Chapter Text
Chapter 14
Venti and Barbara got into the same musical agency after their graduation. It was a famous agency that is said to only accept talented people. Barbara believed she was lucky that she has someone she knew from college. As a beginner, she had to face a lot of hardships but Venti and her online friend, Barbatos, were always there for her.
Whenever she feels down from work stress, Venti would tease her or sing her songs, do anything for her smile to return on her face. Barbatos would give comforting encouragement and inspiration. Though she never saw his photos, she somehow trusted this person deeply. He would switch topics whenever she mentioned meeting in real life. She’s interested in this person but if he’s still nervous to meet her in person, she would give him time as she doesn’t want to lose him. He never shared too much about him. She would sometimes hear the sound of a parrot in the background when he sent her new compositions that he’s working on.
The only problem she’s facing now is something that every idol might have to face sooner or later – a stalker.
Barbara exhaled deeply after she had successfully closed the door of the agency behind her.
“Is it that stalker again?”, Venti asked her worriedly.
She looked up at him and nodded with a frown.
His normally cheerful face darkened with anger, “that’s it. I am going to confront him today.”
He rushed to the door. She held onto his hand with both of her hands and shook her head, “no, you might get caught up with paparazzi if you get into a fight with him.”
He looked back at her, anger still evident on his face, “it’s the third time for this week alone, Barbar! I don’t want to see you worrying over that bastard.”
She winced slightly. Even though she knew his anger wasn’t towards her, she felt bad that she was the cause of his anger.
Venti realized when she winced so he lowered his tone and spoke gently, “sorry, I should not have raised my tone at him. I’m just mad at that guy.”
His hand raised to hold her hands warmly, “I am sorry, Barbar.”
She shook her head and looked up at him with a comforting smile, “no, it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean that towards me, Ven.”
His face turned back into his normal cheerful expression when he saw her smile. He said as he fixed her hair, “did you run from the parking? Your hair is a mess.”
Her face brightened with blush and looked down at the ground. She only nodded at his question and let him fix her hair.
If she has another problem, it’s her feelings towards these two people. It seems she likes both of them more than a friend.
“There, you are cute now”, Venti winked at her after he’s done fixing her hair.
With her blush still presents on her cheeks, she flashed him a grateful smile, “thanks, Ven.”
He went still in front of her.
“Oi, Barbara! Let’s go! Dance practice in 5 mins!”, her colleague, Xinyan called her.
“Coming!”, she replied to her.
She patted Venti’s arm softly, “see you at lunch, Ven”, and ran off.
Only after she disappeared, Venti raised his one hand slowly to cover his blushing face and mumbled, “when will she know how effective her smiles are?”
~
Barbara and Xinyan entered the rest area of the agency while chatting about dance moves.
“Barbar!”, Venti called out to her with a waving hand.
She returned a wave and sat beside him, “I thought you were supposed to be with Xiao practicing a new song?”
He looked away from her inquiring eyes and answered with a sweatdrop, “huh, yeah. He is … busy for now.”
She raised an eyebrow at him, “Ven, are you sure? Look into my eyes.”
He got flabbergasted and refused to look at her face, “I didn’t lie! Really!”
She gave him narrowed eyes with her arms crossed but for him, she looked cute with that pose.
Xinyan laughed from the side, “let the poor guy go, Barbara. He’s probably telling you the truth … this time.”
Venti turned to give her a small glare, “hey, what did you mean ‘this time’? I didn’t lie before!”
Xinyan snorted and started counting with her fingers, “you tried to distract Xiao with his favorite, Almond Tofu, you tried to fake illness, you tried to pretend you lost your memory, you tried to lie that you lost your watch, which is stupid by the way, you can always check the time with the phone and you tried to-”
“Ok! You have made your POINTS!”, Venti interrupted.
He looked back at Barbara with puppy eyes, “I just needed a little break, Barbar.”
Her narrowed eyes went back to normal, “I know Xiao wants to practice again and again to be perfect but you can’t run away from your partner like that, Ven.”
If he had a dog’s ears, they would be tilted backward.
She sighed and asked, “so, what did you do to him this time?”
He mumbled, “I painted his flute and hid it.”
She gasped, “Ven! He would-”
Her scolding was cut short when a door of the rest area opened with a bang.
An angry looking young man came in with a murderous glare. In his hands, his flute was colored with pink paint. His golden eyes immediately found Venti and wordlessly walked towards him.
Venti tried to run away but Barbara grabbed his hand and scolded, “no more running, Ven.”
Xiao gave her a thankful nod and dragged Venti from his collar. Venti got dragged while struggling to run away from his angry colleague.
Only after they left the room, Barbara sighed out with a smile, “what am I going to do with him?”
Xinyan teased her with a smirk, “kiss him. That will make him behave.”
Barbara blushed with a pout, “I’m not going to do that, no matter how many times you tease me, Xin.”
Xinyan laughed, “girl, it’s obvious that he is doing all of this to get your attention and scolding. If you kiss him, he will listen to you like a tamed monkey.”
Barbara refused to believe that remark and sipped into her juice silently.
~
That night, she was video calling with her friends.
“What? Barbatos still doesn’t reveal his identity yet?”, Lumine asked with a surprise.
“Scaredy cat”, “Lame”, Hu Tao and Rosaria remarked at the same time.
“Hey, he’s just shy”, Barbara defended him.
The three girls on screen gave her smirks.
Hu Tao teased, “is our little shy Barbara just defended her online crush?”
She pouted at the screen, “you girls kept teasing me about that.”
Rosaria teased her, “what if he’s a fat ugly, 40-years old man?”
Lumine continued teasing with a fake gasp, “yeah, what if he is the kind of creepy old man who’s still living in the basement?”
She glared at her friends, “I’m going to hang up if you keep teasing. And, for the last time, he’s the same age as us.”
The three girls giggled at her angry pout.
Lumine held up her hands, “ok, we will stop here.”
“Thank-”, Barbara was interrupted by Hu Tao, “for today.”
She pouted at her three grinning friends.
“So, how is Venti?”, Rosaria asked after her laughter died down.
Her pout turned into a smile, “he’s doing well. Though he tends to make trouble for his partner at work, career-wise, he’s getting better and better. I got to listen to his new song for a bit but I know, it will get the best ratings. I can’t wait for it. I tried to make a new recipe with Jueyun Chili last weekend. He agreed to make it together but we mistakenly added twice the amount and our lips burned for three days. And he-”, she stopped and asked, “why are you three smirking?”
They shook their heads with a smirk on their faces.
“Nothing, keep going”, Lumine urged her.
She pouted, “now, you are going to tease me with Venti.”
The three girls giggled at her pout again.
Hu Tao teased, “you don’t want to be teased with Venti?”
She stuttered, “I-I mean-”
Rosaria smirked, “then, I guess, I will take him-”
“No!”, she let out unconsciously. She blushed again after her accidental shout.
Her friends giggled again at her blushing.
“Relax, he’s all yours”, Rosaria winked.
She covered her face with both hands and screamed her embarrassment.
“Oh! I’ve gotta go now. Talk to you later”, Hu Tao waved.
“Yeah, me too. I have my shift soon”, Rosaria told them.
After the two girls hung up, Barbara looked up at Lumine through her fingers, “what should I do, Lumi?”
Lumine gave a smile knowing what her question meant, “sometimes, the answer won’t come from over-thinking. You need to speak out your suspicion.”
Barbara looked down at her hands, “I want Barbatos to be Venti but at the same time, I don’t want him to be. Both of them gave me the same vibe and feel. What if I was wrong, I’m worried that Venti would think I’m that weird girl who’s obsessed with an online friend.”
Lumine said, “I won’t push you but you have been worrying on this subject for a long time. Don’t you think it is time to know the truth once and for all?”
Barbara only nodded slowly at her suggestion. Before she could say anything, she heard Childe’s whining voice from the other line, “Lumi, I’m back! Where is my welcoming kiss?”
Lumine slapped her boyfriend lightly, “Ajax, I’m on a call with Barbara. Not now.”
Childe entered the screen and waved, “hey, Barbara. Can I steal my girlfriend?”
Barbara giggled. She recalled that Lumine told her that she was at her boyfriend’s place for the week. She nodded at him, “hello to you too, Childe. Yeah, you can take her. We will stop chatting for today.”
He flashed her a smile, “Thanks, Barbara. Tell Venti that we say hi.”
Childe threw Lumine on his shoulder and carried her away from the screen. She could hear her friend shouting at him before she hung up.
After hanging up, she noticed that she received a message from an unknown number.
She opened it up nervously. She saw a photo of her getting out of her car this morning and a message saying that ‘you look cute in blue, Love.’
She closed her screen after that. She’s getting creeped out from this. The stalker always wears a black hoodie with a mask so she can’t tell his face. She contacted her agency about this message and they told her that they will track him down.
Though she had contacted her agency, she still felt unsafe. She closed her curtains and sat down on her bed. She debated whether she could call her sister, Jean, but knowing her sister, she would come to get her right away and start being overprotective of her. She also didn’t want to tell her friends. She worried that one of them would tell Venti. She never wanted to see that Venti’s angry face at her cause again.
She decided to tell her online friend, Barbatos, who doesn’t have any connection with her real friends.
His first reply was ‘are you ok?’
His simple question made her tears welled up. She typed in ‘I’m sacred.’
He replied ‘I will play you a song. Can I call you?’
She typed in ‘yes, please.’
Though they never shared photos or heard voices, they would call to play some music to each other.
A voice call from Barbatos rang. She answered the call and waited for his song wordlessly as always.
He started playing the piano. She closed her eyes to listen with absolute focus.
She remembered the notes. It is ‘River Flows in You’. It’s light and relaxing, suitable for her mood. Her bad mood slowly went away as the music produced from his fingers’ movement brightened her day back. The tears in her eyes dried up. Her frown changed into a smile. She could hear a parrot’s sound in the background. She wondered if she should ask about it later.
As the song ended, she opened her eyes again. Usually, she would end calls after the songs end and continue chatting. But this time, she wanted to say something from here. She breathed out a small “Thank you.”
She heard a surprised gasp from the other line and replied “anytime” after a short moment of silence.
She felt like his voice is familiar but she didn’t ask more and hung up the call. That night, she fell asleep with her mind at ease.
~
The next day, Barbara exhaled nervously as she drove into the parking lot. She didn’t see anyone but she’s worried to leave her car. She debated if she should call security to escort her.
Then, she saw Venti getting out of the elevator and looked around the parking. He looked worried and angry at the same time. His face turned up with a grin when he saw her car. He waved and walked towards her, “Barbar!”
Her worry changed into a smile, “morning, Ven.”
He waited for her to lock her car and walked together into the elevator.
She asked, “so, what were you doing in the parking lot?”
He answered with an awkward chuckle, “uh yeah, I was … hungry?”
She raised an eyebrow at him, “hungry? Why did you come to the parking lot if you were hungry?”
He chuckled awkwardly, “I thought … I heard ice cream truck there”. He felt like headbutting with a wall after that stupid excuse.
Before she asked again, he switched topics, “anyway, you know that Xiao and I will perform today, right?”
She nodded with a frown. She would really miss him even if it’s just for a few hours.
“Make sure to call security if you feel unsafe during that time. I heard that was some creep lurking around the parking”, he told her carefully.
“How did you know about that?”, she asked him as they got out of the elevator.
“Oh please, I am friends with everyone”, he puffed his chest.
At that time, they heard an angry growl from Xiao, “Venti! You tried to skip practice again.”
Venti pouted as Xiao dragged him away from Barbara.
He yelled out, “wait for me after work!”, which she replied with a small wave, “I will! Fighting, Ven!”
As she stood there alone, she was thankful that Venti was there earlier or else she would not dare to get out of her car.
~
“Ven’s late”, she said to herself as she checked the time.
It’s after work hours. She wondered if he was waiting in another room. She got out of the office rest room and tried to call his phone. As nearby rooms were noisy with music or singing, she walked towards the secluded area to hear the call better.
Before he picked up the call, a hand snatched her into a closed storage room. She struggled against the attacker. He was holding her hands with one hand, another hand covered her mouth. Judging from their height and strength, she concluded that it’s a male. She quickly used a self-defense attack that her sister taught her before.
She stomped on his feet. When he bent down, she jumped up to hit his chin with her head. His hold on her hands loosened, she moved her right elbow to hit his side and ran away from his grasp. Unfortunately, he stood in front of the door so she could only run deeper into the room.
The man was unfamiliar face but she knew that hoodie. He looked angry and happy at the same time, “Ahh~ Barbara-sama! I have longed to miss you like this. I’m sorry I had to grab your attention. You can forgive me, right?”
She felt shivers. She knew that this man had to be her stalker. How did he enter here?
The man continued, “please don’t look that worried, Barbara-sama. I just want to have some of your time”, and he got closer.
She looked around for some weapons or obstacles. Unfortunately, the room only had signboards and wallpapers. Her fear got worse and worse when he got closer and closer. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. When the man gave her a creepy smile, she closed her eyes and hugged herself tightly as only one name appeared in her mind ‘Venti’.
The storage room’s door opened with a loud bang. She opened her eyes. The stalker also looked back at the door, “what are you-”
Not giving him a chance to speak, the newcomer punched right in the face and knocked down him with a swift kick to the side of his head. When the man fell to the side with a groan, she found out that the newcomer was Venti. His usual carefree face was emotionless and cold. When he felt her graze on him, he composed himself to give her his usual smile. He stepped over the man and cover her with his coat, “hey, Barbar. Sorry I was late. Can you hold onto my coat for a minute?” His tone was gentle and full of care.
She could only nod as her relieved tears fell from her eyes. He only uttered, “close your eyes”. His composed expression changed into emotionless again.
She closed her eyes obediently and covered herself deeper into his coat. She could hear the man and Venti struggled in the room but she listened to his words and continued closing her eyes. After a moment, the noise toned down. She was worried when she didn’t hear Venti. Her hand reached out for him blindly and called out in a shaking voice, “Ven?”
“I’m here, Barbar”, he answered as he held on to her reaching hand.
He softly rubbed her hand, “sorry, I had to clean my knuckles.”
She could feel him getting close to her. He spoke, “you can open your eyes but look at only me, ok?”
She nodded and slowly opened her eyes. She was relieved when she found him safe in front of her. He had busted lips except that, he was fine. She buried her face into his chest. Her relieved tears turned into soft cries. He rubbed her back comfortingly and hummed a quiet song.
She could hear Xiao coming in with security. Venti quietly talked with Xiao while holding her tightly into his chest. Her crying face was fully covered with his coat. It was unusual to hear his voice so seriously but somehow it comforted her with protection. After the crew captured the man, Xiao told him quietly, “get her home safe. I will take care of it from here”, and left the room quietly.
Venti softly patted her back, “Barbar, we are going to move now. Can you walk?”
She shook her head in his chest, “I’m not sure.”
He only nodded and held her up in princess carry. When she became tense with a surprised cry, he told her gently, “relax, I will get you home safe.”
She gradually got relaxed in his hold and hid her face in his collarbone. She could feel them moving around and getting into his car. He put her in the front seat and buckled her seatbelt.
He asked her as he wiped away her tears tenderly, “we will go to your home and let you rest. We will leave your car here for today. I will leave only after you feel safe.”
She didn’t want that. She didn’t want him to leave her at all. She would scare if he was to leave her. So, she grasped his shirt and requested, “please don’t. I don’t want to stay alone. Please stay with me, Ven.”
Her whispered words and teary expression made his heart went haywire. He composed himself and asked again, “are you sure? I can drive you to Jean if you don’t want to be alone.”
She nodded again, “yeah, I want you with me.”
He gulped and looked away from her. “I will stop by my place to get my pet and then, we will go to your place. Cool?”, he asked her as he buckled his seatbelt.
She nodded and relaxed herself. She could see him driving, stopping to get his pet and driving again. She didn’t know his pet was a parrot until now.
“Sorry, Dvalin likes to cuddle. He seems to like you a lot”, he told her as he drove.
“I like him, too”, she remarked as she petted it. Somehow, she felt familiarity with the bird.
He smiled, “glad you like him, too.”
~
They reached her place. They got showered in different rooms and had dinner like a normal sleepover.
When she went to make some juice, he called Xiao to ask about the situation. She heard him talking quietly on phone. He hung up quickly as she came into the room.
She put down the glasses and talked to him, “you can tell me now. I feel better.”
When she saw his reluctance, she held on to his hands, “please Ven, I want to know.”
He sighed and answered, “the man was one of the security staff. That’s why, no one knew until now. He kept CCTV footage of you and stalked you the entire time from cameras. The officials will now handle staffs more seriously.”
He paused and held her hands tighter, “I’m sorry. I was late, Barbar. You wouldn’t have to face him if I was faster”. His expression was full of guilt and anger.
She held his hand as tight as he did, “no, Ven. I’m grateful that you were there. I was calling for you from my heart and then, you were there in front of me. I’m thankful for that. Thank you, Ven”. She gave him a smile with a blush.
He gulped and looked away with a slowly blooming blush, “still, I should have looked into security staff first. I was careless.”
She gasped, “what? You were looking into it? So, you were skipping practice for that?”
He sighed, “yeah, I was. I still wouldn’t know that he was from the security team if it wasn’t for the photo you sent me yesterday. I noticed that he was one of staff after checking the camera angle.”
Her eyes widened, “I never sent you any photo.”
His eyes also widened and his mouth shut tightly.
The silence covered both of them until his parrot landed on his head and made a squawking sound which made her remembered where had she heard it before.
She slowly called out, “Barbatos?”
He shut his eyes tightly and gulped deeply, “yes, shining starlet?”
She let go of his hands to cover her surprised gasp. She couldn’t believe her online crush and friend were the same person. She hoped for it and at the same time, she was worried about it as well.
He grasped her hands back, “wait, Barbar. Please don’t think of me as a stalker. I may have known she was her earlier and I was waiting for you to notice but I didn’t want it to be like this. Please Barbar, trust me.”
When he saw that she was silent, he continued, “I just wanted you to be comfortable with you so I didn’t dare to tell you earlier. If you aren’t comfortable with me anymore, I will give space. Please don’t hate me.”
She kept quiet and looked down to her lap. He thought that she was mad at him so he let go of her hands slowly, “if you don’t want me around anymore, I will stay away from you. I love you, Barbar, so I will put your feelings before mine. I will listen to your wishes.”
When he attempted to get up, she held onto his hands and pulled him back. When he got close enough, she pecked his cheek with a blushing face. His eyes widened and raised his hand to touch his cheek where she kissed.
She looked at him shyly, “wait until I answer, you stupid bard. I like you, too!”
Then, she shouted, “goodnight!”, and retreated into her room.
In her room, she held her blushing face and scolded herself why she reacted so rashly. When she heard Venti cheering with his parrot in the living room, she couldn’t help but smile with glee as well.
~
Venti, being more of an affectionate person, would surprise her with sneak kisses on her cheeks and openly displayed affection. Barbara, being more of a shy person, it took her 6 months to get used to his PDA actions. Only after she got comfortable with him, he planned a romantic dinner where he composed a song for her and ended with their first kiss on lips.
Venti would argue that their anniversary was when she first kissed his cheek. Barbara would deny and claim that their anniversary was when they first kissed on the lips. So, they ended up having two anniversaries for each year.
~