The day with the music

The dim light fell over Xīn's face, he slowly opened his eyes, but not in a mannered way. He was in his bed trying to open his eyes properly. When he can see clearly a little, he saw someone standing in…his room?

"!!!!"

He got up quickly, but when clearly saw who the person was he was relieved and said."Oh, it's you."

It was Bai Shao, upon hearing the word 'Oh, it's you' Bai Shao couldn't help but give a simple grin to Xīn. Xīn was panicked a bit, he thought it was Cloud but when it turned out to be Bai Shao he was relieved. But now that he had looked back again at Bai Shao, who was zoning out who knows what he might be thinking, it can be surely said that Bai Shao was thinking something may be bad or good.

Bai Shao, who was standing there, noticed Xīn had awoken and asked,"Are you okay?"

Xīn carelessly dropped on bed and said "Yea, I am okay" he paused for a moment and said "Just a little bit of pain."

"Hah, well that's good too –" As Bai Shao was continuing his words Xīn cutted on his word and said "You saw that right?…So is there something wrong with you?Because I think in front of my eyes all things about you are wrong only." With a cold unearthed feeling he said.

Bai Shao flinched a little but he didn't intend to hide now when it was already exposed. With a little shock he said,"Hmmh, you are quite good looking throughout people's personality or should I say behaviour?"

Xīn didn't say anything and looked up at the ceiling that was vivid white and was silent.

With a bashful smile Bai Shao said "Listen closely, the pain in your arm is because of me that you have already known by now" he came close to Xīn's bed, giving an extremely negative vibes. He continued "If you ever come close to Cloud again not only will your arm be in pain but you will die, that body of yours will be a dust in mid air."

As those words were uttered Xīn's eyes were wide, a little as if the person before him had been possessed. He didn't know what to say, what to reply or what to do, so he was in much pain. He could only tremble a bit not by his words but by the pain that was injected into his body like a slow drug showing its effect little by little. He wasn't in state of thinking so much thing but a thought was roaming, does Cloud hate him that he had someone to deal with him?, the light started fainting with a small to smallest point with an edge of his not fully but a little he saw Bai Shao flipped open his fan wide again and with whirlwind he vanished or may be ascended to his place.

Who knows? But it wasn't a drug that Bai Shao put in Xīn's body to cause him pain, but rather it was from yesterday's night battle. Xīn's mind was completely blank and with that pain he closed his eyes.

As Xīn slowly opened his eyes like a little baby weakling, Xīn looked at his phone. It was already nine am. He was asleep from morning onwards. He quickly dressed up and went out for his class.

The weather was clear and warm but it was still cold, Xīn rushed towards his class, the fact that he had already missed his third class.

The corridor was crowded as usual. He had to go through the crowd, it was suffocating for him. It was already late for him but he still wanted to attend his last class. He was going through the hallway to his class when he saw a figure standing before him. He wasn't able to guess who he was, but that person somehow looked similar to Bai Shao.

Before the person in front of him spoke, "I thought you were resting surely, but look you are here" leaning on the wall the person spoke.

"It's..you Bai Shao." He said.

"Yep."

The person before him was Bai Shao in his human form.

Heh, what did you think? Do you even think there would be no Bai Shao in university? No, my dear ofcourse you are wrong, without Bai Shao it was like very boring days. It wasn't like it would be a merry life in university for Xīn, but there wouldn't come a merry life so easily for some people, being Bai Shao was just one thing that someone would hate in university. As Xīn would also hate it.

Bai Shao smirked and was about to say something, that Xīn knew that was going to be brutally awful but as if he was able to do someone called,"Xīn" from behind.

It was a familiar and soft voice that can bring an unfamiliarly good sensation in one self.

It was Cloud behind him that made him startled for a second. As the wind was fragile he said "It's practice time."

"Huh..oh!" Xīn almost forgot about the dance going to happen in the next thirty days, but Xīn felt it was too fast for practice. "Wait, did I even agree to dance?"

"Probably not, but I am sure you will agree cause I believe in you." Cloud said with a Crescent smile.

Those words were like an arrow that would pierce through Xīn's body and that he couldn't do anything about it. Xīn doesn't know whether to smile awkwardly or just laugh at it saying he doesn't want to dance, throwing an excuse.

Xīn didn't say anything but stood silent like a tall birchwood, before he could think his mouth spoke up on its own. "Okay, I will join in," what he just spat out now was something crazy he wouldn't dare to say even in his dream. If it was possible for him to live without a mouth he wouldn't hesitate to cut down his mouth.

But…something was oddly off a smell or something burning that was not physical may be naturally Xīn thought that…Bai Shao who was there standing clenching his hands fist.

"Oh you are here too Bai Shao, do you wanna join us?" Cloud noticed Bai Shao behind Xīn.

"No," Bai Shao said "Maybe next time, okay seeya I have class now" continuing his words he smiled and went ahead right, Xīn knows that Bai Shao is a fox, with powerful accents.

The hallway had quite fewer people towards the place they were going. "Where are we going?"

"Of coursely, hall."

"..." Xīn said.

The hall from outside looks big enough to fit one thousand or more people in it.in front at entrance hall name was written 'Ballad of hall," the hall seems to look quite older than a normal one, the architecture and designs made within it looks gloriously beautiful. Ballad hall isn't something that people kept simply, it also has a great history that one must know if they were here. Xīn knew about it before joining this university.

"Did you guys select the best song?" They entered the hall and Cloud walked towards a group of two girls and asked.

"Cloud, yes we did, here's the song!"

"Thank you for your hard work guys" he gave a simple yet satisfactory smile.

"No need for thanks, it was our pleasure to help you out seeya, you guys practice nicely."

"Seeya."

If you see inside the hall it looks quite old with modernist looks that includes a bulb and air conditioner, the curtains that were put on stage were high red and there was a judges table made with a dark old clock. It was a saying like 'old is gold.'

Cloud went up to the stage taking Xīn with him, and he found a place for his phone to keep, "We will once listen to this song and decide steps, it won't be hard as we already used to take classes."

The song was played it was light music with not so much noise, if it was unpleasant music or something it would have echoed like hell and would go on through their eardrum making them deaf forever, how ever though the first chord starts with guitar strings producing a lovely sound to make someone fall in love if they weren't in love also.

"..."

The music wasn't that long, at least maybe four mins, not more than that. As the music finished they started finding a few simple steps.

A step came from behind and a hand forwarding in front of him, the music and the dance started at the same time. With swiftly crossed they danced lightly. It was like they danced even in thin air but Xīn couldn't move his hand so much that he tripped over to the ground. But the music wasn't even half a minute.

Nice, what a best day again to embarrass himself in front of someone, thinking that again how awfully he fell earlier in the Shao mountain he fell Xīn covered his face.

As they were dancing Cloud pulled Xīn's hand that made him feel severe pain. Unable to control, he screamed.

"Arrghh."

The scream wasn't that loud nor it was shrill, even though it wasn't loud it echoed like a loud noise because there was no object to absorb that voice if there were many people the noise wouldn't have been noticed.

Cloud stopped,he rushed towards Xīn's arm to check in, lifting his arms cloth he saw a black mark on his arm. He said "This…. ?," frowning he continued "By 'okay' you mean this?" Cloud questioned with that frown look.

Xīn looked away, not making eye contact. He said, "I am fine, it's just a Black mark. It will disappear soon."

"No, it won't disappear so easily like a normal mark, it's a different type of thing," he said. "Give me your arm."

With a light of energy he used his transcendental power to consume all his black mark in his sword that he drew out from certain spatial. The sword was filled with black spots that it started shaking violently and getting cracked, the sword scattered into small fragments.

The weight over Xīn's arm had gradually faded away, his arm was light now and there was no pain again.

They raised up again once more dancing with flow in the melody of the song. But Xīn was not sure whether to agree with the terms of Bai Shao or not. Because he doesn't even know the relationship between those two.

The last tune of the melody started reaching its end point. Xīn had to make a hard point, turning and falling in the hands of Cloud.

The last tune had reached, Xin spun and turned around walking a bit distant in the stage far from cloud then he looked at Cloud and runned jumping on to right on his hands, Cloud then caught him raising him towards up direction and with some tips of step and flow the dance ended slowly.

It was an awesome dance but doing it on stage at the final is going to be a little bit hard. If you say in a standard way it can be considered as ballad dance with modernism and the fact that modernism was its dance steps.

They took a break meanwhile Xīn had something in his mind and was thinking whether to ask or not.

Gaining a little bit of confidence but not sure he asked Cloud,"Hey.. Cloud can I ask you something?"

On the other hand Cloud scrolling his phone gazingly said,"Yea, sure go on, what's the question?"

"There's a question roaming around my head," he stopped for a moment and said, "Who is that Bai Shao?"

"Oh, that's what your question is?," Cloud looked at Xīn and put his phone in his pocket. He continued, "Bai Shao is also an element if you say so, remember that Shao mountain where you were attacked by a corpse. That Shao mountain or other lands is controlled by Shao himself only. And the fact that those corpses came in order of someone who has been living there secretly, the investigation is still going on."

"So.….How do you know about Bai Shao? So well." Xīn forwarded another question.

"Basically…I am in love with someone.. and that makes me connect with Bai Shao and later on we came to know each other that we both are element"

Xīn frowns for a moment and generally thinks about something that one might have thought in their mind. By his thought, 'I am in love with someone' means he is in love with Bai Shao only, that's what Xīn thought so. But the bitter truth that he cannot ask also. There was also a question in his mind if he is in love with Bai Shao as he said he could have asked him to dance with him. Why asked him to dance with him? Instead of Bai Shao.'Dam it's so complicated.'

He was in an explicit state of chaos that those questions were flying around him and that he didn't even hear when Cloud called him.

"Xīnnnnnn" A voice called him out from his daze, it was Cloud.

"Huuh!"

He jolted by the sudden call of Cloud. He was too close to him that he backed off.

Cloud blinked in daze and giving a chuckle he said,"Should we get going?"

"Okay." Xīn said.

The hallway was quiet and refreshing. It was already dusky by the time they got out of the hall, it's really hard to know outside time when you are inside a hall. Though Xīn looked quite embarrassed, but this refreshing atmosphere made his embarrassment go away like a sudden storm.

Cloud seems a little down but somehow he looks quite happy.

"Wanna go to the convenience store nearby?" Cloud asked.

"Okay, I also need to grab somethin' from there."

"Heeyy guys, wait for mee." Someone shouted from behind. It was the guy from yesterday who added Xīn to the group.

"Why are you here?" Cloud asked, getting annoyed.

"Huh, Can't I join in?" the guy asked.

"No, you are more like an intruder." Cloud said.

They seemed like nice buddies, 'are they always like this?' Xīn thought in his mind. As he had never seen Cloud like this getting annoyed with someone and saying clearly straight forward things.

Both of them were fighting with words, meanwhile there was a twist again. Bai Shao. His voice came back from the back.

"Hey, can I also join you guys to convince the store?"

Xīn looked back. There he was Bai Shao. Standing with an unknowingly gentle smile. Xīn looked back towards Cloud and that guy who also looked back. But there was something that Xīn noticed. The guy who was standing and fighting words with Cloud, now suddenly looks gloomy. As if he had seen some unauspicious thing.

Cloud said, quitting his words,"Yea, let's go then."

The atmosphere is quite so sudden. Xīn didn't utter a word and it was awkward also. The trees on the roadside looked beautiful with a cold and warm breeze blowing outside in the dusk. Xīn was thinking again in his mind, 'Why was that guy's face gloomy when he saw Bai Shao, because earlier when he was fighting words with Cloud he was very energetic but…'

Then suddenly Bai Shao put his arm around Xīn and said, "So guys, how is your practice going on?"

"It was pretty nice." Cloud said.

There was no one talkin' except Cloud and Bai Shao, as for Xīn and that guy they both were quiet.

"Look! we are here." Bai Shao said.

They grabbed the things they needed. Before leaving for his place Cloud looked back and said, "See you tomorrow, 'my dear' Xīn."

Xīn blinked for sec, 'did he misheard the things? Cloud just said my dear, but it was in slow…low and soft voice….., maybe I misheard.'

Xīn replied, "See you tomorrow.."

Giving a charming chuckle, Cloud turned back and left towards his house. Bai Shao also left but he wasn't looking fine though,

And Xīn also started heading towards his home. The guy was also behind him, Xīn thought, 'strange, is he from around here? But I have never seen him around here.'

Xīn looked back, and the guy stopped there and said "You're also from here?"

"I…yeah" Xīn said.

"Oh, how come I have never seen you before here?" the guy said.

"Yeah, same goes for me."

"Oh wait, I remember I guess you live on the first road that is on the left side, and I live on the second road on the right side. So that's the reason I guess."

"Yea…. That's reasonable but I don't live on the left nor right side of the road, but I live ahead of those two roads." Xīn said.

"Ohh." the guy said.

"Btw what's your name again?" I forgot to ask yesterday.

"Huh? I thought you know..wait before I tell you anything wanna come over to my place, I want to talk about Bai shao with you." The guy said with a serious look on his face.

Xīn thought for a moment and replied to him, "Okay."

For the first time Xīn travelled on the second road that leads to that guy's house.

The place was kinda similar and beautiful but the area was large with small stalls and beautiful lanterns hanging up.

The houses in this place were cozy and the people living there were lively and energetic, especially the kids. It was like a whole new different experience for Xīn. There are gorgeous blue and purplish flowers with a wide area that look beautiful and eye-catching for everyone.

Both of them walked a little distance and the guy stopped. And said, "It's my house."

CLACK

"I am home." the guy said, opening the door.

"Sorry for Intrusion." Xīn said.

"There is no one at home now."