transient.

chapter 8: brett yang

Today was the day.

Today was the day Eddy had his midlife crisis - wait, was he too young for that?

Was this formal enough for the concert?

It was barely noon. He looked in the mirror on the clothes he had tried on. Surely it was fine. He never tries anything on before actually wearing it out, for the love of god.

Eddy was in a white dress shirt, with a dark blue suit jacket and matching pants. He'd worn this to a wedding previously. Surely it'll be fine.

He'd soon come to realise that he was overreacting when he googled for "what to wear to a classical music concert". With that, he heaved a sigh of relief. He made something to eat, and binge watched a few drama episodes, before hopping into the shower. He made sure that his outfit was crinkle free before he put it on, and straightened it out. He sprayed a bit of his vanilla-scented cologne and looked in the mirror - he hadn't looked this presentable in a very long time.

It comes with the job, I guess. Eddy thought as his phone vibrated.

1645hrs
Brett Yang: Hey, I'm early. Already here.

Turns out, being ready before time was helpful for once in a non-nursing context.

1646hrs
Eddy Chen: I'll head down in awhile.

Eddy grabbed his phone, wallet and keys, gave the mirror one final look, and off he went.

In short, Brett looked nothing but stunning as he walked over to open the passenger seat for him. In long, Brett wore only the black dress shirt and slacks of his concert attire, with his hair neatly slicked back, but it was enough to blow Eddy away - also, did he change his glasses?

"Wow, you look good!" Eddy couldn't help but gasp and laugh.

Brett suddenly turned pink, but said a simple "you too.".

"You're shy now but you weren't afraid to ask me out in front of my coworkers?" Eddy teased, as he got into the car. Brett laughed, but his blush became more intense. "C'mon!" Brett could only muster that much as defence, as they both laughed.

They fell into a comfortable silence as Mozart 4 played and Brett started driving. When the piece ended, Eddy spoke, voice full of nostalgia, "It still felt like it was yesterday.".

Brett hummed in agreement, "I honestly thought that was it for me, and I was gonna have a relapse and just fall down the spiral of crippling depression again."

Eddy replied, this time full of hope, "But you did it, all by yourself. Now you're back, and I'm sure you'd be better than ever, with your 40 hours of practice a day."

Brett nervously shunned the praise, as usual, "You'll see, I guess. And I did it with the help of everyone, especially you."

Brett parked the car, and Eddy couldn't help but notice it - it was a reserved spot, with the plate number on a sign. Hmm.

They made their way through numerous passageways, all with white walls, Eddy couldn't help but comment that it had looked like the ones at the hospital. Brett laughed while saying how his attachment to work had never failed to amuse him. Finally, they had reached Brett's dressing room. Brett opened the door, and turned on the lights.

"Everything as it used to be." Brett mused. He settled his violin and sheet music on the dresser and grabbed a chair for Eddy, who was in awe.

"Hey - I'm going to just do some warmups and practice now, okay?" Brett murmured as he tuned his violin. Eddy couldn't help but marvel that Brett's shoulder had really truly recovered.