please read with soft music which makes it much better

When Lucien arrived at the Musicians’ Association, only two guards were standing in front of the five-storey building, since most of the believers following the God of Truth usually spent their Sunday morning in the church.

“Good morning, Mr. Evans.” The two guards smiled and greeted Lucien.

“Morning.” Lucien nodded, feeling a bit surprised. Since the concert finished late last night, it was quite surprising that the guards were already showing respect to him in this following Sunday morning. Lucien wondered if maybe it was Elena who told the guards, because she was the only one among all the concert audience who needed to work on Sunday.

Before Lucien entered the building, he heard they were whispering, “Three months ago, Mr. Evans was still carrying garbage for our association. He asked me to do him a favor looking after his trolley. Now look at him, a musician!”

“I know… The last time I saw him he was still a music student. Never expected he was such a genius!”

…………

Elena and Cathy were tidying up the documents behind the counter when Lucien came into the lobby. Both of them greeted Lucien with respect, “Good morning, Mr. Evans.”

Elena winked at Lucien with a sweet smile on her face, and Cathy seemed to be a bit nervous.

“Good morning, Elena. Morning, Cathy.” Lucien asked with curiosity, “What keeps you girls this busy this morning?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Elena answered in excitement, “Lucien, you know what? Your name is on both the latest Music Criticism and Symphony News.”  

“What? I thought the next issue for both of them would be released at the end of the month…” Now Lucien was really surprised.

“That’s because your music work is so amazing!” Elena was very proud of Lucien, “Many musicians were deeply touched by your Symphony of Fate, and they worked overnight on their reviews! The association thus decided to issue both of the newspapers in advance this month. Now we have the first copies!”

“Mr. Evans, do you want one?” asked Cathy with respect and curiosity.

“Well… I think I should.” Lucien smiled and poured out twenty Fells from his moneybag. From hard saving, Lucien’s small moneybag finally bulged a bit. 

“What did they say, Lucien?” Elena still couldn’t read very well, “Cathy and I are really curious.”

Picking up the latest Music Criticism, Lucien saw a painting of the Psalm Hall and two lines of black bold words, 

“Ladies and gentlemen, hats off to the real genius!

— Othello”

Lucien read Mr. Othello’s comment to Elena and Cathy, and the girls’ eyes were filled with reverence.

Turning the page, the first review article titled Music with Soul—Salute to Symphony of Fate:

“As a gift from God, music encourages us to continuously progress toward a better future. However, in the past three hundred years, the main role that the solemn and sacred religious music was playing was never challenged on the stage of music, since other music themes were always hiding behind the scenes and paled in comparison with it.
……

“Until we met Symphony of Fate, a great piece of music composed by Lucien Evans and first played on Mr. Victor’s concert held in the Psalm Hall last night, I finally realized what is the most indispensable quality of a masterpiece!

“Music is emotion. Music is feelings. Without emotion and feelings, without soul, music can never be deeply moving to people. And the young musician Lucien Evans knows clearly about this: The four movements of Symphony of Fate are connected by a consistent faith all along—hope and persistence can conquer any difficulty. It is the most exciting, encouraging and touching symphony I have ever appreciated.

……

“Lucien Evans, without any doubt, is a genius. His music talent shocked Aalto, and I believe he will shock the whole continent in the future.

……

“As soul is to life, so is emotion to music!”

The review article was pretty long, which was more about expressing feelings instead of professional analyzing. The reason this article ranked the first was that it was written by the grand duke, Orvarit.

“Wow… The grand duke really likes your symphony!” exclaimed Elena in surprise and joy.

“I heard Princess Natasha also contributed,” said Cathy politely, “Mr. Evans, can you please read her article to us? I know the princess’s very good at reviewing music works.”

“Sure,” answered Lucien, feeling a bit nervous to read the princess’s comment.

Natasha’s article ranked second place in Music Criticism following her father’s work, which titled A Future Trend—The Music Revolution Led by Symphony of Fate:

“A great piece of symphony with magnificent theme and touching emotion running through.

“The talented musician, Lucien Evans, creatively used the four stress accents to form the first bar as the beginning of Symphony of Fate. Each of the four movements of the symphony was relatively independent but yet connected to each other, highlighting the shared theme: Light would conquer darkness and courage would overcome difficulty. The flexible and skilled utilization of assorted music instruments enriched the symphony’s emotion world and grabbed every audience’s heart last night.

……

“Call it heroism. Call it persistence. Call it knight spirit. I was deeply touched by the great work. The short bar which is composed of the four stress accents is still striking my heart, as if it synchronizes with my heart beat.

“This young, unfettered music genius, Mr. Evans, revealed a brand new music world in front of us, where new music skills should be explored, and new music themes should be developed.

“Great innovator! Great pioneer!”

…………

Lucien’s face blushed when he was reading the article. Flipping through this Music Criticism, Lucien found that twenty-nine out of the forty articles here were music reviews about Symphony of Fate. Some of them analyzed its theme and some of them skills. The other several articles were about Victor’s piano concerto and the concert in general.

Urged by Elena and Cathy, Lucien briefly glanced through the latest Symphony News and found the same situation—all of the articles were about either Victor or himself.

“Wait…I know this name.” Elena pointed her finger at a name under the first review article on Symphony News, “Christopher… Gionis.”

Christopher Gionis was the president of the Musicians’ Association, and also the most well-known musician in Aalto who composed more than a hundred great music works. Gionis was respected as a “living music legend”.

Here was Gionis’s comment:

“If you haven’t heard Symphony of Fate, you heard no music in your life.”

“Wow…” Except exclaiming, Elena and Cathy had no idea how to express their admiration to Lucien.

A while later, Elena said to Lucien, “I’m sure few months later, you’ll become one of the most renowned young musicians throughout the continent.”

Without saying anything, Lucien smiled and slightly shook his head. Then he left for Mr. Hank’s office on the third floor.

“Congratulations, Evans.” Hank rose from his seat behind the desk, walked toward Lucien and gave him a hug.

“Thank you, Mr. Hank.” Lucien smiled, “I’m here to quit my librarian’s job.”

“Of course, I expected so.” Hank agreed without hesitation, and then he took out a money bag, “According to Mr. Victor, this is yours.”

The money bag was not big but quite heavy, in which thirty-three gold coins were fascinatingly shining.




"A falling star has brought the chaos. The throne of fate has lost its master. The nonbeliever who walks in light and darkness will make his debut."
In this magic world, knowledge is power.

Chapter 197. Beijing conservatory of music (1)
The Beijing Conservatory of Music was the largest conservatory.
Together with the Central Conservatory of Music and the Northern Conservatory of Music, they are called the three major conservatory.
It was founded in 1983 and has 37 years of history so far.
Although it is not as old as the central conservatory of music, it has also produced a large number of talents in recent decades.
Many famous composers, pianists and singers have emerged from it. It has a respectable reputation at home and even around the world.
The Beijing Conservatory of Music is located on the bank of Beihai, adjacent to the famous Beihai Park. It has an excellent geographical location.
The area of the conservatory is very small, and its scale is not even comparable to that of several middle schools in Beijing, and the total number of teachers and students in the school adds up to only more than 2,000, which is simply not comparable to the school with thousands of students in the University City.
Ren has never been to the Beijing conservatory of music before, but this higher music school has been famous for a long time.
It is said that every year there are tens of thousands of students who come to Beijing to apply for the conservatory.
Most of them have been trained since childhood. They are proficient in such aspects as piano, violin, national musical instruments and so on, and can crush a guy like Ren into slag.
However, most of these arrogant children will be mercilessly eliminated in the process of applying for the conservatory.
Many of the candidates' family has spent a lot of money on training them, then after arriving in Beijing, they spend a lot of money to ask the teachers in universities for guidance, only to be told that there was no hope of getting in.
Therefore, those who can be admitted to the conservatory are not ordinary people. Genius is a common pronoun among them.
As the second semester has just started, many students are on the campus. Many were holding guitar cases in their hands or they were wearing headphones listening to music.
They were all the students of Beijing conservatory of music. In another term, they were all geniuses who have gotten admission into the conservatory.
"There are a lot of people here."
Amidst those walking groups of students was Ren. He was wearing a black jacket and normal grey pants. Of course, there were sunglasses and a mask hiding his face.
People may wonder why an actor like Ren was here?
The answer was simple. Ren was here to learn music. He has earlier requested Director Zhao to let him learn about the essence of music.
Director Zhao has agreed and contacted his friend named Che Shu who was a professor in the composing department of the conservatory.
It should be noted that the Beijing conservatory of music didn't give permits to attend lectures just to anyone.
Ren was extremely lucky to get a permit to attend the lectures. It was only possible due to the connections of Director Zhao.
"Now, where should I go?"
Ren has taken some time out of an advertisement shoot to come here today but he noticed that he has a lot of time in his hands.
The lecture he wanted to attend was about composing and it would be presided over by professor Che Shu himself.
Ren also wanted to introduce himself to the professor and thank him for letting him listen to the lectures but the lecture will start in an hour.
Ren has come too early.
'Let's head to the library.'
As he has time, he decided to not waste time and head to the library. He can read books about music and composing there.
He made his way to the library and on his way, various people glanced at him because of his attire.
Ren can't do anything about it. He would be hoarded with students if he took off his mask and sunglasses but as a result, Ren was looking like someone suspicious.
Although it was weird to wear sunglasses inside a building, Ren just ignored it.
His celebrity life has made him used to wearing sunglasses.
Ignoring all the suspicious glances he received, Ren finally reached the library.
The library was full of books and Ren felt like he was in a sea of books and all the books were about music or singing.
Ren didn't even know that there are so many books about music in the world. It was shocking to be exact.
'Will there be a book on acting here too?'
Ren thought that there should be one or two books about acting in this library too but he chose to ignore the thought in his head.
He had to search through the whole library to find a book about acting and there was no guarantee that he would even find one.
He decided to focus on the books about musical theory for now.
Ren took a book out of a shelf and saw the title 'Harmonics'. He opened it and saw that all the words were in English and there was no Chinese character in it.
He took out another book titled 'The theory of music' and noticed that it was also in English.
It was not like Ren was unable to read the English characters, it was just that Ren was surprised to see so many books in English here.
Anyway, in the end, he finally decided to read a book titled 'Light music and song making'.
It was a book with a red covering and just reading the preface made him interested in it.
The book was about composing light music and how one should hold on to the emotions to bring out the true value of a song.
There were a lot of views of famous composers in the book and how just a little change can completely change a song's quality and value.
Ren was completely immersed in reading the book. He has never thought that a book about music can be so interesting.
He also felt that he had made a self discovery today. He was more interested in music than he had thought.
As he was reading the book, a silhouette suddenly approached him. It was a silhouette of a girl who was strangely wearing a big cap and glasses.
It was hard to see her full face because of that.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, what do you want?"
Ren said as he turned around to look at the girl wearing the big cap.
"Um, can you give me that book?"


Ren, he was someone with great talent in acting and singing but due to bad luck and some wrong choices, he was only able to become a third rate actor.

After dying in an accident, he noticed that he had returned to the past.

With the help of his talents and the knowledge of future, he started his journey to become the trendiest star of the century!

*On hiatus

* * *

The story will take place in an alternate world. It is just to avoid the copyright infringement. I don't want my story to end up like I'm in Hollywood or IRAS.

Contact me on discord : Killerbee#4748

Here's a link to the server : https://discord.gg/F9xfJWv

PayPal account: https://www.paypal.me/Killerbee11

Support me if you want!!

"Oh, what I would give to listen to music right now," Bryony said, flopping dramatically onto the bed with a sigh.
It had been at least ten minutes since Marjorie left, and she hadn't come back yet. Bryony was starting to wonder if she even was coming back. Maybe something happened and now it was taking longer for her to get Elon and come back.
Bryony was bored. She rolled over and lifted her head up from the comfy pillow to look over at Aven. He was preoccupied with some books he had found. He was sitting on the floor crosslegged, leaning forward a bit as he read whatever the book he had was. Devlin was curled up on his lap sleeping, so the book was lying on the floor in front of Aven. He was stroking Devlin's soft fur with one of his hands, while the other was holding his face up as he leaned on it to read the book better. His face looked kind of squished from leaning on his hand, but it looked cute.
It was like Aven could feel her eyes on him, because he looked up at her, and she quickly looked away, flopping back down onto the bed. Please he didn't see me. Bryony thought. Please! She heard him turn a page from the book and she quietly sighed in relief. He didn't see her, or he didn't care that she was watching him. He was too preoccupied with the book, he seemed really interested in it.
Bryony sat up again and looked over at him. He could read? How come he knew how to read, but didn't know almost everything else? Did he learn how to read? Or did he naturally know how to when he was born? What was he reading anyway? Was it good? The book looked big, not one of those short childrens book she had always read to Greta and the twins. She hated reading those books, they were childish. She liked adult books, ones that were horror and fantasy and mystery-thriller. But her favorite book genre to read was romance. She always loved reading romance books. Amara always teased her because of it, because to her, 'romance was too cliche and boring', but Bryony didn't care, some cliches were actually cute.
Bryony just then noticed that Aven was looking at her, and she blinked and shook her head. Had she been staring at him that whole time? She was thinking of books, it probably looked like she was just staring at him or thinking of him. Bryony slapped herself and groaned. Why did she have to go deep into thought and not notice what she was staring at?
"Yeah, I'm definitely going to die of embarrassment one day," Bryony said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of books. I didn't mean to be staring at you."
Aven didn't say anything, he just nodded and then turned his attention back to the book. Well, at least he didn't care. Or he was too innocent to think about or know what that kind of stuff was. Bryony felt a little better now.
She stood up from the bed and walked over to her backpack and picked it up. She hadn't went through it yet since Aven had given it to her when Auntie Collette packed stuff for her. Bryony still couldn't get over the fact that she knew. She knew! Did she know Bryony's parents were taken too? Did she know they were protectors? What did she know? Did she know everything?
Bryony sat back down onto the bed and opened her backpack up. She dumped everything in it onto the bed, and that caught Aven's attention, because he looked up from the book to look over at her. Bryony looked up at him. "Sorry, I'm just going through this stuff."
Bryony turned back to the stuff she dumped on the bed. There was the first aid kit Auntie Collette always had on hand just in case something happened to her or her kids. There were a couple flashlights and some extra batteries, a couple water bottles with a few granola bars, some rope, and a sheathed dagger. Bryony wasn't even going to ask where she got that, she probably had it since forever. There was some sunscreen, a bandana, which Bryony had no idea when she would need that, or what to do with it, and a compass. At the bottom of the pile of things sat Bryony's phone and earphones, and she squealed when she saw it, and quickly grabbed it.
She turned her phone on, but there was no data or connection to anything.
"Darn it," Bryony groaned, throwing the phone onto the bed and folding her arms. "Why did you pack my phone when I can't even talk to you?"
Bryony picked her phone up to see if it would work again, but it didn't. She sighed, finally giving up. She found her music app and immediately looked up at Aven and smiled. He didn't see, he was still reading the book and not paying attention to her. Bryony stood up and skipped over to where he was at and sat down, scooting the book away from him. Aven looked up at her with a confused look, but she shook her head and held up her phone and earphones. "You ever heard music before?"
Aven shook his head.
"Oh, you're going to love this," Bryony said and plugged her earphones in her phone. She put one of them in her ear and then handed the other to Aven, who took it and just stared at it with a half confused and half curious look. She scrolled through her music. "I'm going to show you my favorite song, one moment, I have so many songs, it might take me a while before I find it."
After a few moments she found it. Someone to you by banners
Bryony smiled and looked up at Aven and was about to ask if he was ready, but stopped when she saw him holding the earphone she had given him up and staring at it in confusion. Bryony laughed a little. "It goes in your ear. Here, let me help you."
She took the earphone and brought it up to his ear, but he flinched away and gave her this look, which only made her laugh again. "It doesn't hurt, don't worry. See?" She showed him the earphone that was in her ear.
Aven let her put it in his ear, but he made a face when it was in. He wasn't used to it.
"Okay, you ready now?" Bryony asked him and he slowly nodded, kind of unsure.
She pushed play, and immediately the music started playing into the earphones. Aven jumped and smacked the earphone out of his ear and scooted away from Bryony, who was laughing her head off as she paused the song. "I'm so sorry! I like turning the music up all the way, but then forget to turn it back down. I'll turn it down, I'm sorry that was too loud."
She held the earphone out for him, but he shook his head. She nodded and then unplugged them from her phone. "Okay, no earphones. Lesson learned. " She laughed again as she thought of his face when she played the song. His face was too funny, but she felt really bad for forgetting to turn it down. She always forgot everything.
Aven grabbed the book he was reading and started reading it again, so Bryony shrugged and stood up to sit on the bed. She layed down onto the bed and put her phone on her shoulder as she pushed play. She closed her eyes and listened to the song.
Music always helped her feel better. She always felt calm and relaxed whenever she listened to music. She wouldn't know what she would do if music didn't exist. She smiled as she listened to the words to the song.
If you feel the great dividing, I wanna be the one you're guiding, cause I believe that you could lead the way.
That's when the chorus hit and Bryony moved her feet to the beat as she started singing along.
"I just wanna be somebody to someone, oh I wanna be somebody to someone. Oh, I never had nobody and no road home, I wanna be somebody to someone." She stood up and started dancing around as the music got louder and more upbeat, and she pretended to be holding a microphone. "And if the sun's upset, and the sky goes cold. Then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall, I really need somebody to call my own, I wanna be somebody to someone. Someone to youuu! Someone to youuu!"
Bryony stopped dancing and turned to Aven as she saw him watching her. He looked confused, and slightly weirded out, and Bryony laughed a little. "I'm dancing."
Aven tilted his head, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Devlin was awake now and watching Bryony too, his big eyes filled will curiosity as his tail flicked to the side. Bryony turned the music off and then put her phone back with everything else. She turned to Aven. "I'll get you to like music sometime, and maybe even teach you how to dance."
"Dance is weird," Aven said, shaking his head, and turning back to his book. Devlin closed his eyes again, and cuddled up against Aven to go back to sleep.
"Okay, but I was just dancing weirdly on purpose. That wasn't even real dancing," Bryony said, laughing a little.
Aven shook his head, still not understanding what she said. "No, dance is weird and music is too loud and hurts my ears. I'm sticking to reading. You can dance and music."
"And listen to music," Bryony corrected him, but he just shook his head, which made her laugh a little.
Bryony sat down next to him and crossed her legs. She watched him turn a page of the book, and that's when she noticed the book was in a different language. She squinted and leaned forward more to get a better look. She pointed at the book. "What language is that?"
Aven shrugged, continuing to read.
"You can read that?" Bryony asked him, slightly jealous now. "I can't read it, it looks like gibberish and it definitely doesn't look like a language I have seen or heard of before. I'm learning Spanish and French though!"
Aven looked up from the book with an eyebrow raised.
Bryony pursed her lips. "Sorry, I keep forgetting you don't know stuff in my world. Spanish and French are just languages some people speak."
"You speak it?" Aven asked.
Bryony shook her head and let out a dry laugh. "No, I'm speaking English. You are too."
Aven shook his head, turning back to the book. "You're not speaking English. You're speaking my language."
"Um, no, I'm pretty sure I'm speaking English. I wouldn't be able to understand you if we weren't speaking in English," Bryony said.
"Vos nescitis quidquam," Aven said, shaking his head, and turning another page of the book.
"I know plenty," Bryony exclaimed, offended now, as she put her hands on her hips and scowled at him.
Aven looked up at her. "See? You speak my language."
Bryony gasped, suddenly realizing he didn't speak English. "Wait what? How the heck did I know what you said? Wait, I'm confused. How? What?"
Aven just shrugged. "Your parents."
"Did they teach me? I don't remember, " Bryony said. "I only remember them reading those dumb books to me, and then being taken. I don't remember anything else."
Aven tapped her forehead. "It's in here. Buried deep."
"Memories, " Bryony whispered and Aven nodded.
"It's okay, " Aven said after a moment. "It'll take time to remember it, you buried everything deep, but you'll remember."
Bryony slowly nodded. "Okay."
Aven turned back to the book and leaned forward to continue reading, and this time Bryony didn't say anything. She let him read the book and just sighed, laying down on the floor, and staring up at the ceiling. Her head was barely touching Aven's knee, and she smiled when Aven leaned over her and stared down at her with a curious look. "I'm just relaxing. You should join me, it always feels nice."
Aven shook his head and turned back to the book. Bryony closed her eyes with a sigh and enjoyed the silence, and the sound of Aven turning the book pages when he was done reading a page. She could hear Devlin's soft and quiet breaths as he slept, and she smiled a little.
Devlin was adorable. He really seemed to like Aven.
"Hey," Aven said after a moment, and Bryony opened her eyes. "It's your parents."
Bryony immediately sat up and looked around the room. "Where?"
"No, in the book," Aven said, pointing at the book.
"Oh," Bryony said quietly, disappointed in herself that she was dumb enough to think her parents were in the house with them. She looked down at the book and stared at the page with the two faces staring back. She snatched the book from Aven and stuck her face in the book, staring at them.
"Why are they in this book?" Bryony asked. "What does it say? Tell me what it says." She shoved the book back into Aven's hands and pointed at it. "Read it." She was quiet for a moment, before she said, "please."
"Amos and Paola, " Aven read, before he looked up at Bryony.
"I know their names!" Bryony exclaimed. "What does it say?"
"That's what it says, " Aven said.
Bryony shook her head, grabbing the book from his hands again and setting it down onto her lap. "No, that can't be all of what it says. My parents are missing, it should say more about it. It shouldn't just say their names, I know their names already. It should say something I don't know about them, like if they're okay, or if they're being tortured, or if they're hiding something else from me I should know." Tears were forming in her eyes, making her vision blurry as she stared down at the book. "Did they even love me? If they did, they wouldn't have left me. They would have told me more and waited until I was old enough to understand before they put everything onto me to fix."
"I can't do this, I don't understand anything! They shouldn't have left. I didn't have my mother when I needed her, I didn't have a mother to talk to boys about, or about growing up and I didn't have the talk with her. I didn't have a dad who taught me to how to ride a bike or change tires from a car. I didn't have a father who would make me laugh when I was sad. I didn't have a mother who would hug me and tell me everything was okay when I got my heart broken. I... I didn't have parents. I grew up without them. Auntie Collette was there for me and did all that stuff for me. She may not be my mother, but she loved me like a mother. I miss my parents though."
Bryony started crying as she looked up at Aven for a moment, before shaking her head and looking back down at the book, and the picture of her parents. "You probably don't understand."
"I do," Aven said quietly.
Bryony looked up at him. "You do?"
"Just the part about being without parents," Aven said. "I didn't understand anything else."
Bryony laughed. "Didn't your parents teach you that stuff? Or teach you anything? I'm pretty sure when you were a baby or little, they taught you that stuff. You seriously don't know what a father and mother do for you? Usually the father is the fun, goofy, one who makes you laugh and teaches you lessons in life and how to survive if you ever get lost or anything. And usually the mother is the loving one who is there to talk to you about friend drama or boy drama, well not to you because you are a boy, but yeah. Fathers are loving too. They teach you the things in life as you grow older. When you turn thirteen, you're a teenager and they'll you teach you about the hormones you'll experience, and love, and marriage and..." Bryony trailed off as Aven just stared at her. He wasn't getting any of it. She waved her hand and smiled. "Nevermind, sorry, I'm just confusing you."
"How old are you?" Aven asked her. He obviously knew about ages. Of course he did  who wouldn't?
"I'm sixteen, turning seventeen in a few months, " Bryony said. "What about you?"
"Sixteen, " Aven said.
"When's your birthday? I want to see who's older, " Bryony said.
"Um, I turned sixteen about three months ago," Aven said. "September."
Bryony gasped. "I'm older than you! Ha! Take that."
"When are you turning seventeen?" Aven asked her.
"March," Bryony laughed. "I'm like half a year older then you. Aw, you're a little baby to me. How cuuute."
"Hey," Aven said, which only made Bryony laugh more. "Six months younger doesn't make me a baby."
"But to me you are," Bryony said as she patted his head, and laughed as he swatted her hand away. "You're still taller, so that should make you happy. Not by much, but still taller than me. Actually, I'm pretty normal in height so you only being a little taller than me, that makes you short. For a boy at least. Usually boys are taller."
"Whatever," Aven said, shaking his head.
"Here, stand up. Lets see," Bryony said as she stood up. "I'm 5'5, lets see how much taller you are and I'll guess to how tall you are."
Aven stood up and Bryony stepped closer to him so the tips of their shoes were touching. "Stand up straight," Bryony said as she stood up straight and then looked up at Aven. When he stood up straight, she used her hand to measure how shorter she was to him. She put her hand to the top of her head and then slid it off to touch a little higher than the middle of Aven's forehead, and she smiled. "You're probably, like, maybe, 5'6 or 5'7 or something. I don't know, I'm just guessing. I'm almost to your height so you aren't that much taller than me, just barely taller. In fact, if I tip toe I'm taller than you."
Bryony laughed as she stood on her toes and patted his head again, which only made him swat her hand away like last time. "This is the first time I've met a boy who was younger than me and short. All the boys I have ever talked to were older and way taller."
"Nothing's wrong with me," Aven said.
"I didn't say there was anything wrong with you," Bryony said. "I think it's cute."
"Whatever," Aven said and shook his head as Bryony smiled at him.

As a young girl, Bryony, had always believed in magic and fantasy. But when her parents were taken from her, she slowly stopped believing and the light in her slowly faded away. But one night as she's reading one of her moms old books about magic, a mysterious person visits her telling her that it's her job to help the last dragon born and save her parents, finally bringing peace to the lands 

Confused and curious, Bryony goes on the adventure she had always wanted to go on as a little girl. But what she finds, is the new world isn't anything like in the books she had always read. It was a world of darkness and unforgiving things, and she is determined to bring back the light and turn it back into the stories her parents once told her. Stories of happiness, and peace... and magic

However, Chancellor Leng's gaze did not linger on them for too long. He retracted his gaze after taking one look and looked at the giant golden bird beside him.
"Go back. From now on, no one will bother you again." Chancellor Leng seemed to be speaking to the golden bird.
The giant golden bird actually lowered its head, as though expressing its understanding before it spread its wings and flew back to Dragon Gate Grotto's peak.
"From today onwards, no one is to ascend to the peak of Dragon Gate Grotto." Chancellor Leng stood up and the Demonic Organ Throne vanished. With that, he soared into the sky and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"When can I be as powerful as Chancellor Leng? To make such a terrifying dimensional creature obey my orders with a snap of my fingers," Li Xuan said enviously.
"Is Chancellor Leng at the Mythical stage?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.
"I don't think so. I heard that he's at the peak of the Epic stage. The Demonic Organ Throne is a Perfect Life Soul. Furthermore, people say that Chancellor Leng is likely the human that's closest to the Mythical stage. He's just half a step away from stepping into the Mythical stage." Li Xuan's words were filled with admiration for Chancellor Leng.
"I never knew there was such a strong person in Luoyang!" Zhou Wen exclaimed.
"Definitely. Chancellor Leng is Overseer An's tutor. How can he not be strong considering how he taught such a strong student like Overseer An?" Li Xuan said.
"An Tianzuo's tutor?" Zhou Wen didn't think that it was impressive for someone to produce An Tianzuo with their teachings. However, Chancellor Leng was really strong. The music-type Demonic Organ Throne Life Soul gave Zhou Wen an eye-opener. He had never heard of making such terrifying dimensional creatures retreat without any bloodshed.
Recalling the music from the Demonic Organ Throne, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.
Zhou Wen wasn't an emotional person. Normally, when he was listening to music, he didn't experience many emotional upheavals. Yet, he had actually cried. This didn't seem right.
Is it really due to the music from the Demonic Organ Throne affecting my emotions? Zhou Wen felt that it wasn't the case.
"Why are you in a daze? Let's go. We still have to complete our homework mission." Seeing Zhou Wen standing there in a daze without saying anything, Li Xuan nudged him.
Zhou Wen followed Li Xuan back to Dragon Gate Grotto, but he kept thinking about the music that Chancellor Leng had played using the Demonic Organ Throne.
It's not the music that affected my emotions—definitely not. Others might not mind the minute changes, but Zhou Wen wanted to understand the differences as he constantly mulled over the reason.
"What are you waiting for? My homework mission is done. It's your turn," Li Xuan said as he recorded a video of Zhou Wen on his phone.
Zhou Wen wasn't in the mood to do the homework mission right now. He immediately drew his Bamboo Blade and charged at the Stone Beast herd. With one blade per strike, he nimbly killed ten Stone Beasts before turning around to head back.
He planned on checking the information regarding sound-type powers, and then figure out the real reason for having the music from the Demonic Organ Throne affect his mood, or if it was some other power.
Li Xuan was already used to Zhou Wen's various strange actions, so he let him be and didn't ask further.
After leaving Dragon Gate Grotto, Zhou Wen headed to the school library. The information there was more comprehensive than the Intranet, and he soon found the section where music-related matters resided. There were bookshelves spanning dozens of meters, a total of four rows. They contained books covering music.
Zhou Wen took a look and realized that most of them were books related to music theory and knowledge, or they taught one how to sing. He rarely saw information on music-type Primordial Energy Arts.
It's no wonder there are so few people cultivating music-type Primordial Energy Arts. With so much information just teaching people music theory, there's nothing to do with cultivation. Zhou Wen read through the books on the bookshelves. After searching for a long time, he only found a few books related to the music-type Primordial Energy Arts.
From the information he had, Zhou Wen realized that music-type Primordial Energy Arts were indeed very interesting, or perhaps—special.
The cultivation method of music-type Primordial Energy Arts was about the same as the typical Primordial Energy Art. Interestingly, the music-type Primordial Energy Arts had relatively special Primordial Energy seas.
Typically, a Primordial Energy Art's Primordial Energy sea was in one of the three dantians, but a music-type Primordial Energy Art used the lungs as a Primordial Energy sea. It was very rare.
Furthermore, it was different from what the average person would imagine. There was no mention of music affecting one emotionally in the music-type information. It only mentioned music frequency and oscillation theory.
And the destructive power of music-type powers mainly came from the pressure of sound.
Zhou Wen read a lot, but he didn't understand why the Demonic Organ Throne could affect the emotions of humans and even dimensional creatures. Although there were some extraordinary theories, they hadn't been verified. Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that the theories didn't match the Demonic Organ Throne's powers.
Without finding the answer he wanted, Zhou Wen had the urge to directly ask Chancellor Leng, but even tutors and the other vice-chancellors had trouble meeting him. As a student, how could he meet Chancellor Leng?
The library reached its closing hours when the sky darkened. Zhou Wen had no choice but to return to his dorm and search for information on the music-type powers online, but he failed to find the answer he wanted.
However, while browsing the school forum, Zhou Wen saw a thread regarding music-type Primordial Energy Arts.
The thread name and content intrigued Zhou Wen. The thread was named "Space Dimensionality of Sound," and the person who posted it was a student's ID. Few people paid attention to it, and there were only a few dozen clicks. There were also very few replies.
There were very few people in Sunset College who cultivated music-type Primordial Energy Arts, so very few people were interested in this thread. However, Zhou Wen's eyes lit up when he saw it.
Although the content was a little strange and seemed unrealistic, it was very interesting.
After Zhou Wen read the thread, he seemed to understand why the Demonic Organ Throne could affect his emotions. However, there were many things he couldn't understand. The thread didn't have the answers to his questions.
Zhou Wen saw that the thread was posted two years ago. The author's ID wasn't online either. When he checked the author's post history, he was somewhat disappointed that this was the only thread. From the looks of it, he wasn't a person who often logged on to the forum.
He attempted to send a private message to the other party only with the hope of giving it a try and raising a few questions that troubled him.
Zhou Wen originally didn't have much hope, but to his surprise, the other party replied with a message shortly after and answered his questions in detail. Zhou Wen had never heard of any of those strange explanations which were unheard of, but they answered his questions.



1 drop of blood = 1-Up
Other people game overnight, I game overnight and bleed.
Ever since the dimensional storms descended upon Earth, numerous dimensional zones have appeared, bringing with them all kinds of dimensional creatures—Immortals, Buddhas, Devils, Angels, Elves, etc.
Yet, all these strange dimensional zones can turn into dungeon instances on my phone. Other people risk their lives adventuring, I spend all my time gaming.
Monsters drop dimensional crystals that boost stats, imbue new skills, and join me as Companion Beasts. These Companion Beasts fight alongside me or alone, augmenting me with their skills and strength. Rare monsters in real life? I'll just restart the game with a drop of blood to grind it.
I really need a blood transfusion.

(Next part)

 You know, I am very weak in mind, no matter how brave I am, I can't stand a little hardship;  So after that incident, I was so devastated that I couldn't stand the fact that the man I trusted so much could not have imagined that he would do such a thing. It was wrong for Rahul to decide to have a good home.  I used to leave and sit at home in the dark, I closed everything outside, I just cried, I didn't sit down to read, there were exams in front of me, but I didn't sit down to read and my grandfather was not there to take care of me.
 After spending a week like this, my father asked me one day if anything had happened and then I opened everything and said who is my father.


 Dad heard it all and said,
 Listen mom I have always tried to be your friend so that from a young age you and your grandfather can tell me everything without fear. Remember that I am both your mother and father, but now I see I could not be your mother even though I am your father.  If you had a mother, maybe she would have understood your mind.

 Please tell, whats the story of them big puppys ..... I and my grandfather know how much you have sacrificed for us. You have kept me safe like mother. Grandpa has seen my mother and I have not received mother's affection since birth.  You sat down to read correctly during the exam, you paid attention to all aspects of eating and drinking;  You have taken care of everything in the house office alone. Who says girls can do everything if they are like you, father?  Don't talk like this. If you didn't have a fortune, it would be very difficult.

 Dad said,
 Well, I realized that my daughter-in-law has grown up, so now she is ruling me like a child. Well, I will not say that one day I will smile a little.  But one thing I always remember about this old man is that there must be some reason behind everything that happens in life, but whether it is good or bad depends on the current situation, so always think about what you will do.  It can never be done, mother, but I think what I have done is for your own good, at least for the sake of finding out what kind of person I am, so don't think about it, pay attention to study now, higher education is ahead;  Maybe I can't stay. I don't want to break down. I have to deal with the situation and learn to solve problems. Only then can I achieve success in life.  If you can't adapt to all situations, you won't be able to move forward in life.

 Hum, I have grown up a lot. Go, father, let me sit down to read. Explain the Bengali. I have to read everything again.

 The music said,
 Hum, I understand that Ray Kaku has said the right thing. And if you follow his words, you will be happy for the rest of your life. That is why I also like Kaku very much.

 My father used to teach me from a young age and I even saw my grandfather reading.

 The music said,
 Then after the announcement of the ball test results, where did you go?  There were locks in your house, I found you a lot.

 Olive oil

 The music said,
 Where is Jalpaiguri?  I mean, tell me where you have been for so many years !!  I only had contact with you on the phone, not long ago, I got it from Facebook, so I asked.

 I went to my father's friend's house, after finishing college from there, I did my MA from Jadavpur and joined there as an e-guest lecturer.

 Sangeeta said
 Then tell me when are you getting married?  I remember this good thing when I will talk to Jiju, you have talked so much on the phone about Jiju, I am Fida on the whole Jiju.  When will I see Jiju.

 I'll see you later

 The music said,
 Where did Jiju go?

 Shut up, brother has called, please let me talk !!!
 After a while
 Now tell me what to say.


 The music said,
 That palm tree was calling or Ray !! I didn't say anything wrong like that. I think it is a tall palm tree.

 Okay, I understand you're happy to hear the pass nowadays.  I can't tell you what kind of palm tree or something else I saw during my marriage, then I can tell you something in advance.  If I see a crazy one myself, I will crush you. I want to make you my boudi for many days. Before I return to Davai, then I will think.

 The music said,
 Tell me how you got to know Jiju.  I will listen to your love story in full details.  Well, I saw Jiju Hand Sam or Ray on the phone, I don't remember exactly, so I'm asking, please don't tell me !!!

 Oops!  You don't do so much leaping, you are all foolish, be a little calm. I will tell you all, you are pretending like children.
 In fact, .......
 (Continued)
 What could be the hero ুন think a little😛

Lexine looked at Quira, "If you have somewhere to be, you can leave, I will be alright."
Quira shook her head making the strands of her lilac hair cover her face. "I drank your tea, therefore I shall wait."
Lexine did not understand the logic Quira was using, but since she had her mind set on waiting, Lexine was not going to say no. She was going to get lost if she did not have a guide after all. Miss Frea rubbed the dirt circle and her music trunk sunk into the soil.
She then fluttered her brown wings and looked up to smile at Lexine. "Miss Woods, First I would like to welcome you to the world on the other side of the gate. It is to my understanding that you are human?"
Lexine nodded, a frown covering her features. She hoped that the people that Arkien had told her secret were trustworthy. She definitely did not want to die. "I almost did not believe that it was you. I mean, your energy signature is high. Almost as high as a pure-blooded drakkon or as high as a water sylph."
This was not the first time she was being informed of this. "I will teach you how to infuse something with your energy. It is something that other students are taught in their homes. Since the invention of fire stones in cooking, even commoners know how to infuse objects with their energy. However, for now, you need to learn more about what we are speaking of. Do you know how to read a melody sheet?" 
Miss Frea turned to the soil board. Her earring glowed a deep brown and on the board appeared what she called a melody sheet. To Lexine however, this was a plain music score. Lexine studied it and realized it was exactly the same as some of the ones she had at home. She was not a music major or anything. In fact, most of the music scores she played were those handed down to her by her father. Other were those she had bought when she wanted her father to try and play them for her and her mother.
Miss Frea was not expecting Lexine to understand what was on the board. It was a melody sheet passed down in the first family. Her husband had played it for her once on his instrument. It was a well-known fact that the minds of humans were filled with nothing but war and fighting. They were bred to fight and born to fulfill that same purpose. When she was told of a human attending their Academy, she was curious and a little frightened. How would the human look? Were the stories she had heard true? What if Arkien was wrong and she had been sent over as a spy for the humans who had once craved the power the goddess had once blessed them with.
Lexine, however, was nothing of what the expectations she had in her mind. She was very quiet and could be seen studying her classmates once in a while. Not once during the lesson had she seen the human smile. In addition to that, her expression did not change when she displayed her power. The human had leaned forward, but that was all.
"It's a music score," Lexine spoke up to the surprise of Miss Frea. She then proceeded to hum the melody on the score. It was the exact melody that was on the soil board. Miss Frea was left in shock as she looked at the human before her. As she hummed, Lexine had a small smile on her face as she remembered her father teaching her how to read music scores once she hit the age of five.
That small smile sparked a whole new look to Lexine's face. Miss Frea was left astounded. This human was more shocking than she let on. After Lexine was done, Lexine turned to her, her smile completely gone, as if it was not there in the first place. "It is a beautiful peace. It almost sounds like the work of Chopin."
Miss Frea picked her jaw off of the floor. "Who taught you to read melody sheets? I thought you said you are human."
"I am human. This is just similar to a music score from back home. Music is written back home too."
Miss Frea was shocked once more. Weren't humans supposed to be war creatures. Why did they write music if they were. It made little sense. Nevertheless, she collected herself. "I see. If you can read this sheet then my work has been simplified. Your assignment will be different from the assignment the rest of the students will hand over. I want you to study all the melody sheets you find in the school library. I do not need you to find all of them. The minimum you should do is thirty. Find for different instrument users. The instrument user will be indicated at the top of the sheet. The more widespread the better. I want you to highlight the differences you find in these music sheets. In addition to this, research why sometimes the melody works for two different instrument users but sometimes it is not so. Do you understand?"
Lexine nodded. Thank heavens she had her photographic memory. Otherwise, it could be quite difficult to remember all Miss Frea had said.
"That is all. You have a week."
Lexine nodded and glanced back at Quira. The latter was seated at the same spot. Her back was straight with her hands placed almost daintily on her lap. With her Asianish look added to the fact that she was wearing a skirt instead of trousers like Lexine, she reminded Lexine of girls in anime.
"Quira, let's go?"
Quira stood and the grass leaf they had been seated on retracted back to the normal grass size. 
They went through the large wooden door they had passed. "Quira, are you busy later? If you're not, can we go to the library together?"
Quira, who had been walking a few steps behind Lexine, paused in shock. It was the first time anyone other than Desire had asked to do something with her. The only reason Desire began to speak to her is because their families were under the same household and thus they were thrust to each other to become friends. Her siblings were too young to speak have some conversations with. All they loved doing was playing outside with the water. Her parents were always busy with issues concerning the first household. Since she naturally did not speak much, those of higher rank thought her rude while those of lower rank thought her snobbish.
She got over her shock. The only reason Lexine was asking this was that they were housemates. It is not like she had anyone else to ask at the moment therefore she was the only option. Surely if Lexine had other options, she would not even dare pick her. Despite this lingering thought, she caught up to Lexine who had stopped and looked back, "If you do not mind having me accompany you."
Lexine nodded in thanks and they went on to the end of the path. At the end of the path, Taevlin stood. His long silver hair was held up in a ribbon. He held an envelope in his right hand and a large book in the other. When Lexine and Quira appeared, he walked over to them. 
Without even greeting, he handed the parchment to Lexine. Lexine did not want to take the envelope from someone who had partaken in kidnapping her two days ago. He had not even apologized. It was just plain rude. "What is it?"
'Headmaster instructed me to give this to you.'
"Can't you speak without using the mind wave?"
He did not answer the question but pushed the envelope to her once more. Lexine was about to refuse to take it when she saw the familiar handwriting on it. She grabbed it from his hand and walked off. The letter was folded into two and stuffed in the pocket on the left side of her jacket. She would read it before the teacher came to start the next class. She did not want him invading her mind again. If it was possible, her head felt itchy when he spoke to her using mind wave. It was a very displeasing feeling.
Taevlin frowned at her retreating back. It was another show of disrespect. Those of lower rank were not to leave the presence of one with higher rank unless they were dismissed. His fingers itched to hit her with a splash of water. However, he reigned in his anger and turned to walk to his class.
Quira ran to catch up with her. "Lexine! You're going the wrong way! That way is the anthropoid training arena."
Lexine's eyebrow twitched. She did not want to walk back, however, if they were late for class, she would make Quira get into trouble for no reason again.
Swallowing her pride, she turned and with a deep frown, spoke, "Lead the way."

On a normal day, Lexine is sent a large wardrobe and a letter telling her she is invited to a new school. She firmly believes it is a scam and refuses to go, not caring of the 'consequences' they had stated in the letter. However, on the day she resumed her normal classes, she is kidnapped and taken to the school. Here she learns that the world she knew was divided into two realms by what is known as a gate. The Headmaster took a risk in inviting her to be part of the academy. If anyone finds out that she is human, she might die in a duel.
She agrees to the terms in order to find out the truth about her father. Was he part of this other world that had mystical creatures that were only found in fantasy films? If yes, what creature was he? What led him to get to the other side of the Gate?
Lexine has to discover who she is, while rectifying the mistakes that her father made years and years before. Will she be accepted or kicked back to the other side of the gate or will she be killed to keep the secret?

*Small excerpt*
Lexine held the heavy metal sword tightly in her grip as she breathed heavily. She could feel the skin on her palm had become torn again. Either way, she could not give up now, not when she had come this far. She looked up at Taevlin who was attacking her silently with wave after wave of water. Her job was to cleanly slice the waves of water in half before they hit her body. So far, she had succeeded in hitting none.
Taevlin was becoming increasingly irritated with the human. He ran a hand through his ash gray locks, trying to think of a solution. Without a word, he walked up to the human, held her by the hips and pushed down, thereby correcting her posture. Lexine internally frowned, not used to contact with a lot of people. Before she could get a word in, Taevlin had spoken in her mind, 'Plant your legs firmly, else the force of the water will continue to push you back.'
She frowned, "I've told you time and again, don't speak in my head like that. It's disturbing."
Despite the chastising tone she was using, she followed his instructions and planted her sneaker covered feet ankle deep inside the soil.
Taevlin: 'Did she just...'

Note:
This book does not focus on the love life Lexine will have. Yes she will have a love life, but it is not the whole plotline. The main theme is how she grows as a whole, trying to accept who she is and find out who her father truly was. I would like to hear your guesses on who the love conquests are though. There's a whole new world being introduced, many different species. All characters, despite not being in the main cast, have a storyline. If they are important to the story, the storyline will be explained further. Hope you enjoy the book, and please comment on anything you would like to point out.

| Self |

♥

I didn't know what he meant by that. He'll help me know me?

I didn't know what he meant until the next day, I saw another white post-it stuck against my locker at dismissal. The written note was: hi, maurice – please meet maurice. -sean at the usual place.

I laughed at his goofiness and shook my head. I realized he was rather a joker, despite his strong, scary aura. You just really have to crack him up to drop his fake mask.

I went at the secluded room and again, I saw him sitting at the usual broken chair, strumming his usual guitar.

"Dala mo ba talaga lagi 'yan?" I asked him, walking inside.

He brought up his head and flashed me his famous crooked smile. "Aren't you fast?"

I blushed. I pulled a broken chair and sat on it, too, facing him, my legs closed and palms holding it. "I-I have nothing else to do."

"Leaving my guitar at home is like leaving our house naked."

I laughed. "Weird."

He just smiled lopsidedly. Sean didn't say anything more. He just continued to strum his guitar and creates beautiful notes. Sometimes he strums flat notes, and when he does, he restarts.

Breaking our wordless connection, he said, "Mau. May gusto 'kong ipakita sa 'yo."

I frowned, while telling my heart to calm down. He said my name so smoothly, as if he said his own.

"What?"

I couldn't quite remember things that happened at the secluded room but the part where he just strums while I was watching him. Right now, as I am writing this, my diary back then is open in my lap. It was a short entry, but the handwriting was written carefully and light, a sign that perhaps writing those letters were appreciated. Perhaps when I wrote those, I was in a perfect situation of blithe, recalling those happy moments I had with him.

I entrust these entries I write through my diary entries back in 2016. But not all. I suck at writing, so describing feelings I've felt while with Sean is poorly written. However, whenever I read a single piece, although described badly, the feelings were just as fresh as if it happened yesterday, and although the pictures are blurry, the emotions are just as beautiful as before.

My diary said we went to an art museum, and now, looking back, I can remember the cold gush of wind and the tree leaves and the sounds of our footsteps walking at the sidewalk.

As usual, he walked ahead of me. The music we shared is the sounds of footsteps we create.

"Would your prissy mother mind if you go home late?"

"Wala na siyang paki sa 'kin," I answered. "Why would I go home late anyway?"

"Ipapakilala nga kita kay Maurice."

"Kinakausap kita nang maayos, Sean," I warned him, on which he laughed at.

"You're too serious," he said. He stopped walking and faced me. "Smile."

I just rolled my eyes and walked past him.

We arrived in a little museum of arts. I was shocked that there is a museum on our town! I never knew that! Maybe because I was just too stuck in our house and never leaves.

Yeah, I guess that's it. I thought being an introvert is a lot of fun, but I didn't know there's so much fun outside my box that I've been refusing to see because I myself gave myself chains.

When we walked inside, I saw huge frames with beautiful artworks. They were so beautiful, that in every tilt of my head, I open my mouth in awe. Some are just a splatter of color, some are monochrome that deliver messages, and some just so full of bright hues.

There are also aesthetic sculptures beneath fragile glasses I stared at for so long. It amazed me, stars almost appeared in my eyes. Aside from that is some award winning photographs clinging on the beige walls.

I enjoyed myself looking around and appreciating humans' arts, but not as much as Sean did. I was done looking around while he was just left, staring into a certain photograph.

"Enjoying?" I asked him.

"Always at the museum," he said and shot me his famous smirk.

We stayed there for half an hour before we decided to grab a drink. While walking, I remember having a conversation with him about how amazing the artworks were. Our thoughts completely matched, as if as we were both wandering our hearts around the museum, we were exactly thinking the same thoughts.

He talked (although not elaborately) about how he's been fascinated by arts, but never had a chance to make one because his hands never cooperated. I nodded, finding his problem relatable.

I figured, at least, he's been good with music.

"Do you do art?"

I sucked the cheese on my fingers from the chips we've eaten before answering. "No," I said. "But gaya mo, I tried. I still can't, though."

He laughed, his lips lopsided, his head shaking. "Guess it isn't for you, huh?"

I smiled. "I wish it was," I said. "Or something better is."

He grinned as a reply.

After sitting on a bench while drinking sweet coffees, he brought me to a bookstore.

Sean was bored as heck as I browse through some books. I love books. If not studying or playing scrabbles with myself, I read books. I read and read. Sometimes I feel guilty for reading too much novels because I tend to leave my studies behind.

If there was an escape, I'd say it's books. It's where I find my safe haven. It delivers me in a world I can never find on Earth.

Sometimes I chat with Sean about amazing books I've read and want to read. I felt comfortable talking with him because he smiles and listens to me. Although sometimes he drops sarcastic comments, I knew he takes those thing I told him and understands me. It made me kind of fall in love with the conversations we created. For the first time in my life, I felt so light, sharing my thoughts with someone who is willing to listen. I have always thought papers and pens are just the ones that are there to help me free my thoughts – but then, Sean was suddenly there... in my life.

Back then, I didn't know why we were touring along some establishments through the town, but I went with the flow, anyway.

After the museum and the bookstore, we went to a music store.

That's where we stayed long.

We browsed through various albums and found amazing bands. For the first time, Sean talked about his love for music. But he didn't tell a story. He showed it to me through his remarks and little comments while walking through the aisles of music DVDs.

"I was nine when I started to listen to this, but I appreciated music ever since," he said.

"This is the song my father used to play when teaching me a guitar for the first time, at grade school."

"I never knew I could sing until I found this band back when I was eleven, and man, aren't they good."

"This is the song I played at the club my brother played at before. It was my first song to ever sing but it went well, they said. I think I almost peed in nervousness while playing, though."

There are other few sentences from him and gluing all them up together, I created his little piece of story about his love for music.

His brother and father had always been playing and Sean had grown up seeing them do so, and the little him found interest in making music. His father and older bro guided him towards the path of music, taught him, and molded him to be a great singer he became. They urged him to play in clubs and to discover himself despite his lack of confidence within him.

Really, he didn't need to tell those one by one. I can see his story through him. Gosh, he wasn't so mysterious at all, I thought.

When we went out the music store, it is already dawn. It was an orange, beautiful dawn. The lights were orange, the black birds flew across the pink skies, and the sun is nowhere but its blaze still manages to light up the whole town.

I thought we'll be going home but he wanted us to go to a park. I agreed.

When we got there, no one was speaking. We just sat there, on the bench, wind embracing our skins, looking at the sceneries the warm and happy park gives.

There were kids, a smiling man selling balloons, butterflies, the dancing of tree leaves, the tree trunks with old carved names against it. It was peaceful.

Realizing Sean and I are sitting beside each other with only a few inches away, I blushed. I don't know why. I always feel like this – the churning of my tummy, and my fast heartbeat whenever he moves close or speaks with me in his deep, alluring voice. Or whenever he sings. Always.

I shook those thoughts away and thought back about those things Sean and I did together that day.

I couldn't deny the fact that it really made me happy and I truly had fun. I used to stroll around, enjoy things solely, but I didn't know everything is much more enjoyable if you have a company to talk with, share stupid remarks with, and laugh with.

I experienced those through Sean's help.

"You know what I realized?" I heard him suddenly ask.

"What?"

I looked at him and he's smiling crookedly again. "Kahit saan kita dalhin, nag-e-enjoy ka."

Once he said that, I realized the same thing, too. Bakit kaya? Siguro dahil 'yun na talaga 'yung gusto ko nang gawin ever since. Magliwaliw. Magpakasaya. Do things without any worries if my Mom gets mad or not. Share my thoughts, no matter how little or big they are, with someone.

I smiled, too. "Yeah. I guess."

"Nakilala mo na ba si Maurice?"

I laughed. "Ano ba?"

He laughed. "What?"

I relaxed from laughing. "Yes. Maurice has always been there," I said. "She's not just noticed. I tend to look at things straight ahead, not to look at her and ask what she wants.

"Pero ngayon... binigyang pansin ko na siya. Maurice smiled for the first time," I said. "She is happy... finally."

I was just looking at my hands while I say those. I was fighting my tears. I don't want them to drop again.

I don't want them to fall.

Just like how I was about to for Sean.

♥

It is, I think, wondrous, that all these things I write down on this diary came from my vague memories. Remembering all them is like seeing a blurry tape, all unclear but his eyes - just his eyes. Until now, even years after, I can still feel the electricity I felt back then under those gazes. It was just beautiful. And although my memory of the scenes I had with him are hazy, faint pictures, at least I know that what I feel - and what I'll forever feel, stays the same. Stays unscathed. Still as clear as always.

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