crime scene
Outside the rehearsal room window, the night was as dark as indissoluble ink.
The clock struck ten, and most of the cheering group, exhausted, left one after another. Finally, only three people remained in the empty rehearsal room.
Wang Qing sat in front of the electronic keyboard, yawned delicately, and rubbed her sore fingers.
During the time in the corner, I was still concentrating on adjusting the laptop, striving to perfectly match the emotional nodes of the music.
Standing in the middle of the room, Lu Yu had already sung the chorus of "Only" for the dozenth time. His voice had begun to become hoarse, but his emotions were unusually high.
"...Prove that I am your only..."
When the last note fell, Wang Qing finally couldn't help but speak up, "Class Leader, take a break. Your voice is practically smoking. If you keep singing, you'll be singing like a smoky voice at the party."
"I'm fine," Lu Yu took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat, "I feel like I haven't found my best condition yet."
At this moment, Shi Guang suddenly closed the computer, stood up and walked out without saying a word.
Lu Yu thought his singing was too bad and scared the aloof artistic director away. Even Wang Qing gave him an awkward look and whispered, "Did he...did he think we were too noisy?"
Lu Yu was about to say something to save face when the door of the rehearsal room was pushed open again.
Shi Guang was holding a bottle of warm honey water, the kind sold in the vending machine downstairs. He walked over to Lu Yu and handed him the bottle.
"Drink this," his voice was particularly clear in the quiet night, "to moisten your throat."
Lu looked at the bottle of honey water warmed by his palms in front of him, and then looked at Shi Guang's clear eyes. He felt as if his heart was gently grasped by a warm hand, and even his hoarse throat was instantly healed by a warm current.
"Thank you...thank you." Lu Yu took the bottle of water, feeling it weigh a thousand pounds. He unscrewed the cap and took a big sip. The sweet liquid slid down his throat and warmed his heart.
"Wow..." Wang Qing, watching this scene, smiled broadly, feeling as if she had discovered some incredible secret. She stood up tactfully and packed her things. "Well... I think we should stop here for today! I'm leaving now, and you guys should get some rest!"
After saying that, she fled the crime scene that exuded a subtle atmosphere at the fastest speed.
In the rehearsal room, Lu Yu and Shi Guang were the only ones left.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet, yet somewhat ambiguous.
"Um...how's the background going?" Lu Yu made small talk, trying to break the silence that made his heart beat faster.
"Almost done," Shi Guang pointed at his computer, "all that's left is the final synthesis and music arrangement."
"How about... let's go over it one last time?" Lu Yu suggested. He just wanted to spend more time alone with him.
"Do you still want your voice?" Shi Guang looked at him and asked.
"..." Lu Yu was speechless after hearing his words. He touched his nose and smiled awkwardly.
"Let's go back." Shi Guang didn't look at him again and took the lead in carrying his computer bag.
The two walked out of the activity center building one after the other. A cool autumn breeze blew towards them, making Lu Yu, who was only wearing a thin T-shirt, shiver.
He subconsciously glanced at Shi Guang beside him and noticed he was wearing even less than him, also a washed-out short-sleeved shirt. Shi Guang seemed to be feeling the cold as well, unconsciously hugging his arms, shrinking and looking even thinner.
Without any hesitation, Lu Yu immediately took off his dark blue coat and put it directly on Shi Guang.
“!”
Shi Guang was startled by this sudden action. He stopped and wanted to take off his coat and return it to Lu Yu.
"I'm not cold." Shi Guang's voice was very low.
"Put it on." Lu Yu pressed his shoulders and pulled his coat tighter around him. His tone was overbearing and unyielding. "You're thinner than me, and you're even less resistant to cold. If you catch a cold, who will make the PPT for me?"
This excuse is a bit crude, but it is effective.
Time no longer struggled, and he let himself be wrapped in the large coat that carried the warmth of another person.
The two continued walking in silence back to the dormitory. The streetlight stretched their shadows very long, and then under the next streetlight, they shortened or overlapped.
"You..." Lu Yu hesitated for a long time, but couldn't help but ask the question he had always wanted to ask, "Why... are you so nice to me?"
He was referring to the rescue in class, the honey water during rehearsal, and the coat draped over time at this moment.
The pace of time paused.
He turned his head and looked at Lu Yu's face under the street light, which was full of seriousness and confusion. In those eyes that were always bright and lively, there was only his reflection at this moment.
"You helped me." Shi Guang replied softly.
He was referring to the bottle of water during military training, the instructions at the shooting range, and the trembling "That's great" when Lu Yu rushed into the dilapidated temple regardless of everything.
He remembered everything Lu Yu did for him, but he was just not good at expressing it.
Hearing this answer, Lu Yu's heart felt like it was gently bumped by something, soft and sour. He didn't expect that his clumsy concern was well remembered by him.
"That's different." Lu Yu looked at him with burning eyes, "I'm nice to you because... I want to be nice to you."
I want to be good to you.
These six words, like the most straightforward confession, echoed clearly into Time's ears in the quiet night. His heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously avoided Lu Yu's overly scorching gaze, tugged at his coat, and quickened his pace.
"Going back." He whispered, as if hiding something.
Lu Yu looked at his almost fleeing back, and the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.
The next morning, dormitory 602.
When Lu Yu woke up, he found his dark blue coat had been washed and neatly folded by his bed. The coat still had the fresh scent of soap from the laundry detergent, which was completely different from the sweaty smell on his body.
He picked up the coat and could imagine Shi Guang quietly scrubbing the coat under the faucet in the dormitory's public bathroom.
Lu Yu's heart instantly softened. He hugged his coat in his arms, turned over in bed like a fool, buried his face in the quilt, and laughed silently.
"What are you so horny for so early in the morning?" Fatty Jiang was woken up by the noise from his side. He poked his head out and grumbled sleepily, "If someone didn't know, they would think you were holding some treasure."
"You know shit." Lu Yu let out a muffled laugh from under the quilt, feeling so good that he could take off on the spot.
This was the scene Shi Guang saw when he pushed the door open: Fat Jiang was complaining, Sun Rui was reading a book, and Lu Yu was holding a coat, smiling like a silly son of a landlord.
"Boss! Good morning!" Fatty Jiang immediately put on a fawning smile. "How was your rest yesterday? Did our Brother Lu disturb you? He was like possessed after he came back last night."
Shi Guang ignored Jiang Xiaopang's nonsense. After packing up his things, he said to Lu Yu, "The coat is dry."
"Well, thanks." Lu Yu sat up and tried to make himself look normal.
This afternoon, there was a dress rehearsal for the welcome party, which took place on the official stage of the auditorium.
Lu Yu changed into his white shirt and stood under the glaring spotlight, feeling a little dazed for a moment. The audience was a sea of empty seats. Members of the student union and the director team were milling about, talking loudly on walkie-talkies.
"Lu Yu, move half a step forward. Yes, step on that landmark!" Senior Meng Wei, the show's general director, was holding a folder and professionally directing from the audience. "When you sing the chorus, try making more eye contact with the audience. Imagine that they're all your fans."
"Got it." Lu Yu nodded and adjusted it according to her instructions.
Shi Guang, clutching his laptop, sat at the very edge of the first row, next to the lighting technician. He tilted his head, quietly confirming each lighting switch with the lighting technician. He was also wearing a white shirt today, not a T-shirt, which made him look particularly clean and tidy. Sunlight slanted in through the high windows on the side of the auditorium, casting a furry golden edge on his body. His entire body was as focused as a painting.
Lu Yu looked at him, and suddenly a surge of pride surged in his heart. This was his art director, someone he had personally invited.
The rehearsal officially began. Wang Qing played the piano, and Lu Yu adjusted his breathing and began to sing.
Everything went smoothly until the chorus, when there was a delay of one and a half seconds between the spotlight effect created by the lighting engineer and the special effects of the shooting stars in the time PPT.
"stop!"
The sound of time echoed in the noisy auditorium.
The music and singing stopped abruptly.
The lighting technician, a somewhat impatient junior, said impatiently, "Oh, that's almost enough. Who in the audience would notice a half-second delay? This is how we usually operate."
"No." Shi Guang stood up and walked to the console. His tone was calm, but with a sense of persistence, "The emotion of this song is rendered at this very second. The light and shadow must be synchronized."
"Why are you being so serious, junior?" the senior student, clearly feeling his authority challenged, raised his voice. "I've been in charge of the evening party lighting for three years, so I do have some experience! You're just a freshman, what do you know?"
The atmosphere backstage suddenly became tense. Meng Wei also frowned and was about to step forward to coordinate.
At this moment, Lu Yu on the stage suddenly spoke.
"Listen to him."
Lu Yu held the microphone, his voice carried throughout the auditorium through the speakers. He stood under the spotlight, looking at the lighting technician with a determined look.
"Shi Guang is the artistic director of our show," he said clearly, word by word. "From the background, lighting, to the music, he is fully responsible for all visual aspects. I completely trust his professional judgment. So, please cooperate with him. Thank you."
There was no hesitation in his voice, which was filled with complete trust and protection of time.
In the end, the lighting engineer chose to compromise under the dual pressure from Lu Yu and Meng Wei.
Rehearsals continue.
This time, when the chorus sounded, a meteor streaked across the deep blue night sky, and a bright spotlight landed precisely on Lu Yu.
Light and shadow blend perfectly at that moment.
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