Know Me (College AU)

10. Tryouts

A script was thrust into Fandy's hand, and he only had a moment to read through it before he was told to go on stage, now looking out at the auditorium. A row of six judges sat in the front with stoic faces and clipboards, and in the back, sat only a tall man, a sweet smile on his face. He gave Fandy a curt nod, and Fandy nodded back.

The spotlight was shining on him so brightly he almost squinted, but tried not to. He didn't want to look like he couldn't handle it during tryouts. They would never let him have the lead role.

"Fandy Fan." The man in the middle said, looking at his clipboard then up at the man on stage. "We've heard good things about you."

"Thank you, sir." Fandy bowed slightly.

The man to the left now spoke. "Please read from section eight. We'll stop you when we think we've heard enough."

Fandy nodded, opening the script to that place. He began to read, making sure he was projecting his voice to the whole auditorium, looking up from the script whenever possible.

"I swear to you, Song Zhe, that there will be no one, no one in all of Taiwan, to ever love you as much as I do." In this moment, Fandy managed to look up from the script, meeting the bright eyes of Zach. "We were meant to be like daisies in the summer, like salt in the oceans, like the blue in our sky. I-"

"Stop!" The man in the middle raised his hand, then put it down. "We've seen enough. Thank you."

Fandy's eyes widened. "Thank you." He managed to stutter, then turned and walked off stage in a hurry. Somewhere along the lines he dropped his script, then another name was called, but Fandy wasn't listening.

Zach was now standing at the back by the door. "Fandy, that was awesome." He offered Fandy the rose with one hand, but Fandy pushed it away, close to tears.

"No it wasn't." He pushed through the door, Zach rushing to keep up with him. Fandy was like a storm cloud, blowing everything in his path away, face dark like rain was to fall soon. "It sucked. I read two lines and they said that was enough. I'm obviously not going to get the part." He huffed, one tear spilling from his eye.

"Fandy." Zach said, his voice whiny. "You did fine."

Fandy's eyebrows creased, and he swung around, looking pissed off. "Zach." He hiccuped, a sob-like breath escaping him. "You saw them. They didn't even let me say two lines. I'm finished." He shook his head.

"No you aren't." Zach walked closer, but taking slow steps so he wouldn't hold away again. "You impressed me, if that counts for anything."

Fandy laughed brokenly, shaking his head again. Zach walked up to him, rose in one hand, and wrapped his arms around Fandy. Fandy gave in, hugging Zach back and finding safely in the crook of his neck.

Zach waited until he stopped crying, making sure he was calm when he pulled away. His cheeks were tear-stained pink, and he looked tired. Zach took his hand, squeezing it and then turning it over so his palm faced upwards.

"For you." He placed the rose in Fandy's upturned hand, then met sparkling brown eyes. "For the best performance I've ever seen."

Since they kissed last night, Fandy had been waiting for another. This time, he took the initiative and did it himself, leaning in and meeting his lips with a kiss like he had been daydreaming about all day. Zach's hands moved down his body to grip his hips, and Fandy used leverage from the hands tangled in Zach's hair to pull him closer, moving his mouth roughly, not quite sure what he was asking for but sure that his body wanted something.

Zach pulled away, resting his forehead against Fandy's. He knew the smaller man had no idea what he was doing, but he also had no idea what it was doing to Zach. He would need to get the serious talk out of the way so Fandy would trust him enough tonight.

"Fandy." Zach said his name, throat still raspy from the hot kiss. "I want to admit how much I like you."

Fandy pulled away, but Zach kept him close, holding either of his hands in either or his. "What do you mean?"

Zach smiled, looking down, because he was totally blushing right now. He met Fandy's eyes again. "I mean I like you. A lot. I like spending time with you and holding your hand and kissing you." He swallowed. "I like you, and I'm hoping you like me back."

Zach's words were childish, but the way he spoke made Fandy listen to him more easily than he listened to anyone else. The way Zach looked at him pulled him in and made him stop thinking.

"I like you a lot." Fancy managed to say, his voice quiet. Even so, the five words made Zach's face light up like a street lamp in the middle of nowhere.

"I want us to be serious about our relationship." Zach said, smoothing his thumb over the back of Fandy's hand. "Like a title. Like we say we're dating and when people ask we tell them we are."

"I think I can handle that." Fandy says shyly, kicking some dirt with his shoe. "You want to be completely official... with... with me?"

"Of course I do." Zach smiled, then brought Fandy closer again. "I did say I like you, right?"

Fandy's face flushed hot as Zach leaned in to capture his lips. Somebody actually liked him enough to make it official. Somebody liked him enough to kiss him in public, to run his hands up and down Fandy's back and to make his knees weak.

Kissing. Kissing was happening just paces away from the concert hall, and Zach made Fandy's mind so frazzled he didn't even care.

"Hey, what the hell do you boys think you're doing?!"