Episode 2: Ji Long's World

Exposition: Spring-continued

Then Fenghuang couldn't retain her laughter anymore. Laughing while she walked over, she gave Ji Long a hug. Laughing now too, Ji Long hugged her back saying,

"I missed you." As loud as he could for the other girls to hear. Then quietly, leaning in to whisper in her ear something only she could hear, "I found somewhere to go later." Fenghuang's eyes lit up at this, she loved going on adventures and Ji Long always had one planned. Letting him go, Fenghuang quickly gave Lin and Dasun a hug saying hello. Ji Long began ushering them up the stairs to the balcony. Fenghuang looked back one more time to look at the expressions on Li Yue's face. They were all shocked, mouth open in disbelief and eyes glaring with hatred. Fenghuang couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of this. Ji Long was her best friend, nothing more, yet he had somehow used his charm to mystify the girls and make Fenghuang feel special, even if it was only for just a moment. Fenghuang shook the thought from her head as they entered the balcony seating, overlooking the gigantic crowd and breathtaking concert hall. We made our way to the very front seats of the balcony where we always sat for the best view.

"Jie, jie," Lin started, "Are you going to disappear again after the concert today? Will you take us with you this time?" He signaled toward Dasun. Ji Long answered for her,

"Why should we take you two along? You always complain the whole way and have no sense of adventure." He said in his airy, carefree tone that Fenghuang had always admired. "Besides," he continued, "this time, it's a real secret place that we have to be careful going to." His eyes gleamed with excitement. My own anticipation was sparked, but at that moment the lights began to dim. A final rush of children came into the balcony as the audience began to applaud.

Fenghuang watched the artists perform with fascination and amazement at their skill. Looking over at her friends she found their usual nonchalant, glazed over look on their faces. They all found classical music boring. Fenghuang looked closely at Ji Long, his gaze focused intensely on the stage, but she could see through his eyes that his mind was somewhere else. She recalled the memory from the last gathering they were at.

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"Ji Long!" She had called. But then she heard a slapping sound and shouting that made her quiet.

"Are you trying to embarrass us? Are you trying to give us a bad name?!" A man's voice echoed angrily through the hallway. Fenghuang hid behind the door she was about to walk through and listened.

"It's not that..." A boy's voice started. Ji Long! Fenghuang knew it was him and his father.

"Then what is it?"

"I just...I don't want to play the piano anymore! I don't like it!" He shouted back passionately.

"Then what are you going to play? That guitar of yours? You can't even press down the strings hard enough, and you want to play the guitar." His father scoffed angrily.

"I hate classical music!" Ji Long shouted now. "You're always playing classical music, it's all I ever hear, it's all I ever play, we never listen to anything else!"

"Because everything else is trash!" His father exploded at him. "The piano, classical music, those are the symbols of high society, of well respected, wealthy, people. That is who we are! We're not your trashy, low class rock music delinquents!"   

"It's not trashy!" Before he could go on, there was another slapping sound. Fenghuang covered her mouth to keep from gasping. After a moment of silence and a small sobbing hiccup, his father spoke again, this time more quietly but just as fierce and hatefully,

"You will play the piano, and you will perform. I will not have you ruin the reputation of well respected musicians your mother and I have worked hard to build up." With that he stormed off. Fenghuang listened quietly for a couple seconds. Hearing Ji Long's quiet sniffles, she slowly opened the door and looked down the hall. Slouched on the ground, head in his hands, Ji Long shook quietly with his crying. She walked toward him slowly and came to stop in front of him. Startled by her sudden presence, he jumped up immediately, a scared look in his eyes. When he saw it was her, his expression softened. Fenghuang didn't know what to say. She had no words to comfort him with. She just looked at the hurt in his eyes. They were the same height, and looking directly at him she tried to transfer comfort to him through their gaze. Slowly she reached up and wiped a tear away from his cheek. He quickly reached up and grabbed her hand as it touched his face. Grasping it tightly he pulled it away, slowly letting it fall back to her side.

"Let's go." That was all he said, and he whipped around and began walking away, turning his head slightly to make sure she was following. 

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Looking at him sitting there now, watching the concert with only his eyes but not his heart, reminded Fenghuang of that incident. She turned back to the performance, wondering what kind of music could speak to his heart, and wondering if she could take a part in it.

Finally, a loud thundering applause arose as Yang Chun Hwa made her way to the piano centered on the stage. Fenghuang leaned forward, beyond nervous to listen to her mother play. The crowd settled down. Chun Hwa sat delicately at the piano, and like the start of a rain shower, she tickled the keys of the piano. Slowly but surely the rain shower came, pouring from down through the cracks and crevices of the keys and strings of the piano. She played the runs lightly, but with deliberateness, and soon the rain shower turned into a storm. Thundering back and forth, several voices singing through at once. Completely captivated in the imagery and beauty of the piece, it took the audience a small moment to realize and come back to reality when the piece had ended to applaud.

"One day, that will be me." Fenghuang whispered quietly to herself. She practiced hard every day, hoping to be even half as wonderful a pianist as her mother was.

When the concert finally ended, all the kids rushed out of the balcony seating to go to the after party that was always held until the early hours of the morning. Jumping into the rush, Ji Long grabbed Fenghuang's hand and pulled her through the crowd, leaving Lin and Dasun calling after them. They broke from the crowd and snuck out the entrance, and stood in the busy street of Tokyo. Ji Long took off running down a street.

"Wait! Where are you going?" She called after him.

"You'll see, come on!"

They ran through the busy streets, honking cars, and lit up buildings glowing pretty reds, blues, and oranges. The night air filled with the  smell of food, cars, and smoke. It seemed like half an hour, they jogged through the streets when it started getting quieter. Turning into an alleyway, Ji Long began climbing over a fence.

"What are you doing?! We'll get in trouble!" Fenghuang whispered, scared someone would find them trespassing.

"Don't worry about it! This is just the back side of some hotel. We're just going in the forest and garden part they have for people to hike through!" He was almost at the top.

"But they're paying customers! If we're caught trespassing..."

"It's fine! It's dark and late, no one's going to be around here!" He jumped down to the other side. "You coming or not?" Fenghuang took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, then started the climb up the fence. Her lacy dress kept getting snagged on the fence, ripping the lace and fabric, but she didn't care. When she hopped down, Ji Long took off running into the woods. Following him she held her dress up in her arms so she wouldn't get caught in the branches.

 Soon, they found themselves in a little clearing. A tall, black street lamp was placed next to a tree to illuminate the little garden and creek. They sat on the large boulders that made up the edge of the creek bed. The spring flowers that had bloomed were closed for the night, and the trees and plants swayed slightly in the breeze. The sound of the bubbling creek created a comforting atmosphere as the two sat there in silence. Sighing deeply and looking up at the moon Ji Long leaned back on his hands, a smile on his face.

"Isn't it inspiring?" He mused out loud. Fenghuang loved seeing him so relaxed and his real self. His face had imagination and big ideas written all over it. Watching him during the concert, his absent bored self seemed to drain energy, out of both himself and Fenghuang.

"Let's write a piece." Fenghuang answered. After a little pause of silence, Ji Long chuckled. Turning his head slightly towards her, smiling with his half smile that always managed to take her breath away, he said with a laugh,

"Xiao huang, you always seem to read my mind." Blushing a little, Fenghuang shook her head,

"No, we just think on the same wave frequency."

"We're one of a kind." He said, looking into her eyes with a sparkle in his own, gleaming in the light of the dim lamp. At that moment a cool breeze rushed through the little clearing, ruffling Fenghuang's short fluffy hair and blowing back Ji Long's long hair out of his eyes. The entire world seemed to illuminate itself in Ji Long's expression, and all Fenghuang knew at that moment was that she would always wanted to be a part of that world. She wanted to always be a part of Ji Long's world, and she wished that he would want to be a part of hers. 
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Next Episode: 1-4-14