(M/n) sat in the waiting room, or the cramped hallway of the other participants. He could be next at any time, and anytime throughout that performance he could fail--

"Woah!! You look super pale, you alright?"

"I would never know how much my life would change by hearing the kind voice reach out to me. And I would never be able to bear with the pain with knowing I was the one at fault."

=================

The (L/n) family is very powerful and secluded from other businesses they're not used to. Benjamin (L/n), (M/n)'s father, runs a high-order company over most of Japan and some small businesses in America with his most trusted advisors as vice presidents of those smaller companies.

His mother, Elizabeth (L/n), is a musician just like himself. Mastering the Violin at the young age of three. A gifted and powerful individual with the music company she runs.

And then there is (M/n), he had the choice to play an instrument or run the company. Of course, he chose the one thing he was the most interested in. Playing the Piano was always something he wanted to do after hearing his mother practicing on it.

He learned and practiced, he practiced over and over. His fingers were always covered in callouses and sometimes bandages for fixing the chords inside the majestic instrument. He practically worshiped the thing.

But he loved it to pieces.

He wanted to say the same for his parents, but there was no room in his tiny little heart for the two work-driven people. They felt the same about him.

Their relationship was strictly for music and business-related topics, not once had the topic of loving each other as a family even bubbled up to the surface of their drowning work problems.

Of course, there were moments of joy of being with his parents, the times he played the piano for his father in his office made him tea, oh! And practicing with his mother.

He enjoyed those little moments.

But now he was nervous. Nervous to perform for the first time in front of others.

At the peak age of 15, the small tryouts had gotten a slimmer chance of losing each time but this was with the big leagues, the much more talented pianists and duets that would blow the judges away.

He didn't have that talent, he couldn't play in front of all those people just outside those curtains, behind these feeble doors that separated him from them.

Others saw his nervousness as an advantage. Most of the contestants were older than him by a few years, and that meant more years to practice and revise.

But one person didn't.

He was warm like the gentle caress of the sunlight in spring. (M/n) blushed at the thought.

His name was Tyler Andres, an American contestant traveling from North America to Japan for this competition. Of course, Tyler was a little older than (M/n), the age of 17, or as Tyler told him--the 'Rebellious age'.

"Are you better now?" Tyler asked, his blond hair looked soft despite it being gelled back.

"Y-yeah, I am, sorry for disrupting your practice..." (M/n) voiced back. He felt hot, his skin was clammy and he swallowed back every word he thought of saying to the gentle transfer contestant. His heart pounded in his chest but he wrote it off as just being nervous. The blond had helped him calm down, bringing him to a more isolated place to avoid getting all the envious stares. 

(M/n) had been the youngest contestant there, the oldest ranging from 17 through 19-years-of-age. 

There was already a lot of pressure on (M/n), his mother, Elizabeth would be watching him preform today. And id he had failed, it would affect his mother's reputation. 

No 15-year-old has to deal with that pressure. But (M/n) did, and he was scared and doubtful that he would make it passed a single note. Thankfully, Tyler had stepped in right as he was going to drop-out and give his mother the bad news. 

The (h/c)-haired teenager frowned and bit his bottom lip fearfully, breaking the skin without noticing as he fiddled with his fingers and anxiously bounced his right knee.

Tyler's hand rested on his bouncing knee, his expression calm and warmth filled his body. 

"It'll be fine, I know that you feel anxious, but I'm sure that you'll do great. I mean, you made it this far!" Tyler tried to reassure, but that only seemed to pressure the (h/c)-haired teen more. 

"Y-You're right! I did make..I did make it this far!! But that means if I go out there and fail--All the work that I did up til now would all be for nothing--"

"That doesn't mean that it would be for nothing, (L/n), It means that you can try and try and try again until you make it again. That's the best part of playing music in front of people. The work of making it this far means that when you get in front of all of those people, you can show off that hard work." Tyler's words struck a deep chord inside of (M/n). His eyes watered and his bottom lip trembled as blood began to poke out from the slight open wound. 

Tyler sighed tenderly with a lopsided smile, fishing out a white handkerchief from his blazer pocket. (M/n) noticed the action and hesitantly prodded at his bottom lip, hissing at he faint sting of the wound. 

"Here, take this...and don't be so nervous," Tyler's bright smile and the warmth of his hand lingered in (M/n)'s mind as the blond was called out to preform. 

"Good..Good luck," (M/n) stammered. His smile wasn't as warm as Tyler's, his lips were twitched up awkwardly and he looked as if he were sneering at the older teenager. The look made the older teen stifled a chuckle before patting the younger on the head and making his way onto the stage. 

---

(M/n) was next, as he was the last contestant to go. 

And he remembered the words that Tyler told him, the advise and the thrill of playing in front of others before in smaller competitions. 

(M/n)'s performance was...breathtaking. 

When he had finished the song he practically memorized from the 5th grade, he stood to his feet at the very end, the entire auditorium was silent. And when he looked at the judges they were staring at him with blank expressions before turning to each other and discussing his score. 

His glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose and he was huffing slightly as his chest slowly heaved up and down. His usually messy hair was gelled back and he wore a black suit and black button-up underneath with a red tie. 

He glanced up a the rows of people in the crowd behind the judges, staring at him with wide eyes. 

"Mr. (L/n)," one of the judges starts briskly, her voice was a crisp raspy tone, it sent shivers down his spine as his nerves built up higher and higher. His hands were trembling as he hummed in response. 

"Do you realize that song, the song that you just played, is one of the hardest songs to master? As for practicing, you probably saw this as a child and thought, I could never play this..." The female judge echoed her thoughts throughout the stage as she stood to her feet. 

"You played that entire song with your eyes closed." 

That made (M/n)'s heart drop to his stomach, shakily gripping the microphone in his hands before he stared at his feet, "I'm sorry judge, I should've kept my eyes on the keys, I know that---"

"You have an amazing talent." 

(M/n) snapped his head up. "W-What?" He stuttered, his eyes flickering between each judge, and each of them had wide smiles. 

"(M/n) (L/n), played the "Hammerklavier by Ludwig Van Beethoven', today on December 22nd, with the successful composition of this song, all four judges, including myself, announce you as the winner of this competition." The female judge finished, her smile was wider than before when she saw the boy cover his face with his hands. 

Soon, the night was beginning to end, all of the contestants were called onto the stage and thanked for their time as they were escorted out. 

Tyler stayed behind with (M/n) as he searched for his mother. The (h/c)-haired teen caught sight of his mother talking to one of the judges with a smile on her face, the boy thought of it as her usual fake and forced smiles. 

"You did amazing out there, (L/n)," Tyler smiled gently like much like before, the blond had gotten third place, behind a black-haired girl with straight long hair. 

"T-Thanks, I didn't...I didn't think I would've made this far without you." (M/n) blushed at his choice of words. Tyler looked taken-aback but his warm smile stretched over his lips and he patted the boy on the shoulder. 

"Whaaaaaat?" Tyler dragged out, smirking as he wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders. 

"Really, I thought of what you said and I just...I just let it go, I let go of all of my nerves and before I knew it, it had ended."  (M/n) took off his black rimmed glasses, turning to face the blond, he smiled without thinking. 

"Thanks, Tyler," he whispered. 

-
-
-
-

And just a few years later, he was gone. 

Then I lost it. I lost that spark of warmth I so desperately needed. 

{OOOOOOOOOHHHHH Long ass chapter today, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think of Tyler and what happened to him?? I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to come out, the total word count is 1659 words.}