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After the success of the mini-concert, Neil and Xiao Hai had a long conversation about the future. They'd promised to perform at the music festival, and even though Neil had gotten closure from the unfinished tour of six years ago, a professional didn't back out of their promise.
"It'll be the last time," Xiao Hai said.
Confused, Neil asked, "For what?"
"The last time you and I perform on stage together." Even as he delivered the news, he was smiling.
Neil looked at him with a gaping mouth, and his voice came out betrayed when he said, "You're leaving me?"
Shaking his head, Xiao Hai lowered his gaze and said, "I'll keep writing music for you, and I still want to be with you. I just…don't want to be on stage anymore." He made sure to meet Neil's eyes. "But you're not allowed to make a duo with someone else."
Neil laughed and ruffled Xiao Hai's hair before pressing their foreheads together. "Yeah. Okay," he agreed.
So, a week later, Neil & Sea performed at the music festival in Taipei. Afterward, they sat at a row of tables with the other performing acts while fans lined up to say hello and give them gifts. Whereas Sea only got one set of gifts at their mini concert, he got a decent number of fans in their line that had come to see him and not Neil at the music festival. Ting Fei told him that their fan page was blowing up, so it made sense. Xiao Hai just hoped that he didn't let the fans down when he stopped performing.
"They'll support your music even if they can't see your face, and you'll still connect with them through your lyrics," Neil assured him once they'd been ushered out of the building. "I know I will."
Xiao Hai couldn't help but smile, even as he told Neil he was being cheesy.
…
…
Echo Music wasn't the place for Neil or Magnet's music, so Neil, Xiao Hai, and Reece said goodbye. With ten years of music connections, Reece started his own independent music company, with Neil as his second signed artist. Orca was his first. Xiao Hai was his third. And then Xiao Mei showed up, without an interview, and just started working as Reece's assistant again.
"Like you would survive without me," she said when they all just stared at her in bafflement.
Working together, Orca and Reece set up Neil's first tour around Taiwan. Xiao Hai developed some of his older music, or things he'd never finished, into new songs for Neil. Those, mixed with some of Magnet's old work, rounded out Neil's set list.
After his first show in the tour, Neil collapsed on the hotel room bed face first. Xiao Hai shook his head fondly and sat beside Neil's prone body. He lightly tapped the back of Neil's head with a flash drive until Neil finally let out a confused hum and reached up to take it. Lifting himself onto his elbows, Neil examined the drive.
"What's this?" he asked, looking up at his boyfriend. "New music?"
Xiao Hai shrugged. "Sort of." Suddenly the idea seemed silly, and he cast his eyes away, blushing.
Despite his exhaustion, Neil sat up and retrieved his laptop from the suitcase. Once the drive loaded in, he found a single music file. He clicked on it with a curious hum. The song that played was clearly several decades old, with a female vocalist. To his credit, Neil let the song play all the way through without comment. As the final notes faded out, he looked at Xiao Hai for answers.
Again, Xiao Hai shrugged. "She's originally from here, so I figured…it could be a reminder of where your first comeback tour show was."
Immediately, all of Neil's confusion turned to fondness, his eyes shining with it, his lips pulled up into the softest of smiles. He set his computer aside to pull Xiao Hai into a kiss and then a hug.
"Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" he asked into Xiao Hai's neck.
Smiling, Xiao Hai wrapped his arms tightly around Neil in return. "You're amazing too."
…
…
Even as Neil exited the stage of his second show, sweat gathered along his hairline and dripping down his face, when he should've been as exhausted as he'd been two nights ago, he was beaming. He practically raced through the post-show necessities, until he could pull Xiao Hai into the ready room and shove his phone and headphones into the younger man's bemused hands.
Neil couldn't keep a childishly happy smile off his face. "Look what I found," he said.
Lifting an eyebrow, Xiao Hai put one earbud in each ear before unlocking Neil's phone. The music library was up, with one song already set up to play. It was by a musical trio Xiao Hai had only heard of in passing. He looked up at Neil with a puzzled pout.
"They were based in this city," Neil explained, inordinately pleased with himself. "Just like the song from last time. A reminder of the tour for later."
Understanding made Xiao Hai's chest warm. While Neil had said he liked the song from two nights ago, Xiao Hai had still worried that the idea had been a childish one. For Neil to continue it, to pick a song himself to add to the idea, was proof that it wasn't.
Xiao Hai pulled one of the earbuds out and offered it to Neil. "Let's listen together."
…
…
By the end of the tour, their memento playlist had six songs—one by an artist or group from each place the tour stopped. Xiao Hai burned the playlist to a physical CD, with a front cover showing the poster for the tour and a back cover showing the track listings and which city they corresponded to. It sat on the shelf beside the TV in Xiao Hai's apartment, facing out so that they could see it every day. A reminder of their tour together.
When they finished producing and recording Neil's next album and Reece started talking about another tour, Neil and Xiao Hai shared a look, already knowing another playlist would follow.
…
…
fin