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XVI

Brett did get a bit of practice in.

Like, only a teensy tiny bit. But it had still been worth it to obtain that key for the practice room. At least that’s what he told himself to make sure his conscience wasn’t gonna eat him alive. 

And his practice session was actually a bit effective, despite him grinning like a loon all the time just because of the prospect of their little outing afterwards. Thank god he wasn't a wind player! Yeah, those randomly played notes only loosely having resemblance with Korngold were definitely going to be a great benefit for Brett.

So when the clock approached ten, Brett closed the clasps of his violin case, made sure to lock the practice room and walked down to the reception, his steps this close to bouncing. He didn’t know when he’d last been this excited to meet a… friend? Acquaintance? Fellow uni mate? Well, whatever this was, Brett didn’t really care.

“Hey!”
“Hey!”, Brett greeted back, giving his all to not grin too pathetically. Eddy’s voice saying “tried very hard” still echoed throughout Brett’s mind.
“Do I just throw the key in there? Or…”
“Yup. Whenever there’s no one at the reception”, Eddy said and pointed at a metal box with a slit on top attached to the wall.
“So, were you serious when you said there’s no bubble tea anymore?”, Brett asked on their way out.
“Technically, yes. Most stores do close at ten.”
“Not all then?", Brett grinned.
Eddy winked back, “Nah. There’s one I know of that’s still open. But we gotta be quick. And it’s quite a walk.”
“At least we’ll have earned our bobas then.”

The heat of the day had loosened its iron grip on Sydney and a cool, salty breeze welcomed Brett and Eddy into the evening. Eddy led Brett away from campus and past the Sydney Opera House, which looked jaw-droppingly impressive with the gold-white light shining upon the building. 
“Wow”, Brett couldn’t help but marvel. 
Eddy smiled. “Nice, right?”
“You reckon we’ll play on that stage one day?”
“I sure hope so.”
Another dreamy gaze at the opera house and into their possible futures and they walked on, violin cases on their backs bobbing up and down. 
“How did practice go?”, Brett asked. 
“We should have gone right away”, Eddy meant with a small sigh, making Brett laugh. 
“Not successful, I assume?”
“Might as well have used a leek to play on my violin.”
Brett roared.
“Oh my god! Imagine!”
“There is actually a vegetable orchestra which only has veggies and fruits as instruments”, Eddy informed while carrying a grin.
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah! It’s on Youtube.”
Brett swiftly pulled out his phone, opened the app and typed in the words which just didn’t go together in his head. 
“How do you know about that when all you do is practice?”, Brett mumbled mischievously, causing a blush to creep up Eddy’s cheeks. Brett gulped upon noticing it over the close distance Eddy had gotten so he could look at Brett’s screen.
“I’m not always practicing”, Eddy mumbled back.
Brett chuckled and started the video.

It was hilarious and admittedly pretty impressive at the same time. They guffawed and wowed, pointed out the especially musical parts to each other and threw their heads back in laughter a second later. Brett felt as if he’d known that guy for years, the way he felt like he didn’t have to hold back, didn’t have to make sure he’d overdo it with laughing too weirdly, the way his free hand kept wanting to pat the other’s shoulder, the warmth his heart was filled with… and those eyes occasionally glancing Brett's, glittering with this something again…

The video ended way too quickly. Brett was still snickering when he tucked his phone away and Eddy suddenly exclaimed, “Shit! We need to hurry!”
He took Brett’s hand and dragged the smaller with him. Brett’s eyes widened when his brain registered the skin contact, his feet basically staggering along on autopilot almost uselessly. Eddy’s hand was big and so, so warm, probably due to all the running and the Australian summer evening and despite Brett starting to sweat and their palms getting slippery, Eddy’s grip only got firmer. 
Brett hadn’t known he was so out of shape. Why else was breathing so difficult out of the blue?

After ten minutes or so, they reached a quieter road. Eddy slowed down, let go of Brett’s hand and wiped the small pearls of sweat away from his forehead. 
“Puh! Sorry man. It closes at ten thirty. You alright?”
“Yeah”, Brett panted and took a silent note for himself to start working out a bit more as soon as he was back home. “You always run wherever you need to go?”, he jibbed while they took the last fifty meters at a normal pace. 
“Pretty much. That’s how I stay fit”, Eddy huffed with a painful smile, “You noticed?”
“Dude! Who hasn’t? You were late the first day of rehearsal. You basically became an infamous myth by not showing up.”
“Ah, yeah. Please don’t remind me. I’m always late.”
“Your mum must love you.”
“She gave up a long time ago.”

The bubble tea store was tiny. Red, Chinese lampions were hanging from the ceiling and the menu was, to Brett’s mild shock, only written in Chinese. Luckily, he knew his favorite order in his first language by heart.
“Cozy”, he meant when they lined up behind a bunch of loud teenagers clearly enjoying their summer holidays. 
“Right? It’s not a chain, so the prices are quite decent. And the bubble tea here is awesome.”
“Can’t wait.”
“黑糖珍奶,半糖去冰. (Black sugar fresh milk, half sugar no ice)”, Eddy ordered in fluent Mandarin before turning back to Brett. “What are you getting? Want me to order? They basically only speak Chinese here.”
“Same”, Brett mouthed, stunned by what he’d just heard.
Eddy raised his brows and asked for a second one.
“You speak Chinese too?”, he wondered while they were waiting at the side, trying to ignore the annoying group pointing at their violin cases and whispering to each other in a very conspicuous way.
“Not well”, Brett said, “We speak it at home. Yours pretty decent, huh.”
“Went to Chinese school half my life, so I know the basics.”
“You know how to read too?”
Eddy nodded, the same agonized smile from before displayed on his features. “Spent too much time learning those characters, I tell you.”
“Good for you though. I rebelled and dodged the lessons.”
“Lucky for you, man.”
“Not sure! Kinda regretting it. I’d look like an idiot without you here. Can’t read shit.”
“At least you got some social skills to make up for it”, Eddy winked, his undertone however carrying a heaviness it threw Brett into his attentive deer mode again. He creased his brows but swallowed down the comments which lurked at the tip of his tongue. For now.

They got their beverages fairly quickly and left the store, glad they didn’t have to put up with those overly curious youngsters anymore.
“Ahhh”, Eddy made in glee, bubble tea held up in front of him like it was a trophy. 
“Can’t wait!”, Brett meant.
“Pop?”
“Pop!”, Brett nodded once, one hand the straw and in the other his victim. The first sip was heavenly, reviving his dry throat after their short run. The sugar level was perfect and the pearls thoroughly chewy.
“Damn! This is good!”
“Right? Told ya!”
For a minute or so, there were only slurps and content chewings on pearls audible as they slowly made their way back again. 
“Where are you from, originally?”, Brett asked with his mouth half full.
“Was born in Taiwan.”
One of the black pearls had the audacity to roll out Brett’s mouth as he hurried to say, “What? Me too!”
“No way!”
“Legit! Taipei, to be precise.”
“Oh, I was born in Kaohsiung! This is awesome!”
They beamed at each other with smiles so big one would think they both already got the soloist spot. 
“Cheers! To our home country who invented this wonderful drink!”, Brett toasted on a whim and raised his cup. 
Brett hadn’t deemed it possible, but Eddy’s smile got even wider when he raised his to meet Brett’s.
“Cheers!”