▩ balcony

@hirai momo [s.h] It's way past office hours, yet Oh Sehun finds himself on Solace campus. By no means is his greatly delayed departure from the workplace due to any sort of admirable dedication to his craft and work as a faculty member. The music theory compositions that he was supposed to have finished grading tonight still lie untouched in a neat pile on his office desk. And those department emails that he was supposed to have read? They remain as a mere list of notifications on his phone. Honestly, he's not so great at being in a job that requires him to have discipline and structure. To him, it feels rather mundane, and he misses his former days as a producer. Dare he say, he even misses his concert pianist days sometimes. But no, he convinces himself that he needs this job. He needs to get himself anchored on stable ground for once.

So what exactly kept him on campus for so long? Indulgences were the bane of his existence, and the recording facilities and concert hall left completely empty for his free use were rather alluring whenever he had withdrawals. He needed a creative and emotional outlet, and despite the number of times he claimed to despise the piano, promising to never lay hands on it again, he found himself going back to it time and time again. Whenever his fingers hit the ivory keys, time seemed to freeze. His mind clears, as the only thing his attention can afford to pay to is the melody and harmony, the raw emotion behind a composition.

Yet, time stops for no man, and by the time he exits the facility, it's well past midnight. He pulls the hood on his jacket over his head, tucking his hands into the pockets as he begins to walk at a brisk pace. Really, he just wants to get home now. It's been a long day, and this impromptu musical outburst didn't help with being timely. He takes the stairs two at a time up to the balcony -- it's a shortcut out to the parking lot that he's discovered lately. Having made his way outside, he takes a deep breath of cool night air, but halts in his approach as he spots a lone figure by the railing up ahead. He hesitates, taking a few more steps, but he stops again. What was someone doing out here at this ungodly hour?