poco a poco - little by little
Title: poco a poco
Genre: fluff
Pairing: baekyeol
Word count: 2652 words
A/N: This was meant to be angst but it ended up as fluff T___T
Baekhyun lets the last note ring, sound vibrating in his throat, through his entire being. He slowly lets his voice fade off, leaving deafening silence the only thing ringing in his ears. His heart thumps in his chest as he opens his eyes and pulls his headphones off. He half-turns to look at his teacher, whose expression is not unpleasant.
"That was an improvement from the previous time, but you could take note of the tempo at this part and put more feeling into it. It's nearly there, but not quite, so work hard! Your recital is coming up soon, so you must buck up already." His teacher says, voice gentle. Baekhyun barely comprehends the words, he knows his teacher is just trying to be understanding and kind to him, but it eventually boils down to one thing. He’s just not good enough.
Never good enough.
That's all he is. He doesn't know what it's like to be perfect, to achieve perfection, though that's all he's always wanted. There's always things to improve, subtle hints in kind advices, somewhere along the lines of not there yet, but continue working hard!
His teacher releases him for the day with a slight smile and a "Take care, Baekhyun." Baekhyun just nods and smiles back tightly, the seemingly happy curve forced onto his face not quite meeting his eyes and he knows it, but he can't really do anything about it. After his teacher leaves the studio, he sits down heavily and buries his head in his hands, because all that's ringing in his head is the but not quite.
*
A few days later, Baekhyun finds himself becoming increasingly frustrated as he stumbles over that one note time and again, voice straining and not hitting the correct notes as smoothly as he would like.
Finally, he gives up, hands coming down on the black and white keys hard. The piano sounds out horrible intervals of augmented fourths and diminished sevenths, mixing together in a cacophony of notes. Baekhyun sighs audibly and he decides to try again later. He reaches out and pulls the piano cover down with a snap. The cover crashes down hard, the bang resounding in the room. Baekhyun winces internally, quickly mumbling a soft 'sorry' to the piano.
Before he can properly go back for another round, he hears soft lilting melodies being sounded from the room. He peers around the corner to see another student seated in front of the piano, fingers flying swiftly over the keys and foot instinctively pressing down on the pedal in time to the beat.
The melody's so sweet and heartfelt that Baekhyun feels his heart wrench. He wishes desperately, so desperately that he could be really good at something, anything. Something that would make him good enough, enough to warrant a genuine smile and a well done, Baekhyun. He wanted so badly to be able to be good enough.
But no, rather than that, he was doomed to be the person in-between, forever acceptable but just not good enough for anybody.
*
After a particularly grueling practice session in the studio, Baekhyun sits outside the studio, back leaning against a white wall. He breathes evenly, closing his eyes. His head spins slightly as he buries his hands in his hair. Crossing his arms over his knees and hugging them tightly, he slowly falls into a dreamless sleep.
When he wakes, his throat feels like sandpaper, and when he reaches up to touch his face he finds the remnants of tear tracks stuck on his cheeks. As he fumbles for his belongings, a deep voice suddenly speaks.
“Erm… your stuff.” A hand suddenly reaches out in front of him, offering him score sheets and pencil stacked neatly together. Baekhyun jolts and shakes his head, fully awake now. He stares up at the mysterious stranger. He cannot really see the person’s face as the shadows conceal its features, but he hesitantly receives the stack of papers. “Thank you,” he mumbles, so softly he doubts the person can actually hear him. Nevertheless, the person’s lips pull apart into a smile, two rows of pearly whites showing. “Welcome.” The person turns away, hands stuffed into hoodie pockets.
“Wait - who are you?” Baekhyun asks, but he’s a little too late as the person walks away, out of earshot. The last glimpse of him shows that the person’s silhouette shows that the person is very tall, probably much taller than Baekhyun himself.
*
Baekhyun stumbles into class ten minutes late the next day, sliding into his seat inconspicuously and subsequently putting his head onto his arms. He’s dead exhausted from the countless, seemingly futile late-night practices he’s been having these days, and having to juggle school as well meant his sleep time was suffering. As he dozes off slightly, a poke in his arm rouses him from slumber. He glances blearily at the wide-eyed boy next to him. He seems unfamiliar, Baekhyun thinks in his sleep-addled mind.
“Are you new?” Baekhyun blurts out, too tired to process what he’s spouting out of his mouth.
“Yup. I'm Park Chanyeol.” The guy says it so formally that Baekhyun briefly wonders if he should reach over and offer his hand for a handshake.
“Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun nods and turns back to his desk.
Another poke disturbs him a few minutes later. “Why are you so skinny? Do you even eat?” Chanyeol asks. Baekhyun feels mildly irritated at this. It’s not like he doesn’t eat, it’s just that he doesn’t eat a lot. He ignores Chanyeol this time and stares straight ahead.
Chanyeol doesn’t disturb him anymore from then on.
*
"Baekhyun."
"Hey, Baek."
“Baekkie.”
"What are you doing?"
Baekhyun glares at the lanky boy sitting on his right. "What is it again?" he asks, grumbling.
"Let's go get coffee together!" Chanyeol smiles his trademark Cheshire cat-like smile.
"No, I want to sleep." Baekhyun doesn't even wait for a reply before slumping down on the table again.
"Baekkie~ come on, it'll make you more awake!"
"I said no, Chanyeol."
"Just come!" Chanyeol pulls on his arm. He's much stronger than Baekhyun gave him credit for, and he easily falls out of the chair.
Baekhyun gives in, deeming that there is nothing he can do. "Fine, fine. I'll come, okay? Stop bothering me!"
*
Gradually, Baekhyun gets used to Chanyeol’s annoying (but not unwelcome) presence. He can’t remember the last time he got to class and did not see the clumsy giant with large eyes and a wide smile, accompanied by a mop of brown hair, sitting in the seat next to him.
Gradually, Baekhyun goes to fewer late-night practices and manages to get more sleep, constantly being harassed by Chanyeol’s frequent “go to sleep!” messages. (Baekhyun actually still doesn’t know how Chanyeol got his number.)
In the midst of Chanyeol rambling on and Baekhyun listening for the sake of listening, Baekhyun also learns that Chanyeol plays the guitar and wants to start a band someday. He badly wants to tell Chanyeol that he wants to be part of it, maybe play the keyboard and sing, but he bites his tongue and refrains himself from voicing out, because who would want a singer and pianist that isn’t all that good?
Day after day, Chanyeol tells him his dark eye circles are too dark, causing Baekhyun to consciously and sheepishly rub at his eyes, trying to will his eye circles away and rubbing at them. He wishes Chanyeol wouldn’t observe him so closely, because what if one day, Chanyeol finds out that Baekhyun isn’t as good as Chanyeol seems to make him out to be? What if, one day, Chanyeol decides he wants to stop caring about Baekhyun?
Baekhyun’s not quite sure what he’ll do.
*
Baekhyun’s in the studio once again, in the dead of the night, headphones blocking out all sound except for the soothing strums of guitar sounding in his ears. He opens his mouth and sings, trying to bring out the feelings in the song like his teacher says he should, but the feeling never comes. At the end of the song, he drags off his headphones with a sigh, but he hears clapping instead of the usual deafening silence in the studio that he’s used to. Baekhyun whips around, startled, and standing there at the entrance of the studio is Chanyeol.
He stares, because what is Chanyeol, of all people, doing here?
Before he can say anything, though, Chanyeol is already talking. “You never told me you sing!” Chanyeol says, walking over to Baekhyun. “And this song too. I used to practice this song all the time.”
Baekhyun stays silent, a million questions running through his mind.
“Your singing’s really wonderful.” Chanyeol suddenly blurts.
“No, no it isn’t, really.” Baekhyun protests, feeling a prick in his chest.
“But it is. I’ve been listening to you for a while.”
Baekhyun doesn’t know how to respond to that. He sits down on the floor, bringing his knees to his chest. After a few long minutes, he says softly, “Why would you listen?”
“Why not? Anybody would be captivated by that voice.” Chanyeol replies easily, sitting down beside him.
“You’re kidding.” Baekhyun doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because he knows his singing isn’t that great - he can’t even find the right feeling towards it - and it just sounds horribly wrong to describe his singing like that. “That’s just like viewing it through rose-tinted lenses.”
“Not really.”
“I mean, my singing is just average. I have average looks, average grades, average everything. Why are you even here? Why are you still around? Why do you care?” Baekhyun muffles his voice in his jeans. He knows he’s being stupid and whiny, but he can’t help but spill out his insecurities to Chanyeol, who’s looking at him with a mixed look in his eyes.
He half expects Chanyeol to just get up and walk out the door and leave him in his misery and self-depreciation, but instead he feels strong arms wrapping tightly around his torso and his shoulder, patting his back and rubbing soothing circles into it. Baekhyun shrinks into himself. No one’s hugged him like that for a very long while.
“It’s okay.” Chanyeol says in that deep voice of his, coaxing him to relax and Baekhyun feels his troubles slowly disappearing with each syllable that fades into the air.
*
Chanyeol's the first one to break the silence.
"You know, I first saw you singing that day..."
"Which one?" Baekhyun perks up.
"The one when you slept outside the studio."
"You were there?" Baekhyun stares at him disbelievingly.
"Yeah. I was just passing by, on the way to my lesson, and i heard this really angelic voice coming from one of the rooms. So... I went to see who it was."
"But that day I sang really badly." Baekhyun remembers.
"No, you sang really well. I had to go for lessons and when I came back, hoping to find you singing again, you were sleeping in front of the studio. Your papers were all messy and crumpled on the floor, so I sorted them for you... And then you woke up."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Anyway, you don't have to push yourself so hard. Your singing is already really good, and you just have to work hard. Don't overdo it, okay?" Chanyeol's voice is soft in Baekhyun's ears, and he feels the hairs on his arms stand.
"I'm always not good enough. For anyone." Baekhyun mumbles.
"Not true. You're always good enough for me!" Chanyeol laughs softly.
For some unknown reason, Baekhyun can feel tears forming in his eyes. Somehow, those words were all he needed to hear.
*
“Hey, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun suddenly sits up straight.
“Hmm?” Chanyeol’s sleepy voice answers him.
“You said you were going for lessons when you first saw me… but I’ve never seen you around the studios before?”
“Yeah, that was my first day coming to the studios after moving here.” Chanyeol buries his head in Baekhyun’s shoulder.
“You were the first person here to catch my attention - you were singing really well and then later when I came back you were sleeping on the ground. And you were crying at that…”
“How did you know?” Baekhyun stares at Chanyeol.
Chanyeol flushes a light pink. “Erm… I was seeing who was sleeping in front of the studio. And I recognised you from earlier, and there were tears running down your face… so yeah.”
“Oh.” Baekhyun curls up into himself again, embarrassed to have been caught at one of his weaker moments.
“It’s okay to cry, you know. Just let it out.”
“I guess.” Baekhyun ponders over that.
*
After that day, Chanyeol starts tagging along with Baekhyun when he’s going to the studios after school for extra practice. He always chides Chanyeol for having nothing better to do and tries to get him to go home, but Chanyeol sticks like a persistent leech and Baekhyun just sighs each time, walking with quick strides to try to get rid of him. Nevertheless, Chanyeol’s long limbs do a good job keeping up with him.
“Are you really, really sure you want to be here?” Baekhyun asks for the umpteenth time, slinging earphones around his neck.
“Yup. Just play and sing, and pretend that I’m not even here.”
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at that, because it’s kind of hard to not notice Chanyeol when he’s taking up so much space on the piano bench, but he turns around anyway and starts playing the first notes of a song.
This time, he thinks of all the times Chanyeol’s been looking after him, in one weird way or another. The notes come out easily, much easier than before. Glancing sideways, he sees Chanyeol giving him an encouraging smile. He turns back before his blush can show, but Chanyeol can still see the small smile creeping up anyway.
*
The next time Baekhyun has lessons with his teacher, she praises him instead of giving her regular comments. Baekhyun feels himself glow with happiness as he walks out of the studio to see Chanyeol waiting for him, and he can’t help but let his smile spread over his face.
*
On the day of his recital, Baekhyun’s pacing back and forth, trying not to panic as he hears the announcer introduce him and the pieces he is about to play. Chanyeol, who’s standing beside him backstage, squeezes his hand in silent encouragement.
On hearing applause, Baekhyun strides out into the spotlight, with steps that are more steady than how he feels.
As he starts with the first note, he loses himself in the music, silently dedicating the pieces to Chanyeol, who’s always been there and always supporting him, despite his insecurities and constant rambling on how he’s not prepared at all. The notes come easily now, ingrained into his mind out of practice.
The concert flies by in a whirl, and Baekhyun finds himself standing up all too soon, bowing to the crowd which erupts in applause. He turns back, barely restraining himself from running backstage where he knows Chanyeol will be.
Once past the dark curtain, he sees Chanyeol just standing there, clapping loudly for him with that stupid Cheshire-cat smile on his face. Baekhyun breaks out into a sprint, running forward across that small distance to throw his arms around the much taller boy’s neck.
Chanyeol leans down to whisper into his ear, “You did really well. Congrats.”
Baekhyun pulls away to grin up at him. “You really think so?”
“Yup.” Chanyeol’s eyes twinkle, and then he’s leaning down to press lips against Baekhyun’s forehead, leaving Baekhyun red-faced and squawking at the gesture.
*
Baekhyun still may not be perfect, and he may never achieve the perfection that he’s always dreamed of, but that doesn’t matter anymore. He’s good enough for Chanyeol, and that’s really all that he cares about right now.
Genre: fluff
Pairing: baekyeol
Word count: 2652 words
A/N: This was meant to be angst but it ended up as fluff T___T
Baekhyun lets the last note ring, sound vibrating in his throat, through his entire being. He slowly lets his voice fade off, leaving deafening silence the only thing ringing in his ears. His heart thumps in his chest as he opens his eyes and pulls his headphones off. He half-turns to look at his teacher, whose expression is not unpleasant.
"That was an improvement from the previous time, but you could take note of the tempo at this part and put more feeling into it. It's nearly there, but not quite, so work hard! Your recital is coming up soon, so you must buck up already." His teacher says, voice gentle. Baekhyun barely comprehends the words, he knows his teacher is just trying to be understanding and kind to him, but it eventually boils down to one thing. He’s just not good enough.
Never good enough.
That's all he is. He doesn't know what it's like to be perfect, to achieve perfection, though that's all he's always wanted. There's always things to improve, subtle hints in kind advices, somewhere along the lines of not there yet, but continue working hard!
His teacher releases him for the day with a slight smile and a "Take care, Baekhyun." Baekhyun just nods and smiles back tightly, the seemingly happy curve forced onto his face not quite meeting his eyes and he knows it, but he can't really do anything about it. After his teacher leaves the studio, he sits down heavily and buries his head in his hands, because all that's ringing in his head is the but not quite.
*
A few days later, Baekhyun finds himself becoming increasingly frustrated as he stumbles over that one note time and again, voice straining and not hitting the correct notes as smoothly as he would like.
Finally, he gives up, hands coming down on the black and white keys hard. The piano sounds out horrible intervals of augmented fourths and diminished sevenths, mixing together in a cacophony of notes. Baekhyun sighs audibly and he decides to try again later. He reaches out and pulls the piano cover down with a snap. The cover crashes down hard, the bang resounding in the room. Baekhyun winces internally, quickly mumbling a soft 'sorry' to the piano.
Before he can properly go back for another round, he hears soft lilting melodies being sounded from the room. He peers around the corner to see another student seated in front of the piano, fingers flying swiftly over the keys and foot instinctively pressing down on the pedal in time to the beat.
The melody's so sweet and heartfelt that Baekhyun feels his heart wrench. He wishes desperately, so desperately that he could be really good at something, anything. Something that would make him good enough, enough to warrant a genuine smile and a well done, Baekhyun. He wanted so badly to be able to be good enough.
But no, rather than that, he was doomed to be the person in-between, forever acceptable but just not good enough for anybody.
*
After a particularly grueling practice session in the studio, Baekhyun sits outside the studio, back leaning against a white wall. He breathes evenly, closing his eyes. His head spins slightly as he buries his hands in his hair. Crossing his arms over his knees and hugging them tightly, he slowly falls into a dreamless sleep.
When he wakes, his throat feels like sandpaper, and when he reaches up to touch his face he finds the remnants of tear tracks stuck on his cheeks. As he fumbles for his belongings, a deep voice suddenly speaks.
“Erm… your stuff.” A hand suddenly reaches out in front of him, offering him score sheets and pencil stacked neatly together. Baekhyun jolts and shakes his head, fully awake now. He stares up at the mysterious stranger. He cannot really see the person’s face as the shadows conceal its features, but he hesitantly receives the stack of papers. “Thank you,” he mumbles, so softly he doubts the person can actually hear him. Nevertheless, the person’s lips pull apart into a smile, two rows of pearly whites showing. “Welcome.” The person turns away, hands stuffed into hoodie pockets.
“Wait - who are you?” Baekhyun asks, but he’s a little too late as the person walks away, out of earshot. The last glimpse of him shows that the person’s silhouette shows that the person is very tall, probably much taller than Baekhyun himself.
*
Baekhyun stumbles into class ten minutes late the next day, sliding into his seat inconspicuously and subsequently putting his head onto his arms. He’s dead exhausted from the countless, seemingly futile late-night practices he’s been having these days, and having to juggle school as well meant his sleep time was suffering. As he dozes off slightly, a poke in his arm rouses him from slumber. He glances blearily at the wide-eyed boy next to him. He seems unfamiliar, Baekhyun thinks in his sleep-addled mind.
“Are you new?” Baekhyun blurts out, too tired to process what he’s spouting out of his mouth.
“Yup. I'm Park Chanyeol.” The guy says it so formally that Baekhyun briefly wonders if he should reach over and offer his hand for a handshake.
“Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun nods and turns back to his desk.
Another poke disturbs him a few minutes later. “Why are you so skinny? Do you even eat?” Chanyeol asks. Baekhyun feels mildly irritated at this. It’s not like he doesn’t eat, it’s just that he doesn’t eat a lot. He ignores Chanyeol this time and stares straight ahead.
Chanyeol doesn’t disturb him anymore from then on.
*
"Baekhyun."
"Hey, Baek."
“Baekkie.”
"What are you doing?"
Baekhyun glares at the lanky boy sitting on his right. "What is it again?" he asks, grumbling.
"Let's go get coffee together!" Chanyeol smiles his trademark Cheshire cat-like smile.
"No, I want to sleep." Baekhyun doesn't even wait for a reply before slumping down on the table again.
"Baekkie~ come on, it'll make you more awake!"
"I said no, Chanyeol."
"Just come!" Chanyeol pulls on his arm. He's much stronger than Baekhyun gave him credit for, and he easily falls out of the chair.
Baekhyun gives in, deeming that there is nothing he can do. "Fine, fine. I'll come, okay? Stop bothering me!"
*
Gradually, Baekhyun gets used to Chanyeol’s annoying (but not unwelcome) presence. He can’t remember the last time he got to class and did not see the clumsy giant with large eyes and a wide smile, accompanied by a mop of brown hair, sitting in the seat next to him.
Gradually, Baekhyun goes to fewer late-night practices and manages to get more sleep, constantly being harassed by Chanyeol’s frequent “go to sleep!” messages. (Baekhyun actually still doesn’t know how Chanyeol got his number.)
In the midst of Chanyeol rambling on and Baekhyun listening for the sake of listening, Baekhyun also learns that Chanyeol plays the guitar and wants to start a band someday. He badly wants to tell Chanyeol that he wants to be part of it, maybe play the keyboard and sing, but he bites his tongue and refrains himself from voicing out, because who would want a singer and pianist that isn’t all that good?
Day after day, Chanyeol tells him his dark eye circles are too dark, causing Baekhyun to consciously and sheepishly rub at his eyes, trying to will his eye circles away and rubbing at them. He wishes Chanyeol wouldn’t observe him so closely, because what if one day, Chanyeol finds out that Baekhyun isn’t as good as Chanyeol seems to make him out to be? What if, one day, Chanyeol decides he wants to stop caring about Baekhyun?
Baekhyun’s not quite sure what he’ll do.
*
Baekhyun’s in the studio once again, in the dead of the night, headphones blocking out all sound except for the soothing strums of guitar sounding in his ears. He opens his mouth and sings, trying to bring out the feelings in the song like his teacher says he should, but the feeling never comes. At the end of the song, he drags off his headphones with a sigh, but he hears clapping instead of the usual deafening silence in the studio that he’s used to. Baekhyun whips around, startled, and standing there at the entrance of the studio is Chanyeol.
He stares, because what is Chanyeol, of all people, doing here?
Before he can say anything, though, Chanyeol is already talking. “You never told me you sing!” Chanyeol says, walking over to Baekhyun. “And this song too. I used to practice this song all the time.”
Baekhyun stays silent, a million questions running through his mind.
“Your singing’s really wonderful.” Chanyeol suddenly blurts.
“No, no it isn’t, really.” Baekhyun protests, feeling a prick in his chest.
“But it is. I’ve been listening to you for a while.”
Baekhyun doesn’t know how to respond to that. He sits down on the floor, bringing his knees to his chest. After a few long minutes, he says softly, “Why would you listen?”
“Why not? Anybody would be captivated by that voice.” Chanyeol replies easily, sitting down beside him.
“You’re kidding.” Baekhyun doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because he knows his singing isn’t that great - he can’t even find the right feeling towards it - and it just sounds horribly wrong to describe his singing like that. “That’s just like viewing it through rose-tinted lenses.”
“Not really.”
“I mean, my singing is just average. I have average looks, average grades, average everything. Why are you even here? Why are you still around? Why do you care?” Baekhyun muffles his voice in his jeans. He knows he’s being stupid and whiny, but he can’t help but spill out his insecurities to Chanyeol, who’s looking at him with a mixed look in his eyes.
He half expects Chanyeol to just get up and walk out the door and leave him in his misery and self-depreciation, but instead he feels strong arms wrapping tightly around his torso and his shoulder, patting his back and rubbing soothing circles into it. Baekhyun shrinks into himself. No one’s hugged him like that for a very long while.
“It’s okay.” Chanyeol says in that deep voice of his, coaxing him to relax and Baekhyun feels his troubles slowly disappearing with each syllable that fades into the air.
*
Chanyeol's the first one to break the silence.
"You know, I first saw you singing that day..."
"Which one?" Baekhyun perks up.
"The one when you slept outside the studio."
"You were there?" Baekhyun stares at him disbelievingly.
"Yeah. I was just passing by, on the way to my lesson, and i heard this really angelic voice coming from one of the rooms. So... I went to see who it was."
"But that day I sang really badly." Baekhyun remembers.
"No, you sang really well. I had to go for lessons and when I came back, hoping to find you singing again, you were sleeping in front of the studio. Your papers were all messy and crumpled on the floor, so I sorted them for you... And then you woke up."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Anyway, you don't have to push yourself so hard. Your singing is already really good, and you just have to work hard. Don't overdo it, okay?" Chanyeol's voice is soft in Baekhyun's ears, and he feels the hairs on his arms stand.
"I'm always not good enough. For anyone." Baekhyun mumbles.
"Not true. You're always good enough for me!" Chanyeol laughs softly.
For some unknown reason, Baekhyun can feel tears forming in his eyes. Somehow, those words were all he needed to hear.
*
“Hey, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun suddenly sits up straight.
“Hmm?” Chanyeol’s sleepy voice answers him.
“You said you were going for lessons when you first saw me… but I’ve never seen you around the studios before?”
“Yeah, that was my first day coming to the studios after moving here.” Chanyeol buries his head in Baekhyun’s shoulder.
“You were the first person here to catch my attention - you were singing really well and then later when I came back you were sleeping on the ground. And you were crying at that…”
“How did you know?” Baekhyun stares at Chanyeol.
Chanyeol flushes a light pink. “Erm… I was seeing who was sleeping in front of the studio. And I recognised you from earlier, and there were tears running down your face… so yeah.”
“Oh.” Baekhyun curls up into himself again, embarrassed to have been caught at one of his weaker moments.
“It’s okay to cry, you know. Just let it out.”
“I guess.” Baekhyun ponders over that.
*
After that day, Chanyeol starts tagging along with Baekhyun when he’s going to the studios after school for extra practice. He always chides Chanyeol for having nothing better to do and tries to get him to go home, but Chanyeol sticks like a persistent leech and Baekhyun just sighs each time, walking with quick strides to try to get rid of him. Nevertheless, Chanyeol’s long limbs do a good job keeping up with him.
“Are you really, really sure you want to be here?” Baekhyun asks for the umpteenth time, slinging earphones around his neck.
“Yup. Just play and sing, and pretend that I’m not even here.”
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at that, because it’s kind of hard to not notice Chanyeol when he’s taking up so much space on the piano bench, but he turns around anyway and starts playing the first notes of a song.
This time, he thinks of all the times Chanyeol’s been looking after him, in one weird way or another. The notes come out easily, much easier than before. Glancing sideways, he sees Chanyeol giving him an encouraging smile. He turns back before his blush can show, but Chanyeol can still see the small smile creeping up anyway.
*
The next time Baekhyun has lessons with his teacher, she praises him instead of giving her regular comments. Baekhyun feels himself glow with happiness as he walks out of the studio to see Chanyeol waiting for him, and he can’t help but let his smile spread over his face.
*
On the day of his recital, Baekhyun’s pacing back and forth, trying not to panic as he hears the announcer introduce him and the pieces he is about to play. Chanyeol, who’s standing beside him backstage, squeezes his hand in silent encouragement.
On hearing applause, Baekhyun strides out into the spotlight, with steps that are more steady than how he feels.
As he starts with the first note, he loses himself in the music, silently dedicating the pieces to Chanyeol, who’s always been there and always supporting him, despite his insecurities and constant rambling on how he’s not prepared at all. The notes come easily now, ingrained into his mind out of practice.
The concert flies by in a whirl, and Baekhyun finds himself standing up all too soon, bowing to the crowd which erupts in applause. He turns back, barely restraining himself from running backstage where he knows Chanyeol will be.
Once past the dark curtain, he sees Chanyeol just standing there, clapping loudly for him with that stupid Cheshire-cat smile on his face. Baekhyun breaks out into a sprint, running forward across that small distance to throw his arms around the much taller boy’s neck.
Chanyeol leans down to whisper into his ear, “You did really well. Congrats.”
Baekhyun pulls away to grin up at him. “You really think so?”
“Yup.” Chanyeol’s eyes twinkle, and then he’s leaning down to press lips against Baekhyun’s forehead, leaving Baekhyun red-faced and squawking at the gesture.
*
Baekhyun still may not be perfect, and he may never achieve the perfection that he’s always dreamed of, but that doesn’t matter anymore. He’s good enough for Chanyeol, and that’s really all that he cares about right now.