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It was 3a.m when Gemini sent him that message.
“Have you slept yet?”
Normally, Fourth comes home at eleven and goes to bed at twelve, but today he was determined to stay up all night watching his favorite movie. The prom night concert is only a few days away, but Fourth still prioritizes taking some time off for himself. Unlike Gemini, who’s a perfectionist and always wants everything to be flawless, Fourth did practice hard but not to the point of sleeping at the studio like Gemini.
What a diligent boy!
Fourth thinks.
“Not yet.”
The chat box shows an ellipsis indicating that the other person is typing, Fourth sends one more sentence.
“How was your practice? At this rate, I'll be left behind by this hard-working man. Should I also stay with you from tomorrow?”
“Don’t say that. You’re great already.”
Reading that message makes Fourth smile ear to ear. Gemini is good at complimenting, as always. There’re a lot of people praising him, but he invariably wants to hear it from Gemini the most. The way Gemini says those words is really warm, gentle without being cheesy or flattering. Every time hearing compliments from Gemini, Fourth feels like being patted by a warm fresh stream, exactly like the way Tin cheers Gun up. No wonder why he could perfectly portray Mr. School President.
“Don’t you want to spend nights with me?” replied Fourth.
That’s the way Fourth adores him, using those cheesy lines.
“I do.”
Fourth takes a deep breath, feeling his cheeks gradually heat up. It's ironic how the person who silly flirted with the other is extremely shy when being teased back.
Fourth has a little secret, not actually a secret: he really likes Gemini. But it’s just simply like. It’s entirely possible for friends to like each other in a platonic and pure way, right? So this should not be a secret.
“You’re flirting with me, aren’t you? OMG I’m gonna die. No, I’m dead already.”
Usually at this time, Gemini would become helpless and embarrassed not knowing how to respond, eventually forcing Fourth to go to sleep. But today, those words seemed to have nothing to do with him, he just calmly left a message.
“Fourth, stop dying, please. I want you to hear something.”
“Ok just send me.”
“Are you sure you want to hear it?”
Then a video was sent. Fourth feels a little nervous, all of a sudden. He clicks on the video and lets it expand on the phone screen, then letting the images and sounds gradually flood into his mind.
It’s a studio corner covered by the stillness of the night, Gemini sitting there with the guitar in his hand, letting the moonlight shine down on the side of his face. Each note slowly resounds, blending with the glimmering light from the window, through a screen, spreading to Fourth's room.
Fourth even completely forgot when his favorite movie ended, leaving him silent in the middle of the night with melodious music. The person in the video starts singing, with the softest voice he's ever heard. Fourth feels his lungs were suffocated to the point of shock, mainly because he held his breath for too long that he didn't dare to let his breath break the soothing voice.
Are you sure that you want to hear it?
Seems like there’s something strange, right?
The person you’ve ever met is not the same as the one you’re familiar with, right?
The person who was close to you, never far away
But now why did they disappear from your side?
Do you feel suspicious if something happened that you didn’t know about?
That you ask this person why did they change?
If you want to know
Are you sur…
Fourth presses the pause button, immediately runs to the bathroom and splashes water on his face. Gemini's voice is really not good for both mental and heart health. Looking at himself wet and disheveled with a red face in the mirror, Fourth suddenly remembered that he had asked Gemini before that why he didn't cover this song with guitar, now it's fortunate that he didn't do that, otherwise Fourth will faint on stage, for sure.
Continuing to slap water on his face, letting the cold clear his mind, Fourth wanders in his thoughts, how did Gemini answer that question at that time?
Ah, that's right, he said.
"I want to save it for someone special."
Yeah, Fourth wonders if anyone could have such a blessing - to have this song sung by Gemini, especially with him playing the guitar.
After “watering” himself, Fourth returns to his room, tiredly throws himself on the bed, now he has no energy left to listen to the rest of the song. He stared at the screen that was paused for a long time, finally pressed the back button and unconsciously sent a sentence.
“Nice!”
Fourth wakes up the next morning with dark circles under his eyes and a song keeps playing in his head. That's when he realized that staying up late watching movies is really not good at all.
As a matter of fact, bringing that state of mind to the studio caused Fourth to be reminded more than once of forgetting the lyrics and dance moves.
“Fourth, look at Gem, he’s doing really well.”
Needless to say, he doesn’t have someone out there who suddenly sends him a song that makes him insane in the middle of the night.
Habitually, at every break, Gemini will come up to him and ask if he needs help with the practice. It's obvious that Fourth will always cherish this time to learn as much from Gemini as possible. Singing and dancing are not his forte and he often gets flustered in front of teachers, but that's not the case with Gemini. Fourth feels completely comfortable and confident when he turns to Gemini for help. Gemini never judges or scolds him (of course neither do the teachers, but Fourth feels less guilty and tormented when he reveals his flaws to Gemini)
And here comes the problem, today Gemini still comes to Fourth's side as usual despite the fact that Fourth has tried to avoid his eye contact throughout the practice. While our Fourth just wants to dig a hole in the floor to hide himself because he doesn't want to have a conversation with Gemini, Gemini is quite reserved, just quietly standing next to Fourth - who is sitting with his head down on the ground - and patiently waits until his eyes stop on him.
“Seems like you didn’t have a good sleep. I told you not to spend much time on watching movies.” said Prom.
“Right, I danced like a zombie.” Fourth try to reply with the brightest smile he can put on his lips.
He was hoping that the concentration would shift to Prom, but suddenly Gem spoke up.
“Fourth…”
“Y.. Yes?” Fourth didn't realize that his voice was shaking.
“What’s wrong with you today? Do you have any problems with your practice? We can practice together if you want.”
“Yes, sure.” Fourth heard his voice answer before he could even think about the question.
“Great, I’m gonna tell the manager that you’ll stay with me today.”
Wh… What the heck????
“He just mentioned practicing, not staying together”, his mind screamed.
“Yes, but you didn’t refuse”, smirked his heart.
Come to think of it, Fourth has no solid reason to avoid Gemini. It’s not worth it just because a stupid cover song was sent at midnight, even if that song was sung by Gemini.
Fourth held onto that thinking but also kept the strange attitude towards Gemini for the rest of the day, until the practice room gradually became sparse, eventually when the night fell, only the two of them were left.
Now you can't avoid him anymore, Fourth whispered to himself.
“You’re acting weird today.”
Gemini is the one who breaks the silence. Honestly, Fourth doesn’t know how to respond. Should he say yes or no, or even say nothing and completely ignore Gemini?
“Where is your “weird of loving you”?” Gemini gives him a smile.
Oh if only he knew how much his smile can soothe Fourth, Fourth loves seeing his smile and hearing his laugh, it's just much more than adorable.
Fourth was busy thinking about Gemini but in Gemini's eyes, his response was just a piece of silence.
“If it was because of me you don’t have to say anything. I’m not gonna force you if you are not ready. I’m sorry…”
“No” Fourth interrupted, there must be something wrong somewhere. “I’m not having any problems with you. It’s just me and…”
Fourth realized that he was a little too confused, causing all the muscles in his body to become extremely tight. His throat and tongue froze, unable to utter a single word, until he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.
When Fourth’s breathing gradually calmed down, he could see how close Gemini's face was. Gemini is half-kneeling in front of him, using his warm hands gently patting Fourth on the shoulder to reassure him like he always does.
Puff
The light abruptly turned off.
It's quite reminiscent of the situation from yesterday, when darkness covered the room and Gemini's face was the only thing illuminated by the moon.
“Your cover was really nice, by the way.” Fourth placed a hand on Gemini's shoulder and remarked out of the blue,
“Fourth…”. Gemini almost hissed. “You haven't watched the whole video yet, have you?”
“But I did listen to it and I really praise you.”
“No, it's not about that.” Gemini chuckled. “Never mind, I’m gonna let you hear it right away.”
Then Gemini strolled to the corner of the room, picked up his guitar, and sat down next to Fourth while slowly tuning the strings. When the strings were ready, Gemini paused for a second, seriously asking the person next to him.
“So are you ready?”
Are you sure that you want to hear that answer?
Can you accept the truth I say if you hear it baby?
From tomorrow things between us might not be same anymore
Can you accept it or not
Are you sure you can take it if I say it?
When all sounds stopped, Fourth suddenly heard his heart skip a beat.
"Can I kiss you?" Gemini asked softly, looking at him with the sparkling eyes filled with all the love in the world.
"Yes, but this time please tilt your head."
And then their lips met each other, like spring butterflies fortunately touching the dew-drenched petals, and then passionately sucking all the endless sweet nectar.
Fourth knows he's not ready for that confession song, but he's so ready for this kiss.
From now on, things between them definitely can not be the same anymore.
_ END _