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CXXVIII

Their walk towards a more secluded and private place than the pier where they could count their income for today was a quiet one at first, each brooding in their own thoughts, until Eddy apparently couldn’t hold back anymore. 
“What the fuck was that?”
“Stupid immature teenage boys being fucking turds”, Brett said in a deadpan tone so he wouldn’t scream around furiously.
“Are we living in the fucking 18th century or what?”
“Yeah, right? As if others can kiss in public and we can’t!”
“Of course we can!”, Eddy stated firmly, solemnly almost, “And we will! Lots! I don’t care what other people say!”
Brett let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, he hadn’t been sure if Eddy would be influenced or even scared by an incident like this, though he’d thought the possibility would be quite low. Still, it was very good to know that Eddy didn’t give a damn.
And yet, he had to ask. “Are you okay, love?”
Eddy looked at him, softly squeezing Brett’s hand. 
“Are you?”
Brett nodded. “Fucking furious I am, but yeah. I guess this is what can happen if we’re being public.”
“It shouldn’t”, Eddy grumbled. 
“Nah, I agree. It shouldn’t.”
“Small price to pay if I get to be with you though”, the taller meant, a smile forming on his lips and once again setting free swarms of butterflies in Brett, pushing back some of the anger. 
“You’re a sweet talker, you know”, he shook his head, reciprocating Eddy’s smile.
“Oh, I wouldn’t know actually”, Eddy meant casually, “How would I?”
“Now you do.”
It was like they silently agreed to not waste another word, another thought, another nerve on what had just happened to them. It was pure ignorance, injustice even maybe, discrimination for sure but apparently, this was the world they were living in, modern times or not and for now, they had to deal with it. What they could do was to choose how they let it affect them and paying as little heap as possible was a good choice in Brett’s book.

“How much money we’ve made, you reckon?”
“Hmm”, Brett hummed, “Looked like a bunch. Think it’s enough for dinner?” 
Dinner. Yeah, where the hell had Eddy made reservations that they needed extra money for a meal there? The stupid incident from before traveled even further into the back of Brett’s mind as excitement and also a certain nervousness washed over him. Was it gonna be a candlelight kind of establishment with white table cloths and where only rich, older people ate? Was this their kinda place? Romantic for sure, but Brett was hella underdressed to say the least and had no idea how to use more than one fork and knife. On the other hand, he didn’t see Eddy carrying around a suit now, did he? 
“We’ll see”, Eddy simply said, “Count it on that bench over there? Think it’s safe enough so we won’t get robbed.”
“Let’s hope so.”

It was a fair amount, some of it money they couldn’t use since it was from another country, but all in all, they were more than happy with what people had relieved their pockets from.
“We should do that more often.”
“Yeah man. Around, what was it, 250 AUD in this short time?”, Brett beamed, “I do hope it’s more than enough, otherwise I really have to get back to the hotel and change first before we go to this mysterious restaurant.”
Eddy laughed. “Nah, nah. You don’t need to and yeah, it’s more than enough. Think we can even get bubble tea afterwards if you want.”
“You do want to make me fat, don’t you?”, Brett sniggered over Eddy suggesting their third bubble tea of the day.
“Hey! We worked hard for that money! We earned it!”
“Guess you’re right”, he sighed in defeat, sending them both laughing. Eddy tried to pack away the money as securely as possible, making Brett chuckle again when he imagined them paying their tap with the amount of coins tinkling in Eddy’s pockets.

The restaurant was a bit further away but since they had some time to kill, they decided to take a walk, their idle chatter leading them to their potential futures. 
“Eddy Chen. The famous violin soloist traveling the world, playing every concerto one can only imagine.”
Eddy snorted. “Not sure about every concerto. I’ll gladly turn down Berg violin concerto anytime.”
“Oh, the one where it’s basically violin tuning in the opening?”
“Yeah”, Eddy groaned, “I mean, besides my dislike for the concerto, it’s also so hard to pull off. Imagine having to bring in any type of personality or emotion when all you do is play open strings. And there are so many random bits in it that don’t sound good. In my humble opinion”, he quickly added as if there was someone he could offend.
“Don’t think I’ve ever listened to the whole thing”, Brett admitted. He remembered one of the professors or his teacher talking about it but he hadn’t bothered looking it up.
“Exactly! But what about you?”
“Hm?”
“Brett Yang. Famous violinist mesmerizing critiques all over the world.”
“Ha! Have to practice my ass off to get there!”
“You don’t think you can make it?”
He fell silent as bits of a conversation he’d had with Cole not too long ago popped into his head. 
“Definitely not gonna be as easy for me as for you”, was what he settled with saying. No need to let Eddy go down the same spiral Cole had that day. “I mean, you worked super hard, so of course you’re gonna make it far.”
“You too”, Eddy meant softly, his thumb drawing circles on the back of Brett’s hand, “After all, it was you who got the soloist spot here. Not me.”
“That was pure luck or something. Reckon the judges were drunk when they-”
“Bretty, my love.” Eddy stopped in his tracks and tugged at Brett to do the same who fell silent, the gentleness and, was it love in Eddy’s tone, prompting him to look up to this open, wonderful face. 
“Don’t pull yourself down, will you? You’re a very talented and skilled violinist and it wasn’t luck. It also wasn’t me playing badly, we both know that. The jury put you here for all the right reasons and I really do mean it when I say I’m honored to play as concertmaster with you as the soloist.”
He blinked, swallowed hard and cast his eyes down to their intertwined fingers. And then, he straightened his back. 
“Okay. Won’t happen again.”
“Good!”, Eddy said and like this, they continued their walk. 

“I’m gonna miss you when you’re on the other side of the world”, Brett stated a bit more gloomingly than he intended to sound.
“Who knows?”, Eddy shrugged, “Maybe we’ll travel together.”
“Like a duo kind of thing?”
“I’d actually love that.”
Brett’s heart beat increased. “Me too.”