MISTERIOSO

Misterioso: means "mysterious."

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"Are we really going to perform F.I.R[1] and Imagine Dragons'[2] songs for the school festival?"

No one counted how many times that question had come out of Shao Dingxiang's mouth in the past week. Shao Dingxiang seemed to doubt his group members' decision to perform the two songs at an important school event.

Fang Xing and Samuel Wen, who were enjoying their lunch at the canteen, could only snort in annoyance.

"Why ho you heep ashing, ge? We've ahreed, ret?" (read: "Why do you keep asking, ge? We've agreed, right?")

Fang Xing, who was sitting beside Shao Dingxiang, replied while chewing his food so that his sentence sounded unclear. But fortunately, his bandmates were able to understand what he intended to say, including Shao Dingxiang. They were very close to each other, knew each other's habits, and sometimes even communicated through gaze without speaking.

"I disagree with the decision! Only the four of you agreed, but I didn't. You guys easily agreed since you don't have to memorize the English lyrics. As for me? I have to memorize the English lyrics in Imagine Dragons' song. I'm gonna die young!"

That was one of the bad sides of Shao Dingxiang. Sometimes he was overreacting and just too much. Just being told to memorize the lyrics wouldn't kill him, right?

"Just take it easy, ge," Samuel Wen commented casually. "English is an international language, and it's important to master it in this globalization era. Just take it as a way of learning and it will not feel that hard."

Shao Dingxiang could only glare at the blonde student. But, yeah, it was normal for him to feel unfair. The decision was made by his juniors through a group chat when he was asleep a week ago. He was like a chicken that would go to bed early, so he was left behind when the other made a decision. He could only stare at his phone screen in the morning with a horror expression.

Were his friends crazy? Why did they choose an English song? At that time, they only had two weeks to practice. It was true that the song was not completely new for them since they often used that song when they were practicing, but Shao Dingxiang never sang the lyrics properly. He didn't fully memorize the lyrics.

"I know that there are three people who speak English fluently in our group, and that's the reason why you guys chose the song in the alien language. But, you don't think about my feelings!" Shao Dingxiang continued sulking, his eyes glaring at Samuel Wen who was one of the people whom he said spoke the language of Queen Elizabeth's country fluently.

Apart from Samuel Wen, Shao Dingxiang's protest actually referred to Yang Liu and Guo Yanlin who could also speak English fluently.

Speaking of Guo Yanlin, the boy arrived at the canteen with quite a loud noise and laughter. They turned to the source of the sound and found Guo Yanlin running around laughing happily like a toddler who had just been rewarded with a balloon. The three people only frowned at the absurd behavior of their friend. Could they remove Guo Yanlin from their friend list?

"What's wrong with you, Linlin[3]?" Samuel Wen asked when Guo Yanlin finally sat down beside him.

But instead of answering, Guo Yanlin grabbed Samuel's isotonic water and took a quick sip. Samuel Wen just stared at him blankly, it was normal for Guo Yanlin to do things like that. He seemed to not care about the term 'indirect kiss.'

After sighing with relief and rubbing his thin lips which were wet from the stolen isotonic water he had just drunk, the owner of the Guo surname answered, "I just got kicked out by the grumpy Ren."

"Grumpy Ren? Do you mean Ren Weisheng?" Fang Xing asked curiously.

Guo Yanlin turned at Fang Xing and replied, "Do you think there's any 'Ren' who is as grumpy as Ren Weisheng in our school?" He rolled his eyes lazily. "I was kicked out by Ren Weisheng when I wanted to take my notes at the music studio. He accused me of spying on their practice. In the end, I told him that I had no interest in spying on them because they weren't any better than us. The bull got angry because of that."

Fang Xing, Samuel Wen, and Shao Dingxiang burst into laughter at Guo Yanlin's story.

"Then, why are you laughing when Ren Weisheng just got mad at you?" Samuel Wen asked after he stopped laughing.

"Am I not allowed to laugh? It's funny to see him go berserk. His face does not look scary, but rather adorable. He looks like a hamster."

Again, the whole table laughed at Guo Yanlin's words. Among them all, Guo Yanlin was indeed the one who most often made trouble with Shenshi's leader. It felt like he just achieved a big achievement every time he succeeded in making Ren Weisheng angry.

"By the way, where is Yang Liu? He did not join us?" Guo Yanlin asked when he noticed that there was a person who was missing at their table.

"This isn't the first time the Ice Prince does not join us at the canteen, Guo Yanlin. Why did you just ask?" Fang Xing asked annoyingly, then went back to enjoy his lunch.

That question had a point, though. Yang Liu had never mingled with them in the canteen. Except for the times when he was dragged by Fang Xing to accompany him to the canteen, Yang Liu never had the intention to visit the canteen.

Shao Dingxiang frowned at Fang Xing and asked, "Isn't he hungry, huh? Every day he always skips lunch, right? Never mind lunch, I've never seen him drink water. Isn't he afraid of dehydration?"

Those words were also very accurate. Yang Liu did not consume any food or drink while he was at school. Of course, it had something to do with his real identity, but none of his friends knew about that. Yang Liu would only tell them that he was not hungry or thirsty. He also said that didn't like to go to the canteen because he didn't like crowded places. He always gave that reason and his friends had never asked anything. But, that didn't mean his friends weren't curious about his strange habit.

"Perhaps he brings lunch for himself and eats it at some places that we don't know. We're not with him 24/7, so it's no wonder that we don't know what he's probably doing when he's not with us. Moreover, we aren't that close to Yang Liu, and we rarely stay with him when there is no band activity. Only Fang Xing who is real close to him. Right, Fang Xing?" Samuel Wen voiced his thought.

Everyone at the table nodded, agreeing with what the blonde boy had just said. Indeed, only Fang Xing held the status of Yang Liu's close friend at school, but the problem was, Fang Xing actually didn't know anything about that mysterious youth. But of course, he didn't tell his friends about that. He just simply nodded and didn't say anything.

Fang Xing was not blind and not too stupid to sense the weirdness in his close friend. Yang Liu was indeed mysterious and like a closed book that was so difficult to open. He was curious, but he never had the courage to ask him directly. He was just patiently waiting for the day when Yang Liu would open up to him completely. But, would that day ever come?

"Uh, let's just forget about Yang Liu. I have important news for you guys," Guo Yanlin spoke up excitedly. He successfully grabbed his friends' attention, so he continued, "I know whose song Shenshi will perform at the school festival next week. They will perform two songs by Accussfive and Jay Chou, but don't know which songs. That's the only information I managed to get when I eavesdropped earlier."

"Did you eavesdrop?" Samuel Wen chimed in, and Guo Yanlin nodded innocently.

The pretty boy didn't admit that he was spying earlier, but he admitted that he was eavesdropping. Did those two words have any difference?

"They choose two songs of two popular singers in China. They will definitely attract more attention. The students here prefer local products, you know? Can we just switch Imagine Dragons with MAYDAY[4]? I always suggest that anyway. I like Ashin[5] more than Dan Reynolds[6]!" Shao Dingxiang couldn't help but protest again after hearing Guo Yanlin's explanation.

Fang Xing sighed at that protest and replied, "Don't you know that Imagine Dragons is also popular in China, gege? Their song is going to explode the stage, and we will never switch them with any other singer!"

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Footnote:

[1] F.I.R: a Taiwanese pop-rock band.

[2] Imagine Dragons: an American pop-rock band.

[3] Linlin: a possible nickname by doubling the given name. It was used to call Guo Yanlin.

[4] MAYDAY: a Taiwanese band.

[5] Ashin: MAYDAY's vocalist.

[6] Dan Reynolds: Imagine Dragons' vocalist.