chapter 1.1

A young man sat slumped on the ocean-colored armchair.

He was wearing a loose white sweater, black jeans and ankle-length leather boots, his long legs were casually crossed with one leg over the other.

His hair fell slightly past his earlobes, black sunglasses covered half of his face, revealing only a straight nose, pursed lips and an angular jaw.

A young lady with her hair in a ponytail walked over with tea and gently placed it on the small table next to the man, “Mr. Qiao, please have some tea.”

The man sat up a little straighter and quietly said, “Thank you.”

Suddenly, the body gestures that were keeping people away exuded gentleness, and the young lady blushed slightly, “Y-you-you’re welcome. That…… Director Xu will be here soon, so if Mr. Qiao has any request, just say it.”

The man nodded his head slightly, “Okay.”

When the little girl came out, she was just in time to run into Xu Tu who was returning, “Mr. Qiao is already waiting for you, Director Xu.”

Xu Tu, “Ok.”

With a little excitement and high spirits, the little girl asked again, “Is Mr. Qiao also a celebrity? How come I’ve never seen him before, he is so cool ah.”

Xu Tu shook his head and smiled, “He is a classmate of mine from when I went to college, called Qiao Yang. Although he’s not a celebrity, he won the Golden Melody Award for the music he wrote in college. This time, I’ve invited him to write the opening song for our new drama ‘To Strive Forward’.”

“Qiao Yang? Wasn’t there a cannon fodder third young master in the drama, also called Qiao Yang?”

The young girl smiled exuberantly, “Isn’t this situation called the warning of transmigrating into a book? Please familiarize yourself with the plot.”

Xu Tu gave her a dirty look, “Don’t make others unlucky[1], have you read the script? Do you know how badly the person will end up?”

He said then he pushed the door to go in, he laughed when he saw the man on the sofa, “Qiao Yang, long time no see, you’re still the same.”

Qiao Yang didn’t say anything, he used his index finger to push up his sunglasses to his forehead then above his hair, revealing a pair of narrow, sharp phoenix eyes and…… two heavy dark eye-bags.

Xu Tu “pfft” and said, “You didn’t sleep and stayed up all night watching <to>?”</to>

His eyes were once again obscured by sunglasses, his voice was flat and unchanging as he said faintly, “There is nothing to see. I didn’t sleep all night in order to make music for you. It’s been a long time since I last wrote music.”

“Not good looking? I don’t like the supporting character Qiao Yang.”

Xu Tu laughed, “The name is the same as yours, but the personality is entirely different. Furthermore, one is very hardworking trying to harm his two brothers, while you treat your brother so well….”

At this moment, the sentence abruptly ended.

Xu Tu softly coughed then tentatively asked, “Now, are you really just going to keep working at that bar everyday and give up writing songs?”

His eyes were hidden behind the pair of sunglasses, making it difficult to discern his mood. And only the corners of his mouth gently hooked up in an attractive arch, however, it didn’t give of the vibe that he was smiling. His voice was still insipid, “I haven’t given up. As a matter of fact, I still accepted your request.”

“You know what I was trying to say.” Xu Tu had no choice but to shake his head and sighed, “Forget it, don’t talk about it anymore. Let’s go, long time no see, let’s go have a drink.”

The two became close friends during their college years. It was only after Qiao Yang had dropped out of college in his second year that they had rarely seen each other. However, whenever they could get together, they always had endless things to say.

As they chatted, Xu Tu started telling him about the drama, “Although Qiao Yang’s character jumps to his death very early on in the drama, still needs a lot of work during the filming process.”

“With a lot of exaggeration, Qiao Yang’s stupidity and treacherous side are brought out to highlight the leading character Gu Ye’s strong wisdom and open-mindedness, as to make the protagonist’s aura shine brighter.”

Qiao Yang indifferently poured lemon juice and club soda into a half-glass of whiskey, casually mixed it a few times then pushed it to Xu Tu.

“Stop! Stop using my name for this character, can the crew change his name?”

Xu Tu was very inebriated and couldn’t hold the wine glass steady, he ‘clicked’ his tongue and sighed, “I know, you don’t like him because he harmed his brother.”

“You just can’t get over your brother. It’s been so many years but you’re still keeping that lousy bar, is it fun to live like this everyday?”

When old friends would get together, they would always go down memory lane, bringing up a bit of melancholy while recalling those memories of the past. And Qiao Yang, who had always been able to control himself, also drank a few more glasses.

He called a substitute driver[2] when he was ready to go home. After he gave his address, he wobbled into the front passenger seat.

The current popular song was playing in the car. Various kinds of accompanying musical instruments harmoniously formed a rhythm of cheerful and lighthearted song, but only the main string of music note jumped in his brain.

He drowsily immersed himself in it.

His sight suddenly went black, and outside of the window, a truck was speeding toward him. His eyes widened in shock, however he didn’t even have a moment to scream.

An ear-piercing shrill sound of the emergency brake sounded out.

Afterward, his body was suddenly lurched forward and all that was heard was the deafening sound of steel colliding with steel; breaking the city’s tranquility.

“Yangyang……. Don’t be sad, I only go to that world to wait for you…..”

～～～

The big banquet hall, white tablecloths spread over round tables’ tops, creating rows of neatly covered tables. Fragrant flowers served as centerpieces, fine wine glasses and cutleries were orderly placed.

Red carpet covered the floor, while a row of crystal chandeliers hung from the dome-shaped ceiling reflecting the well-dressed men and women at the banquet, showing off a dazzling spectrum of lights. The picturesque scene was glorious and luxurious no matter where one looked.

At a round table located in a corner of the room, a man with blonde hair and wearing a suit raised his wine glass and merrily laughed with a man next to him, “Last time Young Master Qiao and Gu Ye confronted each other, my bros sincerely admired him. Come, I, Liang Wei will give respect to Young Master Qiao.”