Jay followed Henry into a dimly lighted, small room in the KTV. There were two people inside.
"Hey, Henry, you finally arrived," a round young man said to Henry, in greeting.
"Hi Bob. I brought a kid with me today."
"Well, who is this little tiger?"
"My cousin," said Henry, patting Jay on his shoulder. "His parents asked me to take care of him for a few days."
"Ha ha, he is so cute. Have a seat!"
Henry sat down and Jay sat beside Henry. 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.
Henry saw that Jay was observing the room curiously. 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."
Henry 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. Jay felt that his voice was quite good, and his implementation of the song was quite attractive to Jay.
"Let's fill the 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 he could. The young man bowed to everyone.
"Hey, Bill, you did a good job!" said Henry.
"Hey, Henry. When did you arrive? I didn't even notice you come in. Who is this little guy?"
"My cousin."
Bill bowed to Jay exaggeratedly. "Thank you for clapping so hard, my dear boy."
Jay blushed but giggled at Bill's antics. Bob had already started singing another song. Jay saw the title of the song was "Nobody Rhapsody." He had never heard of this song before. Henry told him that it was a very, very old song. Jay listened to Bob singing. He felt that the rhythm and lyrics of this song were both very interesting and funny.
Then Bob, Bill and Henry sang several songs one after another. Henry sang a song named "Turn Around". After Henry finished singing Jay clapped even harder.
"You all sing so well!" Jay said as he started to relax. He leaned his head against Henry's shoulder. Henry smiled at him.
The next song, Bob picked Jay's "I Want To Fly" from his first album. Jay blushed again and Henry patted him on his shoulder.
"Relax. See how Bob sings your song," Henry whispered with a smile.
Jay listened to Bob 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...
Henry could feel that Jay was singing softly too. After Bob finished singing, Henry and Jay both applauded Bob loudly. Then Bob picked Jay's adapted version of "Happy Train". Everyone did the dance simulating the wheel of the train with Bob. Jay saw their dances and laughed so hard that his mouth almost could not close anymore.
After "Happy Train", Bob handed the microphone to Bill and sat beside Henry.
"I really like Jay Feng's songs, especially his first album. This little boy is really a genius!"
Henry nodded and took a glance 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. No innocent 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. Henry patted Jay's shoulder softly. Bob was still commenting on Jay.
"For example, this 'Happy Train' I just sang," Bob drank some beer and continued, "though Jay just adapted it from the nursery rhyme, he still added some pure and innocent 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 has changed."
"Hmm, I think he didn't want to be like that either," said Henry.
"He is polluted by adults now, so he could never have the pure and innocent 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!"
Henry 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 Jay's emotions. Then he answered Bob.
"Bob, 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!" Henry snapped back loudly. He kept patting Jay's shoulder and back, hoping that Jay would not explode.
-- To be continued.