Dark Fire chapter 60
Extra 4 – Heartbeat(PAST)
When Lu Chixie entered the bar, it was just nine o’clock in the evening.
His friends, who had been invited earlier, were already there, playing dice and drinking.
“Why are you so late? Come on, let’s have a few drinks first.”
The bar was noisy, with the smell of smoke and alcohol choking, and the music was deafening. Lu Chixie sat down, looking a bit distracted, and took a slow sip of the drink his friend handed him.
The golden liquid slid down his throat slowly, and Lu Chixie, holding the glass with a cold expression, appeared disinterested in everything around him and did not engage in his friends’ activities.
“Feeling down?” A person sitting next to him leaned in and handed him another drink, “Want to play some dice?”
Lu Chixie glanced at their gambling game with little interest. “You guys play.”
He was indeed in a bad mood. In the afternoon, when he went home, his family had brought up the issue of him returning to the company, and the conversation ended unhappily.
The path he chose for himself was actually not very meaningful. He had shot several films, and the investors were from his own family’s company. Whatever resources he needed were just a matter of saying a word. Freedom was indeed freedom, but he wasn’t sure he truly liked it.
It felt like everything was dispensable.
Before his patience ran out, the deafening music finally stopped. A spotlight shone on the stage ahead. Lu Chixie casually glanced up and saw that it was no longer the bar’s DJ on stage but a young man who looked no older than twenty, dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, with short black hair and an attractive face.
The young man rested his hands on the electronic keyboard and began to sing a line. The murky and dull air around suddenly became still, and the clear and bright voice cut through the chaos like a gentle breeze. The drunken and restless crowd quieted down.
The young man sang while playing the piano, his expression calm, as if he was out of place with the filth and noise of the bar, yet he strangely attracted everyone’s attention.
Lu Chixie also watched the person on stage. The young man’s voice, seemingly near yet distant, gradually soothed his troubled mood.
As the drink slowly slid down his throat, he kept his eyes fixed on that one person, excluding everything else around him. His heartbeat was captured in that subtle moment.
When the song ended, the young man looked up, his eyes bright, and gave a slight smile under the spotlight before turning and stepping down from the stage.
The magical moment ended, and the bar returned to its usual noisy state with even louder music.
People were still discussing the young man from earlier. Lu Chixie finished his last sip of drink, put the glass down, picked up his coat, and stood up. His friends, surprised, asked him, “You’re leaving? It’s only been a few minutes since you arrived.”
“I’m leaving.”
Lu Chixie waved his hand and walked out.
At the bar’s entrance, he saw the young man from earlier again. He was being approached by two girls who were trying to get his contact information. The young man had a gentle attitude but refused to give it. After turning them down, he left alone.
Lu Chixie stood by the roadside, lighting a cigarette, watching the young man’s figure grow distant. The light from the cigarette flickered in his eyes as he remained unmoved for a while.
He came back to this bar a week later.
After having dinner alone and aimlessly driving around the streets, Lu Chixie stopped his car when he passed by the bar and went inside alone.
The bar was still as dirty and noisy as before. He sat at the bar counter, ordered a drink, and casually glanced at the stage.
Half an hour later, someone went up to sing. He was an ordinary guy singing uninspired pop songs, not the one Lu Chixie had seen before.
Lu Chixie lost patience after one line and asked the bartender, “What happened to the singer from last time?”
The bartender said, “That’s him on stage now. He’s a student from the local music academy and performs here regularly, three nights a week.”
Lu Chixie asked, “Not him, the other one.”
The bartender replied, “There’s no one else. It’s just him.”
After saying this, the bartender went back to serving other customers. Lu Chixie waited for another half an hour but did not see the person he was looking for. Losing interest, he left the bar.
He wandered around the streets again, found it meaningless, and was about to head back when he received a call from his sister. Lu Jingqing was at a nearby hotel for a social event, and her driver was on leave, so she asked Lu Chixie to pick her up.
Twenty minutes later, Lu Chixie drove to the hotel entrance where his sister was waiting. Lu Jingqing had her assistant arrange for other staff members to take a taxi and got into Lu Chixie’s car.
Lu Chixie asked, “Did you drink too much?”
Lu Jingqing took off her high heels, relieved her feet, and rubbed her shoulders. “Not really, just a bit tired.”
Lu Chixie started the car. “Didn’t you get a boyfriend? Why didn’t you have him come pick you up?”
Lu Jingqing said dismissively, “Boyfriends are just life’s accessories. I always go to see him looking glamorous. Why show him my disheveled appearance?”
Lu Chixie asked, “Is this how dating is supposed to be?”
Lu Jingqing laughed, “You wouldn’t understand. Unless you’re planning to settle down with that person, there’s no need to rush showing your true self.”
Lu Chixie also smiled, not sure if he agreed or disagreed.
He asked casually, “How did you meet him?”
Lu Jingqing replied, “At a party, it was love at first sight.”
Lu Chixie asked, “Love at first sight?”
Lu Jingqing said, “Yes.”
Lu Chixie asked, “What’s it like to experience love at first sight?”
Lu Jingqing thought seriously and answered, “When I saw him, my heart raced. But there were too many people at that time, so I didn’t ask for his contact information, thinking I missed the chance. Later, I met him again at another friend’s gathering.”
Lu Chixie asked, “Didn’t you try to find him when you thought you missed him?”
Lu Jingqing replied, “What’s the point? If it’s meant to be, it will come again. At that time, it was just a feeling, who knows if it’s essential or not. When I saw him the second time and the feeling was still there, that’s when I confirmed the relationship.”
After finishing her words, she turned and smiled at her brother, “Why are you suddenly curious about this? Do you have someone you like?”
Lu Chixie drove calmly, stared ahead in silence for a moment, and said, “Just a little interest, never mind.”
The thought of finding that person faded at that moment.
Maybe he would think about it again later.
“Have you ever had a moment of heart fluttering?”
When asked this question in a magazine interview, the “no” he was about to say suddenly changed as he remembered that bar and that young man from years ago. He said, “Yes.”
When asked for more details about the person, place, and time, he resumed his nonchalant demeanor, smiling, “No comment.”
There was still a bit of regret. He thought he might encounter him again but did not. After so many years, it seemed unnecessary to search for him now.
On the day the magazine was published, his agent brought several scripts for him to choose from.
Lu Chixie, playing darts, was not very attentive, tearing off the script covers and pinning them on the wall, holding a dart, and stepping ten meters back.
His agent was used to his lack of seriousness, flipping through the magazine and asking, “Your interview has been posted online. Your fans are guessing when your first love was and what kind of person they were. Why did you suddenly bring this up?”
Lu Chixie said, “Just speaking the truth.”
His agent asked, “Is there really such a person?”
Lu Chixie replied, “Yes.”
The dart flew through the air, hitting one of the script covers.
His agent looked at it, “A big female lead fantasy drama, the team is pretty good, but you need to elevate others. This script was just to make up the numbers. Otherwise, let’s choose another one.”
Lu Chixie said, “I’ll take this one. I’m too lazy to choose again.”
His agent asked, “Not going to reconsider?”
Lu Chixie said, “No need.”
His agent said, “Alright then, as long as you’re happy.”
Before leaving, his agent asked casually, “I’m actually curious, what kind of person can make you feel that way?”
Lu Chixie said, “Forgot.”
His agent asked, “Forgot?”
Lu Chixie said, “Maybe I’ll remember when I see him again.”
His agent looked at him skeptically, “You’re just making this up, aren’t you?”
Lu Chixie said, “Not at all. I was only moved once, and I can still occasionally remember how it felt. If I ever see him again, I’ll answer that question.”
His agent still thought he was joking and said, “Alright then, good luck.”
Lu Chixie smiled, “I hope so.”
The agent didn’t take the topic seriously, but two months later, after Lu Chixie joined a new production and took a day off to shoot an advertisement, his agent accompanied him. On the plane, Lu Chixie looked at his phone, suddenly laughed, and said, “He’s very cute.”
His agent asked, “Who?”
Lu Chixie’s phone screen showed stage photos of the third male lead in their group, a top idol. The agent looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if savoring something amusing, “The person who made me feel that way back then, he’s very cute.”
His agent asked, “Ling Zhuo?”
Lu Chixie replied, “Yes, his name is Ling Zhuo.”
The feeling of being moved was still there, even stronger than before. It was not something dispensable; he truly wanted, and needed him.
This time, there would be no regrets.