River Flows Through You

Fingers press to the keys, hands moving swift across the glossed white and black row. A head nods slightly as he plays out the slow, almost-melancholic beginning beats of the song as a melody, soft and oh so sweet, sings through the empty auditorium. A somewhat familiar shock of scarlet hair hangs over the face, hiding the feature and expression from view as the fingers continue their graceful dance across the keyboard, flashing and moving with an enviable ease.

Donghae peers over the edge of the catwalk where he's been watching for the better part of an hour now. His own fingers dig into the threadbare patch of carpetting that lines the walkway as long-forgotten popcorn, dusty and stale with age, bites into the soft skin under his nails. No real mind is paid, because it's not like this is the dirtiest they'll be today when he's just going to walk home after this and stick his hands under the hood of some car or another.

Donghae has lost count of how many of his afternoon free periods he's spent in this very spot. All he knows is that somewhere between hiding from his hyung Heechul -- who had a stubborn desire to dress Donghae in the oddest of manners, most often like a female model because no female he'd found had the body type he wanted to work with -- and the group of bullies that had decided his first day that they wanted to rearrange his face, somehow Donghae had stumbled upon this hiding spot and, he soon realized, the most beautiful music show he'd ever want to witness.

Before Donghae knew what was happening, he was spending his afternoon free period there on the catwalk. Usually he would read, often something dealing with his science or music theory courses, until the door to the auditorium opened and someone came inside. Donghae would wait where he lay pressed against the floor until the music began to play -- because the other always took a moment to begin, as he would scan the auditorium once in a search for fellow students or teachers before turning to play, and Donghae certainly didn't want to get caught and lose the highlight of his day so soon into the semester -- before he would mark the page in his book and crawl to the side to watch the long, pale fingers caress the piano keys.

And before Donghae knew what was happening, he had fallen in love with the mysterious pianist, and he had fallen hard.

All too soon the melody ends and Donghae finds himself staring as the figure rises ever so gracefully, pushing himself away from the piano bench. A hand strokes the surface of the piano, a fleeting expression of endearment flashing across his face before it is schooled back into the expressionless mask of who cares? that is so often hidden behind during the daylight hours.

The gaze scans the auditorium, exactly like it had done upon first entering the auditorium, sweeping absently over the rows of seats and the rafters that makes up the catwalk where Donghae now lies pressed into the grimy floor, before he turns and leaves without a backward glance. The lights flicker out and a door opens, spilling the dim light from the lobby of the building across the stage and piano. A shadows walks through the doorway, pausing for an instant in a halo of white light, before the door shuts, sealing a breathless Donghae, and the darkness, inside.