Light and sad
After Hugo opened his eyes, he remained silent. Charlize quietly lifted her gaze and discovered that Hugo's eyes were hazy, indicating that he was still in a dazed state without focus. Charlize couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hugo, are you okay?" Charlize cautiously asked.
Hugo gathered his focus toward the source of the voice. "Oh, I'm fine," he replied, nodding lightly. He just felt tired; the headache and knee pain left him weak. Hugo strongly doubted that his exercise routine, which he had persisted with for so long, had completely improved his deteriorating physical condition.
As Hugo's vision gradually became clear, Charlize became a little flustered. She quickly averted her gaze and hurriedly raised the supermarket receipt in her hand. "So, is this a song lyric? Something you just created?" Hugo nodded gently, and Charlize casually remarked, "So, what melody do you plan to accompany it with? A melancholic and mournful piano?"
Upon hearing Charlize's words, Hugo laughed lightly. The corners of his mouth formed a slight curve, causing Charlize's heartbeat to slightly quicken. "No, no, I won't do that," Hugo replied. When it came to music, his thoughts shifted slightly, and his tone became more lively. He pondered carefully and continued, "I think maybe I'll choose the guitar and compose a lively, even joyful melody to go with it."
Hugo's words left Charlize dumbfounded. She looked at the receipt in her hand, the sorrowful lyrics still clearly visible in her eyes. "How... how..." she struggled to envision such a combination in her mind. Perhaps this was the difference in musical talent.
Seeing Charlize's stunned expression, Hugo suddenly found it amusing. His smile grew even wider. "What's wrong? Don't you believe me? If you're not worried about waking up Alex, you can come to my room and get the guitar..." Before he could finish his sentence, Charlize jumped up and ran towards Hugo's room. Hugo pursed his lips. "I'll take that as a definite answer."
Charlize quickly brought out the guitar and handed it to Hugo. He was already half-sitting, and he adjusted his posture, crossing his legs as he sat on the sofa. Then, he skillfully tuned the guitar strings. The guitar was Hugo's most reassuring companion, as it had been with him for the past ten years. Whenever Hugo held the guitar, his mood easily calmed down, and the turbulent thoughts settled along with the clear sound of the guitar strings.
Charlize quickly sat on the sofa and stared intently at Hugo's fingers gently plucking the guitar strings. Hugo seemed to be doing it without much thought, randomly strumming the strings. The clear sound flowed like moonlight, creating a magical scene where the moonlight in the room danced along with Hugo's guitar. Everything was so unbelievably beautiful.
[
Framed ghost left perfume on pillow
Room without a halo
Losing my sleep
Almost on and off in echoes
Time is passing so slow
Dragging me deep
]
Hugo's captivating voice, accompanied by a smile, interpreted the lyrics. The rigid words that Charlize had seen before now seemed infused with life, dancing within the blending of moonlight and darkness. Just as Hugo had said, the cheerful guitar melodies and the sadness of the lyrics were completely mismatched. The slightly joyful tempo sounded like a romantic waltz that would be played at a promenade, beautiful and enchanting. However, when combined with the lost and desperate lyrics, it created a strange resonance. It was like the gentle drizzle outside the window, spreading gradually within the line of sight in the night.
[
I can't make anything
Out of might have beens
Will tomorrow bring all into light?
When you are near me
When you are here I see
All that I am made of
And all that I have
When you are near
]
The curve of Charlize's lips traced a lively melody towards her ears, and the lively guitar strings slowly entered the chorus, gradually increasing in speed. She only heard Hugo's voice, filled with a smile, humming within the lively melody. But when she heard the part of the lyrics "when you are near me", an inexplicable sadness suddenly struck her. Though his lips still carried a smile, a layer of melancholy tainted his eyes, not gray or black, but blue, a blue like moonlight, seeping from the depths of his eyes into his heart.
[
Way late television headache
Bursting into daybreak
Losing my sleep
I don't fear anything
In this place we're in
Will tomorrow bring all into light?
When you are near me
When you are here I see
All that I am made of
And all that I have
]
Originally, it wasn't only sentimental music that was moving, nor was it only endless sadness that was genuine. It was the smiling sadness that possessed an infinite power, causing the heart to contract suddenly, struck in an instant. Tears glistened within the smile, carrying a sadness that was resilient and painful yet tenacious, flowing gently from the clear guitar strings.
[
When you are near me
When you are here I see
All that I am
Baby, you're all that I have
You're all that I am
I can't see anything
In the dark but then
Your reflection brings all into light...
When you are near me
When you are here I see
All that I am made of
And all that I have
When you are near me
When you are here I see
All that I am
Baby, you're all that I have
You're all that I am
]
Hugo's humming became more and more joyful, the guitar strings lighter and more lively, as if singing a romantic love song celebrating an anniversary. It carried a sense of contentment, leisure, and beauty, yet this emotion was infected by the sadness and discouragement within the lyrics, evolving into a blue loneliness.
Listen to Hugo's lyrics, "When you are near me, baby, you're all that I have, you're all that I am." This wasn't a remembrance but a calling. One could imagine that all the sweetness, all the happiness, all the romance within the depths of the heart transformed into the strings of the fingertips, expressing themselves to the fullest. And after all the beautiful memories in the heart had been vented, looking around, one realized that the person by their side was no longer there. The present tense of "when you are near me" had become past tense, and the desolation in the heart lingered in the faint echoes.
Charlize still had a smile on her face, her eyes devoid of tears, but her heart ached infinitely. Hidden behind the liveliness and joy was a sorrow that danced in the moonlight, like a graceful ballerina performing on the edge of a knife. The more captivating the dance, the deeper the pain. All the spectators saw the exquisite posture but couldn't see the crimson stains beneath their feet.
After playing the entire song, Hugo sat quietly, embracing the guitar in his arms, lost in his own thoughts. Charlize could see the smile on Hugo's lips, the clarity in his eyes dried up, but she knew that his heart was immersed in blue at this moment.
"So, how do you plan to name this song?" Charlize broke the silence in the hall and asked casually.
Hugo snapped out of his thoughts and pursed his lips. "When You Are Near" he said. After speaking, he fell into a daze for a moment and murmured softly, "Perhaps I should use the past tense..." Then Hugo stared blankly at the lonely supermarket receipt on the table, uncertainty filling his eyes. This almost caused tears to well up in Charlize's eyes.
Charlize quickly turned her head, took a deep breath, and controlled her emotions. She tried to sound calm as she said, "It's good as it is now, I think the song is already complete. You shouldn't make any more changes."
Hugo turned to look at Charlize, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "Yeah, let's go with that." After speaking, he leaned back against the back of the sofa, exhausted as if the performance just now had drained all his energy. He held the guitar, resting his head against the soft chair back, and murmured softly, "It's fine like this, it's fine." Then he gently closed his eyes.
Charlize sat quietly without saying another word. The faint sound of a movie playing on the television still came through, but it only emphasized the silence in the entire hall. Charlize stared blankly at the TV screen, but she felt no sleepiness and had no thoughts in her empty mind. However, when she turned her head to look at Hugo, a faint worry appeared in her eyes. Recently, everything seemed to be piling up for Hugo, facing one test after another. She didn't know how long he could hold on.
After a while, Hugo seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. Charlize stood up and took a look, only to find that Hugo's cheeks were unusually flushed, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. She reached out and touched it, realizing that Hugo's temperature was slightly elevated. Worried, Charlize searched for a thermometer and measured his temperature. As expected, it was a hundred degrees Fahrenheit (thirty-eight degrees Celsius), a low-grade fever.
Throughout the process, Hugo slept soundly, showing no reaction.
Charlize remembered that tonight Hugo mentioned his old knee injury relapsing, and he had been rubbing his head in pain. It seemed that he caught a chill from sweating too much and not keeping warm. The weather in Los Angeles wasn't great tonight. Fortunately, Hugo's temperature wasn't too high, and he should recover after sweating it out completely.
So, Charlize carefully took the guitar from Hugo's embrace, then grabbed a towel and wiped away the sweat from his forehead. She brought out all the blankets from the room and wrapped Hugo tightly in them. After completing these tasks, she draped a blanket around herself and sat on the couch, guarding Hugo silently, waiting for dawn to arrive.