Chapter 68
We arrived at the karaoke place.
Jinuri said she knew a place, so we came here.
Apparently, the facilities were good and clean, too.
“···.”
Isol, perhaps unfamiliar with the place, came down the stairs with hesitant steps.
— “So this is karaoke···.”
Her Minimi looked around the inside of the building.
“You’ve never been to karaoke before?”
“Yeah.”
At my question, Isol gave a small nod as though she were embarrassed.
After all, she wasn’t the type to like places like this. She preferred staying at home, so it made sense.
On the other hand, there was someone who was the exact opposite.
Just look over there.
“Hello, ma’am~”
Jinuri was striking up a friendly conversation.
“Well, look who it is! Have you been well?”
“I’m always the same.”
“I haven’t seen you in a while. School keeping you busy?”
“Yeah. We came because it’s Sports Day today.”
Were they acquaintances?
Jinuri chatted with the owner without the slightest reserve.
“You’re here with friends, right? I’d better give you some complimentary time~”
The owner laughed heartily.
We got an hour for free. So this was the benefit of having good connections.
“···.”
Jinuri turned around and gave us a triumphant smile.
I admit it. This was worth bragging about.
“What room?”
“Number twelve.”
Jinuri led the way. We passed through the hallway and arrived at our assigned room.
Isol peeked inside.
“···It’s really dark. Don’t they turn on the lights?”
She looked around for the light switch.
— “Here it is.”
Clack—!
When Isol pressed the switch, the party lights came on.
Colorful bulbs buzzed as they spun around.
“Huh??”
Her eyes darted around in apparent confusion. I turned the lights back off.
“That’s just how karaoke rooms are.”
“Th-that’s so···?”
I let out a faint laugh at the sight. She really did look like a first-timer.
“Where are the microphones···.”
Oh, here they are.
I picked up the microphone sitting beside the karaoke machine.
Meanwhile, Isol had already gone to the seat in the back.
“···..”
Then she patted the spot beside her. Pat, pat.
Was she telling me to sit there?
Just as I was about to walk over—
—Whoosh.
Shin Ayoung slipped in and promptly claimed the spot.
The two exchanged a brief glance with faint smiles.
“···.”
“What are you doing? Sit down already.”
Just then, Jinuri returned from buying water. She set the water bottle on the table and pushed me from behind.
I plopped down on the sofa.
Somehow, I ended up sitting beside Jinuri.
— “···How sneaky.”
Isol’s Minimi narrowed its eyes. It shot Jinuri a sullen look.
— “···Hmm. This is interesting.”
Shin Ayoung snorted. Her eyes, however, were not smiling.
‘···Hmm.’
The atmosphere made me wonder whether I should move seats of my own accord.
It was incredibly heavy.
···Even as the mood was heading in this direction.
“Hehehe~”
Jinuri hummed as she looked at her phone.
She really was the picture of calm.
Whether she was clueless or simply insensitive to other people, she seemed completely unaware of the situation.
Maybe she had decided to accept how things had turned out.
“What is everyone going to sing?”
Shin Ayoung, back to normal, asked as she picked up the karaoke remote.
“Wait, let me think about what to sing···.”
Jinuri had been looking at her phone the whole time.
When I checked what she was doing, she was searching for a song to sing.
— “Ah, seriously, what should I sing? What songs are popular these days?”
Her Minimi scratched its head vigorously.
She was deep in thought.
For Jinuri, who usually sang Japanese songs, that alone was a difficult hurdle.
“I’ll think about it, too.”
It had also been a long time since I’d been to karaoke, so nothing came to mind right away.
“Then···.”
Shin Ayoung’s gaze turned to the side. Toward where Isol was sitting.
“I’ll go later.”
Isol desperately shook her head from side to side.
As someone who was still unfamiliar with the place itself, she seemed determined to watch for now.
“Okay. Then I’ll go first?”
“Sure.”
Perhaps she had already chosen a song, because Shin Ayoung quickly pressed the buttons on the remote.
— ♩♬♪♬♪♬♪
The instrumental began playing right away.
An upbeat melody filled the room. It was a song that had been popular some time ago.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Shin Ayoung lightly cleared her throat. The sound rang out through the speakers.
It was too dark to see clearly, but her ears were faintly red. Her eyes were lowered toward the floor.
— “Ah··· I’m getting nervous for no reason.”
Her Minimi paced back and forth for no reason.
She seemed terribly embarrassed to sing in front of other people.
But now she had to sing.
The instrumental ended quickly, and it was time for the lyrics.
— I thought over and over about what kind of greeting would be okay~
A clear, limpid voice burst forth.
“Oh···.”
For someone who was nervous, she sang well.
She sang very competently, without anything particularly flashy.
It wasn’t that she had some special technique. Her voice was simply clear, so it suited the song.
— Ah. Ah. I guess I’m still not quite ready~
Perhaps she had gained confidence from that reaction, because the slight tremor in her voice gradually faded.
Her stiff posture also relaxed.
— “Ah. Ah. I guess I’m still not quite ready~”
Her Minimi bobbed its shoulders and sang along. It even danced with little wiggles.
The tension from the beginning disappeared, and before long, she began enjoying the situation itself.
And so, the first turn came to an end.
“Phew—”
Exhaling, Shin Ayoung sat down.
— ♩♬♪♬♪♬♪
Perhaps she had reserved it in advance.
The instrumental for the next song began playing immediately. This time, it was a gentle ballad.
It wasn’t me. Wondering who it was, I turned my head.
“Who picked this song?”
“···I reserved it.”
Isol stood up with a determined expression. She must have searched for a while before deciding to sing a ballad.
— At the end of a hard······ hard day, tears fall.
‘···She’s good?’
Aside from getting the beat wrong at the beginning, she had made a good start.
Isol was surprisingly good at singing, too.
It was a wistful song, but it felt different with Isol singing it. Rather than sadness, it carried a more youthful freshness.
The high notes seemed a little difficult for her, but she didn’t crack.
Her Minimi’s face turned red as it gripped the tiny microphone in both hands and sang with all its might.
Isol herself looked satisfied, too.
— “···She sang pretty well···?”
Her Minimi gave a small snort.
Now it was Jinuri’s turn. That was because she had chosen her song first.
— “Sss··· This should be decent enough.”
Jinuri showed no sign of nervousness.
She merely seemed dissatisfied that she had to sing a popular song.
When the instrumental ended—
— Mmm-hmm~
A light hum came out. The feeling was different right away.
“Wow···.”
A sigh of admiration escaped me. There was a reason she had gotten into a practical music program.
It wasn’t that Shin Ayoung or Isol had sung poorly, but comparing them to Jinuri would have been rude.
I listened to it all the way through the second verse, completely absorbed.
“Phew···.”
The song ended with one short breath.
Clap, clap—small applause broke out. All three of us reacted the same way. It had been like a little concert.
“Come on~ Don’t make such a big deal of it, you’re embarrassing me.”
Jinuri waved her hands and quickly sat down, saying she was embarrassed.
— “Coming with you guys is fun, too. It is a little disappointing that I can’t sing what I want···.”
I could see how much she wanted to sing an anime song.
— “I can come with Lee Seungho and Seungah later.”
She was already thinking about their next outing. My opinion, however, had not been included in that plan.
“It’s your turn next, Seungho.”
I took the microphone. I was a little nervous, since it had been a long time since I’d sung.
Phew—
After lightly drawing in a breath, I began with the first line.
***
···The instrumental gradually faded.
And so, my song came to an end.
“···.”
···But a strange silence followed.
“Uh··· Who wants to go next···?”
Shin Ayoung gave an awkward smile as she held out the remote.
“···Y-you have a unique way of singing···!”
Isol nodded.
With her eyelids half-lowered, it was a compliment she had forced out.
“···.”
At least the two of them were watching my reaction like that.
Jinuri wasn’t.
I rolled my eyes to the side.
— “···Hold it in, hold it in.”
She was holding back laughter.
Jinuri’s Minimi’s cheeks had puffed up. They looked as though they might burst if someone poked them.
Its two tightly clenched hands were trembling.
“···Was it really that bad?”
“Ahem··· It’ll probably get better if you practice?”
Jinuri cleared her throat and patted my shoulder, as if telling me to cheer up.
In other words, if I wanted to sing well, I needed to practice.
“···.”
I didn’t come to karaoke very often, and when I did, I usually came alone.
It was the first time I’d received such an objective evaluation.
It was a little shocking.
‘No wonder···.’
So that was why Lee Seungah had said she wouldn’t go to karaoke with me.
She had complained that I was bad at singing.
Since her cursing me inwardly was an everyday occurrence, I had assumed it was just that sort of thing.
It was a little sad, though.
“···Hup.”
Fine. I let it go.
Right, what did singing well matter? I wasn’t going to become a singer.
I had known from the beginning that I wasn’t particularly good. I had only thought I was around average.
“···I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”
I quietly rose from my seat.
Still, a shock was a shock.
I decided to step outside for a moment to clear the air.
When I opened the door and went out—
“Are you heading straight to Olive Young?”
“Yep. Straight there.”
A group of female students came walking down the narrow hallway, chatting noisily.
I stopped and pressed myself against the wall to let them pass.
Among the girls walking by—
My eyes met one of theirs for an instant.
“···.”
“···.”
Her appearance immediately caught my attention.
Platinum-blond hair, short bangs that revealed her eyebrows, and the rest tied back.
“···?”
She looked familiar. I had the feeling I’d seen her somewhere before.
But I couldn’t remember.
Soon, she looked away. She passed me and continued on.
I continued on my way as well.
— “-----”
For some reason, the faint noise I heard bothered me a little, though.
I soon stopped paying attention to it.
It was a common occurrence.
That was how it was when I walked around outside. There were countless things like that.