Music to my Ears

Thank Jin

"Okay," Yoongi said, taking his pencil out of his mouth and letting it roll onto the desk in front of him.  Music sheets were sprawled all over the white surface, messy notes and thin lines scribbled roughly onto the pages. "I think it's ready."

He clicked out of the music processing software on his laptop, ejecting a little blue flash drive and shoving it in his front jean pocket. He slid the printed music sheets carefully into a green folder, taking extra caution to make sure none of pages got crumpled while in his backpack. Then, he headed off for practice room 304.

Sitting down at the piano bench, he placed the sheets of music onto the piano very delicately, arranging them so that they would be easy to play without having to flip any of the pages. His palms sweaty, he anxiously pulled out his phone and dialed Jin's phone number.

"Hello?" Jin answered immediately.

"Hey, Jin..." He clutched his phone close to his ear. "Are you free right now?"

"Just finishing up some last minute assignments," Jin responded, casually. His tone turned into one of concern. "Are you okay? Do you need something from me right now?"

"No. Everything's okay, so just take your time. It's just that I want you to meet me in room 304."

"Did I forget practice or something?" Jin asked, confused.

"No. Today's not a practice day."

"Then what for?"  Jin's voice raised in pitch, a little exasperated by Yoongi's sudden request.

"You'll see when you get here. So stop asking questions and finish your homework." He added teasingly, amping up the suspense. "I'll see you later then." 

Before Jin could ask any more prodding questions, Yoongi hung up the phone, laying it on a chair next to him.  Without pressing the keys of the piano so as to keep the quiet should Jin arrive at any moment, Yoongi practiced his piece. His hands were caked in sweat from the anticipation, and he found himself glancing every so often towards the sliding doors at the entrance of the room, stirring every time he thought he heard footsteps bounding down the halls.

When he heard the footsteps growing louder, he knew that it was showtime. As Jin flung the doors open and as Yoongi swung his head around to face him, Jin was met with the sweetest smile he had ever seen. Surprised, he hesitated, standing still in the entryway.

"Come in! I want to show you something."

Jin nodded and took a seat in the black plastic chair, leaning forward. Yoongi, meanwhile, placed his hands gently against the ivory keys.

As his fingers glided across the white and black, Yoongi closed his eyes, sinking into the music. He poured his feelings into the hulking mass in front of him, the heavy piano allowing him to produce a song so light and airy, reminiscent of a feather floating gracefully in the atmosphere. With each note that he touched and brought forward into their special space, Yoongi infused every thought of Jin, spilling forth from his fingertips and onto the keys. The tune was playful, yet serious. Simple, yet complex. It spoke of the comfort that Jin provided, of the worry that Jin brings him when he's upset, of Yoongi's eternal wish that the two could remain as they were, of a fear that maybe that future isn't meant to be.

From his seat behind the piano, Jin looked at the title scrawled in big letters across each music seat.

Thank You, Jin, it read, in those characteristic loops of Yoongi's.

Oh. So that's why he wasn't meant to see that post-it note.

Jin reached up to touch his cheek, his finger becoming damp as soon as he brushed against his skin. He clutched a shaky hand over his mouth, not wanting to let a single sigh escape from the gap between his lips. He closed his eyes, his eyelids clenched and unmoving from restraining the emotions he had bottled up somewhere from deep inside of him. He was overcome with emotion as he listened intently to the melody that Yoongi had written, so soothing and inviting, and yet so miserably and irrevocably despondent. It's not that Yoongi had written this song to induce such feelings. It's not that something so simple was meant to be grand in any capacity or sense of the word. It's that Jin couldn't help but listen to the song and feel lost, as though he wasn't meant to be there in that moment, as though he didn't deserve the love that was pouring out from the sea of black and white.

When the song came to a close, and Yoongi had broken out of his trance, he turned around with the bright smile that Jin loved to see.

That smile broke something in him. The tears that he tried so hard to hold back had come rushing forth, Yoongi's face quickly turning to that of panic.

He leapt out from behind the piano and kneeled next to Jin's seat, placing a careful hand on his thigh. "I didn't mean to make you cry!" He said, his face contorted in concern. Jin could only laugh.

"They're happy tears, Yoongi. Happy tears." He wiped his eyes, staring softly at the boy before him.

"If they're happy tears, does that mean you like it?"

"I don't like it," Jin smiled. "I love it."

Yoongi's face turned red as he turned away, hitting Jin playfully on the leg as he stood up. "You're so cheesy, you know that?"

"And you love me for it, don't you?" He smirked.

"Sure. Whatever you want to believe." He pat himself down, wiping the dust off from his jeans, then his eyes widened. "Oh, I almost forgot."

Taking out the little blue flash-drive from his front pocket, he handed it to Jin. Written in sharpie on top of white masking tape, Thank You, Jin, was displayed proudly on the device.

"Here's the digital version of the song. Obviously, if you don't want it, you don't have to keep it." He held out the small flash drive to Jin with one hand and rubbed the back of his neck with the other, embarrassment flushing his cheeks a hint of red.

"Of course I want to keep it! Anything you make is wonderful, Yoongi.  I'll listen to this when I get home."

"Okay.  But don't say I didn't warn you." Yoongi laughed, relieved.

Tucking the flash drive into his bag, Jin said, "Thank you for making this.  It means a lot."

"No problem.  I just made it 'cause I wanted to." Yoongi shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant and cool-headed.  "Anyways, you can go back to whatever you were doing now.  I have to check out and get my assignments done before I pass out from the stress."

"Alright then.  See ya."  Jin said from his comfortable position in the chair, waving him off.

"Aren't you going to go too?" Yoongi asked while stooping down to pick up his backpack.

"No.  I think I'll stay here a moment longer."

"Okay.  See you tomorrow for practice then.  Bye, Jin."

With that, Yoongi walked out of the door, leaving Jin in the silence of the room.  He held his bag close to his chest as he stared out of the windows, the golden of the sunset creeping in through the glass that framed the classroom. He basked in the glow for a little while.

Leaving his backpack leaning against the chair, he crawled onto the piano bench, the warmth of the seat leaving a trace of Yoongi behind.  Feeling a rush of a something that he couldn't quite place surge through him, Jin picked up his hands and set them down against the keyboard.  With a determination in his eyes and in his fingertips, he played Liebestraum no. 2 from memory, his years of no practice seemingly nonexistent as he let out all of the feelings that he could not express earlier.

For once,  the music seemed to understand him. 

They were partners, rather than a perpetrator and a victim.  They worked in harmony to bring joy instead of pain derived from unmet expectations.  Jin could smile as he played with no audience around to judge him, no one to tell him that what he was doing was wrong or not enough. He was simply playing for the fun of it.

For once, Jin found himself falling in love with music again.