The audience before him stood still, contrary to the usual wild crowd that cheered the underground rock bands on stage. Even his bandmates seemed bugged out at his sudden request to play something alone–the great Zhang Yixing of The Hollow Abyss; probably the most well-known underground rock band in the city. He often strums the guitar, a few times on the keyboard, always the songwriter and composer. But he never lent his voice; much more, speak before people.

“I’m pretty much awkward so I apologize for the lack of communication skills beforehand.” People downstage were motionless, their breaths hitched, but their anticipation seemed to grow even larger. “Well, for starters, I’ve met a very, very refreshing woman a month ago.”

People, mostly female, gasped and started to murmur with each other at his sentence. Even though he sat on the leather stool in front of a grand piano, he could see from the corners of his eyes the surprise from the crowd’s faces.

Of course, for a year of success, he never interacted with the audience, ever, before. Thus, somebody, a woman even, must be that much of an allurement to catch his interest.

“I don’t want this to come off as an offense but we all know how fans seem to be more interested in getting rockers as their companions than to be intesrested in the actual music we produce. After all, our Luhan here isn’t much of a help.” He drawled quietly, referring to a handsome man, the frontman of his band.

The guy is the personification of both charms and talent. Underneath the gorgeous appearance was a very passionate man.

As if on cue, Luhan, stuck his tongue out on the audience. Of course, the females barely breathe at that gesture. The man sure knew how to use his face. So instead of being offended, the crowd urged Yixing to continue.

“But this, this woman, she brought some of her textbooks at the gig, barely looking at our performance.” He said with an undisguised tone of amusement. “When her friends, which were pretty much close to us too, introduced her to us, she just nodded at the four of us and went back on her damned lucky text books. Her friends excused that they just actually forced her to come with them.”

A wave of disapproval went on the crowd, but of course, Yixing knew better. They were all the band’s fans. They’d be really biased towards that matter.

“But the thing was, she’s nice enough to look at us again. And guess what she said?” He paused, half for the suspense and half to recall the pleasant memories. “She ing told us that the band–our band–is nice enough to jam on out some Nirvana and Pearl Jam songs. And that’s the first time I heard a girl talking about my favorite bands.”

His heart throbbed, the yearning ached through the walls.

“Chanyeol–” He referred to the tall guy who’s in charge of the drums. “–asked how well she knew those bands. And I’m pretty sure he was just as shocked as Luhan, Minseok and I. And guess again what she replied to us?”

Yixing felt something nostalgic gushed through his veins again, remembering not only the girl’s reply but also the brief-drooping smile she gave them. He actually didn’t expect her to be more interesting until she gave them her response to the follow-up question.

“She said, she knew the songs enough by heart, as if she’s just talking about her own name. And that she knew the members enough to tell the size of their boxers.”

Yixing fought the urge to grin as the audience laughed at his story-telling. He swore and hoped that at that time, the girl was just joking because it pained him to know the possibility that she fantasized about those bands.

“Everyone knows I was held accountable for our band’s name–and the name epitomized each member’s feeling–very, very deep but very, very shallow at the same time. It’s the kind of feeling when you knew you had it great but there’s still a huge hole that would definitely make you empty.”

“And she, sort of, filled that void in me. A week after, things just got so much better; for her and for me I guess. And she’s basically the reason why the band took off from the regular–the good ol' sad songs. She’s practically the sunshine and rainbow and candy and unicorn to our lives.”

Yixing thought for a moment. If he’s still the same passive and emo guy he used to be, he would be puking and cringing at his words. Yet, he didn’t seem to mind that now.

When the girl visited their band’s performances for the consecutive days, she became more and more radiant to them–or to him more specifically. They spent time after his performances, secluding themselves from the wild after parties–and just talked.

He wasn’t exactly a saint to women and the pleasure they could offer but it just felt so purifying to have someone like her, just beside him, talking about random things. Sure she’d be able to arouse him but she was never suggestive nor provocative at all.

Although her exterior was already immensely splendid, the gleam of her inner beauty seemed to appeal to him more. She’d taken medicine in college and was currently on an internship at a local hospital. She talked about the patients she encountered a lot, bringing the caring nature out of her. She also talked a lot about his and s’ health but to his own surprise, he never felt that she was nosy at all. Perhaps, it was the genuine attitude of hers.

They also talked about his issues, things that weren’t really to be discussed normally. But she had this trustworthy looks all over her and Yixing poured out his heart on her. He told her about his depression, his nightmares, his hate for the society–at an extent, he was afraid of making her frightened at his character.

But instead, he learned about her cynicism too. She came from a broken family–a terribly shattered, dysfunctional family, as she specified. At some point, Yixing realized that she was actually more of a rebellious type.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter