Chapter 105 - Beethoven Music Room

"Alex, what are you doing?" Jack asked with a smile while he kept his eyes on Johnny's hand that was raised high. Under the pressure from Jack's gaze, Johnny slowly lowered his hand. 

They all knew who was the one with more power here.

"I'm not the one who provoked her first," Johnny muttered as he glared at Alex, who was rolling her eyes at him. 

"I saw what you did earlier," Lyle said in a cold voice. Unlike his twin, there was no smile on his face as he stared at Johnny and his friends. "And what were you trying to do earlier? Are you going to hit Alex?" 

Johnny gulped and shook his head. 

"Are you sure? Cause it looks to me that you're going to hit her," Lyle said, still in the same cold voice. In this aspect, he was exactly like his father. 

"No no no. It's just a slip. Of course, I'm not going to hit her. Everyone knows that she's your best friend!" Johnny said nervously. He was not that afraid of Jack, but when it was Lyle, Johnny tended to proceed with caution. Family background aside, Lyle won the annual Jr. Taekwondo National Championship 2 years in a row. Only idiots would try to pick a fight with him. 

Worried that Lyle might blame them, Oliver placed a hand on Johnny's shoulder and said, "We are just going to tell her to be careful next time. Johnny was just playing with her earlier." 

Alex scoffed, "Ya, right." 

"You keep quiet," Lyle said as he looked at her with disapproval. He merely told her to create an entrance so that they could appear cooler when they stepped in, but the girl went ahead and created a huge mess.

No matter what, those three were still children of respectable families. Even though Lyle was not afraid of their parents, but that did not mean that he wanted to drag his parents into their high school matters... which would happen if things were to escalate out of control. 

Lyle then looked around the cafeteria briefly before he asked Johnny, "Do you know someone by the name Xiao Zhihao?" 

Johnny and his friends exchanged glances before they nodded quickly. 

"Why?" the round, chubby Joshua asked curiously. 

"He's a friend. Glad that you guys tell the truth cause I really hate liars," Lyle said as he gave them a warning glare. He did not say anything else but left the place with his Jack and Alex.

As they walked away, Jack asked, "The kid that ran out earlier, that was him? Xiao Zhihao?" 

Lyle nodded. "I checked the school record earlier, so I'm sure that's him." 

"I thought you wanted to protect him. Why didn't you beat up those three so as to serve them a warning?" Alex asked as she curled her non-existent biceps. She liked to watch school fights. 

Lyle smirked, "One step at a time. We can't protect him all the time, but those three should know by now that I'm interested in that kid. They will think twice before they do anything to him for now."

He then flicked Alex's forehead before scolding her, "And just because my surname is Du, that doesn't mean that I can go around beating people out. My mum won't like it." 

Alex sighed while she rubbed her sore forehead. She was hoping to see Lyle fight in public. Having lost the opportunity to watch a fight, she pouted and asked, "Fine. Where are we going now?"

"I asked around earlier. His classmates said that he'd always disappear after breakfast and only reappear when the bell rings. I'm curious where he went during this time period, and I've sent someone to follow him," Lyle explained. He took out his phone and called someone, "Hey, where are you now?" 

"Outside the Beethoven music room."

"I'm coming over now," Lyle said before he hung up. 

While he pocketed his phone, he then looked at Jack and asked, "He's at Beethoven. I'm going over there. You wanna go with me?" 

Jack shrugged. "Still got time until my next class. Let's go." 

....

Sitting at the grand piano in the music room with his hair dripping wet, Xiao Zhihao sighed. He had changed out of his uniform into his PE clothes. To help him get over his anger, he decided to call his best friend. 

"Yun Qi, I'm fine. Really. How about you? Did your dad hit you again?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I'm fine."

Both of them were lying and they knew it. However, knowing that they could not do anything, they merely pretended that they were both fine. 

They chatted for a moment and suddenly, Yun Qi said, "Zhihao, it's been a while since I heard you sing. Why don't you sing a little?"

"Sing? Erm, what do you want to listen to?"

"Hmm... Till the End With You?"

"Oh come on! That's such a sappy song!" Xiao Zhihao groaned loudly. 

"But it's a nice song! Come on, sing it before the bell rings." 

Xiao Zhihao blushed. He looked around to make sure that he was really alone before he cleared his throat.

He was about to sing when he realized something. "Yun Qi, Friday is your birthday, right? I won't be able to celebrate with you this year. I have to go check out my Mum's new place this weekend. I'll find a time to go back and see you soon, but for now, this is my present for you, alright?"

She laughed softly. "Alright." 

Xiao Zhihao went and picked up a guitar from the corner. His father learned how to play when he was young, and he taught Xiao Zhihao as well. Once the teenager got the guitar, he sat back at the piano seat and started strumming. 

He started with a little bit of humming before he dived into the lyrics.

This song was the OST of Till the End of Time With You and was originally sang by Fan Lei and Chen Qingting. Xiao Lei used to sing to Xiao Zhihao when he was younger, and when he asked, she said that the song was written by a man whose heart moved for the first time. 

The sentimental lyrics talked about how the male lead first met his female lead, and how the latter unknowingly toyed with his heart. Halfway through the song, the melody grew sadder as it sang about how the female lead kept refusing to acknowledge him, and how it hurt him to see her being hurt by others. Then at the end of the song, the melody grew happier as the lyrics ended on a happy note where the main leads finally got together. 

At the end of the song, Xiao Zhihao patted the strings of the guitar to stop it from making sounds. After a while, he could hear claps coming from the phone. 

"Zhihao! That's so good! It's even better than before!" 

Even though he was alone in the room, Xiao Zhihao still blushed. "I'm glad that you like it."

"I want a live show next time, alright?" Yun Qi laughed. 

The teenager chuckled and nodded. "Alright. Anything you want."

Suddenly, the sound of a school bell ringing could be heard from the other end of the phone and seconds later, Xiao Zhihao heard a loud bell ringing that came from outside the room, which was followed by an announcement that all students should return to class immediately.

He then immediately stood up and picked up the phone. He switched off the loudspeaker mode and placed the phone next to his ear as he said, "I gotta go. I'll call you soon, Yun Qi. Stay safe, alright?" 

She laughed softly. "Worrywart. Alright, see ya soon. Bye." 

After he hung up the call, he placed the guitar back on the stand before he ran out of the music room.