Promise You Forever

Forever 1

"Tangtang stop! " a blurry outline of a woman rushed towards him. The strong smell of perfume wafted through the air as his arm was suddenly pulled back. Sharp nails dug into his skin. Luo Tang suddenly felt sick as he pried the hand away from his arm and ran off to his car.

There was a lot of shouting and crying. Whatever it meant, Luo Tang did not know. All he knew was that he had to go somewhere. He had to reach that place urgently.

Luo Tang hit the gas pedal and sped off at maximum speed. His hands were trembling as he tried to grip the steering wheel. One name, a simple name, resounded through his head as he drove, repeating in an endless cycle.

The car went too fast. Luo Tang was unbothered but his hands struggled to control the car. Eventually, the car swerved hard to the side and crashed into a big rock.

A few people who witnessed the scene panicked and drove to find medical assistance. Throughout the chaos, the young man remained calm. Within that calmness lied a trace of melancholy and bitterness

"With this, I'll see you again..." a single tear made its way out of his eye as his last breath drew out. His last thought ended with that name. HIS name...

~+~
"Yuan gege"

Chris opened his eyes and felt the familiar bedsheets underneath him. As he laid on back, tears soaked his cheeks, breathing heavily. His throat was dry. He felt down and exhausted. Even so there was a lingering feeling of an unknown yet familiar tug at his heart.

"Damn." He touched his damp cheek and wiped off the tears. He sat up and shook his head as he tried to clear out his thoughts. It was of no use. Whatever sadness he felt was replaced by the feeling of emptiness.

Ever since he was a child, he grew up with this sense of unfathomable loneliness. He made a few friends here and there, but nothing healed him. He kept it to himself that this lonely feeling never went away, that nothing could make it go away

As he got out of bed, Chris stood up clenching his hand above his heart. Waves of hollowness and distress washed over him as each step he took seemed to weigh more than the last.

Slowly but surely, he approached a room at the end of the hall. A black grand piano was sitting near the large glass window. The moonlight peering over the surface of the piano made it look made it look isolated yet elegant.

Chris' fingers glided on the piano's cover. Lifting up the lid, Chris softly pressed the first keys of Chopin's Nocturne Op.9 No.2. Nimble fingers glided through the keys, gracefully letting each note overtake him as he played on with every raging emotion he felt in his chest. Every longing, lonely, empty moment was let out.

This piece of Chopin had been his anesthesia for as long as he can remember. The first time he played with a piano was when he was 4 years old. The first feel of the keys evoked more emotions that he had long been familiar with. That certain surge of emotions came the urge to play a particular song.

He recalled the time he begged his parents for a piano. The moment they did, he practiced from morning till night without losing his passion and will. It was all dedicated to that one piece.

Chris' fingers glided across the keys playing out the all familiar notes and keys. The sound of it enclosed him and his eyes shut, surrendering himself to the music.

He still remembered the taste of satisfaction the first time he completed the piece. It filled the gap he felt in his chest. Yet, as years passed by, the gap only grew. The piece can only provide temporary relief.

Thinking up to this point, Chris unconsciously pounded the keys harder. Damn it. These dreams, these feelings, these frustrations, I don't want it.

Up until the end, Chris did not stop the intensity of his playing. DAMN. IT. ALL.

Silent tears were falling from his eyes. The last notes still hung on the air. Chris rested his head on the piano's surface. Silence loomed in the room and Chris' pants and sniffles echoed in it.

"Damn it. When will this end?" Chris took a lot of deep breaths as he allowed the sound of birds chirping and crickets ringing consume him. He was tired of everything.

After he steadied his breath, Chris gently closed the piano and went out of the room. He went into the bathroom and looked at his reflection.

Those dull eyes staring back at him irked him. Slowly, a smirk graced his features, mocking him and his circumstance. Chris went back to his room and rested his head on the pillow. He had always hated sleeping. Sleeping caused everything. At one point in his life, he tried ditching sleep to escape from it all. It proved to be useless. Those sleepless days made him hear voices, lot of voices, and music. It nearly drove him insane.

Both options, sleeping and not sleeping, still made him suffer though the former more than the latter. Hence he chose the former.

Chris closed his eyes. Tomorrow is the first start of college. Those dreams better not disturb him again.