Omaggio: homage, celebration
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The tavern was very lively this afternoon. So many students filled the big tavern. The seniors in their school had booked the place to specially celebrate the success of the festival today.
Shenshi's members were also in that place, but instead of eating and chatting happily, their expressions were full of worries and anxiety.
"Where is Liangliang? Why hasn't he come already? It's been forever since we left him with that heartless monster!" Ren Weisheng couldn't help but panic nonstop. His eyes glued on the tavern door, anxiously waiting for the new student to come.
"Why did you call him Yang Liu monster, Weisheng? I know you don't like him, but it's too much for you to call him a monster."
It was dangerous. Huang Bo suddenly argued Ren Weisheng's words and now glaring at the shorter student. It seemed like their fight in the school hall a few days ago would repeat itself. The cause was still the same; it was Yang Liu.
Zhong Hai sensed the danger and he immediately chimed in, "Please stay calm, boys." He gave a stern look to the two boys. "There are so many people here. Please don't cause any trouble."
Both Ren Weisheng and Huang Bo turned at the older student while frowning.
"Who will cause any trouble here, gege? We were just chatting," Ren Weisheng was the one who denied the accusation, and Huang Bo who was sitting beside him nodded in agreement.
Zhong Hai blinked innocently at the response. "You are not gonna fight just like what happened in the school hall before?" He asked curiously.
Hearing the question, Huang Bo chuckled. "Easy, gege," he replied. "I'm in a good mood now, so I don't wanna fight with Weisheng. I believe Weisheng is the same."
Ren Weisheng quickly nodded at that statement. "Correct. I want to strengthen our bonds today, not breaking it just because of one Yang Liu," he added Huang Bo's words.
The senior finally could breathe a sigh of relief. Not long after, a tall student entering the tavern in a hurry, and his movement grabbed the people's attention.
Ren Weisheng's doe eyes sparkled to see who the guy who just came. "Liangliang! We are here!" He screamed to the student who was standing near the entrance. Yes, the student was Zhou Yongliang.
Chen Guangli slapped his forehead seeing Ren Weisheng's shameless action. "You don't need to scream, for God's sake! Yongliang is only five meters away from us!" He annoyedly spoke to the bronze-haired guy. He was embarrassed because all people in the tavern now looking at them weirdly.
But, the other guy just shrugged and smiled happily seeing Zhou Yongliang walked toward their table. He moved for a bit to give the new student a space to sit beside him. "Here, Liangliang. You can sit beside me," he said cheerfully.
Huang Bo could only roll his eyes seeing his friend's action. He was pushed away earlier to give Zhou Yongliang enough space to sit.
"Thank you, gege," Zhou Yongliang said as he sat down in between Ren Weisheng and Huang Bo. "Did you guys wait for long? It looks like you haven't started eating. The foods seem to be untouched," he continued as he glancing at the untouched foods on the table.
"You are right, Yongliang. We are waiting for you because we are worried about you. Are you okay? Yang Liu didn't give you a hard time, did he?" Zhong Hai asked carefully.
Zhou Yongliang stared at the senior for a moment. He still remembered how Yang Liu treated him earlier, but he decided to keep it a secret and smiled before answering, "He was just apologizing to me. It's about the dodgeball incident." He lied in the end.
Theed answer made Ren Weisheng squinted his eyes suspiciously. "Are you sure he was just apologizing and not doing a bad thing to you?" He interrogated the newcomer. "It's weird for a cold creature like him to apologize easily."
Zhou Yongliang blinked his eyes in confusion, but then he chuckled. "I'm sure, gege," he replied while pouring water to an empty glass. "He didn't do anything bad to me, so let's just enjoy the party and forget about that," he then suggested.
The four boys at the table stared at Zhou Yongliang who was now drinking his water calmly. It looked like they sensed something was not right with the new kid, but they decided to brush away the feeling and started enjoying their food.
"If Yang Liu gives you a hard time, you have to tell me, Liangliang," Ren Weisheng said as his hand grabbed a plate of Sichuan pork and started to taste it.
Zhou Yongliang put down his glass and rested his chin on his palm while staring at the short boy innocently. "Rest assured, gege. He won't do anything bad to me. I can guarantee," he replied confidently.
"How can you be so sure, Liangliang?" Chen Guangli asked after he gulped down his food.
Zhou Yongliang lowered his gaze as his hand played with the empty glass in front of him. "I don't know. I just have a good feeling about this. Let's just wait for a good thing in the future, alright?" He looked up again and stared at his friends one by one.
His friends could only sigh but still nodded in the end.
Meanwhile, in the corner of the tavern, a group of students stared at them in silence. That was THE PRODIGY minus Yang Liu. They also attended the celebration this afternoon.
"Just look at how happy they are after they performed their second song so well," Guo Yanlin sneered at the other group.
Fang Xing looked up from his food and glanced at the table where Shenshi's members were eating and chatting happily. "Just let them be," he commented while going back to his food. "They performed their second song so well today, so let's just appreciate them for now."
The comments took the other three people to the table by surprise. They were looking at the tan-skinned guy in disbelief.
"Are you alright, Fang Xing? You don't want to slander Shenshi like usual?" Samuel Wen asked curiously.
Fang Xing didn't look up while answering, "We have to compete fairly, right? They were indeed doing a good job, so let's just leave them alone for now."
"Compete fairly, my ass!" Guo Yanlin quickly rebuked. "Just say it that Chen Guangli scolded you because we were slandering Shenshi too much!"
Fang Xing giggled at the accusation. He didn't refute because what Guo Yanlin just said was true. Yeah, Chen Guangli indeed scolded him and told him to control his noisy members so they wouldn't insult Shenshi even more.
"Guo Yanlin may be right, but Fang Xing was also right. Shenshi was indeed performing so well earlier thanks to the new student," Shao Dingxiang chimed in wisely.
The senior's words made Fang Xing looked up and grinned proudly. "See? Dingxiang gege also agrees with me, so let's just appreciate Shenshi for today."
Guo Yanlin rolled his eyes hearing Fang Xing's sentence. "I was also quite surprised seeing how the new student played the keyboard. I didn't think he could play that well," finally, the short guy gave in.
"You are not the only one who was surprised, Yanlin," Fang Xing replied. "Even our ice prince was also shocked to see the new kid's talent."
"What? Our ice prince? You mean Yang Liu?" Samuel Wen asked in disbelief.
Fang Xing sipped his cola for a moment before answering, "That's right." He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I was with him in front of the stage when Shenshi performing earlier, and Yang Liu couldn't tear his gaze from the new student the whole time. I didn't know what he was thinking at the time, but it seems like he was secretly admiring the boy's skill."
His three friends were silent for a moment before Guo Yanlin broke the silence, "You shouldn't be sure whether he was admiring the boy's skill or he was planning how to hurt the poor boy even more after seeing his amazing skill. Yang Liu may take the new kid as his rival from now on."
What Guo Yanlin had just said was also made sense. Even though Yang Liu was known as a cold creature, but the tall student had a competitive soul and would likely take Zhou Yongliang as his new rival.
"Speaking of Yang Liu, he won't join us today? I haven't seen him since we finished performing earlier," Shao Dingxiang spoke again.
Fang Xing sighed before answering. "He won't join us today. He said he has something to do tonight, so he won't come."
The other three guys copied Fang Xing's earlier action. They sighed simultaneously after hearing his friend's answer.