Still barely able to believe that the man on his mind was here in the room with him in reality, Kyuhyun couldn’t help but smile like a fool.

Here was his chance to make a better impression, to win back Sungmin’s trust. He wouldn’t let anything mess him up this time. B with confidence, the man thought he was utterly capable of accomplishing his task, thinking that it would be as easy as learning a new piece of music.

After all, how hard could it be? He simply had to identify the parts to work on, practice it until he was perfect, and voila, mission accomplished.

Yes, Sungmin was exactly like his cello concertos. A beautiful and hard- to -master one, but Cho Kyuhyun could play anything to perfection once he set his mind on it.

However, the cellist failed to take into account just how nervous the very presence of Sungmin could make him, his usual cold suave attitude dissipating and leaving him like a squirming newborn. Once his eyes connected the warm brown doe eyes of the shorter, it was as if someone had splashed a bucket of cold water on him, shattering any vestiges of self-confidence he had. Sungmin’s gaze was comforting, yes, but also so vulnerable that Kyuhyun was afraid the man would shatter if he looked for too long.

He didn’t want to make any more mistakes around Sungmin. He wanted to show him a sincere and caring Kyuhyun. He wanted Sungmin to rely on him, to be able to provide the love and care Sungmin needed. If his friends could’ve seen him then, they would’ve laughed at the sudden change in character.

The mighty Cho Kyuhyun was acting like a shy school girl around her crush. His usual ice prince demeanor was reduced to the image of a mere mortal, a flustered awkward one at that.

Is this what all of those girls felt when they confessed to me? He wondered, biting his lips as his heart beat veered off erratically.  Did they feel this nervous? Were their hands this clammy when they had a crush on me?

Is this even just a crush anymore?

 Hands still grasping his bow with a death grip, Kyuhyun awkwardly stood up from his seat as he tried to welcome the blonde into the room, an air of awkwardness surrounding his lanky frame.

“Uh, hi Sungmin, take a seat there.” He stuttered, not realizing he had blindly pointed at a puddle of “condensation” the trombone players had emptied from their spit valves yesterday after rehearsal.

Sungmin wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“I’d rather not. Would an actual chair work for you too?” The shorter man pointed out, the tips of Kyuhyun’s ears turning a pepper red as he realized his mistake.

“Ah-h of course. You can sit opposite of my seat here. ”

This whole time the cellist had been avoiding Sungmin’s eyes, the man nervously staring everywhere but the blonde man’s figure. No, if he looked at that adorable face right now, he would screw things up even more. Who knows what would come out of his mouth once he was intoxicated by those bright glistening eyes?

Fidgeting his fingers, Kyuhyun cleared his throat as he glanced back to the music on his stand, realizing that he was still responsible for giving a music tutorial.

Thinking pensively, he considered his options. He had given many people lessons before, his vast playing experience making him highly sought as a tutor in the musical field. Of course, nearly all of his pupils had previous musical training and could already play at an intermediate level at the lowest standard. Kyuhyun could afford to be highly selective in his students.

After all, he didn’t need the money from the tutoring and only used it as a way to shave away the boredom in his life. He’d rather stay at school to teach than return to an empty home, eating frozen meals and watching TV by himself as a pastime.

Sungmin was very different from his normal students. First of all, Kyuhyun most definitely was not getting paid for this. Sungmin wasn’t recommended by Kyuhyun’s cello teacher, nor was he some especially talented prodigy that Kyuhyun would willingly take under his wing. The man could barely read rhythm and notes for goodness sake. No, Kyuhyun admitted to himself. This tutoring business was simply a way for him to see Sungmin more often. He had no other purpose when he jumped to volunteer to teach the blonde.

Figuring that the best thing would be to start with rhythms, Kyuhyun got up to get his metronome, feeling self-conscious as he felt a pair of wide eyes follow his every move. When he returned from his orchestra locker with the device in hand, he was met with a curious Sungmin, his head tilted cutely as he eyed the sleek black rectangle.

“What is that Kyuhyun?”

“It’s a metronome Sungmin. You remember how Heechul kept the beat during rehearsal by waving his little pink stick around right?”

Here Sungmin nodded in recognition.

Kyuhyun then continued his explanation, finding Sungmin’s attentive face absolutely endearing, especially when the man’s focus was on him.  

“Well, a metronome does the same thing, only in an audio format. Every click it makes represents one beat. You can change the speed by adjusting the beats per minute. For example, the Haydn concerto we’re playing in class is at the tempo Allegro Moderato, around 90 bpm. Therefore, you would switch the metronome onto 90 and it will keep the beat for you. Do you see?”

Sungmin nodded his head. This side of Kyuhyun was nice. Teacher Kyu (as he called the boy in his mind) was kind and eager to help Sungmin improve, the man suiting this mature image perfectly. It seemed that the cellist was more multi-faceted than he could ever have imagined, showing him new bits of his personality each time they meet.

“Well then, that’s the basics of how to use a metronome. It’s absolutely essential to practice with one each and every time you pick up an instrument. Without it, your rhythm will be sloppy, and rhythm is the basis of your music, especially as a percussionist. “ Kyuhyun concluded, standing up to retrieve some rhythm practice packets.

“Now we can do some hands on work. Before you can play the rhythm correctly on an instrument, we can try it out by clapping first. This way you won’t be boggled down by the logistics of playing before you even get the rhythm right.”

Setting down a hefty rhythm packet that Heechul had bullied Ryeowook into making copies of earlier in the year for the rhythmically challenged, Kyuhyun turned to the section on syncopation, deeming Sungmin fit to skip the regular on beat note patterns.

He had observed the percussionist’s playing for the entire duration of yesterday’s rehearsal (memorizing his music had never been so handy) and had noted with satisfaction that the man could hit the ordinary beat patterns decently. However, Sungmin was a mess with syncopation and off beat rhythms. During those passages, it simply seemed that the man gave up on deciphering the music all together and simply left the rhythm to chance, making the triangle ring at the most random and inappropriate times.

“Ok, so let’s try the first line together alright? Note that you start off beat on a 16^th note tied to an 8^th note. Make sure that you come in at the right time. I’ll set the metronome on 60 now for practice but eventually you will need to get it up to tempo. “

Sungmin nodded dumbly. He would try his best but honestly, the notes swam around the page like a mass of clown fishes to him, the oddly dotted and tied notes confusing him to no end. He felt a pang of disappointment as he looked up at Kyuhyun. This was probably going to make the cellist look down upon him even more. Things like this were probably as easy as breathing to the cello prodigy. Kyuhyun could probably play these rhythms in his sleep. And here he was struggling like some country bumpkin in a city, not having a clue of how to navigate these hazy splotches of black across the page.

Looking at the boy, Kyuhyun quietly grasped his hand and smiled reassuringly at him.

“Hey, it’s ok if you mess up Sungmin. No one expects you to get it right away. I can even help you the first few times if you’d like.”

Biting his lips to hide the shy smile appearing on his lips, Sungmin nodded and looked down at their hands. As always, Kyuhyun felt warm and comforting, his gentle words providing support for the blonde’s insecurity. The man’s larger hands didn’t grip him tightly, but instead cradled his as if he was a delicate flower, treating the man with a care that was completely different from the rough gestures shown at the café 3 days ago.

Holding the back of his hands, Kyuhyun raised Sungmin’s arms so that his palms faced each other, ready to clap out the rhythm on the page. Sungmin shivered at their proximity, Kyuhyun’s breath warm against the shell of his ear and his chest solid against Sungmin’s back as the man prepared to teach him the first set of syncopations.

“This is in common time so I’ll start a counting in 4. Because the 16^th note is a pickup to the 3^rd beat, we’ll begin clapping on the ‘ta’ of the 2^nd beat. My hands will do all the work for now so just pay attention to how I’m counting and subdividing it alright?” Kyuhyun explained.

Nodding his head against Kyuhyun’s front, Sungmin willed his eyes to stay on the music before him as the man reached over to set the metronome.

“1-ti-te-ta, 2-ti-te-“

With the ease of a seasoned musician, Kyuhyun confidently clapped out the rhythm using Sungmin’s hands, the off beats landing precisely in the right spots as Sungmin tried to absorb the beat pattern demonstrated. Pausing at the end of the line, Kyuhyun peered over Sungmin’s shoulders, grinning at the shorter man.

“See that wasn’t so bad was it? Do you need me to demonstrate again?

Sungmin looked away shyly.

“Yes please Kyuhyun.”

He didn’t tell him that he basically understood the rhythm now that he had heard it once. He didn’t tell Kyuhyun that he simply wanted to feel his hands over his again, that being the only reason he told the cellist he needed a repeat demonstration. No, he would keep that fact to himself for now. He didn’t need the cellist to know he had power over him the way no one else did, the man’s every word and action making him spellbound to the dark haired student. It would be his secret for now.

After a few more attempts, Kyuhyun declared Sungmin ready for his quiz of the day.

“You just need to clap out the first 3 lines of rhythms on the page. If you do so correctly, you’ll get a treat.” The man gleefully told Sungmin, his eyes sparkling with mischief and a bit of genuine excitement.  

If Sungmin didn’t know better, it almost seemed as if Kyuhyun was the one getting rewarded based on his expressions, the man grinning like a mad monkey (Hyukjae’s regular expression) while somehow still pulling off his signature smirk.

“I’ll do my best.” Sungmin hesitantly replied, hands at the ready as he stared hard at the music.

Kyuhyun quickly counted him off, mimicking a conductor’s baton with Ryeowook’s giraffe pencil that he had left laying out on his stand. Showing the downbeat, he signaled for Sungmin to start clapping the rhythm and the blonde quickly caught on, pulling off the syncopations with great focus and concentration. Of course he couldn’t do it with Kyuhyun’s finesse yet, but he could play them at the right times now.

Kyuhyun must be a miracle worker, Sungmin thought as he completed the last line. He managed to teach syncopations in under 40 minutes when the day before Sungmin had studied for hours, pouring over the music handbook with Heechul’s occasional assistance.

Maybe you learn better because it’s Kyuhyun, a small voice whispered teasingly in the back of his mind, Sungmin blushing at the thought.

Shaking his head furiously, Sungmin failed to notice Kyuhyun’s amusement at his unintentionally cute gestures.

Leaning a bit closer, Kyuhyun tilted his head playfully in the blonde’s direction.

“So, do you want to know what your prize is now?”

Throat suddenly dry, Sungmin could only nod dumbly, his heart beating quicker and quicker with the anticipation that rushed in with Kyuhyun’s question.

“A date. Let’s go on a date Sungmin-ah.” 

AN: Ah, arrogant Kyuhyun, a date with you is not necessarily a prize! You're just lucky Min likes you x)
School has been annoying lately... so much homework :( and being the technologically inept person I am, the online cartoon making project from my spanish class is killing me. el proyecto no es divertido =.=
Anyhow, I'll try to update as soon as possible! Hasta luego y se amo x)