Chapter 73 | You Will Sing Or You Will Be Shamed

Kyle laughed.

Leo looked hurt. "That’s messed up."

"You asked."

"I asked for advice, not a roast session."

Jordan pushed off the wall. "Here’s advice. Stop trying so hard. She can smell desperation from a mile out and it makes her meaner."

"So what do I do?"

"Talk to her like a normal person. Ask her about literally anything that isn’t Cabo or your car or your family’s money."

Leo nodded slowly, processing. "Normal person. Got it."

"You sure you got it?" Kyle’s tone carried the weight of yesterday’s disaster.

"I didn’t have a proper strategy yesterday."

"Your strategy was introducing Jordan as ’the guy who bought that Prada bag’ directly in front of her." Kyle’s eyebrows lifted. "To his face."

Leo’s expression crumpled like he’d been physically struck by the memory. "That was before I understood the situation."

"The situation being basic human decency?"

"The situation being that subtlety exists." Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought transparency was good. Turns out there’s a difference between being honest and being tactless."

"Incredible character development," Kyle said flatly. "Truly inspirational stuff."

Jordan’s phone vibrated against his thigh. He fished it from his pocket and glanced at the screen.

Chloe:

where did you go

Chloe:

leo made you leave didn’t he

Chloe:

come back we ordered fried chicken

He typed back quickly.

coming now

Leo was still talking. "I just need you guys to back me up. If I say something funny, laugh. If I look good, agree. Basic wingman shit."

Kyle looked at Jordan. "Thoughts?"

Jordan pocketed his phone. "I think we should go back inside before they eat all the food."

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the only answer you’re getting."

Leo’s face brightened anyway. "So you’ll help?"

"I’ll make sure you don’t embarrass yourself worse than you already have. That’s it."

"I’ll take it."

They walked back inside. Climbed the stairs. The hallway felt warmer than before, or maybe Jordan was just annoyed at losing five minutes of sitting next to Chloe because Leo needed a pep talk about a girl who would rather set herself on fire than date him.

Jordan opened the door to room seven.

The scene had shifted. Kumiko was on her feet holding a microphone, belting out something in Japanese with shocking competence. Alexis had put her phone down and was scrolling through the song queue on the TV screen. Chloe sat in the middle of the curved booth, legs crossed, watching Kumiko with a smile that looked genuinely pleased.

Her eyes flicked to Jordan the second he walked in.

He sat down next to her without asking. Close enough that their thighs touched. She shifted slightly to make room but didn’t move away.

Kyle took the seat on the other side of Chloe. Leo hovered near Alexis like a moth near a porch light.

Kumiko hit a high note. Held it. The song ended and she dropped into a bow, breathless and grinning. "That was my audition. Did I pass?"

Chloe clapped. "You passed."

"Your turn."

"Not yet."

"Yes yet." Kumiko thrust the microphone at her. "You said you’d sing."

"I said I’d think about singing."

"Thinking time is over."

Alexis looked over her shoulder from the TV screen. "Let her warm up first. We just ordered food."

"Food takes forever."

"Fifteen minutes."

Kumiko pouted but sat back down, microphone still in hand. She pointed it at Jordan instead. "What about you? Can you sing?"

Jordan shook his head. "Not even a little."

"Everyone can sing."

"I got kicked out of choir in middle school."

Kumiko gasped. "What did you do?"

"Existed."

Kyle laughed. "He’s not joking. I was there. The teacher said his voice was affecting the other students."

Chloe turned to look at Jordan fully. "You were in choir?"

"One semester."

"Why?"

"My mom made me." Jordan leaned back into the booth. "She thought it would be character building."

"Was it?"

"It built my character as someone who doesn’t sing in public."

Kumiko shook her head. "This is tragic. Everyone at karaoke has to sing at least once. That’s the rule."

"Whose rule?"

"My rule." She pointed the microphone at him like a weapon. "You will sing or you will be shamed."

Jordan glanced at Chloe. She was smiling now, a real one that made her eyes crinkle at the corners. "You’re on your own."

"Traitor."

"I’m just being honest."

The door opened and a server appeared with a tray stacked with fried chicken, tteokbokki, fries, and six bottles of soju. She set everything on the low table in front of the booth and disappeared without a word.

How did he get.... Oh right he’s rich.

Leo immediately grabbed a bottle of soju. "Who’s drinking?"

Alexis took one. "Me."

Kumiko raised her hand. "Me."

Chloe reached for a bottle to hand to Jordan but Jordan’s hand closed over hers. She looked at him, confused.

"I’m not drinking," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I’m driving you home."

Her mouth opened. Closed. She looked at the soju, then back at him. Something in her expression shifted. Softened. "You’re annoying."

"You like it."

"I really don’t."

She did. He could tell.

Kyle grabbed a bottle. "I’m drinking. Someone’s gotta make this interesting."

Leo poured a shot for himself and Alexis. Alexis downed hers in one go and set the glass down hard. "Another."

Leo’s eyes lit up. He poured.

Kumiko picked up a piece of fried chicken and bit into it, grease shining on her bottom lip. She chewed, swallowed, pointed at Chloe with the drumstick. "You’re going first."

Chloe shook her head. "No."

"Yes."

"Kumiko."

"Chloe." Kumiko’s voice went sweet and dangerous. "If you don’t go first, I’m going to tell everyone about the time you—"

"Fine." Chloe stood so fast her thigh bumped the table. "I’ll go."

Kumiko beamed. Handed her the microphone.

Chloe walked to the front of the room where the TV screen glowed with the song queue. She scrolled through options, her finger tapping the screen twice before she stopped.

The opening notes started.

Jordan didn’t recognize it. Some K-pop song he’d never heard before.

Chloe lifted the microphone.

And the entire room went silent.