MELODY

MELODY 35

┏ 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 ┐

Adam decided to take a day off from uni when Bryan left his apartment yesterday night. His eyes reflected a sense of sadness that had tugged his heart. It was a reminder that at the moment, nothing was truly right in his friend's life. And there was nothing he could do but to just stand by his side as he figured things out.

A sigh escaped his lips as he walked past the classrooms to head to the Instruments Room. His only lecture for the day was cancelled due to his lecturer experiencing an emergency and suddenly he found himself with too much time in his hands. In three hours, he had an appointment with the student body council  to confirm the festival, but until then he wanted to do nothing.

Nothing except to prove Jackson wrong.

He remembered what the taller man had said to him that night outside of the convenience store. Challenged him to play the piano again to see if he truly disliked it. He didn't know why he was doing this. He could've pretended he played the piano and tell Jackson he didn't like it after all.

But that would mean he had to lie.

He didn't want to lie to Jackson.

So, he supposed the only other option was to actually play it.

Noting that the room was empty, he pushed open the door and walked into the Instruments Room. With a soft click of said door closing behind him, he switched on the lights and walked to the piano located right at the corner, next to a row of guitars of all kinds. Caressing its dark fallboard, he pushed it upwards to look at the keys. Pressing on a few notes, he took in a deep breath and took a seat.

His fingers immediately itched to press on more keys. But he didn't want to. He placed his hands on his thighs, staring at the black and white colour palette straight right back at his face. The silence in the air after the final reverberation from the keys he pressed reminded him that he was alone now. Nobody was here to judge him. To teach him.

It was just him and the piano. The grand piano that mocked him for being... almost afraid to play it.

"What should I play?" Bryan whispered to himself.

A few seconds passed by before a familiar melody echoed in his head, forcing him to take a sharp breath. Hesitatingly, he pulled out his phone from his jean pockets.

Should he do it?

It was only a fleeting dithering before he searched for Jackson Wang's Keep the Distance chords on his phone. After a quick scan online, he managed to find the chords for the song. He read the notes, though rusty edges a bit since it had been a while, and hummed it under his breath. He placed the phone against the music desk.

It had been a while since he read the notes and played. What if he couldn't remember anymore? He took in a deep breath, letting  Keep the Distance play in his head. He just had to remind himself that if he couldn't do it, then at least he proved Jackson wrong. 

As his fingers trembled before he pressed on a few notes he thought made the song, the disappointment increased when it sounded all wrong. After three tries, he paused. Glaring at the keys, he closed the fallboard and stood up, ready to give up when a message dinged from his phone. Pausing, he sat back down on his seat before he grabbed the device, his heart almost stopped beating when it was a message from Jackson.

'Where are you?'

Bryan's heart tightened in his chest before his eyes landed once more on the piano.