FOREIGN BLISS

CHAPTER SIX

“You’re stupid.”

“You guys don’t have to say it at the same time.” Christopher complained after Lucas, Denver and Johann blurted out the same thing. “I know I’m stupid so don’t remind me.”

After rushing back to the building, he immediately went towards them and prepared himself. While doing it, he told the story on how did he went past by the time allotted, when he met the girl, and so on and so forth. Thus, during their make-up preparation and wardrobe checking, the three men who listened to him commented at the same time.

Denver gave a side glance before returning his stare at the mirror, sitting properly on the chair while the hair and make-up artists put on the final touches. “But seriously, why are you worried about it?” he asked, looking at Christopher that was seated on the last chair through the huge mirror.

“Yeah, it’s not like you’ll meet her again or something.” Johann added, with the same position at the two of them.

“Plus, why are so worked up on it anyways?” Lucas said, continuing the dissing session of Christopher, while standing sitting at the chair on the left side, his legs crossed and his head leaning on his hand that was on the table.

“It’s because-” Christopher paused, unable to determine the reason why he’s curious and regretting not knowing her name. Why am I regretting? What they said is probably true anyways, he thought.

“Because..I haven’t expressed my gratitude properly.” he said, looking at himself through the mirror. What am I doing? It’s just for gratitude, right?

“But you said she told you to forget it right?” Lucas asked. “And based on your story, it seems like she already accepted your series of ‘thank you’.” Denver added.

“And you guys just met because of an accident. And you won’t be in that situation if she hadn’t bumped into you.” Johann continued.

Hearing their words made him sigh. Maybe they’re right. I’m worrying over nothing.

Lucas smirked, seeing Christopher stressing out about something not work related. His smirk was then replaced by an inaudible laugh, followed by a snicker than caught the boys’ attention.

“Is our baby having a little crush?” he asked in a teasing tone. “Or maybe, a crush at first sight?” he added with his smirk visible, adding more teasing vibes that made Christopher uncomfortable and flustered.

Denver and Johann looked at each other before smirking then nodded at each other, forming a mental alliance in teasing their youngest.

“Why haven’t I thought of it?” Denver said in a teasing tone before humming as if remembered something. “What Lucas said might be true.” he added. “Congrats, Topher. You leveled up.”

“Topher, put this is you head.” Johann said, his finger pointing at his temple. “What you’re feeling is called crush.” he continued, the nodded appreciatively. “It’s alright. Kids learn new things every day.”

Christopher groaned. “Stop it Els.” he said then rolled his eyes. “I just want to pay her back properly, that’s all.”

“Oh?” Lucas mused. “You’re not like that Chris. You don’t even pay us back.” he added and shook his head while smiling, impressed by the situation. “That’s what you call reasoning.”

“I’m not reasoning out. I said the tru-”

“We have seven minutes left. Please go to the stage now.” A voice from the speaker hanged on the corner of the room interrupted his argument to defend himself, making him sigh and groan in frustration.

“Clear your mind for now kid, you have to get going.” Lucas said as they all stood up and prepared themselves for the last time before appearing on the site. “For crying out loud.” Christopher muttered.

After the said time, the director signaled for the to officially start the live program, making the interviewers nod at them before facing the camera with practiced a smile.

“Good afternoon everyone!” the female emcee started.

“Welcome to another fresh news at SNS!” the male emcee seconded.

“Now, let’s welcome..Gray Sky!” the emcees said in unison, their one hand pointing out to the three of them who’s sitting on the couch in front of them, making them waved and smile towards the emcees and at the cameras.

“Such dashing young men, aren’t they?” the female emcee asked her partner. “Indeed, I remember my younger days when I’m looking at them.” The male emcee said, causing all of them present on the stage laugh at his comment.

“Anyways, we should not make our excited viewers wait, right partner?” the male emcee said, looking at the female emcee before facing the camera. “Indeed, now let’s get to know them!”

Receiving the Gray Sky’s cue, they all stood up and faced the camera with a smile. “Hi everyone! We’re Gray Sky!” the said in unison before bowing slightly and waved.

The show went on and on with all of them doing their parts well. After 30 minutes, they all came to the final part before the ending scene, the 5-minute fast talk.

“So our lovely viewers, you all want to know them deeper right?” the female asked then smiled, looking the camera as if communicating with the viewers.

“I’m sure they are.”  the male emcee answered before laughing then looked at the three of them who’s holding three papers each. “Okay guys, the papers you’re currently holding contains your names. All you have to do is to rise the paper containing the name of the member you’re voting for the question we’ll ask.”

“We prepared series of questions for you guys, so be ready okay?” the female emcee asked, causing them to smile and laugh at the question before either nodding or raised a thumb up.

“Are you guys ready?” the emcees asked in unison, making them clap their hands in excitement along with an excited yes.

“So first, who is the one tends to be late at going to your practices?” the female asked, reading the question from her card.

“One, two, three!” The male emcee counted, making them raise their answers.

“Ooh! Johann got two votes!” the female emcee announced, seeing Denver and Christopher raise his name.

“He tends to oversleep when we have a free time.” Christopher said and laughed, causing all of them except Johann laugh along with him.

“I‘m not always late.” Johann countered with matching shake of his head and waving hands and laughing softly.

 “Besides, Christopher’s the one who tend to forget his time limit if he’s not having his alarm clock on his phone. He even enjoys his alone time” he added, defending his side on why did he raised Christopher’s name, glancing at Christopher with a slight smirk.

And now he’s using the mall thing against me. Christopher thought, yet he just smiled and looked at the emcees. “It doesn’t happen often, just sometimes.”

“But Johann El here once told us that he’s just taking a 15-minute nap instead of taking a snack break with us, but then he ended up dozing off with his one foot up the couch’s head and his head is nearly on the floor.” Christopher said, revealing one of his hilarious moments. “He looked like he was hanged upside down.”

His words made the emcees laugh, including the other staffs that was covering their mouths or suppressing their laughs, literally finding it funny in their imagination. “These kids.” Lucas muttered, shaking his head while smiling.

“Yes, but overall, the two of them were the reasons on why we were delayed at some point during our trainings and events.” Denver said, looking at his both sides where the two were seated. “I’m the only normal in our group.” he finished with an innocent smile.

The emcees laughed at them again before continuing at the next question. “Okay next, who tends to do weird things when they had the chance?”

“One, two, three!”

The result made the emcees laugh. “Looks like they’re not in favor of you being the only normal one.” The male emcee said teasing Denver as Christopher and Johann raise his name, and only Denver raised Johann’s.

“It’s not true! I’m really the-”

“There’s this one time that we saw him taking a selfie with a weird face we don’t even know why he did it.” Johann interrupted. “Yeah, but then when we asked what is that, he said that he wanna try the posing out yet the outcome’s different from his basis.” Christopher seconded, causing the interviewers let out a laugh again, enjoying the presence of their guests.

“And there’s one time when he joined me in my vocalizing.” Christopher blurted out again, making Denver look at him, internally wishing that he won’t say any more details.

“Yeah, Topher sounded good yet Denver’s high note sounded like a girl’s scream.” Johann added, smiling widely, enjoying the time that they’re bullying their leader. “But it’s even funnier when his voice cracked.” Christopher continued, making the people around them laugh even more.

“Now that’s offensive!” Denver reacted, pointing the two with his thumbs. “Can I sue them?” he said, asking the emcees. “That’s rude man, I haven’t asked anyone if I can sue you guys.” Johann interjected.

“I’m afraid not.” The female emcee said before chuckling.

“These boys are really like teenage kids eh?” the director said, looking at Lucas with an amused face. “It must be fun being with them.”

Lucas looked at him before looking at the three boys who seemed to enjoy the game. “Yeah, being those stupid, funny, crackheads really is fun.” he answered with a huge smile.

“Oh, look at the time.” the male emcee said, looking at his watch before glancing at his partner. “We enjoyed talking to them that we used almost all our time.” he added before laughing.

“Such a shame.” the female emcee said with a disappointed tone. “Let’s cut the other questions we prepared and just this one important thing that your fans would really like to know.” the male emcee said before gesturing towards his partner.

“Okay, the final question.” The female emcee said, pausing a bit to create tension for the viewers. “Who is most likely,” the emcee halted again. “To date a fan?”

Time to get revenge. Denver and Johann thought, planning on using the question to tease their youngest. I think I know what’ll happen. Christopher thought, predicting the outcome.

“One, two, three!”

Before Christopher could raise any of the paper he’s holding, the count was already done, revealing his name getting 2 votes. I knew it.

“Oh Christopher got 2 votes!” the female emcee announced quite loudly.  “Before we end this program, why do you guys choose Christopher?” the male emcee asked.

“I don’t know, I just have that feeling.” Denver said, answering first. “Besides, he’s still young. Who knows what future he might get.” he added, saying the half-truth on why did he chose him.

“And he’s still learning in life.” Johann said, defending his answer. “There are lots of possibilities when it comes to his actions.” he continued, meaning every word he just said, and just like Denver, he just revealed half of his reason to vote for him.

The emcees nod in understanding. “That’s true.” the female emcee commented.

“Well,” the male emcee said, clapping his hand loudly. “That will be the end. Let’s wrap it up!” he added and clapped twice before standing, his partner following him.

“Gray Sky, is there anything you want to say to your fans?”

“Hello RDs!” Denver started greeting their fans, calling out to them using their made up name, RD, which stand for Rain Drops. Because for the three of them, gray sky is the one seen before experiencing rain. So in their case, starting as a lone band called Gray Sky, then their supportive fans came along, making them the rain drops that can be seen after witnessing the gray sky.

“We are happy that you are here, watching and supporting us from where you are. We might not meet all of you, but you guys made us feel loved and we really appreciate everything you guys do for us.” Denver added, before looking at Johann who noticed his glance, the took up the chance to speak.

“We promise that we won’t let you down. We’ll train more and do our best so you guys will get the best performance we can afford. So please stay tuned and during our concert on July, we promise that everything we said during this show will come true.” Johann said, before looking at Christopher, making him the final speech giver.

“The surprises we mentioned before will be officially revealed on the concert day. Are you guys excited? We might not be the best, but you guys with us. Thank you everyone for staying with us even through the darkest time. Through thick and thin, we’ll be together RDs. We love you!” Christopher said, then all of them gave a sight bow before waving, with Denver giving a heart using his both hands ang pulled out a cute face, Johann smiling sweetly before winking, and Christopher giving a flying kiss and a heart.

“And that’s it for today’s SNS! Thank you everyone!” the emcees said in unison before waving at the camera.

The director clapped his hands loudly and yelled, taking everyone’s attention. “That’s a good shoot! Everyone pack up!”

“You guys sure are approachable.” the female emcee said, complimenting them with a courteous smile. “Thank you for your time.” the male emcee seconded, his smile mirroring hers.

Denver shook his head. “No, it’s us who should thank you guys.” he said with a smile then raised his hand slightly, offering a shake hand. But unfortunately, the emcees didn’t notice his hand and just smiled before facing the other members, making him blink twice before lowering his hand.

“You guy are really fun to deal with.” the male emcee commented to the three of them. “The news about the three of you doesn’t lie at all.” the female added.

“It’s fun to talk with you guys as well.” Johann said, his smile displayed on his features. “And we really enjoyed our time here.” Christopher added before smiling, expressing his gratitude towards their cooperation.

“Thank you for being patient with these kids.” Lucas interrupted upon arrival. “They did mess the show’s time table huh?” he asked jokingly, making the emcees laugh at his remarks and the mentioned people look at him with a hidden glare.

“No no it’s really nothing.” the female emcee answered before chuckling. “They’re really carefree and fun to watch.” she added, not minding the ruined program flow.

“That’s true, it’s really entertaining.” the male emcee seconded. “It’s rare for the two of us to encounter guests that can make us let them do what they want and cut out the other parts to let them be.” he added, literally had fun with seeing them talk like they’re not on a live show.

Lucas sighed and put his arms around the three. “These kids are quite a handful yet fun to watch.” he said and laughed. “But of course, having fun seeing them have fun also had me annoyed at the same time. They’re naughty, cute kids.” He added.

“You’re treating us like kindergarteners again, El.” Christopher complained shook his head.

“It’s because he’s old.” Johann said.

“I thought you’re not letting him call himself old?” Denver asked, a teasing smile forming on his lips.

“Let’s just get going.” Johann said before sighing. “I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about age.” he added, regretting his words.

The emcees laughed at them before excusing themselves to prepare for going on their own personal plans now that the work is finally done.

Lucas finally removed his arms around them and faced them, his eyes showing excitement. “Who’s up for some snacks? My treat.” With the three of them hearing the magical words, they all answered at the same time. “Me.”

As planned, they all made their way towards the direction where they parked their cars. While walking, Christopher noticed the posters and other endorsement charts that are posted on different parts of the building wall, making him pause in front of a certain poster.

“They’re from the other agency, right?” Christopher sked before pointing at the posters with four guys in it. “Yeah, They’re the 4Waves.” Denver replied, answering him.

“I’m not being rude for not knowing them, but who are they?” Christopher asked again. Johann glanced at him before sighing. “You’re really curious in everything that’s new to you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I just want to know the things I don’t know yet.” Christopher said with a shrug. “So who are they?”

“The first one is Hedrix Jefferson, the one with the brown hair.” Denver starter. “He is their song producer and drummer; he goes with the stage name of Apollo.” he added.

“Then their pianist and also their leader, the one with the blonde hair, is Jacob Klein.” Johann miraculously interrupted. “He is the oldest in their group and has the stage name of Hephaestus.”

“Whoa,” the three of them, Christopher, Denver and Lucas exclaimed at the same time. “You know them?” Christopher asked with wide eyes.

Johann rolled his eyes. “Watch television sometimes, don’t stay up late just because of games.” he answered, lecturing their youngest. “Kids these days.”

“For a second there, you sounded like an old man tired with the younger’s game addiction.” Denver commented. “Uh huh, you sounded older than me.” Lucas said, teasing him.

Johann groaned and sighed once again. “Just answer the kiddo’s question.”

Finally letting him off the hook, they looked at the poster once again, with Denver pointing at the other guy at the poster. “That guy with the black hair is their guitarist, he’s Travis Kurtsenn.” He said, informing him about the third member.

“He goes with the stage name of Hermes.” Denver added. “The last one is-”

“Jason Parker.” Lucas suddenly interrupted, taking their attention. “Oh you know them too?” Christopher asked.

“U-uh yeah.” Lucas answered, uncertainty evident on his. He looked at them, noticing the curious stares they are giving him. He cleared his throat and laughed, trying to ease up the atmosphere.

“Of course I knew them! I am not a manager if I don’t know about the other bands.” He answered with a smile before laughing once again. “What’s with the stare?”

“Nothing.” they said in unison. “You just look like a crazy man in a proper attire.” Johann said, dropping the topic to return the light, airy vibe back.

“Now that’s offending.” Lucas said with a serious face, the blinked twice before sighing. “Okay fine, you three win.” He said, making the laugh at him before Denver gestured for them to continue walking and finally get the treat their manager promised.

“So that gray-haired guy is their vocalist?” Christopher asked Johann who’s walking beside him. Denver and Lucas were some steps ahead of us, talking about the topics Johann and Christopher weren’t interested.

“Yeah, and he goes by the stage name of Ares.” Johann answered without sparing him a glance.

After reaching their cars, they all stood beside those, finally remembering that they didn’t planned on where should they eat. “How about at the newly opened pastry shop near our house?” Lucas suggested for the fifth time.

“You told us to cut off our sweets intake, remember?” Johann said in a bored tone, making him think of another option.

“Then at a café shop with-” his another option suggestion was cut off when Denver spoke. “What if you cook dinner for us?”

“Yeah, it’s getting late anyways, besides, you just mentioned some time ago about your brother buying loads of food.” Christopher added. “I’m in, it’s pretty boring to eat alone at home.” Johann seconded.

Lucas stared at them for some time. “Fine.”

“The last one to reach El’s house will help in cooking!” Christopher said before rushing in his car, followed by his Els that are in for the game he made.

“That’s not fair!” Denver shouted after opening his window, seeing Christopher’s engine already started and ready to go.

“Bye Els!” Christopher said, sticking out his head on his window before driving off, leaving the two who’s inside their cars tat’s busy to make their own cars moving and their manager who’s still standing outside his car, still processing what’s happening.

“I won’t lose to this silly game.” Johann said after lowering down his window and waved his hand. “Bye.” he added before slowly going off as well. Denver followed him with only some milliseconds as their gap.

“What are those kids up to?” Lucas muttered, curious on how do their brains function. “And I thought Johann will be sane enough to stop them.”