Barely even a week after his first meeting with Jongin, Sehun found himself being forced to go back.

 

“We’ll be going to visit Mr. Kim’s home this afternoon” the driver of his car had said when Sehun began asking questions as to why they were heading in the wrong direction. “Your uncle and Mr. Kim made plans to meet and Mr. Kim insisted that you come”

 

“Why on earth do I have to go?” Sehun hissed, unable to hide his irritation.

 

“I’m not sure sir. I think his son mentioned wanting to see you again”

 

Sehun was at a loss for words. He slumped back into his seat, his heart rate wild and his breaths shallow. He was furious that he was being made to go back.

 

“I don’t want to go back. I told myself I wouldn’t go back”

 

“I’m sorry sir, but Mr. Kim insisted you come and your uncle was only too happy to oblige. You have no choice today”

 

                                                                                                         …..

 

When Sehun walked into Jongin’s room for the second time, he felt like it was a repeat of what had happened on his first visit, aside from the awkward introductions.

 

Jongin spotted him standing at the door and he smiled. “Hi Sehun”

 

Sehun felt his anger falter. Jongin looked so genuinely happy to see him that he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach.

 

“Hey Jongin” Sehun found himself responding, an all too natural smile crossing his face.

 

“My dad said he was meeting up with your uncle earlier today and I asked about you” he smiled brightly. “You never told me you lived with your uncle. I thought he was your dad the whole time” Jongin laughed

 

Sehun shrugged, unable to think of anything to say, his anger towards Jongin already fading.

 

 

“How have you been?” Jongin asked, his expression curious.

 

Sehun thought about it for a few moments.

“I’m decent. I haven’t been too well the past few days, but I’ve been overworking myself because of school work, so I guess that’s contributing to it. My piano exams are soon so I’ve been practising more than usual” Sehun sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. 

It was a small lie. Really he was exhausted and his body hurt. His eyes were sore and his head ached dully from lack of sleep. He had woken the past few mornings with a temperature but it wasn’t in his nature to complain or rest due to trivial things and he had continued on normally. His lack of care towards himself was catching up to him though, and he was feeling particularly unwell that day.

 

Sehun looked up at Jongin, who was frowning worriedly. “Don’t overwork yourself, okay? You’ll end up doing more harm than good”

 

Sehun nodded. “Don’t worry. I only have to keep this amount of work up until exams are over and then I’ll be able to relax” he smiled at Jongin, trying to cease his worrying.

 

Jongin nodded and huffed. “What are your piano exams like?” Jongin asked “I remember you mentioning you could play the last time you visited”

 

“I’m taking the highest level. I usually only have time to practise two hours a day but I’ve stepped it up a notch to three or three and  a half if I can manage. I would like to practise more but I also need to study all my school subjects for exams.  I have several pieces I need to perform and based on how well I do I’ll be given a score and I’ll pass or fail. ” 

 

“It sounds complicated” Jongin laughed.

 

Sehun smiled slightly as he nodded, his mind wandering to playing the piano. “Yeah, it’s troublesome but piano is one of the few things I enjoy. Even though a majority of the time I’m playing for other people at functions or because my father wants to impress a few people, when I can play for myself it’s really great” Sehun looked down at his feet, unable to stop his lips from turning up.

 

Suddenly there was a warm hand wrapped around Sehun’s wrist and he jerked up, almost hitting his forehead on Jongin, who had leaned in surprisingly close while he had been thinking.

 

Jongin’s eyes were bright and he looked excited. “Hey, Sehun. Play the piano. Let’s go together and you can play”

 

“I can’t. There’s no piano here anyway”

 

Jongin grinned, his whole face lighting up. “Don’t be dumb. You think that I'm crazy enough  to tell you to play even though I have no piano?” Jongin rolled his eyes. “There’s one downstairs in the spare room. Let’s go and you can play something” He smiled and tugged on Sehun’s arm a few times.

 

“But that means you’ll have to walk down there…” Sehun trailed off, looking at the fragile looking man wearily. He looked in no condition to be getting out of bed.

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine! I need to exercise anyway” Jongin laughed.

 

 Sehun tried to make sense of things before sighing and giving up. He knew there was probably no point in trying to change Jongin’s mind anyway, so he instead watched Jongin climb brittlely from his bed, finally offering his hand and helping the young man.

 

“Heh. Thanks” Jongin said, his expression somewhat pained.

 

Sehun frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay? Don’t push yourself”

 

Jongin waved him off and began to lead the way out of his room and down the long corridor. Sehun watched him carefully the whole way. He could tell that Jongin was weak; his body seemed unable to withstand even the smallest amounts of physical activity; but even as Sehun watched, he was unable to figure out why Jongin seemed to tire so quickly. 

 

“Sehun! That’s our grand piano” Jongin pointed, smiling.

 

Sehun let out a low whistle when the piano came into view. It was impressive. Like a moth to fire, he was drawn to it instantly. Sehun smiled as he played a light tune single handedly, testing it out. The keys were smooth and supple underneath his fingers, the sound perfect.

 

“Is it good?”  Jongin asked, a small smile forming his lips.

 

Sehun looked up and nodded. “You can come sit next to me while I play” he motioned to the somewhat dusty piano seat.

 

Jongin moved carefully to his side before sitting down. Sehun shifted over slightly to make more room for him.

“What are you going to play?” Jongin murmured curiously, watching intently as Sehun’s fingers ghosted the piano keys. 

 

“Can it be something I wrote myself?” 

 

Jongin nodded brightly. “That’s even more special”

 

Sehun began to play a soft melody, his fingers running up and down the length of the piano, carefully piecing together a story as the played. Jongin closed his eyes, his smile turning sad as the song came to an end. 

 

“Wow. You’re amazing” Jongin murmured. “Listening to you play makes me want to dance again” 

 

Sehun smiled awkwardly, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m glad it makes you feel something. That’s always a good thing to have music do” He looked at Jongin from the corner of his eyes, noticing how very tired the young man suddenly seemed. “Are you okay?”

 

Jongin nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad I got to hear you. You looked so happy when you were talking about it before and I wondered what it would be like when you actually sat down and played” Jongin chuckled. “When you played the piano I felt so young again, like how I was before my health became bad like now” Jongin paused suddenly, looking up at Sehun with a pained expression as he tried to regain his breath. “Sehun, I don’t want to be like this anymore. I want to get better and dance again. You can play the piano and I can dance. That’d be amazing, really amazing” Jongin sounded too tired, his voice muffled as he leant his head on his arm, using the piano for support.

 

Sehun’s eyes widened with panic.

 

“Will you play for me when I get better, Sehun?” Jongin asked weakly.

 

“Yeah” Sehun’s voice cracked, betraying his lie. “Of course. I’m sure you’ll be better someday soon and when you are, you’ll be able to dance as much as you’d like. Of course I’ll play piano for you.”

 

Jongin laughed weakly, a hint of sadness in his voice. “You sound like you don’t believe it. I don’t blame you”