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In the port city of Teyvat, summer was probably the most eagerly awaited season for all the inhabitants, but especially for singer and guitarist Xinyan. She would be able to perform in front of a much larger audience than usual, together with her band, which made her extremely excited.
She was a songwriter, the leader of the indie-rock band and a guitarist, but she also composed her own songs. She wanted to become famous by making her music known worldwide. She had worked so hard and for so long on this project. She couldn’t give up. This was excluded. Out of question.
She was in the most well-known nightclub in the whole city. The Angel’s Share, which was owned by Diluc. All she had to do was sing her song and make her music known. Be herself. Xinyan. Songwriter, and musician. This was what she was, this was who she was. She could be everyone and everything she wanted to be.
She was going to perform. The performance was only five minutes away. She was as nervous and anxious as usual, but maybe even more so. There were rumours that Zhongli, a world-renowned record producer on the hunt for talent, might be there.
She hardly swallowed the lump stuck in her throat. She tried to calm herself down, mentally telling herself that she could do it. All she had to do was try, and she would succeed into it. As always. She believed in herself. She had to trust herself. She had to.
Fischl the singer, Xinyan the guitarist, Venti the bassist and Childe the drummer. The band were still in their dressing rooms, waiting to be called when it was their turn, while they fixed their make-up and stage clothes so they could look their best. They were an alternative rock band, so their make-up and clothes went accordingly to this style.
She looked at herself, whose reflection was reproduced on the giant, clean mirror placed above the vanity table. She adjusted some strands of hair, wild ones, escaped from the pigtails on top of her head. She wore only red clothes, matching red make-up. That hue of red, like a ruby, was really a great choice in contrast with her dark skin.
She noticed that Fischl and Venti were laughing behind her back. She turned towards them, frowning, since she didn’t understand. What was wrong with them? Kids these days.
“What is it?” Xinyan asked Fischl, blinking twice.
“There’s that girl tonight,” Fischl answered Xinyan with a giggle.
"The one you really like and who likes you back, but both of you keep pretending the interest isn't mutual," Venti pointed out, bursting out into another laugh with Fischl.
She sighed heavily, gesturing to both of her band-mates to shut up. To shut the fuck up, actually.
She blacked out for a while, at east a few seconds, just staring at her band-mate. There was such a pretty dancer working in this nightclub, named Xiangling, and she was really attracted by her. She ran her palm against her nape, moving her gaze away. Elsewhere.
Kaeya appeared in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with extreme ease, to make a gesture in the direction of Xinyan.
"One minute, and you're on. It's your turn," Kaeya announced to Xinyan.
"Alright," Xinyan replied to Kaeya.
The band members went on stage, where their musical instruments had already been set up. They took their places. The anxiety devoured her from the inside.
Kaeya announced the band on the microphone, smiling towards Xinyan.
Xinyan's fingers grazed the strings of the guitar with a pinch of the pick, beginning to play as the musical notes spread out everywhere, echoing in the audience along with Fischl's voice.
Xinyan recognised in the crowd a female figure she knew very well, namely the dancer Xiangling. She was beautiful, extremely attractive in her seemingly innocent yet tantalizing beauty. She was dancing on the cube. She wore an electric blue mini-skirt, which matched her loose hair of the same colour that framed her face and brushed her back, and a bright yellow crop-top. She also wore a pair of orange boots. These were the three colours that characterised her unique look, orange, blue and yellow.
The dancer was so beautiful that it was almost the direct cause of the loss of concentration for the guitarist. She only focused on the guitar, the song and the music, and even got distracted a few times by her. It wasn’t that easy, though, but she tried to do it anyway.
She noticed that the other girl gave her a few glances and smiles, which confused her even more. What if it was mutual? They might've liked each other, but she felt like a fool at the same time. There was no way someone as attractive as Xiangling might've liked her back.
She wondered if the interest was mutual between them, even if she wasn’t certain about it. They had never talked to each other, even if they met in this nightclub many times, only often looked at each other. They only knew each other's names because Xinyan was a regular customer and because Xiangling worked in the nightclub. That was the main reason they knew each other's names. The only one.
When the performance was over, the band members bowed to the cheering crowd.
Xiangling leapt down from the cube, walking with a sinuous gait towards them, making room in the crowd that opened up to create a passage for her, until she arrived right in front of Xinyan.
Xiangling smiled cheekily at her, and Xinyan smiled awkwardly at her. She didn’t miss the way in which the member of band, Venti, just burst out in a laugh he couldn’t really hold back.
There was a tall, quiet, lean man with long and brown hair and sharp, amber eyes who stood out in the middle of the crowd due to the refined and elegant way he was dressed compared to them. He approached the stage, watching the band members closely from there. Xinyan recognized him, even if he seemed to be particularly focused on the drummer Childe who was shirtless, and she almost had a heart attack because that was Zhongli.
Zhongli. The music producer who was always searching for talents.
“Who’s the leader? Can I talk to them? Who's the manager?” Zhongli asked with a frown, casually making eye contact with Xinyan.
She really thought she was about to faint, collapsing on the floor. When Xinyan was pointed at by the other three members of the band, so Fischl, Childe and Venti, then she looked back at Zhongli with hesitance.
She bit her lower lip. Hardly. She swallowed her saliva. Slowly.
If this was reality or a fantasy, she wasn’t sure about it. She almost wished she could’ve pinched herself.
Xiangling chuckled softly, not hiding her smile amuse by the situation, and she stared solely on Xinyan.
“It’s Xinyan. She’s the composer, leader and guitarist,” Xiangling answered with a grin, still looking at Xinyan.
It almost felt like Xiangling had been believing more in Xinyan than everyone else. From the way in which Xiangling talked about her, and looked at Xinyan it really felt like this.
Xinyan couldn’t not smile back, this time in a more natural, spontaneous, carefree way to Xiangling.
The noise from the crowd seemed to dissipate into the void, so everyone else and everything else disappeared around them. All that existed was them. Xinyan and Xiangling.
Zhongli coughed, arched an eyebrow, and squared Xinyan.
"Can we move to a more secluded place?" Zhongli asked Xinyan.
She nodded with even too much effort, to the point of looking rather comical. Xiangling chuckled softly again, always because of Xinyan.
-
The members and producer went to the dressing room, where they could discuss their careers and the contract, which they decided to sign directly that night.
When Zhongli came out of the dressing room, holding the documents already signed by all four band members, Xiangling appeared in the doorway.
"My shift is over," Xiangling said to Xinyan with a very mischievous smile. "Do you want to come with me?" she promptly proposed her .
Xinyan was pushed towards Xiangling by her band-mate Childe. Venti laughed it off with Fischl.
Xinyan almost bumped against Xiangling. They stumbled across each other, facing each other. There was a vague redness on Xiangling’s cheeks, revealing a bit of her shyness. A trait that Xinyan didn't know anything about, because Xiangling didn't seem to be that shy to her. Ever.
“Let’s go somewhere else,” Xinyan replied to Xiangling more confidently. “My motorcycle is parked nearby,” she suggested her.
She gathered the courage she often acked, being almost certain, at this point, that the interest was at least mutual. This gave her the necessary strenght to do what she was about do. Take Xiangling away from here. Xinyan’s fingers grabbed Xiangling’s wrist. She dragged out of the room and then of the club, until they were out of the building, by taking the exit on the back, right into the open space.
The gust of the wind hit them in full, making Xiangling’s long, electric blue hair flow into the air. She observed her, Xiangling’s beauty being showed off especially under the pale moonlight and hazy starlight that illuminated her, and she felt like she could’ve fallen in love with her. She pushed the other female against the wall, being face to face and eyes in the eyes with her.
“You made it. I never had any doubt about it,” Xiangling murmured to Xinyan with a wide grin.
She realized that Xiangling really believed in her since so long. She had just been hit by the realization.
“You believed in me,” Xinyan whispered to Xiangling with a faint smile.
She leaned over her, kissing her softly at first and deeply then. Lips against lips at first, then tongues against tongues. When Xinyan detached herself from the other female, it was only to be able to talk to, touch and look at Xiangling like she was the only one.
The whistle of wind into the air, the gleams scattered around them of the moon and the stars, the rumble of the cars along the road. All of those noises and colors just got lost somewhere. Elsewhere. White they felt like they were the only ones left in the whole world.
They pressed their foreheads together, letting the lights bathe them into the night.