"It's nice to meet all of you, I will be your homeroom teacher for the whole year, I am Eguchi Takuya. Please address me as Eguchi." The same person that Taekwoon saw onstage during the entrance ceremony was standing in front of the classroom, the same pink hair and the same bright smile on his face. He nods, giving a soft 'yes' in contrast to the rest of the class' enthusiastic answer.

Smiling at the replies he got, Eguchi clasped his hands together and spoke again. "I know this seems embarrassing. But as it is the first day of this school year, I hope you don't mind if I ask you all to introduce yourselves, hm?" It might be his imagination, or his inner voice, but he thought he heard someone groan somewhere, and he can relate. Because honestly, having to introduce yourself in front of lots of people when you're already in university, who wouldn't groan at that thought.

Eguchi clapped twice, humming in delight. "Alright. Let's start with that lady at the back. Say your name, age and your course."

Taekwoon didn't want to listen, but if it meant that he'll be stuck to interact with these same people and even possibly debut with someone from here (though Taekwoon would like to debut as a solo artist), then he might as well remember their names.

The first two back rows were complete, Taekwoon remembering most of the people that were assigned there, and his row soon started, the girl on the far right stood up, Taekwoon blinking when he realised he'll be the last on their row.

"Hello." The girl greets in her native language, bowing down her head as she wais. "I'm Chonnasorn Sajakul, but you can call me Sorn for short. I'm fifteen, I came from Bangkok, Thailand and I'm taking the idol course."

She then sat back down, smiling at the boy seated next to her. He stood up, his dry lips. "Hello. Nice to meet you." He greets, and Taekwoon assumed he was the same guy who groaned earlier, he ran a hand through his purple hair, as he blinked. "My name's Han Sanghyuk, fifteen years old and taking the idol course. I hope we get along well." He bows, keeping his introduction short as he gestures to the next student.

Taekwoon leans his chin on top of his palm, waiting for his turn.

Finally, as the last student finishes their introduction, Eguchi pushed his back against the wall he had been leaning on. "It's nice to meet all of you. Let's get along 'till the end of the year. Okay?" He nods, picking up a chalk and pressing it against the board. "Shall we get started?"

As their new teacher begins their lecture about the fundamentals of music, as a refresher, said Eguchi, Taekwoon took out his notebook, focusing his attention to the lesson.

At one point, the pink haired male walked to the side of the room where a piano was placed, lifting up the lid and gently grabbing the cloth covering the keys. "I'm a bit curious about your skills." He says, meeting eyes with Taekwoon momentarily before moving back to the centre of the room, gesturing to the student beside Taekwoon.

Eyes following the female student as she walked to the piano, Taekwoon gulped, staring blankly when the other student started playing. He looked down to his desk where his hands were placed, not noticing the way they trembled as the sound of the gentle piano penetrates his ears.

One, two, three, one after another, his classmates took turns in playing the piano, and Sanghyuk wondered just how many music sheets his teacher has with him just for this day. His teacher stands beside him after he called out the girl to his left. "How about you?" He smiles, talking in a low voice as the other student started playing. "I'm still learning how to play properly," he apologizes, Eguchi nods and smiles, patting his shoulder before moving to the back of their row.

Eguchi Takuya stops in front of Taekwoon, the younger looks up from his trembling hands, this time even his lip quivers. And Eguchi doesn't fail to notice.

"Would you like to try playing the piano, Taekwoon san?"

His tone was soft, but Taekwoon wasn't comfortable with the subject itself. Add the fact that he can feel a few of his classmates' gazes directed towards him. He's uncomfortable for sure.

"Sensei i... It's been a while since I've played..." He says in a low voice, hoping to disinterest a few of the curious eyes. Eguchi smiled, head tilting. "It's okay. Go ahead and try."

The black haired male gulped, blinking as he nodded. He quietly stood up while the others clapped for the last student who played the piano, his teacher replacing the music sheets for him.

Settling his feet on the pedal, Taekwoon stares at the music sheet, the sight was not new to him-- he's been playing for as long as he remembered. However, after nearly three years of not playing or even looking at a piano, he's letting the nerves take over him.

Slowly, a low buzz started making it's way to his ears. A mixture of foreign languages going on behind him, he didn't understand at first, the buzzing even blocking out his comprehension of the Japanese language, but when he heard someone speak in Korean, that's when he understood what the topic was about.

"Can he not read the music sheets?" He heard someone from the third row ask, followed by a shushing of someone that came with that person. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Eguchi still standing there, facing him.

Like he doesn't hear all the whispering around him.

And then suddenly, as if snapping the young male out of his thoughts and also saving him, the bell rang. Everyone suddenly seemed to forget about Taekwoon, scrambling to shove their stuff into their bags, but still not running out towards the door.

"Ah, I guess that'll do for our first day." Eguchi nods, placing a comforting hand on the frozen student's shoulder. "Thank you everyone, I'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as the last student left the room for their quick snacks, Taekwoon still stood, in front of the chairs, poised to step outside, only having something in his mind. "Sensei..." He calls out, hearing a hum from the teacher's table. "Will it be alright if I borrow the piano from time to time?"

His teacher looks up from his notebook, a little bit surprised before he nods, smiling. "... sure." And with that, Taekwoon leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Hongbin adjusts his blazer, looking around the cafeteria for a place to sit. If he remembers correctly, not everyone has a quick break after their first class, but why are there so many people?

"Oh, Hongbin!" He heard a familiar voice call out to him, he looks to his left and sees an enthusiastic Hakyeon waving him over. His table was not that crowded, as he had taken one enough for about six people compared to the longer ones.

"Hello Hakyeon san." He bows as Hakyeon urges him to sit in front of him. He took out the bread he bought earlier, making small talk with his roommate when he noticed two bags on either side of the chairs. "You're with other people?"

Hakyeon sips his juice box, face lighting up in realisation. "Oh yeah, I'm with two of my classmates. Speaking of, where the heck are they?" Hongbin watched as the other looked around, finding his eyebrow scrunching adorable.

"We're here hyu~ng. You're welcome because we bought you another sandwich." Said a blond male as he settles beside Hakyeon, speaking in Korean while placing down the tray. "Wow~ thank you Jaehwan san!" The man named Jaehwan started whining, a cute pout on his lips. "I told you to speak to me in Korean!" He says in a loud voice, rubbing his head against Hakyeon's forearm.

"And I told you that you need to get used to speaking in Japanese. It can come in handy, also you're going to spend around three more years here. Add the possibility that your future group might also promote in Japan." Hongbin just watched, chewing his lettuce. It was after about three minutes before the Jaehwan guy noticed that there's someone else across them.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you." He switches back to Japanese and Hongbin didn't miss the small laugh that slipped from his roommate, he paid no extra attention to it and just smiled back at Jaehwan as he extended a hand out towards the brown haired male. "I'm Lee Jaehwan, seventeen, from class s and taking the idol course. Nice to meet you."

Hongbin accepted the handshake, a small grin slowly taking over his lips. "I'm Lee Hongbin. Sixteen, class a and also in the idol course. Likewise, hyung."

The look on Jaehwan's face as he dropped his hand was hilarious, the roommate duo laughing loudly.

The trio talked for a few more minutes, about ten minutes, until Hongbin unconsciously leaned against the bag beside him. "Oh, by the way, where's your third friend?" He asked, ceasing the laughter of the two older men. Hakyeon looked over at Jaehwan who huffed and blew his bangs away from his face. "He said he'll just go to the bathroom, either there's many people there or he's taking a huge du--"

"I didn't, okay. I just ran into an acquaintance and you already have someone else on our table." Hongbin whips his head around at the voice, somehow recognising it after quite a while.

"Hongbin!" The new comer yelps, grabbing his friend by the wrist and putting him in a headlock. "It's been a while!" He continues to rub Hongbin against his chest, Hakyeon laughing at the sight.

Jaehwan looks on, a tad bit confused. "You know each other?" He asks, glancing at his wrist watch. Hongbin moves over to make space at the same time answering Jaehwan's question.

"Our parents know each other." He starts. "We live in the same area, and to be honest it's sort of a long story." He sighs, glancing at Wonshik and speaking in a joking manner. "I thought I escaped him."

Taekwoon sat down in front of the piano for the second time that day, classes were over, and hopefully the male can start playing.

As if it can happen immediately.

He glanced at the music sheet, he knows how to read it. Heck, he didn't learn it since elementary just to forget about it.

His eyes then moved his stare to the piano in front of him, his main problem. Somehow... he can't even imagine himself playing the piano anymore.

'How long has it been...?' Taekwoon leans back, looking at the ceiling instead, he closed his eyes for a few minutes. Just listening to the sound of the wind and rustling of leaves from the open window.

"You can do this, Taekwoon." He convinced himself, placing his hands on the piano keys. He willed himself to play, until his hands started to tremble once more.

"Why is it like this?" He mumbles, balling up his fists and then forcefully bringing them down on the keys, making a shrill sound of mixed notes.

He looked at the sheets once more, the title of the debut song by the most well-known group the academy had produced staring back at him. He then moved his gaze to the score, as if he can hear the music just by looking at the notes. Still, his hands can't bring themselves to move.

Taekwoon poised his fingers over the first three notes one more time, pressing the first, the sound resounding in the room. He his lips, slowly pressing down on the second one.

The next few notes, he took a while to play, still uncomfortable with playing the piano. I can do this, he encourages himself, stopping for a few seconds to breathe.

"The chorus is quite easy." He heard someone behind him speak up, Taekwoon jumped slightly in his seat in surprise. As a pair of hands made its way to his vision, the fingers settling on the first four keys of the chorus.

The person behind him started playing the piano, watching as Taekwoon closed his eyes and listened to the music surrounding him. He looked peaceful, entirely different from the stressed expression on his face merely seconds ago.

Alas, the chorus faded out, Taekwoon kept his eyes closed for a little longer, relishing the familiar buzzing of the piano as it ends when the stranger who played moved away, sighing softly.

"Are you okay, Taekwoon san? Sorry about barging in on your playing like that." The stranger placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder, shifting slightly when the taller man opened his eyes.

"Ah... yes. It's nothing to worry about, I'm sorry." Taekwoon mumbled, shifting to face the other. He recognised him as someone from his class, but his mind can't seem to remember his name.

The boy laughs, shaking his head both at what Taekwoon had said and at the extended amount of time of silence from him. "You don't remember my name do you?" He blinks, going around and leaning against the side of the piano instead.

"I'm Lee Hongbin." He says in Korean, smiling slightly when a look of realisation came on the other's face.

"Ah... I remember now, sorry about that." His reply was curt but Hongbin didn't mind, he continued looking at Taekwoon and just carried on a new topic, opting to just continue speaking in Japanese since the older seems to do so.

"Why are you still here by the way? Are you bugged out about the event earlier?" He changed his posture, his arms leaning on top of the instrument before he rested his chin on top of them.

He looks as Taekwoon kept silent for a few seconds before humming, thinking twice if he should answer more than that. Without thinking, he did, and he mentally scolded himself after. "It's been a long time since I've played the piano, so it must be why I can't play properly."

It was not enough of an answer to convince Hongbin with, but he'll make do with that for now.

Taekwoon watched as Hongbin grabbed the nearest chair and dragged it beside his stool, getting comfortable as he leaned his chin on his hand.

"Hongbin san, what are you doing?" Taekwoon asked, blinking.

Hongbin internally cooes, low-key finding the older adorable but he stopped himself from reacting and remembered the question.

The younger answered. "I'll stay and play with you until you get comfortable again." Hongbin casually says, adding more to his earlier statement with a, "or at least accompany you while you practice, I can play the piano, but I'm not an expert like you."

When Taekwoon sent him a questioning look, Hongbin raised his hands up in surrender. "I just felt that you do play great. I'm not pressuring you, sorry."

Silence surrounded the two of them, Taekwoon's ears picked up on the ticking of the clock, he suddenly felt pressured. He felt that he's being an inconvenience to the younger, his stupid situation with the piano is really a pain.

To keep his self occupied, he looked at the music sheet, he starts to hum the song, making do with that before he pressed any key. He made it until the bridge when he heard a low voice coming from beside him, Hongbin was quietly singing as he hums. As if he knew the song by heart.

Taekwoon appreciated the action, he really did.