Len didn't expect to have twenty missed calls and more than fifty unread messages when he woke up on Sunday afternoon. Groggily, his arms unbelievably weak, he reached out to his phone and looked through his call log to see who was calling him...it was mostly the same few girls who just messaged him repeatedly, concerned about his lack of response. He shook his head, groaning softly.
Then one message caught his eye. It was from Miku. Curious, he opened the text – there were only four words in the message, but those four words caused a smile to tug at the corner of his lips. "Thanks for last night," he said out loud, his voice still raspy though it wasn't as bad as yesterday. He hoped he would be fully recovered by tomorrow. Reaching up, he pressed the back of his hand against his forehead but he couldn't tell if he still had a fever or not. He'd ask his mother later.
He heard someone knock on his door. "Come in," he called in as loud a voice as he could manage. The door swung open and Rin poked her head in, her expression one of concern. He smiled tiredly at her, unable to muster the energy to do anything more than that, and her blue eyes lit up with relief.
"I thought you were dead or something, you've never slept in so late before," Rin pulled the door open slightly wider, silently asking if she could come in. Len nodded and she slipped in, closing the door quietly behind her. "Mum told me that Miku took good care of you last night. She asked me if you two were dating," her blue eyes narrowed at that, regarding him suspiciously. "Please tell me you're not, Len. We both know what happens whenever you get close to a girl," she sounded accusatory. He met her gaze, uncertain about how to answer. If he lied, she wouldn't believe him. But if he told the truth, that he did want to sleep with Miku, he would never hear the end of it.
"Miku wouldn't allow me to touch her anyway," he finally answered, and that seemed to satisfy Rin. His sister flopped down on his chair, crossing her slim legs and placing a single finger against her chin. Len was sure she had gone out on a date with Kaito last night – Rin liked to stay at home and draw unless someone she cared for invited her out. She normally only went out with Mizki and Luka, who both wouldn't invite Rin out so late…so that probably left Kaito. The knowledge made him a little uneasy, but he didn't let it show on his face. They were boyfriend and girlfriend, after all. There was nothing wrong with them going out on a date at night. He just didn't like the thought of his twin sister and his good friend being in a relationship. Why did Rin have to choose Kaito, of all people?
"You shouldn't be wanting to touch her in the first place," his sister said disapprovingly. "Miku said she told you off about your behaviour two nights ago. I hope that what she says might get to you since you never listen to me," she glared at him and he just looked away, unable to suppress the guilt rising up within him. Maybe he was addicted to sex. He just couldn't seem to bring himself to stop even when Rin asked him to, even when he knew what happened as a result of his actions. If Rin had asked him to do anything else, he would have done it, but he couldn't give up having sex.
"I already tell them before anything happens that I'm not looking for a relationship," he said firmly, or at least as firmly as he could manage when his voice was still so hoarse. "If they end up breaking their own hearts because of their feelings, it's not my fault," an empty argument he was tired of repeating, but this was the only thing he had left which could make him feel less guilty about his actions. Rin was evidently sick of listening to this argument as well, for she got off the chair and walked right over to him, her blue eyes narrowed and her hands placed on her narrow hips.
"Don't give me that crap. If you want to justify your actions, then at least come up with a better way to defend yourself," her tone was harsh. Len just pressed his lips together sullenly and kept quiet. Finally, Rin sighed and withdrew, letting her hands fall limp at her side. "Whatever. I've said this over and over again and you've never listened. I don't expect anything different this time," she said flatly. "I only came up here to wake you up because you have a visitor…Miku came over today. I don't know why since she didn't say what she's here for. Maybe she's concerned about you since you walked her home yesterday despite being sick, according to Mum. She really hopes you two are dating, you know," something almost like a grimace flashed across Rin's face. Len was pretty sure that Rin disapproved of him being linked in any way to her friend, but he and Miku didn't have anything going on now.
"Is she downstairs?" the moment Len heard Miku was in their house, he got up from the bed and smoothed his hair down, quickly changing out of his ratty tank top into a more acceptable shirt. He didn't bother to change his shorts to spare his sister's modesty – not that Rin would have cared, honestly. She looked at him the same way she would look at a lamp post. He could guess why Miku was here today…she had promised to try and finish the score by Sunday, so surely that was why she had come over. Len was actually surprised that she could finish rearranging the score so quickly.
"Yeah, she's waiting for you. I'll leave you to get ready first," Rin headed out, leaving him to change and freshen up in peace. However, right before she left the room, she glanced backwards with her eyes still narrowed and her expression grim. "She's a good girl, Len," Rin started, and for a moment Len was reminded of their mother. "I might not have known her for very long but she seems like she's genuinely nice and kind. So if you break her heart, Len, I will break your bones. Always keep that in mind."
With that, the blonde left his room, the door shutting quietly behind her. Len stared at the closed door for a while, thinking over his sister and what she said, but after a while, he just shrugged and went back to changing out of his sleeping clothes. Rin had nothing to worry about when it came to Miku. Len would try to seduce their neighbour, but if Miku was ultimately unmoved he wouldn't bother to continue either. Whether or not he actually got into any relationship with the girl was solely up to her discretion – if this failed, then he could always just find a new girl to sleep with.
"He'll be downstairs in a bit, he just woke up," Rin called from the staircase, hopping from step to step. Miku glanced up at her friend and smiled nervously, the score she had finished held tightly in her grasp. Rin's parents were nowhere to be seen today, and she wondered where they were.
"Did your parents go anywhere today?" she asked, curious. Rin just shrugged and came over to sit next to Miku, her gaze dropping towards what she had on her lap. Instinctively, Miku grabbed the score and pressed the papers against her chest, preventing anyone from reading it. Rin looked a little surprised at this but she didn't comment on Miku's behaviour, instead relaxing against the couch.
"Today? My father went to the office since he didn't do much work yesterday what with Len being sick and all. My mother went shopping with some of her friends in town, she'll be back in time for dinner," Rin frowned thoughtfully. "At least I think she went to town. Her plans always change at the last moment," the blonde grinned, her blue gaze dropping curiously once more to the papers Miku clutched so tightly. "Is that for Len?" she asked, tone neutral. Miku hesitated before nodding, and thankfully Rin didn't ask any other questions. She couldn't say much about this score since Len had made her promise not to tell anyone about it, not even her friends or family. "Well, I'm going up to my room to finish off my stupid history essay," Rin made a face. "If Len tries anything on you, then just holler real loud and I'll come right over. I'm not joking," she added when Miku laughed.
She sobered quickly, nodding to reassure her friend. Rin exhaled, looking over her worriedly. "You're new, you don't have any idea what Len can be like. I'd just tell you to watch out. He doesn't tell me much, but from what I hear he can be quite the charmer. I have nothing against you two becoming friends, but just…don't give him the wrong impression," Rin warned her, holding her gaze for a few seconds before she rose from the couch and went up the stairs. As Miku watched Rin go up, she saw the blonde pause and mutter something angrily to another person on the staircase, probably Len.
Just like she thought, the male twin appeared at the top of the stairs just a moment later, his blond hair loose around his pale face. He still looked slightly unwell, but he was much better than he was yesterday. He was wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants, and the colour of the sweatpants suddenly reminded her of the hoodie he made her wear last night. Against her will, her cheeks warmed a little and she had to look away as Len walked over to her, humming quietly to himself.
"I arranged the piece for you according to what I can remember," she started when Len sat on the other end of the couch, giving them two seats of space between them. "I shifted it to a major key and changed the overall piece to allegretto instead of andante. And I changed the time signature to six-eight instead of three-four. I hope it's what you're looking for," she handed the sheets of paper over to him. Len took hold of the score almost reverently, leafing through the pages with his brow furrowed. She could hear him singing softly as he read the notes, and he was unsurprisingly pitch-perfect – if they ever sang together, Miku had no doubt that his voice would be easy to blend with.
"I think this might be close to what I want," he suddenly looked at her, his eyes feverish with barely concealed excitement. "I mean it's still lacking something, I'm not sure what it is…but it just seems more right than the piece before was. Thank you so much – I don't know what to say…" his voice trailed off and they stared at each other for a while, neither one of them wishing to speak first. She fidgeted, twiddling her thumbs as his blue gaze continuously went from her face to the score. To be honest, she hadn't really quite remembered the melody of the song she heard in her youth, but she knew it was faster and livelier than what Len originally composed and thus arranged it to suit her memory better. She hadn't thought that her version would make Len so happy. He looked like he was being reunited with a long-lost friend, and she wondered why he was so excited about this.
"Can we continue working together on this?" he suddenly asked, looking up from the last page of the score. Something like concern seemed to flit across his expression, but she blinked and the look was gone, and she was left wondering if she had imagined it. "It's just so close to what I had in mind. You know, maybe we could submit this for our final assignment and let it be used for the Music Festival," he seemed to brighten at the idea. "I mean, yes it's a very personal piece for me but…if we really manage to perfect it, then it doesn't need to be such a secret anymore. But I understand if you don't want to use this piece," he hastened to say when she frowned, opening her mouth. "We did already start talking about the other melody we wanted to use, so if you don't want to change…"
"I'm totally fine with using this piece if we succeed in arranging it to meet your standards," she reassured him quickly. Suddenly changing their final submission wasn't the problem, since they still had months to go and they had plenty of time before the due date. "It's just…well, what if we don't manage to complete the piece in time? We're just relying on our memories here, and my recollection isn't the best either," she hesitated. "I got lucky with this arrangement, but like you said it's not exactly what you wanted, right? It's just a little closer to the original melody than your own version. I think we should continue to work on our original idea. It'd be good to do both," she tugged on a lock of her hair awkwardly. "Since this piece is so upbeat, and our original plan was to have a moody, soft kind of melody, right?"
Len frowned, running his hand through his hair. "All right, that makes sense," he acknowledged her suggestion, staring down once more at the music score. "I'll look at it later and try it out on the piano, maybe we can tweak it a little. By the way, I actually started on the composition for our intended piece. I was thinking of using D minor and a one-two time signature with a pedal throughout but I was afraid that would make it sound sort of like a waltz, so I wasn't sure if we wanted to go ahead with that. Do you want to see my draft?" he asked. She nodded, not quite paying attention to everything he was saying but aware that he had asked her a question. He rose from his seat and went up the stairs, presumably towards his room, and she just sat and waited.
Why was she spending so much time with Len nowadays? Fate seemed to draw the two of them together, and she couldn't understand why. She was always running into him even though she knew she should try to avoid him. On the last bus home from the inner city, at the nearby deli, being forced to babysit him by Rin, and now coming especially to his house just to pass him a score when she could have emailed it over. But she knew that she had to hand this to him personally. This was important to him, she could tell – she suspected that it was a lot more than just a nice piece of music to him or a work in progress like he claimed. In fact, she was sure it held significance for her too since she could sort of remember hearing this melody as well, but she couldn't recall it clearly either.
Either way, she really ought to be making more of an effort to avoid Len. But she wasn't, and that made her question herself. Why was she not running away despite seeing what the boy had done to poor Teto, and no doubt to countless other girls as well? She knew it was just the memory of him which kept her here, continuously drawn to his presence even though she was aware that it was all just a fragment of her childhood. That Len no longer existed and now he was someone who, if not for her childhood memories, she never would have gotten close to, not for anything in the world.
Maybe she was stupid. But something told her to wait and see, hoping that maybe the old Len would surface from the one who spoke to her now. How long would it take before that hope died out? She could not deny that when she flew back here she had been hoping to see Len again, and see if he still remembered her. It wouldn't have been surprising if he did not since they only knew each other for slightly more than a year before she moved away – but she hadn't expected him to forget her so entirely. It felt almost like an insult, actually. Wait and see, wait and see, her sentimental thoughts whispered to her. She curled her fingers into fists. All right, she would wait for Len to fail her then – she knew that there was no retrieving the former boy from the cruel man he had grown to become.
"Here you go," a black folder was suddenly thrust in front of her and she jumped, eyes widening in shock. Len had returned while she was reminiscing her past, managing to sneak up on her while she was distracted. He gazed at her curiously, maybe wondering about her reaction to his words. "I've sort of come up with the first eight bars. Take a look and tell me what you think," he sat in his seat on the other end of the couch once more, waiting for her to look through his work. She took a deep breath and flipped the folder open, prepared to be awed by his compositions. Though she had seen better pieces, there was just something extremely raw and emotional about Len's music. It was as though you could hear the composer himself crying out through the black notes and solid lines.
Like what Len had mentioned – she remembered something about pedalling and one-two timing – it was a slow piece, moody and dramatic like what they had intended. She frowned, her fingers tracing over the arching slurs. There was nothing wrong with the music, but for some reason, it didn't sit that well with her. Then again, she was pretty biased against romantic pieces. "It's too much like a…like a ballad," she struggled to find the right word to describe the piece. "I think to impress the judges, we can't just throw in a sad melody with a typical slow tempo. I mean yes, this isn't exactly a waltz since the time signature isn't right, but it feels like a waltz, a very slow waltz. Can't we compose a sad song with a quick beat?" she glanced up at Len, who was nodding away with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"We can try…it's not going to be as easy to do that, but it's not impossible," he mused. She took the chance to study him, comparing this to the first time she really noticed him in the library. Back then, with the red spectacles perched on his nose and his grave, thoughtful expression, he had seemed so stern and beautiful, like a statue chiselled from a slab of pure white marble. Now, he looked more haggard and worn, his hair was down and the dark circles under his eyes were a stark contrast against his pale skin, but she thought that it made him look more human, more approachable. He was still ridiculously handsome, but he wasn't as intimidating now as he was in the school library.
"You know one of your songs in the folder you showed me? The second last one?" he nodded, his gaze fixed intently on her. She swallowed and continued, struck by a sudden idea. "We could base our score on that. I mean, we don't use it exactly, but we come up with something else that would sound similar, but slower…an arrangement," she concluded, watching his face to see how he would react to the suggestion. She wasn't too sure if he would welcome the idea since this mysterious work in progress she was helping him with was an arrangement of his previous piece as well. To her relief, Len was rather receptive towards the idea, and he said he would try to get something done by next week. Miku then decided that she had spent enough time here with Len, and she rose to leave.
"Have you had lunch?" Len asked, noticing her rise from the couch and straighten her clothes, ready to leave his house. She blinked at him, startled by the question, and he ran his fingers through his hair again, his blue gaze darting away from her before returning just as quickly. "I was asleep the whole day and I just woke up a while ago, I don't know if Rin mentioned that to you. I haven't had anything to eat yet so I'm a little hungry," he shrugged. "It's okay if you already ate, but if you want to join me that would be nice," he smiled at her. It was a very small, nervous kind of smile.
Rin's warning about how charming Len could be suddenly popped into Miku's mind. Was he really nervous or was he just pretending to be shy so she would be swayed into spending more time with him? "Sure, we can go eat something. Why don't we invite Rin along?" she asked, deciding that she would feel a lot better about spending time with Len if his twin sister happened to be present too.
"She's busy, I don't think she'll want to leave the house until she's done with her assignment," Len shrugged again. "You're welcome to invite her if you want, but I wouldn't recommend interrupting Rin while she's working unless you're very sure you can survive her screaming fits," his lips quirked up into a tiny smirk as he reached out to the coffee table, pulling one of the drawers open. She glanced down at the table, her eyes drawn to his movements, and she saw him pull out an elastic red hair tie and put his blond hair up into that familiar ponytail before he closed the drawer.
Miku wasn't sure if Len was telling the truth or not. On one hand, it seemed very likely that he wasn't lying, but on the other hand, she still wasn't sure if she was all right with spending time alone with him. She could always decline the invitation and just leave right there, but she actually hadn't eaten lunch and it would be nice to have some company while she ate, even if it was Len…plus, her mind was still telling her to wait and see before passing judgement on Len so she was pretty curious about his offer. He couldn't do anything to her unless she allowed it anyway, so there was nothing for her to fear, right? "Fine, let's go eat then. Where do you want to have lunch?" she asked.
"I don't know if you've been to the outskirts of the suburb but there's a small Vietnamese restaurant there that serves excellent pho. Do you want to have that?" he asked, looking almost relieved when she agreed to eat with him. She nodded, wondering why he would react that way, and so they left the house in search of Len's Vietnamese restaurant. Much to her relief, he told her that it wasn't very far away from the deli they visited the day before. Her stomach could finally stop gurgling.
Miku kept a constant distance between them, always walking slightly behind Len. Len was fine with that, understanding that she still didn't feel that comfortable around him given her knowledge of his promiscuous ways. She might have apologised for her harsh words, but she clearly did not forgive him for what he did. He didn't expect her to and he hardly dared to think that they might ever become friends, but as long as this didn't affect their partnership and the quality of her work he was all right with it…for now. Eventually, he would aim for more – whether he wanted her friendship or just the sex, he still did not know – but for now, he was willing to give her the space she needed.
Soon enough, he spotted the restaurant and turned around to point it out to her. Miku glanced towards the small establishment, with its simple shopfront and the wooden sign with the name of the restaurant, 'Saigon Shanty' emblazoned on it in bold block letters. Despite the late hour, there were still people inside the restaurant, which was famous in this suburb for their beef noodles and their strong herbal broth. Len liked to eat here when he fancied something light and didn't mind walking further than he normally would. He guessed it would do wonders for him since he still wasn't feeling too good – he actually liked the herbal soup here, and it usually made him feel slightly better.
"Is it expensive?" Miku worried. She had her purse out and she was currently checking the amount of cash she had left. Len figured that she didn't have much since she was asking about the price. He wanted to tell her that he would pay for the meal, but knowing her she would most probably protest so he held his tongue. He would just ask for the bill later while she was distracted or something.
"No, it's not. It's only five dollars per bowl if you get their signature dish," he answered honestly. Miku nodded, looking relieved, and followed him quietly as he pushed the door to the restaurant open and slipped inside. Their server led them to a table and gave them a menu before going off to attend to other customers, and Len watched Miku pore over the menu with a look of concentration on her face. He already knew what he was going to order, so he didn't bother to look. "Do you need a recommendation?" he asked when she flipped to the back of the menu, sighing audibly.
Her green gaze darted up to meet his, startled. "I'm trying to decide between the beef or chicken noodles, or maybe the meatball ones…or maybe the glass noodles, I don't know," she flipped to the front of the menu again. He tried to hide his amused smirk. "I don't really like beef," she muttered to herself, "but the beef slices really look good here. I can't say the same for the chicken, but chicken hardly ever goes wrong while beef has so much room for mistakes. But the meatballs look amazing too. And should I get a drink? I am kind of thirsty, but they charge for water!" she was talking to herself, but Len was quite amused by her rambling and just watched as she fussed over what to eat.
Their server came over. "Have you decided on your order?" she asked, a small notepad and wooden pencil in hand. She beamed at both of them, her brown hair tied into a bun with tendrils escaping to frame her face. She was a nice woman who looked surprisingly young for her age – Len had spoken to her before once or twice during off-peak hours, and he knew that she was a widow with two children and was working this job to support them. She was thirty-eight years old and her children were sixteen and twelve respectively. Her husband had died in a workplace accident eight years ago.
"Give me the noodles in herbal broth with beef slices, and the spring rolls," the woman was already scribbling down his order into the notepad. She knew what he wanted, he always ate the exact same thing when he came here and he came here often enough for her to remember his face. She turned towards Miku, who was still frustrated about what to eat. Miku glanced helplessly at Len, and he took that as an indication that he ought to order for her as well. "Just make it two bowls of the beef noodles, and add on one glass of cold barley," he told the server. The woman nodded and repeated their order, then she took the menus away, bustling off to submit their order to the kitchen.
"So the noodles are really that nice?" Miku asked, looking around the restaurant. The interior was rustic and plain just like the storefront. The tables were mostly round and made of white plastic. Everyone here sat on coloured stools, and on every single table, there was a set of condiments – soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, salt, sugar and chilli. There were also chopsticks, forks, spoons and paper napkins placed in metal containers next to the condiments. The floor beneath them was made of dark wood and it was always clean since there was always a cleaning lady who swept and mopped the floors once every few hours. The smell of herbs wafted through the air, making him hungry.
"I don't know what your definition of nice is, but I personally like the noodles," he answered, eagerly awaiting his spring rolls. It didn't take long to come – five minutes after Miku asked her question, his spring rolls were here, gently steaming. The crispy fragrance hit him and he inhaled, picking up a pair of chopsticks and biting into one of the rolls. He offered some to Miku, who hesitantly ate one as well, and he watched in satisfaction as her green eyes lit up in pleasure, the sweet yet savoury taste of the spring rolls flooding through her mouth. "It's good, isn't it? But the noodles and the herbal broth are even better," he declared, setting his chopsticks down. She was in the midst of taking another spring roll. "Later, you really need to finish the soup. It's good for you, they make the broth themselves every day," he informed her. She nodded, munching happily on her spring roll.
As Miku steadily demolished his plate, he let his gaze wander around the restaurant, taking note of who was in here today. There were three girls, none of which he recognised for they all seemed younger than him – Len never tried anything with girls who weren't his age at least. The three girls seated together looked like they were sixteen years old, and they kept glancing at him and giggling when he turned to look. He was aware that they were ogling him but he ignored it, used to receiving attention for his looks. They were too young to interest him so his attention continued to wander, only returning to Miku whenever she finished swallowing a mouthful and picked up another roll.
He saw their server come out from the kitchen with two bowls on her tray along with a tall glass of white, semi-transparent liquid. It had to be their food. Len sat straight up, craving his beef noodles and Miku noticed his change in posture, glancing towards the server as well. Her green eyes lit up with interest as their server approached them carefully, balancing the two heavy bowls on her tray. However, before she could reach them, Len noticed the door to the restaurant opening and looked around to see who was coming into the restaurant. His eyes widened in recognition and he groaned quietly to himself, hoping that the person wouldn't notice him and come over to talk or something.
Obviously, he wasn't that fortunate and their gazes met. The girl's red eyes widened in delight and she instantly made a beeline for his table. Len tried his very best to somehow become invisible but it didn't work, and then both he and Miku were looking at the new girl standing next to their table. The girl tossed her long silver hair over her shoulders, fluttering her eyelashes at Len while shooting Miku a dark glare. "Len! I thought you were avoiding me! I'm so glad to see you here," she giggled.
He smiled weakly. He had been avoiding her, and for good reason. "It's nice to see you too, Tei," he couldn't bring himself to look at Miku though he could feel her green eyes burning a hole right through him. He thought that Sukone Tei had finally gotten over him months ago since she was no longer stalking him everywhere he went, but watching her beam at him now as though she was a child who had just rediscovered a lost favourite toy, he could tell that he was horribly wrong. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach – he had the feeling that this encounter was not going to end well.