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As it happens, it is of course on an otherwise perfectly normal day that Xingqiu is waylaid by a life-changing conundrum. He's done with classes for the day and planning to spend the rest of his afternoon immersed in the latest series he'd picked up when he spots Gaming. Or, rather, Gaming spots him and waves him over insistently.
"Hey, Xingqiu, we're going for karaoke. You want to join?"
Xingqiu's first instinct is to say no. Much as he'd like it to be otherwise, he's realized, somewhat painfully, that vocalizing is not his strong suit. He's not one for public humiliation.
Against his better judgment, though, he asks casually, "Who's going?"
"So far, it's me, Chongyun, Xinyan, and Yun Jin. Xiangling's checking that her dad doesn't need her at the restaurant. And, uh, Hu Tao hasn't responded yet, but she's usually down."
Inwardly, Xingqiu cringes. That's totally not fair. Xinyan and Yun Jin are music majors—in fact, Yun Jin is not only a professional singer, but also the acting head of her family's theatre troupe, for archons' sakes. Next to her, he'll sound like a dying frog.
But also, he's always wanted to hear Chongyun sing…
"So… you in?"
So much for self-preservation. Before he can regret his own decision, he says, "Um, yeah, let me just let Xu know to come by later…"
"Great! Some of us are actually gonna head over now. You all done on campus?"
"Well—"
"Chongyun said he'd meet us at the bus stop," Gaming volunteers coincidentally.
"Yes."
"Alright, perfect. Chongyun's gonna be thrilled when he hears you're free. He told me you're usually too busy, so you've never joined them for karaoke before."
Gaming chatters on cheerfully, but Xingqiu's brain snags on the last detail. Well, of course he hasn't gone before, for reasons previously explained (that is, being admittedly, shamefully, rather tone-deaf). But also, since when has Chongyun been going to karaoke, and why has Xingqiu never been invited?
Yun Jin is surprised, to say the least, when Gaming arrives at the bus stop with Xingqiu in tow.
So surprised, in fact, that her conversation with Xinyan abruptly ceases at his appearance. "Xingqiu," she greets with wide eyes, "you're joining us today." It's an observation with a note of dubiousness, as if she can't quite believe her own eyes. Xingqiu isn't sure if he should be offended, even if he half-agrees with her. Because out of everyone here, she has heard incontrovertible evidence of his lack of ability to carry a tune.
Chongyun shares none of his companions' disbelief and exclaims happily, "Xingqiu, you came!"
Only for you, Xingqiu's mind very unhelpfully supplies. Even if it's true. Chongyun's smile makes everything worth it, maybe even the embarrassment ahead.
Of course, he can't exactly say that.
Aiming for nonchalance, he says instead, "Err… well, I happened to be free, yeah." He thinks he might melt from prolonged direct exposure to Chongyun's sincerity.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, just heard back from my dad—Xingqiu?" comes a voice from behind them. He recognizes her voice before he even turns to spot the signature braids. Xiangling pauses only for a second to register his presence and smirks. "Glad you could join us."
He groans inwardly. And here is person number two who knows of his shameful attempt to sing. Unlike Yun Jin, however, Xiangling definitely won't hold back. He's never going to live this down, is he?
"We're all here?"
"Yep, Hu Tao says she'll meet us there."
And there's person number three. Scratch that. This group is going to be the death of him.
"Let's get going then."
Xiangling and Xinyan open with what is apparently their usual pop-y number—so they come often enough that they have a designated opening act, huh? Xingqiu tries not to feel hurt that no one, not even Chongyun, invited him, or even thought to inform him.
Gaming sings a power ballad next, then Yun Jin with a theatrical song, at which point Hu Tao arrives and everyone tells her to queue up a song next. She picks something sufficiently morbid. It must be something she's sung before, because Xinyan and Xiangling pick up backup vocals without any prompting.
Xingqiu is beginning to think, optimistically, that they've forgotten about him. Then he can observe Chongyun in peace without having to subject himself to humiliation.
Chongyun takes the stage next with a slower song.
As it turns out, Chongyun is an incredible singer. Like, wow. His voice is gorgeous. And Xingqiu doesn't just think that because he finds Chongyun's face gorgeous—even if he does think that too.
Anyway, to say he's starstruck would be an understatement. He spends the entire duration of Chongyun's first song in a trance. Xingqiu has never thought to imagine Chongyun's singing voice, but it suits him perfectly. It's soft and a little breathy, but smooth and clear.
"Xingqiu, you good?"
"You're drooling."
Xingqiu snaps his mouth shut, hand instinctively coming up to wipe at the corner of his lips. They're dry. He glares at Hu Tao, whose sleeve covers her mouth, but he knows she's laughing at him.
Thank archons the background music is still playing, and Chongyun, standing next to the speakers, can't hear Gaming and Hu Tao's ribbing. Who knew that coming to karaoke would involve a different sort of humiliation altogether?
Chongyun returns, a little bashfully, to his seat, and Xingqiu's own personal peanut gallery scatters to make room for Chongyun. Good riddance.
"Have you picked a song yet?" Chongyun asks as Xinyan prepares for a solo rock number.
"Um, well…"
Chongyun watches him with a shy, hopeful kind of expression. How can Xingqiu possibly disappoint a face like that?
"Y-yeah, I'm just…" He gestures feebly at the song book. "...looking for a song."
Chongyun nods. "I can't wait to hear you," he says, smiling.
Before he can do something stupid, like confessing to his massive crush on his friend, Xingqiu starts flipping through the book, looking for something he recognizes. Unfortunately, as a direct result of the fact that he doesn't really sing, ever, he hasn't kept up with songs being released in the last decade. Panicking, he finally finds a familiar-sounding title and keys in the number. He vaguely remembers his parents singing this when he was younger.
Oh archons. What has he done?
Xinyan gives a hell of a show, if the roomful of encouraging cheers is anything to go by. Xingqiu himself can't really hear much of it; he's too preoccupied with being queasy and hoping he doesn't do something incredibly embarrassing in front of Chongyun— yet, because there's still that hole he dug for himself.
Too soon, someone—Gaming—announces, "Hey, who picked this song? The Moon Represents My Heart ?" The instrumental might as well be a death knell.
"Ooh, I know this song."
"Isn't this song kind of old?"
"Well, yeah, it was popular when my parents were young."
Everyone collectively turns to Xingqiu, who gulps.
"Hey, it's a classic!" he says defensively (when really he means he didn't have anything else to sing).
No one argues with that.
Well, here goes nothing. He accepts the microphone from Chongyun and steps closer to the screen, where the lyrics are highlighted line by line.
You ask how deep is my love for you,
For how long has my heart pursued,
My feelings in view and my love so true,
The steadfast moon is a symbol of my heart.
To Xingqiu's immense relief, Gaming and Xinyan come to his rescue after the first verse. By the time they reach the bridge, everyone has chimed in, successfully drowning him out in a chorus of voices.
All things considered, it isn't so bad. But would he want to do that again? Probably not.
He happily relinquishes the microphone to Gaming to sing the next number and returns to his seat.
Chongyun nudges him on the shoulder. "That was really nice," he mouths.
Okay, definitely worth it.
They're tidying up the room to leave—Chongyun and Gaming have already gone out to return the microphones and pay for their tab—when Xingqiu seizes his chance to finally ask, "So this is a semi-regular occurrence, is it?"
Carefully, Yun Jin nods. "We're sorry we didn't invite you before." She shares a look with Xiangling. "We didn't think you'd be interested…"
Okay, well, he appreciates the sentiment, but if it's kept him from this— from being blessed with Chongyun's voice?
"We're very sorry we misunderstood your… priorities," she says with chagrin.
Xinyan pipes up, "Well, what a relief. Glad to know we don't have to keep covering for your absences from now on."
Xiangling nods. "You know how bad we felt always having to deliver the news? Chongyun looked like a kicked puppy every time we had to tell him you couldn't make it."
"Really?"
Hu Tao snickers. "Of course that's what caught your interest, huh?"
"Young and hopelessly smitten…" Xiangling shakes her head.
"Lucky for you, because Chongyun might be the only one who finds your tone-deaf screeching endearing."
"It's really not so bad—"
"And you picked a very nice song."
"Yeah, a love song, hm? I know what you are."
"Alright, I think he's suffered enough for today. I hope you had fun today, Xingqiu."
And yeah, okay, he'll admit he did, all joking at his expense aside. Karaoke might just become his next favorite group activity.