The Harmony of Obsession

Chapter 6

"But instead of quenching his love, these sufferings just stirred it up further."

—— Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes.

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It was the last day of final exams. Brett rushed to the department building to turn-in his music theory final essay before the deadline. In the hallway on the third floor, when he passed by Eddy's office, he saw the door was left half-open. The familiar voice stopped him.

Eddy was in there, and he was talking to someone whose voice sounded like one of the cello professors. Listening with bated breath outside, Brett desperately wanted to know what the conversation was. They were talking about winter break plans.

"I am flying to Italy with my husband next week. I have a few concerts there, and he will also be doing some research-related work. Are you going anywhere by any chance?" The cello professor said.

"That sounds exciting! And yes, I have a trip to Sydney, where I will do some collaboration work with SSO. Besides that, I will also be meeting some musicologists from the University of Sydney to learn more about music history pedagogy. I really had fun teaching the MUY 200 this semester, so now I am considering to offer a humanities elective every semester."

Brett was pleasantly surprised. 'Offering a humanities elective every semester' meaning that he would be able to take more than one class with Eddy every semester. He pressed down his urge to cheer by covering his mouth. Smiles escaped through his fingers.

"When are you flying out?" She asked.

"Two weeks from now, on June 24th. I will take the flight at noon, so I will still be able to make it to the afternoon rehearsal at the opera house."

No sooner had Eddy mentioned the date of the trip than Brett pulled out his phone to mark the date on the calendar and the time on his calendar with shaky hands.

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Brett stormed into his room without even greeting his mother when he passed the living room as soon as he returned home. He could hear his Asian tiger mom yelling, "Don't even bother to say hello, huh! Disrespectful!! Is that what they have been teaching you at school, huh!?" from the living room. He threw his bag onto his bed and turned on his laptop, fingers flying over the keyboards.

"June 24th, flight from Brisbane to Sydney at noon..." he murmured while googling. "Found it!" He screamed upon seeing the only available flight from Brisbane to Sydney that took off at 12:10 p.m.

"Brett Yang, shut up! Your brother is studying for his dental school entrance exam!!!" His mom yelled at him again.

Brett did not even hesitate when he clicked the payment button. Lying in his bed with his arms stretched upwards, Brett couldn't help but smile at his ceiling like a teenage fangirl who was about to meet her idol in person.

The real excitement clearly overcome the little guilt of acting like a stalker in his heart.

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Bringing a check-in suitcase with him, Brett thought Eddy would do the same thing since he would spend more than two weeks in Sydney. He might have another chance to say hi to the older one by the baggage claim. While trying to keep his deadpan face throughout the security check, Brett teased himself for how easily he could be satisfied by thinking of meeting the older one in his head.

Looking around the waiting area with his expectation of meeting the older one in the terminal, Brett found the person whom he has been looking for was leaning against a wall near the boarding gate with his headphones on. The afternoon sun shone through the large full height glass panel, plated the tall man with gold.