Reminiscence - Final

"Where are we going?" Donghae asks uncertainly as Eunhyuk suddenly grabs him by the hand to pull him away from the television series that he is glued to. Eunhyuk stops walking and smiles to Donghae, loosening his tight grip around his boyfriend's hand.

"You'll see," Eunhyuk smiles gently, setting aside of all Donghae's worries and uncertainty. 

Donghae subconsciously nods and returns the smile, entranced by Eunhyuk's soft yet charming gaze that had fixated on him. Donghae lets himself get dragged by Eunhyuk, not caring where in the world they are going. As long as he is with Eunhyuk, nothing else seems to matter.

Soon enough, Donghae finds himself in a room that he has abandoned long ago after his father's death. The practice room. 

"Why are we here?" Donghae mutters softly under his breath, wanting to get out and away from the room as fast as possible. As of now, Donghae hates playing the piano. It was the reason for his father's death, and Donghae detests even looking at the piano.

"You're not going anywhere, Hae," Eunhyuk states firmly as he tugs at Donghae's arm to pull him into the practice room. Donghae widens his eyes when he hears the door making a 'click' sound. Eunhyuk has locked the two of them in the room.

Donghae stares at Eunhyuk grudgingly. "Like I said, you're not going anywhere," Eunhyuk repeats, keeping the key to the door in his breast pocket.

"Sit," Eunhyuk orders firmly, gesturing to the other piano's stool. There are two pianos in the room, and Eunhyuk has chosen the first piano. Donghae shakes his head in reply. 

"I am not going to sit there," Donghae says through gritted teeth. Eunhyuk heaves a sigh and stands up from his stool to walk over to Donghae. Running a hand in his hair, Eunhyuk sighs again while locking his eyes to Donghae's. Donghae tries his best not to be mesmerized by Eunhyuk's gaze, but his attempts are futile. Donghae always gives in to Eunhyuk, none of that has ever- and will - change. It is as if Eunhyuk has bound a spell on him, yet Donghae does not seem to mind.

"How long are you going to keep blaming yourself?" Eunhyuk asks simply, bringing his hand up to Donghae's cheeks to caress it gently. Donghae gulps. He knows all too well what Eunhyuk is referring to, but he cannot seem to find the answers. Donghae remains silent and continues staring into Eunhyuk's deep brownish-black orbs. His heart beats wildly in his chest and his palms starts to get sweaty. This always happens when Eunhyuk gets too close to Donghae. Simply put, Eunhyuk drives Donghae crazy.

Eunhyuk frowns when he realizes that Donghae has yet to answer his question. "Hmm, until when, dear Hae?" Eunhyuk asks once again, this time his face just inches away from Donghae's. They lock their gazes and Eunhyuk manages to sense hesitance in Donghae's eyes. Donghae gulps and fails to answer Eunhyuk's questions again.

Eunhyuk grins cheekily as he pokes the hem of Donghae's nose playfully. Taking a few steps away from Donghae, Eunhyuk turns to face the piano. Donghae watches as Eunhyuk's slender fingers graze the top of the piano slowly, gathering the dust that has been sitting there. Eunhyuk brings his fingers up to inspect the dust and clicks his tongue. 

"It's been a while since you've entered this room, yes?" Eunhyuk questions, his voice as gentle as ever. Donghae is not sure what Eunhyuk is feeling at the moment. Eunhyuk is always the best in concealing his emotions, and Donghae always finds himself in a difficult situation as he tries to decode Eunhyuk's emotions. 

"Yes," Donghae nods.

Eunhyuk nods as well, seemingly pleased with the answer Donghae has given him.. Rubbing his dirty finger on his shirt, Eunhyuk blows on it. "Why?" Eunhyuk pries, not bothering to look at Donghae.

Donghae lets his eyes fall to the floor as he thinks of the reasons. 

"It's been a while because this is the place where I killed my father," Donghae replies grimly.

Eunhyuk laughs at the reply, his melodious laugh filling up the silent room. "And how exactly, did you kill your father in here?" Eunhyuk queries, his eyes twinkling.

Donghae shuts his eyes tight and answers Eunhyuk. "I was busy practicing my exam piece in this room - Piano Concerto No.2 Movement III by Dmitri Shostakovich. Being too engrossed in my self-practice, I failed to answer the desperate calls of my father, not even feeling the vibration of my phone. The restaurant was burning as I was practicing. I killed my father. If I had not been so engrossed in practicing, I would have answered his call and I would have been able to save my father, That is how I killed my father in here," Donghae mumbles softly, his voice wavering in regret and sorrow as he recalls the moment.

Eunhyuk clears his throat and approaches Donghae to pull him into a tight hug. Donghae gladly receives the hug and buries himself into Eunhyuk's broad chest. Eunhyuk smiles sadly as he rests his chin atop of Donghae's hair.

"That, Donghae, is where you're wrong," Eunhyuk whispers. Donghae pulls himself away from Eunhyuk's warm embrace and blinks in confusion.

"I have kept quiet about this for a long time, and I have decided that I have finally had had enough. I hate the sight of you suffering, Donghae, so do not interrupt me," Eunhyuk mutters. "Please," He adds as Donghae is just about to open his mouth in protest.

Donghae remains silent to stare at Eunhyuk before agreeing reluctantly. Eunhyuk gives a thankful smile and takes a deep breath.

"Like I said, Donghae, that is where you are wrong. You didn't kill your father. So what if you had answered his call? The restaurant was already burning. What do you think would have happened if you had answered your father's call? Nothing, Donghae. All in all, you would only be hearing the agonizing cries of your father as the restaurant burnt down, that's all. You could have saved him? How, Donghae? How could you save a man from inside an already burning restaurant? You, who can't even light up a fire in the kitchen. You, who has always been afraid of candles. You, who goes ballistic when I light up the fire in the kitchen to cook. How could you have possibly saved your father? Say you weren't afraid of fire. Fine. How could you have reached the restaurant in time to save your father? The distance from here to there is already about an hour. How could you have saved him? Until when will you keep blaming yourself? Three months have already passed. Isn't it time you forgive yourself and put the past beside you? It isn't even your fault to begin with, Donghae. How long will it take for you to realize that?" Eunhyuk croaks, pouring his heart and soul into everything he has said.

Eunhyuk finds himself facing a teary-eyed and runny-nosed Donghae thereafter, and he finds his vision getting blurry as well. As tears drops down both of their gleaming faces, Eunhyuk decides to hug Donghae once again comfortingly. Donghae is at a loss of words as he takes in everything that Eunhyuk has said. Donghae knows that it is not his fault, yet he can not find it in him to erase his guilt.

After five minutes, Donghae calms himself down and manages to stop his tears. Eunhyuk drops his hold on Donghae and wipes Donghae's tears before wiping his own. They give each other a weak smile and Eunhyuk is the first one to speak up.

"I know that it's hard for you. I cannot even bear to imagine how much guilt you have buried deep inside of you. I'm not saying that you have to forgive yourself today. I'm just saying that one day, you have to do it. You have to put the past behind you and face the future. From what I see, you can either run away from the past or learn from it. I only hope that you will learn from it, Donghae, because I want the best, and only the best for you. It hurts me to see you suffer too, Donghae," Eunhyuk admits.

"Thank you, Eunhyuk. Just... just give me time," Donghae replies in a quavering voice.

Eunhyuk nods. "As long as you can put the past behind you, you can have all the time in the world," 

Donghae smiles as Eunhyuk grabs him by the waist, closing the gap around their bodies. Eunhyuk stares at Donghae's lips before biting his own and locks his gaze with Donghae's. As if in slow-motion, Eunhyuk closes the gap between their faces and captures Donghae's pink tender lips for his own. They nibble on each other, savoring the precious moment.

Prior to the kiss, Eunhyuk orders Donghae to sit on the stool of the piano once again. Donghae hesitates, but decides to give in to Eunhyuk's request and proceeds to sit. Eunhyuk grins in victory and opens the lid to the piano. He taps on a few of the keys randomly, wanting to hear the notes being played.

"Do you remember the first song we played together?" Eunhyuk asks, so softly that Donghae would have missed it if not for him giving all his attention to Eunhyuk, in the middle of his random key tapping. 

"Of course I remember," Donghae replies. "Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K 448," He continues.

Eunhyuk smiles, happy to know that Donghae still remembers. "You're right. Let's play it together again," Eunhyuk proposes, looking over to Donghae with an encouraging smile plastered on his face,

For the first time, Donghae does not hesitate. "I'm rusty from the piano, but sure. Let's play it together," Donghae agrees, opening the lid of the piano slowly. Like Eunhyuk, Donghae tries pressing on the keys randomly, making sure that the piano is still in working condition, considering how long he had abandoned it.

"On the count of three," Eunhyuk says as he prepares his slender fingers, lacing them over on the piano's keys. After Eunhyuk counts to three, the two of them start playing the piece; Eunhyuk playing the first part, and Donghae playing the second, just like how they had played the first time.

Donghae finds himself grinning from ear to ear as he plays the piece, his fingers moving around effortlessly on the piano. Donghae brings himself back to the past, reminiscing to the time where they first met. 

Eunhyuk was the top scholar of the school, while Donghae was just an aspiring student. In the past, Donghae had had a strong passion for the piano, not once giving up when the people around him sneered at him, telling him that he could never make it far in the music industry. Donghae had proven them all wrong when he had placed second in a major competition that pianists from all over the world attended. Donghae loves the past. In fact, he misses it. A wave of nostalgia takes him over as he reminiscences.

Donghae likes this song. In fact, the piece that they were playing is one of Donghae's favorites.  The piece is imperfect, they realize - Donghae keeps making mistakes with the key signatures and messes up the tempo -, but to Eunhyuk, it sounds pitch perfect. Donghae is finally playing the piano again, and that is perfect enough for Eunhyuk.

As the piece finishes, Donghae cannot stop smiling to himself. Eunhyuk catches him smiling and grins, "You look like a fool smiling like that," Eunhyuk jokes.

Donghae tries to stop smiling, but he is feeling far too happy to stop. His passion for the piano has been rekindled, Donghae realizes. Rubbing his sore cheeks, Donghae turns to face Eunhyuk. "I have never realized how much I missed this," Donghae admits sincerely.

"Missed what?" Eunhyuk probes, still smiling gleefully.

"All of this. You, the piano, everything. I missed them all, I miss realizing how much I love playing the piano," Donghae answers.

Now, Eunhyuk finds that he is the one who cannot stop smiling. "I am glad to have you back, Donghae," Eunhyuk beams, his gummy smile making Donghae's heart flutter.

"I'm glad to have myself back too," Donghae nods while facing the piano, getting ready to play another one of his favorite pieces.

---

First time trying to attempt to write in present tense. Hope it wasn't that bad >_<