Pop Rock Love (10 page)

“Then can you walk over to the
microphone. I need to test something.”

Mimi wondered what this crazy
guy wanted. But she complied and limped over to the microphone.

“Can you sing something for me?
Any song, your own songs are fine,” Sato said, nonchalantly.

“What? How did you know I write
songs?” she asked, amazed.

“You always leave your song
sheets lying around. Anyway Yamada says you sing well, so let’s check you out.”

Mimi suddenly felt nervous. But
then why should she, she reasoned within herself, since it’s only her and Sato,
and she had never been in a recording studio.

“Do you need a guitar or
something, you can just use that electric one in the studio,” he suggested.

“Are you going to be recording
this?” she asked.

“Only if it’s any good. Wait a
minute, I’ll bring in a stool.”

He came in and gave her a tall
black stool to sit on. Mimi held the guitar on her lap. It has been such a long
time since she played an electric one.

“Alright, if you insist. But
this one is rather loud and it’s not yet finished,” she said. She cleared her
throat and started to strum the guitar. A low growl sounded from the guitar,
Mimi thought it sounded good and solid.

She took a deep breath and sang
a few verses. The song, “Maybe” was a fast, edgy and rather angry Japanese rock
song. In spite of all the pink she wore, Mimi’s singing voice was low and
raspy.

“Maybe...One day I’ll forget your face. Forget what it was
like.

Sitting beside you. Being by your side. Maybe...I’ll forget
your voice.

But now, I wonder if it has been raining for me?

Endless dreams, you forget if you are awake or not

Drifting by the grey sky

Has the rain become your tears?

Maybe what we had was meant to remain a memory

Maybe we were meant to remain in the past.

But you are my obsession? Why am I so hopeless?

I’m serious in the weirdest ways.

Maybe I love you...”

Mimi stopped at that point. She
had yet to finish it. Sato was looking at her strangely. He looked as if he
couldn’t blink his eyes and was breathing slowly.

“Sato?”

“It’s good.”

“Thank you?” she said, unsure
about his response. She placed the guitar down and limped outside.

“Did you record it?” Mimi
asked, curious.

“Of course I did,” he said,
“Finish the song quickly.”

“I will,” she said, smiling,
suddenly feeling a sense of achievement.

“We need to go somewhere now.”

“Now? Where?”

He just ushered Mimi out of the
studio and without another word, they were in the car, driving off to
somewhere.

“Are we having lunch or
something?” Mimi asked when they stopped in front of a huge, white building.
Mimi found the place strangely familiar.

“The hospital?” she asked.

“It’s time you got that ankle
of yours checked on. I want you to heal faster so that you can move out soon.”

Mimi was speechless. Was he
being nice or sarcastic? They both sat at the hospital waiting room and she
kept looking at him.

“I know I’m handsome but I will
appreciate it if you stop staring,” he remarked.

“Sato?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for today, for
everything.”

He looked at her and reached
out to pat her head. “Don’t mention it.”

Track #7

Yuki stared at his
mobile phone and wondered if he had made a mistake. Why did he text her? Didn’t
he want a clean break? Why was he being so wishy-washy?

Anyway, he didn’t have much
time to dwell on it because today was the day the Fire Boys were filming their
first major television commercial for MAX mobile. He threw on a checkered shirt
and baggy jeans and drove to Fame Factory Headquarters much earlier than he was
supposed to. He hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep and he craved
coffee. In Yuki’s opinion, Fame Factory’s cafeteria served the best coffee in
the whole of Tokyo, or maybe he thought so because he had been drinking it
since he was a teenager. He ordered a cappuccino from the barista and was surprised
to see Hiroki already there. “Hiroki, good morning! You’re here early,” Yuki
greeted, and with coffee cup in hand, sat down next to his senior.

“No time to sleep these days.
Haru and I are working on our 10th Anniversary Album.”

“It’s amazing, isn't it?
Reaching your 10th anniversary and you guys are even more popular now than when
you first started.”

Hiroki waved off Yuki’s comment
nonchalantly, “10 years is not uncommon in Fame Factory’s music history. But I
do agree that it takes a lot of sacrifices and hard work. Yuki, you already
look tired though you’ve just started!”

The wavy-haired pop idol cocked
his head to one side, and thought about it. “Not tired, but lately I have been
wondering about how much I’m willing to sacrifice for my band,” he replied,
taking a sip from his cup.

Hiroki folded his arms and
looked at him thoughtfully. “You’re talking about love, aren’t you.”

Yuki choked on the coffee he
was drinking. Violently slapping his own chest whilst coughing, he looked up at
Hiroki, shocked. “How did you know?”

“What else is there?” he asked,
shrugging his shoulders. He passed Yuki a serviette. “But you know, there is a
way to have a relationship without any hindrance from the company.”
 

“By keeping it a secret?” Yuki
asked, his voice down to a whisper.

“Do you think you can keep
anything a secret from Kon?”

“Probably not,” Yuki answered
with a sigh. “Then what way is there?” he asked, leaning closer to his senior.

“Be invincible,” he replied
with a wink.

“What!? How?”

“By selling a million copies of
your album.”

Yuki leaned back in his chair
and ran his fingers through his curly locks. It was almost impossible to
achieve that at this stage where downloading was rampant and CD sales had de
creased dramatically.
The Fire Boys were popular but not that popular. At least not right now.

“Of course there is another
way,” Hiroki added with a grin. “Wait until you are 30, like me, and keep your
relationships a secret from the public. I doubt I’ll ever sell a million copies
in my lifetime.”

“That is not encouraging at
all,” said Yuki, getting up in a huff.

“Aww, don’t be mad. It’s such a
waste to see a frown on that beautiful face. But honestly, the Fire Boys have a
higher chance of selling one million copies than Haru & Hiroki ever did. We
never got a mobile company contract,” he added, bringing his cup to his lips.

“Thanks Hiroki, for the advice
and all the best with your new album. I’ll buy five copies,” Yuki said, bowing
politely before leaving the cafeteria. There was only one thing that could
cheer him up at a time like this. He walked into one of the dance studios and
switched on the light. This was the usual studio where the Fire Boys held their
dance rehearsals. The side walls were painted with rainbows while a huge mirror
adorned the front wall. Yuki turned on the music to full blast and the
introduction to Black Eyed Peas’ “Imma Be” filled the whole room. Moving his
body to the music, his small and skinny frame suited popping and locking moves
best and Yuki always found dancing to be therapeutic.

Actually the main reason why he
joined Fame Factory was because he wanted to dance for a living. He was just
twelve when he first entered FF for an audition. Back then, he thought that the
air in here smelled different – it was the place where dreams came true.
Ten years have passed since then and he still thought that way, although he now
knew that dreams were not built in a day and there was always a price to pay.
Beads of perspiration started to trickle down his forehead as his body became
one with the music beat. He performed a body wave and spun around. Yuki
wondered if selling a million copies was really impossible. It sounds
impossible but he still wanted to try. The music ended and someone was clapping
behind him. Yuki turned back and saw Naoki leaning against the door, with his
eyes half-closed, applauding lazily. Naoki was always rather grumpy in the
mornings, especially when the Fire Boys were surviving on just two to three
hours of sleep each day.

“Nice moves. Come on, Jun is
waiting at the lobby,” Naoki said.

Yuki looked at Naoki and
thought, it was my love for dancing that spurred me to join Fame Factory but it
was my members who helped me to keep on this road. “Leader! We will sell a
million copies! We can make it!” cried Yuki, pointing at the half-asleep
figure.

“Huh... If you say so,” mumbled
Naoki in reply, while stifling a yawn. “The rest are waiting at the lobby.
Let’s go.”

Yuki arrived at the lobby to
see the rest of the members together with some camera crew waiting. Jun, their
manager, started to bark at the pair, “Naoki, Yuki, they are doing a
day-in-the-life of the Fire Boys special segment on Star TV. Just act natural.
Yuki, why are you so sweaty in the morning?”

Yuki waved at the cameraman in
response while Naoki tried to stifle a yawn again. Yuki put his arm around his
friend and spoke to the camera, “He is always like this in the mornings. Give
him one more hour and you’ll be able to see our bright and cheerful leader.”

The members piled into a van
and made their way to the film
ing
location. Naoki was still out of it. He sat next to Yuki and leaned on his
shoulder. Before long, gentle snores were heard from him. Yuki stared out of
the window and wondered if they could ever reach one million copies. But till then,
he really wanted to see Mimi, even if it was just for the last time.

*

For the second night in a row,
Mimi couldn’t sleep and found herself staring at the ceiling of her room. She
was finding it hard to sleep these days. She got up and looked at her ankle.
After her visit to the hospital, the cast on her ankle had been switched to a
smaller bandage. The doctor even told her that she didn’t need her crutches
anymore, but she had to walk at a snail’s pace. Mimi sighed and leaned back on
her bed. Honestly, after seeing Yuki on stage with his members, it made her a
little sad. No. Depressed was more like it. He seemed to manage so well by
himself. There was a light about him when he was on stage, and it was something
that she should not disturb, if that made any sense. It was probably best to
just leave him alone. She should just leave Tokyo. Her ankle was doing much
better and she had been so much trouble to Sato too. Maybe even leaving
tomorrow sounded like a good idea. She should just book the next air ticket out
of here.

Suddenly, Mimi heard the faint
sound of her own singing voice. She crawled out of bed and limped out of her
room. It seemed so surreal to hear her own voice in the middle of the night.
Mimi cautiously climbed the spiral staircase to Sato’s study. He was sitting by
his laptop, listening to the music coming out of the speakers. As usual, a
cigarette was dangling from his fingers.

“Sato?” she asked, peeking in
through the doorway.

“I thought you were asleep?”

“I couldn’t really sleep. What
are you doing?” she asked, stepping inside his study room.

“Listening to your song. Did
you perform when you were in Singapore?”

“Well, I own a small bar, so I
sing live occasionally. Is something the matter?” she asked, staring at the
screen of his laptop. There were weird green squiggly lines on his screen.

Sato lowered the volume of the
music player and turned to her. His expression was solemn. “Take a seat
please.” There was something in his politeness that made Mimi uneasy. Maybe
it’s because she was more used to his brutal attitude. She sat on the couch and
looked at him expectantly.

“Have you ever considered being
a professional singer?” he asked. Mimi raised her eyebrows. Was he joking?

“I guess you haven’t? Well,
would you want to be one?” he asked, stubbing out his cigarette on an ashtray.

“Eh?” Mimi gaped. He seemed
pretty serious. “I guess I never really thought about it. What exactly are you
talking about?”

“Your voice, your song, there’s
potential. If you are interested in a music career, I can turn your song into a
number one hit but only if you want to.”

“Really? Does this mean you are
thinking of recruiting me as a singer for Niji Records?”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t think I’m good
enough,” Mimi said, rubbing her eyes. Was she dreaming?

“Obviously you are
not. No one starts out being good enough, but I can change that. At least you
have the potential.”

Mimi thought, this man never
fails to amaze me. He was a stranger whom I depended on when I was in trouble.
Why do I get this feeling that I can trust him?

She replied, “I can’t really
believe this and I don’t know if I am dreaming. But if you really think my
music is good enough then, yes, I entrust my music into your hands.”

“Good. Tomorrow we’ll go to my
office and sign a contract. If you have raw demos of your other past songs,
bring them along too. Don’t get your hopes up, beginners don’t earn much and
you’ll have to work the hardest in your first year. And I’ll need you to
compose fast too.”

“Alright, I understand.”

“And one more thing, you won’t
mind if someone else composes for you occasionally right?”

“I guess. If it’s ideal for my
voice, I don’t see why not. Is there a song you have in mind?”

“Maybe mine.”

“Oh...”
 

“So I will see you tomorrow. Go
and get some sleep, I have work to do,” he said, turning his attention back to
his laptop.

Mimi nodded and went back to
her room. But how could she sleep now? She quickly switched on her laptop. All
her music was stored in it and she was relieved that she had them with her at
this moment. If it wasn’t for her injured ankle, Mimi would be dancing around
right now. Maybe sticking around wasn’t a bad idea. Let’s see how far this will
go, she thought.

Mimi’s mobile phone suddenly
rang. She glanced at the clock, it was 3am. Maybe it was her brother Roy, she
thought. As she reached out for it, the ringing stopped abruptly. Checking the
screen, Mimi gasped.

One missed call from Yuki.

Come to think about it, he
texted her two nights back as well. Was he really worried about her? Even
though she travelled so far to find him, the thought of actually speaking to
him scared her. Plucking up her courage, Mimi dialed his number.

“Hello?” he answered almost
immediately.

“Yuki?” her voice was barely a
whisper, but she could hear her heart beating wildly.

“Mimi.”

“Yes.”

“I saw you, didn’t I? In the
audience?”

“Yes. My friend is a fan of
yours.” She felt a little relieved that they were able to have a proper
conversation in the safe confines of the phone.

“Your foot? Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry, I just got into a
little accident. I will be fine.”

“Mimi...”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry.”

Mimi bit her lower lip to
prevent herself from crying.