It Wasn't Just Temporary...? (8)
The greater the expectations, the deeper the disappointment.
That was why Iris tried her best not to show any letdown while anticipating Shin Tae-il's bass performance.
She really tried.
'He's on bro terms with Yahiro, right? Can't help but have high hopes.'
She worked hard to calm her fluttering heart.
Iris had always set unrealistically high standards for others. She'd realized this back in middle school while running a school band.
Her approach to things she loved was no different.
If someone asked whether the kids who'd become her friends shared the same intensity of love for BARD as she did, Iris could only tilt her head.
As a child, she'd assumed everyone was as sincere about everything as she and Rena were. But the voice echoing in her mind was always, 'Was I the only one being serious again?'
Iris had learned that people who obsess like otaku over something and pour their heart into it were rarer than she'd thought.
And that even the lazy types who faked interest just to impress others could only be truly captivated by a genuine band.
So when she'd glanced around Tae-il's room, she'd been a little moved.
'This guy's the real deal.'
He might not have bought three copies each for collecting, listening, and proselytizing like she did, but he'd collected every single BARD album and single without missing a one.
And the guitar on his bed looked surprisingly well-kept. Just plucking a string produced a surprisingly good tone for a cheap beginner model that cost around 20,000 yen.
It was a measure of how meticulously Tae-il had maintained it—and how much he'd used it.
For the first time in ages, she felt like she'd met someone from her own tribe.
It was a shame he wasn't the same sex, and docking a few points for already having two girls around him at his young age like her dad, but her favorability toward Shin Tae-il was skyrocketing endlessly.
"Whoa."
Five seconds into Tae-il's playing, an awed gasp escaped—whose, she wasn't sure.
It might have been her own.
Shin Tae-il knew how to hook the ear with bass.
No bass at home, so he'd had to come all the way to the practice room, yet he swapped the strings with practiced ease, tuned up, and now he was performing.
He started with basic but essential fingerpicking, rhythmic and tight.
He'd lifted the bassline straight from the original Drunk on the Landscape, but it felt lighter, more upbeat.
Less sticky drunken haze, more pure joy and fun.
'Is he playing it a bit higher?'
The tempo was similar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint the difference.
Iris personally wanted to layer piano over this.
The brief bass solo that had stood out faded back into the standard line.
In the original, this was where Yahiro returned to laying the foundation, paving the way for NA.IN's guitar.
But right now, it was Tae-il's solo cover of Drunk on the Landscape.
Following the smooth chord progression, where NA.IN's flashy riff and Izumi's captivating vocals should have kicked in, Tae-il switched to slap technique.
The kind bass players who fancy themselves pros always filmed and uploaded to YouTube.
Flashy to watch, great mid-low tones, the technique that opened new horizons for bass.
The rhythmic plucking turned more dramatic.
Like it demanded tap-dancing—the bass screamed happy shrieks like percussion every wrist flick.
The listeners' shoulders and jaws bobbed involuntarily to the beat.
Iris loved that sound.
She didn't know how happy she'd been every time Yahiro rarely uploaded a cover to Itube.
It reminded her of the days when her dad, still unable to forget her mom, dragged her along to baseball games.
Every stadium visit featured a cover of Drunk on the Landscape in their own style.
The hook melody that always stood out danced lightly in her mind.
On a stage where all rhythm and beats had halted.
In pitch darkness with no audience in sight, as she sang alone.
Right behind her, a heavy, reliable bassline softly traced her throat, tickling her spine.
A boy who'd seemed so listless and weak was now powerfully driving her forward with bass.
Her lips itched.
Rubbing her unreachable Adam's apple through her skin, her long-parched throat burned hot.
By the time she snapped out of it, the performance was heading toward its close.
The highlight.
Highlight performances were similar across instruments.
Performers inevitably converged on what the masses demanded.
Fast picking.
Gradually ramping up speed, Tae-il naturally hit the highlight with rapid picking.
His warmed fingers danced frantically up and down the frets and pickups.
So he really was on bro terms with Yahiro.
Yahiro's signature tapping bassline per song subtly emerged in Tae-il's flurry.
Not as flashy or intense as those show-off uploaders, but it revealed a sincerity Tae-il rarely showed.
His deep-set eyes glared at his fingers and the bass.
So immersed in the performance, staring made you feel like you'd get sucked in.
Not a massive drum-wave, but a heavy, cozy embrace—like an artificial wave at a waterpark.
Faint, but catch you off guard and it'd sweep you away.
Iris closed her eyes.
Staring into those unfathomable depths would drown her in inexplicable emotions.
Normally, Izumi would hum lightly here, with NA.IN's flashy guitar solo.
He brought the most-repeated cheer-song part to life with his own melody.
About 20 seconds.
Tapping into fast picking, back to slap, slap to picking, ending with pull-offs to add rhythm to the staccato beat, slowing down.
Giving the audience time to recover from the intensity.
Leaving a lingering aftertaste as he wrapped up.
"Wooow."
As the electric hum faded, Ayane clapped like a seal.
"Shin-ssi is amazing. I only ever heard guitar from the window, so I thought he couldn't play bass."
"This is my main gig, actually."
Tae-il, sweating bullets on his forehead, knelt grinning at Ayane.
"Really? Why didn't you buy one?"
"No money. This guitar was handed over by the daughter of the Live House owner I frequent—she said she wasn't using it anymore, in exchange for some part-time help."
"O-oh, I see..."
Why did this childhood friend always have women popping up whenever he opened his mouth? Ayane swallowed her irritation.
Tae-il lightly plucked a string and looked at Iris.
"So. How was it?"
"It was good."
Iris, savoring the afterglow, hugged her knees and buried her face between them.
"Ughh, why do you play so well..."
"That so?"
Tae-il grinned like a kid who'd pulled off a prank, irking Iris for no reason.
To borrow otaku Rena's term, it was pure chikkin vibes.
"Rena-chan, what'd you think?"
"Huh? Sounded good. Yeah, he can play a bit. Definitely better than those bitches."
To outsiders, it might sound meh, but for Rena, that was high praise.
Iris beamed.
"Right? Shin Tae-il, are you in a band or something?"
"Uh, uh... not yet."
Not no, but not yet.
Tae-il blurted it out reflexively.
The smile on Iris's lips deepened darker than a new moon.
* * *
The sun was setting.
With the red sunset at her back, Iris stretched.
"Ahh, that was fun!"
"Fun my ass. What a shitshow. I thought I'd die of stress because of you."
Rena straight-up laid into beaming Iris.
"You have no idea how freaked out I was when you started yapping about being manager with those tits."
"Ahh, thanks for that! We almost had a disaster."
Iris was grateful.
When she'd grabbed Tae-il's collar, she'd thought her stalking history was about to blow up wide open.
Rena admired her own quick thinking.
If she hadn't stepped in, Iris would've been toast.
Morals Committee Ayane.
Sakuraba Sakuya, rivaling Iris in popularity.
Getting caught stalking in front of those two?
It'd be like advertising 'Please cancel me.'
The world of girls was ruthless.
Even acting friendly, everyone clutched a hidden dagger ready to stab the heart.
No matter what anyone said, getting exposed would trash Iris's school rep 100%.
And with the stalkee being who he was, she might get tangled with Tae-il again.
That, Rena vowed to prevent.
'She can't get into a band with a guy.'
Even if she pushed because she liked him, she'd just get hurt.
Their emotional capacities didn't match.
Even after seeing Tae-il's playing, Iris kept toasting Rena's nerves.
Love wasn't something one side's mad obsession could achieve.
It had to be mutual, not one-way.
But Iris's love was always one-way.
She liked alone, expected alone, shoved her ego forward alone. Then got disappointed on her own terms.
Ruining herself and others in the process.
Rena remembered.
What had happened to the band members who'd endured all of Iris's wrathful emotions.
'Guess a noble's a noble, no matter what.'
Losing her mom young, raised by a yakuza-like noble dad.
Inevitable she'd inherit that temperament.
Rena sighed, wondering what to do with this tomboy missy.
Hearing her childhood friend's sigh, Iris turned.
"Rena-chan mad?"
"How could I not be? You're driving me insane, seriously."
"Ehehe."
Iris laughed heartily.
"So, did Rena-chan hate it?"
"It's not about like or hate. Just didn't sit right."
Rena could tell Iris's state from her face.
That was her dreaming face.
The unfulfilled dream of a band.
Iris was clearly buzzing with inflated dreams.
"Gonna start a band with him?"
"Yeah! I wanna! Hard to find someone our age who plays bass that well!"
They existed, sure.
How many uploaded videos on YouTube with 'high school girl/boy' concepts?
Of course, most weren't actually students.
That level of technique at student age?
Pros everywhere would fight to recruit them.
That's why most 'I tried playing' videos used separate audio tracks and hand-sync playback.
Even then, failing to sync to their own recording was the pitfall.
Iris didn't want fakes.
"But Shin Tae-il's groove was surprisingly off. Lots of session experience?"
"Inexperience. How often does he get to perform on stage? Same high schooler as us."
"Huh."
For someone inexperienced, no nerves, no stumbles—Iris tilted her head.
Tae-il had the ease of someone used to performing for crowds.
She knew from her own disastrous band gigs.
Imagining the stage, she chuckled.
'Me and Shin Tae-il make two—bass, vocals, guitar already covered?'
Extremely, just snag a drummer and they'd have a full band lineup.
"Rena-chan, ever thought about drums?"
"Wanna die?"
"Ehehe..."
"Can't laugh off what can't be laughed off."
Rena was busy.
No scheduled exhibits didn't change that.
"When's the busiest season for doujin mangaka?"
"Summer and winter!"
"What events in summer and winter?"
"Comic-Con!"
The two mega-events a year.
Otaku festival where top earners raked in nine figures.
Rena was a rising big-shot rookie.
"But Rena-chan, you're skipping this Comic-Con, right?"
"Too many requests for congratulatory illustrations."
Connections were key everywhere.
Rena planned to build hers by drawing congrats for people she couldn't stand.
With top-tier quality to crush their spirits.
Iris, listening quietly to Rena's bold claim, tilted her head.
"Weird. Rena-chan always goes 'otaku are gross~' but draws what otaku love."
"What I hate is the pigs who stalk me ignoring my art."
No art was vulgar enough to deserve scorn.
That'd been Rena's creed.
"Honestly, I don't vibe with abstract, conceptual stuff much."
To gain recognition, repay her debt to the Arisugawa family faster, she'd chosen modern art.
Even climbing success, earning praise, exhibits closing to acclaim.
Rena still wondered.
'Am I just popular because of my looks?'
Arisugawa backing, and her decent-but-talented appearance.
Interviewers, reporters ignored her art.
Even exhibit visitors prioritized her over the paintings.
"Comic-Con's different. They don't know my face, or even my gender. They fall for the art pure and simple."
"Rena-chan's kinda romanticist, huh?"
"Shut up. Anyway, I'm using Keiko-san's name for Comic-Con."
Participating too often felt guilty.
Keiko was a servant in the Iris household.
After Iris's mom passed early, she'd practically raised her like a mother.
True to form, she'd helped young Rena a ton too.
Iris grinned mischievously.
"Keiko-san always freaks out seeing Rena-chan's art~."
"I toned it down a lot already..."
Keiko's 'Oh my!' near-fainting act stung Rena inwardly.
"Puhuhu! Anyway, I'm forming a band."
"Do what you want."
"No objections?"
"Like that'd stop you."
"True!"
Rena scratched her head.
It was always like this.
She objected, Iris ignored and pushed ahead.
Probably the same this time.
Still.
Rena muttered inwardly that she should talk to that Shin Tae-il alone sometime soon.