To String Together ( Huaze Lei )

Not Ready

"Wei Yi... Senior Yu Yin," I nod greeting them. Yu Yin smiled and nodded.

"I had a feeling you and Faye would be matching today," Yu Yin's soft tone spoke and she looked directly at me. "I hope it's alright, we're going to steal Faye for the evening."

"She's coming back to the apartment with Wei Yi and I to have a few drinks to celebrate the semester." Si Tu Mo smiled.

"I don't mind," I smiled politely. "The four of you enjoy."

"You're welcome to join Lei," Wei Yi spoke.

"Thank you. I may join later in the evening." I had plans after the performance was to plan out the rest of Fayes birthday with her family and the Astro members with Ximen. We wanted to make sure we celebrated her birthday well since this was my first and Ximen hasn't been able to celebrate his best friend's birthday in over five years. "You've met Ximen," I said, turning my attention towards my friends. "And this is Meizuo." Each of them exchanged a few hellos before I had them take a seat and began making my way to the practice room where Faye would be.

Faye Calinao

My eyes opened as I took my bow off the string and calmly let the sound of my cello resonate. After a moment, my body relaxed and I put my bow on the stand and carefully placed my cello on it's side. I stood from my seat to walk over to the window and take my water. Taking a sip of my water I heard a light knock and I turned towards the direction of the door.

The freshman Dong Shancai was at the door and I waved her in with a friendly smile. It was nice to see a familiar face. Today she wore a simple winter outfit. She had on a fleece coat on and a simple light blue top, black jeans and her white high tops. She seemed happy to see me and noticed she had a stuffed tiger in her hand. Before I could speak, another figure appeared behind her and realized who it was.

"Shancai..." I spoke lightly and my smile faltered at the sight of Doaming Si behind her. She looked between him and I. I looked towards Daoming Si and let out a shaky breath not expecting to see him. I noticed in his dark outfit today, he had a colorful bouquet in his hands. His other hand I noticed was out of the cast. His expression was neutral as he made eye contact with me.

"Hello Senior Faye," Shancai greeted. "I don't mean to intrude on your performance day. I hope you're not mad," she spoke softly referring to Doaming Si. Even though Lei explained to me Doaming Si's change in behavior, it did not stop my mind from panicking and feeling uncomfortable. I couldn't say it was okay. I knew she was trying to help the awful situation between us.

"I-I invited you," I answered after a moment of forming words. "You're fine Shancai... but why did you bring him?" I asked lightly. I leaned against the piano and clasped my hands together to stop them from shaking. Shancai looked towards Daoming Si nervously before looking back at me. I heard a sigh from Daoming Si and he stepped forward.

"I came here to apologize," he spoke softly. My mind asking if this was real or an act. I found it difficult to trust what was going on. "I am sorry for giving you difficulty our entire life and I'm sorry for causing the harm I've done in the past. It wasn't right for me to make Ximen choose between us. I know I've been wrong to cause you... a lot." Hearing him speak put me in a trance and I felt confused this was happening so suddenly. His tone did not give any indication of sarcasm or threatening like.

It felt like everything was slowing down in my mind and it was causing me to become off balance. I put my hand on the piano to steady myself and the voice of Doaming Si came to a halt.

"Senior Faye," Shancai voiced and came over to me worriedly. Daoming Si worried for Shancai and my sudden movement made him walk towards me. My instincts immediately thought of what he would have done if we were alone and I squeezed my eyes shut. Shutting my eyes made things worse. My dizziness made me reopen my eyes and I noticed Doaming Si was about to reach for me and my eyes widened.

"P-please don't touch me," I stopped him and he nodded awkwardly and took a step back. Shancai instead stepped forward and took my arm gently before having me sit down at the piano. My heart was racing and my head was clouded enough to hear my heart beating in my head.

"Faye," Shancai spoke worriedly. "You're shaking. I can get you water. What is it that you need?" I had my eyes trained forward towards the ground before reaching the door. I needed Daoming Si to leave for now. It did not calm me. He was here and I had a performance exam in twenty minutes.

"Ah Si," I heard Lei from the door and I looked slowly to see a concerned Lei looking at me. Both Daoming Si and Shancai stepped aside as Lei walked over towards us. "Why are you here?" Lei asked him.

"I came here to apologize," Daoming Si answered to his best friend. He glanced towards me with an unsure expression.

"Not before our performance examination!" Lei spoke with a hint of frustration in his tone. "Faye," Lei spoke lightly and came over to me. He leaned down placing his hands on my cheeks. "Hey," he spoke gently. "It's alright. Nothing will happen." I let out shaky sigh from his calming touch. Hearing him talk to me calmed my nerves and my mind clearing of the million things going through my mind. After a moment of recovering from my strange trance, I blinked a few times and turned my head to look directly at Lei. He smiled relieved and reached over for my water.

"I'm so sorry Faye," Shancai apologized and bowed her head slightly. "Doaming Si and I will leave."

"I am sorry also," Doaming Si spoke and I looked towards him who seemed... uncomfortable. "These are for you Faye..." he showed the bouquet of flowers and noticed there was a small gift bag. He placed them on top of the piano and I noticed Lei also sent him a cold look telling him to leave. "I... hope you read the letter in there. I wish you both luck on your performance." My mind continued to ask how Doaming Si apologizing was real.

"I will see you both later," Lei spoke and the two nod as they apologized once more before leaving the practice room. The door closed and also turned towards me and held his hand out for me to take. I looked up at him trusting his intentions. He helped me up and had me facing him. "Are you alright?"

"I'll... be okay." I answer softly. "I wasn't expecting to see him... here."

"Are you alright to play? I can talk to Dr.Lu and push it back another twenty minutes or so." I shook my head and gave his hand a light squeeze.

"It's okay. I have to eventually accept Doaming Si, right?" I asked lightly. "It... may take some time with my... past. I'm not used to him apologizing and I can't forget the horrible ways he has treated me."

"I don't expect you to be close with him suddenly Faye. Really, I'm not going to force you. Do you need anything before we go onto the stage then? We can discuss more of this later." I shook my head, taking my bow off the stand.

"I'm all set. Are you ready?" Lei bent down carefully to pick up my cello and hand it to me before taking his violin and bow. He looked towards me and gave me a reassuring smile before we made our way towards the auditorium.

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Next update: Wednesday April 14, 2021