The car ride home had been silent, neither speaking as each sat quietly, both in their own worlds.

It was a different sort of silence than the comforting quiet of their ride back from the concert, the atmosphere of the present hung with a heavy sort of resignation that draped like black curtains across the background of a beautiful sunset.

Kyuhyun had his eyes trained on the traffic ahead, but not really seeing it at all, his mind running in an endless loop of questions, questions and concerns over the smaller sitting next to him. His hands clutched the steering wheel tightly, the textbook example of the 10 and 2 ‘o clock positions, as he willed his facial expressions to keep up his calm façade.

Stopping at a red light, he took a hasty glance at the blonde, surveying the man’s stature to gauge how he was doing.

To the eye of the viewer, Sungmin appeared quite calm. He was seated normally, hands politely folded across his lap, head turned to gaze out the window as the car meandered through the city streets that were now lit up with the soft glow of neon signs. His eyes held no tears but instead took on a vacant, vulnerable expression, reminiscent that of a child’s.

The smile that had graced his expressions earlier on in the day was gone, replaced with a tired downturned expression, the boy seeming wary of the world after what had just transpired.

Kyuhyun, didn’t know what to do.

Despite the overwhelming urge he has to help Sungmin, the man was at a loss for just what he could do for the boy at this moment in time. He simply didn’t know the blonde enough, the boy a mystery to him even before he found about his connection to the famous politician. He didn’t know what would make Sungmin happy, how to draw him away from the walls he was sure to have built up around him.

His trust.

Kyuhyun didn’t have that yet.

The warmth from their kiss was all but swept away by the time the two walked out of the elevator into the posh hallway leading to Kyuhyun’s apartment. The creamy wallpaper, the carpeted floors, and the scent of freshly picked flowers provided a stark contrast with Heechul and Sungmin’s abode, the latter clearly paling in comparison.

Kyuhyun hastily dug in his pockets for the keys, clearly anxious to get his companion out of the cold impersonal halls as quickly as possible.

Cursing as he fumbled with the keys, he let out a soft groan as he finally opened the door, entwining his and Sungmin’s hands together as he pulled the latter into his home.

It was different, Sungmin decided as he stood by the door, gaze sweeping across the room as Kyuhyun awkwardly offered him a pair of slippers, hastily explaining that the pink pom-pom covered bunny theme on the pair was courtesy of a gag gift from Henry a couple of years ago.

Unlike the frigid impersonal atmosphere that the apartment building had exuded, Kyuhyun’s rooms were more characteristic of that of a teenage boy’s, things messily strewn about and dishes piled up in the kitchen.

The living room was a warm beige color, the sofa and the rest of the furniture matching the color scheme with warm latte tones and rich mahoganies.

Sungmin could see a clear sliding door that lead out to a balcony, a few pots of cacti on the window sills that looked a bit parched from an evident lack of care for their wellbeing.

The kitchen was sparsely furnished as expected for a home that was solely occupied by a 16 year old, although a bright pink apron was seen hanging on the hook attached to the wall.

Probably yet another of Henry’s jokes, Sungmin mused.

Noticing Sungmin’s observations, Kyuhyun warmly grasped the boy’s hand again, and smiled at the younger.

“I can show you around if you’d like?”

Sungmin nodded shyly, still not used to feeling of another person’s warmth, as Kyuhyun led him further into his apartment.

Opening the closest door on his right, Kyuhyun brought the blonde inside, the door softly clicking open as the two stepped in.

“So this is my music room, I guess you could say. I do all my practicing in here and all the sheet music and scores I own go on that bookshelf over there.”

Scratching his hair, Kyuhyun sheepishly smiled at Sungmin.

“Sorry if everything is a bit messy, I usually don’t clean until I don’t have a place to put my foot on the floor.”

This admission brought out a light smile on the shorter’s face, his eyes shining with curiosity as he strode around the room, running his free hand across the shelves lining the walls of the room.

Everything was filled with music here.

Despite Kyuhyun’s apparently messiness with all aspects of his life, he was clearly neat and methodical when it came to his music. Sheet music was organized by composer and arranged alphabetically on the shelves, starting with Bach and ending with Vivaldi.

After a few moments, Kyuhyun pulled him towards another corner of the room, this area right by the window where on a warm afternoon, sunlight would filter in and provide a cheerful ambience to whoever was inside.

A beautiful cello was carefully resting on a custom cello stand, the rich glow of the amber colored wood showing the care that its owner lavishes upon it. Unlike the bright plastic shine of the instruments at school, Kyuhyun’s looked as if it belonged to a part of history that had long past, memories of court waltzes and gypsy tunes embedded inside the wood itself. There were lines of age on the instrument, the cello’s curves not without its flaws, small carefully filled in cracks evident across its body.

That was part of its beauty though, Sungmin thought.

The instrument, through the different musicians that owned it, had stood the test of time.

“Do you like her?” Kyuhyun’s eyes were curved in a crescent moon shape as he watched Sungmin admire his cello.

“Her?”

Laughing in embarrassment, the cellist hid his face behind his hand.

“I named her when I first got her in 6^th grade.”

Sungmin’s smile widened.

“What’s her name?”

Cheeks burning bright red, Kyuhyun answered the man, trying to hide his face behind a booklet of music.

“Sterling”

Sungmin laughed happily.

The cute side of Kyuhyun was so surprising, but so loveable in the blonde’s opinion. Gone was the cold arrogant man that everyone else at school knew. The shy blushing cellist seemed so much more approachable, so much more willing to love.

This Kyuhyun was someone Sungmin felt like he could be himself around; without having to hide, without having to please.

Feeling the cellist tug at their clasped hands, Sungmin looked up questioningly at the man as the taller beamed at him.

“Come on, I’ll teach you how to play the piano now.”

Ignoring the blonde’s protests, Kyuhyun firmly sat the boy down at the bench in front of the piano that was located by the door in this room, the black and white instrument appearing regal and intimidating in Sungmin’s eyes.

“Kyuhyun, you realize I don’t know the notes of piano keys right?”

Sitting on the bench besides him, their legs side by side, bodies flush together, Kyuhyun simply took Sungmin’s left hand in his and pressed down on the first note.

“An E”

Gently motioning for his ring finger to press down, Kyuhyun leaned in closer.

“D sharp”

Kyuhyun’s lips could almost be felt on the contours of his ears as he whispered directions, causing Sungmin to close his eyes at the sudden intimacy.

“E again. And D sharp.”

Kyuhyun played using Sungmin’s fingers almost as if he controlled them with a puppet string, repeating the motions over and over again until the blonde memorized the first line of the treble clef portion.

“Now we can play together.”

Sungmin hesitantly tapped out the melody while Kyuhyun agilely took over with the shift to the lower notes, his right hand confidently playing the bass clef portions that off-set the higher that Sungmin had been taught.

The blonde’s rather jagged playing quickly became less disjointed as they continued through the piece, Kyuhyun teaching him the rest of the notes using the same intimate method as before, causing Sungmin’s heart to palpitate with increasing urgency.

The warm flush of Kyuhyun’s fingers over his felt natural, reassuring even as the late evening progressed on, the passing of time unnoticed by both of them as the music engrossed them and drew them away from the troubles of the day.

The peaceful opening transitioned into a more vibrant section as their hands danced across the keyboard, Sungmin still needing Kyuhyun as a guide but no longer handicapped liked before.

Landing the final chord together, Sungmin felt a sense of finality, resolution even as the air around them stilled, the silence surrounding them once again.

He turned to look at the man besides him on the piano bench, his eyes warm and fond as he took in Kyuhyun’s features.

The eyes were no longer cold to him, free of the arrogance and haughtiness that had plagued him when they first met that afternoon in the orchestra room. The lips were no longer pulled in a tight line but now curved in a smile. And his hands, the hands that had struck him the first time they met were now cupped around his face, tenderly holding his cheeks as flushed lips met his own, once again exchanging a flush of warmth that stretched from their fingertips to their toes, an incandescent feeling in both their hearts.

Kyuhyun leaned in, embracing his arms around the blonde’s body as he shifted up to press his lips against Sungmin’s forehead, down to his eyelids, and finally back down to the flushed pink lips as the younger cocooned into his embrace.

Finally breaking off their prolonged kiss, Sungmin nestled his head onto Kyuhyun’s chest, closing his eyes as he clutched the button down shirt tightly as if the man would disappear once he let go.

The two of them stayed close like that for a while, Kyuhyun reveling in the warm softness of the other’s body against his own. Soon soft steady breathing could be heard, the cellist cracking a smile when he realized that Sungmin had fallen asleep in his embrace.

Cradling the boy carefully, the elder shifted so that the blonde’s legs were crossed around his waist and carried him, standing up slowly as to not disturb the boy. Sungmin was wrapped around Kyuhyun the way a baby koala would its mother, head resting on Kyuhyun’s chest and shoulder as the man supported his lower back with firm arms.

Nudging open the door that was the farthest to the left, the cellist carefully laid Sungmin on the wide bed that occupied the room, the mattress slightly giving way as the weight of the two combined settled on it.

Biting his lips, Kyuhyun mentally slapped himself as he realized he would have to change the sleeping man out of his formal wear, praying to whatever god was out there that he would not get any indecent ideas.

Quickly popping into his closet, the boy pulled out an old pair of pajamas that he had received as a joke from Henry back in middle school, sighing in relief that he had not thrown the piece of clothing away after all these years.

It was yet another pink item from the evil little chipmunk. Knowing Kyuhyun’s absolute dislike of the girly color, Henry had given him a pink one piece female shift pajama dress as an April Fool’s gift, stashing it in Kyuhyun’s orchestra locker for the whole world to see. Obviously, someone had gotten hurt that day after the cellist had angrily thrown a cello rock stop with surprising accuracy at the violinist’s head, giving him a giant bump that had to be addressed at the nurses’ office after much whining on the younger’s part.

Now it was the only thing in his closet that would properly fit Sungmin, his clothing being much too long for the rather petite man.

Gingerly closing his eyes as he tugged at Sungmin’s buttoned shirt, Kyuhyun fervently thought about Henry’s unwashed socks and Eunhyuk’s feet odor while ed the dress shirt, hands fumbling with his limited vision.

Having finally successfully gotten rid of the shirt after much unnecessary touching on his part for closing his eyes, Kyuhyun gulped as he eyed the boy’s neatly pressed slacks, mentally trying to figure out how to go about ridding the innocent boy’s pants without him waking up and beating up Kyuhyun for being a ert.

Taking a deep breath, Kyuhyun prayed to the gods above and just tugged, fingers pulling hard on the belt loops, the boy’s slim waist helpful as the pants slid down, albeit a bit raggedly. Still peeking out from behind clenched eyelids, the cellist hastily threw the pink slip dress over Sungmin’s head and pulled his arms out of the proper slots, sighing as he completed his difficult mission in properly attiring the boy.

A heavy rock was lifted from his chest once Sungmin was dressed again before him, Kyuhyun no longer fearful of what Sungmin’s half body would’ve done to his teenage hormones.

Pressing a quick kiss to the boy’s forehead, the taller tugged the comforter over the blonde’s body, Sungmin unconsciously curling up into a little ball as he cuddled the blankets cutely.

Kyuhyun could only shake his head as he dragged a thick blanket to the couch in the living room, his back and long legs cramped and uncomfortable on his much too short temporary sleeping location.

Sungmin was going to be the death of him. 

AN: THE PROMISED FLUFFITY FLUFF FLUFF <3 hope everyone enjoyed Kyumin piano time :D and can anyone guess the piece Kyuhyun was teaching Sungmin? I know I only gave you guys 4 notes but it is a very very famous piano piece. It was actually the piece that cute cellist taught me back in middle school <3 *mental squeal* ahahaha. Well thank you guys for subscribing and reading <3 Your comments really motivate me to write more and more each chapter :)