The brown-haired boy took a swig of his pure coke (none of that vodka coke mix thank you very much) and watched as groups of boys and girls laughed drunkenly and made out with each other. He rolled his eyes.

“So, what did you drag me here for again?” Junhyung turned to his platinum blonde-haired friend who had just taken a seat next to him.

The shorter boy made a face as he ordered a drink for himself. He took out his phone and typed out a message, fingers flying over the buttons with the proficiency of a high school girl.

“Remember I told you last week about someone I wanted you to meet?”

Junhyung nodded and waited for Yoseob to carry on, pushing away a giggling couple who had stumbled into him with sigh. He would very much like to have a word with the genius who came up with the idea of holding a freshman party at a club. Ninety percent of these ‘couple’s probably wouldn’t even remember where their mouths had been by the time they saw the sun the next day.

“Oh he’ll be dropping by soon,” Yoseob replied, taking a gulp of his drink.

“And I would be interested in him because…?” The older male could hardly keep the irritation from creeping into his voice. Given the circumstances, he could’ve been at home right now doing something more worthwhile like finishing the lyrics to the new song that he came up with.

His best friend grinned at him, a devious glint in his eye. “He dances.”

Junhyung raised an eyebrow. “You make it sound as if I have some sorta for dancers.”

“Well, maybe you do,” Yoseob stuck out his tongue, slightly upset at his lackluster response. “Anyway, you mentioned that if we wanted to compete as a band-band and not just as a singing-band, it would be good to get someone who could choreograph right, right? So yes! I found one.”

The rapper opened his mouth to make a remark when Yoseob beat him to it.

“Oh I think I see him!” The boy bounced up excitedly. “Be right back!”

A few minutes later, Junhyung was face to face with an orange-haired boy with the prettiest doe-like eyes he has ever seen. Wait, did he just use the word ‘pretty’?

“This is our dancer, Hyunseung,” Yoseob announced proudly as he introduced everyone. “And this unsociable dude who thinks he is very cool, is our composer and rapper, Junhyung. Oh, yes I’m Yoseob, the vocalist.”

The slightly shorter boy had turned to Yoseob, eyes wide in surprise. “I didn’t agree yet…”

“It’s alright,” the blonde patted him on the back. “You will sooner or later so I’ll just confirm it first.”

“But-“ Hyunseung tried to protest again but was once again interrupted.

“We’ll be having practice on Monday once Junhyung here finishes his lyrics.”

“Which would’ve been done if you hadn’t dragged me here,” Junhyung interjected dryly.

A distinctive cough was heard, causing Junhyung and Yoseob to snap their heads back to the doe-eyed boy. The dancer was taken aback as he suddenly became the center of attention.

“U-um, if you guys are done, I’ll be leaving first?”

“So soon?” Yoseob gave a pout. “Alright then! See you on Monday!”

The blonde waved excitedly as the other excused himself and headed towards the exit. Turning to Junhyung, he grinned widely.

“So,” he began, grin growing wider. “Do you want his number?”

Junhyung downed his fourth glass of coke and placed it to one side.

“Nope, why would I?”

Unconvinced, his best friend nudged him. “You sure?”

“Yes,” the rapper emphasized. “I’m sure.”

“Reaaaally sure?”

The shorter boy was giving him this mischievous look that made Junhyung want to whack him on the head. He looked at Yoseob straight in the eye with as serious of an expression as he could.

“I’m straight.”

“Liar,” Yoseob retorted without batting an eye.

Junhyung rolled his eyes yet again. The last time Yoseob had tried to match make him with some random guy at a party, it ended up with the dude getting drunk and harassing him non-stop for the next few weeks. Well, considering the fact that Yoseob himself was also drunk at that time when he dragged that random dude over to the table, which was the reason for his bad judgment. To say the least, his past experiences didn’t exactly make him jump for joy at the prospect of his friend’s efforts.

“If I want his number or anything, I’ll get it myself. Anyway, you heard him. He seemed pretty hesitant himself on whether to join.”

The vocalist sniffed and patted him on the shoulder. “If you say so~”

---

Hyunseung woke up the next morning utterly grateful that he didn’t stay long the previous night. It was already bad enough that the blonde had been messaging him non-stop since the day they met, but he just had to talk him into going for that party.

He had just been happily minding his own business after school in one of the smaller dance studios when Yang Yoseob destroyed the door.

Okay, the door wasn’t all that sturdy in the first place and the flimsy lock had to be jiggled once or twice before it would finally move. But that very day was the first time he had seen the door explode open and two golden blurs crashing in.

The first one was wagging its tail happily as it proceeded to make itself at home in the studio. The second one was cursing as he picked himself up from the floor, rubbing his shoulder from the impact of slamming into the door. He recoiled in shock himself when he realised what he had done.

“Oh I’m SO sorry about the door! I’ll get it fixed! Or I’ll just get Doo to help me fix it. Anyway, I was chasing that bugger over there and I was trying to catch him but NO. He just refused to be caught right you naughty boy?” He shook a fist at the puppy who was now taunting him from the other side of the room. “Oh! Am I interrupting your practice? I’m sorry! I’ll just get him and be on my way.”

The blonde was rattling on so fast that Hyunseung had no way to cut in. He was still in shock at what had just happened so he just nodded, watching speechlessly as the other pounced on the puppy and wrestled him into his arms.

“By the way, I’m Yang Yoseob,” the blonde grinned warmly at him. “And this monster here is Roger. You’re Hyunseung right? Sorry, I spotted your name on your stuff. But wow, I didn’t know you could dance! Oh hey! Are you coming for the party this Saturday?”

Hyunseung shook his head.

“You should! I could introduce you to this idiot friend of mine. We’re doing this group thing together. Oh wait do you have a phone I could borrow?”

Hyunseung blinked and handed over his phone.

“Oh thanks,” the blonde replied as he punched in a few numbers in quick succession. “Hello Doo? Yes, I caught him. I’ll wait for you at the entrance? Alright, see you soon. And no I’ll love you later. Bye.”

Yoseob hung up on his ‘Doo’ and returned him his phone.

“I already added my number in there so call me when you drop by! I gotta go now! See ya around!”

Hyunseung watched in mild shock as the energetic boy and puppy bounded out the door. A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.

From: Yoseob

Hihi~ Yoseob here!

Sorry about that. I forwarded your number to my phone.

But yeah, you better be there! ^^

Hyunseung stared at his phone for a couple of seconds. Wasn’t that an invasion of privacy? He sighed and massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming on from meeting that strange boy.

---

The taller-than-average college student checked his phone. It was half past nine in the evening. In about an hour or so, most of the shops on the street would be getting ready to close for the day.

Dongwoon could’ve been at home working on assignments. He could’ve given Kibum or Cheolyong a ring and crashed over at either of their places, Jinwoon was out cause he was probably at the gym. He could’ve well, been doing anything that he usually did on a Saturday evening.

But that evening, as fate would have it, he had already finished his assignments. Both Kibum and Cheolyong weren’t answering their phones which was strange in the former’s case as it was usually attached to him like another limb. And he just plain didn’t feel like doing anything else in particular.

So it was really beyond reason when he found himself stopping yet again in front of that same white door. The lights were still on but there was no discernable movement inside. Dongwoon figured it couldn’t hurt to see if that owner was in.

The interior of the café had been spruced up quite splendidly compared to the last time he had stepped in. Everything was pretty much in place right now but that was a given, since the opening day was tomorrow.

Dongwoon’s gaze however was drawn inexplicably to the mini stage area where an ivory grand piano stood. His breath caught in his throat as he admired the beauty of the instrument. Before he knew it, his legs had carried him over and he was running his fingers along the keys. The clear notes it produced brought a smile to his face.

He had learnt how to play the piano when he was younger and grew obsessed with it, though college didn’t really give him the luxury to play nowadays. Even more so that he was staying with his aunt now and her house didn’t have the space for one.

Dongwoon closed his eyes and played a song from memory, his fingers dancing lightly as they made the piano sing a melodic tune. He loved how he could express himself using the piano and with music. He was amazed by the stories hidden in each music piece. He was enamoured at how sensitive the piano could be to one’s emotions. How the very same note could sound different depending on the degree of one’s touch, which in turn, resulted in a very different mood to a song.

A soft applause was heard from behind as Dongwoon let his last note fade away. He glanced behind in surprise as he caught sight of the café owner standing at the counter smiling back at him.

“That was really lovely,” the other complimented as he moved closer to the piano. “I didn’t know you could play.”

“Yeah,” Dongwoon nodded. “I used to play since young, though not as much anymore.”

Under the stage light, Dongwoon finally had the opportunity to look at the other male properly. He was dressed casually in a white shirt and jeans. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing his well-defined muscles that could probably give Jinwoon’s a run for his money. Signs of fatigue were evident in the way his brown hair was slightly messed up, the eye bags that were more pronounced and the way he leaned tiredly against the edge of the piano.

“Thanks for saving me that day,” the shorter male bowed his head slightly to show his gratitude before going back to poking at random piano keys with a small laugh. “Probably would’ve been more serious if you hadn’t…”

He trailed off and tilted his head to one side.

“I realised I haven’t gotten your name yet.”

“Son Dongwoon,” the blonde replied, unsure of how to continue. He decided to just go with the standard introduction. “I’m in college, final year. Oh and, thanks as well for the help in directions that day…”

“Lee Kikwang,” the other filled in. “And you probably guessed that I own this place. It’s finally good to know the name of the person that saved me.”

Kikwang sat himself down next to Dongwoon, still attempting to make nonsensical tunes with his finger. The taller male eyed him curiously as he made space for him.

“I can’t play for nuts really,” he frowned before giving up altogether. “Though I love listening to other people play, which is partly why I opened this café.”

Dongwoon nodded as he listened to Kikwang talk about the café. It was a strange night that’s for sure. Finding a piano and talking to a stranger whom he had saved two days ago was not a normal occurrence by his standards. But strangely, it felt rather peaceful. It was a change from the usual teenage activities of hanging out in malls and arcades.

And for some reason which he couldn’t fathom, he found it rather interesting to watch the other talk. He could see the passion in Kikwang’s eyes and the way it translated into his animated gestures when he tried to explain something about his dream. It was all quite refreshing, though thinking like this, Dongwoon wondered if he sounded like an old man. Until now, he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. So much so that he decided to give up on thinking about it until he got out of college.

A hand on his shoulder jolted Dongwoon out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, am I boring you?” Kikwang looked at him hesitantly with a worried expression.

“Nono, not all,” Dongwoon replied quickly, reassuring him.

Quite the opposite actually.

“Oh good,” the other heaved a sigh of relief. “I wanted to ask you something though. A… Favour actually.”

“Oh?”

Kikwang scratched his head, slightly embarrassed.

“Do you mind playing a few songs for tomorrow evening?” The shorter male fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he went on. “I mean you don’t have to. But just… Asking. I guess… It would help a lot…”

“I’ll help,” Dongwoon paused, slightly shocked by his own reply. It’s not like he had anything important to do the next evening though.

Kikwang’s face lit up. “Oh really?!”

Dongwoon nodded.

“Thank you so much!” Kikwang threw his arms around Dongwoon’s neck excitedly before realising what he was doing and let go, face turning slightly red as he laughed sheepishly. “Oh! Sorry. I got a little carried away.”

Dongwoon nearly jumped in shock and he resorted to patting the other on the back awkwardly. He couldn’t really take back his offer now. Not that he had the heart to, seeing how overjoyed the other was.

He would probably wake up the next day wondering what had made him agree. Perhaps it was the fact that Kikwang really looked like he needed the help. Or maybe he just wanted to play the piano again. Whatever the reason was, this was an unusual change and he was starting to like it.