Payback

Chapter 14

After they had all finished eating, Lu Yin volunteered to wash the dishes. Everybody else just went into their rooms afterwards to wash up.

Zi You also went into his room to take a shower. Although he had already taken a shower before, that was just a quick one to wash away his sweat from working out. When he got out, he rubbed his hair with a towel. He didn't like to blow dry his hair, so he usually just left it to air dry.

He made his way into the instruments room.

When he opened the door he met face to face with someone he didn't expect. Well, not face to face, but just seeing Meng Shu playing the piano.

Zi You stood there listening to the beautiful tone. Yes, it was beautiful, but it carried along with it sorrow and bitterness.

If you were just an amateur in music, you would never be able to find this out. But Zi You was someone who loved music, that's why he was able sing, dance, and play instruments. He was able to spot out the sorrow and bitterness it in right away.

As soon as Meng Shu finished, Zi You clapped his hands. Listening to the music, he was able to make a story for it. That signifies how well someone can play an instrument. When the person listening can make a story out of it.

Meng Shu turned his head around to look at who was clapping. He saw Zi You and for a moment was quite shock. He hadn't noticed another person's presence in this room. Meng Shu's eyes darkened a little as he stood up.

Zi You saw how Meng Shu's eyes changed but he didn't care. He took a seat and started testing out the keys on the piano.

When he got done testing out the keys, he started to play for real.

His fingers moved skillfully across the keys. His hands never falling out of rhythm as he tried to breathe evenly, while following the rhythm.

When the tempo of the music dropped, the atmosphere surrounding them did too. When the tempo of the music sped up, the atmosphere got lighter. It was as if the keys under Zi You's hand could control the air around them. As if Zi You was in command of everything around them.

Meng Shu listened carefully to what he was hearing. The music made his blood boil, made him think that there was no such thing as tomorrow. It made him feel as if he was lost, struggling to find his way. As if he was trying to escape the grasp of something evil. When the music slowly got slower, it made him feel as if he could finally breath. And yet, something inside of him felt insecure.

Zi You slowly got paler as he continued playing his piece. He already knew that this would happen. How could he not? This piece was something that he, himself, had wrote.

He knew the effects that would come from playing this and yet he didn't stop. He knew that by playing this he would be controlled by the emotions the music would bring out. That whoever plays this would be put under a spell.

Without knowing, their senses would be cut off. That after someone plays this, their mind would be, forever, haunted by the darkness that lurks in their mind.

When the music was over, only then was Zi You able to breath better. His hands were shaking and trembling and small beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead. His face was still pale but his complexion was much better now.

"W-what piece was that?" Meng Shu managed to squeeze out of his gritted teeth.

"Heaven's Wrath, personally written by me." Zi You answered, his voicing trembling a little.

As he started walking he patted Meng Shu's shoulder before walking out.

When he got into his room he immediately fell onto the bed. Finding discomfort on it, he tossed and turned around before finally falling to sleep.

When he woke up his back was drenched in cold sweat. In his dream he found himself in a dark place and no matter what he did to get free, he couldn't.

His hands rubbed his hair over and over again. When he felt he was okay, he got up to take his morning shower.

When he was finished he went into the living room. He saw Lu Yin, Wen Wei, Cheng Wu, Meng Shu,...... and Xu Ming?

His mind blanked out for a second. What was Xu Ming doing here?

It seems that Xu Ming had also noticed that Zi You was there, because he turned around to look at him.

"Good morning." Xu Ming said to Zi You.

Zi You nodded as he took a seat.

"This is some house you got here." Xu Ming said turning his attention to look around the house. Right then Lu Yin set down a cup of coffee, for Xu Ming, on the table.

"Thanks," Xu Ming said to Lu Yin as he picked up the cup of coffee.

"So, why are you here?" Zi You asked.

"Can a friend not even visit his own friend's house?" Xu Ming said as he took a dose of coffee.

"Since when were we friends?" Zi You said as he raised his eyebrows at Xu Ming.

"Starting now, I guess." Xu Ming said as he laughed. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyways, I came to give you this." He said as he passed a file to Zi You.

"What's this?" Zi You said, unsure what the file was for.