Chapter Two – Hope

Blue.

Not sky blue, not dark blue, not baby blue. Just blue, plain and simple. It spoke of calm, royalty and hope, all the things that he noticed in the young man standing up on that stage. He had the calm concentration of a neurobiologist, the structured jawline of a prince, and most of all, he radiated hope. Hope for a career, hope for a better future, hope for an exciting life.

He had once hoped that one day, his dreary grey would magically turn into sparkling silver. As Yixing proved to be rather stubborn and work-focussed, all the hope he had gradually faded away. But now, looking up at the man onstage, he felt a glimmer, just a little one but one nonetheless, of that unstable emotion.

Taking a sip of his beer, he let his eyes observe the man. He was a little on the short side, but his powerful voice made up for it. Oh, and what a lovely voice it was! The way it swirled across the room cosily, like the gentle heat of a fireplace. The way it prepared to fly, before soaring into , then dipping into oblivion. The way it resonated within the walls of his heart, making it beat faster than it ought to. Never had a voice moved him to such an extent.

Should he cancel on Huang Zitao, just to spend the night listening to this man’s amazing vocals?

No, that would not do.

Eye contact with the young singer told him that he wouldn’t be able to hold it in. Suddenly, that gentle heat from the fireplace morphed into a roaring dragon, its flames at him, suffocating his breathing. But oh, what a wonderful feeling it was! The ignition of his five senses meant that everything he encountered – the sound of the acoustic guitar, the smell of acrid sweat, the texture of the chipped wood counter, the bitterness of his beer, and especially the smouldering appearance of the man on stage, was raw and fresh. Previously tame, the very thing he had tried to control leapt to a life of its own.

Red.

Passionate, y, smouldering red. He knew he had to get out of there, before it suffocated him to death.

“Tao, are you busy now?”

An impatient silence.

“No? Great. I’m coming over now.”

It could not be helped, after all.

“As you all know, this assignment is worth thirty percent of your overall grade. So I will go over the instructions very carefully, and then I will pass you this piece of paper.” Raising the aforementioned paper, the professor paced the room leisurely. “Please look carefully at this piece of paper, as it contains the name of the person you are pairing up with for this assignment.”

He rolled his eyes, staring out the window. The professor was such a bore anyway. Come to think of it, his entire course at university wasn’t exactly a thrill either. Commerce. Such an uncreative course. Of course, if he had his way, he wouldn’t have chosen it in the first place. But no, his father just had to be a company president and he just had to inherit the damned thing. So here he was.

There was, however, one thing on his mind. Last night’s singer at the bar.

He didn’t know how or when blue changed into red, but it was so sudden that it caught him off guard. He wasn’t usually one for surprises, but due to his monotonous relationship with Yixing, he kind of liked it. He really liked it. It showed him that the singer had emotions and the potential to change, and that fascinated him. He just wished he had met him earlier.

Then maybe you would’ve been saved from me, Yixing.

The professor droned on about the importance of the assignment, and how it was absolutely vital that one should start right away to maximise the usage of given time, so that one could receive maximum marks and therefore achieve optimum grades. He decided that the professor was a static… whatever colour that was.

Grey.

It was the only colour that came to mind. But he didn’t dare say it.

“Excuse me.”

He looked up. Grey quickly faded from his mind when he saw just who exactly was trying to get his attention.

“Do you happen to be Kris Wu?”

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Author's notes: Writing for chapter two proved a little harder to than I expected, but here it is! I hope it didn't lower your expectations or disappoint you too much, dear readers and subscribers. I really appreciate your subscriptions and comments. They mean a lot to me. <3