Chapter 89

Curtain Call: Fame the Musical (End)

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When Waiting for the Midnight Sun premiered at the Shanhe Theater, the venue was specially modified to become a four-sided platform stage. However, all the existing performance halls of Huacheng University of Dance contained ordinary stages, and they had neither the money nor time to renovate. For this reason, Xiang Cai had to specifically arrange an ordinary stage version. Although his interaction with the audience was reduced, this new version was more suitable for touring and had the ability to be performed in more theaters in the future.

When changing from a four-sided stage to a single-sided stage, the difference was not just in orientation, but many dance moves must also be choreographed accordingly.

Xiang Cai was very tired during this period of time, as he spent a long time with the dance director every day, repeatedly revising the dance movements and repeatedly polishing his body language.

His thoughts were so active during the day, that Xiang Cai wasn’t able to sleep well at night - others dreamed of conversations and sleep-talked, while Xiang Cai dreamed of musicals and sleep-danced. He would be in a deep sleep, when he’d suddenly kick over, send out an arm, and dive, before turning and rolling around on the bed a few times...

Tan Yiming slept next to him so he was punched and kicked by him almost every night. One time when Xiang Cai was imaginarily practicing hard, his webbed swan flippers directly kicked Tan Yiming's hip bone, and Tan Yiming was kicked to the point of numbness, forming a green patch there the next day.

Xiang Cai felt distressed and guilty.

Tan Yiming saw things clearly, and coaxed him: "It's okay, it's okay, you should be proud, look at how good your muscles are."

However, when Tan Yiming went to work during the day and his colleagues saw him limping as he walked, they all showed profound gazes...

...

Xiang Cai brought his show Waiting for the Midnight Sun back to school to perform, causing excitement from all the students. As a past student, Xiang Cai’s every move attracted attention. From the first-year children who had just entered the affiliated academy, to the seniors who were in graduate school, everyone knew the name and the life of the legendary  Xiang Cai.

Even if someone had never heard of this musical, Xiang Cai’s name was a golden ticket in the hearts of the students. Moreover, in this musical, Xiang Cai was challenged to 12 roles, and was staging a two-hour one-man show. This unique form of performance also aroused everyone's great interest.

Therefore, after the school announced the time and location of the performance, everyone began to ‘hunt for tickets’.

"Brother, do you have a ticket for Midnight Sun?"

"Why are you looking for tickets, doesn’t your Musical Theatre Departments have internal tickets?"

"We do, but my girlfriend wants to see it too! The theater is small, so each person in the department is issued only one ticket. I need another one because I don't want her to miss out!"

"Ask your roommate, isn't he a cadre of the Social Federation? I heard that the Social Federation has many."

"I asked a long time ago! The Social Federation and the Student Union are about to get in a fight over this matter! Each are complaining that the other party has too many tickets, and have already done several competitive games to determine a winner to score more tickets for their own department!"

"Have you asked the affiliated academy?"

"How could I ask? I couldn’t even make the entrance examination into the affiliated academy. That academy is full of kids, how would I be able to find someone who is willing?!"

Similar conversations were happening all over campus.

There were even fans of Xiang Cai who weren’t able to buy tour tickets. High prices were asked through social networks for performance tickets, but one needed a student ID to be admitted to the show. Even if scalpers wanted to make a profit, they had no way to start.

Soon, it was the day of the show.

A long queue had already formed outside the performance hall an hour before the performance. The students held the precious performance tickets in their hands, huddling together in excitement as they waited for their entry into the venue.

The dancers were all good seedlings with long legs. When looking around, one could see that all of them had gentle temperaments, and they all had the unique charm of dancers in their gestures. But among these students, a few ‘outstanding’ guys was suddenly spotted. These boys not only exceeded 1.9 meters in height, but were absolutely unable to grace the dance stage with their bulging muscles.

When the people around them observed them, they could only bite the bullet and resist their probing gazes, staying resolved in their decision.

"Chuanzi, we don’t need to watch this..." Mao Quan felt uncomfortable and looked at his friend, "We still have the time to leave."

Gao Xing also had similar thoughts and persuaded him: "I heard it’s not enough to have a ticket, you have to use a student ID to enter the show! We are not from the university, and we’ll probably get kicked out at the ticket gate!"

"No." Compared with his bros who were completely uncomfortable, Cen Manchuan stood with confidence, "The two in charge of security were defeated by me on court! After we had previously competed, they refused to run naked because of losing the bet, and agreed to exchange for this favor instead!"

Mao Quan and Gao Xing exchanged glances and sighed in their hearts at the same time.

Xiang Cai...Xiang Cai...Xiang Cai...they had also seen him. He had a really good personality, and was quiet with beautiful looks, but he was still a man after all! What kind of potion had he given Manchuan to cause a straight man who had had countless girlfriends before, bend?

After Cen Manchuan and Xiang Cai broke up, they themselves were very depressed for a while. The key from his well-planned basketball court confession not only did not move Xiang Cai closer to him, but pushed him further away.

What saddened Cen Manchuan the most was that after the breakup, Xiang Cai actually helped him redeem the motorcycle, and asked Mao Quan and Gao Xing to return it to him.

Originally, Mao Quan and Gao Xing disliked Xiang Cai very much, thinking that he was ‘holding back’ their brother, but when they saw the redeemed motorcycle, their moods became quite complicated...

They hoped that the two of them could break up and part thoroughly, so that Cen Manchuan would ‘return to the right path’; they couldn’t bear to see their bro in despair because of this - ai, how could these two straight men understand the twists and turns of gay love?

Half a year passed quickly yet slowly. Cen Manchuan had been with three other people in those six months, both male and female; the shortest relationship lasting three days, and the longest one lasting one and a half months.

And everyone he was with had the shadow of Xiang Cai over them.

One person has his eyes, another person had similar small habits as him, and the one who he had dated the longest looked very much like him from behind.

Cen Manchuan kept spinning on the one spot, and was unable to extricate himself: he didn’t want to extricate himself.

Mao Quan couldn't bear to watch his bro continue with such muddled behavior, so he told him about Xiang Cai coming back to the school to perform. At that moment, the basketball boy's expression lit up.

He almost immediately planned an infiltration operation. He carefully prepared gifts and even thought about every word he’d say when they'd met.

"I'm not who I was half a year ago!" Cen Manchuan exclaimed, "I now fully understand why Xiang Cai broke up with me! He thought I was not mature enough to understand him, had no plans for the future, and I also always treated him foolishly. But I just didn’t know what he needed!...I have corrected all these problems!"

Cen Manchuan now had a regular part-time job teaching children physical education three times a week. These students were all the little peas whom he’d met in his internship before. He’d also started to learn some common sense of musicals. He had watched Mozart, l'opéra Rock and Amadeus. He had learned to plan for the future for the first time, and although the furthest future he could imagine was just a year in advance, it was already much better than the silly boy he had been before.

During their breakup, Cen Manchuan reread the letter that Xiang Cai had left for him many times.

There were no complaints or accusations in that letter, instead, Xiang Cai apologized many times in between the lines.

At this point, Cen Manchuan wanted to stand in front of him and tell him loudly: "Since you feel so sorry, then get back with me!"

In order to plan to get him back, Cen Manchuan stayed up all night yesterday. He prepared a gift that was in his trouser pocket, it was another small flannel box, but this time, it did not contain a key.

... Unfortunately, his plan couldn’t keep up with the changes.

After the three of them waited in line for half an hour, they finally reached the ticket gate at a turtle’s speed.

There were two boys standing on the left and the right at the ticket gate. They were those ‘sore losers’ who had agreed to open the back door for Cen Manchuan.

However, Cen Manchuan and his two bros were too eye-catching, with countless pairs of eyes staring at them from beginning to end. Just as they were to become fish in troubled waters and sneak into the performance hall, they were immediately verbally attacked by the enthusiastic crowd!

"Where's your student ID?!" The person behind them grabbed their clothes. "It says at the ticket gate, hold the ticket in one hand and your student ID in the other!"

However, although they had tickets in their hands, they did not have student IDs.

Cleverly, Mao Quan said: "Our student IDs are in the dormitory!"

"Dormitory?" The enthusiastic crowd said, "Which department are you from? Let your roommate send it to you."

"We have a three-person dormitory, and our fourth roommate is away," Gao Xing continued to improvise.

The student onlookers gathered around in greater numbers, and some said suspiciously: "Your physiques do not seem like dancers’ at all, you obviously practice sports!"

Someone immediately recognized: "I remember! They are from the sports college next door, isn’t the one in front Cen Manchuan, the captain of their school basketball team! He used to associate with Xiang Cai..."

The rest needn’t be said.

Many students in the school had heard of Cen Manchuan and Xiang Cai’s past relationship. Unexpectedly, when Xiang Cai returned to school to perform, Cen Manchuan actually mixed in with the audience members; everyone's curiosity was immediately overwhelmed.

In this case, it was absolutely impossible for him to fish in troubled waters. Cen Manchuan ignored those curious gazes and hurriedly grabbed his good bros before running away from the ticket gate in a desperate manner.

Fortunately, they practiced sports and had good physiques. They could immediately run away; even if rabbits were chasing after them, they wouldn’t be able to catch up.

The three men panted and walked around behind the building to hide under a big tree, embarrassed.

"Fuck, Chuanzi... You’ve gained too much of a reputation, am I right?" Mao Quan felt lingering fear.

"What reputation?" Cen Manchuan repeatedly shook his head, "Xiang Cai is just too well-known. He is the campus male god, while I am the ex-boyfriend of that campus male god!"

Gao Xing: "...It is fortunate that you are not a scumbag ex-boyfriend."

If he were a scumbag ex-boyfriend, it was estimated that Cen Manchuan would not even have had the possibility of leaving that university of dance alive!

Gao Xing: "Speaking of which, shall we still go and watch?"

Cen Manchuan: "Watch! Why wouldn’t we watch!"

Mao Quan: "No matter how you look at it, the three of us don't have student IDs, and we are also so conspicuous. As soon as we appear in the audience, we’ll definitely be discovered."

The three looked at each other and racked their brains, but couldn’t decide on what to do.

Cen Manchuan looked around and asked in confusion, "Do you even know where we are?"

None of them were students of Huacheng University, and they were not familiar with the buildings of this school. Since they were being chased by others just now, they had turned left and right into an alley where no one could see them.

"Wait—" Gao Xing said, "We seem to have walked around the back of the performance hall!!"

He was right. Who knew how the three of them got there, but they actually went around to the back of the performance hall. Separated from them by a single wall was the off-limit backstage!

The three of them were reckless, and immediately decided to climb over the wall to get in.

As for whether or not they would be caught by the staff...they couldn’t control such things!

The wall was not too high, it was nearly two meters and a half.

This height might have been a bit troublesome for others, but for those three tall students of the sports universities, they didn’t even need to stand on their toes, they only had to raise their hands to lift themselves up.

It was quite easy.

It was just that the surface of the wall was flat cement, which was very smooth. They had to look around for a while before they found a small gap to support their feet.

The three climbed up accordingly, hanging on the wall like three awkward bears.

When they cautiously poked their heads over, they could see a lot of props placed in the passageway, which was extremely narrow. However, that inaccessibility also made it more convenient for them to settle there.

Cen Manchuan whispered: "I'll go down first, you two follow me..."

"Shhh! Don't talk!" Mao Quan hurriedly called out, "Let's hide, someone is coming!!"

Just as they heard the sound of arriving footsteps, the three of them hurriedly shrank their necks, not even daring to show a strand of their hair.

They complained in their hearts: The show is about to begin, why are there staff wandering around here?

The two people’s footsteps grew closer and closer before stopping at the corner of the passageway.

A voice spoke up.

It was a gentle, mature male voice, very nice, yet... very familiar.

"Are you okay? Why are you sweating so much?" The male voice said thoughtfully, "Come here, let me wipe the sweat off."

Immediately afterwards, a second clear male voice appeared.

"I...I..." The voice trembled in an excited manner, "I'm too nervous."

The second voice was not loud, but it sounded so clearly in the quiet environment: "I still can't believe it, I was actually standing in Huacheng’s lecture hall! Did you see those front row seats? That is reserved for the principal, the heads of the departments, and several other teachers..."

He stomped his feet and said excitedly: "And Teacher Chu Ping, have I ever mentioned her to you? She was my head teacher in the affiliated academy! She is coming, along with several other teachers from the Ballet Department. They are all coming to see me!!"

He circled in one spot, his voice happy enough to lift him off the ground: "Oh my God, this isn’t even a dream - how can I be so amazing? I am the greatest musical actor in the world!"

His words sounded very naive, but only such naive words could accurately reflect the excitement in his heart.

Cen Manchuan, who was hanging on the wall, widened his eyes, his pupils filled with incredulity.

He recognized that voice, of course he could recognize that voice.

Cen Manchuan eagerly poked his head over the wall, Mao Quan frantically kicked him, and asked: "Are you crazy?"

But Cen Manchuan didn’t care so much anymore.

That was Xiang Cai’s voice! That was the voice he hadn't heard in half a year, but had stored in his heart!

He desperately wanted to see him, right now, right that second.

He supported himself on the wall with both hands and leaned his head forward vigorously. He wanted to shout out Xiang Cai’s name. He wanted to proudly tell him that he was better now. He still wanted to—

—His voice stopped in his throat, Cen Manchuan's excited expression froze, and he was unable to make a single sound.

What did he witness?

He witnessed Xiang Cai standing face to face with another man. That man was Tan Yiming, a voice actor and the other male lead of this show.

He witnessed Xiang Cai wearing a thin costume with shiny makeup painted on his face, and his hair curled up everywhere with styling mousse.

He witnessed Tan Yiming looking at Xiang Cai fondly, patiently listening to his broken thoughts, and admiring his spontaneous dance moves. The man then took off his scarf and tied it gently around Xiang Cai’s neck.

Xiang Cai’s eyes were shining, full of light, and his face wore an exaggerated and wanton smile. As he spoke, his fingers flew in the air, as if he was commanding an invisible orchestra.

Tan Yiming listened in silence while tidying up his clothes. He helped him turn up his collar, and patted his shirt down like he was a child...

Their every contact was greatly familiar to themselves. They were like two long-acquainted partners, hiding in an empty corner backstage to chat before the show’s opening.

There were no close contact that unnecessarily crossed boundaries.

But Cen Manchuan understood, understood those eyes that only beheld each other, and also understood their souls that seemed to connect tightly like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

That was a Xiang Cai he had never seen before.

It was not the thoughtful and sensible Xiang Cai who always said "It's okay" to him.

It was a childish, high-spirited, willful, coquettish, silly, and straightforward Xiang Cai.

This was not the boy he knew.

Cen Manchuan felt that he had become unfamiliar with him.

This Xiang Cai was... full of shortcomings and at the same time full of vitality.

At that moment, every detail of their time together flashed from the depths of Cen Manchuan's mind. From the first time the two met by the court, to their parting in the locker room...

Over three months of contact, a relationship of over 100 days

He had never seen such a naive appearance on Xiang Cai.

After all, the naive person had always been himself.

...

Mao Quan and Gao Xing shrank under the wall, looking nervously at their bro clinging to the top of the wall.

They were worried that Cen Manchuan would do something irrational or would lose control, but unexpectedly, a few minutes later, Cen Manchuan jumped off the wall in silence.

His expression was very calm - it was really strange, but within such a short time, Cen Manchuan seemed to have suddenly become a lot more mature, as if enlightened.

Were they thinking too much?

Cen Manchuan turned and walked away in silence.

Mao Quan and Gao Xing exchanged shocked looks and hurried to catch up.

"Wait, bro, didn’t you say you wanted to go watch? Didn't you say you wanted to meet Xiang Cai and get back together with him?"

"He’s gone." Cen Manchuan said, " It's over."

"...Huh? What do you mean?"

"I said, 'It's over’.”

Cen Manchuan stopped, turned his head, and looked at the wall that he had left behind him.

Everything beyond that wall had nothing to do with him.

—Because as early as six months ago, his part of the story had already ended.

He was already cut off from Xiang Cai’s world.

※

In the background, the employees were busy doing the final preparations before the opening performance.

"Lights?"

"Adjusted!"

"Stage help?"

"Here!"

"Live music?"

"All here!"

"What about the director, the producer, and the two sub-directors?"

"Sitting down and chatting with the principal and them."

"Where are the actors?"

"..."

"Xiang Cai?! Tan Yiming?!!! We are about to start, where did they go?!!!"

Chaos.

Before the opening night, the backstage of a theatre was always chaotic.

Fortunately-

"Sorry, we had both gone outside just now to get some fresh air."

"Sorry, we are late."

Not late.

Not late.

The time was just right.

"Everything is ready! Everyone is mentally prepared and ready! In 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4..."

"3!"

"2!"

"1!—"

—The curtains opened.

This story, which belongs to Xiang Cai and Tan Yiming, has officially begun.

【Finish】

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The author has something to say:

I was stuck on this last chapter for a long time, and I finally decided to use this ending to connect the Curtain Call with a new beginning.

The story of Cai Cai is over.

Cai Cai’s story has also just begun.

***

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