It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

XXXVI

"Heyyyy, how's it goiiing? Welcome back to another episode of TwoSet Violin!", Eddy thused, camera rolling and Brett standing next to him, trying to keep himself as upright as possible.
"We're in the boomy accoustic hall. Except this time, we have mics! So you better like and subscribe!"
He proceeded with explaining the game, while Brett had big troubles by now keeping his composure. He was so dizzy all he wanted to do was to lie down on the ground right then and there and there was a voice inside him, telling him how wrong all of this was, getting louder by the second. Thank God for the years of training his deadpan expression, especially in front of the camera! He knew though, it would show his inner turmoil, if he wasn't careful.

So when Eddy was finally done with the intro and he could sit down, he was equally glad for the physical rest and horrified for what was to come.

Luckily, the first part was going to be the audition, where they played their instruments and Brett just had to listen. That should be doable! He'd just have to act like an ajudicator, so he could treat this whole thing more neutral and detached.

The first girl played the flute and although Brett really wasn't the flute type (maybe, because Eddy's last serious relationship had been with a flute girl), it sounded okay. Maybe one or two high notes a bit on the crunchy side, but all in all a fine performance. He put down some notes in his phone and tried to ignore that little voice in the process, which yelled there'd be just one playing he really wanted to listen to and he'd knew exactly whose.
The second instrument was an erhu, very interesting and something, Brett didn't often hear. So it was easier for him to focus on the playing and push the other distracting thoughts away.

The rest of the round went fine. The violin messed up the first time, which helped them all relax a bit and the singer at the end rounded everything off by nailing her performance.

However, when elimination round rolled around, Brett felt, he was going to lose it. There he was, trying to judge which one he liked to keep, while all he wanted was for them to go home so he could have his peace. There must have been a warhammer concerto going on inside his head for how much it hurt and he felt so faint it was not a matter of if, but when he'd fall off his chair.

But Brett was a professional, so he let nothing of this affect his work. He'd have to power through, not least because Eddy would have his head if he'd knew, that Brett was close to fainting but still didn't want to stop this god damn project from being a wrap at the end of the day.

Brett really struggled with eliminating two of the girls. Eddy's banter and throw-in comments helped, but he felt self-conscious as fuck doing this in front of his friend, having even to give reasons why he wanted to keep or kick them. At least, there was the musical side of it all, so he could justify his choices on a more technical basis. But still...

The second round was the piece requesting one. Their playing was all great, but Brett was distracted with thinking about, what Eddy would play to answer the questions he'd asked. Especially the last one. What would Eddy pick to get his crushes attention? Would it be the Sibelius violin concerto? The second movement he liked so much? Or Korngold? Or something totally different Brett didn't think of at all?

He briefly allowed himself a short glance over to Eddy, how he stood there behind the camera, looking at the whole setting with an amused grin and Brett's heartbeat suddenly almost doubled in speed. He took a deep breath in order to get himself to concentrate on the girls he was supposed to date.

For the third round, Brett had to dig out his polite, extroverted social personality to be able to get through the chats. This time, he knew exactly how Eddy would have answered each one of the questions.
How long had he been playing for? Twenty one years.
What instrument did he play besides the violin? Piano (and the viola).
Favourite drink? Bubble tea, of course!
Where would he live if he had to choose one place for the rest of his life? Taiwan, because of the great food and it was his hometown after all. But in the end, probably still Australia, for it was the place he'd call home above anywhere else.
What got him into playing the violin? Asian parents.


And then, in the middle of the talk, a moment of realization hit Brett. It was like time was standing still and he could see, observe from outside, what was happening. It was a moment of pure clarity, of shock. One of those moments a person had very few in life, but was so important, it could change the course of their future.

Brett saw, how he was talking to the two remaining girls. He could listen to the conversation and he instantly knew one thing with absolute certainty: That despite him knowing every fucking answer to his made up generic date questions, he'd rather have this conversation with only one person:

Eddy.

He'd rather hear Eddy play, although he heard him every day when he was practicing or when they were playing together, filming together, recording together.
He'd rather listen to Eddy's voice, Eddy's laughter, Eddy's breathing...
He'd rather get to know Eddy better, even though they'd been best friends for more than half of their lives.

He'd rather have Eddy on the other side of that fucking curtain, and with the sum of all that, Brett knew, finally realized, that he was in a huge shitload of trouble.

He was in love with his best friend.