Johnny Kape

The Original Joy

edited by Maiocxx

Prologue

"Jay Feng! Jay Feng! Jay Feng! Jay Feng…"

Jay sat in his own dressing room alone. He could still hear that many people were calling his name passionately. The show he just performed was still running in his mind, and he felt that he could still see the fanatical eyes of his fans.

It might be a successful singing concert. Might be. However, he didn't feel happy at all. He knew that he didn't do well in this performance. He knew that he didn't want to stand on the stage at all. On the contrary, he had a very strong tired feeling. He just wanted to escape from everything.

Jay woke up from his trance and looked at his dressing room. He knew that only a very famous singer could have a dedicated dressing room. However, at that moment, he would have preferred to give up all these special treatments and everything he had, in exchange for a long and sweet sleep. He saw his own suitcase. Inside the suitcase were his performing outfits, and some t-shirts and shorts he usually used to disguise himself. He thought for a while, stood up, and took a baseball cap, a t-shirt, a pair of shorts and plain glasses out of the suitcase. Then he tried to stuff all those inside his performing costume. He opened the door of the dressing room.

"Hey, why haven't you taken off your costume?" An assistant who just helped Jay to remove his makeup saw that Jay was still in his costume. He sounded very surprised.

"Oh, I just need to pee," said Jay.

The assistant nodded his head. Jay walked toward the restroom. At the end of the curved aisle was the emergency exit. Jay looked back and made sure that nobody could see him. He opened the door of the emergency exit and ran out into the night.

Chapter 1

"Here's the last one," Heng said, putting the paper box down on the ground and handing some papers to the storekeeper. "What's up today? You called for more supplies for the third time! It's almost midnight. My boss told me to go home directly after delivering this last batch."

"Yeah. We will be very busy as long as the stadium is holding any activity. Today is Jay Feng's singing concert, so many people have been coming and they just left about twenty minutes ago," said the storekeeper. "I'll sign these for you. Please wait outside."

Heng walked out of the storeroom, looking at the people walking out of the stadium. Then he looked at the posters around the stadium. On the posters was a boy, and some text saying:

"Happy Train's New Journey! Join Jay Feng's All New Singing Tour."

Heng gazed at the boy on the poster and felt quite envious. He knew who Jay Feng was. Who didn't? He was only 12 years old, but he had already recorded three creative albums. His first album was released at age 10 and was very popular. Heng remembered some of Jay's songs, like I Want To Fly, It's Raining, Where Am I Going, and Happy Train, which was adapted from a nursery rhyme. He could hear Jay's songs almost everyday on the radio. Besides, though only ten years old, Jay was good at playing the piano and guitar. His unchanged, high-pitched voice was very bright and clear. Plus, with his baby face and charming smile, all females from age 10 to 60 were very fascinated by him.

Gazing for a while, Heng sighed deeply. He used to have a musical dream. He used to imagine that it was he standing on the stage, facing thousands of people who were crazy for him. However, a dream is only a dream. After all, he was not the right material. He neither had excellent talent, nor outstanding looks. He strove with some good friends for some time, but finally, they still knuckled under the pressure of life. He could only be a deliveryman to eke out his living.

He didn't know how long he stood there. Then someone patted him on the shoulder. "Why are you standing here in a trance?" It was the storekeeper's voice.

"Oh, nothing," Heng said, awakened from his trance. "I'm just looking at those posters."

"A charming boy, isn't he?" smiled the storekeeper, handing Heng some papers. "See if there is anywhere I forgot to sign."

Heng browsed the papers and put them into his bag. "Nothing left. Thank you. Good night!"

Heng waved to the storekeeper. His busy day ended finally. Now he just wanted to go home to take a shower and have a sound sleep. He walked to his company's van, opened the door and jumped in. He opened the window and took off his t-shirt. On a summer's night, he liked to let his body embrace the cool wind directly. He turned on the radio and started the car. He stepped on the gas pedal and the van started to run down the road.

The radio was playing Bon Jovi's It's My Life. Heng was quite familiar with this song. When he was playing music in his own band, he sang this song frequently. So he started to sing,

It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive.

It's my life
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive.

"Do you like that song too?" suddenly a voice asked.

"GAAAA!!"

Heng was almost scared to death. He stepped on the brakes heavily and the van stopped in the middle of the road. Heng heard a 'bang!' and then an "Ouch!"

Heng's heart was beating crazily. He tried very hard to calm down. After a few minutes, he screwed up his courage to turn his head to see who was in the backseat. He saw a head with a baseball cap, along with a hand rubbing it.

"GAAA!!" Heng screamed again. Who was that?

"Don't scream. I'm not a ghost," the 'head' said.

This time Heng finally understood that it was not ghost, but a little boy. "Who are you? Why are you in my car?"

The boy didn't answer but still rubbed his head. After a while, the boy jumped into the front seat, sitting beside Heng. "Take me anywhere you like. How about going to your place?"

Heng took a look at the boy. The boy was wearing glasses, a t-shirt and shorts. He looked at the boy's face. Hmm… It seemed to Heng that he had met the boy before.

The boy's glasses… they seemed to be plain. He reached over and took off the boy's baseball cap and the glasses. Hey! Isn't the boy Jay Feng?

"You… are you…?"

"Yeah, I'm Jay Feng. Please drive now and take me to your place, okay? I don't want them to find me," Jay answered impatiently.

"How did you get into my van?"

"You didn't lock it. Now I just want to hide somewhere, so I disguised myself a bit and sneaked away from them. I ran up a few alleys and your van was the only one I could open the door. So I hid in it."

"You can't get into anyone's car like this! I think I should take you to the police station."

"Please don't! Please…" Jay pulled Heng's arm and begged. "I finally ran away from them. If you send me to the police station, they will send me back. Please! Just take me to your place. Come on, pleeeeease?"

Heng looked into Jay's eyes. Well, they were really not like a 12-year-old boy's eyes. Jay had taken off the outfit he performed in and cleaned the hot makeup from his young face. Heng saw dark circles under Jay's eyes. And this pair of black, tired eyes was looking up at Heng, pleadingly. Jay looked like he had not had a good sleep for a long, long time. Heng became soft-hearted, deeply sighed, and restarted the van without saying anything.

Jay released Heng's arm, sighed and sat back. Heng just headed to his place silently. A glance at some movement caused Heng to look over at his new passenger. He was wiping his eyes with his hands.

Chapter 2

"Hey! Get up!"

Heng punched Jay, who was already falling asleep. Jay woke up and rubbed his eyes, looking around in a trance.

"We've arrived. Didn't you say that you wanted to come to my place? Here we are."

Heng punched Jay again. Jay suddenly remembered that he was in Heng's van. He stretched himself and got out of the van.

Heng closed and locked the van, beckoned to Jay and walked to the gate of the four-story apartment building. Jay followed Heng upstairs. Heng took out his key and opened the door of his studio apartment. He held the door open and let Jay go in first.

"Your place is so small!" Jay said, looking around the room, a bit disappointed. "Why, you don't even have a couch!"

"Do you expect that everyone's place is as big as your home?" Heng asked, sounding a bit upset.

Jay shook his head a bit, seeming to feel that it was very strange for a place to not have any couch. Then he took off his t-shirt and threw it on a small chair. "It's so hot here. Don't you have any air conditioning? And I'm so hungry. I can't eat too much before performances, so I'm always very hungry after the show. Do you have anything to eat?"

Heng looked at this immature boy with a wry smile. He had been rude enough to sneak into Heng's van like that, and after getting into Heng's apartment he hadn't stopped complaining. He watched Jay for a while and said, "No, no air conditioner, only an electric fan here. Not everyone is rich enough to have all those things. If you feel too hot, you can take a shower to cool yourself. I have some stewed meat for my night snack. If you are really hungry, I'll heat it and you can eat after your shower."

Jay nodded and walked into the small bathroom. Then Heng heard a very disappointed shout, "What, no bathtub?"

Heng really didn't know whether to laugh or to be upset. He shouted back, "No! If you keep complaining, just get out of here!"

Jay didn't say anything more. After a few seconds Heng heard Jay start taking his shower. He took some stewed meat out of the refrigerator and put it into the electric pot to heat.

Jay walked out of bathroom after a few minutes. Heng saw him and his mouth fell open.

Jay wasn't wearing anything.

He walked up to Heng in the nude."Where's the food? I'm so hungry."

Heng didn't answer Jay right away, because he had already been deeply amazed by the beauty of Jay's nude body. Jay had been beautiful enough in just a t-shirt and shorts. Looking at his nude body, Heng felt that he was even more attractive. His body was quite white and well-formed… not too fat, and not too thin. His round face was also white, not too much different from how he looked on TV. His legs were both slender. He hadn't entered puberty, so his dick was not big, but his penis head seemed to want to squeeze out of his foreskin to see the world. Heng felt that though Jay hadn't grown up yet, he was really a beautiful example of young male manhood, created by God who wanted to please all females.

Heng gulped back his ability to speak after a few seconds. He said, "Why aren't you wearing anything?"

"Well, I'm always like this at home. And it's too hot here. Will you tell me to get out of here if I don't wear anything?"

Heng laughed. "Well, no. Okay, just stay nude if you like."

Heng took out the heated stewed meat and put it on the small table in the center of his small studio apartment. Jay sat on a small chair, and almost immediately he started to attack the food.

Heng felt hungry too, but he still decided to let the boy eat his late night snack. He just sat beside the boy and watched him. Jay seemed to be very, very hungry. He didn't take too long to wolf down the whole plate of food. After finishing it, he raised his head and seemed to have something to say, but then he saw Heng's eyes. He forced himself to swallow those words back.

Heng looked at Jay's behavior and laughed. "I know what you want to ask. No, that's all for tonight. I have more food but it's for later. If you want to stay here, you have to accept that." He stood up and put the plate into the small sink in the kitchen.

"I'll take a shower now. Please just wait here for a few minutes. When I'm done I'll make a bed for you to sleep."

Jay nodded.

Heng walked into the bathroom and took a fast shower. Then he wrapped a big towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. However, as he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw that Jay had already lain on Heng's bed, with his arms and legs stretched, and fallen asleep.

Heng had a wry smile again. He walked to the bed and sat beside Jay, looking at the sleeping nude boy. He caressed Jay's hair softly. What could he say? Just a bit earlier that evening, he still felt envious of that young boy who had such a great talent and a successful career. However, at the moment, this incredible boy, who he'd only seen on TV, was in front of him, and even sleeping in his bed.

Heng looked at Jay's sleeping face, thinking about Jay's words.Take me to anywhere you like. How about going to your place?

Heng wondered what on earth could have happened. Why did Jay sneak into his van like that? Why did Jay just want to find a place to hide?

Please don't! Please… I finally ran away from them. If you take me to the police station, they will send me back. Please! Just take me to your place. Come on, pleeeeease?

Suddenly Heng felt pity for this little kid. He couldn't imagine why, if this boy was so successful, he just wanted to escape from everything he had? Did this boy experience something very bad?

He recalled the storekeeper's words. A charming boy, isn't he?

Heng looked at Jay's nude body. Again, he felt that he was deeply attracted to it. Jay's arms and legs were both stretched, showing off the contours of his body. His slender waist and broad shoulders made his upper body a triangle. His body was that of an athlete. It must be because he needed to dance a lot. His muscle definition in his chest was not quite clear, and his two little nipples fit perfectly on his young chest. His torso and his long legs formed a perfect golden ratio. Heng wondered how one's body could be so perfect.

Heng kept staring at this sleeping boy, as if the north arrow in a compass had no choice but needed to point to the north.

Suddenly, a word jumped into his mind. Naive.

Maybe the real charm of this boy was his naivete. However, Jay seemed to be too naive; too naive to be aware of any possible danger. He just hid in a stranger's van, went to the stranger's place, and even slept naked in the stranger's bed. Heng couldn't imagine how much danger Jay would be in if he met a malicious person.

Heng took his thin quilt from the bed to cover Jay's sleeping body. Then he caressed Jay's head again. "Have a good sleep, kid," whispered Heng.

He stood up and looked at his own small room. Well, he had no choice but to move the table and chairs away, and take out his thick quilt from the bottom of his small cabinet and put it on the floor. He used his own t-shirt and shorts as his pillow, and used the big towel as his thin quilt. He lay down and fell asleep.

Chapter 3

Oh, how soft it is…

Heng felt the boy lying in front of him was Jing, his playmate and best friend from his childhood. Jing was a bit younger than Heng, but a lot bolder. He liked to lead Heng to explore everywhere and stir up a lot of trouble.

Heng seemed to go back to his teen years. He followed Jing to their secret base, an abandoned wooden house halfway up a hill. They were both naked, shyly smiling at each other. They touched each other softly, explored each others bodies, enjoying the feeling given by the other one's touch. That was Heng's one and only sexual experience.

Jing's body was so… soft and tender. "How do you feel?" asked Heng.

"Hmm… very comfortable," said Jing. "Touch my chest. I don't know why grown-ups like to touch girls' breasts."

Heng touched Jing's chest. He used his cheek to rub, and used his tongue to lick Jing's nipples.

"Oh, a bit ticklish, but it feels good," said Jing.

"Really?" asked Heng.

Jing nodded. He pointed to his own groin. "And here. I like to play with my dick when I'm taking a shower. But I've never let others touch it."

Heng moved his hands to Jing's groin. He held Jing's penis softly. Jing had no hair there, and his penis hadn't grown yet, but it had already become fully erect. Heng started to rub it. He saw Jing start to smile.

"Yeah… yeah… keep going, just like that. It's wonderful," said Jing.

"But my dad doesn't allow me to play like that. He told me that I would die if I play with it. So I didn't dare to."

"Bull-shit! It's so much fun. Just try it! Okay, okay, let me do it for you and you'll know the feeling."

Jing held Heng's penis and started to rub it softly. Heng had just entered puberty. He'd had only one wet dream in his life, and that time he was seriously punished by his parents, though he still didn't know what on earth had happened to him while he slept. So he never dared to explore his own body. He closed his eyes, just letting Jing do his work.

"Oh… oh…"

Jing kept rubbing Heng's penis, which had become erect too. Heng had an indescribable feeling. He just felt that his whole body started to tense. He hugged Jing tightly. The feelings were wonderful and overwhelming. Finally, some white milk started to shoot from his penis.

Heng released Jing and saw that Jing's hands, belly, chest and nipples were full of his white milk. His own belly was too. "Wow… I don't know what happened, but… it's so wonderful!"

He looked at Jing. Well, no, he was not Jing. The boy smiled at him. He was… Jay Feng??

***

Heng opened his eyes and looked at the sky outside. It was already morning. Oh… that was a dream… But the touch… the feeling was so real… So real… Yeah… Hmm…

Hmm? Even at that moment, Heng still could feel the real, warm, soft touch… He looked around and almost screamed. Jay was beside him, still in the nude. Jay's left hand hugged his body. Jay's head was against his chest.

Heng took a second look, and started to blush deeply. Jay's thigh, ass, belly, and even his small, erect penis were full of semen. Heng looked at his own body. Of course, his own thigh, belly, and the quilt on the floor had not escaped from Heng's semen's attack.

He moved Jay's left hand away and tried to get up to find where the tissue paper was. However, Jay hugged him again. Heng had no choice but to move Jay's hand away again.

Jay opened his sleepy eyes. "Uh… what are you doing?"

"Oops… I… uh…" Heng was even more deeply embarrassed and blushed a deep red. Where on earth was the damn tissue paper box? He looked at the clock on the wall. God damn it! It was seven-thirty! He would be late to work! How could he sleep so late? And he was still in such an embarrassing condition!

Jay looked at Heng's blushing face, then lowered his head to see his own body. He laughed out loud. "Did you have a wet dream and shoot all over my body?"

Heng's face could not be any redder. He didn't know how to answer Jay's question.

"That's okay. I know what it is. I'll go back to sleep. I'm so tired recently."

"Uh… you… do you want to sleep on my bed? Didn't you… uh… sleep on my bed last night? Why are you here?" stammered Heng.

"Oh, I woke up to pee in the middle of the night. Then I just wanted to hug you while I was sleeping, so I came here to sleep with you," said Jay. He started to walk to the bed.

"Wait!" shouted Heng.

"Huh?" Jay stopped and looked at him.

Heng picked up the big towel on the floor, and started to wipe the semen from Jay's thigh, ass and the rest of his young body. Looking at Heng's action, Jay found it very interesting. He giggled.

After wiping most of the semen, Heng looked at Jay's penis, which was also covered with his semen. He didn't know if he should wipe it or not.

"That's okay. Didn't you want to clean it?" teased Jay.

Heng was still blushing deeply. He used the towel to wipe Jay's penis. Then Jay walked to the bed and lay down.

"Uh… well, I need to go to work. There is some toast on the table. You can have it as breakfast. In the cabinet I have some instant noodles there. Don't go anywhere, just stay here and wait for me to come back. Okay? I'll buy dinner for you."

"Uh-huh, okay," said Jay, still sounding very sleepy.

Heng looked at Jay who had fallen asleep again. He sighed with relief and looked at the clock. Oh no! No more time to waste. Heng rushed into the bathroom to take a very fast shower. Then he tried to pull the quilt on the floor to the nearby window, hoping that his quilt could be dry when he came home. Then he put on his t-shirt and shorts and rushed out of his apartment.

Chapter 4

Heng stopped the van at a red traffic light. He was still blushing. His heart was still beating crazily. Not only because he had had a wet dream and shot all over Jay's body, but also… The touch in the dream… so real, so tender, so smooth… Was that Jay's body?

He thought of Jay's nude body. It was so beautiful… so attractive… He thought of the feeling and the touch in his dream…

Heng found that his own dick started to stand up again. He patted his own head heavily. What was he thinking? Jay was just a kid. AND Jay was a boy! How could Jay make him react so… intensely?

*Honk Honk*

Heng startled and woke up from his daydream. The traffic light had already turned green. He changed the gear and stepped on the gas pedal. The van started to go fast, as if he wanted to throw those thoughts and images far behind.

***

Jay opened his eyes. He didn't know the time, and he didn't know how long he had slept. However, though it was really hot, it was actually the longest and the deepest sleep he had ever had in a month or two.

He lay on the bed and thought about the night before. He just ran away like that. What would his parents, his agent, and his assistants say? What about the next concert? What about his future?

Thinking for a while, Jay didn't have any answer. He decided not to think about that anymore. He sat up and saw the thick quilt by the window. He recalled the funny scene in the morning and laughed.

This man was really funny, Jay thought. The man had had a wet dream and shot all over Jay's body, then he really bushed. Jay thought that it was so funny.

Then Jay thought about the man's eyes when he was in the man's van, and when he was eating the man's late night snack. The man's eyes were full of tenderness. Jay knew that the man must be a very good person.

Jay looked at the small apartment. It was really small. Beside the window was a small desk, and next to it was a small cabinet. The desk, cabinet and the bed he was on almost occupied half of the area of this studio apartment. At the other side of this apartment was a small kitchen counter and a small bathroom.

Jay couldn't imagine how a person could live in such a small apartment. Besides, the apartment was a bit of a mess. His own room was much larger than this apartment, and he liked to keep it neat and tidy. When he was younger, his mother also asked him to clean his own room by himself. He decided to help the man clean this small apartment after eating something, grateful for the man's kindly letting him sleep in his apartment. Well, after all, he had nothing to do either.

Suddenly, he thought of an important thing. The man had kindly let him stay and sleep in his apartment. However, he didn't even know the man's name! He thought for a while. Then he stood up and walked to the desk. He opened the drawer and started to search inside.

***

Well, no, Heng really couldn't concentrate on his work the whole day. For one thing he was really worried about Jay messing everything up in his studio apartment; for another he was really upset with himself, for making the situation so embarrassing in the morning. How could he explain it to Jay? Though Jay seemed not to care about it, would he think he was a pervert?

Working the whole day, Heng finally finished his last bit of work. He remembered that he needed to buy dinner for Jay, so he went to a restaurant to buy two bowls of noodles. On second thought, he decided to buy one more. Then he rode his own motorcycle back to his own apartment. He walked upstairs, imagining how tragic his apartment would be.

He held his breath and opened the apartment door with the key. Oh! Thank God. Not in a mess at all. To be honest, his apartment seemed to be a bit cleaner than when he left. Maybe Jay helped him to clean a bit. Even the thick quilt was not on the floor anymore. Heng sighed with relief. He saw that Jay was sitting on his bed, still naked, with a guitar.

He saw Heng come in and smiled to him. "You finally came home. I'm sooooo hungry," he said.

"Okay. Here is our dinner. Oh, you found my guitar."

"Yeah. It's so boring staying here. Nothing funny on the TV either. Then I found this guitar."

"Let's have dinner first," Heng beckoned to Jay.

Heng put the small table and chairs back to their original position. He would have liked to ask Jay where his thick quilt was, but that reminded him of the embarrassing situation that morning. He was blushing again and decided to ask later. He put the food on the table.

Jay gave a happy exclamation. "Ha! Finally I have some decent food to eat!"

Again, Heng didn't know if he should laugh or be upset. "I'm soooo sorry, I didn't have any decent food for you. I owe you that much," said Heng, sounding a bit upset.

Jay too, seemed to sense that Heng was a bit upset. He said in apology, "Sorry, I didn't mean it."

Heng smiled wryly. "Okay, okay. I know that you have been hungry for the whole day. Come and eat." This food cost me three-day's worth of dinners, he thought, but he didn't say it.

Jay didn't talk any more. He took one bowl of noodles and started to wolf down everything very quickly.

Heng said, "Don't hurry. I bought two bowls of noodles for you. Nobody will take them away."

"Well, I always eat very fast. I have so many classes and I usually don't have time to eat. So I have to eat very fast," Jay replied, still eating.

"Eat slower. We are not in a hurry today."

Heng took his bowl and started to eat too. In a minute Jay had started to attack the second bowl of noodles. When Heng finished his noodles, Jay put the bowl down too and wiped his own mouth with his hand.

"Ha, I'm so full."

Heng smiled looking at Jay rubbing his own belly. He stood up and started to clean the table and the boy stood up to help Heng, too.

After everything was cleaned up, Heng sat on the bed, and beckoned to Jay. Jay sat beside him.

"Well, uh…" Heng didn't know how to start their conversation. Then he found a safe question. "Is Jay Feng your real name?"

Jay nodded. "And is your name Heng Li? I realized that you let me sleep in your apartment, but I didn't even know your name. So I searched the desk and found some certificates with this name. I think that it should be your name."

Heng nodded.

"Okay. I haven't said thank you to you. Thanks for letting me stay at your apartment."

"It's nothing. Uh… Jay… About… about… this morning…"

"This morning? What?"

"Well… I… I didn't do anything bad to you."

"Oh, that's okay. I know it. You just had a wet dream."

"Didn't you feel uncomfortable with that?"

"Why, of course not. I wasn't born yesterday," Jay said as if he was already an adult.

Heng sighed with relief. It seemed that he was thinking too much. "Okay. Then, where is my thick quilt?"

"Oh, I removed the quilt cover and put it in the bathroom, then I put your quilt back into the cabinet."

Well, Heng wondered if he could say this boy was mature or immature. Jay remembered to say thanks and also helped Heng to clean the room, but he also complained and asked so many things right after coming into Heng's apartment, and even searched Heng's desk without permission. Heng didn't know what to say about this boy. He decided to change the subject.

"Okay. Now, Jay, can you tell me, why did you sneak into my van last night?"

Jay's smile vanished. He leaned against the wall and lowered his head. His hands played with his own penis unconsciously. He didn't answer Heng's question right away.

Heng tried to sound Jay out about this. "Anything happen? I saw that many, many people went to your concert. Something bad happened? Or?"

Jay shook his head.

"So, what on earth could have happened?"

Jay finally started to speak after a while. "Because I feel so tired."

"So tired?"

"So tired. I don't want to sing anymore."

"Why? You sing very well. Thousands of people are crazy about you."

Jay shook his head again. "I don't like it. My schedule was so full. Before the performance, I have to practice everyday. Even if there's no performances, I still need to go to singing classes, piano classes, guitar classes, dancing classes… I'm so tired."

A few seconds of silence and Jay started again. "I want to be like my other classmates to play on computers and at basketball. But even in our P. E. classes, Wang came to tell my teacher to make sure to not let anybody hurt or injure me. All my classmates now stay far away from me. That time I really got mad at Wang."

"Wang?"

"My agent."

"Oh."

Jay was so young, but he had an agent to protect him like that. Actually Heng felt a bit envious. However, when he saw Jay's depressed face, he started to feel sorry for Jay.

"I could only have one night's rest after yesterday's concert, and I'd have to practice again and again every day, to prepare my next concert on Saturday. I really don't want to sing anymore. I just want to hide somewhere, far far away from them. So I changed my t-shirt and wore my glasses and cap and sneaked out of the stadium." He still lowered his head. His hands were still playing with his penis. Heng patted Jay's shoulder in sympathy.

"That's because you are so popular. Everyone likes you. Don't you like the feeling that so many people are crazy about you?"

Jay shook his head. "That just puts so much more pressure on me."

Do you know how many people are eager to have such pressure? Heng thought.

Jay started to speak again. "Even if I was just reproved one minute before, I still had to sing when the show started. When I saw the fans I also needed to force myself to smile. I'm so tired."

Tears started to fall down Jay's face as Heng caressed his head softly.

"Then, how long do you want to stay here? You can't hide here forever."

"Can't I keep staying here?" Jay raised his head and asked, with watery eyes.

Heng shook his head. "I can't take care of you for very long. I'm too poor. Besides, your parents must be very anxious and worried about you so much, right now. I think you'd better go home. If you really don't like those things, you can have a talk with your mom."

"No! I've told my mom so many times. She always tells me not to be so silly like a kindergarten tot. I don't want to talk to my mom anymore."

Heng sighed deeply. "Okay, then listen to me. At least, you need to call your mom, saying you are safe, okay? Later I need to take my dirty clothes to the launderette. Wear your glasses and cap, and my t-shirt. I'll take you to a pay telephone to call your mom. You can go home after you feel calmed down. Okay?"

Jay didn't answer Heng. He just buried his head into Heng's chest. Heng hugged Jay and caressed his back. "And, I must tell you a very, very important thing. Do you know that your actions last night were very, very dangerous?"

Jay raised his head and looked at Heng.

Heng nodded. "You sneaked into a stranger's van, followed the stranger to his home, and even slept in his bed… in the nude! If you had met a malicious person instead of me, it could have been very, very dangerous for you. Do you understand?"

Jay looked at Heng, and then buried his head into Heng's chest again. He said softly, "But Heng, do you know? When I saw you the first time in the van, I knew that you must be the best person I've ever met."

Heng didn't know how to answer Jay. He just felt very warm in his heart. He hugged Jay tightly.

Chapter 5

Heng lay on the bed, hugging and caressing Jay, who seemed to have fallen asleep. Though asleep, Jay was still sobbing, because he had just buried his head into Heng's chest and wept a few minutes ago. Heng kept caressing Jay's back and thought about what happened that evening.

***

He took Jay to a public phone that was a bit far from his apartment. The reason he chose such a place was that he was afraid of being tracked by the police and being treated as a kidnapper.

He gave Jay some coins. Jay dialed timidly. "Mom?"

"JAY?" The voice from the other side of the phone was so loud that Heng could hear it clearly. Jay moved the transmitter a bit far from his ear. "JAY!! WHERE ARE YOU NOW? WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY?"

"I… I'm fine…"

"WHERE ARE YOU NOW? JUST STAY THERE AND I'LL COME TO TAKE YOU HOME!!"

"No. I don't want to go home."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS LIKE TO MAKE ME ANGRY LIKE THIS?? YOU JUST RAN AWAY AND DISAPPEARED FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT… YOU… YOU… TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE NOW!!"

"No! I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"JAY!!!"

Jay hung up the phone.

***

After calling his mom, Jay became very silent. Even when he saw the news talking about his own concert on the TV in the launderette, he didn't talk at all. To Heng's surprise, there was not any news about Jay's being missing on TV, only about his last concert. Heng thought that they might just hide this news. After going back to Heng's apartment, Jay just took off all his clothes and went to take a shower, silently. At the same time, Heng reloaded the thick quilt into its duvet cover and put it on the ground, making a bed for himself.

Jay walked out of the bathroom and looked at the thick quilt on the floor. He kicked the thick quilt aside in a lather. Heng was startled by Jay's action. Then he walked to Heng and hugged him.

"Sleep with me, please," Jay said, in a faint voice.

Heng didn't know what to do. Jay just pulled Heng's hand and walked to the bed. He had no choice but to follow him. They both lay down on the bed. Jay hugged Heng tightly. Heng took off his t-shirt and hugged Jay too.

"Have a good sleep. Everything will be better tomorrow," said Heng softly.

Tears started to fall from Jay's eyes, and dropped onto Heng's body. Heng patted him softly. "Why are you crying? Just tell me what's up, okay?" Heng whispered.

Jay started to weep. Heng didn't know how to comfort him. He just patted and caressed his back. After weeping for a while, he seemed to calm down a bit. He was still sobbing, but he said, "Heng, can you always be with me? I feel so lonely."

Lonely? Heng was a bit surprised. He couldn't imagine that Jay was feeling lonely. He caressed Jay's hair and back, and whispered, "Yes, I will always be with you. Just have a good sleep."

***

Heng snapped back to reality. He looked at the sleeping boy. Why did he feel lonely?

Thinking for a while, Heng felt that he started to understand. Jay must have very few friends in school, because his agent told his teacher not to injure him in the P. E. class, making his classmates stay far away from him. He seemed not to have a good relation with his parents either. That could be proved by Jay's conversation with his mom. Heng started to sympathize with this little boy. The cost this boy paid for his success seemed to be much, much more than Heng could imagine.

He adjusted his position to put Jay's head on his arm. He looked at Jay's young face. This super star, with millions of personal wealth, was sleeping in his arms, in the nude. Well, if his female fans knew about this… Heng shivered a bit.

However, no matter how famous this boy was, no matter how much wealth this boy had, at that moment he was just a little boy who needed help and comfort. Heng wondered how many people on earth really understood and cared how this boy felt. At that moment, the boy was sleeping beside him. Heng had a feeling of satisfaction, which he had never experienced. It was a feeling of satisfaction of being needed. Though he was poor, he provided a harbor of refuge to that little boy, and he was quite proud of it.

He recalled Jing. They were very good friends, just like brothers. However, Jing was quite active, and was the leader among the two. He never got the same feeling from Jing.

It would be very good if Jay were his younger brother… He hugged Jay and thought, and gradually he fell asleep.

***

When Jay opened his eyes, Heng was ready to go out.

"Morning, Jay. Do you want to sleep more?"

Jay asked with sleepy voice, "Where are you going?"

"Work, of course. Or how could I have money to buy some decent food for you?" Heng answered, pretending to be a bit upset.

Jay laughed.

"You finally laughed," Heng smiled and said. "Your smile is really charming."

"Can't you just stay here with me today?"

"No. I have a lot of work today. But I'm off tomorrow, so I can be with you the whole day. And… about this evening…"

"What about this evening?"

"This evening I have a date, to a KTV to sing songs with my friends. Do you want to come with me?"

"Uh… singing…" Jay hesitated a bit.

Heng laughed. "That's okay if you don't want to sing. You can just go there and watch others singing. If you don't want to go, then you can stay here and wait for me to get back."

"I want to go with you."

"Okay. Just change your role tonight. You can just listen to others singing and applaud them."

Author's Note: For those readers who don't know what 'KTV' is, KTV is Karaoke TV, also known as Karaoke Box in Japan. It's commonly seen in Asia, including Japan, China and Taiwan. It's a place containing many rooms, from small to large, and each room has a TV and a song selector machine. Usually some friends will go together and occupy a room and sing songs together. It's a common way to release one's tensions in Asia. The fee is counted by time, for example, each hour costs 20 US dollars; or by person, for example, each person for 4 hours cost 20 US dollars, etc. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaoke_Box

Chapter 6

Jay followed Heng into a dimly lighted, small room in the KTV. There were two people singing inside. "Hey, Heng, you finally came," a round young man said to Heng, in greeting.

"Hi A-Pao. I brought a kid with me today."

"Well, who is this little tiger?"

"My cousin," said Heng, patting Jay's head. "His parents asked me to take care of him for a few days."

"Ha ha, he is so cute. Have a seat!"

Heng sat down and Jay sat beside him. Another thin young man was singing This World. Jay looked around the room curiously. It was not big, and only a TV, a song selector machine, some sofas and a table were inside. Heng saw that Jay was curious about the room. He smiled and asked, "You have never come to this kind of place, have you?"

Jay shook his head and said in a low voice, "No. I have a lot of classes, and after classes my mom always takes me home immediately. I don't have any chance to play outside."

Heng smiled and patted Jay's shoulder. He whispered to Jay, "Well, today you can see how we normal people sing. Just relax and watch us singing. Do you know this song?"

"Yes. I know it."

"Wow, it's a very old song. You really know that?"

Jay nodded and smiled. He looked at the young man who was singing. He felt that his voice was quite good, and his rendition of the song was quite attractive.

"Let's fill this world with beautiful colors…" the young man sang, making an ending.

After the music was gone, Jay clapped his hands as hard and loud as everyone. The young man bowed to everyone.

"Hey, Shiao-Pi, you did a good job!" said Heng.

"Hey, Heng. When did you come? I didn't even notice you come in. Who is this little guy?"

"My cousin."

Shiao-Pi bowed to Jay exaggeratedly. "Thank you for clapping so hard, my dear boy."

Jay blushed but smiled. A-Pao had already started singing another song. Jay saw the title of the song was Rhapsody Of A Nobody. He had never heard of this song before. Heng told him that it was a very, very old song. He listened to A-Pao singing. He felt that the rhythm and lyrics of this song were both very interesting and funny.

Then A-Pao, Shiao-Pi and Heng sang several songs one after another. Heng sang a song named Echo . After Heng finished singing Jay clapped even harder.

"You all sing so well!" Jay said as he started to relax. He leaned his head against Heng's shoulder. Heng smiled at him.

The next song, A-Pao picked Jay's I Want To Fly from his first album. Jay blushed again and Heng patted him on his shoulder. "Relax. See how A-Pao sings your song," Heng whispered with a smile.

Jay listened to A-Pao singing,

I want to fly,
Not only fly in the dream,
But want to be with you, hand in hand,
Watching the rainbow in the sky.

I want to fly,
Watching the world from high in the sky,
Even when it's all dark,
I don't want to leave…"

Heng could feel that Jay was singing softly too. After A-Pao finished singing, Heng and Jay both applauded A-Pao loudly. Then A-Pao picked Jay's adapted version of Happy Train. Everyone did the dance simulating the wheel of the train with A-Pao. Jay saw their dances and laughed so hard that his mouth almost could not close anymore.

After Happy Train, A-Pao handed the microphone to Shiao-Pi and sat beside Heng. "I really like Jay Feng's songs; especially his first album. This little boy is really a genius!"

Heng nodded and glanced at Jay. Jay felt that his face was hot. Fortunately the room was dimly lit and nobody could see him blushing.

"However, something changed in his third album. I always feel that the songs in his third album were 'squeezed' out. Not any naive feelings like in his first album anymore. He also changed the way he sings. He made me feel that he was not as happy as before, but only made it look like he was happy because he had to sing."

Jay's smile vanished. Heng patted Jay's shoulder softly. A-Pao was still commenting on him.

"For example, this Happy Train I just sang," A-Pao drank some beer and continued, "though Jay just adapted it from the nursery rhyme, he still added some pure and naive elements that could only be made by young kids. So when I sing this song I always feel that I'm going back to my childhood. That's the way Jay Feng should be! In his later albums, he is affected by adults too much. Everything is changed."

"Hmm, I think he didn't want to be like that either," said Heng.

"He is polluted by adults now, so he could never have the pure and naive feelings like before. I went to his concert a few days ago. His new song, Forgive me, the commentator said that this song was a big break from Jay's personal style. Bull-shit! I heard that song and thought, what 'forgive me?' Just kill me! Ha! Ha!"

Heng could feel that Jay's body was trembling. He didn't know if Jay was angry or sad. He hugged Jay softly to try to pacify his emotions. Then he answered A-Pao. "A-Pao, you are drinking too much! What are you talking about? Maybe Jay just wanted to try a new genre of music."

"Oh really? You seemed to be very familiar with him. Are you? Ha! Ha!"

"Yes, in my dreams!" Heng replied back loudly. He kept patting Jay's shoulder and back, hoping that Jay would not explode.

Chapter 7

When they walked out of the KTV, Heng found that it had started to rain hard. He took his raincoat from his motorcycle and tried to cover both him and Jay. Well, it was of no use and they both were wet from head to toe by the time they got back to Heng's apartment.

After entering the apartment, Jay and Heng took off their wet clothes.

"Go get a hot shower now, or you'll catch a cold." Heng pushed Jay into the bathroom.

Jay nodded and took a quick shower. Then Heng took a shower too. As he wrapped a big towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom, he found that Jay was like the day before, sitting on the bed in the nude, and playing his guitar.

"What song are you playing now?" Heng asked, after listening to the rhythm for a while.

Jay didn't answer Heng, but he kept playing the song until the end. Then he said, "It's my new song Forgive Me, which would kill A-Pao."

"Well, the rhythm sounds quite good. Hmm… Don't take A-Pao's words to heart, okay? He is always like that, especially after drinking some beers. He never thinks for more than one second before saying anything. Never mind, okay?"

Jay shook his head. His hand plucked the strings on the guitar. After a while, Jay said, "Heng, do you think so too?"

"Think what?"

"Are my songs getting worse and worse?"

Heng shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think your songs are always great."

"Tell me the truth."

"It's the truth."

"No, it's not the truth. Tell me, are my songs getting worse and worse?"

Heng looked at Jay for a while, then he took the guitar away from him and put it on the small table. Then he sat back on the bed, against the wall, and made Jay sit on his thighs, facing him. He looked into Jay's eyes.

"Do you mind others saying so?" asked Heng.

Jay lowered his head for a while. Then he raised his head again and said, "No, I don't really mind. But I really hate others saying how good I am in front of me. They are so false. Nobody is sincere to me."

"I believe that they are all sincere to you. Well, at least I certainly am."

"Then tell me the truth."

Heng thought for a while and said, "To say a song is good or bad, it usually has different answers depending on different people. To be honest, I haven't listened to your songs frequently, mostly from the radio. I don't think that your songs are getting worse and worse."

Jay wanted to say something but Heng stopped him.

"However, I think the question you need to think about is this: are you really like what A-Pao said. Now you write and sing songs not because you like to sing, but because you have no choice, you just have to sing?"

Jay stopped trying to talk, just looked at Heng. Heng nodded to him. "Well, Shiao-Pi and A-Pao, who you've seen tonight, are both my good friends. We always play music together. We even formed a band way back when we were younger."

"Really? You formed a band before?"

Heng nodded again. "I was the lead singer and guitarist and that's why I have this guitar. I saved every cent for a long time and bought it. A-Pao played keyboard, and Shiao-Pi was the drummer. However, we are not as good as you. We don't have your charming looks. We don't have your bright and clear sweet voice. We don't have your great artistic talent and creativity. Among all the people in the world who love music, 99 percent are like us. We only have the interest to play music, but we don't have the talent and the luck like you. And you are of the one percent that have everything going for you."

Heng saw that Jay was listening to him.

He went on. "We formed a band and played for a few years. We used to regularly perform in a pub, but we were not popular. Finally we had no choice but to buckle under the pressure of life. We broke up the band. I had no outstanding skill so I could only be a delivery man to eke out my living. Shiao-Pi is a cashier in a supermarket now. A-Pao is luckier than us because his economic condition is much better than ours. His dad opened a restaurant for him. So only he has the money and time to go to your concert."

Heng caressed Jay's hair. Then he went on talking. "However, we never did give up playing music, because we all love to sing. Singing, playing instruments and music are very important to us and make us happy. As long as we can be together, we are either singing or playing music. Now, think about this: When you sang and wrote songs for the first time, did it make you happy? When you were younger, before you started to record your albums, did you sing just because you liked to sing?"

Jay thought for a while, then he nodded slowly.

Heng smiled. "That's it. I think, your problem may be that, you forgot the happiness singing and playing music could bring to you. So now, going to classes, singing and facing your fans becomes very painful for you. Right?"

Jay thought of the unhappy experiences of his classes and practices. He lowered his head and leaned his head against Heng's shoulder.

"I feel so tired," he said. "I always hoped that I could cry on someone's shoulder like this. But I have had no one to lean against. Recently I always cried during my practices because I felt so frustrated and tired. However, when I cried I was reproved even more…"

Heng really felt pity for this little boy. He caressed Jay's back. "Then lean against my shoulder and cry. There's no other people here and you are not the superstar anymore. You are only a small boy here. Just cry. If you feel tired, just take a rest here."

Jay didn't cry. He just hugged Heng tightly. After a while, Jay seemed to calm down a bit. He raised his head. "Heng, do you like me?"

"Do I like you? Of course. Of course I like you. Why ask?"

"Do you like me because I'm a star?"

Heng looked into Jay's eyes softly and shook his head. "I like you because you are such an immature boy. You jumped into my life like that, and asked for many things like air conditioning, food and bathtub right after getting into my small apartment. I like you because you are such an incredible boy. You like to be nude at my place and like to hug me when you sleep. I like you because you are such a charming boy. You made me have a wet dream and shoot all over your body."

Jay laughed. Heng laughed too.

Heng looked at Jay with a smile. Jay looked at Heng with a shy smile too. Heng smelled a wonderful smell from Jay's body. It was the fragrance of soap, mixed with Jay's boyish smell of sweat. That smell, as well as the tender touch of Jay's body, started to stimulate Heng.

No! Can't hurt Jay!

Heng tried to resist his desire. However it was too difficult. Jay's smell, his beautiful body, and his sweet face all stimulated Heng very intensely. Heng had never experienced such strong feelings, even stronger than the feelings Jing used to give him. He felt that his dick was getting harder and harder, and it was pressed under Jay's ass. He held Jay's armpits and moved him away a bit. However his erect penis propped up the big towel and became a small tent.

Jay saw the small tent and laughed. He got up from Heng's thighs and removed the big towel wrapped around Heng's waist. Heng's erect penis was very apparent.

Jay exclaimed, "Wow, Heng, your dick is so big!"

"Really?" Heng said, blushing deeply. "Nobody has ever said so, and…"

"And?"

"And it's you that made it become so big."

"Really?" Jay was blushing too. He asked curiously, "Did you play with it frequently?"

"No. When I was your age, if I played with my dick and was found by my parents, I would be seriously punished. However…"

"However what?"

"I had a very good friend before. We played with each others dicks once. Just once."

"Oh."

"I… I had a wet dream and shot on your body yesterday morning. That's also because I dreamed that I was playing with my dick with him. However, at the end of the dream, he became you."

"Became me?"

"Yeah. That's why I said that you made me have a wet dream."

Jay laughed. He seemed to be curious even more. "How did you play with your dicks together?"

Heng thought of that wet dream and his only sexual experience with Jing in their secret base. He shook his head, still trying to resist the lure in front of him. "No, I can't play with you like that. That would make you feel uncomfortable. If others knew about it I would be dead."

"I won't feel uncomfortable with that. And I won't tell anyone. Come on, pleeeease, tell me, I want to know how you play with it. I want to play with you."

Jay's begging easily crashed Heng's Maginot line. He started to rub Jay's penis with one hand, and touch Jay's little nipples with the other hand.

"Uh…" Jay seemed to feel a bit itchy and moved a bit with a slight moan. The moan was from Jay's incredible vocal cord and hit on Heng's ear drum, which stimulated Heng even more. He laid Jay down on his bed.

"Can I kiss you?" whispered Heng.

Jay blushed, but he nodded.

Heng kissed Jay's lips and cheeks. Then he licked and sucked Jay's nipples, just like he had done to Jing a long time before. Jay made another slight moan.

"How do you feel?" asked Heng.

"Oh, a bit ticklish, but it feels good," said Jay.

Jay's answer made Heng feel like he went back to his teen years, together with Jing. He rubbed Jay's little, erect penis, and the other hand caressed Jay's flat chest and belly, feeling the tenderness and softness of his skin.

Jay felt that his own body was getting tense. A strange and wonderful feeling was overwhelming all of his body. He couldn't stop moaning. "Uh… Oh… Heng… what's this feeling? Oh… it's so wonderful…"

Heng just let his desire carry him away without thinking of anything else. His hands kept rubbing Jay's little penis and touching Jay's wonderful body, his lips kissed Jay's belly, nipples, and lips, his nose smelled Jay's smell, his cheeks rubbed Jay's soft and tender skin.

"Oh… uh… oh…"

Jay's moan kept stimulating Heng. Heng felt that his penis had been stretched to the limit. He never expected that such a small boy could stimulate him so much. Though Jing was about Jay's age at the time, they were just curious about each others bodies.

Heng couldn't bear anymore. He tried to put his fully erect penis in between Jay's thighs, hoping to ease it up. However, he got a counter effect. The soft skin of Jay's thighs made Heng's feeling even stronger. Heng felt that he was about to explode. He pulled out his penis hurriedly. At that moment, a lot of warm, creamy liquid shot from his penis. Soon Jay's belly, chest, and even his neck were full of Heng's milk.

Heng released Jay and lay down beside him, gasping. Jay felt relaxed and gasped too. After a few minutes, Heng felt that his reason finally came back to his mind. He blushed deeply again.

"Uh… I… sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you…" murmured Heng.

"Why sorry? I felt so wonderful. Just like we were both flying on the rainbow together."

Listening to Jay's comments, Heng smiled. This boy was really a talented poet. No wonder he could write so many pure and touching songs. He felt himself relax. The sense of guilt that he was afraid to hurt Jay vanished. He hugged Jay tightly.

"Last night you were hugging me when sleeping. I thought about how wonderful it would be if you were my brother…"

"I also wish to have a brother like you, to let me lean against your chest and rest…"

Heng smiled. He recalled some thoughts from the night before. "If your female fans knew that I have had sex with you tonight, I will be cut into pieces by them." Heng pretended to be very afraid.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," said Jay, again as if he was already an adult.

Heng laughed. He kissed Jay's nose.

Chapter 8

When Heng woke up it was already late morning. He saw that Jay was standing in front of the window, looking outside in a trance. Heng didn't make a sound, just looked at Jay's nude body.

He thought of the night before. He couldn't believe that such a small boy could make him lose his control. However, when he looked at Jay's nude body, he felt that it was actually not difficult to understand it. Originally he thought that Jay was created by God to please all females. At that moment he realized that this small boy was also so attractive to him.

Suddenly Jay made a deep sigh.

Heng smiled and asked, "Why do you sigh so deeply?"

Jay turned his head around and saw that Heng had already woke up. He smiled. "Morning, Heng." He jumped onto the bed and lay down beside him.

Heng hugged him and kissed his cheek. "So, tell me, why do you sigh so deeply?"

Jay sighed again, then he said, "If I go back, can I see you again?"

"Have you calmed down now and decided to go back?"

"Can I see you again?"

"I don't know. I hope you can. Anyway, I'll join your fan club," Heng said, smiling.

"I really don't want to go back. I just want to be with you, like now."

"Me too, but you know that it's impossible."

"I know; that's why I sighed."

Heng hugged Jay tightly, and said softly, "Do you know? The evening you sneaked into my van, I saw you on the poster of your concert. I was really envious of you. You have such great talent and conditions to be a super star. Even though you are so young, you can touch so many, many people's hearts. You can affect so many, many people. That's your charisma, and it's what many people who also play music would like to have, but just can't have it."

Jay listened to Heng silently.

He went on. "Now I know that you have been under so much stress, so much pressure and in so much pain. I know that you hope to have someone hug you. I know that you hope to lean against someone's shoulder to cry. But you have to understand, most people can't see it. At least before meeting you, I just envied your successful career but couldn't imagine how much pain you are in. However, I still hope that no matter how painful you feel, don't forget your love of music. Don't forget the original joy that music brings to you. Don't forget that you have such great talent and opportunities to touch people's hearts. If you can remember all these, I'll be very happy to listen to your songs, to see you on TV, even if I can't meet you anymore. Okay?"

Jay didn't talk. He just buried his head into Heng's chest.

"Let's have a shower first. Look, your body is now all covered by my dry semen."

Jay laughed. "That's your semen, so I don't want to clean it off."

Heng laughed out. "If you don't clean it off, I'll be dead if anyone sees it. Let's take a shower in turns. I promised you that I can accompany you the whole day. Later I'll take you to a playground, and to another place in the afternoon."

"What place?"

"I'm off today, so I'll go to a place to play some instruments and sing."

"Oh."

"Want to come with me?"

"Yes."

Heng laughed. "It's okay if you don't want to play instruments or sing. But you have to know, I don't have much time to play music so I need to take advantage of every second."

Jay nodded.

***

Jay wore his cap and glasses and had a brunch with Heng. Then Heng took him to an amusement arcade near his apartment. Jay looked at this place curiously.

"You haven't been to this kind of place either, right?"

"I've seen similar places from outside, but I've never gone into one."

"Then, let's play now."

Maybe because it was in the morning of a weekday, there were not many people inside. Heng took Jay to play each game one by one. They played Badger Bash. Jay took a hammer and hit gophers in a great bustle, and Heng helped Jay with his hands. Finally they won many prize tickets. Then they played air hockey. After two rounds, Jay finally won the third round with a beautiful direct goal shot. He exclaimed happily, and Heng pretended to be annoyed.

Then they played the basketball shooting machine, the virtual bowling game and car racing games. Finally they used the prize tickets they won to exchange for a small teddy bear.

"To you," Heng said when walking out of the arcade with Jay. "You may have no more chances to play here. Keep it."

Jay took the teddy bear and looked at it. Then he hugged Heng tightly. "Thank you, Heng. I haven't been as happy as I am today for a long time."

Heng was startled by Jay's reaction, but then he smiled, hugged Jay back and patted him on his shoulder. "I hope that you can be happy like this teddy bear everyday. Are you hungry now?"

Jay shook his head.

"Okay, then let's go to the next destination."

Jay stepped up onto Heng's motorcycle and hugged Heng tightly. Heng went back to his apartment to get his guitar, then they went to a pub.

Jay walked into the pub with Heng. The pub was not open yet; only a few people were cleaning inside. They saw Heng and greeted him.

"Is Mr. Hsu here?" asked Heng.

"Yes, in his office. You can find him there. Who is this little guy?" asked a person who looked like a bartender.

"My cousin," answered Heng. He took Jay towards the office.

"This is the pub where my band used to perform," Heng explained to Jay. "Mr. Hsu is the boss of this pub. He is actually a very senior music album producer. He made many popular albums behind the scenes. Do you know him?"

Jay shook his head.

"He treated us very nice before. Though we don't sing here anymore now, when I don't need to work, I usually come here before the pub is open and borrow their instruments to play. Mr. Hsu would sometimes give me some more lessons and comments."

"Oh."

They hadn't arrived at the office yet and saw a middle aged man walking out from a room. "Hi, Heng. Well, who is this little boy?"

"Mr. Hsu," Heng bowed slightly, "He is my cousin. His parents asked me to take care of him for a few days, so I brought him here."

Mr. Hsu took a serious look at Jay for a few seconds. "Won't he be too bored just watching you here?"

"I hope not," said Heng, smiling at Jay. Jay smiled at Heng too.

"Okay, let's go," said Mr. Hsu.

They went to the stage of the pub. Heng took out his own guitar from the bag.

"Did you prepare any song to sing?" asked Mr. Hsu.

Heng nodded. He started to play a song. Listening for a few seconds, Jay knew that Heng was singing About In Winter.

At this moment, I have to leave,
Please wipe away your tears,
At long night, in future days,
Please don't cry for me …

Though Jay was used to hearing Heng singing in the KTV, he felt that Heng's voice was even better when he played his own guitar. When Heng finished the song, Jay was about to clap his hands. However, he heard Mr. Hsu start to talk.

"Heng, I've told you many, many times."

Jay could hear that Mr. Hsu was talking in a severe manner.

"You can't just sing a lyric song softly. Before singing, you need to think about what this song is saying, what this song tries to tell everyone. However, you were still just using your voice to sing. You were just singing it softly. You were not singing it from your heart! Using this technique, can you sing better than the original singer? You still can't understand it, and that's why you have not had any improvement for a long time!"

Jay had heard similar words before. In his singing classes, the teachers also told him to 'sing from your heart'. Though those teachers were not as severe as Mr. Hsu, Jay never felt convinced. He felt that he had already sung it from his heart, but those teachers were still not satisfied, and they didn't tell him directly how he 'didn't sing from his heart'.

"This song is saying that you have no choice but to leave your lover. You can not express your sadness, but on the contrary, you have to comfort your lover. Do you think that you expressed the constrained and conflicted feeling?"

Jay felt that Heng had already sung very well. However, he saw that Heng just lowered his head and listened to Mr. Hsu's criticism. He felt that Mr. Hsu was being too hard on Heng.

Mr. Hsu sighed, then he said, "Okay, here is an easier example. Try this song, It's Destined. Think about it: This song is saying that you met a person for the first time, however you were deeply touched by the person's purity and naivete. Have you ever met anyone that touched you so deeply? If not, make up one! What kind of person do you think can give you such a touching feeling? If you don't make it clear, you won't sing this song well!"

Heng thought for a while. Suddenly he looked at Jay. His fingers plucked his guitar, and started to read the beginning spoken parts of the song,

Everytime, when it rains so hard,
I would think of you, smiling at me,
Saying, 'Hey! Glad to see you…'

Jay looked at Heng. Suddenly he felt that Heng was not only singing; Heng's eyes were talking to him. He looked into Heng's eyes, and listened to Heng singing,

We meet by chance, We are still unfamiliar
You told me that, people meet together by fate,
Just like the breeze, blowing in people's faces,
So wonderful, so comfortable…

Jay had learned this song, and he liked it, too. However, at that moment, listening to Heng singing it, he suddenly felt that he could totally understand the meaning of this song! He met Heng by fate, hadn't he? It was destiny that made him meet Heng, wasn't it? He couldn't help but sing with Heng softly.

You make me believe that it is all destined,
As sure as there will be a rainbow after it rains,
Such heavy rain, we meet like that,
Your pure naivete touched me deeply.

There is a child in everyone's heart,
Who makes it easy to be close to purity and naivete.
There are billions of people in this world,
And I miss you the most…

When Heng finished singing, Jay heard Mr. Hsu clap his hands very hard.

"Very good! Very good! Heng, I know you can make it! This is the first time I heard you singing from your heart!"

Heng still looked at Jay, but then he blushed deeply. He didn't say anything. Jay felt himself blush too. He had a feeling that, at the moment, he finally understood what those teachers meant, "To sing from your heart!"

"Okay, here is another song that should be easy for you. Happy By Your Side. Just think of the happiness when you play your guitar and sing! Just express it!"

Heng nodded. He thought for a while and started to pluck his guitar again. Though it was a fast song, Heng slowed and started to sing,

I like to play guitar, I like to hear what my guitar would say,
Sometimes it would say words of love,
Sometimes it would take away my worry.
Take me to the sky, yeah, over the hill,
Take me to the sky, yeah, it's so happy…

Jay heard the song and thought of his feelings when he had first listened to it. He liked to hum some rhythm and made it into a song. He felt that this song expressed his happiness about writing songs very well. In the middle of the song, Heng sped up and Mr. Hsu started to play keyboard too.

I wanna be happy by your side,
I wanna give you all my love,
I couldn't help myself but sing and dance with you.

I wanna be happy by your side,
I couldn't help becoming excited,
I wanna write a song and play it everyday…

Jay felt that Heng's guitar blended with Mr. Hsu's keyboard very well. He felt that he became so excited, just like what the lyrics said. He couldn't help but start to dance and walked to Heng, and sang with Heng together.

I wanna be happy by your side,
I wanna give you all my love,
I couldn't help myself but sing and dance with you.

I wanna be happy by your side,
I couldn't help becoming so excited,
I wanna write a song and play it everyday…

When Heng and Mr. Hsu ended their playing, Jay gave Heng a high-five. Mr. Hsu started to clap his hands again.

"Good, good! You started to understand how to sing, Heng!"

Heng and Jay smiled at each other.

Next they sang Waiting for you and Happy Time. Jay felt more and more happy and excited. Mr. Hsu also kept praising Heng.

After singing Tomorrow, Mr. Hsu said, "Good, Heng. You have made a big improvement today. Now you've started to understand how to sing. Let me give you one more bit of advice. There will be many difficulties, many frustrations along the road of playing music. You need to sacrifice many, many things. However, never, never forget the original joy that music brought to you!"

Though Mr. Hsu was talking to Heng, Jay felt that Mr. Hsu was talking to him too. He started to think about it.

"Okay, let's have a rest," said Mr. Hsu. "A-Pen!" he called.

The bartender came.

"Get something for the boy to drink. He just sang a lot very happily."

A-Pen nodded and smiled, and beckoned to Jay. He looked at Heng. Heng nodded and Jay walked to the bar with A-Pen.

"Heng, come with me," said Mr. Hsu.

Heng looked at Jay, then he walked with Mr. Hsu with an uneasy feeling.

They walked into Mr. Hsu's office silently. Mr. Hsu poured two cups of tea and sat in his own chair. Heng sat in another chair too.

"Okay, Heng, now tell me," said Mr. Hsu. "When did Jay Feng become your cousin?"

Chapter 9

Listening to Mr. Hsu's question, Heng felt very embarrassed. He didn't know how to answer his question.

"Don't be embarrassed. This boy is very talented. Though I'm not his album producer, I've noticed him for a long time. I was wondering about who that boy actually was when I first saw your 'cousin' today, and when he started to sing I was 100 percent sure that he is Jay Feng. Now everyone knows that he is missing! Though the news was hidden for a few days, it is still being reported today."

"Everyone knows about his disappearance now?" Heng felt a bit surprised and started to sweat.

"Tell me. Why is he with you?"

Heng started to explain briefly about how Jay sneaked into his van and begged him to take him home. He also described Jay's feeling tired and lonely, his listening to A-Pao's criticism and their talk the night before. Of course Heng avoided mentioning his having sex with Jay.

Mr. Hsu nodded. "A-Pao's criticism and your talk hit the nail on the head," Mr. Hsu said, after taking a sip of his tea. "This boy is entering the stage of resistance, and his mother and Wang have restrained him too much. He won't accept it if we told him the same thing. However, he trusts you very much now. Because of that, A-Pao's criticism and your advice will be very good for him, and I believe that he would accept and think about what he has learned. Oh, by the way, Wang came here and talked about this yesterday."

"Wang?" Heng recalled that Jay had mentioned that name. "Jay's agent?"

Mr. Hsu nodded again. "Wang denied Jay's disappearance to the public, saying that Jay just caught a cold and was resting at home so that it would not affect his concert on Saturday. However, Wang was actually very, very nervous. Yesterday he came here to ask me if I had heard anything about Jay's whereabouts.

"I reproved him seriously for controlling Jay so tightly. Two consecutive concerts! How can a 12-year-old boy manage that kind of demand on himself? However, I'm also very worried that if Jay stays missing, even leads to the failure of his singing concert, he will get into very, very serious trouble. I never would have expected that you would bring him here today."

"Jay seems to be ready to go back," said Heng. "I just want to accompany him the whole day today, to let him relax more, and send him back tomorrow. However, he may still be somewhat afraid, and I don't know how to explain all of these things to his parents."

"Well, let me talk with his parents. Then I'll tell them to take Jay back tomorrow morning, before you go to work. Is that okay?"

"All right, that may be the best," Heng said, a bit reluctantly.

"You have a crush on this boy, haven't you?" Mr. Hsu asked suddenly.

Heng felt that his head was swelling. "Well… no… uh… I…"

"Come on, I could see it clearly," laughed Mr. Hsu. "When I saw your eyes while you were singing It's Destined, I realized everything. That's why you sang that song so well, right?"

Heng felt that his face was all hot. He couldn't say anything.

"This boy has a special charm. He can let everyone have a crush on him and love him, even just at a glance. That is the most important condition to be a super star, and only very, very few people can have such charm," Mr. Hsu said. "However, I can tell you, this boy has also taken to you. It means that you handled the whole thing very well. You released this boy's pressure appropriately. You gave him full vent to his emotions and feelings. That would be very good for him."

Handled the whole thing very well? Heng thought of the night before, when they both totally lost their control. He didn't know what Mr. Hsu would say if Mr. Hsu knew that he had sex with Jay.

"By the way, your voices harmonized so well that it is beyond my expectation. I really hope that you can remember the feeling you found today. If you can handle the skill of expressing your emotions and thoughts when singing, you can be very promising. I can give you more chances to perform here."

***

Jay was happy all the way back to Heng's place and hummed the songs he sang in the pub. However, Heng was a bit down. Mr. Hsu pricked the bubble directly by saying that he had a crush on Jay. He knew that it was true. No, that was not true. Heng felt that he didn't have a crush on Jay. He had actually fallen in love with Jay. So when he thought about Jay leaving him the next day, he felt depressed.

However, he was still bothered by his losing control and having sex with Jay the night before. He still had some sense of guilt. He totally distrusted his own ability of self-control. Maybe Jay's leaving him was good for both Jay and him. He couldn't say if he would become the 'malicious person' he had mentioned to Jay.

So many conflicted thoughts were running in Heng's mind that he could not concentrate on riding his motorcycle. But he didn't want to destroy Jay's good mood, so he put on an air of cheerfulness and kept chatting with him.

They had dinner together, then went back to Heng's apartment. Jay pulled on Heng's hands.

"Take a shower with me, okay?" asked Jay.

Heng forced himself to smile. "The bathroom is too small. You go take your shower first."

Jay looked at Heng, and then he asked carefully, "What's up, Heng? I feel that you are a bit strange after leaving the pub."

Heng smiled distractedly. "Nothing. I'm just a bit reluctant to let you go back."

Jay's good mood was instantly destroyed, inevitably. He lowered his head. "I know. But I really don't want to go back."

Heng wrapped his hands around Jay's shoulders. "Listen to me. Mr. Hsu told me in his office that … he knows who you actually are."

"He knows who I am?" Jay raised his head surprised. "Did you tell him?"

Heng shook his head. "Mr. Hsu said that he'd suspected it when he saw you the first time this afternoon. When you started to sing he was 100 percent sure that you are Jay Feng. I talked with him about your condition. He said that he will have a talk with your parents. He also told me that he reproved your agent seriously, asking them not to constrain and force you so tightly. He'll tell your parents to take you back early tomorrow morning, before I go to work."

Jay lowered his head again and bit his lips.

Heng went on. "Mr. Hsu also said that the news reports were that you were missing after your last concert. Your agent denied it to the public, saying that you just caught a cold and were resting at home. However, if you don't go back and you miss your concert, you'll get into very serious trouble."

Jay hugged Heng and buried his head into Heng's chest. He said in a low voice, "I know."

Should I tell him that I have fallen in love with him? Heng started to struggle. However, Heng knew that if he didn't say it, he might not have any chance to say it after that evening.

So he screwed up his courage.

"And… and…" Heng said, still a bit stammered. "And Mr. Hsu said that, he could clearly see that… that… I… I have a crush on you."

Jay raised his head and looked at Heng. "Really?"

Heng blushed. He nodded. "He also said that you have taken to me. Is that true?"

Jay blushed too. He buried his head into Heng's chest again. "Yes. I like you so much. You make me so happy. You treat me so nice. Others are so false. They treat me nice just because I'm a star."

"I wouldn't say that," said Heng. "That's because you are too charming. You made me lose my control last night. I'm also afraid that I will become the malicious person I warned you about and hurt you."

Jay shook his head. "No, I felt very happy and wonderful last night. Don't you like to play with me like that?"

Heng found that it was so difficult to say no. "Yes, I like it. I'm just afraid that it would hurt you and make you uncomfortable."

"No, no, no! It won't hurt me!" Jay seemed to be a bit upset.

"Okay, okay, it won't hurt you. Don't be upset."

"Then, this is our last chance together, this evening. Take a shower with me, and sleep with me. Okay?"

Looking into Jay's eyes, Heng's struggle and self-control crashed again. He found that he didn't want to deny anything to this boy, at all. He nodded, almost without thinking.

Jay became happy again. He released Heng and started to take off all his clothes. Then he pulled Heng's hands. "Hurry!"

Heng smiled and took off his clothes too. And they both walked into the bathroom.

Heng turned on the faucet. Suddenly a lot of cold water hit Jay's head. Jay exclaimed and giggled, and he hid behind Heng. Heng laughed. He took the shower nozzle down and started to rinse their bodies. Then he turned off the faucet and turned around to see Jay. Jay raised his head and looked at Heng too.

Heng wiped the water from Jay's face. He looked at the young, smiling face. Very naturally, he kissed Jay's lips and cheeks lightly.

"I'm really happy to know that you like me too," said Heng.

Jay blushed again.

Heng took the soap and used it to wash all over Jay's body. He used his hands to tickle Jay's neck.

Jay giggled, "It tickles."

Heng smiled and kept rubbing Jay's chest and his two little, pink nipples with the soap. Then he moved the soap to Jay's belly and started to tickle Jay's waist hard.

"Hey! Stop! Don't do that, Heng!" Jay laughed so hard and tried to dodge Heng's attack. Heng kept tickling Jay, then he stopped and embraced Jay from his rear.

Heng's erect penis pushed against Jay's cleft between his two little hills. Jay's peach was much smoother than Heng expected. Heng used his soapy hands to feel the young, smooth skin and elastic feeling of Jay's ass. Then he moved his hands to Jay's crotch and Jay laughed.

"Why do you laugh?" asked Heng.

"Oh, I just recalled that morning. You didn't know if you should wipe my penis or not. That's so funny," Jay laughed.

"Then, will you let me clean you there now?" asked Heng slightly.

Jay nodded immediately.

Heng laughed and started to soap Jay's crotch, penis and ball sac. At the same time, he kissed Jay's cheeks lightly.

Jay turned his head a bit to Heng, and kissed Heng's lips too. Heng kept rubbing Jay's penis.

"Uh… yeah, Heng, just like that. I really like the feeling…"

Heng was encouraged. He put the soap on the shelf and touched Jay's body with his own body. His one hand kept rubbing Jay's penis, and another hand went on wandering all over Jay's body.

He played with Jay's little nipples, then touched Jay's thighs. His hands felt Jay's skin; the special smooth and elastic feeling that belonged to a kid. His penis kept rubbing up and down in the cleft of Jay's small hills.

Jay closed his eyes. He seemed to enjoy the feelings very much. Fondling for a while, Heng turned Jay around and hugged him again.

Jay opened his eyes and smiled shyly. "It's so comfortable. I like you to touch me like that," said Jay.

Heng smiled. He embraced Jay and lowered his head and started to kiss him. He had never kissed anyone deeply. However, it might be an instinct. He didn't feel that it was difficult at all. He felt that the boy in front of him was not only God's gift to all females, but also his best gift from God. He kissed Jay deeply.

Heng didn't know how long he kissed Jay. He just felt time pass. He didn't want to stop it, however he finally released Jay. Jay had been blushing deeply. Heng looked at Jay's penis. Jay's penis had become fully erect and touched Heng's with it.

"Well, yours is not small either," Heng giggled and said.

Heng held Jay's penis and started to rub back and forth slightly. The head of Jay's penis was partly visible and gleaming. Heng couldn't help but squat down to kiss it.

Jay felt a special feeling running through all his body, as if he got an electric shock. He shivered and moaned, "Uh… Heng, that feeling is so special…"

"Really? Do you like it?"

"Yes, yes. It's so special and wonderful," Jay nodded violently.

Heng had never kissed anyone's penis before and he didn't expect that kissing Jay's penis would make him react so violently. He stood up and turned on the faucet again, and rinsed all the bubbles off Jay's and his body. Then he turned off the water, squatted again, pushed Jay's foreskin back, and kissed the head of Jay's penis again.

"O-h-h-h-h…"

Listening to Jay's moans, Heng felt encouraged. He kept licking and kissing Jay's little penis and its head. Jay started to have an exciting feeling… even stronger than the night before… overwhelming his small body. His muscles started to be tense again. His hands grabbed Heng's head.

"Oh… uh… Heng… the feeling… uh… so beautiful…"

Heng didn't stop. He was also more and more excited listening to Jay's moans. Finally, after a strong exciting feeling, Heng heard a deep sigh. Jay seemed to lose all his strength.

Heng stood up to support Jay's body.

Jay was gasping.

"Are you okay?" asked Heng.

"Okay? I feel so wonderful! I've never had such wonderful feelings before."

"Really? I didn't expect that you could feel so good."

"Do you want to try it?"

Before Heng could answer, Jay squatted down and held his semi-hard penis. Jay rubbed it slightly and Heng's penis soon stood up again. Then he started to lick the head of Heng's penis with his tongue.

Soon Heng felt an electric shock. Jay kept licking and kissing Heng's penis.

"Oh… really… I… I've never experienced this before…"

Jay continued his blow-job. Heng felt that he needed to use all of his strength to avoid screaming! However, Jay's warm lips and tongue kept stimulating him, as he was getting more and more excited. His body was tense. He didn't dare grab Jay's head, so he grabbed his own cheeks behind him tightly.

"Oh… God… Oh…"

Finally, Heng couldn't control himself anymore. He growled, then started to shoot his white liquid out. Soon Jay's face and chest were again full of Heng's semen.

"Oh, my God…" Heng gasped. "I didn't expect that you could give me such… such… such a special feeling…"

Jay stood up and smiled at Heng. Heng tried to regain his own breath, then he wiped the semen from Jay's face, and embraced him tightly.

"Thank you, Jay, you made me feel so good…" whispered Heng.

"Me too…" Jay buried his head into Heng's chest. "The feeling was even better than last night…"

Heng released Jay and raised his head. He kissed him deeply again. Jay closed his eyes and wrapped Heng's neck with his hands. He enjoyed Heng's kiss.

***

Heng lay on the bed in the nude, and Jay laid his head on Heng's arm. After taking showers, they just hugged and kissed each other on the bed. Heng totally got rid of the sense of guilt. He decided to handle their last evening. He kissed every inch of Jay's skin and the boy enjoyed Heng's touching and kisses very much.

"Thank you, Jay," said Heng. "I will never forget the experiences you brought to me these days."

"I want to thank you too, Heng. These days have been the happiest days in my life," said Jay.

"Mr. Hsu told me that he will give me more chances to perform in the pub. This is what you brought to me too."

"Really? That's great," Jay raised his head and said happily.

Heng nodded. "If it weren't for you, I may never have understood what Mr. Hsu was talking about… to sing from my heart."

Jay thought of his understanding that afternoon. He looked at Heng and said, "Do you know, Heng? I had the same understanding too. This afternoon, I felt that I could totally understand what my teachers told me, 'to sing from my heart'. It's you that made me think about the happy feeling when I started to sing and write songs."

Heng smiled and kissed Jay's forehead.

"I believe that now you can be even happier singing to everyone and facing your fans. I'll practice your songs too. Maybe it will make me popular in the bar."

Jay laughed. "That would be great!"

Heng kissed Jay's lips again.

At that moment… BANG! BANG! BANG!

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. Heng and Jay were startled and almost jumped up.

Chapter 10

Both Heng and Jay were startled by the knock. They both jumped off the bed. Heng pointed to Jay's clothes on the floor, and Jay ran there and picked his clothes up and ran into the bathroom. Heng tried to find his t-shirt and shorts. The sound of knocking kept up.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Anybody home?" A woman's voice asked.

"Coming!" Heng replied while putting on his shorts. However, he could not find his own t-shirt in a hurry, so he had no choice but opened the door with only his shorts on.

A man and a woman were standing outside the door. The woman was wearing a shiny dress, with a Louis Vuitton handbag in her hand. The man was in his business suit. The woman rushed into the apartment right after the door was opened, and looked around.

"Jay? Where are you?"

At the same time, Jay came out of the bathroom and saw the woman. His mouth fell open.

"Mom?"

Suddenly Heng understood everything. They were Jay's parents, coming to take Jay back right after talking with Mr. Hsu. He saw that Jay's mother rushed up to Jay and embraced Jay tightly.

"Jay… you… you silly boy, you almost scared me to death…"

Jay was embraced tightly and didn't know what to do. Heng didn't know what to do either. Jay's father walked in and reached his hand out to Heng. "Mr. Li?"

Heng nodded and shook hands with Jay's father.

"I apology for Jay's disturbing you like this. Thank you for taking care of him these last few days."

"Well, uhm… it's nothing…" stammered Heng.

Jay's mother released Jay and held Jay's hand. "Let's go home now."

Jay flung his mother's hand away. "No! Why are you here now? You aren't supposed to come here until tomorrow morning!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Jay's mother. "Come home with me now. I'm so worried about you."

"No! I want to stay here!" shouted Jay.

"You…" Jay's mother seemed to be about to explode again. He stared at his mother with stubborn eyes. Jay's father stood in between the two, and looked at Heng, appealing to Heng for help.

Heng knew what Jay's father meant. Though reluctantly, he still started to speak. "Please leave here for now. Let me talk with Jay first."

Jay's father nodded and pushed his wife out of the door and closed the it. Then Heng turned to Jay and squatted down in front of him.

"Jay, be good. Go home and take a rest. Prepare for your concert on Saturday diligently. Okay?"

Jay looked at Heng with watery eyes. "I don't want to leave."

"I know; I don't want you to leave either. However, sooner or later. you have to go. You know it. I know it."

"Didn't you say that they will come to take me tomorrow morning?" Jay protested with tears. "You are all liars!"

"Believe me, I didn't expect your parents coming here now. Or…" Heng lowered his voice. "Or how could I dare to be with you on the bed like that just now? Right?"

Jay seemed to accept his explanation, so he didn't talk anymore, just sobbed. Heng hugged him.

"Go home with your parents, okay? Your mom hasn't seen you for days. She must be so worried about you. Don't argue with her anymore, okay? Promise me."

"Can I see you again?" Jay asked, still sobbing.

"Yes. I believe that we can meet again."

"Can I take a shower and sleep with you again like today?"

Heng looked at Jay's watery eyes. He knew that Jay was tru to him. He nodded.

"Okay, it's a deal. I promise you. Though I don't know when we can be together to experience that wonderful feeling again, but I believe that it will come some day."

Heng gave Jay his little finger, and hooked it with Jay's little finger. He wiped his eyes with his hands, then embraced Heng tightly again.

***

After sending Jay back, Heng sat on his bed. Looking at the empty room, he had a very empty feeling. The last three days were just like a dream. It seemed that he could still hear Jay's voice, shouting,

'What? No bathtub?'

Heng smiled when thinking about this.

He closed his eyes. However, he could still see Jay's eyes when they sang It's Destined together in the pub. And, he could also see Jay's shy smile when they were taking a shower together in the bathroom.

He opened his eyes again. Something grabbed his attention.

A teddy bear, sitting on the window sill.

The teddy bear they won in the amusement arcade. He had told Jay to keep it. However Jay had left unexpectedly. He didn't remember to take the teddy bear with him.

Heng got up and took the teddy bear. He could still feel Jay's heat on it, and smell Jay's smell; the smell mixed with soap's fragrance and Jay's smell of sweat; the wonderful smell.

He looked at his small table. There was a ticket on it. It was for Jay's concert on Saturday, given to him by Jay's father.

"Thank you, Mr. Li. This ticket is for Jay's concert on Saturday. The seat position is not very good, but I could only get this one in a hurry. I hope that you can come to see Jay's performance. He will be very happy if you can come," Jay's father had told him.

Heng couldn't remember what he replied. However, he knew that he had to work on Saturday. He was not A-Pao, who could go to Jay's concert if he wanted to. Heng walked back to his bed and lay down. He held the teddy bear to his chest and closed his eyes.

***

Jay was sitting in front of his own desk, with his guitar. On the desk was his notebook. He thought about what Heng told him.

"We never did give up playing music, because we all love to sing. Singing, playing instruments and music are very important to us and make us happy. As long as we can be together, we are either singing or playing music. Think about it: When you sang and wrote songs for the first time, did it make you happy? When you were younger, before you started to record your albums, did you sing just because you liked to sing?"

'No matter how painful you feel, don't forget your love of music. Don't forget the original joy music brings to you. Don't forget that you have such great talent and opportunities to touch people's hearts. So, even if I can't meet you anymore, I'll be very happy to listen to your songs, to see you on TV. Okay?"

Jay realized that the most important thing he gained from Heng was that, he finally understood what it meant to 'sing from the heart'. He finally understood that… why he felt happy and touched when he sang, played piano and wrote songs. That was simply because he liked to do them. He loved to do all these wonderful things.

He recalled the happy and joyful feeling that music brought to him when he was younger. He recalled the strong feeling when he sang It's Destined with Heng. He plucked the guitar, and started to write something in his notebook.

Writing for a while, Jay thought of Heng's eyes; the tender eyes that looked at him in the van; the talking eyes when they sang It's Destined together; the loving eyes when Heng came out to him, and in the bathroom.

Jay smiled. He really missed Heng very much. After thinking for a while, he went on with his work. At that moment, he was especially looking forward to his concert.

***

At last Heng applied for a day off on Saturday and got it. He took the bus to another city, where Jay was performing his second concert. Heng went into the stadium crowded with people and found his own seat. Though Jay's father said that the seat position was not very good, Heng felt that it was good enough. He could see the stage clearly. Besides, there were several big screens beside the stage.

Heng noticed that the auditorium was almost full. It should be by the time the concert started. When would the concert start? He really wanted to see Jay again. However he didn't know if he could afford the pain, not knowing when he could see Jay the next time. Was Jay annoyed with his mom any more these days? Did he still cry during his practices?

***

The general stage director patted Jay on his shoulder. "Are you ready? It's about the time."

Jay smiled and nodded.

"That's it! Keep the smile. It's the best smile I've ever seen on your face in these past few months! Keep the way you feel, and use your smile to fascinate them! Go!"

Jay was still smiling. He was really happy, because he saw Heng through the program director's screen.

***

So many thoughts were running through Heng's mind. At the same time, Heng heard an air horn from a steam train.

"Choo~ Choo~"

A props train went across the stage and Heng saw Jay jumping off the train. He knew that Jay started his concert with his adapted version of Happy Train. All the audience started to applaud excitedly.

Happy train is running fast,
Through the high mountains,
Across the small rivers,
Running for hundred of miles.

(Choo~ Choo~)

Happy train is running fast,
Through the big cities,
Across the big bridges,
Running for hundred of miles…

The ambiance was so hot. Dancers on the stage were dancing back and forth. However, Heng paid attention only to Jay's smile.

"Even if I was just reproved one minute before, I still had to sing when the show started. When I saw the fans I also needed to force myself to smile. I'm so tired." he recalled that Jay used to tell him so. Was Jay singing happily this time?

Heng looked at Jay's smile.

He felt that Jay's smile seemed to be even brighter than when they were playing in the amusement arcade and singing in the pub. Heng smiled too. He believed that Jay's performance must be even better than the last one.

After singing three old songs, Jay went off the stage and another singer came up to hold some activities for transition. Then Jay came out again, having changed into a new suit, and started to present his new songs.

He sang six new songs, including Forgive Me which would have killed A-Pao. Jay used to play this song with Heng's guitar in his apartment. Listening to this song at Jay's concert again, Heng still felt that this song was not at all bad like A-Pao said. Though the lyrics used some adult thoughts, Heng felt that Jay represented very well the conflicts that a kid has, trying to become an adult. Heng smiled and swore that he must have a debate with A-Pao about this song.

Jay went off the stage again. When he came out, he had changed into another suit and brought his guitar with him. He took a look in the direction where Heng was sitting, then he found Heng. He smiled and started to talk.

"My dear friends," Jay said. "About the next section, I'll have to say, it was not in our original plan, and nobody arranged for it. I arranged it myself because I have something to say."

Suddenly the whole stadium became silent. Jay turned his head and saw that the general stage director and his agent looked very surprised. Then he turned his head back to his fans and their anticipation. He saw that Heng was surprised too. He smiled again.

"There is a rumor these days, saying that I was missing after my last concert. Wang, my agent, told everyone that it was not true. I just caught a cold and rested at home. Now, I have to confess to all of you. The rumor about my missing … was true."

Heng heard a low gasp. He was really surprised, because he didn't expect that Jay would admit all these things in public, and in his concert!

"First of all, I want to apologize for Wang, because he was trying to protect me by telling you a little white lie. Then, I want to apologize to my parents and all the friends who care about me. My silliness made all of you worry about me."

Jay stepped back a bit and made a 90 degree bow. Heng heard a big applause.

"During the days I was missing," Jay started to speak again, and the stadium became silent again. "I hid in a place. I was very lucky to meet one person. Though we had never met each other before, he took very good care of me those days. And the most important thing was that, he made me understand how to sing songs from my heart, and made me recall the happiness and joy that music brought to me."

Heng heard these words and felt tears start to fill his eyes.

"Heng, I know you are here, because I can see you now. Thank you for your taking care of me, and all these things you brought back into my life.

"These last few days, when I was not in practice, I always hid in my room, preparing for this special moment. Now, I want to sing a song. I just finished the song yesterday. No one has ever heard it before tonight. It will not be in my new album either. It is not very good, and I didn't practice it very well. However, I'd still like to dedicate it to Heng, and all the friends who haven't given up their dreams, just like Heng. Now, my friends, The Original Joy."

Another big applause, then the assistant took a chair out and put it on the stage. Jay thanked him, sat down, and started his prelude. He sang:

My little teddy bear of dreams brings me to the hill,
It's full of flowers and colorful as if in heaven.
I lie down under the sun, between the flowers,
And enter into my precious dreamland.

When I wake up, it starts to rain,
My little teddy bear of dreams has disappeared.
I call him loudly, but I get no response.
I begin to doubt. I want to call out.

I start to hesitate,
I even start to worry,
I don't know where I am,
I don't know where to go.

I start to be afraid,
I even start to cry,
I don't know where I am,
I don't know where to go.

Then, I hear a tender voice.
which calms my uneasy mind.
It tells me, keep my faith and never doubt it.
My little teddy bear of dreams is always in my heart.

As long as I remember my most important feeling,
The feeling of my original happiness and joy,
Then I can easily summon my little teddy bear,
From the deepest place of my heart.

Suddenly I understand,
I start to recall the original joy that comes from my heart.
That's the joy which brings me to this heaven,
That's the joy which brings me out of the dark.

So I simply tell myself,
Always remember the original joy.
My most important feeling,
My most precious original joy…

As long as I remember my most important feeling,
The feeling of my original happiness and joy,
Then I can easily summon my little teddy bear,
From the deepest place of my heart.

Suddenly I understand,
I start to recall the original joy that comes from my heart.
That's the joy which brings me to this heaven,
That's the joy which brings me out of the dark.

So I simply tell myself,
Always remember the original joy.
My most important feeling,
My most precious original joy…

When the song faded out, Jay sat there quietly, looking into the crowded auditorium with tears in his eyes. The crowd, too, was silent for a few seconds, then…

Everyone stood up and applauded loudly. Except Heng, because he couldn't see and hear anything. He just knew that his face was full of tears too.

***

Heng walked into the pub with an excited and uneasy feeling. Mr. Hsu wanted Heng to meet him in his office. Did it mean that he would have more chances to perform in the pub?

"Hi, Heng," the bartender, A-Pen, said, greeting Heng with a secret smile. "Mr. Hsu wants you to go to his office right now."

"Okay, thanks, A-Pen." Heng nodded to him. "Hey, why do you smile like that? Do you have anything to tell me?"

"Well, just go in and you'll know everything," said A-Pen, still with a secret smile.

Heng walked into Mr. Hsu's office. To his surprise, in the office there was another man. The man was in his early 30s.

"Hi, Mr. Hsu," Heng said, greeting his mentor.

"Hi, Heng, have a seat."

Heng sat down in another chair.

"Let me introduce you. This is Wang Liu," said Mr. Hsu.

Wang Liu? Wasn't he…?

Wang Liu reached his hand out to Heng. "Hi, Heng. I'm Wang, Jay Feng's agent."

Heng felt that his chin started to drop down. He shook hands with Wang.

"Thanks for taking care of Jay last time."

"Well, it's nothing…" stammered Heng. He didn't know what to say. He just felt his heart beating crazily.

"Mr. Hsu strongly recommended you to me, saying that you can work with Jay very well. He hopes that you two can form a group. So I'm here to discuss this with you."

No doubt, Heng's chin really dropped, to his chest this time. "You mean…"

"Heng!" a voice suddenly shouted.

"Jay?" Heng turned his head and saw Jay running into the office, right at him! Before he had time to think, the boy jumped into him arms, almost knocking both of them over.

"Wang said that I can form a group with you. That's so great!"

Heng was in total shock. The news, the chance came too soon. He couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"Well, you both need some more training," said Mr. Hsu, casually. "However I believe that you can work with each other very well, as long as you remember the feeling from last time."

Heng recalled the feeling when he sang It's Destined with Jay. He blushed again.

Jay hugged Heng and whispered into Heng's ear. "Heng, my mom promised me that I can go to your place to sleep overnight again, as long as I'm good and obedient. Don't forget what you promised me last time!"

Looking at Jay's smile, Heng smiled too.

"I would never forget it," whispered Heng.

The End