“Eunhyuk, what instrument did you pick?” Kyuhyun asked curiously, not really remembering since he had spent the rest of the class spacing out.

“The Samulnori*” Eunhyuk said in between bites of kimchi, patting his instrument case somewhat proudly.

“Switch instruments with me,” Kyuhyun demanded, reaching for it.

“What? No!” Eunhyuk cried, holding his instrument case protectively to his chest. “It’s your fault you picked the piano!”

Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes, reaching over for it again, but Eunhyuk slapped his hands away, holding it away from Kyuhyun’s reach. Kyuhyun frowned, scooting closer while shouting “Give it to me! Yah, Eunhyuk!”

“No, it’s mine!” Eunhyuk fended him off, clutching his instrument tighter. Kyuhyun backed off slowly, realizing he wasn’t going to win anytime soon. So he settled for glaring at Eunhyuk, stuffing rice into his mouth as he did so. Eunhyuk stuck his tongue, basking in his victory. “You’re the one who chose the piano. If you didn’t like it, then why did you pick it?”

“Yeah, why did you pick the piano? You’re not even that good at it,” Zhou mi commented, chuckling when Kyuhyun glared at him.

“Shut up! I don’t know, I thought it would be easy.” Kyuhyun slammed his chopsticks down in frustration. He ruffled his hair, tugging on some of the strands as he struggled to figure out what in his right mind made him choose one of the hardest instruments to play.

“Since when is playing the piano ever easy?” Zhou mi shook his head. Kyuhyun feverishly looked around the table for something to throw at him. He grabbed the first thing in sight, which happened to be Donghae’s pencil, and threw it across the table at Zhou mi. Zhou mi dodged the pencil easily, looking at Kyuhyun in exasperation. “Calm down, Kyu. It’s just an instrument.”

“Where did my pencil go?” Donghae asked, searching around the table for it. He hadn’t been paying attention to their conversation, too busy trying to get some his last-minute math homework finished before lunch was over.  “I know I had it here somewhere,” Donghae muttered to himself.

Kyuhyun didn’t respond, suddenly feeling guilty that he threw Donghae’s pencil instead of Eunhyuk’s chopsticks.

“Now honestly, why did you pick it?” Zhou mi asked seriously. He held his friend’s gaze firmly, smiling a bit when Kyuhyun looked away in shame.

“I…I panicked, okay? Everyone was watching me and I thought the piano was kind of cool…” Kyuhyun groaned at the thought of his mistake, laying his head against the table. He pressed the side of his face against the cool surface, hoping it would calm him down. Every time he thought about it, he could feel his stomach churn – as if twisting itself into a knot.

“Why did you blurt it out your choice though? Did you think you looked cool doing that?” Eunhyuk snickered, watching as Kyuhyun raised his head so fast, his face fuming in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

“I was letting everybody know that the piano was taken!” Kyuhyun screeched in defense, cursing when his voice cracked a bit and too embarrassed to think of a better excuse. Eunhyuk started chucking, squirming around in his seat from laughing so hard.

“You looked so stupid,” Eunhyuk said in between laughs, clutching his stomach when he thought about what happened in class. He burst into another round of giggles, with Zhou mi joining in too when he imagined Kyuhyun doing such a thing.

Kyuhyun glared at Eunhyuk, already planning his revenge in the form of a prank.

“Just ask Mr. Kim to change your instrument. I’m sure he won’t mind,” Zhou mi suggested after calming down, though a teasing smile still lingered on his lips. “Or switch instruments with another student who’s willing.”

Kyuhyun huffed, reluctantly agreeing. “I guess.”

Eunhyuk grinned teasingly, throwing his arm of Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “If you want some support, I can come with you when you break the news to Kim-seonsaengnim.”

Kyuhyun roughly shrugged his arm off, feeling somewhat better about the situation – at least, enough to where he could he eat his lunch.

“Whatever,” He grumbled, before stealing a piece of kimchi off Eunhyuk’s plate.

“Have any of you guys seen my pencil?” Donghae whined, still searching for it. “It’s my only one and I thought I left it-”

“Hae,” Eunhyuk interrupted him, finally taking pity on his best friend.

“What?”

“Kyuhyun threw your pencil across the room.”

------------------

Kyuhyun fiddled nervously with his pencil, not really paying attention to the lesson. Ryeowook was reviewing how to read music notes and how to distinguish between each one; something Kyuhyun had already learned in his choir class last year.

He tuned into the lecture every now and then, smiling a bit when he saw how enthusiastically Ryeowook taught. He looked so happy teaching, Kyuhyun couldn’t help think how cute Ryeowook is; which only made it harder for him when he realized he would have to talk to his teacher after class.  This was the first time Kyuhyun wished class wouldn’t end quickly.

Kyuhyun bit the inside of his cheek, unsure how to go about this. He wondered if his teacher would even let him change instruments, considering he was the first one to pick anything he wanted. Okay, think Kyuhyun, think…

Option 1: I could…I could say I had a traumatic experience while playing the piano, like it reminds me of my deceased grandma and I can’t play it without crying…

Kyuhyun frowned at the idea. No, I can’t do that. The teacher will think I’m stupid. Plus, grandma is still alive.

Option 2: I can’t play the piano because it’s boring.

Kyuhyun immediately shook his head, knowing that option had to be the worst one he could come up with. That was practically insulting the teacher and that wouldn’t do; he really wanted to pass this class and to pass it, he figured it would be easier if the teacher didn’t hate him. Plus, he kind of liked Ryeowook as his music teacher – not that he would ever admit it out loud.

Okay, Option 3: I could say I made a mistake and I get nervous in front of crowds.

Kyuhyun shook his head, realizing how lame he would sound if he said this.

But before he could think of anything else, the school bell rang. Kyuhyun sighed heavily, standing up slowly to pack his things away, taking his time shoving everything into his backpack.

“Kyuhyun, hurry up! I’m hungry!” Eunhyuk snapped, noticing how slow his friend was going. Donghae stood by Eunhyuk, clearly ready and waiting on him too.

“You guys can go on ahead. I need to talk to Mr. Kim,” Kyuhyun mumbled, upset that he hadn’t thought of a good excuse yet.

“You want us to stay with you?” Donghae asked carefully, not missing how tense Kyuhyun looked.

Kyuhyun considered their offer for a moment, before shaking his head. “No, you guys can go. I’ll meet up with you guys after.”

“Alright. See you later then.” Eunhyuk stared at him warily, hesitantly leaving with Donghae. Kyuhyun sighed again, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

Kyuhyun his dry lips, swiping his sweaty palms on his pants before slowly making his way to the front of the class. Ryeowook was erasing the board, humming away to a tune Kyuhyun vaguely recognized.

“Uh…Kim-seonsaengnim,” Kyuhyun said hesitantly, almost too quietly. Ryeowook turned around, grinning when he saw it was one of his students.

“Hey, Kyuhyun. What are you still doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” Kyuhyun looked down at his feet, finding it easier to talk, “about something…”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Ryeowook grimaced, putting down his eraser. He looked over Kyuhyun carefully, immediately noticing how nervous Kyuhyun was. “What is it, Kyuhyun?”

“I…um, like your shoes,” Kyuhyun pointed out. He immediately wanted to smack himself for saying something so silly. Still, he couldn’t stop the faint tinge of pink on his cheeks when Ryeowook stared at him closely.

“You like my shoes?” Ryeowook said carefully, making sure he heard him correctly. Kyuhyun nodded slowly, wincing a bit at his own stupidity. “Kyuhyun, I’m wearing slippers. All the teachers and students have to wear the same one.”

“But you look good in them.”

“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse’s office?” Ryeowook dismissed his compliment, determined to figure out what’s wrong. He narrowed his eyes, studying Kyuhyun carefully.

“No, no. I’m fine. I…uh,” Kyuhyun gulped, struggling to find the right words. “It’s about the piano, actually…”

“What about it?” Ryeowook asked, trying to catch Kyuhyun’s gaze.

Kyuhyun bit his lip, wondering why this was so hard.

“I just wanted to say…” Kyuhyun started, but paused when he looked at Ryeowook. He shifted nervously when he noticed how concerned his teacher looked; dark molten-brown eyes observing him with so much worry – it made his heart flutter, his stomach churn, and he attributed it all to nervousness. “…I can’t wait to play the piano.”

*Samulnori = Korean Traditional Percussion

A/N: This update took longer than I intended too, I'm sorry. The first part of the chapter came so easily, I wrote it like an hour after I posted the second chapter. But for the second part of the chapter, I kind of got frustrated. I have this whole story planned out, but I never thought of a good reason for Kyuhyun to stick to playing the piano and with so many ways I could go, I didn't know what to do. So I'm a little unsatisfied w/ the second part. I'm sorry, I'll try to update sooner. Thank you subscribers and commenters for all the support. :)