehearsal room. She wasn’t dressed yet but she had plenty of time before she had to be. Unlocking the door she realized she was the first one there for a change, perhaps he was so uncomfortable about the night before he was just going to wait until the recital to see her. With a small sigh she pulled the music from her bag and began to practice the first transition.
After a few minutes she heard the lock turn and the door open. She cast a quick glance up from the notes to see Kihyun walking in; he wore a hoodie over a pair of sweatpants, his hair looked damp and his skin glowing. She quickly looked away and back to the music.
“Dynamics?” He questioned looking over to her.
She nodded and looked up from the music finally.
She realized it was a fatal mistake, he still looked so kind and handsome. She felt a lump in her throat as she fought the urge to touch his hand or his cheek or anything really.
“Warm up and then get ready?” She asked turning her gaze back to the music in front of her.
“Sounds good.” He said simply. He stood beside the piano, his back straight.

With a large sigh Yoobin finished swiping on her red lipstick, she looked in the mirror. Her short black hair pulled half up, her eyes covered in a shimmery champagne color with dark brown eyeliner. She wore a simple black turtleneck and a pair of very high waisted grey trousers, on her feet she wore a pair of black platform open-toed shoes. She stood up and picked up her folder of music. She was decently prepared, she knew the music almost by heart and that closeness seemed to hurt more and more as she knew the recital drew to an end anything with Yoo Kihyun.
She opened her door and quickly exited the building.

Kihyun let out a sigh, his collar undone by two buttons. He looked in the mirror in the back of the theater. He could hear other performers coming and going, milling around the green room to his right. He straightened up and ran his fingers through his fringe which hung on one side of his forehead, the rest pushed up. He looked in the mirror again and saw Yoobin glide past him going into the green room. She looked so classy, like a professional pianist.
He could hear the voices of Jihoon and Chanyeol as they talked to his accompaniment.
“I heard that you were the nominated pianist, that’s amazing.” Chanyeol’s chipper voice asked.
“Yeah, I hope it goes well.”
Kihyun could hear the modesty in Yoobin’s voice.
He straightened his suit jacket and decided it was as good a time as any to go into the green room.

Yoobin noticed Kihyun enter the room but decided to seem like she hadn’t.
It’s easier this way, he’ll be gone as soon as this recital ends. Not a second later than that.
She leafed through her sheet music and saw that Jooheon was in the green room, he met her eyes and offered her a smile. He quickly made his way to her and bowed.
“Noona, I’ll be your page turner this evening.”
“Ah? Really? Well that’s awesome, thank you Jooheon-ssi.”
She saw Kihyun had noticed her and made his way over.
“Jooheon-ssi? Why are you back here?”
“I’m getting extra credit.” He said simply.
Yoobin pushed her round glasses up her nose as she turned her gaze from the two boys back to the music.

Jooheon could feel the tension between the pianist and the vocalist. It hadn’t felt that way when he had originally offered to turn pages during their rehearsal. Kihyun looked like he was suffocating in the air around them. Yoobin didn’t look much better, she continually averted her gaze from the singer and back to her music only to glance up at him again. They were set to go next to last and there were six other performers before them, it was going to be a long wait. Hoping to alleviate some of the tension on Kihyun’s part Jooheon turned to his friend.
“Hyung, did you see the memes that Changkyun keeps sending in the group chat? He keeps sending physics memes and expecting us to get them, I don’t get it.”
“When did he send these?” Kihyun questioned, he turned his stressed gaze to the accounting major.
“Some of them last night, some this morning. I think it’s because of his finals. They must be stressing him out enough for him to think we’d find the memes funny.”
“Did they come?” There was a note of plea in Kihyun’s voice.
“Yeah, I mentioned it to everyone while you were in the shower this afternoon and we all agreed to come.”

Kihyun heard the vocal piece before his own draw to a close, he stood up straight and looked over at Yoobin. She stood straight, still a couple inches shorter than he was.
The music clutched to her chest, she glanced up to meet his eyes and offered him a smile. It wasn’t as sweet as the prior smiles she’d shown him, but it was to be expected.
You should talk to her after this, maybe then it will be better….
Kihyun straightened his back and followed her onto the stage. He looked out into the audience and saw that the entire auditorium was full, people took to standing in the back of the room. It was by no means a small building either.
He looked over at her, her full lips coated in a full red color making them look even better than they usually did. Quickly he looked away from her.

His final note still ringing in the air, Yoobin could feel her heart clench at the sound. He really did have the voice of an angel. She stood and bowed with him, she glanced over to see him breathing hard.
They both stood up again and took leave of the stage.
“I need to talk to you.” Kihyun’s voice said firmly from behind her.
“Me?” Yoobin questioned as she turned to look at his beautiful face.
“Yes.”
He took hold of her wrist and led her into the back halls of the performing arts center behind the auditoriums doors.

She looked up to meet his eyes, they looked serious.
“I want to talk to you about last night.”
“What about it, Kihyun-ssi?” She questioned, she wanted to skirt around this subject as best she could.
“Is there a specific reason you turned me down? I’m not trying to harass you but it just seems like I’ve been reading the atmosphere around us differently than you have.”
She felt frozen in the moment, she turned her gaze away.
“No, look at me please.” His voice pleaded softly.
She looked back to him, his hand still around her wrist.
She shifted her gaze to his lips and felt her chest tighten, the corners of his soft looking lips turned down into a small frown.
“It doesn’t matter after tonight, we won’t cross paths anymore after this...we went two and a half years without seeing each other ever. After this it won’t matter anymore, why pursue something that wasn’t going to happen without this?”
“I believe in fate…” Kihyun said.
She turned her gaze away.

The warm feeling of his hand on her chin made her looked up to meet his eyes once more, he held her cheek and slowly leaned forward.
She could feel his lips pressed to hers, the world melted away. Slowly her arms went up around his neck. The hand not resting on her cheek went around her waist to pull her closer.
After a few seconds he pulled away and looked in her eyes.
“I didn’t read the atmosphere wrong, did I?”
“No.” She breathed.
“Good. How about that date?”
She slowly nodded but felt his hand pull her back to his lips.

---

Kihyun glanced over at Yoobin, who sat beside him on the grass fo the quad, her legs thrown across his lap as she stared at her music history textbook.
“You guys look gross.” Changkyun commented childishly.
“Your face is gross.” Yoobin said without looking up from her book.
“This is why I like her so much more than I like you Kihyun-hyung.” Changkyun commented casting a slight grin over at his elder.
Kihyun rolled his eyes and rested a hand on her calf before turning his gaze back to his theory textbook.
“Honestly, she’s too good for you.” Minhyuk snickered off to the side glancing up from his biology book.
“I am.” Yoobin said simply.
“Ya, you aren’t supposed to agree with them.” Kihyun chuckled hitting her leg lightly.

“Finals make me want to die.” Yoobin commented as she laid across her bed, Kihyun looked at her with a smile.
“Don’t do that, I’d be really sad.”
She looked up at him with a soft expression.
“I wouldn’t want that…” She rolled over making room for the singer on the bed beside her.
He took his spot beside her and extended his arms for her to rest against his chest.
With her forehead pressed to his chest she held still.
“We’ll have to plan a date for christmas, it’s getting close.” Kihyun’s voice said quietly.
“Okay, we’ll have to.” She smiled against him and closed her eyes.

Notes