Authors: Raine Koh,Lorraine Koh
Pop Rock Love
Pop Rock Love
By Raine Koh
POP ROCK LOVE
First Kindle Edition,
December 2013
Copyright 2013 by
Raine Koh
Publisher: Horasis
Cover Art: Jeff
Mahadi
All rights
reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part,
without written permission from the author.
Learn more about the author and her other books at
www.superraine.blogspot.com
or email her at
[email protected]
.
Dedicated to my
mother, a true star in my life.
Preface
There is just something about Japanese rock
music that gets to me. I have always been a fan of the genre and have pledged
my undying love to it. The idea for
Pop Rock Love
occurred
when I realised my love for J-rock was slowly being threatened by a certain
sunny Japanese pop band. Thus, this conflict laid the groundwork for this
story. A story where pop and rock collide. It's about chasing after your
dreams, and reaching for that impossible star. I had a lot of fun writing this
story and am very grateful to the people who made it possible. I would also
like to thank you, dear reader, and hope you never stop believing in your own
dreams as well.
Raine Koh
Track #1
Dear Mimi,
I’m sorry, but I have to leave Singapore and return to
Tokyo. I know this is very sudden but I don’t have a choice. I’m sorry.
Yuki
Mimi found this note written in
Japanese, on the other side of the bed. The exact spot where his body should
have been. She was finding it hard keeping her hands still as she read and
re-read it a few times. Was this a bad dream? Why did he leave, just like that?
Mimi tried to reason within herself, but kept backing into a dead end. It’s
true that they were only together for a month, but every moment, every minute
that they shared together was special. At least she felt that way. She thought
that he felt the same way too. “I guess not,” she muttered to herself,
crumpling the piece of paper.
The slim, fair-skinned girl
staggered out of bed. Wearing an oversized white shirt, she pinned her long
dark brown hair into a bun and moved towards her wardrobe.
An hour later, a pile of clothes (mostly
made up of denim or plaid shirt dresses and high-waisted skirts) were stuffed
into her pink rolling suitcase. She placed her black guitar in its case and
then went on to zip up her MacBook case. After slapping on some foundation and
donning a short denim shirt dress and knee-high boots, Miranda, or Mimi as her
friends called her, flagged a cab and headed to Singapore Changi Airport. She
bought the first available ticket to Tokyo.
Six hours. The time it took for
Mimi to get to Yuki’s country was six hours. As she sat in the airport’s
waiting area, Mimi made a quick call on her pink cell phone. “Roy, I need you
to take care of the pub. For how long… I don’t know actually…” she mumbled.
Mimi held the phone away from her ears as her 17-year-old brother hollered at
the other end.
“What do you mean you don’t
know? Where are you?” he demanded.
“Relax, I’m going to Tokyo…”
but before she could complete her sentence, his shouts rang through her ears
again. “Don’t tell me you’re eloping with that punk!”
By “that punk” he meant Yuki,
whom Roy never took a liking to. Sometimes Mimi found it hard to believe that
Roy was actually five years younger than her. Even she had to admit, despite
his loud ways, he was actually quite mature for a teenager – he watched
out for his elder sister and was always thoughtful of his decisions, unlike the
supposedly older sibling in the family.
“It’s hard
to explain… Just trust me and help me take care of the place,” Mimi said,
trying to exert her rights as the older one.
“How can I take care of a pub
when I’m not even legal to drink yet?!” he retorted.
At the airport, a lady’s voice
rang though the intercom, “Passengers of Flight 242 bound for Narita. The plane
is now ready for boarding.”
Mimi quickly stood up and said,
“Look, Roy, I need to board now. If you can’t handle it, just leave the pub
closed till I get back. Thanks!”
“But... But… When are you
coming back?” he asked.
“Bye!” Mimi said firmly and
shut off her mobile phone. Slinging her guitar case over her shoulder, she made
her way to the aircraft.
Mimi was a 22-year-old
Singaporean. Taller than most girls her age, she had a weakness for Japanese
rock, shirt dresses and knee-high boots. Sporting dark brown hair with a fringe
cut straight across her hazel eyes, Mimi seldom wore much make-up offstage
except for brown eyeliner with sparkles. Unlike most of her peers who were busy
with their undergraduate studies at some university, she owned a pub called
Sakura – a place she inherited from her dad after her parents passed away
in a car accident two years ago. Prior to that, she was interning at a fashion
magazine. It was a small venue but the pub was an outlet for Mimi to get up on
stage and sing the songs she composed. And for some strange reason, business
was good and she never had to worry about money. She always thought about how
funny things had turned out.
Mimi gazed out of the window as
the plane flew higher and higher into the sky until her view consisted of
fluffy white clouds. As music from her favourite Japanese rock band, Filth,
blared from her earphones, she began to think of her runaway boyfriend, Yuki.
Just a month ago, it was just
like any other night at the pub. Mimi remembered it being a Wednesday because
she was slated to sing that night. Bands from Singapore’s underground rock
scene would perform at Sakura and there were usually three or four bands
scheduled to play. She was the last act and was decked out in black high-heeled
ankle boots, a dark pink high-waisted pencil skirt and a black tank top. She
curled the ends of her hair and was going to sing a set of songs she composed.
Mimi loved loud, angst-filled rock music. With her band behind her, Mimi
usually sang in Japanese. She had been obsessed with Japanese culture since she
saw her first anime, ten years ago.
Sakura was packed when Mimi
took the mic. Standing on stage with her pink electric guitar, she started
singing a rock ballad, which suited her raspy vocals. Strumming her pink
electric guitar, a guy at the back of the room caught Mimi’s eye. Not because
of anything else but she noticed tears streaming down his cheeks. His face
showed no emotion, but his tears, like raindrops on a clear blue sky, kept on
falling. Mimi couldn’t take her eyes off him and he never took his eyes off her
either.
After her performance, he came
looking for her. “Your song was beautiful,” he said, in uncertain English as
she was packing up her guitar in its case. Mimi looked up at him. She didn’t
realise it before but he was actually very good-looking. Only slightly taller
than her, he had wavy hair up to his chin and big brown eyes that were, at that
moment in time, looking at her earnestly. Mimi smiled at him.
“Thank you. Are you Japanese?”
she asked in his native language. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and
replied in Japanese, “Yes, I’m Japanese. Amazing, I thought you only sang in
Japanese, I didn’t expect you to speak the language too.”
“Only a little,” Mimi replied.
His eyes crinkled as he smiled. They had supper at a 24-hr café after that. He
told Mimi that her song really touched him and apologised for tearing up during
the song.
“I don’t know what got into me.
I don’t cry easily.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Well, only when I read manga,”
he said with a straight face. They had only just met yet Mimi felt as if they’d
known each other for a long time. She found him quirky and interesting. They
both talked and laughed over the silliest things. She didn’t even realise that
they were together for hours until she saw the sun come up.
On the plane, Mimi leaned her
head towards the window and sighed loudly. During their time together, Yuki
never told her how long he would be in Singapore, and she never asked either,
probably afraid of his answer. Mimi slept for the remainder of the flight, dreaming
of Yuki’s big brown eyes and the charming smile lines that formed around them
whenever he laughed at her jokes. She was too deep in her dreams to notice a
single tear streaming down her cheek.
Mimi arrived at Narita
International Airport at 4 pm, Japan Time. Slightly overwhelmed by the fact
that she was in a different country, she followed the stream of people who were
walking in front of her. On her immigration card, she simply wrote “three
months” at the “length of stay” section because it was the maximum Mimi could
stay in Japan without a proper visa or work permit. After clearing airport
customs and claiming her luggage, she took a seat and pondered upon her next
move.
Narita Airport was extremely
busy and you could tell the locals apart from the tourists by their walking
speed. The Japanese walked briskly, whilst dragging around some sort of trolley
bag; the tourists wandered around at a slower pace, seemingly confused. Mimi
only had her pink trolley suitcase, her laptop and a rather bulky acoustic
guitar with her. On hindsight, she probably shouldn’t have brought the guitar.
But it was given to her as a present during her 18th birthday by her dad and it
has never left her side.
Mimi took out her pink mobile
phone and started scrolling through her contact list. The only person she knew
living in Tokyo and whom she’d actually consider calling was a Japanese fashion
editor named Shina. They met three years ago when she was covering a Linkin
Park gig in Hong Kong for the magazine she interned at. Shina was petite, loved
floral mini dresses and spoke with boundless energy. They hadn’t met again
since then, although they did email each other occasionally. Mimi’s mobile
ringtone, which was Filth’s latest single, started to ring suddenly. There
could only be one person calling her now.
“Mimi, where are you?” asked
Roy, slowly. She knew that he was trying very hard to sound calm. Mimi imagined
her brother pushing his glasses up his nose, a habit he had whenever he was
irritated.
“Narita Airport,” Mimi replied.
She sounded as if she was describing the weather.
“So, you are really going to
try and find that punk!” he exploded, yelling again.
“Well, I don’t know.” Mimi
answered honestly, “But since I am here, I will try and see what I can do. I
will be alright.” There was a long silence at the other end.
“You know why I am worried. I
mean, it’s like, you’ve never really dated anyone seriously before nor shown
any interest in guys and suddenly you are flying to Japan to find someone you
barely know. You can’t blame me if I’m worried. We only have each other, sis.”
“I know. I’m sorry if I’m
stressing you out. But trust me. You know that despite my seemingly crazy
decisions, it always turns out alright in the end. I’ll come home when I find
what I am looking for. It won’t be long. I promise.”
Mimi heard her brother sigh at
the other end but he eventually gave in. “Sis, please take care of yourself.
Text or email me once you know where you are staying.”
“You take care too.” He ended
the call and Mimi felt an unexpected wave of sadness. She was all alone now.
Roy was right, they only have each other,
especially after their parents passed away two years ago. That was when
Mimi decided to focus on the bar and rock music while Roy concentrated on his
studies, like a regular nerd. It was strange though, because before that he was
bent on becoming a professional violin player. Roy had floppy hair and wore
silver-rimmed glasses, which accentuated his sharp nose. He never spoke much to
anyone in his school. But his tall built and mysterious aura earned him
countless admirers. Whenever Mimi saw some of his fangirls lurking outside the
pub, she felt like telling them, “My brother is a naggy hen, and yes, that’s
his true side!” But of course she never did.
Despite the amount of pink in
her life, she was a survivor. “It’ll be alright,” she whispered to herself as
she got up. Walking to the train station located at the basement of the
airport, she bought a train ticket for the Narita Express, her ride to the
heart of Tokyo.
Mimi fished out her mobile and
called her Japanese friend. “Hi Shina. This is Mimi. I am so sorry for calling
out of the blue, but I am in Tokyo now.”
“Ah, Mimi, that is awesome! You
are in Tokyo now? Wow, you should have told me, I could have picked you up from
somewhere. I am in the office, but we should meet up.”
“Well, it was quite a sudden
decision. But yes, we should meet up. I apologise for calling so suddenly, but
would you happen to know of any good hotels in Tokyo? I’ll explain when we
meet...”
“I see. I guess for someone
staying alone, Shibuya has a nice business hotel. The location is good and it’s
less than US$100 a night.”
Mimi took out a pen and paper
and jotted down the directions. It sounded good, although she wondered if the
price was a little steep for someone who didn’t know how long she’ll be in
Tokyo. But she decided to check it out anyway.
The street lamps were switched
on by the time she arrived at Shibuya. She walked out of the subway station and
was greeted by organised chaos. Mimi found herself momentarily blinded by the
neon lights, which were blinking non-stop. Maybe it had something to do with it
being a Friday, but on a breezy spring night, the Shibuya pedestrian scramble
area was packed with people and there was a constant buzz from the crowd, made
up of bizarre youths, sophisticated yuppies and the usual horde of lost
tourists, like herself.
Everyone seemed to be zipping
past her at quantum speed. The streets were wide with various cross junctions
and once the green man flashed, pedestrians would end up in the middle of the
street, each one walking in a different line to get to where they wanted. Once
again, Mimi found herself just following whoever was in front of her. This was
like some sort of live-action video game, and she had yet to learn the proper
controls and was just moving along, confused. But still, Mimi thought as she
walked along the pavement, there was a certain unique energy about the place.
Everyone walked fast as if they were full of purpose. Both male and females had
their own quirky dress sense coupled with perfectly coiffed hair, and you’re
faced with stores selling everything from mobile phones to manga.