Henry thought he was having a good day.

 

There’s still hot water left in the shower after Amber, the Hot Water Hogger, took hers; the line at Starbucks was pretty short (got a little discount for flirting a bit with the barista, to which Amber rolled her eyes); and they got to class on time without a delay.

 

Unfortunately, his seemingly good day ends when the professor walks in and sighs, holding up some sort of booklet in his hand.

 

“Well kids, we are going to have a summer program this year,” he starts, tone gloomy and Henry’s sure he’s forcing himself not to roll his eyes. “But our friends over at Julliard will join us.”

 

“What?!” he spats, along with protesting murmurs from the rest of the classroom.

 

Professor Andrews pauses for a while, a little bit ecstatic that the rest of the class is unhappy with the idea just as much as he is, before tapping his table to quiet them down. “I know, I know,” he says, “I’m pretty pissed too but the higher ups think this is a good idea to ‘rebuild’ our relationship with Julliard.”

 

Henry rolls his eyes at that. As if there was a relationship to begin with. Being two of the top music schools in America, it’s natural for competition to build up. He thought nothing of it when he first came but during one music competition, some cockhead from Julliard called his piece “an incredible waste of such a beautiful instrument”. He would have killed the guy if Amber wasn’t holding him back (although if looks could kill, by that nasty glare that she gave him, the kid would have dropped dead).

 

“Okay, I have worse news.” Andrews starts just when Henry thinks that nothing could be worse than a Jullie setting foot in their territory. “We need student instructors. Any volunteers?”

 

More protests and Andrews sighs, taking his clipboard out. “I actually already have a list here.”

 

Henry’s seemingly good day went from bad to worse when Professor Andrews reads his name from the list.

 

 

“Kill me, kill me now.” he groans at lunch, slumped over the table, his BLT sandwich ignored.

 

Amber sighs and pats his back. “Well, at least you have me.”

 

Amber was on the list, too, and this time, he was the one to hold her back to prevent her from strangling someone.

 

“Guys!”

 

Henry’s still groaning from his seat when Eric sits beside them, wearing the same irritated look that almost everyone in school is sporting.

 

“So, I’m guessing you’ve heard the news about Jullies coming in and infecting us this summer.” Eric says, picking up Henry’s forgotten lunch and munching on it. He tends to eat when he’s upset.

 

“Yep. And we’re forced to be student instructors, too.”

 

“You guys, too? I tried arguing with the department head but it looks like this one is set on stone.”

 

Henry lets out a muffled scream.

 

“I think he’s on the process of dying.”

 

Henry considered getting out of it, packing his bags and flying back to Canada where he’s safe and Julliard snob-free but Amber threatened to cut him up in slices because they’re supposed to be in this together so he didn’t. Amber is hella scary.

 

So Amber drags him out of their shared apartment, muttering about stupid summer programs and stupid snobby Jullies, before meeting up with Eric (who looks like he’d rather be somewhere else, too) at the gates.

 

“Okay,” Amber starts with a sigh, adjusting her backpack. “I have songwriting, Eric has vocals and you have that contemporary-classical fusion thing. So we’ll meet at lunch?”

 

Eric and Henry answer with very unenthusiastic “yeah”s.

 

“Five weeks, guys. We can do this.” Amber pats them on the back, an attempt to cheer them up even though she knows that it doesn’t work and so is her smile that looks so awfully forced.

 

Henry lets out a big sigh as he stands outside the lecture room, already dreading what’s on the other side of the door. What he doesn’t expect, though, when he opens the door, is come face-to-face by the same cockhead from two years ago, smirking at him from his seat at the front.

 

“You…” he hissed, the word dripping with venom.

 

“Good morning,” he greets still with that annoyingly cocky smirk that Henry wants to claw off his face. “Mr. Lau, isn’t it?”

 

And that’s when he knew that hell exists in the form of a cocky giant violinist named Benjamin Bae.

Lunch comes with lots of whining and complaining to Eric, who tries to listen intently but having trouble because he keeps thinking about that Julliard girl from his vocal class who sings amazingly and whose smile puts the sun to shame.

 

“...and he wasn’t even listening to my lecture. I know he’s mocking me with that annoying smirk of his and he keeps making snide comments under his breath! I can’t believe I cancelled all my summer gigs for this.” Henry rants before taking a big bite of his tuna sandwich. He chews angrily, taking deep breaths through his nose to calm himself down. Eric tries not laugh. He looks like a hamster. He tries not to ask if he needs to run on his wheel.

 

Before Henry could open his mouth again to rant some more, Amber jogs to their table, snickering.

 

“Check it, I think some girl from my songwriting class has a crush on Henry.” She says, still snickering. Eric bursts out laughing and Amber follows after him. Henry glares, still chewing.

 

“She keeps asking me if you’re single.” Amber continues.

 

Henry finally manages to swallow down his food. “A Jullie?”

 

“Obviously,” she says with an eye roll. “Everyone who goes here knows that you prefer over s.”

 

Before Henry can make a comment on her choice of words (there has got to be a much less vulgar way to say that he prefers men), Amber taps their shoulders excitedly, trying to discreetly (and failing miserably) point to someone behind her.

 

“There she is!” she hisses. “The one with long black hair and looks like she just robbed Barbie’s closet. Her name’s Tiffany.”

 

Just when Henry was about to look up and see who this Tiffany girl is, he sees Benji enter the cafeteria and he glares. Oh great, the devil’s here.

 

“What’s with you?” Amber asks, brows knitting together in confusion.

 

Eric turns to look over his shoulder and immediately sees the culprit. “Ah, Benji. He’s in his class.”

 

“Oh.” Amber turns to look and her face morphs into a mix of horrified and disgusted. She pats Henry on the back, a form of pity and sympathy. “Who’s grave should I prepare, yours or his?”

 

Henry is a pretty patient man. After all, he has a little sister and God knows how much waiting he has to do whenever they go out or when she drags him around to go shopping. And he also taught Eric how to dance that one summer and that takes a hell lot of patience (especially if Eric’s body is as flexible as a mechanical pencil). So he thinks to himself that maybe, he could handle five weeks of Benji’s annoying smirk and the thick metaphorical air of arrogance that he brings with him.

 

Except this week, The Spawn of Satan seems to be ten times more cocky and bajillion times more annoying. His patience is hanging by a thread when he took a jab at his classical skills, questioning him if he really knows how to play Vivaldi like a pro and Henry fumes on the inside, already thinking of ways to murder him with his instrument before reminding himself that his violin doesn’t deserve to go through that. So with what he hopes is a calm composure, he tucks his violin under his chin and plays Spring from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, fingers dancing on the string instrument and eyes closed in concentration as he perfects every , every slide, every vibrato, and every trill. He leaves out a few measurements because he thinks the jerk doesn’t deserve a full performance from him and he finishes with a gentle slide of his bow, letting the last notes fade out.

 

The lecture room erupts with applause and he opens his eyes and smiles, hoping to see Benji’s humiliated face because he sure as hell proved him wrong, but instead, when he looks over to where he is, the usual arrogant smirk is gone and he’s - is he actually smiling at him? The smile is gone as soon as their eyes meet and the smirk returns. Henry wonders if the smile was just a fragment of his imagination.

 

He shakes his head and glances at his watch and dismisses the class, packing up his violin and making it look like he’s not in a hurry to leave. Thankfully, when he turns around, Benji is already out. He sighs in relief and hurries out of the classroom. He doesn’t understand why he’s being so difficult. The rest of the Jullies in his class at least act civil towards him (although they do sit in a flock with a suffocatingly intimidating air) but the kid manages to get on his every nerve like it’s some kind of a special talent.

 

“Henry!”

 

Henry gets shaken out of his thoughts when his name was called and he turns around to find a girl running towards him, clad in the most amount of pink that he has ever seen anyone wore. Ah, this is the girl from Amber’s class? What’s her name, again? He’s pretty sure it starts with a T. Toni?

 

“Hi, I’m Tiffany.” she smiles at him.

 

Close enough.

 

He smiles back, hoping that it’s not as forced as it seems. “Hi. You’re from Amber’s class?”

 

The girl’s smile got brighter, her eyes disappearing into slits, much like his does when he smiles.

 

“Yes, I am!” she answers, still smiling.

 

“Is there anything you need from me?”

 

“Yes, actually.” she blushes and Henry raises an eyebrow. He has a feeling he knows where this is going. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

 

Henry knew it was coming but he still blinks in surprise, trying to formulate a nice and polite rejection. It’s not exactly the first time someone asked him out without knowing what his actual preference is but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

 

“Um,” he starts. “Look, Tiffany, you’re really pretty and I’m really flattered that you like me but I…” he trails off, wincing a little bit when she sees her expectant face. “I like men.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m gay.” Tiffany blinks and gapes at him.

 

“See, Tiffany. I told you.” Henry rolls his eyes when Benji walks over to them, eyeing him with his usual smirk that annoys the living hell out of him. God, was he born with that?

 

Benji looks at Tiffany, his smirk turning into a mischievous grin and holds his palm up. “Pay up.”

 

Tiffany sighs, pulls out a 20 from her purse before shoving it to Benji’s chest, glaring at the taller man and walking away with an angry huff. Henry’s not sure what’s happening but he’s sure as hell offended because what the ? Did they just made a bet out of his uality?

 

“What the hell was that?!”

 

Benji shrugs, folding the bill neatly and shoving it in his pocket. “There were rumors about you.”

 

“So you and your friend decided it would be a lot more fun to find out this way?” Henry scoffs.

 

“Oh, no. Tiffany actually does like you so it wasn’t fun for her. But it was for me.”

 

Henry clenches his fist and wills himself to calm down. He can’t hit a student, he can’t hit a student, he can’t hit a student, he chants in his head. Except he really does want to hit him. Hard. Just let his fist print a bruise on his face. He’s going to get into a lot of trouble and could cost him his position as a student instructor but it’s not like he wanted to be an instructor in the first place. He quickly decides, though, that Benji’s not worth it. After all, he can’t deliver good punches (Amber’s words) and would most likely hurt his hand in the process.

 

“You think it’s fun to poke your nose into other people’s private matters? You disgust me, Benjamin Bae.”

 

Benji snorts, chuckling a little bit, thoroughly unaffected by his rage. “As if I don’t already know that.”

 

Henry purses his lips together, avoiding himself to say anything more before he explodes and do something he might regret. He sighs, unclenching his fist, where his nails already made a mark.

 

“You could have just asked but I guess that wouldn’t be fun to you, right?”

 

Henry turns on his heel, walking away quickly, face red with anger and feeling the need to punch someone. Hopefully, he won’t run into anyone he knows.

 

“HE DID WHAT?!”

 

Amber’s voice echoes throughout the apartment, standing up on her seat from the couch, almost dumping the bowl of chips on Eric.

 

“I swear to god, that kid is just crossing the line! Do you want me to show him how a black belter fights?!”

 

“Calm down, Bruce Lee.” Henry tugs on her hand to make her sit down, smiling a little to show appreciation for her offer. “As tempting as that is, he’s not worth it, Am.”

 

“Are you okay, though?” Eric asks, looking at him with concerned eyes.

 

Henry shrugs. “It’s not like it’s the first time something like this happened. I’m fine. I’ll just restrain myself from punching him the next time I see him.”

 

“Well, I won’t.” Amber pouts and Henry rolls his eyes before trapping her in a headlock.

 

Zhoumi, a family friend, visits him that weekend. He’s on a well-deserved vacation, he says and Henry doesn’t have the time to protest when Zhoumi drags him out of the apartment. He calls for Amber but his best friend shuts the door to her room, screaming about needing to catch up on her shows. Henry could smell the popcorn. That traitor.

 

They ended up in the mall and Henry’s already sure that he’s going to regret this. He has experienced the horror of shopping with Zhoumi and it’s four to five hours of death by standing too long and suffocation by the mass of shopping bags.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m only going to buy a few stuff. I have a luggage limit, you know.” Zhoumi pats him on the cheek before waltzing into a store. Henry sighs and follows after him.

 

Apparently, Zhoumi’s definition of few is five shopping bags in less than twenty minutes and they’re just on the first store. Henry hasn’t even bought anything yet.

 

He was scanning the rack of denim jackets, waiting for Zhoumi to finish fitting stuff, when someone calls him. He looks up and raises an eyebrow when he sees Tiffany (surprisingly, in an outfit without a shade of pink).

 

“Hey.” She bites on her lower lip, hesitant to approach him.

 

“Hey.” He greets back with a weak smile.

 

“I’m really sorry for what happened the other day.” She plays with the hem of her shirt and suddenly finds the floor interesting. “I really do like you. I mean, you’re cute and really talented. What me and Benji did is a really move. I shouldn’t have agreed to do that.”

 

Henry smiles a little when he heard her cussing. He likes this image of her, somehow, even though she always dresses like she’s going to some rich people party that only serves food in really tiny portions.

 

“It’s okay.” He says, smiling more sincerely this time.

 

“And I’m sure Benji’s sorry, too. He’s just being a really big right now.”

 

Zhoumi emerges from the fitting room, holding a pair of pants. “Henry come and try this jeans, it’ll show off your and maybe it can get you a boyfriend, too!”

 

Henry’s eyes widen and he’s really really thankful that Zhoumi yelled those in Mandarin.

 

“Your boyfriend?” Tiffany asks, nodding to Zhoumi who’s going through the rack of skinny jeans.

 

“God, no.” Henry laughs and he’s glad that the tension between them isn’t choking him anymore. “He’s just a friend.”

 

“Tiffany, I’ve been waiting outside Victoria’s Secret for almost 15 minutes now.” Benji saunters in, a hint of pout on his lips and hands on his pockets. “I thought that’s where we’re supposed to meet.”

 

“Oh good, you’re here!” Tiffany chirps and nods over to Henry. Benji finally notices him and raises an eyebrow at him. Henry rolls his eyes. “Apologize to Henry.”

 

Henry is not expecting that. Neither is Benji, from what he could see.

 

“What?”

 

“Apologize.”

 

Henry watches in amusement as the two stared each other down, not breaking eye contact for a few moments before Benji sighs and turns to look at him.

 

“Sorry.” he says, exasperated and Henry knows he’s milliseconds away from roll his eyes. Tiffany glares at the back of his head.

 

“That’s not sincere.” Tiffany pouts.

 

Henry decides to step in, before the two could argue. “That’s fine. You guys don’t have to do this.”

 

Really. He just wants them to go now before things get worse. He already has Zhoumi and his shopping habits to deal with.

 

“We’re both really sorry, Henry.” Tiffany says, the tone of shame and regret in her voice making up for the lack of sincerity in Benji’s apology.

 

“It’s cool, you’re forgiven.”

 

Tiffany beams. “See you at school?”

 

Henry nods and he watches as Tiffany all but drags Benji out of the store, telling him how big of an he is (Henry chuckles at that) and before they were completely out of sight, Benji turns his head to look at him, smirking.

 

“See you in class, Mr. Lau.” he manages to say just before disappearing to another store.

 

Henry scoffs before he hears a loud, “Liu Xianhua get your in the fitting room!” and he scampers to where Zhoumi is, almost tripping on his own feet.

 

Zhoumi goes back to Beijing on Sunday. Boston was apparently the last stop of his North American vacation (he’s hoping to explore Europe next, he says). He couldn’t take half of the stuff he bought when they went shopping and just decided to give them to Henry. Henry doesn’t know where he’s supposed to wear a transparent mesh that Zhoumi calls a shirt or any other of the weird things that he bought. Amber tells him to sell it online. He didn’t because he’s not an (“Debatable,” Amber says).

 

The D-string on his violin breaks on Monday just as he finishes the piece that he’s playing for the class. He hears it snap and feels the sting as the broken string hits the back of his hand. He hisses, putting his violin back in its case carefully, cradling his hurt hand with the other. Thank god the string didn’t slap him on the face.

 

“Are you okay?” he hears someone ask and he turns to see that everyone is staring at him, some even wincing, knowing fully well how it feels to have a string snap at your hand.

 

He chuckles to cover up the sting. “Yeah, absolutely. It stings a little but it’ll go away soon.” he smiles. “You guys are dismissed for now. Don’t forget the mashup demo this Wednesday, okay?”

 

There’s a collection of yeses before they start piling out of the classroom, waving goodbye to Henry with a smile and concerned faces. He jumps in surprise, though, when he turns around and sees Benji there, eyebrows knitted together and staring at his hand.

 

“What do you want?” Henry snaps. Just seeing his face already makes his blood boil. How does he manage to teach this class without exploding, really.

 

Benji nods towards his hand. “How bad is it?”

 

“Why do you care?”

 

Benji frowns for a moment before shrugging. “Just tell me.”

 

“I just need to put ice over it.” Henry sighs. There’s no point in arguing. Plus, he’s getting tired of that, too. Especially since he’s mostly the one talking while he just stares at him with a smirk.

 

Henry was going to get back on packing his stuff when Benji suddenly grabs him by the wrist and leads him out into the hallway. He tries to catch up, short limbs trying to match his long strides as he splutters in protest, telling him to let go. They stop at a nearby vending machine and Henry raises an eyebrow as Benji punches a number, inserting a coin.

 

“Dude, what the hell?” Henry tries to squirm out of his grip but the kid tightens his hold and he’s actually a little bit horrified that someone who looks so lanky can have so much strength. Where is his? He doesn’t waste time and money at the gym to be hold up by a giant lanky kid.

 

Before he could try to get out of his grip again, Benji retrieves a cold can of soda from the machine and presses it to the back of his hand where a red mark is starting to form. Henry hisses when the cold comes in contact with his skin and he hears Benji mumble an apology under his breath.

 

Henry’s confused. Why is he being so nice? He thought his sole purpose in signing up in the class was to annoy the living out of him? He looks up, still confused and was immediately reminded that Benji is taller than he is and realizes with a start that this is the closest they have ever been since he had the unfortunate opportunity of crossing paths with him.

 

He has heard a lot of things about Benji even before they met. He heard that he’s some kind of child prodigy and that he was accepted in Julliard without having to audition when he was only seventeen. Which explains why he looks so young despite being a junior like him.

 

“Are you going to the party this Friday?” Benji suddenly asks and it brings Henry out of his thoughts.

 

“Party? You mean Jun’s party?” Henry remembers the text that he got from Jun (Korean name, Minjun. But Henry’s afraid of butchering the pronunciation so he sticks with Jun) about a party that he’s having. IT’S GOING TO BE THE BOMB, he had typed in capital letters and honestly, who says that anymore?

 

“Yeah that one.” Benji answers, oddly concentrated on pressing the improvised cold compress on his hand.

 

“You’re invited? I thought it was exclusive for Berklee students.”

 

Benji shrugs. “Heard he’s a friend of Tiffany’s.”

 

“Oh.” Henry watches as he removes the cold can of soda from the back of his hand, his grip on his wrist much more gentler now.

 

“There. It doesn’t sting anymore, right?” Benji beams, a little bit proud of himself.

 

Henry blinks. He hasn’t seen him smile like that ever since he met him. He was beginning to think that the annoying smirk was his default expression. Realizing that he’s still in his grip, he quickly retracts his hand, wringing his wrist a little.

 

“Um, thanks.”

 

Benji smiles again and Henry’s not used to that so he’s kind of freaked out. Benji pushes the can of soda into his palm and walks away without saying anything else.

 

He doesn’t drink the soda.

 

Amber literally drags him to the party on Friday and he silently curses Eric for having a date that night. They arrive when the party is on full swing and when there are enough drunk college students throwing up by the bushes.

 

Loud music welcomes them and Henry raises an eyebrow at the amount of people running around with drinks in hand. He spots Tiffany by the stairs talking to someone who Henry vaguely remembers as Nichkhun. He chuckles and shakes his head when he notices Nichkhun go rigid as Tiffany touches him on the shoulder.

 

Amber hands him a drink before slinging an arm around his shoulders, grinning mischievously.

 

“Let’s go find someone and get you laid.” she says and Henry almost chokes on his drink.

 

“What?!”

 

“C’mon you haven’t been with someone since Aiden left you for China. And that was almost a year and a half ago.”

 

Henry rolls his eyes. She makes it sound like he was so utterly heartbroken that Aiden chose his dream over him. He wasn’t. He understood his reason and accepted it. In fact, they ended on good terms. Besides, he wasn’t that in love with him.

 

“I’m perfectly fine without a partner, Amber. I have you and Eric, don’t I?”

 

“That’s damn right!” Amber grins. “We still need to find you someone, though. Don’t think flattery’s gonna get you out of this.”

 

They didn’t get to find someone because a few drinks later, Amber is already passed out in his arms. Henry tsks and laughs at her alcohol tolerance and carries her upstairs to find an empty bedroom. After he tucks her in and makes sure that no creep would take advantage of her, he returns downstairs, squishing his way to the kitchen to find something to eat.

 

He sees Benji by the fridge and he stops on his tracks, remembering the unopened can of soda in his fridge and his hand twitches a little bit at the memory. Benji spots him and smirks, raising his drink at him. Henry pays him no mind and marches to the fridge, rummaging through Jun’s food. He grins when he finds some leftover mac n cheese and puts it in the microwave, grabbing a fork as he waits. Benji follows after him, sipping his drink casually.

 

“How’s your hand?” he asks.

 

“Good.”

 

“You’ve replaced the string?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The microwave goes off and Henry sighs inwardly, glad to have a distraction from this very awkward conversation. Why is he alone here anyways? Where’s Tiff-- oh right, she’s busy.

 

He eats his mac n cheese quietly, the awkward air around them making him shift uncomfortably.

 

“Do you know where Tiffany is?” Benji asks quietly and Henry winces a little bit because he sounds so lost.

 

“She’s with Nichkhun, one of Jun’s friends. You probably won’t see her for the rest of the night.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Another awkward silence and Henry groans as he loses his appetite. He dumps the fork in the sink, shoving a couple in front of it before putting the mac n cheese back in the fridge. Benji is still trailing behind him like a puppy.

 

“What do you want, Benji?”

 

Benji looks a bit startled by the question and tries to cover it up with a nonchalant shrug. “The one I came with ditched me for a guy and you’re the only one I know here so I’m sticking with you.”

 

“What? No!”

 

“Too late.”

 

Benji latches himself to him, grabbing him by the wrist to get more drinks and Henry tries to fend him off but like last time, he just tightened his grip on him. Henry really needs to cut ship from the gym if he’s going to keep being manhandled by a twenty-year-old.

 

Throughout the night, he tried to introduce him to his friends so he can stop following him and he can finally have his freedom back but the bastard doesn’t make more than small talks before he starts latching himself to him like a freaking leech. Henry came to the party to have fun, not to be a babysitter. Curse Amber Liu and her low alcohol tolerance.

 

“Look, I’m trying to introduce you to other people so you’d stop latching on me. For the love of God, cooperate with me.” Henry hisses, patience running thin.

 

Benji scrunches his nose. “If I’m going to associate myself with people from Berklee, then one is enough.”

 

Henry has to stop himself from beating the out of this kid.

 

“Henry,” Jun starts and Henry looks up from his phone. “You do know that you’re being followed by that kid all night, right?”

 

Jun nods towards the bottom of the stairs where Benji stood, sipping his drink and refusing to speak to anyone. Henry had given up on fending him off so he just ignores him and lets him follow like a duckling.

 

He lets out an exasperated sigh. “A pain in the , that kid is.” he mumbles through the rim of his cup. “Can’t get rid of him.”

 

“He’s with you?”

 

“God, no. Like hell he would.” he crinkles his nose in disgust. Just the thought of people thinking that they’re together makes him want to vomit. “He’s a friend of Tiffany and I’m the only one he knows besides her."

 

Realization seems to hit Jun pretty quick. He saw Tiffany with Nichkhun earlier, getting a little too comfortable with each other. So that means Henry’s stuck with being a babysitter.

 

“He looks like he doesn’t belong here.” Jun says a little sadly and Henry rolls his eyes.

 

“He’s a Jullie, Jun. Of course he doesn’t belong here.” he snaps. “Tiffany’s just too friendly that’s why she can adapt easily. That one’s a real .”

 

Henry’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he quickly reads the text before handing his drink to Jun. “That’s Eric. I gotta go get Amber from your room.”

 

Jun nods and they climb up the stairs to his room. From the corner of his eye, he sees the kid tense up a little before following behind them.

 

When they got to the room, Henry tries to wake Amber up but the girl was too out of it that he has no choice but to hoist her up his back, grabbing her arms to let them wrap around his neck and hooking his arms under her knees. He chuckles as her light snores tickles his neck.

 

Jun shows them to the door, thanking them for coming and soon, they were out, that Jullie kid still in tow. He snorts in amusement, watching them argue for a while in front of Eric’s car before closing the door and returning back to the party.

 

“Benji, I’m tired. You can annoy me again on Monday.” Henry sighs, adjusting Amber on his back.

 

“Tiffany was my ride home.” Benji answers simply and Henry curses. Goddammit, he’s going to have to give Tiffany a piece of his mind when he sees her. He looks over at Eric who shrugs, indicating that it’s his call.

 

So with another sigh, he nods towards the car door. “Open it and get in. Don’t say a single ing word or I’m really going to punch you in the face.”

 

Benji doesn’t look fazed, just scoffs and smirks before getting in the car. Henry groans before climbing inside, letting Amber sleep on his shoulder. He tries to remember if they have Tylenol at the apartment because he’s going to need a lot of it.

 

“I forgot my music sheet in the practice room. Go home without me. Bye.” Henry puts his phone back into his pocket and races towards the practice room. Being a junior meant new compositions almost everyday if you want to graduate and get a good job in the music industry. He was already behind on his writing schedule because of the instructor thing so he has to work twice as hard. He really should have skipped the party and wrote instead.

 

He’s almost at the door when he hears a familiar tune inside. That’s weird. He doesn’t remember anyone booking the practice room after him. He realizes that the familiar tune is actually his composition and he races to open the door and almost screams when he sees Benji there, violin tucked under his chin, brows knitted together in concentration as he tries to read the music sheet in front of him. Henry’s music sheet.

 

Benji looks up, unfazed, before going back to the music sheet. Henry is quick to snatch it, clutching it to his chest.

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Henry demands and Benji just puts his violin down and tries to get the music sheet back. Henry holds on to it tighter.

 

“I’m trying to play that thing.” He points at the music sheet.

 

“This is my composition. It’s not finished yet so no one is allowed to play it except me.”

 

“You’re overreacting. Bet I can play it better than you.”

 

Henry scoffs. “Oh is that what you were doing a while ago? You were murdering my song!”

 

Benji rolls his eyes before tucking his violin under his chin again and playing a part of the song that he’s memorized. Henry frowns because Benji pretty much perfected the techniques needed for the song but it comes out as stiff and mechanical. He hates hearing his songs like that.

 

“Stop. Please.” he says, grabbing him by the wrist. Benji stops playing and stares at the hand on his wrist. Henry immediately lets go. “You’re terrible.”

 

Before Benji could say anything, Henry grabs the violin from him and starts playing, eyes closing shut as he lets himself be immersed with the music, letting every note consume him. When he finishes, he points the bow threateningly at Benji’s chest, poking it slightly.

 

“Music has a heart. Don’t play it for the sake of playing it.” Henry’s frown gets deeper. “You may have a perfect technique but if you’re heart’s not in it, then it’ll sound terrible. Like what you did earlier. Music is the sound of children’s laughter; it’s the sound of that freshman crying earlier when his mom called; it’s the sound of Amber’s snorts when I do something stupid and the sound of Eric’s sighs when he sees Amy. Music is the sound of feelings, Benji, not the product of years of perfecting techniques.”

 

Henry only realizes that he was leaning down on him, their faces practically inches apart, when he hears Benji gasps a little bit, the bow digging into his chest.

 

“You’re too close, Mr. Lau.” Benji whispers with a chuckle and watches as the older turns into an interesting shade of pink before straightening himself up, clearing his throat.

 

“Remember that.” Is what he says before trying to make it look like he’s not rushing to the door, his music sheets clutched tightly in his hand and then he’s gone with a slam of the door.

 

Benji has to bite down on his lower lip to keep himself from smiling too much.

 

The next day, Henry sprints into the practice room after his class, eager to work on his composition again. He only has the practice room reserve for an hour and a half because some greedy apparently has it booked for the rest of the afternoon.

 

He almost trips on the piano leg as he scrambles to take his music sheets out of his bag. He needs to finish this as soon as possible. There’s only a few bars left anyways, then he could go to arranging and recording. So with a deep breath, his fingers dance around the ivory keys, moving at their own pace, creating their own melody, going with their own rhythm. He stops playing once in awhile to scribble on the music sheets, revising a few measures when necessary.

 

He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn’t notice his hour and a half is done and someone else is already coming in. It wasn’t until someone taps the piano did he stop scribbling furiously to look up at whoever it was who ruined his concentration.

 

“Hey.” Benji greets with his usual smirk, violin in one hand and two cans of soda in the other.

 

Henry sighs irritably. Of course it had to be Benji who booked the practice room. As if he hasn’t ruined his summer enough. Grumbling, he moves to gather his things, stuffing his music sheets into his bag with a bit more force than necessary. He stops, though, when Benji grabs his wrist to prevent him from packing up.

 

“Stay.” Benji says and he raises an eyebrow. “The practice room is big enough for the two of us.”

 

“But where will your huge ego fit?” Henry tsks, tugging his wrist back .

 

“Ha-ha,” Benji says sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “But really, you can stay.”

 

“Why are you being nice?”

 

“Because contrary to your opinion of me, I’m actually a decent human being.”

 

Henry snorts. “As if.” he says but he takes his music sheets out again anyways, going back to his previous place in the piano. He hears Benji chuckle before the younger pulls out a chair and a music stand from across the room, making sure that there’s enough distance between the two of them.

 

“Oh, here.” Henry turns around to see Benji tossing a can of soda to him and he’s caught off guard but manages to catch it in time. He raises an inquiring eyebrow.

 

“Decent human being.” Benji smiles, pointing to himself and Henry can’t help the chuckle that escapes his mouth.

 

“Hey, I made you laugh.” Benji says and Henry drops his smile almost immediately.

 

“Shut up.”

 

 

Following the sharing of practice room, Henry notices that Benji’s becoming less annoying in class. He still has that smirk, though, but at least he doesn’t make snide remarks anymore. It’s nice but it’s kinda freaking him out. The hell’s wrong with him?

 

Anyways, he has other things to worry about. He just finished the song that he’s writing and all he has to do is record the demo so he bribes Amber to monitor the recording even though it’s Saturday and they’re one of the few people crazy enough to go to school on a weekend.

 

“I better be paid with enough cheeseburgers for this.” Amber grumbles as she opens the door to the studio that Henry booked.

 

Henry ruffles her hair and laughs when she whines and swats his hand away. “Yeah yeah. I’ll buy you the whole McDonald’s menu if I have to.”

 

“If you make me stick around more than necessary, then you just might.”

 

Henry rolls his eyes and helps her to set up the equipment. Two minutes into it, Amber starts patting her pocket and almost gets a heart attack when she can’t find her phone. She remembers stuffing it in Henry’s glove compartment because a cousin she doesn’t like keeps calling.

 

“, I left my phone in your car.” She says as she quickly grabs his keys from the table and she’s already out of the door before Henry could say anything else.

 

Not even three minutes later, there’s already a knock on the door and Henry is about to praise Amber for her running skills because the parking lot is quite far but when he looks up and finds Benji on the door, his teasing grin is immediately wiped off his face.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

Benji, as per usual, ignores his unwelcoming tone and enters the room with his hands on his pockets. He sits down on one of the mixing tables - the one that Henry’s setting up - and Henry glares, trying not to get angry too much so he ignores Benji and tries to focus on getting the job done. Benji, on the other hand, has another thing in mind as he grabs him by the wrist, tugging him gently to him until he’s in front of him. Henry looks at him, a little bit confused but most definitely irritated than he was before.

 

Benji is smiling now, the annoying smirk that Henry hates so much now gone and replaced with a soft, gentle and genuine smile and he can’t help but think that he looks charming like this. It makes him look less of a brat that he knows he is.

 

Still, he pretends to be mad and tries not to let his breath hitch when he leans closer and whispers something in Korean.  

 

“Are you cursing me right now?” Henry manages to say without stuttering. “Should I remind you that I’m older and not to mention your instruc--”

 

What he was about to say dies from his mouth when Benji hooks his fingers on the belt loops of his jeans to pull him closer until their lips crash together. Henry knows he should push him away, break the kiss and tell him to get out but Benji’s lips are soft and warm and inviting and dammit he shouldn’t be enjoying this because Benjamin Bae has been nothing but an to him.

 

Calloused fingers tickled his neck and Benji runs his thumb across his cheeks. Henry finally gives in, leaning into his touch, opening his mouth for him and Benji happily indulges. Henry loses all self control as he grabs the front of his shirt to pull him closer while Benji’s arms circle his waist, securing him tightly against him.

 

When Benji pulls away, he keeps himself close to Henry, chuckling and trying to catch his breath.

 

“I said you look cute when you’re mad.” He whispers again, this time in English and Henry just blinks at him, breathless and confused, brain still trying to catch up with what happened.

 

“You kissed me.” Henry breathes.

 

Benji smiles at him, Henry’s hip with his thumb, giving him another peck on his lips. “I did.”

 

The door suddenly opens and in comes Amber, laughing at something on her phone. Henry untangles himself from Benji’s arms and steps back, heart thundering against his chest and brain muddled in both bliss and confusion.

 

Amber looks up from her phone and raises an eyebrow when she sees Benji. “Why are you here?”

 

Benji doesn’t answer, standing up from his place on the mixing table and looks over at Henry, cheeks glowing red. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

 

He walks past Amber, grinning and Amber watches him walk away with a confused look, wondering what the hell is wrong with that kid. She looks at Henry who’s still frozen from his place, face red and seems to be a little bit disoriented.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

The question snaps him out of his thoughts and he finally looks up, remembering why he was there and avoiding Amber’s eyes.

 

“I’m fine.” he brushes off, taking his violin out from its case. “Let’s just get this over with.”

 

Amber doesn’t ask.

 

Henry is confused. It’s been a day since that thing in the studio happened and he still can’t figure out why the hell did Benji kiss him. He can’t possibly like him, right? He does nothing but annoy him to no end and insult his violin skills. What if he’s trying to play with him again like he did last time?

 

The thought of that turns his confusion into anger. If he thinks that he can do that thing again, he’s really going to punch him this time. Or at least let Amber do it. She seems to be willing.

 

He tries to get rid of the memory of Benji’s lips against his and the way his fingertips feel against his skin, rough - much like his - from years of playing violin. He wills himself not to blush or shiver at the memory and presses his fingers harder onto the violin strings, letting the music distract him.

 

It’s only until he finished playing that he realizes that he might have pressed too hard because his fingers are now bleeding and he winces a bit, grabbing a tissue from his bag and wiping his violin clean before going out of his room to look for the first aid kit, careful not to let the blood stain his clothes or the carpet.

 

He’s in the middle of rummaging through the kitchen drawers when Amber sees him and her gaze immediately goes to his hand.

 

“What the hell happened?” She asks, taking his hand gently and inspecting his bleeding fingers.

 

“Practiced too hard.” He shrugs. His fingers used to bleed a lot when he was young because he was always playing and practicing too hard. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’ll heal in a few days.”

 

Amber rolls her eyes, mumbling, “You’re an idiot,” under her breath before dragging him to the bathroom. She tells him to wash his hand as she retrieves the first aid kit from one of the cupboards, taking a bandage and antiseptic out of the kit.

 

“So are you going to tell me what happened yesterday or are you going to wait for your other fingers to bleed?”

 

Henry winces when she applies the antiseptic. He’s got a feeling Amber’s going to purposely press hard on his cuts if he doesn’t talk soon. “He kissed me.”

 

Amber stops tending his cuts and looks up at him, eyes wide. “He kissed you?!”

 

Henry couldn’t stop the reddening of his cheeks as he nods.

 

“He likes you?” Amber’s eyebrow raises in question, her lips twitching upwards slightly before resuming on cleaning his cuts.

 

“I don’t know.” He sighs, ignoring that it sounds a little bit like a whine.

 

“Do you like him?” Amber wraps bandages on his cuts, smirking at the dirty look that he threw at her.

 

“He’s an .”

 

“You’ve always liked s.”

 

“Aiden’s not an .”

 

Amber rolls her eyes. “Henry, he left you for a job.”

 

“I would have done the same thing if I was in his place.” He says with a shrug.

 

“Then you’re an , too.” Amber flicks him on the ear and he winces. “Anyways, this isn’t about Aiden, this is about Benji who seems like he might like you. So what are you gonna do about him?”

 

“Ignore him for the rest of the summer?”

 

Amber sighs. “Forget what I said about you being an . You’re a huge idiot.”

 

Henry couldn’t even look at him in the eyes without remembering the kiss and already stuttered nervously twice in the first five minutes of his lecture. And it doesn’t help that Benji keeps staring.

 

Realizing that he really can’t concentrate anymore, he dismisses the class early and hopes that Benji won’t come and talk to him. Originally, of course, he wants to demand answers from him because he can’t just kiss him without explanation but for some ed up reason, every goddamn time he looks at him, he can’t help but remember the kiss and his stomach twists and turns and it makes him really uncomfortable.

 

But of course, God is never really on his side because when he turns around, Benji is still there on his seat with a smile on his face. He sighs and decides that he’ll just be straightforward just to get it out of the way.

 

“Why the hell did you kiss me?” Henry starts, just as Benji gets up from his seat. The younger doesn’t answer at first, burying his hands in the pocket of his white jeans, keeping his mouth shut until he’s right in front of him.

 

“Why do you think people kiss other people?” Benji asks in return, a hint of smirk on his lips at the hint of color forming on Henry’s cheeks.

 

Henry knits his eyebrows in confusion. He can’t possibly--

 

“I like you, okay?”

 

“...what? Benji if you’re playing with me again, I swear to ing god--”

 

Then Benji kisses him again like they’re in some sort of a cliche romantic movie and Henry finds himself clutching the front of his dress shirt that he owns in another three colors because he’s one of those snobby rich kids. Benji leans forward, pressing his palms down against Henry’s table on either side of his waist, effectively trapping him in his personal space so he can taste more of his lips and enjoys the way Henry’s grip on his shirt tightens.

 

Henry pulls away a few moments later, his lungs on fire and his mind drunk with the feeling of Benji’s lips on his and he really shouldn’t be liking it this much because it’s Benji.

 

“I don’t get it,” Henry starts, still a little bit breathless. “You’ve done nothing but torment me ever since we met and now, suddenly, you like me?”

 

“Well, I’m not really good at wooing people I like.” Benji answers, his cheek with his thumb. Henry allows him. “Usually, I’m the one being wooed.”

 

Henry rolls his eyes. He forgot that Benji’s a cocky bastard. “A simple ‘Will you go out with me’ would have sufficed instead of making my blood boil all the time.”

 

Benji grins and Henry finds it cute. “You mean, you would have said yes?”

 

Would he?

 

He stays quiet for a while and he can’t believe he’s actually thinking about it. Benji’s definitely not a bad-looking-kid -  tall with a boyish charm and he has the same interest as him so in theory, Henry’s supposed to be attracted to him. If only the kid isn’t such a dickhead.

 

“I would have if you weren’t such an .”

 

It wasn’t meant to be encouraging but Benji seems to take it as that and grins wider. “Really?”

 

“Idiot, you’re not supposed to be happy with that.”

 

“So that means you’ll go out with me if I stop annoying you?”

 

Henry blinks. “I...maybe?”

 

Benji’s grin is practically blinding. “Good!”

 

He pecks him lightly on the lips before leaving the room, bouncing lightly on his feet as he walks out. Henry watches him, the slightest hint of an amused smile ghosting his lips.

 

Henry has to hand it to the kid. He’s determined enough to make him go out with him that he’s been acting so well-behaved in class. Amber thinks it’s cute that he’s trying. He thinks it’s funny.

 

He was practicing violin when Benji came, sitting across him and watching and still keeping his promise that he’s not going to be an annoyance so Henry lets him stay. When he finished, Benji smiles and leans back on his chair, looking like he wants to say something. Henry waits.

 

“How do you do that?” Benji asks.

 

“Do what?”

 

Henry watches as Benji thinks about his response, chewing on his lower lip. “I have always been jealous of the way you play. Ever since that competition.”

 

Henry is taken aback at the sudden confession. Is he hearing it right? Benji, the child prodigy and the one that many consider as a genius, is jealous of him?

 

“Your bowing style is a bit sloppy,” he continues and Henry frowns. “But you play so genuinely, like nobody's watching and you don’t care about anything else. That you’re playing for yourself and not for anybody else. Since I was just a kid, it’s always about who was watching me. I never played for myself.”

 

Henry doesn’t know what to say. He’s never been good at comforting people, even though Benji doesn’t look like he wants or needs one. But still.

 

Before he can form some sort of coherent encouragement or something, Benji stands up from his seat and sits beside him, a smile on his lips.

 

“When I watched you play in the competition, I just had to meet you and make sure you remember me.”

 

“So you chose to insult me?” Henry glares.

 

Benji shrugs with a chuckle. “I don’t know how to woo people, remember?”

 

“That’s not an excuse.”

 

Benji cups his cheek in one hand, thumb brushing on his lower lip and Henry shivers a little bit. He lets him lean closer until their foreheads are touching and Henry blames his muddled brain for not pushing him away.

 

“I’m sorry,” Benji says, their breaths mingling together. “For every move that I did and will probably do.”

 

Henry doesn’t answer, his eyes darting back and forth from his eyes to his lips so he leans forward and closes the gap between them instead. Benji is quick to react, kissing back with much enthusiasm, tangling his finger with his hair and gripping him by the waist.

 

Henry just pulls himself closer, urging the younger to open his mouth by tracing his upper lip with his tongue. Benji chuckles and obliges, sighing as their tongues meet. Benji has heard a lot of things about Henry, too, even before they met. Everyone says that he’s a man of many talents and he thinks with a laugh, that kissing is apparently one of them.

 

Henry breaks the kiss and keeps their foreheads touching as they try to catch their breaths.

 

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” Benji chuckles but he looks at him with hopeful eyes.

 

“It’s gonna take more than just a kiss for me to forgive you.”

 

“Okay, then.” Benji leans forward again, landing a peck on the older’s lips. “What about now?”

 

He laughs when Henry glares, taking his face in his hands again before peppering his face with light kisses, not stopping until he finally hears laughter escape from his mouth.

 

Henry really can’t believe that he’s letting him do all these stuff. Up until last week, Benji was nothing but an but now, three kisses later, he doesn’t know anymore. There are butterflies on his stomach and his kisses are lighting his skin on fire.

 

“Okay, fine, fine.” He says with a laugh, grabbing his wrists to make him stop. Benji looks at him with a charming grin and Henry knows he can use that against him if he’s not careful enough.

 

Maybe he does have a thing for s.

 

“Just admit it, Henry, you like him.” Amber looks at him pointedly, a smirk on her lips as they sat down for lunch, Eric following behind them.

 

“Yeah, you wouldn’t let him kiss you three times if you don’t.” Eric chimes in, chuckling at Henry’s red face.

 

“Some friends you guys are.” Henry grumbles, turning to his food instead and starts eating. Eric and Amber exchange grins before going back to their lunch. Halfway through his salad, Henry feels a tap on his shoulder. He looks up and ignores Eric and Amber’s snickers when he sees Benji.

 

“Hey.” He greets.

 

“Uhm, hey.” Henry kicks Amber under the table as she and Eric continues snickering behind their hands.

 

“Hey Eric, don’t we have to do that thing?” Amber announces, an obviously fake excuse, standing up from her seat and grabbing her stuff.

 

“Oh yeah, that thing!” Eric agrees and Henry wants to strangle both of them.

 

“See ya, Henry.” Amber smirks before dragging Eric out of the cafeteria.

 

Benji takes the seat they occupied, propping his chin in one hand and watches Henry eat (or try to), chuckling at his attempt to avoid his eyes.

 

“What do you want?” Henry asks, the question sounding harsher than he intended.

 

Benji just smiles. “Is it okay now?”

 

“What?”

 

“Is it okay to ask you out now?”

 

Henry looks up from his food, cheeks reddening as he stares at Benji’s expectant eyes and he swallows the lump on his throat.

 

“So?”

 

Henry stays silent. He likes kissing him but that doesn’t automatically mean that he likes him, right? Benji takes his hand as he wait for his response, brushing his thumb across the back of his hand.

 

, who was he kidding, anyways?

 

“...okay.” He finally answers and he smiles at the way Benji grins at him so widely, Henry thought his face is going to split.

 

“Really? You wouldn’t say no?”

 

Henry laughs. “Really. Why don’t you try asking now?”

 

“Okay then,” Benji grins even wider. “Henry, would you like to have dinner with me this Friday? Say, around 7-ish?”

 

“Don’t you have to practice for the Final Week Concert?”

 

“I figured the student instructor would let me off. I heard he has a date, too.” Benji shrugs with a teasing smile.

 

Henry rolls his eyes but he laughs, squeezing his hand gently. “Let’s make it 8. I don’t think your instructor would be thrilled with that. You’re from Julliard, I know how hard it is for you folks to make and appreciate good music.”

 

Benji snorts. “Shut up.”

 

“Why don’t you make me?” Henry grins.

 

“Gladly.”

 

The grin doesn’t leave Henry’s face even as Benji leans forward to capture his lips.

He will still deny that he has a thing for s but there’s no use to denying that he likes Benji, no matter how much of an he is.

 

---

a/n: Yes, the Aiden is Donghae hahah and hooray for cheesy endings!