Fan Fiction |
by sUm^MeR
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Vincent has never been so consumed on reading something that's not related to poetry, but ever since yesterday, he can't take his hands off Jay's diary. Sometimes the beauty of writings doesn't mean choosing the poetic words, using the beautiful phrase, or presenting a scenic depiction.
Sometimes the beauty of writing lies only in its sincerity.
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Taipei, September 25, 1999.
It's been a week since we start going out, officially. Sometimes, I would wait outside her class, and we would secretively wave at each other, stifling our shy smiles. The eight o' clock Math class became a class that I would never want to miss. I would sit beside her, and wouldn't stop stealing a look at her. She too, couldn't help smiling when she noticed me looking at her…………
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"Stop staring at me," She turned to him, her face flushing in embarrassment as she whispered. "Concentrate on the lecture. Final test is coming."
"Oh, ok." He responded, but the next minute, he had stolen a glance at her again. There was something that always drew his eyes to her. It was as if he couldn't get enough of her.
She was wearing a pink shirt at the time, a long-sleeved, but at least not a turtleneck. He realized how pretty she was in pink. It seemed to brighten up her rosy cheeks and the twinkle of her pretty eyes. When she noticed him looking at her, she would lift her bulky book into a standing position and hid her face behind it, suppressing a big smile.
As final test was coming, they both occasionally met at the library after school. Math had always been Jay's weakest subject, and learning to be a supportive girlfriend, Jo often gave him some free tutoring session. But honestly, it had always been hard to just concentrate on studying alone.
"So, tell me. What's the value of x?" Jo circled the X letter on the paper, turning to Jay who didn’t budge from staring at her.
She raised an eyebrow, expecting him to answer, but he just gave her a shrug instead.
"Jay, seriously!" Jo gently prodded her finger on his chest, smiling at his boyish expression. "You need to study!"
"Aye..," he sighed and buried his face on the table, "I really can't do this, Jo."
Jo tsk-ed and shook her head, "You definitely can. You're just too lazy to think."
"Do you know something, Jo?" Jay threw his back at the back of the chair, chuckling bitterly, "Music- is the only thing I want in life, the only thing that makes me existed. I want to depend my life on it, not on some university's degree certificate. But every time people hear this, they'll look down on me."
Music?!! Oh, come on, Jay!!! Don't waste your life for such rubbish.
Common people; it's so easy to look down on those who had uncommon dream. They had said, this Jay Chou, ah, he doesn’t have the look, doesn't have the brain, and if he doesn't obtain any university degree, what can his parents expect from him?
So he, unwillingly, took the university entry test, got a very tight score, close to failing, but since his dad had some connection, they got him in with some absurd reason, saying that he was a good basketball player, and could be quite an asset for the university’s sports team. Well, it’s not really an absurd reason, after all, as he was indeed a good basketball player. However, still, being in this place wasn’t what he really wanted.
He turned to Jo, his eyes squinting, "Tell me, Jo. Which side are you on?"
Jo was silent for a while before she opened her mouth and said, "It's good to own a dream, Jay. But if you ask me, I would rather sail on a calm sea, rather than sail on a rocky river."
"You will never understand, do you?" He snorted and shook his head, feeling a little disappointed with her answer.
"I never say that I'm proud of myself to think like this." Jo says, clarifying, "I love arts, sketching, painting, drawing, but I realized I couldn't depend my life on this. Who on earth would want to buy some paintings from a Joey Yung?"
"Jay, sometimes we have to be able to differentiate aspirations and dreams. Aspiration is for us to achieve, but dreams… they're just things that we can see but better not to be touched." Jo said, as she roamed her gaze at midday sun.
"Like the warm sunlight, or like the fresh newly picked strawberries, I can't just recklessly take a bite of it."
"What's wrong with taking a bite of it?" Jay couldn't understand her thinking.
Jo laughed slightly, "Some things are better left untouched, or else, it would lose its perfection."
"But if we can't do anything about it, then what's the use of keeping it?"
Jo turned to him. Her eyes were glowing in admiration.
"Some are actually lucky enough to taste their dream. And I somehow believe that you can be one of them." She said sincerely, "Because you have what it takes. Your courage, your confidence, something that someone like me never possesses."
Jo concentrated back on her book when she felt his face was so close to hers. The moment she looked up, he had given her a peck on the cheek. Jo found her heart racing; her face was quickly flushing in scarlet.
"Thank you, Jo," he pressed his cheek for a lopsided smile, "for believing in me. It means a lot to me when it comes from you."
Soon after, Jay diverted his concentration back on the Math book lying open in front of him. And amazingly, for the first time in history, Jay managed to solve all the problems at the exercise section with all the right answers.
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Qiu Dao Yu De Zi Wei, Mao Gen Ni Dou Xiang Liao Jie
The taste of Sanma fish, both the cat and you would like to understand
Chu Lian De Xiang Wei Jiu Zhe Yang Bei Wo Men Xun Hui
The fragrance of first romance was discovered so spontaneously by us
Na Wen Nuan De Yang Guang, Xiang Dang Zhai De Xian Yan Cao Mei
That warm sunlight, is like the dazzling newly picked strawberries
Ni Shou Ni Shi Bu Den Chi Diao Zhe Yi Zhong Gan Jue
You say you can't bear to eat up this particular feeling.
:: Qi Li Xiang (Orange Jasmine) ~ Jay Chou / Vincent Fang.
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The sky is blue, the sun is bright, and the weather's warm. Springtime in Taipei never ceases to amuse her. What a beautiful day. Today Jo realizes how much she misses being single- where she can visit places she really enjoys- such as art museums, the bookstore, or just some shops that sells cheap chic stuffs. With Nic always trailing behind her, she always felt so uncomfortable, thus she always let him decided where to go.
But not today. Today she's free.
She was passing by a small bookshop, when she felt someone staring at her.
"Joey?"
Turning her head to the sound of the voice, Jo sees that it is Jolin. She doesn't understand why, but her stomach lurches the moment she sees her.
Jolin's so pretty, Jo can't help feeling a little bit jealous, her red hair is tied loosely with a big hair clip, thick fringes covering her forehead, a pair of red-shades, pink lips that glitters, a long silver earring hanging on her right ear, ruffly flowery white tank top, a blue mini skirt, and a pair of white boots. Even from ten meters away, you’ll know that she’s not just a girl-next-door.
"Oh, Jolin. Hi."
"How coincidence." Jolin grins widely, taking off her shades. "By the way, Jay told me that you'd be working with him for his second book."
"Uhm, actually, I haven't made the decision yet." Jo somehow feels a little sour at the heart knowing that Jay has told Jolin personally about their work deals. Just how close they are exactly, Jo can't help wondering.
"Oh well, think about it carefully when you still have the chance." Jolin smiles.
"In my honest opinion, Jay is a… quite difficult person. I remember the first time we record a song together….," Jolin keeps rattling on how Jay scolded her when she couldn't do the rap part for the song Spirit of the Knight, that she was close to crying. She continues telling Jo that Kuang Sheng, Jay's MV director, had told her that Jay often called him in the middle of the night just to talk about work, or that when Jay was away outside the country, he even made Kuang Sheng send the file online so that he could check it out.
Jo can only listen with a smile on her face. Isn't it good to see a good change in a person? From the guy who's too lazy to even do his math homework, and now, he works even harder than anyone else she knows. Jay, in Jo's opinion, seems to have really grown up a lot.
"You must be very close to Jay." Jo bit her lower lip, wishing that she hadn't recklessly asked Jolin such a question, knowing that she might not want to hear the answer anyway.
"Me? Well, yea, you can say that." Jolin grins, as if proud of it. "We're bestfriends. We share a lot of our secrets."
"Oh." Jo had almost asked Jolin, whether Jay ever said anything about their relationship in the past. Thank God her common sense is still working.
"I even know the girl he currently has a crush on." Jolin continues, still with that wide grin on her face.
And suddenly, Jo feels something awful- a pang, a sting, or whatever is painful- right through her chest.
"Who?!" she can't control herself. For one second, she almost feels that she has all the right to know about who the girl is.
"I can't tell you." Jolin laughs, "Or Jay might kill me."
Jay has a crush on another girl, Jo repeats these words in her head.
Oh damn, what is this feeling?
Jealousy? Hurt? Despair? Can any of those feelings be this excruciating?
It's like someone pouncing on your empty stomach, or even worse, like someone pouring vinegar on your fresh open wound.
"It’s still no use, you know." Jolin said abruptly. "It's tough to be his girlfriend."
Jo gives Jolin an acknowledging nod, but never said a word.
"Jay is," Jolin continues, "the most popular, most wanted, most valued artist in Taiwan. His fans are huge and extreme. They support him, they bought his albums, they bought the products he endorses, and they fervently cast votes for him, but in exchange to that, he has to live according to their will, in some way. He can't date someone if his fans don't approve. Even if he tries to ignore it, the relationship is still going down within just a few months because the pressure for the girl is too big to handle. It's hard to be a Jay Chou. It's really hard.
They own him, Joey. Jay belongs to the public.
Oh, and presses are nasty. They write spiteful rumors that are not true. They'll appoint victims without mercy; Landy, Vivian, his MV models, I, and soon, you might be one of them. They talk about you; rip all your pasts and deepest secrets. They diss you, laugh at your most humiliating experience, rejoice when you're brokenhearted, and no one blame them. Because why? Because this is what we all call the world of entertainment. You get in here; you take the risk.
It's gonna be hard, Joey. It really is."
Jo listens and thinks to herself, 'I haven't even started anything with Jay yet, but why has Jolin told me all these?'
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Your comments will really make my day. ^^
Love you All,
sUm^MeR
03/11/05