#rmnwrites

[rmnitb]

i'm working on the next quiet ventures chapter rn and i'm pretty excited !! it'll be bou-san next— we'll explore the complexity of his contradictory lifestyle as a band member and a buddhist monk. i wonder what he really thinks about divestment and enlightenment 🤔

[rmnitb]

So. Lin doesn't have an office.

In light on recent, mind-boggling revelations, I present a new headcannon: 

Big Sister Lin~

 -:- 

"Look Keiko, I don't care if Takahashi said he started taking writing classes! Just because he can rhyme a couple verses like any other kindergartner doesn't mean he's a changed man! Nor does it make him a real poet!" 

Glaring a hole into the ceiling, I heave out a large breath and take the telephone handle away from my ear. I count until seven, following the tempo of the steady tap tap tapping of the keyboard from the other side of the room. Keiko's gushing and valiant defense continue to stream out of the receiver, still loud enough for me to hear even with the phone an arm's length away. This girl never learns, really. Takahashi has cheated on her several times this year but each time she takes him back anyway after a couple half-assed apologies on his part. 

With another sigh, I place the phone next to my ear again. 

"-- oh Mai, if only you heard the piece he dedicated for me at poetry night last week, aaaahhhhhhh it still gets me every time!" Her squeals continue, and I take the phone away from my ear again. I'm so very very tempted to slam the receiver and hang up on her midsentence. 

Calmly, I take my other hand and cover the telephone's mic, take two deep breaths and -- s c r e a m. 

Everything falls to a hush. The keyboard typing stops, Keiko's constant buzzing continues droning in the background. From the other side of the common area, a man clears out his throat. 

"You might want to consider just supporting your friend for now if you think she's happy, but don't trust her judgement completely. Ambush the guy and interview him personally. Bring as many friends as you can because a teenage boy cowers in the face of a legion of young women." 

I blink. Twice. 

"Uh. That's -- that's pretty good advice. Thanks, Lin." 

-:- 

[rmnitb]

Now there’s nothing left for us to do Except for you to be good to me And me to be good to you

-:-

In that large event hall, air heavy from electric anticipation—curiosity, dread, excitement—a family of three generations and seven branches buzzes around as they continue to mingle, catch up, oh, how is my favorite nephew? Has he been doing well in school?—Their laughs are strained. It’s amusing how they've believed that conspiracy, deluding themselves into thinking it's going to be the end of the world in a few minutes come the new year of 2000, the new millennium.

You and I stay on that makeshift stage beside one of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the ballroom, paid to play on our instruments without pause. I've lost count of the times I've stared out the window, distracted by bursts of fireworks splashing across the night sky as midnight comes closer—lost count of the times my eyes gravitated back to you.

You play on that grand piano with a flourish I've never seen on you in a long time. Notes crisper, trills playing on a faster cadence. You smile like you have a secret, those lips upturned on one corner, eyes fixed back at me.

Your lilting accompaniment to my melody urges my left hand to jump across the fingerboard faster, up in first position, going down and down and down to the bridge as we approach the climax of the song, its notes going higher and higher and higher.

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