I’m sorry >.< I know it’s long...
Every band member was gathered in the old music room, all except one. JJ was growing impatient and started tapping his foot on the floor, “Damn idiot is already 20 minutes late.” “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” Guang Hong was trying to stay optimistic. “You sayd that 10 minutes ago.” Yurio, just like JJ, was slowly starting to get angry. Suddenly Minami came rushing through the door, “I’m so sorry!” “You better be! Where the hell have you been?” JJ’s impatience was at its limit. “I couldn’t find my THING TO STRUM STRINGS. But not to worry, I’ve found it now!” Minami was panting really hard, as he was exhausted from running from his classroom all the way to the school’s basement.
Yurio slowly got up and walked towards Minami with an even angrier face than JJ was making, “What you’re referring to is a plectrum otherwise known as a pick. A real guitarist plays WITH HIS FINGERS, not with some cheap plastic triangle, because he’s scared he’ll hurt himself! It’s unnecessary!” “Okay everyone, calm down. We’re all here now so let’s get started.” Guang Hong smiled at Minami and handed him his guitar. “Thanks Guang Hong. It’s nice to know that you’re not angry with me.” JJ and Yurio at this point were staring daggers at Minami as he wasn’t only late but was taking forever to get ready. “Don’t be nice to him. From the start that’s all you’ve been and look at him, he’s late for the third time this week.” “Damn it Guang Hong, you’re not that nice to us.” JJ and Yurio started to complain. “Well that’s because...” “Because what?” JJ wanted to know where Guang Hong was going with all this but then never got an answer, because Guang Hong quickly changed the subject, “Okay guys! I’ve got the sheets for everyone here! Like we discussed before, we’ll be playing three songs. And the arrangement will be: Daddy J in front center, Yuri behind on the drums, Minami middle right and I’ll be standing middle left. That sound good?” “Sure.” The other three sayd in unison.
Seeing as Yurio was in the back and had the best vantage point, his job was to see everyone playing and see if they were making mistakes so that he could tell them what to improve on.
Minami’s job was to follow Guang Hong’s lead and stay in tune with him.
Guang Hong on the other hand followed JJ’s lead. He would adapt the cords he played to JJ’s change in pitch.
JJ being the leader, his role would be to keep the group focused and sort out any distractions and arguments that may arise. Not only that but as lead singer, he would be responsible for making sure the bassist and guitarist could adjust their playing to his voice in the unlikely event that he made a mistake.
Two minutes into the first song and JJ stopped singing. “What’s wrong?” Guang Hong asks after he too quickly stopped playing. “I’m doing my best here just like you and Yuri. Why is it then that Minami keeps screwing up? We’ve got two week to go before the show and we’re getting no where!” “Hey, don’t be mean. We’re all trying our best here, some just need a little more time than others.” “More time you say, huh? We’ve been at this for weeks.” Yurio sayd leaning on one of the drums in front of him. “Yes, I am aware of that. Thanks for your input, Yuri. C’mon, let’s start again.” Guang Hong wasn’t sure what to do.
“STOP!!! Stop, stop, stop!” Yurio bashed his drum sticks on the cymbals. Everyone stopped and turned to him. “Daddy J, you’re doing fine, but what are you two doing? I don’t think looking at each other is gonna help you focus, you’re getting quieter by the second.” “What’s up with that?” JJ started to look at Minami and Guang Hong skeptically, as neither of them were looking at each other after Yurio grabbed everyone’s attention, even though they had been doing it the whole time before. “Nothing’s up.” Minami sayd quietly.
“Right!” Yurio sayd as if he’d just made a ground breaking discovery. “I have come to two conclusions: 1. You’re not comfortable with each other and don’t wish to be near one another or 2. You’re starting to feel like more than friends and trying to hide it from us.” “Well...” Guang Hong and Minami didn’t have a clue what to say. “Hit the nail on the head with number 2!” Yurio just couldn’t resist the temptation and hit the drums making the sound ‘ba-dam-tss’. “I’ve got an idea.” Everyone looked at JJ and Yurio jumped in, “Wow, please don’t! It sounds dangerous!” “Shut it you!” And then JJ continued. “Over the next 3 days starting now, you two will be banned from band activities!” “What? You can’t!” Guang Hong protested. “Oh yes I can. I am leader and my word is absolute. So, you two, right now, will go and have a chat.” Minami put his guitar back on its stand, looked at Guang Hong and left the music room. After putting his bass down, Guang Hong left too. “Not bad. Daddy J is going in the direction of having this band disbanded.” Yurio gave JJ a smirk. “No I’m not, they’re being weird about it and it’s getting on my nerves. If people have problems just deal with it, and don’t stick your head in the sand.” “Well, that’s the kind of people they are.” Yurio sayd while looking at the door, through which Minami and Guang Hong had just left.
The 3 days had almost ed, and in that time JJ and Yurio were practicing by themselves, everyday after class.
Minami was the first to walk through the door after his 3 days of absence. “Look here. The screw up is the first to arrive.” “Not bad, and here I was thinking Guang Hong was going to be the first to arrive.” Just after Yurio had sayd that, Guang Hong walked through the door. “I’m back! How’s things? Have you two been practicing without us?” “Well duh? We’ve got one and a half weeks left until our first live show. Why wouldn’t we?” Yurio replied. “Just trying to make conversation Yuri.” Guang Hong went to pick up his bass but Minami had already picked it up and handed it to him. “Thanks.” “Sure.” Minami didn’t know what else to say. “This isn’t awkward.” JJ remarked.
The first hour and a half were going amazingly well, until Guang Hong stopped playing midway through every song. JJ was doing his best to keep his cool but then suddenly turned around, gave Minami a horrible look and then looked away again. After that, the next hour of practice that followed was going as well as it had been at the start, until Minami started doing what Guang Hong had done the hour before. JJ was just getting really angry at this point. He stopped singing and in the middle of the song just shouted, “YURI!!” Yurio bashed the cymbals really hard forcing Minami and Guang Hong to snap out of their day dreams and stop playing.
“CONCENTRATE WOULD YOU?? I gave you 3 days to sort this out and from the looks of it you’re still at the same stage you were at when you left this room 3 days ago!” “What’s going on?” Neither Yurio nor JJ could understand what their band were thinking.
JJ, Yurio and Minami just stood there wide-eyes staring at Guang Hong, none of them knew what to say after hearing Guang Hong just shout “I love you” into the middle of the room. His face was bright red, he had his eyes squeezed closed and was looking at the floor. JJ thought that someone better say something before the atmosphere got even more awkward, “I’ve seen a lot of love confessions in my time but never something like this.” “I... I asked you to ... because... the first time I... I walked past you in the corridor... you... you looked at me and smiled. And then... when I heard you play the guitar...” Yurio couldn’t help but give off a comment, “Just because he smiled, it was love at first sight? How pathetic.” “It was!” Guang Hong started tearing up, dropped his bass on the floor and ran out of the room. “Hey!” JJ shoved Minami in the direction of the door, “Run after him idiot.” Minami looked at JJ and Yurio, smiled and ran off to go after Guang Hong. Neither of them came back to practice that day.
“Has everything FINALLY been sorted out? The show is in 3 days.” JJ asked both Guang Hong and Minami the next day at practice. Much like Yurio, he was getting a little sick of all the drama. Guang Hong took his soldier stance, while holding his bass, “Yes, sir!” “Just stop.” Yurio sayd sitting behind his drums. That day, their practice session was a success, no mistakes, no slip ups and no drama.
After practice Yurio and Guang Hong left the school to walk home together. “Did you guys sort things out yesterday? What happened?” Yurio was too curious for his own good. “Well, Minami came running after me. Long story short he told me he felt the same way. He sayd that he smiled at everyone the same way when he ed them in the corridor but when he smiled at me, he made more of an effort, or something like that.” Guang Hong started getting a little embarrassed. “As long as everything is sorted, then everything is good.” Yurio didn’t know what else to say.
The show took place 3 days later. “The other bands look scary. I’m sure they’ve worked harder than we have.” Minami was starting to tense up. JJ flung his arm around Minami’s shoulder, “What’s the big deal? What makes you think they’re better? You have me in the band, naturally we’re going to win.” “Yeah, sure, because it’s all about you.” Yurio sayd. “They aren’t the only ones who’ve been preparing for this. Our hours of practicing over and over again, will pay off, you’ll see.” JJ told the group.
During the performance JJ made a mistake and fumbled the words but seeing as it was Guang Hong’s job to cover, he did. Minami screwed up a few cords, but the others managed to adjust the music and changed the rhythm until he got back on track. Even though they made mistakes the hours of work they had put in really paid off.
Their performance had ended and while they were leaving the stage the crowd kept shouting “DAD-DY J! DAD-DY J!” Yurio was starting to get angry, “Well now, aren’t you popular.” “Oh yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” Was the arrogant response Yurio got from JJ. “Daddy J and I will head back to school to drop everything off. Why don’t you two walk home together?” “Okay.” Guang Hong responded a little shy. Then he and Minami walked off. “C’mon, let’s head back.” JJ put his arm around Yurio’s shoulder, and Yurio smiled.
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