PEP TALKS OF SORTS | SERENDIPITY HILLS | BACKDATED TO DECEMBER
But counterpoint: soccer is lame and playing guitar is way
cooler.
⚠
--
Everything stopped at once: the guitar, the rattling of the cymbals, the bass and the vocals, and Yue couldn’t help but grin at how tight that had sounded. As far as he was concerned, he was pretty sure they were going to kill it at their Christmas concert tonight.
That was, of course, assuming Lan Sizhui was going to show up. He hadn’t committed when Yue had asked him earlier in the week, insisting that he had some soccer game to play instead. But when he’d shown up in Serendipity Hills the day after their guitarist had broken his arm, well, Yue had thought that it was practically a Christmas miracle. Lan Sizhui was one of the best musicians that Yue knew, and they’d always played well together in the few short years they’d gone to high school together. He was the only person Yue trusted to be able to learn the complicated guitar melodies in the limited time they had before the concert, and he’d been proven right.
But all of that would be for nothing if he decided to go off and kick a ball around for a few hours instead, when they both knew his true calling was music. The idea of Lan Sizhui coming to his senses was why Yue had decided not to cancel the concert altogether.
He said his goodbyes to the other band members, saying he’d see them tonight, and then took a moment to eye up his old friend. “So, think you’ll come tonight?” he asked, casually.
Sizhui knew what Yue wanted him to do the moment he had mentioned that his band's guitarist had broken his arm. He’d been dreading having to make the decision all week. His entire university life had been focused on soccer, because that was what his scholarship demanded. He’d kept his grades up, focused on his training, and he was set up well to have a strong senior year once this one was completed. He did enjoy soccer, and he was good at it.
But he loved music too. It just wasn’t what his parents wanted him to do. They didn’t expect Sizhui to play professionally, but they did expect him to use it to get through university to find a good job. While missing this game wasn’t the end of the world, it was a charity event and not an official game, it would still draw negative attention and probably get him in shit with both his coach and parents.
Sizhui finished putting away his guitar before slowly turning his gaze to Yue, face blank. “You know I’m expected to be at the match.”
“Yeah, I know,” Yue said, frowning. He didn’t smoke - no one in Serendipity Hills smoked, certainly high school students didn’t smoke, who would even consider that? - but he did have a sucker in his pocket, and he unwrapped and stuck that in his mouth. “But counterpoint: soccer is lame and playing guitar is way cooler.”
“Soccer is not lame.” he insisted, though there was an easy smile on his face. He wasn’t mad that Yue didn’t enjoy the game. Though yes, he had a point. Playing the guitar was cooler. He just couldn’t voice that opinion out loud. “Soccer is paying for my degrees.” Almost entirely, “It’s fun, if you give it a chance.” He never understood why it had to be one or the other. Athletics or music. There were such harsh lines that he had been forced to adhere to, and it was so unnecessary. “For whatever reason they make you choose one or the other.” Whoever ‘they’ were. His parents, the school, society norms in general.
Yue snorted. “Do I look like the athletic type to you?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow, and spreading his arms as if displaying his gangly, skinny frame. “Seems to me like ‘they’ never really let you make that choice yourself. C’mon man, you’re a freaking great musician. It’s a real shame that people have only ever seen you kick around a ball and have never gotten a chance to hear the things you can do on a guitar.”
“I mean to watch.” he said gently, smile never faltering. “And who knows, maybe you’d like a rec league if you gave it a chance.” You didn’t have to be any sort of official athlete to be able to enjoy games like soccer. But that's besides the point. His smile did falter when he pointed out that most people had never heard him play. That was true, and it did bother him on some level that it had always been something he’d had to keep to himself until Yue had busted him in high school.
Sizhui didn’t know what the right answer was. “What time is your band scheduled to go on?” he asked with a sigh as he slung his guitar over his shoulders. He couldn’t deny he was at least tempted to see if he could work something out.
“Six,” Katou said, and then grew uncharacteristically serious. “Listen man, I know you got your soccer gig or whatever and maybe it’s important.” Katou didn’t really think so, but it wasn’t like he was the one playing so he suspected his opinion didn’t actually count for much in this case. “But this is your passion. Don’t let life slip by ya just doing what everyone else wants you to do.”
His game started at 5, which meant he’d miss half the game if he went to the concert. Being in two places at once was sadly not a skill set he had. “It’s only potentially my entire scholarship.” he quipped when Yue mentioned that it might be important.
It was a big ask. And he was annoyed that he wasn’t to say yes, but also had to think of the potential repercussions. Sizhui paused, studying Yue carefully as his mind raced through every possible bad outcome of ditching the soccer game, but also what might go well. “I’ll think about it.” he said carefully, “And let you know soon.” he promised, then added after a beat. “Tomorrow, at the latest.”
“Sell out,” Katou snorted, but he said it with a bit of a smirk. “Just make sure that whatever you choose is what you wanna do, not what everyone else wants you to do, you know?” He rubbed the side of his head, half-embarrassed, and added, “You deserve better than that.”
Sizhui offered him a smile that was nearly a smirk. What was that? Something that could be considered supportive that was disguised as snark? Wow. His smile masked the knot that was tying just a little tighter in his stomach. “I’ll text you later man. He said with a half wave and a shake of his head. He had way too much to consider, which really translates to way too much to stress about in a very short period of time.