Chapter Text
The repetitive, echoing chords of the piano were the only sound keeping the cold and empty hallways of the university’s music wing alive at nine o’clock. Qin's fingers moved smoothly across the piano keys in a steady rhythm, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to perfect yet another difficult transition for his upcoming jazz evaluation. His shoulders were stiff from exhaustion, and his throat felt dry, but his stubborn nature refused to let him pack the music sheets just yet.
Finally missing the same note third time in a row, Qin got up from his seat as it scraped against the wooden floors. With a frustrated sigh, he decided to step out of the music room just to get a breath of fresh air.
He didn’t expect anyone to be in the deserted hallways, but as the heavy doors shut behind him, his eyes drifted to a small bench right in front of the room. Resting there was a steaming, freshly brewed cup of his exact favourite coffee, its warmth rising into the cool night air.
Qin stepped forward hesitantly, cautiously, his eyes searching for someone who might have been here prior, but the hallway remained empty – quiet and cold the way it was. Tucked under the cup of coffee was a piece of textured sketch paper.
It was Qin; someone had sketched him, mapped him – captured him perfectly. How he hunched over the piano just moments ago, how his eyebrows were slightly furrowed in frustration, how his fingers were tracing the piano keys.
Hesitantly, he reached for the cup of coffee, the steaming warmth of the cup passing through his cold fingers, relaxing his shoulders a bit. He then reached for the sketch, picking up the paper carefully, observing it more closely.
Qin stared down at the paper, utterly perplexed as to how someone had captured him so perfectly. Qin turned the paper around, finding a small note written on the back,
“Don’t stress yourself too much, you’re doing good. Take care of yourself.”
The handwriting was neat, beautiful even. Someone had taken time to sketch him so perfectly, to write the small note and to deliver it to Qin. With the coffee cup and the sketch in his hand, Qin walked back to the room. Setting the cup on the table nearby, he took one last look at the sketch before tucking it carefully inside his music notebook. Qin sat back down, in front of the piano, his fingers hovering above the keys before his attention shifted back to the coffee.
Qin had admirers; he wouldn’t deny that. People often came up to him asking for his number, a date, or a chance to impress him. They all had been outright and straightforward, but no one had ever done this. Someone had noticed him for the small things, taken their time, remembered his favourite coffee, sketched him silently. It made Qin feel strange – seen, an unfamiliar sensation rose in his chest.
For the first time, the pressure of the upcoming evaluation didn’t feel so overwhelming, replaced with the lingering warmth of the hot coffee. Qin reached out for the coffee, the cup still warm in his hands as he took a sip. It was perfect, exactly how he liked it. A perfect amount of sugar, not too sweet, just right.
.
.
.
.
The warmth of that coffee stayed with Qin all through the night and into the next morning. Sitting in the crowded library with his music notes open, his eyes kept drifting towards the small sketch tucked safely between the pages. He was completely absorbed in tracing the beautiful handwriting at the back that he didn’t notice the two shadows looming over the table until the scrape of the chair brought his attention back.
He looked up only to find his friends Tong and Kim taking their seats right in front of him. Tong collapsed right onto the table, his head tucked down, muttering in a sleepy voice… while Kim took out his study notes, arranging them on the table. Qin quickly tucked the sketch back into the book before focusing back on his friends,
“What time did you go home yesterday? You look like you haven’t gotten much sleep. Is everything alright?” Kim asked Qin, his voice clearly laced with worry for his friend, who seemed like he had hardly gotten any sleep.
“I’m alright, just the evaluation stress, you know how it is,” Qin answered, rubbing his eyes, letting out a soft yawn.
“Why do you stress? You always end up doing well in all kinds of evaluations. I am the one who should be worried.” Tong answered in a strained voice, looking up at Qin.
“And what the hell happened to you? You look like someone dragged you out of a hellhole.” Qin asked, looking at his friend amusingly. Tong and Kim had been his first friends in the university, and the three had preferred to stick together ever since. Qin would even say that apart from him, Tong and Kim understood him the best.
“That’s what happens when you’re a lightweight but still want to show off. A junior girl from the faculty invited us to her birthday party, and this Romeo here wanted to impress her, so he played a game and drank till he blacked out. I had to carry him home; he’s a pain in the ass.” Kim scoffed while describing the situation, while Qin let out an amused laugh.
“Hey, don’t laugh at your friend like that, I’m hurt,” Tong said with furrowed eyebrows and a pout. Qin and Kim, knowing his antiques, decided to ignore the grown man beside them.
Still sprawled on the table, Tong’s blurry eyes blinked down at Qin’s open notebook, focusing on the distinct, high-quality texture of art paper sticking out between pages. Without thinking much about it, Tong reached out with a careless hand and pulled the paper right out of the notebook.
“Hey! Give that back, that’s mine,” Qin snapped, his heart panicking suddenly as he lunged forward to grab it.
But Tong was already holding the paper up to his face, squinting his eyes at the charcoal lines drawn across the paper. A sudden recognition dawned upon him as he observed the sketch closely, sleep long forgotten in his eyes, as he sat up straight in his chair.
“Ohoo…Qin, that’s you. Look how perfectly they’ve captured your posture. Where did you get this?”
Qin felt his cheeks getting hot, as a flush crept up his ears and neck, his scowl entirely fake as he reached for the paper again but failed. Tong passed the paper to Kim, his eyes also widening as he looked at the sketch.
“That’s exactly you, Qin. Since when did you have a personal artist, capturing you this accurately? Even the mole under your right eye is drawn exactly at the correct spot.” Kim said as he observed the sketch more closely.
“Spill, what are you not telling us? Since when did you have someone sketching you? Don’t u dare lie and say you drew this. We’ve seen your art, it’s nothing close to this.” Tong asked in a teasing tone.
Qin was flustered and out of words; he couldn’t hide the blush that coated his cheeks. He finally took the sketch back from Kim’s hold before tucking it back in the book.
“I don’t know…,”
“What the hell do you mean, you don’t know?” Kim asked.
“I really don’t know. Last night, when I was practicing, I decided to get some fresh air. When I went out, I found the sketch and a cup of coffee on the bench nearby, so I picked them up. I don’t know who kept them there.” Qin then slowly explained the details of last night while Tong and Kim listened to everything with eager anticipation.
After listening to the entire scenario, Qin looked at his friends hesitantly, while Kim leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms, as he looked at Qin with a calculating look.
“A cup of your favourite coffee, just how you like it, and a highly detailed portrait of you without any mistakes left for you, that’s not a coincidence. That person has been actively observing you; he knows your coffee order, and he knows where you practice. Don’t forget our music building has 4 piano rooms, yet he knew which one you always go to. That person has been observing you for a long time.”
“And the paper,” Tong chimed in, leaning over the desk, tapping on the cover of Qin’s notebook. “That’s the expensive kind of paper, heavy-grain textured paper. My friend is also an artist, and he uses the same one too. Your mystery lover boy is definitely an art student. I can guarantee that.”
Qin let out a soft sigh, his thoughts running wild, thinking of hundreds of possibilities he might have come across someone from the arts faculty, someone he knew, someone he might’ve met, but no one seemed to come to his mind.
“So…what are you going to do? He might approach again with another coffee or another sketch, or something else. Or not - we don’t know.” Kim said, looking at Qin.
“What can he do? He’ll have to wait, see what happens next.” Tong said, his tone shifting into something gentle. “But for now, are you uncomfortable about this thing? More than anything, this is about your comfort.”
“Hmm, Tong’s right,” Kim agreed, nodding. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can try to stop this somehow, but if you’re okay, then let’s just wait. If this person is trying to pursue you, he has to come out sooner or later till then, you’ll have to wait. How do you feel?”
Qin looked at his friends, touched by their protectiveness towards him. He looked down at the sketch, the way he was beautifully captured, and the memory of the warm coffee cup still lingered in the back of his mind.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” Qin confessed softly with a small smile, “To be honest, it felt different but nice. I don’t mind waiting to see who they are.”
Tong’s worried expression instantly vanished, replaced with a teasing grin on his face. “Ohhh… so the cold, unapproachable prince of the music faculty likes being courted!”
“There now, don’t tease him, I am also really excited to see who this lover boy is who melted our ice prince’s cold heart with a cup of coffee,” Kim exclaimed with a smirk on his face.
“Shut up, you too. I shouldn’t have said anything,” Qin laughed, packing his stuff to leave the library. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”
Half an hour later, the college hallways were buzzing with students chattering away with their friends, walking in groups with one another. Qin subconsciously observed his surroundings, his gaze lingering a bit longer on the students carrying sketchbooks and charcoal pencils, his mind buzzing with quiet, thrilling anticipation for what tonight might bring.