It was an unpleasant day. I received a bad news and I immediately ran back home.

 

"Please don't. Lord, please don't let it happen." I whispered to myself as I hurriedly run.

 

I felt my heart sank deep down in my chest.

 

I already reached our house.

 

I stood frozen at the doorway as I look at my father lying on there.

 

"Dad." I managed to say after a long time of standing and staring at him.

 

"Dad." I shook my head and slowly took a step backward.

 

And another step.

 

And another.

 

I can't hold my tears anymore. No matter how hard I try. I just really can't do it.

 

I can't see my father in that state.

 

I don't want to see him die. I can't see him die.

 

I run away with my eyes covered with tears.

 

It's not my father. No. He's still alive. He's working right now. That man isn't my father.

 

I tried to fool myself but nothing happened. Eventhough I did all my best, in the end, I still have to accept the truth.

 

The least I can do is to be happy for him. Because he will never experience pain again. But I don't know why I can't. Maybe I'm just too selfish to let him go. I can't stand alone. I need my dad.

 

I run without knowing where to go.

 

I run without looking back.

 

 

Until my feet brought me to a place that seemed new to me but seemed to hold a big part of me.

 

It's an abandoned building. Painted with white coating and with all the windows open. With a big door that never closes.

 

 

I heard a music. It's the sweetest thing that my ears ever heard. It's the most enchanting sound that captivates my weary soul. At that time, I felt like I forgot all the things that are troubling me.

 

Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4QsnlSA6QII credits to the owner of the piano cover.

 

My feet moved as if it has their own mind.

 

 

I went inside the building, following the music that drowns my consciousness.

 

 

I saw a man.

 

Playing a piano.

 

And I can feel

 

his heart with every note I hear.

 

 

It's the only thing for me.

It's his playing that captures me.

 

And it's him that took me to another world I have never known before.

 

I don't know it at that time.

 

But this man,

 

is really something to me even from the start.      

 

 

 

The song ended and he stopped playing.

 

My tears suddenly fell again. Everything resumed to normal. I woke up from a dream. From a sudden escape.

 

I went back to reality.

 

But the man,

 

is now standing in front of me, wiping my tears and my sorrows away.

 

 

"I can't understand why people cry whenever they are sad. They're not even pretty when they did."

"I'll tell you a story. It's about a crying lady."

"You know the lady is very pretty. She's the prettiest thing I saw. But sadly, the lady is crying for a reason I didn't know. Is she going to tell me?"

 

"No. She won't." I answered his little joke.

 

"Of course she won't. At first. But I'm very determined to know why. What cruel thing might make a beautiful creature cry? What do you think?" He still tried to strike a conversation.

 

"I don't want to talk to you."

 

He grabbed something around his neck. It's a necklace. With a sixteenth note pendant.

 

He removed it from it's hanging on his neck and went behind me.

 

He put the necklace around my neck and locked it.

 

"That's for you. Now. Are you going to tell me why? Why are you crying earlier?"

 

I didn't say a thing and just kept on looking at him.

 

"Okay. My name is Zhang Yixing. But you can call me Lay. May I know why are you crying?"

 

"My father died." I said as new batch of tears came stinging down my eyes.

 

He stared at me for a moment.

 

Then to my surprise, he hugged me tight.

 

We stayed silent for a while.

 

Then I did something that even now, I didn't know why I really did.

 

 

I hugged him back. And now, even tighter.

 

"Can we stay like this for a while? Just for a while." I asked him a favor.

 

"You can cry if you want." He told me.

 

So what I did, I cried on his shoulders.

 

I cried all my troubles out.

I cried until there's no problem bothering my heart anymore.

I cried until I felt relaxed and satisfied.

 

I know it may sound weird that we're like this at the first meeting. But I felt so comfortable with him, as if he's a close friend of mine.

 

 

After a long while, I moved away from him.

 

He wiped away the tears that wet my cheeks and eyes.

 

 

The sun is setting already. It's beautiful.

 

"Look. There's pink and yellow and blue and gold and orange and red." He faced me to the setting sun.

"Don't you think it's beautiful?"

 

I didn't answer him but I smiled.

 

 

He grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the piano. He sitted me on the chair and he also sat beside me.

 

 

Lay started playing the piano piece that he is playing earlier.

 

Again, I felt that my soul is escaping my body and travelling towards a beautiful paradise.

 

I closed my eyes as I listened to him. Tears came flowing again.

 

"Lay. Is it the only piece that you can play?"

"Nope. But this one is my favorite."

 

 

"You know why I like Sixteenth Note? Because whenever I see that note, I feel relaxed. I also feel inspired and motivated. I don't know why it has that effect on me but... it does. So I like it."

 

My eyes are still firmly shut. I listened to him as he played the piano and talked at the same time.

 

"Music is my life. I can never live if I can't play. That's the only thing that matters to me, right now."

 

My eyes are still closed.

 

"Until this girl came into my life."

 

With that, my eyes opened involuntarily.

 

I pretended as if I didn't heard anything.

 

 

"It's getting quite late." I said to change the topic.

"Yes. But I didn't know your name yet." Lay said.

 

"Aya. Aya Li." I said as I wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

 

He nodded and then continued playing.

 

 

 

 

"Aren't you going home yet?" Lay asked me after a while.

 

"I don't wanna go home."

"Nobody's going to arrange your father's funeral."

 

I stopped. I felt my eyes getting wet.

 

 

"Instead of crying, you have to learn to accept the fact that you can do nothing and just continue on living for him. Crying isn't bad but what's bad is that you wasted all your time in crying. You can do something  else aside from that. Move on. Just think that everything happens for a reason. And besides, dying doesn't mean leaving. Sometimes, people who died are just somewhere guarding their love ones. And sometimes, the word 'reincarnation' exists."

 

"You can't understand me. Your parents did not die." I said sadly. Tears are still flowing.

 

"You're wrong." He bowed his head because of sadness.

 

"My parents died when I was thirteen. Since then, I continued living alone. Trying to support myself. Trying to survive everyday."

 

 

I also bowed my head. We stayed like this for a while. Then, he spoke. He's voice is so cheerful.

 

"Let's go to your father. I'll help you arrange everything."

 

He said as the song and his playing ended.