“What do you mean staying in the same room with you?” Ivy questioned as she walked with Jeremy to their hotel room in the alley.

“Why are there so many guards today I noticed. Since from the office till now. Is that really necessary?” Ivy whined as Jeremy kept quiet all the way.

I’m sorry. Bear with me. Jeremy said in mind.

“Knock knock, I’m talking to the wall?” Ivy was agitated as nothing had been smoothly going as planned. With the family’s chaos, the constant need to be careful, the close monitoring of the managers, the success of the event, and Ryu last minute backing out, that alone was enough trouble for her to solve but seeing his unstable self earlier, worries her even more as she took off Ryu’s guitar from her shoulder.

She was exhausted from coaxing Ryu earlier but lucky for her Nick decided to accompany him tonight at her grandma’s place while she had no choice but to stay in the hotel to be able to start practicing with Jeremy.

“Let me carry it for you…” Jeremy offered as they reached their room.

“Ha! I’m not going to stay…” Before Ivy could finish retaliating, Jeremy grabbed her guitar and pulled her into the room.

He quickly set up a space for her to sit with her guitar and drew the curtain open.

“Happy now? I will shower first and after that, you will. I will take the couch tonight.” He did not give her a chance to argue as he immediately went into the bathroom leaving Ivy still trying to register the sudden turn of events that had abrupted.

When she finally regained her composure, the sight of the balcony reminded her of her stays with Jason back then. She forced her bittersweet feeling aside as she immersed herself in editing the song arrangement.

The original arrangement was for Ryu to sing one verse and be followed by her before they led the crowd to join in the last verse as they did in his fans' meeting as the song was originally written to comfort Ivy by Ryu.

She read the lyrics one round and was wondering if she could sing one round followed by Jeremy. That way the lyrics would resonate better given their relationship was of a couple status. The lyrics could be interpreted differently.

At her first strum of the guitar, she sang with Jason and Ray in mind.

Hey…

How’s it going?

You may laugh and smile

You may say you’re alright

But I know…

It hurts

But I want you to know

You have me

I will always be by your side

For you to lean on

Rant on

Do all you want

Cause I want you to know

You’re strong

You’re the sunshine to my moody days

You’re the glimmer of hope on my lucky days

You’re more than who you think you are to be…

Just know I am always by your side…

Somehow the lyrics found their way to comfort her and Jeremy both that night. He stood behind half drying his hair while half fascinated by Ivy’s singing. The more Ivy practiced, the more she could feel the lyrics were words she wanted to tell Jeremy.

As Ivy paused to write her composing notes, she caught Jeremy staring at her from behind. “You’re done! Come, come. I have an idea. I would sing first. Then you. Then on the third round, we sing together to the end.” She pulled him to sit next to her and encouraged him to sing along.

It was easy for Jeremy to pick up the lyrics as it felt as though they were also words he had always wanted to tell her. However, his priority was to keep her safe, and letting his feelings overwhelm him was last on his list. Although so, he let his idea of proposing to her linger in his mind as he decided to pick a ring tomorrow.

As their performance was last, Ivy was busy with other rehearsals and intermittently looking at reports that she did not realise Jeremy was not around for quite a while. When he returned, she was still scrolling through her tablet at work. He saw the rehearsal list closing into their last song and began to get nervous. As one of the backstage staff informed Ivy to get ready, she finally stood and met Jeremy’s gaze. She smiled upon noticing his nervous self as she walked over and held his hand.

“Let’s go behind to prepare…” She prompted as he nodded while letting Ivy lead the way.

“You know I was worse during my first time on stage with Jason. He, last minute told me he needed a replacement. I drove over unwillingly. During rehearsals, I thought I screwed things up with the tempo which I only played several times while he practiced…” Jeremy laughed as Ivy knew he was more relaxed.

“So, what could be worse right? It’s an originally composed song. Other than Ryu and his fans who had heard it before, even then, I have changed several things to make it easier, so no one will know if we make mistakes. You’re not bad when you sang last night.” Her unexpected compliments made him even more relaxed and flattered as they went through one last round of the song.

When it was their turn, she held his hand and led him up on stage. “Keep your eyes on me. That way it would be less nervous. Just pretend this is another practice.” She said before they started which made him smile as she strummed her guitar and sang the first round. The more they sang together, the more comfortable it was for Jeremy though there was still some nervousness in his voice.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Before they wrapped up for the night in the room, he quickly took out the box of ring he picked in the afternoon and placed it in front of Ivy who was busy finalising the slides for tomorrow night’s events.

Ivy raised an eyebrow at it as she opened it up. She blinked in confusion at him.

“I… I…” Ivy put down the box and her laptop aside before sitting to face him who was having a hard time looking at her.

“What is it? Is there a plan? Something’s wrong?” She asked sounding a little worried.

“It’s not related to any of that illegal job… It’s just… an idea… Since we should keep it real with the press and your uncle, I thought what if I propose at the end of the song? Before the credit rolls…” He pointed at her laptop’s slides showing the credits part.

Ivy folded her arms and thought about it for a moment. “Well, we could hype up the event for sure and it would benefit us with free marketing again... Yes, why not then!” She agreed nonchalantly as Jeremy’s worries of her rejection dispersed into thin air.

“On the credit rolls, is it final?” He pointed to her laptop as she nodded.

“Looks fine. I don’t think we miss out on anyone unless you thought of any?” She asked as Jeremy hesitated for a moment.

“It’s alright. Just tell me.” She urged realising being with him over the past few nights had made her a little more comfortable around him and so was he. He had slowly forgotten her crazy act few nights ago too as he drew a deep breath.

“I was thinking you should add my brother in the acknowledgment.” He suggested which made Ivy taken aback at his considerate suggestion.

She smiled proudly and nodded before making the addition “In remembrance of Jason Rahi”. He smiled back at her looking at the amendment.

The next day, Ryu was at the site early as he could not sleep well. As though it was fated, Melody and the other fans were also on-site early to prepare their equipment and layout for the live coverage with the press.

They bumped into each other by accident while she was setting up her tripod and nearly tripped. Ryu caught her in his embrace while she was catching her breath. Melody panicked and wanted to quickly move away but his arms were sturdily guarding her in his arms.

“Don’t move. Just let me lean on you for five minutes.” He whispered as she let out a gentle sigh of relief.

“I miss you… I know our circumstances. I understand your actions. But I am only a teenager…” Ryu calmly said as Melody leaned on him, wavering.

“How could I control myself when I still love you so dearly,” Ryu explained as Melody blinked away her tears.

“I’m sorry…” Melody pushed him away as she quickly ran and hid away from him to keep herself composed. She was close to making up with him but she knew it was not the right time yet.

Instead, throughout the event, Melody if possible tried to avoid meeting him but if she did, she acted all professionally. It annoyed him especially when he tried to make amends and he was furious but there was nothing he could do about it at that moment.

Melody who was busy coordinating the fans club for social media coverage, was surprised to see Andrew and Sandra arriving with Jin and Cassandra at the entrance as she ran up to them.

“I know who you both are! Ivy will be so happy!” Melody greeted as Andrew chuckled while Sandra squinted her eyes at her suspiciously.

“And you must be Ivy’s future sister-in-law, Melody aren’t you?” Sandra teased which sent the chirpy little girl blushing in embarrassment.

“That’s enough. Let’s not tease this little tomato. So, where is Princess Ophal? I can’t wait to see her wear one of my creations!” Cassandra asked excitedly.

The sight of some formal government individual Melody recognised made her gasp in surprise as she knew no one from the government board was included in the list.

“I got to go! Ivy is behind at the backstage!” Melody quickly gathered the girls and made a last-minute change of plans. Jin upon noticing who they were, joined in with Cassandra and some of the girls to usher the government officials around the exhibition and entertained them, leaving Andrew and Sandra heading backstage alone.

Ivy was going through the agenda one last round with Nick who was on emcee duty while Jeremy stood by the side looking through the lyrics he had known by heart one last round.

“Ms. Ophal, looks like you have unannounced government officials on site.” Andrew greeted which stunned the three of them as it was news to them while Ivy recognised the distinct voice. She knew instantly her best friends were in the house as she turned and ran to hug them both at once.

“I missed you both…” Ivy said with her eyes closed which was welling with tears. “Ohhhh… How have you both been? How’s…” Ivy was lost for words as she held on to them tighter while not allowing herself to cry.

“We missed you too! Have you been well?” Andrew said but Sandra was speechless as she caressed Ivy’s skinny face in her palm when they let go. Her heart ached when she saw Ivy’s lethargic face hidden behind makeup as she wiped her tears wetting her eyes.

“Haven’t you eaten well? What are all these bones doing making you look so much older than me? How could you grow older without me?!” Sandra scolded as Ivy chuckled and gave her another hug. Ivy was controlling her tears to not mess up her makeup but most importantly not to be vulnerable.

“Oh, you’re so pretty. You look so grown up… Unlike me. So overworked juggling internship and studies… You’re so right about not taking psychology, Ivy!” Sandra whined as Ivy laughed with Andrew.

“Count your blessings for not having to be responsible for so many living ones at the tip of your fingers. Every day the fear just grows on you…” Ivy tried comforting Sandra but it just made it worse for her as Sandra broke down.

“Sandra… It’s alright. I’m fine... We are all here reunited again. We’re doing well. Look… There’s nothing sad to cry about.” Ivy comforted while helping Sandra dabbed her wet face.

“Andrew, take more care of your wife!” Ivy nagged as Andrew laughed.

“Who is your wife?!” Sandra scolded as Ivy chuckled.

“Not wife then what? Don’t tell me you want to break up?” Before Ivy could continue to say more, Sandra smacked Ivy putting Ivy calling for help from Andrew.

“Help! The tigress is awakened!” Ivy squirmed in fear playfully as the trio had a great laugh from a moment of sadness earlier. Nick and Jeremy watched the trio from afar and were happy for Ivy who finally was herself when she was with the duo.

“Ivy!” Melody ran in and called out to her, cutting short the fun.

“Go, go touch up your makeup.” Ivy urged while heading towards Melody.

“Yes, what is it?” Ivy asked solemnly.

“The tourism board came… they… are… not on the list… They did not mention they are from… there… but I recognised a few of them from asking permission to use drones while filming.” Melody said while gasping for air.

“Calm down… calm down… Alright, where are they now?” Ivy asked as Melody pointed towards the exit.

“The… the girls and Jin and Cassandra are entertaining them. They are at the exhibition site. I … I have prepared the front row instead for them on the left and push down the others one row…” Melody explained as Ivy gently rubbed her arms.

“Good job… Good job… Alright, now Melody, keep yourself calm. Walk them like any normal visitors and let them know the points we want to convey from this event alright? Don’t give them the front seats. Let them sit wherever they want to. They are here unannounced on evaluation. So we perform and do our best like we do for every visitor will do alright?” Ivy encouraged as Melody nodded.

“Do we need to change the slides or anything else?” Nick quickly asked as Ivy pondered for a moment and shook her head.

“It will look too obvious that we are seeking their attention. Since they come unannounced, we shall verbally acknowledge them only. I will do the honor at the last song’s speech before the credit rolls perhaps.” Ivy suggested.

“Charles?” Nick asked as Ivy looked at Jeremy. “Do what you need to,” Jeremy told Ivy as she nodded.

“Leave him blindsided unless he is aware of it, then we go with the flow,” Ivy concluded as they all prepared for the event to start.