Autumn and I cleaned our room a bit. It was late in the evening now and we thought to clean the rest of the house tomorrow. This place is surprisingly organised. Like a lot dusty, true. But we don't need to move any furniture or anything. Things are well placed. No mattress shoved aside or desks flipped, no cabinets half opened. It feels like people just one day decided to move out. Only took the necessities with them like money and food. I am guessing since we didn't find those stuff. This might hint that they were running away from someone or left urgently? Idk,kinda shady if you ask me. I just hope whoever was after them won't come here again. Let Autumn and I survive peacefully for a while!
Anyways after we cleaned the room, we decided to sleep early and venture tomorrow, looking for clues. I reflect on how much happened today. It seems unreal. Like really I was just a depressed college student reflecting on life and then suddenly I am.. I am exposed to Kwangya. I woke up here, discovered so much, found a new friend maybe.
Ok, here me out, Autumn seems really nice until now but I don't call people my friends easily. I feel like becoming close friends takes time. The bond formed to be deep enough needs time. We have only met today, tho she seems really sweet and I would hate for her to turn out as otherwise. Anyways coming back to my introspection, I feel like.. It all happened too fast! Not gonna lie I am really intimidated BUT I am also excited about this world! Like I don't have the stress of being a responsible student, being productive all the time, searching for internships or anything and also this world is mysterious. With Autumn by my side it's gonna be one heck of an adventure finding those mysteries out!
"Hey K, why did you come here? To Kwangya?" Autumn suddenly asks me. I turn to her and say
"Hmm? I don't know. It is just that.. college life was pressurising me, stressing me out. Thrown into a rat race with a constant attempt to outshine people, it was taking a toll on me! I needed a... relief, an escape! Kwangya gave me that. Also, I have always loved isekai animes you know. The one where the main character goes to fictional worlds. I feel like I am the main character now". I laugh a little at that last one.
"Same question to you Autumn. What are your dreams?" I ask.
"I want to become a singer. I have always loved loved LOVED music! My dream was to go to a music school after high school. The one where I aspired to go was really expensive tho so I bunked that.I went to another music school which is so-so. I then created my own TikTok account, and started posting covers of various songs."
"Wow, that is awesome! Can you play any instrument too?"
She blushes a little and then says
"Yeah, a guitar maybe."
I laugh and then ask "Maybe?"
"I mean I am still learning."
"What happened with your TikTok account?"
Her face wilts a little.
"I did get views and recognition but my growth was really slow. Tho I wasn't demoralised about that but then I had people coming to me and telling me that a music career isn't a safe choice. That in this artistic field only a few people succeed. I should think of backups or start working on another career altogether. While I do understand that they were only looking out for me, that really demotivated me. Then I also saw some other aspiring singers on TikTok whose vocal technique was kinda flawed? but they had thousands of views! I couldn't understand why? Was I not following the algorithm? I could be wrong but I think it was the pretty privilege. Those people were conventionally beautiful according to the society's standards. I don't mean to say that their singing was not good, their vocal technique can improve easily with practice. Their voice did have the potential but....."
"It isn't fair to you who has worked so hard and is vocally better to get less recognition."
Her face saddens and it truly saddened me too.
"I don't care if my growth is slow, I don't care if I am not pretty enough or anything causes honestly, I like my looks, moreover beauty standards mean nothing to me as they keep on changing and are different everywhere, I just want to be able to freely create music. But the point is that I have to also earn money and fetch for myself. My slow growth in my music career can't fend for me. I just wish to write songs, compose them and sing."
"You are..sincere."
She smiles and continues"I got really doubtful of myself,I thought why am I not able to achieve what I want? I am practising so hard, I am always up for improvement, for learning, for devoting myself all to music. Even then I am not getting the opportunities, the chances! And while I was going through this...
"The fallen angel appeared?"
She looks at me and raises an eyebrow"You mean Felix?"
"Yeah, that."
She laughs a little, then continues"He told me that I could achieve anything I want in Kwangya, I was really apprehensive, however, I felt I had nothing to lose anyway. I was trying my best there, on Earth. What if the shot I take in Kwangya comes out to be worth it? I just wanted to try. Hence here I am."
I.. hugged her.
"I don't know if it means anything Autumn, but I have faith in you. Let us just keep trying our best and keep striving. Even if music can't fend for you, you can still make it a side hustle. Who knows you might make it big later on in your life if not now. Like there are countless examples of people succeeding in their 40s and 50s, getting recognised. Also, success value doesn't matter on the age or the time you achieve it. Some achieve it early and some a little late. You just have to keep striving and not give up even if it all feels worthless after a point." I then hug her tighter.
"Thank you K, it means a lot!" She hugs me back.
"So.... have you ever written a song?" I wiggle my eyebrows and ask excitedly.
Her cheeks go red. Aww so cute!
"Yeah, but they are not that nice!"
"Oh come on, sing something for me!"
"Well, Shawn Mendes is one of my favourite artists and currently I am really into this song of his called 'Perfectly Wrong. I can sing a lil bit of that."
"Yes, please!"
Autumn sang and... she looked SO beautiful, like you could see that she was totally into it. She was feeling it. Her voice was so beautiful! I felt jolly just listening to her. I suddenly got the urge to just hug her tight and snuggle into her. Idk. So I did just that!
"Ouch..." she laughs "What are you doing K?" She continues laughing and hugs me back.
"Nothing, good night!"
" Good night to you too." She replies and Idk, I felt closer to her. I could feel the sparkles of a beautiful bond flickering to form and connect. I wish for us to go a long way!
Anyways,gotta sleep now since tomorrow is the day to go out and find clues!