Chapter 195: Resonance of the Soul

Three days passed. Having just wrapped up a video meeting with Katie, Caleb, Robert, Anthony, Sarah, Trinity’s legal team, and several other board members to discuss contract clauses and sign the deal online, Eric closed his laptop right there in his hospital bed.

"Sigh," he let out a sigh of relief, a smile creeping onto his face.

"All wrapped up?" asked Chloe, who was already able to get out of bed and was sitting right beside Eric.

"Yeah... that took a while, almost four hours, haha," Eric replied.

"That’s how it goes, but all the terms are set and approved. Honestly, that was pretty quick," Chloe countered.

"Yep... you’re right. Now my office is officially open," Eric said, running his hand over the lid of his laptop.

"So Caleb and Katie are handling everything for now?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, until I recover," Eric answered with a smile.

Chloe leaned in and kissed Eric. "Hey," both of them stopped kissing and turned to see Heidi, who was glaring at them with a pouty, envious look. She still couldn’t get out of bed since her arm was in a cast and her ankle was sprained.

"No fair, I can’t even get over there," Heidi said.

"Hahaha... sorry, my bad. I’ll go check on Monica for a second. You two chat for a bit, babe," Chloe said, standing up.

"Yeah... alright. If Monica wakes up, please prop her up. I want to see her," Eric said.

"Got it," Chloe replied.

Chloe stood up and walked over to the bed across from Eric’s. She pulled back the curtain and saw that Monica was already awake, so she started talking with her. Eric turned to glance at Heidi, who was also looking over at Monica.

"The Empress recording is being uploaded tonight by Caleb," Eric mentioned.

"Huh... recording? We haven’t even recorded yet, that was just practice," Heidi said, caught off guard.

"Well... while you guys were rehearsing and sounding great, Tania—being a fan of yours—recorded it. She sent the recording to Ruby, Ruby passed it to Caleb, and Caleb forwarded it to me yesterday," Eric explained.

Eric pulled out his smartphone, opened Caleb’s message, and played the video Caleb had sent him. He turned the screen toward Heidi, who squinted to get a better look. A fast yet smooth, flowing melody began echoing through the room. Chloe turned around, then slowly raised Monica’s bed to bring her into an upright sitting position, as her neck was still held in a brace. The three of them listened to the song they played. Once it ended,

"Wait... this is going to be our official release?" Monica asked.

"Yep... Caleb’s going to upload this track under our new brand name," Eric answered.

"Huh... but... during practice... we were dressed totally casually and not in matching outfits," Monica replied.

"Exactly. That’s why we decided to upload it—because you all looked so natural and totally in sync with the rhythm. If we redid it in full stage gear, there’s no guarantee we’d get this same exact feel, right?" Eric said.

"That’s true, we really should thank Tania for recording it," Heidi added.

"And after this, we’re officially stepping into the music industry for real, not just doing livestreams and going viral... wow... this is genuinely our first real step," Chloe said.

"The best part is that the song is about the seven of us... I love listening to it... play it again, please," Heidi said.

"Yeah... I want to hear it again too," Monica added.

"Alright, replay coming up," Eric replied.

Eric restarted the song, and Heidi began swaying with a bright smile on her face. Chloe grinned widely, while Monica moved her hands along to the rhythm even though her head had to stay completely still, a smile lighting up her face. They listened to the song three times in a row before Eric set his smartphone down. The room—occupied only by the four of them—fell quiet once again. Monica kept her eyes fixed on Eric from the opposite bed.

"I want to hold you, babe," Monica said.

Eric went quiet for a moment, then shifted and lowered one leg off the side of the bed. Seeing this, Chloe stood up and rushed over to Eric—not to stop him, but to lend him a shoulder for support. They walked slowly toward Monica’s bed. Once Eric was standing beside her, he immediately leaned down and wrapped one arm around Monica in a hug. Monica smiled through her tears, and then they kissed. Heidi watched them with a smile of her own.

"I’m so sorry. Because of my mess, you ended up like this," Eric said after pulling back from the hug.

"It’s not your fault. Besides... even like this, I can still sing, hehe," Monica joked.

"Thank goodness for that," Eric said with a smile, gently resting his forehead against Monica’s immobile one.

Suddenly, Chloe tapped Eric on the shoulder, making him turn around. Chloe didn’t say a word, but she pointed over at Heidi, who was still staring intently at them. Monica finally let go of Eric.

"Go on... go over to Heidi," she said with a warm smile.

"Alright," Eric replied, smiling back.

Chloe helped Eric walk over to Heidi’s side. Immediately, Heidi burst into tears and threw her arms tightly around Eric, followed by a passionate kiss. Chloe, standing right beside them, gently patted Heidi’s head. When they pulled apart,

"Don’t you dare say sorry. I’m completely fine, and my hand can still play the keyboard," Heidi said, cutting him off before Eric could even speak.

"Haha... alright. You really haven’t changed a bit," Eric said, resting his hand on Heidi’s head.

He then pressed his forehead against Heidi’s. Afterward, Heidi nudged Eric to head back to his bed. Chloe helped him walk back and climb back onto his mattress with some difficulty, as her arm was still sprained and made her wince a few times. Once Eric was lying back down, he pulled Chloe close and kissed her. Afterward,

"Wait, we already did that earlier, why again?" Chloe asked, wiping her lips.

"You just helped me out, so I’m allowed to, right?" Eric answered.

"You really are something... fine then," Chloe replied, giving Eric a light nudge with a smile.

This time Chloe stepped forward and kissed Eric once more while hugging him. After pulling back from the kiss,

"I’m heading back to bed now," Chloe said.

"Sure, just don’t trip," Eric teased.

"Don’t worry, I won’t," Chloe replied with a smile.

But before Chloe could move, "slam," the door swung open. Emma, Priya, and Laura walked in carrying fruit and cakes. When they saw Chloe standing beside Eric’s bed, their faces instantly turned furious. The three of them walked over quickly toward Chloe.

"What are you doing here? Get back to bed!" Priya shouted.

"We only left you alone for a few hours and you’re already wandering around. You’re unbelievable!" Emma snapped.

"Go back right now or I’m getting mad," Laura added.

"Fine... fine... naggy," replied Chloe, who walked back to her bed guided by Priya and Emma.

Laura placed all their brought items on the table next to Eric and kissed him. Then she went over to check on Monica, who was still sitting up and smiling. Priya, having finished helping Chloe into bed, went to check on Heidi across the room, while Emma walked up to Eric.

"Earlier I met Caleb and Anthony. They’re planning an opening event for the office. They want to invite Trinity artists like The Red Tide, Cheery, and many others to put on a concert two weeks from now. They said Nobelia is performing too since The Empress probably still can’t perform," Emma said.

"Yeah... that was brought up in the meeting earlier. Are you ready?" Eric asked.

"Um... is the song ’All Kind of Love’?" Emma asked.

"Yep... it hasn’t been uploaded yet either, right?" Eric answered.

"Hmm... the song is good to go, only the choreography is left. Day after tomorrow me, Tania, Ruby, and Jade were asked to gather. A choreographer from Trinity will be training us," Emma replied.

"Oh yeah... Anthony said that?" Eric asked.

"Yep... looks like it’s gonna be a huge hit babe, my heart is already pounding, hehe," Emma answered cheerfully.

"Hmm... in that case, I want to ask Anthony to recruit two more people," Eric said.

Eric grabbed his smartphone and opened his contacts, then sent one of the contact numbers to Anthony along with a message. Anthony replied with an ok and said he would call the contact Eric provided.

"Who?" Emma asked in confusion.

"Billy and Wendy... remember the buskers who played with me back then?" Eric asked.

"Oh... them! Wow, true... they actually play really well... though not as good as you, of course," Emma answered.

"Well... sharing the blessings with others isn’t a bad thing, right?" Eric replied with a smile.

"That’s what I love about you, babe, and I think the others feel the same way," Emma said.

"That’s right!" shouted Chloe, Heidi, Monica, Priya, and Laura, who had been listening to Eric and Emma’s conversation from the start.

In the end, they all chatted casually inside the hospital room, feeling right at home. Meanwhile, outside the door,

"Don’t you want to go in?" Tania asked Ruby, who was leaning against the door beside her.

"No... this is their time... how about we go to Avery’s room instead?" Ruby answered with a suggestion.

"Hmm... are you sure?" Tania asked.

"Sure... come on, let’s head to Avery’s room," Ruby answered while pulling Tania’s hand.

"Okay... okay... don’t pull me," Tania replied, walking after Ruby as her hand was being dragged along.