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Hanzo sighed as he stared at his laptop screen. Finals were fast approaching and he was finishing the last part of his fine arts critique project. Deep down he wished that he had gone with his brother to that frat party. In fact, he’d rather be doing anything than writing this critique. He had already watched the required movie and visited an art gallery. All that was left was to attend a university approved concert.
King’s Point University prided itself on its music program, having graduated several famous musicians including another recent star -- an electronic music artist by the name of Lucio. This meant that King’s Point frequently held concerts featuring a variety of student ensembles in their grand performance hall. Hanzo himself had never been to one seeing as none of the advertised performances piqued his interest. However, this time Hanzo would have to see one if he wished to complete this project. Hanzo rubbed his aching forehead as he opened another tab, hoping to find a concert that still had tickets available.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said bluntly as he scrolled through the page that listed all the upcoming concerts. The words [SOLD OUT] were blotted onto every single concert program in big red letters, taunting him. He cursed himself for not looking sooner. If he couldn’t find a concert, then there was no way his professor was going to even consider grading his project. Luckily, before he could allow himself to panic, Hanzo spotted one concert left.
It was on the last page at the very bottom. It was either a recent addition or something that the other fine arts students deemed unworthy of their review. Hanzo glanced over at the title of the concert. He could almost see why the other students seem to be taking a pass on this concert. This was no wind symphony or orchestra. It didn’t even look like a serious affair at all. The poster for the concert was bright and colorful. Was that a sombrero too? The title read: Somos Musicos! Come see King’s Point’s finest mariachi band as they bring the music of South America to life on stage at the Gibraltar Performance Hall.
A mariachi band? It was…different, but it would have to do. The concert date put the performance at next Friday. This gave him plenty of time to go and finish his critique before the due date. Deciding to avoid any more possible mishaps, Hanzo ordered his ticket online. After giving it some thought, he ordered one for his brother too. That man could use a Friday off from partying. This time he was going to spend some bonding time with his quiet and reserved brother.
*
The week came and went and soon enough it was the day of the concert. Hanzo tapped his foot as he waited for his brother to come out of his room. The bus to campus was almost to their apartment stop. Hanzo would be damned if he were to have to drive and somehow find a parking spot at the university.
“Genji!” shouted Hanzo, pounding on the door to his brother’s room. “What is taking you so long?”
“Relax, brother,” replied Genji, opening the door. “My hair just did not want to cooperate. What if I see a cute girl while I’m there seeing as you decided to drag me along without asking me first.”
Hanzo rolled his eyes, the two brothers making their way out of their apartment. Of course, Genji would try to woo some ladies at the concert. On their way to the bus stop, Genji was saying something about “keeping up with his reputation” and “not wanting to disappoint his treasures” or something or another. Hanzo wasn’t really paying attention nor did he really care. His focus was on getting through this critique project with his sanity and his grades intact.
When the brothers finally got off the bus and made their way to the performance hall, there was already a large crowd waiting outside the doors of the main stage. Hanzo pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was 6:38. The concert doors were going to open any minute now. Hanzo looked over next to him to ask his brother if he wanted to sit close to the front and noticed that his brother had already disappeared. Scanning his eyes over the crowd, he already saw that Genji was chatting up with a cute blonde girl. Hanzo took a deep breath, reminding himself that this was how Genji always acted. He would chastise him for wandering off later. For now, Hanzo grabbed a program and waited with the crowd.
Finally, the concert doors opened, people scanning their tickets and shuffling in slowly. Hanzo saw Genji enter with the girl so he decided that he would just get a seat by himself, seeing as he didn’t feel like becoming a third wheel. He picked a seat that was close the middle, but not too close to the front, allowing him a great view of the stage. By the time he got to his seat more people had shown up. It wasn’t a full house, but it was still a sizable crowd.
“Excuse me, young man. Are these seats taken?” asked a voice. Hanzo looked up to see two older men standing in front of the seats next to him. The one closest to him was a pale, blonde man with bright blue eyes. He looked at the college student with a warm smile on his face. The man behind him, however, looked gruff and impatient. He was dark and had a beard that appeared to be graying. His hair was hidden under a beanie. His dark brown eyes seemed to pierce a hole through Hanzo.
“No, sir. Go ahead,” answered Hanzo.
“Great! Thank you,” beamed the blonde man. “We can see Jesse from here, Gabe!” the man added, looking back at his partner. The other smiled, taking his seat. The blonde man turned back around to face Hanzo. “Oh, my son is performing tonight. He’s one of the vocalists. If this is your first concert, let me tell you that it’ll be a great performance. My son has been singing for ye--”
“Jack, come on. Leave the boy alone, cariño,” whispered Gabe. “You can gush about our son later. Besides, the concert is about to start.” He reached out to grab his partner’s arm, gently pulling him down to his seat.
“Fine,” sighed Jack. “I just hope Jesse doesn’t forget the words.”
Hanzo didn’t say anything during all this. This “Jesse” they mentioned was going to be one of the singers? Interesting. It was always good to put a name to a face especially when it came to his critique.
The lights began to dim as a voice from the intercom politely asked all visitors to silence their phones and warned that any photography or video recording of the performance was prohibited. Soon, a sharply dressed woman came out on stage. She introduced herself as the director of the Latin Music Ensembles, thanking everyone that showed up to the concert and for their support of the arts. As she spoke, a group of students came out from backstage. Each student took their place as the director gestured to the ensemble behind her with her arm in a great sweeping motion.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mariachi Nuevo Generacion!” announced the director. The crowd clapped and cheered. Next to him, Hanzo could hear Jack and Gabe cheering for their son in English and Spanish as a young man took center stage where a microphone stood.
A silence fell over the crowd as the man looked over to his companions and nodded. Suddenly, there was music blasting into the hall. The trumpets were playing notes at a mile a minute and the violins and guitar provided a lyrical voice to the song. Some people in the crowd started to clap, enjoying the fast-paced music.
The man who stood in front of microphone took a deep breath before singing his first note. The second his voice reached Hanzo’s ears it was if time stood still. He felt his heart skip a beat as his breath hitched in his throat. This man, which Hanzo assumed was Jesse, had, for lack of a better phrase, the voice of an angel. The way he confidently belted out the first note of the song stirred something in him. Yes, he had close friends who could sing well, but hearing Jesse pour his heart and soul into the first note was beautiful. Meanwhile, Jesse held out the note as the crowd cheered him on. It felt like an eternity before Jesse finished and settled into singing the first verse of the song.
As the band played on, Hanzo took the time to actually look at Jesse. The way his suit hugged his body in all the right places made Hanzo’s face flush red. The suits were black with gold accents. A red bandana was tucked in like a cravat under his chin. Everything about the outfit was form fitting, making it rather hard to concentrate on the performance. About halfway through the song, he noticed that he was using his program to fan himself.
The first song ended with thunderous applause. The ensemble bowed before settling into another song. This song was slightly different. While it was still fast-paced in the beginning, the way the violins played their notes suggested something more romantic was going to be played. Jesse, meanwhile, was looking down, looking as if he was gathering his thoughts before he went into this next song. When he looked up, there was a moment of hesitation as he locked eyes with Hanzo. The lights that shone down on him were harsh but Jesse could still see the Japanese man’s long hair and regal face.
And those eyes. Those beautiful eyes.
Then Jesse began to sing.
Que bonitos ojos tienes,
Debajo de esas dos cejas,
Debajo de esas dos cejas,
Que bonitos ojos tienes!
Jesse felt strange. He had rehearsed this song thousands of times to the point where his papa was worried that he would strain his voice before the concert. It was a simple traditional song and he was overjoyed to hear that he would get to sing it at the concert. However, something came over him. When he locked eyes with that stranger in the crowd, it was as if he was living the story he was currently singing. Jesse was the poor man who fell in love with the mysterious dancer, knowing deep down that they could never be together because of he lacked the money that would be needed to take care of him. He pours out his love for this stranger through his song, hoping that his words would reach them.
The words indeed did reach Jesse’s dancer. In the crowd, Hanzo felt something too. He knew it was ridiculous to think it, but it was almost as if Jesse was singing to him. He pushed the thought aside, deciding on trying to concentrate on the instruments, listening to their tone and intonation. The thing was, Hanzo couldn’t take his eyes off him. On stage, Jesse gave his all even going as far as to reach out to Hanzo. At that moment, Hanzo knew that it wasn’t just his imagination. Jesse was singing to him. For just a second, Hanzo peeked over at Jack and Gabe, taking notice that they too were awestruck.
“Gabe, I’ve never seen Jesse sing like this before,” Jack whispered, staring at his son on stage.
“I think it’s because he’s found some new inspiration, cariño,” replied Gabe in the same hushed tone. He looked over to Hanzo and winked.
Hanzo immediately looked away, feeling himself becoming even more flushed. He found himself staring at Jesse, barely paying attention to anything else save for Jesse’s voice. The two men continued to stare into each other’s eyes for the rest of the concert.
*
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as the crowd gave the band a standing ovation at the end of the concert. Hanzo felt a pang in his chest, knowing that this might be the last time he would get to see Jesse seeing as King’s Point was a rather large university. What Hanzo assumed to be Jesse’s parents had already gone up to the stage to congratulate their son on a successful performance. Hanzo took what little time he had left to think of some way to approach Jesse.
“Great concert, huh?”
Hanzo nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden appearance of his brother. The girl he was with earlier was gone and replaced with his lab partner Zenyatta who looked over to wave at Hanzo.
“You know, I saw that singer there couldn’t take his eyes off you, brother,” Genji added, pretending to be nonchalantly inspecting his nails. “You should go up and talk to him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Genji. He could have been looking at anyone else in the crowd,” Hanzo retorted, not wanting to admit that he had done the same to Jesse.
“Hey, don’t you have to take a selfie or whatever at the event?” asked Genji, seeming to have changed the topic.
“Shit!” cursed Hanzo as he looked down at the program that he had ripped up throughout the performance to calm his nerves. “I’ll just take a picture with the stage behind me.”
“I don’t know, brother. The stage is pretty empty now and most of the people have cleared out,” Genji said. “You already told me about how picky your professor is about these pictures.” He paused and gave Hanzo his classic mischievous grin. “Your professor did say that you could take a selfie with a performer and that guy’s right there. If you don’t ask him, I’ll be glad to do it for you, brother.”
“You will do no such thing. I can completely capable of talking to him myself,” Hanzo said, unconsciously fixing his hair and clothes. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a stupid selfie that I need to take.”
As Hanzo made his way to the stage, he steadily became more nervous the closer he got. He felt his heart beat faster while his hands started to tremble slightly. When he finally made it to the stage, Hanzo could see that Jesse was side-eyeing him. The look in his eyes gave Hanzo the feeling that Jesse was almost happy to see him. Jack was still talking to Jesse before he noticed that Hanzo was behind him.
“Oh, hello again. Did you need something?” asked Jack.
“Yes. I was wondering if I could get a picture with your son. It’s for a critique project that I am working on for a class,” said Hanzo.
“Of course you can take a picture!” Jesse answered, his sudden and loud outburst gave away his excitement about Hanzo being there. Meanwhile, Jack and Gabe took that as their cue to leave, saying something about meeting outside as they made their way to the exit. “Uh, fine arts, right? I took it last semester. How’s the rest of your critique coming along?” Jesse added, blushing slightly as he tried to play off his previous outburst.
“Yes, and it’s coming along fine. This concert was the last piece of this project,” replied Hanzo. “Now, let me just grab my...” His voice trailed off as he realized that he must have dropped his phone by his seat. Looking back, he saw Genji, who was smiling even wider this time, as he waved Hanzo’s phone in the air in a teasing manner. “Great,” Hanzo said bluntly.
“Don’t worry about it darlin’. I’ve got my phone. I can take the picture and send it to ya if you’d like,” said Jesse, reaching into his jacket and pulling out his phone. “Let me turn it on first. Our director’s pretty anal about phones on stage. I see you’ve met my dads too seeing as you referred to me as their son. Hope Jack didn’t give you too much trouble.”
Hanzo shook his head. “They were wonderful. You dads seem to be very proud of their son. After that performance, I could see why.”
“Yeah, Gabe, you know, the dark brooding one, used to be in a mariachi band when he was younger and he taught me everything that I know,” explained Jesse. “They can be a little embarrassing sometimes, but they’re my parents so I let them. That’s kind of their job.”
Hanzo chuckled. Jesse was as kind as much as he was a good singer. His speaking voice took Hanzo by surprise, however. The deep southern drawl was unexpected given how the accent was nearly nonexistent when he was singing. Despite being taken aback, Hanzo found the accent endearing, thinking that it added to Jesse’s charm.
“Alrighty then, let’s take some good pictures now,” said Jesse, interrupting Hanzo’s train of thought. Hanzo could see that Jesse was positioning himself in a manner that suggesting he was going to jump off the stage.
“No, it’s fine. It’s a rather large drop and I wouldn’t want you to hur—O-Oh my,” Hanzo was trying to say as Jesse already dropped from the stage to where Hanzo was standing, smirking. Before he knew it, Jesse had sauntered over to stand next to Hanzo, put on hand on the other’s shoulder and pulled him close.
“Say cheese!” encouraged Jesse. His phone flashed as it gave a little ‘click’. The singer laughed. “It looks pretty good for a first picture. Now I’m gonna need your number so I can send it to ya."
“Excuse me?” asked a dumbfounded Hanzo.
“Your number, darlin’. The picture will just stay on my phone if you don’t cough it up. I know that critique project can be a pain in the ass without the pictures,” he teased.
“Oh, yes, my number,” Hanzo mumbled. He gave Jesse his number, punching in the numbers himself so that he was sure it was right.
“I’m sorry, but I never caught yer name, darlin’,” Jesse admitted.
“Shimada Hanzo. It’s Shimada Hanzo. Your fathers mentioned your name was Jesse,” he replied.
“Wow. That’s a cool name ya got there, Shimada. And yes, Jesse’s the name. Jesse McCree,” said the singer as he attached the picture to a text message. “You know, I saw you out there, in the crowd,” Jesse said, suddenly getting very serious. “I saw you there and I just—I don’t know. Something came over me when I was singing. I don’t know what it was, but I want to find out. I was thinking maybe we could see each other again? I heard they opened up a new coffee shop near campus. Would you be interested, Shimada?”
Hanzo’s heart skipped a beat. His brain scrambled to gather the words to give a coherent answer. “I would love too, Jesse.”
“Yes! I’ll text you later for details. But for now, shall I escort you out?” asked Jesse, holding out his arm in a dramatic fashion. Hanzo chuckled as he gladly took it, the two men heading towards the many double doors that lead outside to the main lobby. They passed Genji as he seemed to be cursing in his native tongue while he handed Zenyatta a twenty dollar bill. Hanzo would ask about it later. For now, he was focused on enjoying Jesse’s company.
Luckily, the lobby was practically empty save for a few stragglers. Jesse spotted his parents by the exit and detached himself from Hanzo.
“I’ll see you later for our coffee date?”
“I’ll be waiting, Jesse McCree.”
“As will I, Shimada Hanzo. As will I.”
The two men waved goodbye as Jesse left with his dads, disappearing into the night. For the second time that night, Genji popped up behind Hanzo, asking if they were finally going home.
“Zenyatta just left to go back to his dorm and the last bus leaves in, like, five minutes, brother,” said Genji. “I don’t feel like paying for an Uber unless I’m super drunk just so you know.”
“I’ll race you to the stop,” challenged Hanzo, looking back to his brother.
Genji was taken aback. Hanzo hadn’t challenged him to a race since they were kids.
“Oh, you’re so on," answered Genji, leaping past his brother to grab a head start. “Last one there does all the chores for a week!”
“Not if I have anything to say about it, brother!” yelled Hanzo as he trailed after Genji at full speed.
The two brothers teased and hollered at each other all the way to the bus stop. When they got onto the crowded vehicle, Genji felt his pocket vibrate.
“Oh yeah, don’t forget your phone, Hanzo. I think your new boyfriend just texted you,” said Genji as he tossed his phone over to his brother.
Hanzo rolled his eyes and he opened his phone. Turns out Genji was right. It was Jesse. He first saw the message that contained their picture. They’re both smiling at the camera, but there was something off about their appearance. Where those…dog ears? Oh, heavens above they had dog ears. The only picture he had gotten that night and Jesse used a Snapchat filter. Below the picture was a message that read: Goodnight darlin’. I hope you get home safe. See you soon! followed by the wink emoji. Hanzo smiled, putting his phone away. Maybe the other concerts were sold out for a reason.