Holding onto two bags of garbage, Fu Cuo walked out the door towards the dumpster that was located at the end of the alleyway. With every step he took, the light from outside spilled into the room as if it were piercing through a sluice gate along with the constant chattering and bustling coming from the crowd from the music academy sitting across the street through the open door.
Located opposite the bar was the CTR Music Academy and the ‘King’ — Sui Qingchi — was holding an autograph session there today. Due to that, the entire area was crowded with rowdiness ever since the afternoon; naturally, the place was flooded with his fans and people working with the media. Even drivers who were originally just passing by would decelerate their cars and roll down their windows to see the commotion surrounding the almighty King Sui. Just like that, a trivial autographing session alone easily became the talk of everyone’s day.
Fu Cuo stood at the end of the alleyway, glancing swiftly towards the direction of the uproar before putting the two bags of heavy garbage into the dumpster.
Fu Cuo was the earliest to arrive at the bar although the bar had yet to start operating at that time of the day. His role at the bar was rather complicated. You could say that he’s one of the investors, but he’s usually busy buzzing around the bar serving customers and cleaning up. He could be considered as an employee, but he has to busk at night. You could also say that he’s the owner of the bar, but the owner is actually someone else instead.
As he was wiping the bar counter, the door opened and the sound of high heels clacking against the wooden floor resonated throughout the empty bar. With one hand propped on the counter, Fu Cuo lifted his head to see its owner, Yao Ke, place a bottle of red wine on the bar counter. “My goodness, what are you keeping yourself busy for? Let’s go, accompany me to Sui Qingchi’s autograph session!”
Fu Cuo retracted his arm from Yao Ke’s grip and turned down her offer, though something did pique his curiosity. “Considering that his popularity is already through the roof, why does he still bother holding an autograph session at a school?” He asked while carrying on with wiping the counter.
“Didn’t you know? CTR is his alma mater, so of course he’d feel a certain way towards this particular venue. Besides that, I also heard that he brought along the new West Wind that he formed this time.”
Fu Cuo’s movements halted and he threw the cloth on the counter before saying, “Fine, I’ll accompany you.”
“Men really are so fickle.” Yao Ke thought, seeing as Fu Cuo had already made his way out from behind the counter.
At the site of the superstar’s autograph session, the crowd was nothing but equivalent to sardines packed in a can. Though from a distance, Fu Cuo was still able to see Sui Qingchi who was on the stage because of his tall physique. Sui Qingchi was wearing a white casual dress shirt and a pair of black trousers with the dress shirt tucked stylishly into his trousers, flaunting his long legs. The sleeves of the dress shirt were rolled up all the way to his elbows and in his right hand was a microphone while his left hand rested on his hip as he exchanged greetings with his fans nonchalantly as if it were an everyday thing for him to do. Yao Ke, on the other hand, was hoping to squeeze further into the crowd and for a split second, Fu Cuo was blinded by the light that reflected off of Sui Qingchi’s watch as he grabbed Yao Ke’s hand, preventing her from pressing in.
“You’re kidding! I can barely see anything from here!” The boss lady huffed while trying her best to stay on her tippy toes.
Fu Cuo glanced at her and said, “Well, not if I carry you.”
“Huh?” A shade of pink exploded across Yao Ke’s cheeks, but deep down, being carried by Fu Cuo was actually what she intended from the start. She extended her arms and said, “Carry me, then!”
Fu Cuo asked her to turn around and she did as she was told. Seconds later, Yao Ke felt herself being lifted off the ground by him just as he promised with his arms encircled securely around her waist, causing her to turn into a bashful mess. “Can you see now?” She heard Fu Cuo ask.
“Yup, yup!” Yao Ke giggled. “Woah, I think he saw me too!”
The crowd had their attention fixated on the both of them but Yao Ke couldn’t care less. She never would’ve thought that a single pringle like her would also one day receive envious stares from couples.
Fu Cuo could no longer see Sui Qingchi’s figure since he was carrying Yao Ke in his arms, but he could still hear him talking. After all these years, his voice seemed to have become hoarser which could also be one of the consequences from smoking. A singer who likes to smoke and doesn’t know how to take care of his throat despite having such a godly voice, just thinking about it made Fu Cuo feel pity for the singer himself.
You really don’t know how to appreciate the things that are given to you, don’t you, Sui Qingchi?
There wasn’t any equipment on stage which probably indicated that Sui Qingchi wouldn’t be performing. However, under the unrelenting persuasion of his fans, the King himself still delivered by singing a few lines in acapella. As if his voice held some sort of silencing magic, the entire site became quiet when he sang the first line. It almost felt magical, like dead beings experiencing a vicissitude before being revived. It was a song that was unfamiliar to Fu Cuo and he guessed that it was probably one of the songs from Sui Qingchi’s new album, yet he couldn’t help but to wonder who wrote the song in question.
Yao Ke was initially just a casual fan when the autograph session first kicked off and she wasn’t interested in getting Sui Qingchi’s signature like the other fans did. However, one glance at Sui Qingchi himself was all it took for her to be held captive by the atmosphere of the site. Before she knew it, she was urging herself to buy his CD and obtain his signature at all costs. She even went as far as purchasing three copies of the CDs before deciding to give one to Fu Cuo as a gift. Despite Fu Cuo turning down her goodwill, she insisted that he accept the gift as her gratitude when he carried her earlier and surprisingly, he stopped declining the gift from her after that.
The queue to get Sui Qingchi’s autograph was really long but fortunately, the fans all lined up in an orderly manner. Fu Cuo stood somewhere away from the crowd and waited for Yao Ke. When it was Yao Ke’s turn, the poor lady was so excited to the point she couldn’t even remember what nonsense she uttered to Sui Qingchi. His face broke out into a small smile while extending his hand for a handshake and he even lifted his head to ask her a question as he was signing the CDs.
Despite being fully mesmerized by Sui Qingchi’s unearthly visuals, Yao Ke couldn’t forget to remind Sui Qingchi to sign ‘To: Ah Cuo’ (阿错) on the last CD.
Sui Qingchi’s pen stopped signing for moment before he picked it up again and wrote his own name down first before pretending to nonchalantly ask the lady in front of him, “Which ‘cuo’ (错)?”
“The ‘cuo’ (错) from ‘cuo wu’ (错误 mistake), thank you!”
He nodded his head and wrote down the character that he was already so familiar with. “This name is pretty uncommon.” With the corner of his lips tugged upwards, he added.
“Hahaha, you’re right!” Although Yao Ke was responding casually on the outside, she was in fact freaking out on the inside since the renowned King Sui was chatting her up.
After signing his autograph on the final CD, Sui Qingchi spontaneously extended his hand for another handshake. With the pen twirling in between his fingers, he let his gaze linger on the lady who cradled the three CDs lovingly in her arms with her right palm clutching her left hand which was used to shake Sui Qingchi’s hand before she was led off the stage by a staff.
For the remaining duration of the autographing session, Liu Mei could tell that Sui Qingchi had quite obviously already lost interest in the event. He’d fiddle with his phone to check the time after signing just a few fans off and when he put down his phone for the third time, he leaned back into his chair before turning around to face Liu Mei. “I have some things to do, so I’ll have to leave early. Cancel the extra signing.”
“Judging from the crowd, I think you’ll have to keep signing for another hour at the very least.”
Sui Qingchi blinked with his eyebrows scrunched while his abstruse gaze only delved deeper and deeper into an abyss of nothingness, indicating his disinterest and reluctance. Liu Mei, upon observing Sui Qingchi’s face, shrugged. “Fine, cancelling it is.”
Yao Ke passed the CD to Fu Cuo and seeing the words ‘Sui Qingchi’ and ‘Cuo’ in flamboyant cursive on the cover of the CD made him feel a little overwhelmed. “How come there’s even a heart?”
“Mine has one too, he drew it on every copy. I never would’ve thought that he’d be so friendly in person. He’s quite different from what the internet says he is like.”
“According to the internet, he has eight-grader syndrome.” Fu Cuo mused. Turns out, sources from the internet seemed to be more reliable than actual first-hand information this time.
On their way back to the bar, Yao Ke couldn’t stop bragging about how handsome Sui Qingchi was. Even after debuting for so many years and releasing so many new albums, who would’ve thought that to people, the most memorable feature about Sui Qingchi was still his countenance after all. In the end, Fu Cuo couldn’t help but to feel bad for him as he listened.
As night time came, the bar opened its door to customers as well. The atmosphere in the bar was rather calm and serene. The frequent visitors would usually be young adults who just got off work and visited the bar in hopes of seeking relaxation from the music. Numerous customers started dropping by after hearing that an intermediate band was busking at the bar, and Fu Cuo happened to be the said band’s guitarist. At the start of the year, the female main vocalist had to leave the band to deliver her baby and since then, the band hasn’t found anyone to fill in the vacant position yet. So for the duration of not having a proper main vocalist, Fu Cuo had no choice but to stand in as a replacement himself.
Every song on the tracklist that he received today belonged to Sui Qingchi, which was probably the result of the autograph session that was held by him in the afternoon. Fu Cuo scanned the tracklist and shook his head before saying that he wasn’t familiar with his newer releases. With that, the customer then changed their request to one of Sui Qingchi’s older songs, ‘How Can I Be Considered As in Love with You’.
The melody of this song was composed by Fu Cuo while the lyrics were written by Sui Qingchi himself. After switching to an acoustic guitar, Fu Cuo closed his eyes and began singing.
⠀
What can I do to be considered as in love with you
Kissing your palm
Feeling your breath
Capturing your pulse
To count the palpitations of your heart
⠀
What can I do to be considered loving you
I’ll protect the land of your dreams
Till the sun rises and sets
Till fragments of myself start to shatter
Let us reincarnate if we’ve missed out
Let us be reborn if we’ve forgone
I’ll protect you till you awaken from your dreams
Till you finally admit to me that
I’m welcomed into your life
⠀
What can I do to prove that I’m in love with you
What can I do to get the green light from you for me to come closer
Even after kissing your palm, I’d imagined entering you
Into your being
Kissing you
⠀
With these raging infatuations of mine
I’m afraid that
I’ll scare you away
⠀
What can I do to prove that I’m in love with you
What can I do to get the green light from you for me to come closer
Even after kissing your palm, I’d imagined entering you
Into your being
Into the depths of your heart
⠀
Only to realize that none of those are passionate enough
You are the only miracle I believe in
Till the end of my remaining days, I’ll still love you unconditionally
⠀
There weren’t too many applauses from the audience after the song had ended. On top of the rather impassive reactions, a drunkard who was standing amidst the crowd sneered, “Compared to the Chuunibyou King, he’s complete trash!”
Fu Cuo nodded his head in response. “Yup. I’ll humbly accept any form of guidance.” Deep down, he had already accepted the fact that Sui Qingchi’s voice came with some sort of magical force. Just like his eyes, once you stare into them for too long, you’d feel as if you walked right into the owner’s god complex; those eyes would easily make you feel like you’ve been possessed by a demon and that goes for his singing as well. You can’t turn away even if you want to as you slowly take the demon’s bait.
While the other customers were busy immersing themselves in the songs, a subtle silhouette entered the bar. The figure was a rather tall person, with sunglasses propped neatly on the bridge of his nose as he sat in a discreet corner of the room with a buff-looking bodyguard next to him. After ordering some drinks, he sat there wordlessly, listening to the songs being sung one after another.
Someone from the audience requested yet another one of Sui Qingchi’s songs, which made Fu Cuo chuckle. “Is today a Sui Qingchi special stage?”
Sui Qingchi’s hand that was originally stirring up the cocktail he ordered came to a stop. Oh, how much he missed the laughter that came from a certain someone who was standing on that very stage.
It was 3 in the morning and Fu Cuo had just finished packing up the instruments and was about to leave when he stopped in his tracks. After giving it some more thought, he had decided to take the CD home with him. Considering Sui Qingchi’s current popularity, there’s a big chance that he’d receive more requests to sing Sui Qingchi’s songs from his audience in the future.
From the moment he exited the bar through the back door to his walk down the long alleyway, he had the unsettling feeling of someone following him. Only after turning around cautiously did he realize that it was the drunkard from earlier who was on his tail. The drunk man was muttering profanities as he tethered towards Fu Cuo. “…Screw you, stop pretending. I can tell that you’re a man-whore just by smelling the scent on your body!”
With a raise of his hand, Fu Cuo brushed the person off him to one side. “I’ll call the police if you keep following me.”
“Go ahead,” The drunkard retorted with his hand pressed against the wall to support his weight. “By the time you report me, I would’ve already fucked you once!”
Fu Cuo shook his head, ignoring the man who was slurring his speech but before he could even take a couple more steps, the drunkard pounced on him from behind. As Fu Cuo tried to dodge him, the drunkard tugged on his backpack forcefully and tossed it downwards in annoyance, causing the contents in the bag to scatter all over the ground.
Clack! With his foot crushing one of the edges of the CD, the drunkard felt a tap on his shoulder and what welcomed him when he turned around was a swift punch in the face that sent him flying towards the wall.
The unknown entity was a buff-looking bodyguard.
Fu Cuo noticed that behind the bodyguard, was someone who crouched down to pick up the CD that fell out of his bag earlier. The person took off his sunglasses and folded it neatly between the neckband of his dress shirt before opening the CD case to reorganize the lyrics book; only after that did he start to stand up slowly. “Since I got you out of this mess, can I have a word with you?”
Fu Cuo stared at Sui Qingchi who stood under the lamppost, his brain empty as if someone had just trampled over his head. “I should leave.” Was what he thought, but his backpack was still laying miserably next to Sui Qingchi’s feet.
“I only need 10 minutes.” Sui Qingchi said. “I won’t bother you for even a second longer after that.”
The 24-hour fast food restaurant was still brightly lit on the inside. Nonetheless, it was quiet with only two customers. Sui Qingchi paused at the entrance, not wanting to enter the restaurant and when Fu Cuo tried to go in, he extended his hand to stop him. “Let’s go to my car instead.”
Fu Cuo ignored him and pushed the door to grant himself entrance. He ordered a cup of hot beverage at the counter and settled himself down in a vacant booth in one of the corners at the restaurant. Not long after, the door was pushed open once again and in came Sui Qingchi. He stood in front of his seat wordlessly for a couple seconds before finally dragging the chair to sit down. Anyone could tell that he was in a foul mood since the dragging of his chair created a shrill unpleasant sound that was caused by friction against the floor.
Just as Fu Cuo lifted the lid off the cup of hot chocolate, Sui Qingchi grabbed the cup and helped himself to the beverage after muttering a ‘thanks’.
Fu Cuo sighed. “Just say what you came here to say.”
“How long have you been busking at that bar?” Sui Qingchi asked.
“What does that have to do with you?”
Sui Qingchi put down the cup of hot chocolate and leaned back into his chair as he tossed his sunglasses onto the table. “How cold. Countless people yearn to talk to me and countless musicians yearn to meet me but then there’s you. You’re the only one I want to talk to, yet you’re acting so nonchalant.”
Fu Cuo stared at Sui Qingchi’s expression, the astonishment from earlier had long disappeared and was now replaced by a wave of indescribable sorrow that he felt towards the latter. “Do you know what people call you?”
“What?”
“They call you ‘Chuunibyou King’, saying how you still talk like an eighth-grader who hasn’t graduated from middle school even though you’re already a full-grown adult.”
For a couple minutes, Sui Qingchi remained silent before he spoke up. “None of us graduated. You never graduated from West Wind, and I never graduated from you.”
Fu Cuo heaved a sigh. “What are you trying to say? I’m leaving if there’s nothing else.”
With the restaurant table that’s barely the width of two arms combined sitting stationary between the both of them, Sui Qingchi glanced at Fu Cuo with a hint of subtle friskiness glinting in his eyes as he muted himself. To Fu Cuo, the distance between them was rather dangerous, considering how Sui Qingchi’s legs extended right over the invisible border that was drawn between them under the table and into his own region, making themselves comfortable in the area right under his knees so casually. Perhaps to someone like Sui Qingchi, the table between them that served as a boundary of some sort was completely useless.
In the end, Fu Cuo decided to stand up and leave his seat, but his hand was grabbed by Sui Qingchi.
His hands were cold whereas Sui Qingchi’s hands were warm after holding onto the cup of hot chocolate, and he could feel the warmth being transmitted to his palm.
“I can make it up to you,” Sui Qingchi’s voice sounded behind Fu Cuo, from the direction where the cuffs of his shirt were. “With my current influence, I can make it up to you in every way that I can. Didn’t you want West Wind? I can give West Wind back to you.”
Fu Cuo turned around, a look of utter disbelief splattered across his facial features.
“The current guitarist of the new West Wind is only temporary and I can dismiss him whenever I want. You know what I’m getting at, right?”
Sui Qingchi tilted his head upwards to meet his eyes. That look in his eyes made Fu Cuo shiver in disgust as he shook Sui Qingchi’s grip off himself. “The band you formed is not West Wind. Stop trying to defile West Wind’ name any further.”
After putting his hand back down in embarrassment, Sui Qingchi said. “Fine, we can change the band members if you’re not satisfied with any of them. I simply have to come up with a reason for them to scram and we can find someone you’re satisfied with to replace them.”
“Then, can we change the main vocalist too?”
A look of perplexity overtook Sui Qingchi’s expression. “You even want me off the band?”
Fu Cuo scoffed. “I was just saying, of course there’s no way you’d leave. In that case, there’s no way I’d join your band either.”
Immediately after opening the door, he heard the sound of Sui Qingchi’s palms slamming down on the table forcefully, causing the cup of hot chocolate to topple over and spill everywhere.
The employees and the two customers who were in the restaurant all whipped their heads towards the source of the commotion.
“Just what in the world do you want me to do? Do you want me to get down on my knees and acknowledge my mistakes while crying my heart out to you?!”
Fu Cuo stopped in his tracks at the entrance and turned around before saying, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you’ve really acknowledged your mistakes.”
Sui Qingchi’s hand that was pressing on the table’s surface balled up into a fist and he could only stare at Fu Cuo while shaking his head with bewilderment and rage crashing like waves in those crestfallen eyes of his. “Don’t test me.”