You xie shi, ruo bu shuo, hui bu hui cheng wei yong yuan de yi han?
dan shuo le, you hui bu hui cheng wei yong yuan de shang tong?
Chapter 3
Darkness. Wei Lian removed the soft pillow from under his resting head and sat upright. Freezing. In the darkness, he allowed his hands to freely sweep across the medium-height red mahogany study table beside his bed. His sensitive long fingers ran past the flat wooden top that supported his desktop, hi-fi system and other recording systems. He dislikes the hot and sticky feeling while sleeping and had turned the air-con to full-blast. He is accustomed to the coldness of the air-con. But it is freezing now.
Remote control. Where is it? He held on to his pillow and got up from the queen-sized bed. Feeling the edges of the study table, he made his way to the large bookcase beside it. “Can’t be I place the remote control on the shelves what..” Both his hands ran across the huge Braille books on the bookcase. Having said so, his right leg suddenly felt a hard object on the floor.
Oh, the remote control. He bent down to pick up the remote control, which had fallen from the study table. He quickly turned off the whirring air-con and a sudden silence fills his room. Pitter patter pitter patter…..”Oh, it’s raining outside! No wonder it’s so cold tonight la.” Wei Lian thought.
Suddenly, he had an urge to feel the coldness outside. With familiar motion, he pushed open the window at his bedside and stretches out his hand. The cold rain fell mercilessly on his outstretched hand. Ironically, it felt strangely comforting. Irony. His life is full of ironies. He can make good music but he can’t win the competitions. He can communicate well and is popular with girls but people think he is a player. He cares a lot for the people in his life but he never says it out. He loves Cherie but she loves his best friend. He……
Wei Lian snapped out of his thoughts. Suddenly, he had inspiration and decided to continue writing his song. Swiftly, he switched on his laptop and retrieved the document he was working on. Then he unzipped his guitar case for his guitar. Sitting down at the piano, he started to alternate between tinkering on the keyboard and plucking the guitar strings. His room was sound proof so he wasn’t afraid of waking his family up in the middle of the night.
Against the soft pattering of the rain outside, his handphone rang loudly. His fingers that were gently plucking the guitar chords stopped abruptly. “I yo who is calling me now?? 2.30am already leh.”, he wondered aloud, a little displeased that his train of thoughts had been shaken.
He picked up the phone to listen to the speech reader, which read out Jason’s name. “Hello…..yah why?” They never introduced themselves when they called each other. The familiarity is already there. “Eh, buddy, sorry to call you so late lah, but I just want to share some good news with you. Theresa agreed to be my girlfriend finally!” Jason gushed. Wei Lian pretended not to know anything as he had promised Cherie not to breathe a single word of what had happened this afternoon at the beach house, even though he really had the urge to say something.
“Haha good lo, you happy la?” That was all Wei Lian could manage. “Must thank Cherie for her help and ideas lor. She is solid man. Oh by the way do you know what’s wrong with her ah? She has been looking really spaced out recently.” Jason cannot help but think that Cherie must be troubled with something somehow and thought that maybe Wei Lian might know. “Wah, beats me man. You ask her yourself tomorrow lor, Ok gotta sleep. See you tomorrow.” With that they ended the call.
Just as Wei Lian hangs up, the phone rang again. It is Cherie this time. She couldn’t sleep. And from the tone of her voice, it was obvious she has been crying again. Wei Lian did not know what to do with her. “You want to go for supper or not? I can’t sleep also anyway.”, he offered. He wanted to go over to her house to look for her and keep her company but he could not bring himself to tell her that, but instead, used supper as an excuse. “No thanks, I really need to be alone at the moment. But I just want to chat for a while. Somehow chatting with you makes me feel better, maybe it’s because you are the only one who knows my secret.” Cherie lamented. After a short chat, they hung up and Wei Lian went back to work hard on his song.
A few days later, Wei Lian finally completed his song. For the past few days, he has been working hard at perfecting the melody and lyrics of the song. He wanted this to be the best song he had ever written. Because this song is written for her. He had also signed up for the song writing competition, despite earlier resistance. Somehow, he felt a drive in him that he had never felt before. What was it? He is unable to comprehend.
Three days after he had submitted his application form, Wei Lian was called up for an interview. While doing a casual performance of the song he wrote during the interview, the judges agree unanimously that the song he had written is touching and heartfelt, and his voice that delivered it is filled with the right dose of sorrow that the song should depict.
As the judges continued to rain praises on him, Wei Lian stood up from his seat abruptly. It was as if he was suddenly awakened from a dream. He told the stunned judges firmly that he has decided not to use this song for the competition and that he is pulling out of the competition. Then he left without saying another word.
Cherie was all Wei Lian could think of now. He had received a call from Cherie earlier and she told him she is leaving Singapore for a while to rest her mind and relax. Somehow, in his heart, he doesn’t want the song to be used for the competition anymore. He wanted to present that song only to her.
He frantically hailed a cab to the airport, lugging his guitar along. Upon arrival, he quickly whipped out his handphone to call Cherie but was unable to reach her as she had turned off her handphone. He quickly made his way towards the Information Counter and explained to the customer service officer that he was looking for a friend urgently. The customer service officer listened intently and was visibly moved with what Wei Lian was telling her. She tilted the microphone towards Wei Lian. Wei Lian strummed the guitar and started singing the song. Cherie’s song.
Cherie stopped short in her tracks. Isn’t that Wei Lian’s voice singing over the airport PA system? What in the world is happening? She looked around her and spotted him at the Information Counter. She hurried over.
“Kelvin Tan! What are you doing here??” Cherie poked him on the arm. Wei Lian stopped singing and turned to Cherie all at once, at a loss for words. Singing he can do well, but expressing his feelings? This is going to be his first. But he knew he had to do it.
“Cherie, I…..I….I really don’t know how to say this. You know me lah, I don’t know how to say nice things. But I just want you to know that the song I just sang is for you. “ Wei Lian paused, his face was hot with furious blushing. There was no response from Cherie. She must be too shocked to hear all these. He mustered all his courage and said， “You are very important to me. Can you not leave?”
There was a long deafening silence between them. In the background the hustle and bustle of the airport activities droned on.
Finally Cherie spoke. “Wei Lian…..I don’t know what to say but I’m sorry. Jason is and will be the only one I love and I’ve already decided to leave this place for awhile to try to get over him.” She reached out to give Wei Lian’s hand a squeeze and left.
He stood in the middle of the airport, shoulders slumped. The pain was excruciating. But he had somehow expected this ending. He told himself not to cry, but the tears he was trying so very hard to hold back, trickled rebelliously down his cheeks.
dan shuo le, you hui bu hui cheng wei yong yuan de shang tong?
Chapter 3
Darkness. Wei Lian removed the soft pillow from under his resting head and sat upright. Freezing. In the darkness, he allowed his hands to freely sweep across the medium-height red mahogany study table beside his bed. His sensitive long fingers ran past the flat wooden top that supported his desktop, hi-fi system and other recording systems. He dislikes the hot and sticky feeling while sleeping and had turned the air-con to full-blast. He is accustomed to the coldness of the air-con. But it is freezing now.
Remote control. Where is it? He held on to his pillow and got up from the queen-sized bed. Feeling the edges of the study table, he made his way to the large bookcase beside it. “Can’t be I place the remote control on the shelves what..” Both his hands ran across the huge Braille books on the bookcase. Having said so, his right leg suddenly felt a hard object on the floor.
Oh, the remote control. He bent down to pick up the remote control, which had fallen from the study table. He quickly turned off the whirring air-con and a sudden silence fills his room. Pitter patter pitter patter…..”Oh, it’s raining outside! No wonder it’s so cold tonight la.” Wei Lian thought.
Suddenly, he had an urge to feel the coldness outside. With familiar motion, he pushed open the window at his bedside and stretches out his hand. The cold rain fell mercilessly on his outstretched hand. Ironically, it felt strangely comforting. Irony. His life is full of ironies. He can make good music but he can’t win the competitions. He can communicate well and is popular with girls but people think he is a player. He cares a lot for the people in his life but he never says it out. He loves Cherie but she loves his best friend. He……
Wei Lian snapped out of his thoughts. Suddenly, he had inspiration and decided to continue writing his song. Swiftly, he switched on his laptop and retrieved the document he was working on. Then he unzipped his guitar case for his guitar. Sitting down at the piano, he started to alternate between tinkering on the keyboard and plucking the guitar strings. His room was sound proof so he wasn’t afraid of waking his family up in the middle of the night.
Against the soft pattering of the rain outside, his handphone rang loudly. His fingers that were gently plucking the guitar chords stopped abruptly. “I yo who is calling me now?? 2.30am already leh.”, he wondered aloud, a little displeased that his train of thoughts had been shaken.
He picked up the phone to listen to the speech reader, which read out Jason’s name. “Hello…..yah why?” They never introduced themselves when they called each other. The familiarity is already there. “Eh, buddy, sorry to call you so late lah, but I just want to share some good news with you. Theresa agreed to be my girlfriend finally!” Jason gushed. Wei Lian pretended not to know anything as he had promised Cherie not to breathe a single word of what had happened this afternoon at the beach house, even though he really had the urge to say something.
“Haha good lo, you happy la?” That was all Wei Lian could manage. “Must thank Cherie for her help and ideas lor. She is solid man. Oh by the way do you know what’s wrong with her ah? She has been looking really spaced out recently.” Jason cannot help but think that Cherie must be troubled with something somehow and thought that maybe Wei Lian might know. “Wah, beats me man. You ask her yourself tomorrow lor, Ok gotta sleep. See you tomorrow.” With that they ended the call.
Just as Wei Lian hangs up, the phone rang again. It is Cherie this time. She couldn’t sleep. And from the tone of her voice, it was obvious she has been crying again. Wei Lian did not know what to do with her. “You want to go for supper or not? I can’t sleep also anyway.”, he offered. He wanted to go over to her house to look for her and keep her company but he could not bring himself to tell her that, but instead, used supper as an excuse. “No thanks, I really need to be alone at the moment. But I just want to chat for a while. Somehow chatting with you makes me feel better, maybe it’s because you are the only one who knows my secret.” Cherie lamented. After a short chat, they hung up and Wei Lian went back to work hard on his song.
A few days later, Wei Lian finally completed his song. For the past few days, he has been working hard at perfecting the melody and lyrics of the song. He wanted this to be the best song he had ever written. Because this song is written for her. He had also signed up for the song writing competition, despite earlier resistance. Somehow, he felt a drive in him that he had never felt before. What was it? He is unable to comprehend.
Three days after he had submitted his application form, Wei Lian was called up for an interview. While doing a casual performance of the song he wrote during the interview, the judges agree unanimously that the song he had written is touching and heartfelt, and his voice that delivered it is filled with the right dose of sorrow that the song should depict.
As the judges continued to rain praises on him, Wei Lian stood up from his seat abruptly. It was as if he was suddenly awakened from a dream. He told the stunned judges firmly that he has decided not to use this song for the competition and that he is pulling out of the competition. Then he left without saying another word.
Cherie was all Wei Lian could think of now. He had received a call from Cherie earlier and she told him she is leaving Singapore for a while to rest her mind and relax. Somehow, in his heart, he doesn’t want the song to be used for the competition anymore. He wanted to present that song only to her.
He frantically hailed a cab to the airport, lugging his guitar along. Upon arrival, he quickly whipped out his handphone to call Cherie but was unable to reach her as she had turned off her handphone. He quickly made his way towards the Information Counter and explained to the customer service officer that he was looking for a friend urgently. The customer service officer listened intently and was visibly moved with what Wei Lian was telling her. She tilted the microphone towards Wei Lian. Wei Lian strummed the guitar and started singing the song. Cherie’s song.
Cherie stopped short in her tracks. Isn’t that Wei Lian’s voice singing over the airport PA system? What in the world is happening? She looked around her and spotted him at the Information Counter. She hurried over.
“Kelvin Tan! What are you doing here??” Cherie poked him on the arm. Wei Lian stopped singing and turned to Cherie all at once, at a loss for words. Singing he can do well, but expressing his feelings? This is going to be his first. But he knew he had to do it.
“Cherie, I…..I….I really don’t know how to say this. You know me lah, I don’t know how to say nice things. But I just want you to know that the song I just sang is for you. “ Wei Lian paused, his face was hot with furious blushing. There was no response from Cherie. She must be too shocked to hear all these. He mustered all his courage and said， “You are very important to me. Can you not leave?”
There was a long deafening silence between them. In the background the hustle and bustle of the airport activities droned on.
Finally Cherie spoke. “Wei Lian…..I don’t know what to say but I’m sorry. Jason is and will be the only one I love and I’ve already decided to leave this place for awhile to try to get over him.” She reached out to give Wei Lian’s hand a squeeze and left.
He stood in the middle of the airport, shoulders slumped. The pain was excruciating. But he had somehow expected this ending. He told himself not to cry, but the tears he was trying so very hard to hold back, trickled rebelliously down his cheeks.
