Like My Heart Craves A Beat

Episode 3 - Teamwork

Author's Note:

I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I went on a two month vacation and just got back. I'll do better!

💔

It's Thursday evening when he tries to call Gong Jun. After four signals he is sent to voicemail, so he hangs up and clicks into WeChat instead.

Me @ 19:23
Junjun!
I'm working on a new song today
NaNa has changed our flights, so I'll be back tomorrow
We will likely head straight to the sports centre
I'll see you then!

And before he can change his mind.

Me @ 19:24
I miss you

He's in the middle of recording when the response comes through. He doesn't see it until almost one in the morning, when Li Na hands him his phone as they shuffle into the denim blue XC60. He leans back against the car seat, as the Volvo navigates the still crowded streets towards his apartment, and scrolls through the messages, his eyes tired but the corners of his lips curl into a smile.

Junjun @ 20:39
I was at the gym.
I'm glad things are going well!
I'd say don't stay up too late, but I know you... Don't forget to eat.
Try and sleep some on the flight back tomorrow and I'll see you at the sports centre.
I wonder what we are doing... I hear rumours that we will be in costumes as well.

Junjun @ 20:54
I can't wait to hear the song!

Junjun @ 22:14
I miss you too.

His heart skips a beat when he reads those four words. Then he blinks and reads it again, likely with a sappy grin on his face. During their time together, this is something that Gong Jun has very rarely said or written back. If it wasn't in the middle of the night, he would call Gong Jun just to hear his voice because he does miss him. They haven't talked in a few days, having managed to miss each other's calls due to the insane and irregular hours he tends to keep in the recording studio, living and breathing his music. And also, Gong Jun has had an overnight trip to Changsha for a Louis Vuitton red carpet event.

The new song that wrapped its tentacles around his entire being came to him last night, and has had him up for almost twenty-four hours straight. He's pretty sure that his heart is currently beating to the rhythm of the song still playing inside his head. Or maybe it is the other way around this time?

He turns towards Li Na and she puts her phone down. He can see that she is tired as well, keeping the same insane schedule that he is. "Let's see if we can shift the recording to a studio in Hangzhou."

She doesn't even ask him why, just nods and starts typing on her phone. He looks at the last message in WeChat and smiles.

He doesn't want to miss Gong Jun.

💔

After a thirty-minute drive from the airport, the Volvo silently pulls up in front of the entrance outside the Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre . Huang Yi Nuo and her production team pull in behind them. By the looks of it, Gong Jun has already arrived because he can see the fusion red Volvo parked further down the road, in the area sectioned off for the production. He looks out the window and his gaze sweeps across the two sunflower-shaped buildings. He's done his fair bit of athletic competitions in his career, but this venue is definitely fancier than what he had been expecting. In fact, he's pretty sure that this is the fanciest sports venue he has been in to date—at least with him as one of the contestants.

The car doors swing open, and they are unceremoniously ushered in through the main entrance and towards the changing area. The Sports Centre is bustling with people and the fast-paced energy of setting up a production pulsates in the air. But even so, even with all the noise around him, he can hear Gong Jun before he reaches their assigned changing room.