(no subject)
Day of Challenge: Week 1, Challenge 3
Pairing: Sehun/Baekhyun
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff
Length: 1500
Summary/Warnings: Prompt #24 - work on a WIP. Sehun is a reluctant music student, but Baekhyun is quietly persuasive.
"Get back here, Oh Sehun!"
Nearly a decade later, Sehun can still hear the disgruntled voice of his mother ringing in his ears as slowly unpacks his lesson book and music books. He sits down gingerly on the aged wood of the piano bench and runs his fingers over the yellowing keys, recalling the hours of unwilling practice in his childhood. It wasn't any better now; at age eighteen, his mom still possessed that incomprehensible maternal power to make him listen to her wishes, now matter how they ran counter to his own.
Music would look good on his college applications, she said. He would thank her later when he was old and could enjoy the piano as a hobby, she said.
Sehun scoffs. He sets his copy of Chopin nocturnes on the music stand, hoping that his teacher will ask him to play that. It's the only piece he can still play.
"You can warm up with some arpeggios and scales, if you want! I'll be right back" a lilting voice comes from the hallway to his left.
Sehun eyes the keys gingerly. He isn't sure he can remember any scale other than C major.
Thankfully, his teacher returns before his memory can be tested.
"Sorry," his adorably breathless teacher huffs, "I got caught up at the office. My name is Baekhyun, and I'm a second year performance piano major. The conservatory told me your mom registered you for piano lessons this morning, and I've been assigned as your piano teacher! I hope we'll get along well!"
Sehun throws the smiling man a sullen look. "Look, man. I'm here because my mom made me. So let's just get this over with."
Sehun almost feels bad as he watches the smile melt off the other man's face, making him look like a kicked puppy.
"Um, okay then!" Baekhyun chirps nervously, "What do you have for me today?"
Sehun smoothes down the Chopin sitting on the music stand, suddenly a bit nervous himself. He probably should have practiced more before coming in for lessons.
"Can I hear you play?" Baekhyun asks hesitantly.
Sehun meticulously places the index finger of his right hand on the b-flat an octave above middle C, and his left pinky on the b-flat two octaves below middle C. He remembers enough from his childhood to test the pedals of the piano before pressing down the first notes of Chopin's Nocturne in B-Flat Minor.
As he stumbles through the piece, his teacher makes this little noise in the back of his throat every time his fingers land between two keys, and every time he forgets to change the pedal and all the notes blur together into a puddle of sound. Sehun tries to ignore it as he presses on.
A slender hand on his forearm stops Sehun, and he looks up to a rather pained expression stretched across Baekhyun's features.
"I can see you can play this… quite well," Baekhyun says. Sehun can tell he was lying through his teeth, and says as much.
Baekhyun makes a face. "You just need to pay a bit more attention to detail."
And so the lesson went. Sehun leaves with a notebook full of metronome markings and music scores filled with colored scribblings reminding him of dynamics, accidentals, and pedal changes.
-----
His third lesson in, Sehun is in a particularly foul mood. All of his closest friends are hanging out that day, but no, that wasn't a good enough of an excuse to miss his piano lesson. His mother had shut him down point-blank, firmly informing him that he was to attend his lessons, or else. As a grown man of eighteen, Sehun was still not particularly keen on finding out what that alternate was.
So he sullenly climbs the stairs of the conservatory to Baekhyun's lesson room, and slouches against the wall as he waits for the student before him to finish.
Baekhyun pokes his head out of the room a few minutes later to usher him in, leaving Sehun to fidget awkwardly in the corner as he finishes giving instructions to the little girl sitting on the piano bench.
Finally, he ushers the little girl out, and gestures for Sehun to warm at the piano as he steps into the hallway and pulls the door shut behind him to exchange a couple quick words with the girl's mom.
Sehun pulls out his battered Chopin book, and sets it on the music stand, flipping it open to the now-colourful page filled with Baekhyun's markings and reminders. He begins to play jerkily, still angry that he was here instead of out with his friends, and his fingers are stiff under the knowledge that Baekhyun and the mother and daughter standing just outside the room can hear every note he plays, and every mistake he makes.
He's concentrating so hard on getting his fingers to the right notes that he fails to hear the door click shut as Baekhyun re-enters the room.
He jumps as warm air brushes his neck, and Baekhyun's hands brackets his own on the keyboard. A jarring blend of notes rips through the room in Sehun's surprise; Baekhyun's delicate fingers pry his hands off the keys to stop the cacophony.
Sehun is stiff, unsure of what to make of this invasion of his personal space.
Baekhyun's fingers are now kneading his tense shoulders, breathing relax into Sehun's ear. Sehun picks up where he left off, fingers pressing down unevenly on the notes and blowing through every pedal change in his nervousness. The room is murky with the blend of numerous chord progressions.
"Change the pedal," the voice breathes.
Sehun's leg muscles spasm and the next few notes ring clear in the clean space of the room.
At the end of their lesson, Baekhyun looks pleased. His eyes crinkle into half-moons as he chirps, "You're improving!"
Sehun ducks his head to hide his spreading blush, mumbling under his breath that yes, he will practice with the metronome this week before dashing from the room.
-----
Sehun practices more that week than he ever remembers practicing. His mom is pleasantly surprised by his efforts, smoothing down his hair fondly and lamenting that he would have been well into his career as a concert pianist if only he had exhibited this kind of dedication as a child. Sehun hums noncommittally as he perfects a trill in the prelude and fugue he's learning.
By the time Wednesday rolls around and Sehun is climbing the now-familiar stairs to Baekhyun's room in the conservatory, his stomach is a mass of nervous knots and anticipation.
Baekhyun's door is already opened when Sehun gets there.
When Sehun sits down and begins his Bach, Baekhyun's tapered fingers dance along the keyboard in time with Sehun's, emphasizing the theme the piece in a higher register.
Sometimes their fingers brush against one another when Baekhyun's hand dips too low along the octaves and when Sehun's long fingers trace out the higher points of a melody. Sehun's breath hitches, and maybe he's imagining it, but he thinks that he can hear something catch in Baekhyun's breathing too.
Baekhyun leans in close at one point, and guides Sehun's wayward finger from a G to an A-flat, resolving dissonance into smooth harmony. Baekhyun is focused on the music, while Sehun is focused on Baekhyun's delicate features. Baekhyun's lips are so close to his own that he can feel every exhale puff gently against his mouth.
Sehun closes his eyes to ward off the heat rising in his body, and opens his eyes to Baekhyun staring at him intently.
Baekhyun presses a brief kiss to his lips before the end of that lesson. "Practice hard," he whispers, soft cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and eyes landing anywhere but on Sehun's.
Sehun nods dumbly, knowing full well that he will be devoting every free second to doing just that.
----
It's a Friday evening, and this time around, Sehun has willingly blown off his friends in favor of attending a violin recital. His friends think he's at a family function, and if they thought there was anything strange about Sehun's muttered response of why he couldn't join them, they kept it to themselves.
He climbs the stairs to a regal-looking building, and ends up in a lobby feeling distinctly out of place surrounded by chattering music students and elderly folk. The chipper girl seated at the head of the "Purchase" line eyes him curiously.
"Do you have your ID card? Music students get in free."
Sehun shifts awkwardly on his feet, and mumbles, "I'm not a music student," before tossing a twenty dollar bill on the counter.
"But you're a student, right? If you show me your student ID, I can give you a discount," the girl insists. The people in line behind Sehun are shifting restlessly, trying to peek over each other to see the source of the holdup.
Sehun waves at the poster taped to a pillar behind the girl, and explains that no, he's not a student at the university at all, and that no, he really does not mind paying full price; he's here to see a friend.
The girl finally hands over a ticket, deposits a few dollars of change into Sehun's outstretched palm, and waves him behind her to enter the auditorium. As an afterthought, she hands him a copy of the program.
Bold, curlicued letters pronounce the soloist to be a Sarah Chang, violin, and the smaller, more discreet letters below reveal the reason behind Sehun's attendance: accompanied by Byun Baekhyun, piano.
Pairing: Sehun/Baekhyun
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff
Length: 1500
Summary/Warnings: Prompt #24 - work on a WIP. Sehun is a reluctant music student, but Baekhyun is quietly persuasive.
"Get back here, Oh Sehun!"
Nearly a decade later, Sehun can still hear the disgruntled voice of his mother ringing in his ears as slowly unpacks his lesson book and music books. He sits down gingerly on the aged wood of the piano bench and runs his fingers over the yellowing keys, recalling the hours of unwilling practice in his childhood. It wasn't any better now; at age eighteen, his mom still possessed that incomprehensible maternal power to make him listen to her wishes, now matter how they ran counter to his own.
Music would look good on his college applications, she said. He would thank her later when he was old and could enjoy the piano as a hobby, she said.
Sehun scoffs. He sets his copy of Chopin nocturnes on the music stand, hoping that his teacher will ask him to play that. It's the only piece he can still play.
"You can warm up with some arpeggios and scales, if you want! I'll be right back" a lilting voice comes from the hallway to his left.
Sehun eyes the keys gingerly. He isn't sure he can remember any scale other than C major.
Thankfully, his teacher returns before his memory can be tested.
"Sorry," his adorably breathless teacher huffs, "I got caught up at the office. My name is Baekhyun, and I'm a second year performance piano major. The conservatory told me your mom registered you for piano lessons this morning, and I've been assigned as your piano teacher! I hope we'll get along well!"
Sehun throws the smiling man a sullen look. "Look, man. I'm here because my mom made me. So let's just get this over with."
Sehun almost feels bad as he watches the smile melt off the other man's face, making him look like a kicked puppy.
"Um, okay then!" Baekhyun chirps nervously, "What do you have for me today?"
Sehun smoothes down the Chopin sitting on the music stand, suddenly a bit nervous himself. He probably should have practiced more before coming in for lessons.
"Can I hear you play?" Baekhyun asks hesitantly.
Sehun meticulously places the index finger of his right hand on the b-flat an octave above middle C, and his left pinky on the b-flat two octaves below middle C. He remembers enough from his childhood to test the pedals of the piano before pressing down the first notes of Chopin's Nocturne in B-Flat Minor.
As he stumbles through the piece, his teacher makes this little noise in the back of his throat every time his fingers land between two keys, and every time he forgets to change the pedal and all the notes blur together into a puddle of sound. Sehun tries to ignore it as he presses on.
A slender hand on his forearm stops Sehun, and he looks up to a rather pained expression stretched across Baekhyun's features.
"I can see you can play this… quite well," Baekhyun says. Sehun can tell he was lying through his teeth, and says as much.
Baekhyun makes a face. "You just need to pay a bit more attention to detail."
And so the lesson went. Sehun leaves with a notebook full of metronome markings and music scores filled with colored scribblings reminding him of dynamics, accidentals, and pedal changes.
-----
His third lesson in, Sehun is in a particularly foul mood. All of his closest friends are hanging out that day, but no, that wasn't a good enough of an excuse to miss his piano lesson. His mother had shut him down point-blank, firmly informing him that he was to attend his lessons, or else. As a grown man of eighteen, Sehun was still not particularly keen on finding out what that alternate was.
So he sullenly climbs the stairs of the conservatory to Baekhyun's lesson room, and slouches against the wall as he waits for the student before him to finish.
Baekhyun pokes his head out of the room a few minutes later to usher him in, leaving Sehun to fidget awkwardly in the corner as he finishes giving instructions to the little girl sitting on the piano bench.
Finally, he ushers the little girl out, and gestures for Sehun to warm at the piano as he steps into the hallway and pulls the door shut behind him to exchange a couple quick words with the girl's mom.
Sehun pulls out his battered Chopin book, and sets it on the music stand, flipping it open to the now-colourful page filled with Baekhyun's markings and reminders. He begins to play jerkily, still angry that he was here instead of out with his friends, and his fingers are stiff under the knowledge that Baekhyun and the mother and daughter standing just outside the room can hear every note he plays, and every mistake he makes.
He's concentrating so hard on getting his fingers to the right notes that he fails to hear the door click shut as Baekhyun re-enters the room.
He jumps as warm air brushes his neck, and Baekhyun's hands brackets his own on the keyboard. A jarring blend of notes rips through the room in Sehun's surprise; Baekhyun's delicate fingers pry his hands off the keys to stop the cacophony.
Sehun is stiff, unsure of what to make of this invasion of his personal space.
Baekhyun's fingers are now kneading his tense shoulders, breathing relax into Sehun's ear. Sehun picks up where he left off, fingers pressing down unevenly on the notes and blowing through every pedal change in his nervousness. The room is murky with the blend of numerous chord progressions.
"Change the pedal," the voice breathes.
Sehun's leg muscles spasm and the next few notes ring clear in the clean space of the room.
At the end of their lesson, Baekhyun looks pleased. His eyes crinkle into half-moons as he chirps, "You're improving!"
Sehun ducks his head to hide his spreading blush, mumbling under his breath that yes, he will practice with the metronome this week before dashing from the room.
-----
Sehun practices more that week than he ever remembers practicing. His mom is pleasantly surprised by his efforts, smoothing down his hair fondly and lamenting that he would have been well into his career as a concert pianist if only he had exhibited this kind of dedication as a child. Sehun hums noncommittally as he perfects a trill in the prelude and fugue he's learning.
By the time Wednesday rolls around and Sehun is climbing the now-familiar stairs to Baekhyun's room in the conservatory, his stomach is a mass of nervous knots and anticipation.
Baekhyun's door is already opened when Sehun gets there.
When Sehun sits down and begins his Bach, Baekhyun's tapered fingers dance along the keyboard in time with Sehun's, emphasizing the theme the piece in a higher register.
Sometimes their fingers brush against one another when Baekhyun's hand dips too low along the octaves and when Sehun's long fingers trace out the higher points of a melody. Sehun's breath hitches, and maybe he's imagining it, but he thinks that he can hear something catch in Baekhyun's breathing too.
Baekhyun leans in close at one point, and guides Sehun's wayward finger from a G to an A-flat, resolving dissonance into smooth harmony. Baekhyun is focused on the music, while Sehun is focused on Baekhyun's delicate features. Baekhyun's lips are so close to his own that he can feel every exhale puff gently against his mouth.
Sehun closes his eyes to ward off the heat rising in his body, and opens his eyes to Baekhyun staring at him intently.
Baekhyun presses a brief kiss to his lips before the end of that lesson. "Practice hard," he whispers, soft cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and eyes landing anywhere but on Sehun's.
Sehun nods dumbly, knowing full well that he will be devoting every free second to doing just that.
----
It's a Friday evening, and this time around, Sehun has willingly blown off his friends in favor of attending a violin recital. His friends think he's at a family function, and if they thought there was anything strange about Sehun's muttered response of why he couldn't join them, they kept it to themselves.
He climbs the stairs to a regal-looking building, and ends up in a lobby feeling distinctly out of place surrounded by chattering music students and elderly folk. The chipper girl seated at the head of the "Purchase" line eyes him curiously.
"Do you have your ID card? Music students get in free."
Sehun shifts awkwardly on his feet, and mumbles, "I'm not a music student," before tossing a twenty dollar bill on the counter.
"But you're a student, right? If you show me your student ID, I can give you a discount," the girl insists. The people in line behind Sehun are shifting restlessly, trying to peek over each other to see the source of the holdup.
Sehun waves at the poster taped to a pillar behind the girl, and explains that no, he's not a student at the university at all, and that no, he really does not mind paying full price; he's here to see a friend.
The girl finally hands over a ticket, deposits a few dollars of change into Sehun's outstretched palm, and waves him behind her to enter the auditorium. As an afterthought, she hands him a copy of the program.
Bold, curlicued letters pronounce the soloist to be a Sarah Chang, violin, and the smaller, more discreet letters below reveal the reason behind Sehun's attendance: accompanied by Byun Baekhyun, piano.