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There are exactly two things Kang Dongho loves in this world: cats and music.
The studio, unfortunately, is bereft of cats, so he's forced (read: loves to) fill the silence with piano music.
Specifically, the piano in the company lobby.
He's running through an old piece he once knew when a flash of red hair catches his eye, and he raises his head just long enough to see Jaewon frozen mid-step at the company doors.
He doesn't look like he's had a good day, honestly. His hair's messy, deep bags underscore his eyes, and he really looks like he wants to be anywhere but under Dongho's glare.
He gets that. Both Minsoo and Daehyun have told him (with varying levels of politeness) how terrifying his glare looks.
He tries to tone it down as he slides to the side, gently patting the piano bench in invitation. Jaewon looks at him, then at the piano bench, then back to him.
Dongho pats the bench again, and Jaewon slowly crosses the space, sliding awkwardly onto the bench next to him. "Um," he mumbles, evidently nervous, "what did you want to talk about, hyung?"
"I want you to play with me," Dongho replies, and Jaewon's eyes go shocked in a way that hurts.
Dongho's played with Minsoo before, he's played with Daehyun, but never Jaewon. The red-haired man would always stand to the side, reading something on his phone or fidgeting with the hem of whatever jacket he was wearing that day.
"Do you want to?" he asks, and Jaewon nods furiously. "Alright. Then you play, and I'll follow."
Jaewon stares at him for another moment, and once it becomes clear Dongho isn't about to shove him off the piano bench, he gingerly presses one of the keys.
The sound of a single note rings through the entry hall, and Jaewon immediately shrinks into himself, hand flying off the key. "I-I'm sorry," he stammers, reaching for his bag. "T-This was a mistake. I should go-"
Dongho grabs his wrist.
He's not sure why he does it, honestly. It's out of character for him to care this much.
But this feels like a pivotal point - one that has to go right.
"You did nothing wrong," he murmurs, placing Jaewon's hand back onto the keys. "Play another note, Jaewon-ah. I'll follow you."
Jaewon looks at him like he's speaking another language, but presses a key anyways. And this time, before he can move-
Dongho adds the chord.
Jaewon's eyes go wide and bright, the familiar love of music Dongho sees in the mirror filling them. "Ah-"
"Play some more," Dongho prompts, and Jaewon's fingers roam around the keys, never straying too far from the original, but moving nonetheless.
Dongho adds harmony, makes his rise and fall, and soon enough, Jaewon's adapting to him as well.
And he's smiling.
(Dongho can't remember the last time he saw Jaewon smile - a true smile, one unchained and set to fly free. It takes him instants to decide he likes it.)
Time passes, and their hands dance across the keys in beautiful harmony. Jaewon grows less hesitant as time passes, venturing up and down the keyboard, and Dongho always shifts to accomidate.
It's nice.
Playing with Jaewon is nice.
(He wonders how it hadn't happened before - then dismisses it. Jaewon isn't the type to invite himself to things.)
Jaewon's hands abruptly still as Dongho's phone buzzes, and he pulls it from his pocket, only to see a text from Minsoo gracing (or really, invading) the screen.
"I should go," the younger murmurs, and Dongho reaches out again, this time offering.
"Dinner?" he asks, and Jaewon blinks at him. "Minsoo ordered enough for four."
Jaewon smiles that same unchained smile again - and it's smaller, but no less bright and real. "Sure, hyung."
And if this - if invitations are all it takes to keep seeing that smile?
Then Dongho plans to keep seeing it.
Maybe on the piano bench, once again.