MY SIX BOYFRIENDS ARE IN A BOYBAND - Polyamourous Romance

CHAPTER 74

"Oh, Jade! I see you're okay," Zeth said, making a bit of space. "Come. Sit next to me," Zeth patted the spot next to him on the couch, to which she gladly obliged.

She sat between Zeth and Frank, lowering her head.

"Hey," Jade greeted the Sixth Octave boys, who waved back. They all looked tense. In the centre of the couch were Paul and Anton, but there was a peculiar empty space between them. Then Jade looked at Zeth next to her and whispered in his ear, "Hey Zeth... Can we talk? In private?"

"Oh, you'll have to wait a bit," Zeth said.

"Why are they here?" Jade whispered into Zeth's ear again. He looked unfazed and even relaxed.

"It was Frank's idea, and I agreed," he replied in a low voice, “Frank said he didn't want to ruin these guys' careers and brought them here to collaborate on some future project."

"But..."

“Shut it. They will be gone soon," Zeth whispered. "Alright guys," he then exclaimed and turned to the rival band. "Where were we?"

"We were talking about my past," said Mort. "I was telling you I like to play the guitar. My family and I lived from day to day in Sydland. I usually brought home money by playing the guitar and singing in pubs, buses and Syd-Pop beach, but I barely could earn some coins. Then I auditioned for The Idol Academy with my guitar. I did the best I could. I mean, if winning could take me and my family out of poverty..." Mort turned to Frank. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was desperate. I didn't know that we were eliminated from the competition because of me."

"No problem," Frank sighed and nodded solemnly. "Sometimes it's hard to find opportunities when you start from the bottom. I understand that."

Jade's heart pounded when she heard Frank's calm voice. The boy was sweet, kind, and humble, perhaps too much for the environment in which he moved. And judging by the femme fatale bodyguard downstairs, Frank also seemed like the type of person who could forgive and move on. It was very mature of him, because Jade would never have been capable of such a thing.

"And what about you?" Finn asked the Hill twins.

"I worked in a library and learned to play the piano by reading a bit in my spare time. There was an old piano in the library, and the owner of the building told me that I could keep it if I fixed it," Jeyk said, adjusting his glasses. "I never thought I'd get this far. I played the piano at a few weddings, offered my services with posters on light poles, and played at the wedding of a friend of Mr. O'Pry's, which is why I met Anton and his father."

"You sound like an accomplished self-taught musician," Frank winked. Jeyk flushed slightly and put on a shy smile. "Do you play any other instruments?"

"In fact, Grandma Madeline also played the violin, so she taught me and gifted me one," Jeyk replied. "And Grandpa Vinsane taught me and my brother to play the guitar."

"But I liked playing the bass better," Clyde said, pretending he was playing an invisible one. "I bought my first bass with my salary working at a fast food place."

"I used to work in fast food too, in a pizza place," Frank said with a humble smile that the twins returned.

Jade's heart broke and rebuilt every time Frank spoke. It was an irrefutable attraction, beyond the sexual attraction she felt for Alex. Jade had once dreamed of going on a date with a sweet boy like Frank, and more and more she felt that she belonged next to him.

"I learned to play bass and guitar too," Jeyk said, pointing at his twin. "He taught me."

"I used to play my bass and drums in the garage," Clyde said. "The neighbours hated me, but when Jeyk told me that Mr. O'Pry needed to start a band, I said yes without knowing that she meant a boyband."

"I see," Zeth nodded. “You know something? Your ancestor, Maddox Hill, was a great ally of Zeth The Conqueror, He was a brave man who got tired of the Madmen always being subjugated, but he fought against the greatest oppressors: Finnegan and Seabastian Darktide, vain, bloody tyrants hated by those they ruled,” Zeth said, “The Darktides had commanded the construction of Hall of Weak in The Peak of Madness, a small forest in The Madlands, with thousands of captives dying in the quarries, chained to sledges, or labouring on towering walls and huge towers. King Zeth accepted an oath of fealty and named him Duke Maddox Hill of The Madlands and appointed him as his Central Ambassador after they joined forces to defeat the Darktides, or at least one of them. How about we honour the past and come together? Rahman and Hills? For the common good. Also, it seems that you are both talented musicians."

“And kind of cute, too," Finn said, and Draco nudged him as he drank some more of his red juice.

"You guys seem so nice," Anton said. "I mean, I've seen you singing onstage, but... This is so much better. You're so much easier to talk to than I expected."

Jade knew that Frank was behind this conversation; he made it possible. But she was also surprised by Monster Mash's maturity. It was very attractive to see all of them being noble and treating those who gave them such a hard time so well. Jade could only sit quietly, but inside, she wanted to scream to everyone that she loved them for being so nice to Sixth Octave. They were the kind of guys you only met once in a lifetime, who treated everyone equally and without distinction.

"I'm glad we're no longer rivals," Frank said. "What about you, Anton?”

“And you, Paul?" Everett asked.

"I just wanted to make art, short films. I wanted my work to speak for me," Paul said, looking down. "My family wanted me to be a priest like my ancestor. I come from a very traditional small town, nothing fancy. I used to make wine, you know, stomp grapes and stuff, employed by the wealthiest man in town. Once, Taylor Swift went to film her video in the vineyards. That's where my passion began. So, with my phone, I recorded short videos in my free time and uploaded them to YouTube. I recorded a video of myself singing a cover of Taylor's song. It was a tribute to thank her for having inspired me to be a director and writer of my own short films. That's when Anton contacted me."

"Now I understand," said Frank. "You are a dreamer, a grateful person. Those are beautiful virtues in an artist."

Maybe Jade had misjudged Paul, but Frank seemed to be able to see past the obvious. It was a gift the boy had. He was sensitive and tender, very kind.

"And I just wanted to create classical music mixed with a bit of electronic beats. Epic music," Anton said and looked up at his bandmates. "It was a lot of fun. I added electronic sounds to the instruments Mort, Jeyk, and Clyde played. We had a good time, but that's where the fun ended," Anton made a pause, then continued. "My father said I could be the lead singer of a band. I did not want that, I am not good at singing. None of us wanted to be singers except for Mort... We didn't have any good voices to sing, so Dad used autotune and brought another boy into the studio."

“Another boy?" Jade asked, perhaps too loudly, and all the Sixth Octave boys nodded.

Kevin?