After a few minutes, we reached the karaoke place. Usually, whenever it was Luna, Yu, and me hanging out, we always tried to do as little talking as possible—meaning if we had to ask a worker or stranger something, we'd rather not. It always led to us peer pressuring one another until someone eventually gave up—usually Luna, since she was the best at it anyway.
This time, however, the moment we entered the place, Mei walked up to the counter and asked for a room.
Wow. Having someone like this is convenient.
After exchanging a few words, the worker led us to our room, got us seated, and handed us a menu.
"Is there anything you'd like?" the worker asked.
The menu had been in our hands for less than a minute, yet Yu already answered. "I'd like a juice with two servings of chicken wings, a bowl of rice, and some vegetables on the side."
The worker scrambled as she hurriedly wrote down Yu's order. Once she finished, she asked everyone else, to which we all respectfully declined. The only one actually hungry was Yu.
Once she left, Luna got up and walked over to the karaoke machine. There were a lot of buttons, so much so that I didn't even know where to begin, but Luna navigated them easily.
"Okay," Luna said as she finished setting it up. "Who wants to go first?"
Remi's hand shot up, practically jumping in her seat. "Me! Me! I will!"
"You don't have to say it more than once," I said, as if annoyed. "We can all hear you. No one is going to rip the mic out of your hands."
Remi's head whipped toward me, her hair smacking the cushions. "Oh, shut the hell up. God forbid a girl just wants to have a little fun!"
"...My bad—I guess."
"Anyway," Luna said as she handed Remi a microphone. "I'll sing with Remi then. What song do you wanna do?"
Remi walked over to the machine and studied the options carefully. After a little bit of back and forth, the two agreed on a song and began to sing. They weren't good by any means, but I was confident that they were better than Yu, Sora, and me, at least.
Just as the two of them started, the worker returned with a plate full of Yu's food and six cups of water. She set it down on the table before giving us a small bow and leaving.
Yu immediately scarfed it down. By the time I blinked, he was already nearly finished.
Damn... Guess I should've seen that coming, though.
Sora cleared his throat, drawing the attention of everyone not singing. "So, how did your exams–"
Before he could even finish, Yu slapped a hand over Sora's mouth.
"No," he muttered with stuffed cheeks, his tan face gone pale. "We will NOT be talking about exams or grades here. If I wanted to do that, I'd be at home—asleep."
Sora grabbed Yu's hand and gently pulled it away. He could have been rough with him, considering Yu technically slapped him out of nowhere, but he still tried to be as respectful as possible.
"Haha, sorry about that, Yu. I guess I should've been more considerate."
In his defence, talking about grades or how you did after things like this was only natural—just not for Yu, who always did poorly.
"Enough about exams," I said before the conversation could die down. "What are your plans for the summer break?"
Mei leaned back into the cushions, thinking for a moment. "Hmmmm. I think I'll start studying for the next semester early. I have plans with some of my friends, so I'll do that, too. And maybe I'll pick up a summer job."
Yu nodded along. "Yeah. I need a summer job too. The bank's running a bit low nowadays. If this keeps up, I might just hit the big zero…"
He dramatically covered his face with a pathetic whimper just by thinking about it.
It's not that serious...
Sora let out a soft chuckle as he supportively patted him on the back. "It's okay, Yu. You'll have six weeks to work. That's more than enough time to get your money back!"
Yu frantically shook his head. "You don't get it! It's so hard for me to get a job. Meanwhile, Hoshino gets a summer job so easily!"
All three turned to me. I glanced at each of them briefly with a short sigh. "Don't look at me. It's not my fault my Uncle wants me to work with him and can recommend me. But anyway, what about you, Sora?"
Sora answered at once. "I think I'm going to be travelling with my family. That's what we usually do during the summertime, at least."
"Wait," I said, keeping my surprise down. "Are you… rich?"
I didn't know about other families, but at least for me, my family never went out of town that much. In the last decade or so, I'd only been on an airplane once. So, in my eyes, getting to travel was something that only the privileged got to do.
I only realized a few moments later that it was a little unfair to ask, since it put him on the spot, but before I could take it back or change the subject, he let out a light laugh.
"To be honest, I am. I've always been aware that I was more privileged than others." His laughter slowly died down as his face grew just a little more sombre, though his voice remained as bright and dignified as ever.
"Back when I was younger, the kids in my class would always make fun of me, calling me a spoiled brat or things like that. I remember trying to deny it, but now that I'm older, it's something I've come to accept. As long as I don't let it get to my head, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Although he was asking a question, none of us answered. It didn't matter if we did, because from the look on his face, I was sure he had already found his own.
While I believed that sometimes silence was the best answer, we were in the middle of a group hangout, so before things could get awkward, I crossed my arms and sat the same way Julie would—with pure arrogance.
"Yeah, I dunno about you, but Yu and I grew up broke—so we can't relate."
There was a slight pause before everyone laughed, loud enough to overpower even Luna's and Remi's singing for a moment.
"Hey," a voice said through the laughter. "What are you all laughing about?" Luna asked.
She approached the seat next to me and sat down, while Remi sat next to Sora.
"It's nothing," Yu said with a chuckle, taking a sip of his drink. "Anyway, have you and Remi finished your turn?"
"Yeah," Remi replied, throwing Yu her mic. "You can go next if you want."
Yu caught the mic mid-air with a wide grin. "Sure."
Then he turned to Luna. "Hey, give Hoshino yours. He and I are going to do a duet!"
My eyes narrowed, and I reeled back in my seat. "Duet? You make it sound like we're dating or something."
Luna groaned and dropped her microphone onto my lap. "Ugh, just stop flirting and start singing already."
"I said we aren't–"
Before I could even finish my protest, Yu grabbed me by the collar of my sweater and dragged me to the front of the room.
"So," he said, swinging his arm around my shoulder. "Do you have anything you want to sing?"
The obvious answer was my usual 'I don't care,' but I knew Yu didn't care either. Which meant that I was forced to answer to end this as quickly as possible.
While I did listen to music just like any normal person, the music I listened to wasn't in the language we spoke, and the only songs I did know how to sing were ones I'd heard from my childhood whenever Julie babysat Lily and me.
I brushed Yu's arm aside and began to type on the karaoke machine. After a few seconds, the song I had in mind came up. Yu stared at my selection, almost judging.
"So—I don't wanna sound mean or anything, but..." he tread carefully. "But why are you choosing 2000's white girl pop music? Don't get me wrong—I love white girl music, but I didn't think you'd like it, too."
I shrugged, not even making eye contact with him. "They're the only types of songs I know how to sing."
"Huh," Yu gasped, genuinely surprised. "I didn't know that. Well, it doesn't matter."
He stepped away from me as the song began on the screen.
The noise in the background slowly fizzled out as the music started.
I wasn't sure what the four behind us were doing. Whether they were cheering me on, laughing, teasing me, I didn't hear any of it—and it didn't matter in the moment.
I just placed the microphone to my mouth—
And sung.