Monday afternoon Jongdae dropped off Jongsu for his lesson as scheduled. About halfway through the lesson, Jongsu stopped playing suddenly. Baekhyun was leaning against the piano looking at the music but glanced up when the child stopped. “What’s up?”

“They are going to burn my dad’s body,” Jongsu said quietly. Baekhyun felt his heart fall.

“Yeah? That happens a lot. They did that to my dad.” He said, trying not to make a big deal about it. This is why he was only a piano teacher, emotions weren’t really his thing.

“Uncle Jongdae said that they are going to put him in a vase so we can always have him with us, but I don’t want that.” Jongsu was staring intently at the piano keys.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know. I want my dad back. I want grandma to wake up.” Jongsu sniffled and bitterly wiped away a tear, looking away from Baekhyun. Baekhyun pursed his lips and sat down next to Jongsu on the piano bench, he put his arm around the small child and pulled him in. After a moment of resistance, Jongsu leaned his face into Baekhyun’s chest and started to cry.

Baekhyun wasn’t quite sure what to do so he soothingly pat Jongsu’s back and rocked back and forth.

“It’s okay bud. It’s okay.” He whispered. When did Baekhyun become comfortable lying to children?

After a few moments, Jongsu’s tears slowed and he hiccupped and pulled back from Baekhyun. “Teacher,” he said quietly, focusing on the spot on Baekhyun’s shirt where his tears had left a mark.

“Yeah?”

“I…will you come with me. To my dad’s funeral?” Jongsu’s bottom lip quivered.

“Of course, I will.” Baekhyun smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring voice, “of course I will. Tell you what let’s cut today's lesson short okay? I’ll make some hot chocolate and I think we have some muffins from the coffee shop in the kitchen, does that sound good?”

“Yeah.” Jongsu tried to smile but wasn’t successful. Baekhyun sighed, at least he was trying. That kid was stronger than anyone Baekhyun had ever met. Baekhyun lifted Jongsu up and set him on the counter so he could watch as Baekhyun made hot chocolate and warmed up muffins for them.

Jongdae came on time to pick up Jongsu and he left without really saying anything to Baekhyun.

After Jongsu was gone Baekhyun returned to his piano and let his hands rest on the keys. He didn’t really play for pleasure often, but he found himself playing an old song. It was the song he played his own father’s funeral when he was just a little bit older than Jongsu. He remembered twelve-year-old Baekhyun with a scratchy suit that didn’t fit, his hair parted to the side with too much gel.

He promised himself he wouldn’t cry that day, and he didn’t. Every time he felt like crying he would simply play the piano, it became his only way of coping. Somehow he never cried over his father’s death, perhaps it was hard to cry over someone who you barely knew, but in any case, Baekhyun grew up right there on the stage of the church with the musty grand piano, playing the simplified version of Amazing Grace every single 12-year-old prodigy could play on the piano.

He found himself now, almost 12 years later, playing the same song on his piano at home. Ironically the song that had made him not cry as a child made him want to cry as an adult. He chuckled at the twist of events and almost bitterly closed the lid to the piano.

That night he skipped dinner and went to bed early, citing a headache and ignoring his roommate’s suspicious stares. 

**a/n idk what happened here sorry **