After all, they had worked together for two years, and Ethan had long been accustomed to Finn Pei's teasing. His face showed no emotion, he picked up his coat from the ground and put it on himself, preparing to leave the practice room.
But Finn Pei was not used to his ignoring her, so he grabbed his arm and asked, "Hey, is this how you treat your benefactor?"
Ethan paused and glanced at him, his tone cold, "I didn't want to either, but the way you teased me didn't act like you were a benefactor." He pulled Finn Pei's hand away, and his coat fell to the ground.
"what is that?"
Ethan's eyes were indifferent, "Benefactor."
After saying that, he was ready to leave, but Finn Pei didn't intend to let him go so easily. This time, he didn't pull him back, but took a step forward and stood in front of Ethan. He almost bumped into her.
"You really reminded me of that."
Finn Pei lowered his eyes, with a hint of evil in the curve of his mouth.
"I can't help you for nothing."
Ethan raised his eyes calmly and looked directly at the teammate who never stopped tripping him up.
"As a benefactor, I have to ask for something from you." Finn Pei smiled, "Isn't it?"
He originally thought that he had lost his reaction to this kind of teasing, but when the initiator became Finn Pei, Ethan's emotions actually began to go beyond the scope of calmness.
"I don't have time to play this boring game with you." He moved away and prepared to leave, but Finn Pei blocked him again calmly.
"Don't worry, I'm not greedy for your body." Finn Pei looked her up and down, with a look of disdain on his face. "But since we want to do business, one party must cooperate with the other. Look at your expression..." He bent down, picked up the coat that fell on the ground and put it on Ethan's shoulders, "It's too fake."
Ethan stared at him without saying anything. He was always like this, his eyes were cold and direct, as if he was never afraid and didn't care.
This reminded Finn Pei of winter.
He likes the smell of winter, cold, mixed with the last bit of fragrance of dead grass and trees. Although it hardly snows in Atherton where he lives, he still likes winter.
Finn Pei has had a strange hobby since he was a child.
In the winter, the sycamore trees in the garden were cut by the gardener, withering their branches and leaves, without the vitality of summer. This was his happiest time of the year, when he would squat on the ground and carefully select the straightest branches, then hold both ends and break them in half one by one.
These dead branches are beautiful and straight, lacking in elasticity, and look like they will not yield. The moment you bend them, you can feel the stubborn resistance exerted by the force underneath their hardness. But it is useless, they will still break in the end, making a crisp sound. The broken cross-section shows the last fresh vitality, and the complex scent of the plant fragrance and the decayed branches diffuses out, which is very charming.
The moment it breaks will bring him great psychological satisfaction.
At this moment, this familiar feeling of satisfaction is approaching.
He seemed to have found another dead branch that he liked.
"Don't make it so incompatible. I really have no interest in you in that aspect. But since you have agreed to open for business, you have to act like it's open for business. If you don't know what to do..." Finn Pei's smile looked very innocent.
He reached out his hand and brushed away the wet hair on Ethan's forehead. He said in a low voice, "Just listen to me, Brother Juexia."
This was the first time that Ethan heard the guy in front of him, who was three years younger than him, call him "brother" in person.
In the past two years, their lives seemed to intersect, but in fact, they were just two straight lines with different coordinates, without any overlap. Ethan's mood was always calm, as if he could deal with any difficult person calmly. Because humans are animals that always follow basic laws and are projections of natural laws.
But Finn Pei is an exception.
He is an explosive and volatile factor.
Ethan remained silent as usual, his eyes still looking straight at Finn Pei. After a few seconds, he reached out to help Finn Pei straighten his shirt collar that had accidentally folded up, like a competent brother. This pretty mouth didn't utter a single word in the end, just pulled the corner of his mouth and left.
They spent the next few days in planning meetings and practice rooms, and the concept of the new album was still a little vague until Leo Cheng made a joke in the middle of the meeting.
"It's really a chore. If it doesn't work, let Mason Jiang play the guzheng, Zi Yan play the DJ, and then let them sing, let Xia Dylan Lu dance, and Xiao Pei rap."
It was originally a joke, and everyone was laughing happily. Unexpectedly, the two people at the table actually heard it.
"Wait a minute." "I have an idea."
Ethan and Finn Pei said in unison, and the conference room suddenly became quiet. Everyone was so shocked by this unprecedented sense of tacit understanding that they shut up, and the atmosphere fell into an awkward situation for a moment.
Just when everyone was waiting for them to continue talking, the two of them stopped talking again as if they were having a dispute.
Leo Cheng tapped the table with his knuckles. "You two are so funny. Okay, the fourth one goes first."
"Why?"
Knowing that Finn Pei would be dissatisfied, Leo Cheng said, "Then you speak first."
"...I'll just say it." Finn Pei cleared his throat and turned the pen in his hand several times, "Let us participate in the production of the new album ourselves."
His tone and delivery were more of an announcement of results than of ideas.
Leo Cheng rolled up his sleeves, "Hey, you kid..."
"I agree with him."
Everyone turned their heads and looked in the other direction in surprise at Ethan.
Max Ling leaned back on the chair and whispered to Dylan Lu, "Do you feel something strange..."
"I think so." Dylan Lu nodded seriously, his eyes moving between the two of them, "Now I think they are a perfect match, what's wrong with me?"
Max Ling rolled his eyes, "You've been bewitched."
Ethan didn't hear his teammates' comments, and said, "In fact, we spent a lot of time thinking about the concepts of the previous two specials, but the results were average. Of course, it may be that our ability to digest the concepts is not enough. So I think," he looked at the boss with a sincere attitude, "instead of creating a new concept for everyone to adapt and digest, we might as well..."
As a mathematics graduate, his habit of talking appeared again, and his teammates couldn't help laughing. Max Ling directly followed up, "Why don't we set an x? Obviously..."
Everyone laughed. Finn Pei glanced at him and saw that his thin white neck began to turn red.
Ethan coughed and tried to bring the topic back. "What I mean is, we should just throw away the past model and participate in creation. Like Brother Leo Cheng said, everyone has their own strengths. Although there is no guarantee that the effect is a simple accumulation and addition, the fusion process will always collide with sparks, right?"
He rarely spoke so much, so he seemed even more serious.
Henry Chen was a little surprised, but still nodded, "Give me a more precise idea."
"Chinese classical folk music and electronic music." Finn Pei stopped writing, "This is not new, but it should not be too common in boy bands. Mason Jiang Ge's guzheng can be used as a pluck or lead. Take trap for example, the bass and the clear sound of the guzheng should create a good sense of space. Add in the catchy drumset, and I think it can make great dance music."
(The article has terminology popularization)
His idea was quickly agreed by electronic music player Zane He, "I've thought about this before. To be honest, I have a few demos that are made according to this idea. There are traps and future bass. It would be cool to make a vaporwave with a guzheng as the base. Moreover, the guzheng has a variety of fingerings and the rhythm can be very fast, which is very suitable for laying the groundwork before the drop." After saying that, he looked at Mason Jiang, "What do you think?"
Mason Jiang smiled, "It's quite interesting. If you really want to try it, I have another suggestion." He looked at Max Ling, "Yi Yi, you can try the opera voice. You have a high voice, and if you raise it to match folk music and electronic music, you should get goose bumps."
"Captain, I'm a little turned on now." Max Ling touched his arm, "But I've never tried it before. What about Jue Xia? Do you want to try it too?"
Before Ethan opened her mouth, Finn Pei said, "His voice has a mixing effect, which is suitable for hooking."
Max Ling immediately teased, "Tsk tsk tsk, you found a hook for yourself so quickly."
Zane He said seriously, "Hook is the soul of H!p-hop."
"Wow...soul~" Dylan Lu also joined in, "I've been a little addicted to the couple videos these past two days."
"What are you talking about?" Leo Cheng tapped Dylan Lu's head, "Where's the choreography?"
Max Ling immediately started imitating the Northeastern dialect, "Hit him with a ridged head."
"Get lost, this is the top of your head." Dylan Lu rolled his eyes and became serious, "Finally, it's my home court. The choreography for a male group is about memorable moments and performance tension. Now that everyone has decided on a theme, I think we shouldn't just stick to traditional choreography. We can use two live modes, one is the band version, playing the guzheng and DJing live, and the other is singing and dancing live."
"That's a good idea." Henry Chen smiled as he watched everyone's ideas collide. "Anything else?"
"Here's my suggestion." Dylan Lu looked at Jue Xia with a smile, "For the memory point, Jue Xia has to take action."
Ethan was confused, "Me?"
"Since it is a collision of tradition and modernity, the choreography must also have traditional elements. A scene just flashed through my mind, which is Jue Xia dancing a classical dance. It only needs a short solo dance, placed in the middle of the bridge. If the scene can be matched with a one-shot camera movement, it will definitely be amazing..."
Hearing this, Finn Pei's mind automatically presented a picture. Under the guzheng solo, a single spotlight was projected on the completely black stage, shining only on him. He bent his waist, put his sleeves together, and then held a folding fan. His slender figure stretched and twisted. The light penetrated the silk fabric and felt the flexible texture of his muscles and bones. The moonlight chased the flowing water.
The stretched toes landed on the ground with the last clanging sound, the folding fan opened instantly, and a hint of red extended out of the eyebrows and eyes.
"Xiao Pei? Finn Pei."
Leo Cheng's voice pulled him out of his imagination. Finn Pei came back to his senses and looked up to find that everyone was looking at him. "Why are you looking at me?"
"What are you thinking about so intently?" Zane He had already stood up. "Let's go, the meeting is over."
So fast.
It's just time for one dance.
"How do you think about my suggestion?" Dylan Lu put his arm around Ethan's shoulders. "I remember you said before that you learned classical and modern dance when you were a child."
Ethan nodded, "I skipped it when I was a kid."
"When you were a kid?" Max Ling could always get into the topic, "Juexia, did you also learn dancing when you were a kid? You never told us."
Finn Pei walked behind with his hands in his pockets, thinking to himself, let alone talking about his childhood, when has this guy ever shared his experiences.
"Yeah." Ethan's eyes unconsciously dropped. The white floor tiles of the corridor were dazzling under the light. A glowing brick reflected a stage. The man on the stage danced calmly and freely. Walking further, he saw his young self under the stage, holding his mother's hand and looking up.
[Mom, I want to be like Dad in the future!]
[Okay, our baby will definitely become the best dancer, even better than your dad~]
"I studied for a few years, but then I stopped." Ethan looked up and straight ahead, and walked to the elevator with everyone else. His tone was calm, as if to prevent everyone from asking more questions. He quickly continued, "The foundation should still be there. I can give it a try."
Mason Jiang lowered his head and looked at his hands. "Oh, I have to go back to my old job." Just as he finished speaking, his right hand was grabbed by Zane He. He made a scratching motion and laughed, "Back to my old job 2.0."
Dylan Lu: "Then please make a demo quickly. I want to choreograph it now!"
Max Ling flattered him, "Brother Dylan Lu! Dalian City Grass! I want a super handsome part!"
Watching everyone making so much noise, Ethan felt a long-lost warmth in his heart, as if he was back to the time when he debuted. Everyone was working hard towards their dreams and trying to present the best stage, except for one person.
Glancing away, Finn Pei's figure was reflected on the metal inner wall of the elevator. He had his head half lowered, as if in a trance.
In Ethan's memory, Finn Pei was still a seventeen-year-old boy when he came. In fact, he didn't have too many opinions about the airborne landing. After all, he was a teammate, and he got along with him normally.
But Finn Pei was really unruly at the time. Ethan, who had never lost her temper, had a conflict with him because of his improper attitude during dance practice. That was the first conflict between them. The two young men started fighting, and no one could stop them.
[Do you think I came here just to be an idol? What's the point of practicing? I have nothing to say to someone like you who is trying so hard to get to the top!]
After hearing this, Ethan finally understood why Finn Pei, who was quite friendly when they first met, changed his attitude later.
But he was not angry at the moment and was extremely calm.
[I heard you want to be a H!p-hop singer.]
As early as the second day after Finn Pei joined the company, his story of being forcibly sent back to China by his parents when he was a teenager in the United States had become known to everyone. Everyone had also heard that he was forced by his sister to work in a small company like Star Chart, probably to give him a taste of what it was like to be in the entertainment industry.
Both the original intention and the method are different from their hard-earned ones.
[Dreams are not high or low, they are just achievable and unachievable.]
Ethan loosened her grip on his collar.
[I have nothing to say to someone as naive and prejudiced as you.]
A paranoid man surrounded by rumors and an arrogant rebel should have had opposite life paths. But they bumped into each other by mistake, and their encounter turned into an accident scene that could not be repaired for two years.
No one bothers to understand anyone else. As long as they keep a safe distance, they can always maintain superficial peace.
"By the way, Brother Mason Jiang," Finn Pei said after getting out of the elevator, "you guys practice first, I have to move."
"Moving?!" Max Ling's eyes lit up, "Moving back to the dormitory? Today?"
Finn Pei nodded, "Tomorrow, Brother Leo Cheng has been urging me for a long time, after all, we have to record a group show."
Ethan stared at his profile, and coincidentally, he turned back at the same time and made eye contact. Everything was very clever, just like their second official encounter was also related to the "unspoken rules", but he happened to know about it and he happened to take action. If it weren't for this coincidence, they would have remained without any encounters, and perhaps it would be like this until the day the team disbanded.
Finn Pei laughed, revealing a sense of mischief, "It seems that not every brother welcomes me home."
I heard that many murderers like to review the crime scene to seek some kind of pleasure. Strangely, he always thought Finn Pei was such a person, but at this moment, his ordinary body seemed to secrete some kind of neurotransmitter that stimulated pleasure, as if he was expecting something.
Once the safety distance is broken.
This tragic accident will happen again.
"Welcome back." Ethan smiled.
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