3 Songs Without Words

The college's Student Centre was not big, but it was light and airy courtesy of its high ceiling and large tempered-glass windows in every direction. Marvin Tse looked around and finally found the famous Great Hall and entered. It really was deserving of its fame. The ceiling was arched and three stories high, the tables and chairs numbered in the hundreds, and despite its simple decor everything was tastefully designed to fit a modern college of technology.

Marvin made his way around the tables and chairs in the Great Hall of the centre, while his eyes roamed around from left to right looking for a free table. None. No such thing as a free table amongst the hundreds of students in the hall. The chairs and tables were fully occupied by students who were reading, typing, discussing, while others were chatting and laughing away as they were working on assignments or reports. They made for a casual but studious atmosphere.

That was how Marvin finally realised he had forgotten how dedicated HK students were in school or college. To be fair he had only came back home from Europe half a year ago. After spending years of his life studying and living abroad in Europe, and then touring the European Continent and occasionally other parts of the world for more than a decade, was it any wonder that he struggled to familiarise himself with this bustling modern island again? After all, he was only 16 when he left, and he was already 36 today. He was practically a stranger to this island now.

This afternoon he was planning to have a quiet chat with a certain student, thinking that the atmosphere of the Great Hall would alleviate the awkwardness because they both did not know each other. But without a private space to talk comfortably such a thing would not happen.

This was not the first time he forgot such small details in his plans either. Feeling a little put out at his own carelessness, he turned back towards the entrance, but stopped when he spotted something familiar next to it.

A grand piano. It stood quietly on small raised platform near the double door, looking all lonely in the fully-occupied room. Marvin felt a touch of pity that such a majestic instrument was neglected so. For now it was just another piece of ignored sculpture in the cavernous room. He sympathised. It felt like how he himself had been estranged by this fast-changing island of concrete jungle.

Taking his time to look the piano over, Marvin climbed up the small platform and sat on the piano's bench. It was a little dusty, but at least he had a place to sit now. He opened the keyboard's cover and found that the keys were dusty too. The keys were probably also out of tune. But… maybe he should play a bit, as a way to greet the piano and ease its loneliness.

His fingers moved of their own accord immediately after he decided. They effortlessly glided over the keys, and Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, Op. 19 No. 1, slowly and quietly reverberated in the air. Because the piano's lid was closed, the sound it produced was further quieted. It would not do for him to disturb the students, after all. The 'song' was sweet and romantic, and for this meeting he made it sound hopeful and joyful too. Despite the 'song' only lasting a little more than 3 minutes, Marvin felt fulfilled when it ended.

Next, following the order, he was thinking of playing Op. 19 No. 2 and then No. 3. But then he noticed some students who were recording his performance on the out-of-tune piano. Disgruntled, he did not continue; instead, he looked around the common hall one more time. Finally he saw the students he was waiting for coming into the Great Hall from the other entrance at the far end. Marvin quickly stood up and headed off to meet them.

Two of the students making their way over were in his Beginner German Language class. The one trailing behind them both was supposedly Michelle Wu. Marvin looked at her closely as the group of three manoeuvred around the packed tables and chairs. Yes, that's her alright. The girl in the short clip he saw on a student's phone.

Michelle Wu was a beauty with delicate facial features, like a classic Chinese beauty. But the fact that she was dressed stylishly in a short modern dress and dainty high-heels added another facet of appeal to her. The way she walked also exuded confidence and attracted the attention of many in the room. Heads turned and mouths whispered when she walked past. Some even held up their phones to snap pictures. Michelle only smiled shyly at no one in particular as she continued forward with her back straight. She had excellent posture as she walked. It was as if she was gliding. Amazing girl, Marvin thought to himself.

"Professor Marvin Tse! Good afternoon. We're here. We brought Michelle Wu like we promised." One of them greeted him.

"Thank you, Cherrie, and Daniel. But I told you before I'm not a professor. Just an old contracted tutor. Call me Mr. Tse." Marvin felt like rolling his eyes at every student's insistence in calling him 'professor'. He did not even have a degree in German Language, for crying out loud. How could he feel alright when they referred to him as a language professor?

"Yes, Mr. Tse." They obediently answered, and then giggled. Marvin decided he did not want to know what's so funny about it.

"Hello, Miss Wu. I'm Marvin Tse, a tutor for Beginner German Language."

"Good afternoon, prof- Mr. Tse. Cherrie said you need to see me? What could I do for you?" Michelle Wu bowed her head politely at him and greeted warmly. She also nearly called him 'professor', probably because she had been instructed by these two who lead her here. Good thing she knew to correct herself quickly. His impression of her deepened.

Marvin dismissed Cherrie and Daniel first before answering her. They looked disappointed when Marvin told them to go on their way, but cheered up when he told them he would give them something nice in the next class. Perhaps a few pieces of his homemade apple pie? He could do that.

"Yes, I need to see you, Miss Wu. But first, I apologise for bothering you. Were you busy?"

"Not really, Mr. Tse. I was only reading and relaxing in my dorm room when Cherrie came by and told me to come meet you."

"I'll take your word for that." She could really be lying about not being busy, but deeply ingrained politeness would not allow her to say the truth. Especially not to a 'professor's' face. It was a culture thing so there was nothing Marvin could do about that. "I need to talk to you privately, but I've chosen the wrong place for us to meet. Could we go somewhere else to talk?"

After a little deliberation, they ended up at the café across the street from the Student Centre. It was not popular with the student population because of its steep pricing, so there were tables available. They sat at a table in a corner and ordered coffee and juice respectively.

"Let me introduce myself again." Marvin began again. "I am Marvin Tse, a language tutor for this college. I've only started last term though. Also, I am Nikolas Tse's uncle." Marvin smiled gently as he said this. "I need an explanation about a clip of you and Nikolas that someone posted online. It seemed to have gone viral and a lot of students were making a fuss about it. I had already asked Nikolas, but he only said "nothing like that" and refused to comment further. I really need to find out the truth. If you could be so kind and explain to me what actually happened?"