Bangkok, 2013

  There were many reasons why Onew hated the life he chose for himself- he was far from his friends, his family, he hardly knew the language being spoken around him, and he wasn't around. However, there was one definite reason to why he loved where he worked. The piano.   It was just a piano to other people... but to Onew, it was the source of all his nightmares, and of all his greatest joy. It sat in the basement of the company building, a tall tower with around 15 floors.   The piano was generally used to teach the children around the block that had no money for actual lessons, but on days where Onew's thoughts eat him alive, it's his safe haven. He had been taught to play piano at a very young age, due to the fact that his parents were wealthy. He never had an interest in playing the piano, however, until that Kim Jonghyun came into his life and he realized music was his biggest interest.   Onew sat down on the bench, pulling the case off of the keys, and then running his fingers run over the keys, a broken smile stretching out on his lips. Why was it, that everything he did now had a connection to the past he buried?   "You have a nice voice..." Jonghyun's voice echoed in his mind, "At times, I wish I was the only one who could hear it."   "Too bad." Onew thought. Jonghyun doesn't even want to think of Onew's existence, so why would he want to hear the elder's voice ever again? His fingers flew over the keys in a swift motion, playing the melody he thought he could forget. They played exactly the way Onew remembered, his eyes closing tightly as he remembered every emotion he went through when they first played together.   It was a piece Jonghyun composed himself, called Alarm Clock. It was a brilliant piece of music, put together with Minho's help. He could still remember Jonghyun's voice in his head, singing, the emotions obvious through the words.   He remebered everything about that day. The exhaustion, the irritation, and most importantly, the fact that for the first time, his heart beat erratically when the younger was near.    

Seoul, 2008

  Friday morning came quickly, almost too quickly for Jinki. His eyes were still swollen and sleep deprived from all the research he'd done for the talent exhibition. On days like this, when he's sure he's unable to survive the day, he retreats to the student government office and returns for make up evening classes, but today, since he had practice with Jonghyun, he quickly had to decide on what to do.   He stopped at his locker, his head pounding madly as he leaned on the locker's door. It didn't help that everyone was talking so loudly in his ears, on their way passing him by to their classes. He felt as though he was recovering from a hangover, despite the fact he never drunk in his life.   "Hyung." A soft voice asked, Jinki could do nothing but grunt in response, swatting his hand in the direction of the voice to try and push it away.   "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today, hyung?" Another voice asked, and Jinki slowly looked over to the person, his gaze almost murderous.   He did a double take when his four friends stood there in shock and Kibum in disgust, "What the hell happened to you?"   Swaying slightly in his spot, he raised his eyebrows, "Nothing- I just haven't slept much?"   "Then why did you come to school? Minho asked, an unsure arm stretched out to catch Jinki if he fell.   "Practice-" He yawned, shaking his head to stay awake. He turned to Jonghyun, who stared at him with an unreadable expression; "Where should I meet you after school?"   "In front of the gates." Jonghyun replied, "Give your keys to someone else, I brought my motorcycle with me today.   Jinki nodded and looked passed Jonghyun, where a certain male walked by, "Joon-ah."   Startled, Changsun turned to Jinki and made a face, walking up to him and poking his eye bags, "You didn't sleep again?"   "Gwenchana." Jinki laughed softly under his breath, "Do you think you can take my car and drop it off at my house?"   Pretending to think about it, Changsun tapped his chin, "Sure, I have nothing better to do. Are you taking the morning classes off?"   Jinki shook his head and handed his keys to Changsun, who waved quickly and walked off. Rubbing his tired eyes, he looked back to his friends, bowing his head, "I'll leave first."   "Ani, hyung... you should just go home." Taemin said, biting his lip in worry, "Practice can wait for next week."   Shutting the door of the locker, Jinki waved his hand around to signal he was okay before walking off to class. Bodies pressed up against his own, each person rushing themselves to their own classes, and each time a body pressed against his, his balance slipped away almost completely. One moment, when he was almost pushed onto the wall, someone suddenly grabbed onto his waist, steadily guiding him away from his classes and to the general direction of the music wing.   When he looked over, it was none other than Kim Jonghyun, his gaze set on the hallway before him, an arm wrapped around Jinki's waist, "Forget classes today, you can skip for one day." Jinki weakly tried to pull away, but Jonghyun's grip only tightened, "Don't struggle, you'll fall down."
  Jinki nodded, allowing himself to be dragged into the private studio room in the music wing. It was an old room that no one used due to the fact that a newer, larger room was a few hallways down where all the busy classes were near. The smaller room was basically off limits, also because there was once a power surge that almost set the room on fire. It was cleaned out, of course, but no one wanted to go in anyway. No one, but Kim Jonghyun, it seemed. Jinki was told by some students that someone had been playing music in the studio, but Jinki chose to ignore it.   He knew that Jonghyun didn't care about the rules when it came to his music- the guy told everyone that he dreamed of becoming a singer. He felt slight pride in his younger friend, for being so devoted in his music, even if he wasn't supposed to be in that room at all.   As he entered the room, Jonghyun pushed him to a couple of chairs, "Sleep, hyung." He pushed Jinki down and put his own jacket on top of the male, walking away to sit by the piano, a composition book in his hands.   "Jonghyun-ah..." he said sleepily. The younger male didn't move a muscle, and Jinki took comfort in it. What would he say to the male if he turned around anyway? "Thank you for taking care of me."   His eyes shut at the moment Jonghyun turned to him, muttering something under his breath before returning to his previous work. He worked diligently on his music, softly pressing on a few keys whenever he got stuck, and then quickly turning to Jinki to see