Chapter 37: Good Night
The song ended, the curtain fell.
The applause thundered from the audience, thrilled by the spectacular performance.
Su Yu carried the guitar, his palms sweaty. He had been faking it the whole song, yet he was still incredibly nervous.
He walked into the lounge, placed the guitar on the table, and let out a long sigh. It was finally over.
“You’re amazing! I went to move some things, and you ended up on stage. I never knew you could play an instrument. You can just get on stage and play?”
Gu Chuan punched Su Yu lightly on the chest, congratulating him with a grin. “Now you’ve really shown your face. Your love life is about to blossom.”
“What face? If you hadn’t dragged me here, would I be in this mess?” Su Yu took off his mask and hoodie. “My own mother wouldn’t recognize me dressed like this. And I was just a stand-in, pretending.”
“Um, Su Yu…”
“Hmm?”
Someone tugged on Su Yu’s sleeve. He turned around and saw Luo Xiaoxiao standing behind him. “Thanks for today. I’ll treat you to dinner sometime.”
“Why wait? How about now? I have a lot of friends…”
Gu Chuan’s eyes lit up at the mention of dinner, but he was silenced by a glare from Luo Xiaoxiao. He laughed sheepishly and shut up.
“Aren’t you coming, Su Yu? Don’t say I didn’t tell you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“I’ve already eaten. I’m tired. I’m going back to sleep.”
Su Yu shook his head, declining the offer. He looked at Gu Chuan’s pale face. “You should drink less. There’s another performance tomorrow morning.”
“I know, I know. I’m leaving.” Gu Chuan waved and left with the girls he had invited.
The party outside was nearing its end. The busy lounge suddenly became empty, leaving only a few students to clean up.
Su Yu suddenly felt the atmosphere become awkward. He had never been alone with Luo Xiaoxiao before. He walked a few steps towards the door, sighed, and looked back at Luo Xiaoxiao. The girl was fiddling with the drum set. Luo Xiaoxiao wasn’t short, but she still seemed to be struggling to move the heavy drum set.
He watched for a moment. Luo Xiaoxiao looked up and glanced at him, not saying a word.
“You… can’t you just leave the drums here?”
“No, I can’t. I don’t feel safe leaving them here. I have to take them back to the dorm.” Luo Xiaoxiao’s eyes were hidden beneath her dark eyeshadow. Su Yu wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but her tone sounded soft, almost like she was acting cute. “Gu Chuan helped me move them here before.”
“Let’s do it together then. The dorm is probably empty now anyway.”
Su Yu walked back, crouched down, and helped Luo Xiaoxiao pack the drums into their cases. They spent a long time trying to figure out how to fit everything on the small dolly, but in the end, they gave up and borrowed another one.
They squeezed into the elevator, both of them sweating. When they finally got out of the building, Su Yu looked at the flat concrete road and sighed in relief.
“I’m really curious, how did that guy Gu Chuan help you move all this?”
Luo Xiaoxiao replied casually, “He drove them here from my house.”
“Well, sorry I don’t have a car.” Su Yu rolled his eyes, speechless. “Let’s go, one each.”
“Hmm?”
Luo Xiaoxiao watched as Su Yu almost stumbled while pulling the dolly. She licked her lips, a mischievous smile playing on them. “Okay, one each.”
The girl pulled her dolly closer to Su Yu, her high-top combat boots clomping on the ground. As she got closer, a faint fragrance filled the air, the same perfume as before. It smelled good… but he couldn’t name it.
Luo Xiaoxiao sat down on Su Yu’s dolly, her long, slender legs hooked onto the other one. She waved her arm and shouted, “Okay, let’s go!”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m tired.” Luo Xiaoxiao looked at Su Yu and blinked, her outfit clashing with her current playful demeanor. “I was the lead singer today, I sang an extra song. Do you know how hard that song is to sing? The notes are so high.”
“Haha, you can only use that excuse once.” Su Yu smiled and started pulling the dolly towards the girls’ dorm.
“Hey, hey, you looked like you knew what you were doing on stage. You must have practiced before, right?”
“Sort of.”
“Want to join our band? I just formed it. You looked pretty cool on stage today. You can be our visual.”
“No, thanks. Not interested.”
“You’re not even going to think about it? Just consider it.”
“Hey, hey, hey, Su Yu, you bastard, don’t ignore me!”
“…”
The girl couldn’t hide her excitement anymore. It was her performance as the main character, and the applause had thundered through the entire venue. She had held it together until now, but her cool demeanor was starting to crumble. A constant stream of questions tumbled out of her mouth like beans from a jar.
…
“We’re here. Get off.”
Su Yu let out a big yawn, his eyelids heavy. He was so tired, he wanted to fall into bed and sleep. He pointed to the drum cases on the dolly. “Are you going to ask your roommates to come down and get these?”
“Okay, thanks for today.”
Luo Xiaoxiao jumped off the dolly and dusted herself off. She sent a message to her roommates, and soon, two girls came running down, a whirlwind of energy. They didn’t rush to the drums or to Luo Xiaoxiao, but straight to Su Yu.
“Another high school classmate? Best friend? Don’t tell me he’s your boyfriend.”
“Wow, isn’t that the guitarist who went on stage later? He’s not bad without the mask.”
“Can I have your contact information, handsome?”
The two girls chattered around Su Yu, making his head ache.
“You two! Go get your things and go back. Don’t cause trouble.”
Luo Xiaoxiao pushed her two roommates towards the drums and up the stairs. Before leaving, she glanced back at Su Yu, her eyes fierce. “Don’t listen to them. And don’t overthink it. I’ll treat you to dinner next time. Bye.”
…
Su Yu watched in confusion as the three girls went upstairs, then shrugged, ready to go back and get some much-needed sleep.
“Who was that girl?”
A cold voice crawled into his ear, making Su Yu’s body stiffen. It was like a slick snake, slithering down his neck and biting him. The intense drowsiness in his mind was instantly shattered.
Su Yu turned around abruptly and saw the girl’s serene smile. She tilted her head, her large eyes sparkling with curiosity. The girl looked so gentle that the terrifying illusion he had just experienced shattered. Maybe he was just too tired.
“Xia Qian Ge? You… you live in this dorm too?”
“Yes, I live in the building across from that girl’s.” Xia Qian Ge repeated her question. “Can you tell me who she is?”
“Her? A new friend. A high school classmate of my roommate. We met while drinking. She was the lead singer today, didn’t you see the performance?”
“I did, that’s why she looked so familiar. She’s very pretty.” Xia Qian Ge’s eyes crinkled into a smile, and she nodded her head, her gesture endearingly cute.
“She’s okay. Very lively.”
“Today… I saw someone on stage who looked a lot like you. So much so that I almost mistook him for you at first glance.”
“Is that so? Haha, you probably saw wrong then.”
Su Yu chuckled. He thought about it and decided not to tell Xia Qian Ge about what had happened. They needed some distance between them, not too far, not too close, just right.
“Yeah, I thought so.”
“You must be tired after a whole day of training. You look very tired.” Su Yu looked at Xia Qian Ge’s pale, almost sickly complexion. “Go back and rest. I’m leaving.”
“Okay.”
Su Yu nodded and turned to leave. After a few steps, he heard Xia Qian Ge’s soft voice behind him. “Su Yu…”
“Hmm?”
He turned around and saw the girl’s long hair flowing in the wind, her bangs obscuring her eyes. But the smile on her lips was still gentle and frail, evoking a sense of pity.
Her cold, soft voice drifted to him on the night wind, swirling around him like an unbreakable curse, lingering for a long time.
“See you tomorrow. Good night.”
