pairing: ChenLay
length: 1578 words
A/N: Written at the request of Namlunasoo! Hope you like it!
Part One: The New Kid

It was funny how easily they slid into a comfortable routine. It was as if life had never been any different. In fact, Yixing couldn’t even remember what his school days were like without stopping by Room C4 at four o’clock in the afternoon every single weekday.

Without fail, Jongdae would be inside the practice room at exactly four on the dot, warming up his voice with several scales accompanied by the piano. Yixing used to step inside cautiously, meek as a mouse, as he carefully set his backpack down on the wooden floor and sat down with his back against the white wall. It had taken Jongdae several weeks to grow accustomed to having an audience, even though Yixing was very quiet and didn’t say anything. The first time, the taller boy had happily clapped after Jongdae finished running through a song and the other boy hadn’t appreciated that, shooting a glare at Yixing instead of accepting the applause.

“Sorry,” the taller boy murmured after stopping in the middle of a clap. “I’ll, uh, just…be quiet.”

“Please,” Jongdae responded through clenched teeth.

“Sorry,” Yixing repeated again, this time in a barely audible whisper.

His classmate had such a timid and apologetic expression on his face, as if he were a chastised young child, causing Jongdae to sigh deeply while rubbing his temples. He was beginning to regret allowing Yixing to join him.

So these afternoons in Room C4 had started out as awkward, silent, and filled with a sense of unease that would lie beneath Jongdae’s beautiful singing. And the uncomfortable atmosphere had affected the melodies that escaped his mouth in the beginning. Despite portraying himself as someone who seemed apathetic and indifferent to others’ emotions, Jongdae had felt the nervous energy emanating from Yixing’s body, even though the taller boy would be sitting several feet away from him. This anxious aura and tenseness had caused Jongdae to make more mistakes than usual: his pitch would be incorrect, his rhythm would be off, his memory would falter, or a combination of the three would occur whenever he tried to sing.

Yixing had noticed how fidgety Jongdae became and he almost convinced himself to stop coming to Room C4, since it seemed like his presence was only ruining Jongdae’s performance. And that was the last thing he wanted. But no matter how many times he had tried to step away, no matter how many times he had to tell himself to not go to the practice room in the first place, Yixing still found himself slowly turning the doorknob at four o’clock each afternoon to listen to Jongdae sing.

It got easier for the both of them as the weeks passed. Jongdae had noticed Yixing bringing his homework with him and the taller male would doggedly work on his school assignments while bobbing his head along to the music. The discomfort and tension had slowly dissipated, day by day, as Jongdae grew accustomed to having the presence of another person in the same room whenever he sang. As much as he hated to admit it, his singing was no longer his alone anymore. Luckily, Yixing was quiet and respectful, which made it easier for Jongdae to forget that his classmate was even in the practice room with him at times once the awkward vibes had vanished.

And sometimes, Jongdae would pause in his playing to help Yixing with his homework, especially since the other boy was struggling greatly with his academics. The unofficial tutoring had begun one afternoon when Yixing had stumbled in, almost ten minutes past four o’clock, with dark circles under his eyes and slightly hunched over as he gripped several papers in his hands. Jongdae hadn’t been bothered, per se, that the taller boy was late, but it had been strange to not see Yixing traipse in almost right after Jongdae set up the piano.

“You…you okay?” Jongdae cautiously asked after Yixing slumped against the wall dejectedly. He cleared his throat as he looked away, feeling somewhat out of place since he had never initiated a conversation first.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m fine.”

But the other boy was clearly upset about something. Even though Jongdae didn’t like to concern himself with other people’s problems, the gloomy vibes from Yixing were making it too difficult for him to sing well. As he stood up from the piano bench and walked over to his dejected classmate, Jongdae managed to convince himself that this was for purely selfish reasons; the sooner that Yixing felt happier, the sooner that Jongdae would be able to return to his singing. “What’s this?” he asked gruffly after sitting down and peering at the papers in Yixing’s hands.

“Huh?” Yixing couldn’t help but gape dumbly at Jongdae. Since when did he care about anything remotely Yixing-related?

The other boy just ignored his classmate’s fish-like expression as he looked through the papers himself. “Your grades are horrible,” he said simply after a few moments of silence.

Yixing grimaced as Jongdae’s straightforward statement painfully pierced right through him. “I know,” he muttered as he hastily grabbed back his assignments and stuffed them into his backpack. He pulled up his lanky legs, tucking his knees against his chest, as he looked away out of shame and discomfort.

Jongdae didn’t mean to embarrass Yixing. That wasn’t his intention at all. He slightly chewed on his bottom lip before extending a hand out to the taller boy. “Sorry,” he managed to verbalize, his voice slightly cracking in the middle. Jongdae cleared his throat again before continuing, “I…can help you out if you’d like. My grades are pretty decent.”

The speed at which Yixing’s head shot up was somewhat alarming. It seemed like his head would snap off and Jongdae reflexively leaned back, his eyes widening with surprise. And then he jumped back even further when Yixing basically pounced on him, grabbing the other boy’s hands and looking up at him with those large brown eyes. “You’ll really help me?” Yixing asked, his light voice laced with disbelief and hope at the same time.

As a solitary individual, Jongdae wasn’t used to dealing with favors or requests for help. Heck, he wasn’t used to dealing with people in general. He was almost about to retract his offer, feeling quite overwhelmed by Yixing, the desperation in his voice, and his beseeching gaze. But those pleading, round eyes seemed to stare into the deepest, darkest parts of him that no one knew about. Jongdae felt as if he were being stripped down to his soul, even though that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation at hand. He felt vulnerable and bare, which he didn’t like at all.

“Please? I’d really appreciate it.”

If he said no, it seemed like it would be the equivalent to kicking a young puppy. That’s how Yixing looked to Jongdae at the moment. So he somehow mustered up the non-existent sympathetic, social part of himself and allowed it to say, “Yeah, I will,” for him.

And the bright dimpled smile that appeared made Jongdae feel a little bit better about his decision. Just a little bit though.

Henry, Zitao, and Jackson often asked Yixing where he went every day at four o’clock. Even though their team didn’t have dance practice until six in the evening, every Wednesday and Friday, they were used to taking the bus home together and spending time at each other’s houses. Henry, especially, felt his best friend’s absence, even though he had a vague idea of why Yixing was never with them after school anymore. But since Yixing’s grades were getting better and the boy seemed to be happier nowadays, Henry didn’t pry and waited patiently for his best friend to one day tell him what was happening.

Yixing felt guilty. He knew he was blowing off his best friends with his evasiveness and refusal to reveal Jongdae’s singing. But he had promised the other boy that he wouldn’t tell anyone about those wonderful afternoons in Room C4. Yixing didn’t want to lose these precious moments, not after it seemed like Jongdae was finally opening up to him and letting him see past the cold façade that everyone else knew of.

Room C4 was their haven. A wonderful, musical safe place where the pair of unlikely friends silently learned more about each other. How Jongdae drank liters and liters of water, even though Yixing thought it to be humanly impossible for a kid of his proportions to drink that much. How Yixing always maintained eye contact whenever he talked to Jongdae, his gaze never straying from the other boy’s dark eyes. How they both enjoyed reading fantasy novels, something Yixing discovered after catching sight of a book that was slightly hanging out of Jongdae’s backpack and asking if he could see it for a moment; the book turned out to be the latest release from his favorite author who also happened to Jongdae’s favorite author.

As the weeks passed, Room C4 wasn’t just the place where Jongdae escaped to sing to himself. It became the setting for their informal book club. It became the shelter for Yixing whenever his parents yelled at him and he needed a place to escape to. It became the study room where they did homework and worked on projects together. It became the stage for Jongdae to perform upon as he built up his confidence with Yixing cheering him on.

Room C4 became their home.

♈♈♈