Chapter 4: Actor

Keep it simple, keep your confessions simple.

The concert for the Sino-French exchange salon at the bar in "No. 6 Little Jasmine Road" started on the 11th of November.

Due to the nature of this event, many of the people who came to the salon were dressed up in order to be more eye-catching when they went on stage.

Jiang Bai straightened his collar in the mirror of the guest bathroom, and when he turned to go out, he ran into Fang Yuan who was walking to the bathroom.

When Fang Yuan saw his outfit, he gave a thumbs up and whistled: "Handsome!"

Jiang Bai came out of the bathroom, walked to the bar and ordered a beer. The bar was packed at the moment, and there were even people who brought glow sticks, and a few girls with glowing imp horns on their heads that they had bought for Halloween earlier.

A few French girls shouted Jiang Bai's name from afar, and when he turned his head to look over, they immediately gave him a few passionate flying kisses.

Jiang Bai raised his chin and returned a wink.

Then he turned around and asked Chen Lijie, "Ya Bu still hasn't arrived?"

Ten days had passed since the last time he and Ya Bu practiced at the bar and almost got into a scuffle. Jiang Bai's vacation had long since ended and classes resumed Monday through Friday. During the second half of the holiday, Ya Bu did not seek out Jiang Bai to practice with him every day as he had said, instead, when Jiang Bai contacted Ya Bu, the other declined his invitation to practice because he had an appointment with a friend.

When Jiang Bai looked back and counted, he suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Ya Bu since that day.

Chen Lijie looked down at his phone and said, "He said he would return to Paris today, so he will definitely come."

Jiang Bai was surprised: "He went to the province?"

"What province, he went to Holland." Chen Lijie laughed, "He has a friend who got married there and asked him to be the best man. And he has some friends who like skiing who seemed to be planning to ask him to go to the Alps together, so I don’t know which day he’ll run away again."

Jiang Bai said "Oh."

Chen Lijie hooked his arm around Jiang Bai’s neck and teased: "You care so much about him?"

Jiang Bai's mouth twitched: "After all, we practiced together, and he taught me so much French, so it's not too much to care, right?"

Chen Lijie looked at Jiang Bai for a long time and suddenly smiled: "It's nothing, I should be happy that you and my brother are on good terms! Remember to tell me when you decide to come and sing with me!"

Until the start of the Sino-French salon, Ya Bu did not show up.

Jiang Bai listened to a few Frenchmen singing Teresa Teng's songs with broken Chinese pronunciation, and listened to Fang Yuan whispering in his ear, suddenly feeling a little disinterested.

He poured the last sip of beer into his mouth and got up to walk out of the bar during the break of a song on stage, excusing himself as being a bit bored.

The temperature in Paris at the end of autumn and beginning of winter wasn’t too low, but the nights got darker earlier. Heavy overcast clouds began to gather in the sky, the air becoming humid, and occasional showers became a regular occurrence.

At this moment, it was raining outside the bar.

The drizzle, like a mist, was at the most awkward edge, and without an umbrella it was uncomfortable for one to be drenched in water, but once the umbrella was up, it was clear that the rain did not exist. Occasionally there were pedestrians walking along the road, all in a shrunken posture, or wearing hoods and walking in a hurry.

In the distance, under the dim streetlights, one can see the fine hair-like water droplets being blown away by the breeze, swirling slowly downward, making the surroundings appear darker and pitch-black.

Jiang Bai's, slightly drunk with the alcohol, turned his head to look into the distance.

He was wearing a white shirt and a black suit that should have been very modest, but he looked wanton and frivolous because of the tie that was pulled below his sternum and the first two buttons of his shirt that were left open. His suit was unbuttoned, the hem of the exquisitely cut hem carried by the wind with the rhythm of his walk, tossed to reveal the lining printed with large red roses.

Ya Bu was carrying a guitar behind him and dragging a small suitcase in his hand. From the label tied to the suitcase, he should have come straight from the airport.

The first time he saw Jiang Bai waiting outside the bar was when he was halfway down the street.

Jiang Bai had picked out a casual burgundy shirt with gold trimmings to go on stage that day, and underneath was a pair of black pencil pants that wrapped around his straight calves, with the legs tucked into a pair of low leather boots.

Ya Bu grinned from a distance: "Wow! Look who's boy it is! My Ganymedes, were you waiting for me?"

Although Jiang Bai's French was only basic, he happened to know the name Ganymedes, so he smiled back and replied, "I was waiting to pour you a drink." (Note)

Ya Bu came closer and looked at Jiang Bai with his head slightly tilted.

Jiang Bai also looked at Ya Bu and saw a fine layer of water droplets hanging from his hair and a few drops on the thick eyelashes characteristic of Westerners, which glistened like crystals in the street light.

"Good evening." Jiang Bai greeted, and took the initiative to come forward to meet with Ya Bu face to face.

The wet feeling haloed on their cheeks against each other, and Ya Bu turned his head slightly, and his lips were printed on the side of Jiang Bai's face.

"It’s almost your turn, Xiao Bai." Fang Yuan pushed open the door of the bar and peeked out, and was a little surprised to see Ya Bu, so he immediately changed to French, "Ah, Ya Bu is back? Come on in, it's raining outside!"

Jiang Bai was the first to turn around and enter the door to get his guitar.

When he was ready, the performance on stage had already ended, and the girl who sang in the last scene walked off the stage.

Jiang Bai was about to go on stage when he saw Ya Bu, who had taken off his suit jacket and jumped up.

Ya Bu winked at Jiang Bai amidst the wild cheers from the audience and smiled, "I arrived too late to tune my guitar, how about you help me accompany it? My Ganymedes."

The cheers from the audience became even more shrill.

Jiang Bai blinked without much coyness, picked up his guitar and walked onto the stage to play the soundtrack of "Actor" for Ya Bu.

Ya Bu held the microphone, with extreme tenderness and deep darkness in his voice, and slowly sang.

　　"Keep it simple, keep it simple in the way you talk ......"

His Chinese was clear, and although there were still some inflection details that were not handled well, it did not affect the way he poured his feelings into the melody of the song. It was clear that he had practiced the song hard, and even though he hadn't appeared in the past two weeks or so, and even though he had made a trip outside the country, he didn't let the fact that it was just a small performance in a bar salon make him slack off in any way.

The audience was entranced, and a few glow sticks swayed gently to the rhythm of the music.

Jiang Bai stood behind Ya Bu and could only see half the side of his face.

Still so handsome, still so sexy, in the tunes filled with sadness, his supposedly powerful aura suddenly rose from a palpitating vulnerability, making Jiang Bai want to go up to hug him and put his chest on his back.

Ya Bu finished singing his two verses and did not rush off the stage, but directly gave up his place in front of the microphone to Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai slightly paused, but his fingers immediately followed, and after a few variations, continued to play the same dominant music, only at a much brighter pace. He approached the microphone, feeling the residual warmth left by the last person who held it, curled his lips and opened his voice.

　　"In which scene you perform to the point of hoarseness, when the plot develops to the end, has long since faded away..."

Chen Lijie froze, keenly catching the way Jiang Bai changed the lyrics, changing the yin endings to the yang, and the "you" in the song changed from female to male. He turned his head to look at Ya Bu and Fang Yuan, the former seemed to have predicted it and was smiling playfully; the latter still looked bewildered and innocent, not hearing anything wrong at all.

Jiang Bai on stage swept the strings and continued to sing down.

　　"If love is war, then you will be mine! We quarreled, separated, and came close to each other, calling out to each other. Day by day, every week so on and so forth - like a drama."

　　"In your stories, the ending is always a reunion; in your skits, the ending is always luck. You stay with me and do all the things you want to do!"

　　"If love is war, then you'll be mine!"

Jiang Bai repeated the chorus, his eyes fixed on Ya Bu who was standing next to the stage, as if he was swearing his ownership to him.

The stage gradually became agitated, and the native French listeners were the first to notice that little detail about gender, exchanging glances with astonished faces and whispering in each other's ears.

Chen Lijie noticed the look on Jiang Bai's face as he stared at Ya Bu, raised his hand to wipe his face and asked Fang Yuan, "How much did Xiao Bai drink just now?"

Fang Yuan was stunned: "Ah? Not much, just three or four bottles of beer."

Chen Lijie: "He didn't eat dinner, ge. He drank three or four bottles on an empty stomach, is that still not much?"

Fang Yuan said, "He is not drunk either, it's a good song, right?"

Chen Lijie: ......

When Jiang Bai's song ended, the audience surprisingly erupted into a more enthusiastic cheer than any time before, and some people pushed Ya Bu forward, shouting "give him a hug," "give your Ganymedes a hug," and so on.

A French girl's voice pierced through the room full of noise: "A kiss--!"

Jiang Bai raised his head, a pair of eyes shining brightly at Ya Bu.

Chen Lijie originally wanted to go up to make a round, and seeing this look from Jiang Bai, he knew he didn't have to bother.

Sure enough, the next second, Ya Bu cupped Jiang Bai's chin and kissed him on the lips.

Amidst the screams of the entire bar almost toppling over the roof, Fang Yuan was dumbfounded: ......? !!!

Chen Lijie wrenched Fang Yuan's shoulders and turned him to the side, turned back to the crowd in the bar and shouted, "The salon concert is over! Everyone is free to move around!"

Fang Yuan: "He ......"

"Come help me clean up the empty bottles!" Chen Lijie said.

Fang Yuan: "They ......"

"Silvia, help me get the rag!"

Fang Yuan: "Xiao Bai, he ......"

Chen Lijie shoved the rag into Fang Yuan's hand: "Go and wipe the bar properly, haven't you always wanted to learn bartending, I'll teach you."

Fang Yuan held up the rag: ......

Ya Bu raised his head, held Jiang Bai in his arms, and led him through the bar crowd with some difficulty, hiding behind the wooden paneled door at the end of the corridor. Jiang Bai reached out and wrapped his arms around Ya Bu's neck, nearly pinning him down on the stairs.

"Hey, baby, loosen up a little, you're strangling me."

Ya Bu wrapped his arm around Jiang Bai's waist and took his arm off his neck.

As soon as Jiang Bai's arm was lowered, he wrapped his arms around the older and raised his chin, taking the initiative to kiss on Ya Bu's mouth. He wasn’t actually drunk, just a bit numb in the head, which happened to be the most courageous time.

Thoughts do not turn so fast, so they just cling to what they see in front of them at this moment, and obey what comes to their minds at this moment.

His buzzing head made him unable to form coherent sentences, and combined with his unskilled French. He blinked and tried to look at Ya Bu's face carefully, his mouth blurtingout the most familiar lines of his own lyrics: "......If love is also hate, you will be mine! We… we hide in the boat, naked...Ya Bu..."

At this point, Ya Bu would be a saint walking on Earth if he could still hold back.

He picked up Jiang Bai, and the two stumbled up the narrow staircase to the second floor. Still entwined, they fell into the soft mattress of the bedroom.

After their kiss ended, Ya Bu looked down at Jiang Bai, who was lying in the clean white sheets with a confused face and was panting rapidly, he spoke as if his voice was on fire: "Baby, you are really… irresistible today!"

Jiang Bai seemed to suddenly have aphasia, there were countless words in his heart that he wanted to tell Ya Bu, but the language barrier made him unable to speak, and he could only retreat to the second best option, anxiously raising his hand to pull his shirt front.

Ya Bu grabbed Jiang Bai's hand.

"Baby, don't rush… slowly... this process is worth enjoying, understand?"

He pressed himself overJiang Bai's body, freeing one hand to stroke Jiang Bai's chest and slowly, one by one, unbuttoned his shirt. He lightly kissed Jiang Bai's cheek and earlobe, his low voice speaking words of love as if he was singing a love song: "Give it to me, trust me... let me take you to see heaven..."

Jiang Bai continued to recite the lyrics with his eyes lost in focus: "...their charm will take me to heaven."

Ya Bu laughed: "No, not them, it's me. My charm will take you to heaven."

The night in Paris was drizzling with rain. The damp air, wrapped in the unmistakable scent of pine, drifted slowly in the breeze, accompanied by the melodramatic tunes faintly coming through the bar.

The night clouds rolled and rose in the deep purple sky, and the slim drizzle gradually intensified, hitting the carved railing outside the bar's second story window, echoing the tiny hint of a man's chants that leaked out from the window crack, following the beautiful rhythm, splashing up layers of fine water droplets, reflecting the diamond-like brilliance in the light.

The sound of rain was getting denser and more urgent, falling on the pavement where small puddles have accumulated at some point, on lampposts carved with elegant flowers and insects, on the leaves of boxwood trees in flower beds that are verdant all year round, and on the window glass reflecting a pair of intertwined silhouettes... ticking and tinkling, composing a symphony of nature.

Suddenly the heart of the sky lit up with a blazing white light, reflecting the edges of distant clouds in a pinkish-purple hue.

In this charming late autumn and early winter night, Paris welcomed the first thunderstorm of the winter.

The author has something to say:

Note: Ganymedes, the beautiful boy who was abducted home by Zeus to pour himself a drink, later became the Aquarius constellation.

Actors French version: 弗雷德乐队·《La scene》

TL Note:

If I wasn’t able to translate the part of the song well, basically French is a gendered language (meaning the words change depending on whether the subject is male or female) Xiao Bai changed the French lyrics of the song from female terms to male ones, implying that the song lyrics were directed at Ya Bu. The French speakers were able to pick up this bit, hence Chen Lijie asking Fang Yuan if Xiao Bai was drunk~

I was smiling a lot when they kissed on stage >.<