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“So this is the Karaoke place you’ve been wanting to visit?” asked Mijin.
“Yes! There’s a ton of options for drinks and snacks, affordable prices and it just recently opened!” Haneul replied.
The group, Hyeongseok, Jaeyeol, Haneul, Mijin, Jinsung, Vasco, Bumjae and Jaehye walked into the building together. The place was quite flashy, with neon lights and flashing signs that were so bright and distracting even when it was still bright outside, 4 in the afternoon.
“A room for 8 please, for 6 hours.”
“Alright. It’s 30,000 won. Your room is A04, enjoy your time!”
Walking into the room, the giant stage at the back immediately caught the group’s attention. It was raised 2 tiers off the ground and had a mic stand and barstool at the most middle. Surrounding the other three walls are leather couches, brand new and still had a slight department store scent. A giant round table sat in the centre of the room, and there were already some complimentary snacks and barley tea on it, as well as 2 microphones. Four TV screens were hung up on the wall, each one for every side.
Hyeongseok broke the silence in the room, “So, how about we order some snacks first? And then we can look at what songs to sing to?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Soon, the server arrived with multiple cups of lemonade, bubble tea, and milkshakes, but what greeted her in the room was… Well, the most out of tune singing someone could ever hear in their entire life, to put it lightly.
On the stage was a very muscular man, with an unshaven goatee and tattoos all over his upper body and arms. He looked extremely happy, while everyone else in the room had a face that was mixed with sadness, anger, annoyance and a thought that definitely said, “Please, to God, Allah, Buddha, I beg of you, silence him.”
The server slowly shed a sorrowful, but comedic tear as she placed down the drinks on the table and excused herself.
A while after, Jinsung had had enough.
“Shut up Tabasco! Do you even know how to sing? It sounds terrible, like a cat screeching on top of its lungs!”
He snatched the microphone from Vasco’s hands and confidently walked up the stage.
“Let me show you how a real man sings.” Jinsung proudly proclaimed, as he blushed thinking of how Mijin would be so impressed by him.
Meanwhile, Vasco was still stunned by Jinsung snatching away his microphone, and Bumjae was staring daggers at him in return. Mijin and Haneul were a tiny bit embarrassed by his bold statement, Jayhye was secretly laughing and pulled her phone out to record, and Hyeongseok and Jaeyeol were just observing everything, preferring to stay together and not partake in anything embarrassing.
Jinsung confidently sung the first line of a love song, directed at no one else but Mijin, of course. Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as anyone could’ve thought. Although he couldn’t hit some of the high notes or hold his breath long enough for a few, it was quite good for someone not in the vocal department.
As he finished his song, the rest clapped and applauded him for his performance. He made his way to Mijin’s side, and excitedly asked how well he did.
“Great job Jinsung, I loved it.” She said with an affectionate smile.
Those words, “I loved it”, immediately made Jinsung blush so red like a tomato and had his entire posture stiffen up like a statue.
Jaehye could only laugh in amusement as she took many photos of the “couple”, using them as “blackmail material”, she would put it.
Next up would be the girls Mijin, Haneul, and Jaehye. They together sung a few songs, typical K-pop and anything that was trendy at the time. They were having a fun time together, and the boys watched them as the girls enjoyed themselves.
Especially Jinsung, who somehow managed to fall in love with Mijin even harder.
When the girls finished their 5th song, they decided to pass on the microphone to one of the boys, to let them have some fun as well since half the time had already passed.
“C’mon, Bumjae, we wanna hear you sing at least once!” Jayhye pestered.
“No way! I can’t sing! And you guys will just laugh at me!” Bumjae protested.
“We can do a funny song! It won’t be as bad!” Haneul pleaded.
“No way.” Bumjae resisted.
“There’s no way it’ll be worse than Vasco. Just do it.” Jinsung chimed in.
“C’mon Bumjae, we’re all here to have fun! We won’t judge.” Hyeongseok added.
Even Jaeyeol was staring at him with anticipation. At last, Bumjae could only sighed as he picked up the microphone and went on the stage and sang whatever song Haneul chose.
“It wasn’t so bad, was it now?” Haneul asked.
Bumjae sighed. His cheeks and ears a bit red. Granted, his singing wasn’t the worst, but it was quite monotone and sometimes a bit off tempo. On the side, Vasco and Mijin clapped and comforted Bumjae.
“Speaking of which, I think there’s someone here who hasn’t had their turn yet.” Bumjae exclaimed.
They all collectively turned their heads to Hyeongseok and Jaeyeol. However, considering Jaeyeol had never been caught using his vocal cords before, the attention was mostly on the other boy.
Hyeongseok, with so many pairs of eyes on him, started to turn red from embarrassment.
“Hyeongseok! You should definitely sing!” Haneul pestered.
“You sang so well last time during the school festival!” Mijin encouraged.
“Well, it was with Deonhwa at that time, plus, I messed up in the beginning!” Hyeongseok retorted.
“What? You’re not gonna sing because of that? You said before, we won’t judge!” Vasco obliviously said.
“Yeah Hyeongseok, or are you just gonna leave us standing here?” Jinsung snorted.
“Also also, I wasn’t there at the time you were at the school festival! Won’t you at least sing for your favourite junior?” Jaehye begged, with a pair of sad puppy eyes.
Jaeyeol was practically giving everyone in the room a death glare, as he noticed how uncomfortable Hyeongseok was, and honestly the boy was. He had been in karaoke rooms before with Lee Taesung and his other bullies in his old school before, but not as a friend but instead an animal to be used as he pretended to be an adult to get some alcohol. His singing skills would be made fun of and his back would be used as a chair of footstool.
But it was different this time, he was with his friends this time, people who won’t judge but instead would encourage him. People who would have fun and laugh with him, not at him.
“It’s fine, Jaeyeol. I can do it. Plus, I think it would be unfair if everyone sang but me. (You being the exception for obvious reasons).” Hyeongseok smiled at Jaeyeol before heading up the stage.
Hyeongseok chose a song from his phone, then slipped it back to his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the microphone on the stand. He chose a song in English, a classic love song. He took a deep breath and sang the first line of it.
As the song continued on, Hyeongseok found himself being more and more immersed in it, singing it with all his heart.
And that was the sight Jaeyeol found himself so captivated in; Hyeongseok sitting on a tall barstool, one leg barely touching the ground and the other propped up onto the built in footrests. His back slightly hunched forwards so his mouth perfectly aligned with the microphone, and his delicate fingers wrapped loosely around the body of said mic. His eyes were closed from how deep he was in singing.
As the song was wrapping, clapping and cheering could be heard from the entire room. Hyeongseok smiled with embarrassment, and returned back to his seat next to Jaeyeol.
“That was amazing!” Everyone exclaimed.
“We should definitely come back here next time.” Haneul added.
“Thanks guys,” Hyeongseok replied. He then turned to Jaeyeol, “Did you like it?”
Jaeyeol was blushing furiously, every line of the song he just heard felt so surreal, as if it was directed only for him. Lines like “I love you” and “We’ll always be together” sung in Hyeongseok’s voice were still echoing inside his head. Despite the frantic state his mind was at, he managed to steadily hold Hyeongseok’s hand and quietly nodded.
“Can you sing like that for me, next time, alone, just the 2 of us?”