2 Song

The singer easily took his gaze away from Geale's direction. He turned to the small group of audience in front of him as he continued his performance. "There's a song that I will never sing again; the most beautiful hymn I ever learned to sing…"

Geale felt his mouth run dry. His heart pounded painfully against his chest. His body staggered forward in hopes of catching the man's attention again.

Did he scare him away? Did Geale look at him badly? Was the singer upset? Was he going to look at Geale again?

"I suggest you stay away from him," the man behind the bar warned.

Geale anxiously turned around to face him. "He's here for a friend too?"

"Something like that." The man then turned to another customer at the bar who was asking for a drink.

Geale quickly took a swig of his beer, the alcohol burning down his throat. It lit up scorching flames in his insides.

Something like that? What did "that" even mean? Did the singer already have a companion? Was he singing about his partner?

"A song of happiness that I've never felt before," the singer continued, pouring his heart out with every word. "Filled with memories and sweet nothings, pain and bitter blues."

Geale turned to watch him again. The singer still wasn't looking at him.

"All of them you've forgotten, and I forever endure," he sang, smiling sadly at his guitar. He then turned to the audience again.

"Let these words of mine crash like waves on the shore…My voice fade away like echoes in the breeze. Let my screams remain unheard and my pain sink into the ocean…until the heart that beats for you, begin to fade."

Geale's heart sank. He could feel the deep sorrow from the singer's soft gaze, despite the way his thin lips rose to a smile. Geale hadn't heard the song before but every word wrenched into his core.

The singer was clearly addressing someone with each stroke of his guitar. Who was it? Was it really the singer's companion?

If it was, then they weren't in good terms. The monster wounded the singer badly. They shattered his heart. Whoever the monster was, he deserved to be punished!

Who was it? Who was the demon who had the audacity to leave the singer in pain?

Geale continued to watch him sing, waiting in baited breath for a chance to catch the singer's stunning gold eyes again. He took in every minute expression on the man's face, unwittingly leaving his beer warm and forgotten on the bar counter.

He then sensed the end of the song looming in the air.

Geale pursed his lips, suddenly afraid that the singer would never look his way. Did he really scare him away?

Should he approach him after the singer's performance? Offer him a proper apology, offer him a drink! Beg him for another chance to hear him sing-

The singer's eyes darted toward his direction.

Geale held his breath, willing for the moment to never end.

"No passing time, no bitter feud, no shattered memories…will make my heart stop from singing its song for you," he sang.

Geale opened his mouth to speak - to tell the singer that his heart wouldn't stop singing for him too so he shouldn't dare to end his feelings!

The singer looked away. The audience clapped. He stood up from his seat and bowed. The singer then walked down one side of the stage and made a beeline for a doorway behind the bar.

Geale quickly got up from his chair to follow him, but a woman suddenly blocked his path.

"Stop! Please, he's not like you. Spare him."

Geale stared confused at her. He recognized the woman as the partner of the man behind the bar. Geale glanced at her partner, who was already approaching them.

"Please," the man said. "He's not for you."

Why? What did they mean? Was it because he had a companion? Geale just wanted to talk to him, to apologize to him if he offended him in any way, to make it up to him with a drink or two, to know more about him, or...

But Geale couldn't voice out his protests. The couple's worried expressions made him lose the words he needed to retort against their pleas.

His ears were ringing. His heart was pounding. Geale had to clear his throbbing head. Defeated and confused, Geale walked out of the beach house bar.

He trudged through the crowd of people dancing on the beach without a destination in mind. He just needed to get away.

He needed to go as far away as he could from the beach house bar. He let the sand crunching against his feet lead him to the empty, rocky edge of the shore.

It wasn't until he realized how dark his surroundings were that he became painfully aware of his racing heartbeat. He desperately caught his breath as if he just ran a marathon.

Cold sweat slid down the back of his neck as if he had awaken from a terrible dream.

It wasn't the first time that his heart skipped a beat at the sight of someone. He had been attracted to others in the past. He had sought someone's company before, but this was the first time he felt hurt at the thought of walking away from them.

This was the first time he wanted to talk to someone so badly. Nothing in the singer's looks made him want to sleep with him. Geale just wanted to be with him. He would even settle for watching the man sing the entire evening.

This was also the first time Geale felt jealousy toward someone he didn't know. The person he was envious of might not even exist! The song could just be a song, nothing more.

The lyrics could mean nothing despite how much each word made him feel.

"No passing time, no bitter feud, no shattered memories will make my heart stop from singing its song for you," Geale bitterly muttered, remembering the last line of the song.

The thought of the singer addressing it to someone other than him made his heart ache.

A loud bellowing sound suddenly echoed behind him.