Chapter 30: Chapter 30

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” the wedding coordinator complained to Vincent.

Now, Vincent is checking the tune of the piano that he will use for his performance.

“I was driving,” Vincent answered. “Where’s Mich?”

His boss sighed as she massaged her aching nape. Vincent looked at her and noticed her anxiousness, as if her stress level would reach the top of Mt. Everest.

“This is the reason why I was calling you before,” she said while gritting her teeth. “Mich got in an accident on her way here. It’s minor accident but she said she cannot perform with you. I was trying to call you, hoping that you’ll get someone who can replace Mich. What should we do now? The song cannot be performed in solo. And the wedding will start in any minute.”

After hearing the problems, Vincent stared at Ryan.

Ryan is sitting on the side. When she saw him staring at her, she smiled and mouthed a cheer. “You can do it Vincent!”

During the days he lived with Ryan under the same room, he learned something about her. He did not expect that he will have the chance to use that today.

“I found someone who can replace Mich. Don’t worry,” Vincent said in calm tone before he stood up and approached Ryan.

As soon as he arrived in front of her, Ryan gave him a doubtful face. “Why?” she asked.

“I am so glad that it was you whom I brought here.” After dropping the sigh, Vincent pulled her to the side of the stage.

“Wait a minute, Vincent. W-Why are you…” Ryan panicked while she was being dragged by Vincent. He kept on pushing her forward while holding he shoulders, until Ryan stood in front of the wedding coordinator.

“This girl can sing,” Vincent said which held Ryan’s breath.

‘What is he doing?!’ she exclaimed inwardly before she smiled at the wedding coordinator even though she does not know what’s happening.

“I don’t have time to look for someone who will sing with me. But, with Ryan, I assure you that we can pull this together. I hope you will pay her too,” Vincent added.

It was then Ryan understood what he meant.

‘He took me to sing with him? Right now?! In this place? Without rehearsal?! He’s crazy!’

Ryan would like to disagree, but the pressure is too much that she can’t say no.

The coordinator observed her from head to toe.

“You won’t suggest it if you are not confident,” she murmured. When she met Ryan’s eyes, she added,

“She does not have the face that says: ‘I can sing well’, but yeah. I will trust you, Vincent.”

‘That’s insulting. I know I am not that pretty. But she should not base on the face. Tsssk,’ Ryan complained internally.

“Make sure it will success,” the coordinator said before she walked out.

Ryan turned around with a glare.

“What’s the meaning of this? I only came here to eat!”

Vincent sat in front of the piano with unperturbed expression. He is as calm as lake.

“My partner got into an accident. So, I thought you can be my partner instead.” Then, he gave the music score to Ryan.

Ryan looked at the music sheet and read the title of the song.

‘The Gift’ by Jim Bricman and Martina Mcbride.

The song is good is one of Ryan’s favorite classic songs, but she was so curious why Vincent is so confident.

“Why did you choose me? Did you hear me sing before?” she asked.

Vincent tilted his head and answered, “We are living under the same roof. Sometimes, I heard you sing when you are in a good mood. So, I know you can do it.”

Looking at how Vincent replied to her, Ryan could say that he’s a type of a person who rarely feel nervous.

“But I am not a professional singer. You are used of performing in front of many people. How about me?”

She showed her trembling hands.

“My heart will burst like damn,” she added.

Vincent stared at her quivering hands. He could tell it while looking at her pale face and trembling lips. If this goes on, Ryan might not perform well.

What can be the best way to calm her?

Vincent raised his hand. Then, he held her all of a sudden.

Unlike Ryan’s cold hand, his is warm.

After holding her hand, Vincent closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Ryan asked.

While his eyes were still closed, he said, “I am trying to pass you someof my calm energy.”

Vincent has a mysterious aura. It is hard to guess what he would do, think or talk next. Thanks to his oddness, Ryan’s nervousness faded, and she burst out laughing.

“What am I? A child who believes in superpowers?” she said while laughing as she pulled her hand out of Vincent’s grip.

Vincent opened his eyes and saw her giggling.

'Now she's okay,' He reassured inside his head.

“Don’t think too much,” he commented before facing the piano again. “Just look at me while singing. Think that I am your only audience. Okay?”

Ryan nodded her head and took a deep breath.

Soon, the ceremony started. When the bride entered the hall, Vincent started playing the pian.

The nervousness struck in. Her heart pounded triple times, but she tried to remember what Vincent told her before. Ryan stared at him and imagined that there are only the two of them in this place. Somehow, it helped her calm.

She continued staring at Vincent, listening to his sweet and gentle singing voice.

"Winter Snow is falling down

Children laughing all around

Lights are turning on

Like a fairytale come true"

Vincent’s voice is angelic and charismatic. At the top of that, he’s very handsome, and the pink hair suits him best. There’s no doubt that a man like him will gain fans whenever he goes.

After singing the first verse, Vincent looked at Ryan and gave her signal that it is already her turn to sing her part. Perhaps because Ryan was focusing too much on his handsome face, she forgot everything and just sing comfortably.

"Sitting by the fire we made

You're the answer when I prayed

I would find someone

And baby I found you"

Smiling a little while gently tapping the piano tiles, Vincent sings a duet with her.

" All I want is to hold you forever

All I need is you more everyday

You saved my heart

From being broken apart

You gave your love away

And I'm thankful everyday

For the gift"

--------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------

As what Vincent’ expected, the performance ended without any problem. Ryan felt the fatigue after singing in front of many people, and so, she filled herself with many foods. She ate a lot that she got indigestion. Therefore, she went outside of the hall and drink probiotics yoghurt in the parking lot.

“Do you still feel sick?” Vincent asked.

“Just a little. This drink helped a lot,” Ryan answered, showing the empty bottle of Yak*lt in her hand.

The two of them are sitting on the elevated ground, in front of the cars which were parked in the place.

“It is because you ate as if there is no tomorrow,” Vincent spoke nothing but the truth.

“It is natural for me to eat that many. Nervousness drained my energy. This is your fault, Vincent.”

“But the result is good,” he stated while stretching his legs and looked up.

He placed his hands behind him and rested his weight on his arms.

“We did not mess up,” he uttered. “Then, you also got extra money. You ate free foods too. That’s a win and win for both of us.”

Using his peripheral vision, he saw Ryan nodding her head.

“Well, that’s true,” she agreed. “This will be a memorable experience for me too.”

'Memorable?'

Vincent looked back at her, and Ryan did the same.

They looked at each other as if they can talk using just gazes.

Vincent is only playing with her. But hearing that Ryan consider this a memorable experience, he felt guilty.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think that I am pretty?” she asked which made Vincent laughed.

"Pffft~"

He avoided her gaze and thought, ‘She loves to assume things. Tssk.’

“Your laughs offended me a lot. I know it! I know that I am not pretty. Just cute,” Ryan added with a pout.

“Where do you get confidence to say that?” Vincent asked and looked back at her. “Just like before. What came to your brain that you thought I and that b*stard have crush on you?”

“To be honest, I am aware that the two of you don’t have crush on me,” she said why shyly looking away.

Her fingers fidgeted around the empty bottle on her hands.

Looking downward, she continued, "I only said that to shut both of you. That grumpy guy would hate it if I accused him like that.”

‘I see. So, everything was a joke. But in Terban’s part, I don’t his so. Seeing how persistent he was, I think he really has something with Ryan,’ Vincent thought.

He bent his knees, hugged them with his arms and rested his left cheek on his knees.

“Then, what if the two of us really do like you?” he blurted while gawking at her side profile.

If Vincent would ask this question to other girl, then she might panic and consider that there is deep meaning behind his words. But for Ryan, she just laughed at it and disagreed.

“Are you saying that it is possible to sneeze while sticking out your tongue?” she asked while shaking his head. “As far as I can tell, you don’t have interest in dating. Then, about that b*stard, it is impossible for him to like me. Like, what the hell. We are enemies even from the beginning. This is not like romantic novels when the main characters will start from a cat and dog relationship. Such tales hardly exist in real life.

Vincent disagreed. Instead of being a cat and dog, Terban and Ryan are more like cat and mouse.

‘Because Terban always chase after her,’ he thought.

“I am curious about you, Vincent,” she said which snapped him out.

“What?”

“You are so kind to me. Slyvester and Kyle told me that you aren’t comfortable hanging out with women. So, why are you trying your best to be my friend?”

Vincent stretched his legs and sat properly before he answered, “You remembered when was the first time we met, right?”

“Yes, I do,” she said.

He noticed her massaging her legs. She cannot sit comfortably because she’s wearing a dress. So, Vincent tood off his suit and offered it to her.

“Use this first, so you can sit well.”

“Thank you!” Ryan thanked before she grabbed his suit and used it to cover her legs.

Then Vincent continued.

“I saw you crying while I was singing.”

The smile on Ryan’s lips faded.

“Why are you crying?” he inquired.

“Huh?”

“I wanted to know that answer that’s why I tried my best to be your friend. Actually, I composed that song. And when I saw you cried, I began to get curious. It will be hard for you to tell everything if we’re not close to each other.”

The song that Vincent wrote is not about romance. Rather, it talks about someone begging for affection and attention from people around him. Vincent wrote it because of his family’s circumstances. So, he thought that Ryan probably faces the same situation that’s why she cried. Besides, this is the first time someone cried over his songs. So, he’s very curious.

“But I did not cry,” Ryan said. “I was wearing new contact lenses that time so maybe, you think I am crying.”

Vincent blinked.

Hearing her answer, he felt like someone splashed him with cold water in the middle of winter.

All of a sudden, Vincent crack into loud laughs.

“Pfft…!”

He was laughing so hard that he had hard time breathing and he almost rolled down on the ground. He can feel his intense belly and there are tears on the side of his eyes.

When he looked back at her, he saw her surprised reaction.

“I don’t know that you can laugh like this.”

Ryan’s comment shut Vincent’s lips. He stopped laughing and displayed his apathetic expression as if the laughs did not even exist at all. Then, he sat straight and forged a cough. “Ahem.”

“I am really surprised,” Ryan added.

Vincent just sighed and murmured, “You are very unpredictable. All this time, I thought there is deep meaning behind those tears. But it was all because of your contact lenses. Guess, I got interested in a very odd way,”

“Even if I did not cry, I liked your song. I can relate on it,” Ryan shared.

"What do you mean?"

"I am an adopted child,” she answered. “Your song reminded me of the time when I was alone, and no one was there to love me.”

In her sad eyes, Vincent recalled the pain which he tried to eradicate for a long time. He has a wound that followed him even in the dark.

“I am not an adopted child,” Vincent said in low voice. “But I feel like I am alone.”

Ryan stared at him, and so he also did.

“I am not saying that our situations are the same. I have no idea if you are happy with the family who took you in. But in my case, I have the same parents for years, but I never felt happiness when I am with them. They are always busy in works. I can’t even remember their faces.”

“Why don’t you tell them what you feel?” she suggested.

“Then what? Nothing will change.”

“You are their son, Vincent.”

Vincent stopped and shut his lips. He just stared at her while waiting for the next words.

“My parents don’t share the same blood with me. But they love me so much. What’s more for a child who shares the same blood with his parents?”

Vincent clenched my fists.

There’s nothing wrong with what she said, but he’s mad at her for telling something as if it is easy to do, when it’s not.

“It is easy to say, but hard to do,” Vincent said.

“Hmm,” she mumbled with a nod. “I know. But, it is more difficult to make impossible possible. For example, I wanted to ask my real parents why they abandoned me. But I can’t. There’s no chance for me to do so.”

Gradually, Vincent’s clenched fists loosened.

He felt as if Ryan touched the most sensitive part of his heart, and he felt a real comfort.

“Did you get that line from a book? It sounds deep,” Vincent said with chuckles.

“Lol, sorry,” she apologized. “I guess that an author like me tends to feel emotional.”

“You are an author?”

“Yup. I write as my hobby. But, I only have few readers on my online site.”

“I wanted to read your works.”

“No way! That is too embarrassing!”

“Why? Do you write rated +18?”

“No! I only write rated 15. I could only go for a kissing scene.”

“Alright. Tell me which site is it and your username. I will read it.”

“I don’t want to!”

Vincent was so sure that everything started in pure entertainment. Because it is fun to tease her.

‘But I think falling for her might really possible… soon,’ he admitted.