Chapter Text
“What do you mean I have to join the Chinese music ensemble? I thought it was an elective !?” Xinyan all but shouts at the administrative staff seated at the front desk of the music department office.
“Manners, young lady,” the staff reprimands her sharply, before proceeding to reiterate her previous point. “Chinese music ensemble is an elective open to students from all faculties, but a compulsory course for Chinese music majors.”
“Curses. I wanted to join the rock band elective, but that would clash with the Chinese music ensemble...”
The staff’s eyes softened. “You could check out the student organizations, or even try forming your own band. As a music major, you will still be able to book the recording and rehearsal studios.”
Xinyan’s left hand came up to rest on her chin as she considered the suggestion. “If I formed my own band, it wouldn’t be graded… and we could choose our own repertoire! What a great idea! Thank you Ms. Katherine!” With that, she jogged out of the office, barely hearing Katherine call out after her to remind her to submit her final course registration form on time.
“Hey there, my name is Xinyan, and I’m looki- wait, I wasn’t finished… Hey! My name is… Hello there, would you like to join a band? No? Okay… Hi! Are you interested in forming a band with me? I promise I won’t bite! Wait…”
Xinyan watched dejectedly as the last of the students brisk-walked away from her. There were no more students in sight, as the ten-minute grace period between classes had just ended.
It had been three days since she began trying to recruit members for her new band. She had originally looked up the student organizations in the university, and even checked out the rehearsals for all the band-like organizations, but none of them particularly spoke to her.
They were all lacking that… boom-shaka-laka, if you got what she meant.
With those options out of the way, she turned to forming her own. She even got her good friend from back home, Hu Tao, to design her a flaming hot leaflet that would encapsulate all the passion and rock’n’roll spirit that she wished to pursue in her band. Now all she had to do was find people with the same level of fiery zeal, and they would be rocking their way for her four years in the university.
At least, that was what she had envisioned, but with each passing student, it was looking more and more unachievable.
Xinyan sighed as she sat down on the bench.
“The winds are too light today for a young spirit like you to be so down. Come, tell your trusty senior, what is it that bothers you so?”
It was all Xinyan could do to keep from screaming when a carefree voice spoke up from beside her. You’d think she would’ve noticed a boy in green sitting on a brown bench, but no, she hadn’t seen anyone before she sat down!
“I’m trying to form a rock’n’roll band, but no one I’ve approached has been interested...”
“Oh? A rock’n’roll band? That sounds interesting. I would love to join your band.”
Xinyan perked up. “You would?”
“Sure, I have dabbled in a few different genres of music, but never rock’n’roll. I’m sure it’ll be a very interesting experience, if you’ll have me, of course.”
“Thank you so much! My name is Xinyan, and I’m a guitar player. What’s your instrument?”
“Hmm… I could probably pick up anything fairly quickly, so how about we find some other members, and I’ll fill the gaps?”
“... Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m not Venti for no reason.”
Xinyan was not sure what a “venti” was supposed to mean outside of a Starbucks order, but something about his confident demeanor made her trust him.
“Alright then, almighty “venti,” where do we start?”
“I know just the kid.”
As a first year student, Xinyan had yet to figure out her way around campus. She could only follow Venti as he led her towards the music building and through the maze that was the practice room floor.
Venti was quick on his feet, flitting from corner to corner like an overexcited tour guide eager to show off the features of the campus. Xinyan learned from the way he said hi to various people on the way, as well as his own explanations, that he was in his third year into his master’s degree (“It’s complicated,” he had brushed off her queries when she tried to ask how long a master’s degree was supposed to be).
Finally, they stopped in front of one of the rooms. The deep rumble of drums being struck quickly and rhythmically seeped through the soundproofed door.
“We’ll go in when he’s done with this section, but for now, you can appraise his skill from here. I’ve had my eyes on him since the auditions.”
There were so many questions racing through Xinyan’s mind, like why a master’s student could get to listen in on entrance auditions, and how he knew just where to find the exact same person at the exact time. Venti, however, did not look like he was up for answering any questions, so Xinyan could only turn her attention to the muffled drum sounds.
Through the small window of the practice room door, she could see a boy with light blue hair standing behind a set of three large, red drums. Chinese tanggu drums, she quickly recognized. This boy was a Chinese music major just like her, she would wager. Xinyan wondered if she would see him in the ensemble course. She also noted how dextrous his arms and wrists were as his drumsticks flew from one drum to the next, executing a complex rhythm flawlessly.
“Oh, what do we have here?”
A voice spoke up from behind Xinyan, shocking her for the second time in a day. She turned to find a slim boy slightly taller than her, with a tilted head of blue hair and questions in his amber eyes.
“Ah, you must be young master Xingqiu. My name is Venti, a master’s student, and this is Xinyan, a first-year like yourself. We are here to recruit your friend into our band.”
Thank goodness for Venti, for Xinyan was still speechless from shock. Or maybe not, seeing as how the boy, apparently named Xingqiu, narrowed his eyes slightly in suspicion. His guarded expression was gone in a flash, however, replaced with a cordial smile.
“Please, just call me Xingqiu. What, may I inquire, is this band you wish to recruit Chongyun into? Oh, where are my manners, come on in, so you won’t have to explain yourselves to Chongyun again.”
Xinyan moved out of the way as Xingqiu made his way to the door, lifted the thick handle, and pushed his body against the door to open it.
“Chongyun, I got you your popsicles, oh, and I’m turning up the temperature, you’ve got guests.”
A gush of cold air hit Xinyan in the face as soon as the door opened, and when she entered the room, she felt like she had entered a refrigerator. How could this boy play the drums at such high speed and accuracy in this temperature?
“Xingqiu… who are these people?”
“Ah, yes, I found them outside the practice room, and they have an interesting proposal for you. I’ll let them introduce themselves.”
Xinyan looked over to Venti, who gave an encouraging smile. “Hi,” Xinyan began, but then shivered involuntarily.
“Sorry about the cold, he’s from the north, and more used to playing the drums in the cold.”
“It’s okay, it’s getting warmer already,” Xinyan said, although she was puzzled by how Chongyun was now sucking on the popsicle that Xingqiu had brought back for him.
“We’re looking for members to join our rock’n’roll band, and we would love for you to join us! You can be our drummer!”
“A rock’n’roll band? I don’t know… I’ve never played any other instruments before...” Chongyun scratched the back of his head unsurely.
“You can always try! I heard you from outside just now, you have amazing skills on the drums! I’ve never heard such passionate drumming from anyone before! I’m positive you’ll be great!”
Chongyun looked at Xingqiu, who looked back at him, and the two seemed to share a silent conversation.
“Alright then, I’ll give it a try.”
“Awesome! My name is Xinyan, I’m the guitarist, and this is Venti, who is… undecided. With you on drums, all we need now is a vocalist and a bassist, for the most basic band. Hmm… I could actually do vocals too, if we can’t find anyone, but...” Xinyan’s gaze floated over to Xingqiu.
“Oh, heavens no. I couldn’t sing to save dear Chongyun here, regretful as that is.”
Venti spoke up for the first time since entering the room. “I could learn the bass, and since it’s still early into the semester, we could probably keep an eye out for anyone who would be interested.”
“Sounds great! This is gonna be lit!”