Check-in
The organizer notified us to meet the host for script run-through at 2:30 PM. When it was almost time, I went to the club room to get my guitar. At the library, I suddenly saw a familiar figure floating out of the building—it was my vocalist, of course. Without coordinating, we both happened to walk to the elevator entrance at the same time. Our synchronization is really getting ridiculous.
After going upstairs, the whole corridor was packed with people. At the end of the corridor was a small stage—that’s where we’d perform today. They set up speakers in every conference room and connected the music, giving off the vibe of a resident singer. I originally thought we’d perform in the International Conference Hall, but seeing this venue, it felt a bit… basic.
There’s another corridor next to it that you can’t see the end of. The organizers asked us to go find a conference room first and wait. As we waited, all the band members arrived, but the host never showed up. So we went to the convenience store in the Social Sciences building to eat.
For some reason, while eating, everyone started gossiping.
“I always thought you had someone."
"Nope, not a single one.”
Then they started discussing downloading dating apps on my phone, with the reason: “Christmas for sophomores is coming, you have to download it, or there’ll be a curse!”1
Back at the library, sure enough, my phone was forcibly downloaded with a dating app. What’s even more ridiculous is they checked some weird interest options for me: can dance Latin, likes sitting at the table with kids, that kind of thing… Then they started chatting with girls matched to me using my account.
First Conversation
Hi
: Hi
Do you want to hear a bad joke?
: No
Second Conversation
Hi
: Hi
Do you want to hear a bad joke?
: Sure
Bad jokes can wait, let me play guitar for you first.
(Voice message: “Secretly Love”)
The rest of the development I don’t know about, because I quickly grabbed my phone back and immediately deleted the account + uninstalled the app. Who knows what this closed-source program did to my phone?
After this little interlude, the host still hadn’t appeared. It seems that “script run-through session” vanished into thin air. Finally, we were taken to the organizer’s office, probably because they needed that conference room. The entire corridor was set up with a buffet, the fragrance filling the air, making my stomach start to growl.
We waited and waited, probably wasting three hours. Finally—it was our turn to perform.
Performance
By the time it was our turn, there weren’t many people in the audience. When our turn came, the audience had already shrunk to just our people2. But even without an audience, we still had to go on stage—after all, we were getting paid. Though no audience means we can mess around, the previous group added May the Gentle You Be Treated Gently by the World and My Fierce Kiss. The vocalist couldn’t resist, passing the microphone to the guitarist to sing. Fortunately, the guitarist was capable. As for me, I played normally, and some people in the audience even sang along. If you like performing, you should be waiting for moments like this.
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