Chapter 247: Where’s Levi (3)
"Clean it 2-3 times a day with saline solution for the next 3 months. If you. If your piercing becomes red or infected, or if you’re interested in getting another one, please don’t hesitate to contact me. The same goes for your ’partner’?" The piercer with bright blue hair gave Ari a bright smile as she admired her handiwork before glancing at the handcuffs that connected his and Levi’s hands.
Since she had been giving Levi interested looks the whole time they had been here while blushing, Ari explained the situation with a laugh, causing Levi’s head to turn so fast his headphones almost flew off.
"Thank you, he’s not my ’partner’. This is from a punishment game, and he’s actually single if you want his number."
"Really?" the girl perked up, batting her eyes, as Levi shot a death glare at Ari before explaining with a resigned sigh.
"I’m not looking to date anyone right now."
"Oh. That’s too bad. Well, if you ever change your mind, please call me. I like the angry, stoic type." The girl handed her business card with her personal number scribbled on the back before blushing and turning away.
Laughing once more, Ari glanced at his reflection, specifically at the 2 blue earrings sparkling in his ears, before turning to Levi with a cheeky grin.
"How does it look, Mr. Angry, stoic type?"
Levi: ಠ_ಠ
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Lots of things. Be more specific."
"I don’t understand why I have to be here for this?"
"We’re getting closer—team bonding blah blah blah. Fill in the blanks yourself."
"I’m tired of bonding."
"But I’m not."
"If I agree to come back, will you release me? I feel like you have the key to these, I just can’t prove it."
The handcuffed hand was yanked, dragging Ari to his feet.
"Theoretically, if I did have the key, are you actually going to come back to our team, or are you just going to pack your stuff up and quit the show immediately because I’m getting on your nerves?"
Twitch.
At Levi’s eyes, which conveyed that it was his exact plan, Ari sniggered.
"That’s what I thought. The bonding continues onto the next location. Allons-y!"
Ignoring the newfound pain in his ears, Ari dragged Levi out of the tattoo parlor, and even though Levi grumbled, he dutifully drove Ari to the international market, where he loaded up on the requested snacks.
"Let’s see, malted biscuits for Benjamin, BBQ pickle chips for Jamie, chickpea snacks for Vishal, crackers for Mathew, and corn chips for Carlos. You want anything? My treat."
"No."
"Hmmm, how about some tea? I feel like I’ve seen you drink some every once in a while. Jelissa recommended this brand for soothing the throat. Oh, when did they start importing this? This brand of biscuits goes great with tea. A bit pricey, but I’ll get it for you since I owe you one. Ben said I should also get..." Ignoring Levi’s resigned expression, Ari continued getting the snacks that other people would like while chattering to himself.
Levi glanced at the overly full basket being held by an arm still wrapped in a brace and the other wrist, which had been chaffed red from the handcuffs, before reluctantly holding out his hand.
"Give it."
"My wallet? Hell no. Don’t be deceived by the money I’m spending right now, I’m actually broke, and I assure you that even though we’re handcuffed, I will fight to the death to protect my minuscule funds."
Levi: ಠ_ಠ
What was wrong with this person’s head?
"The basket. Are you even supposed to be carrying anything on that wrist?"
"Probably not. But my other hand is chained up so..."
"Whose fault is that?"
"Let’s not point fingers when it’s both our fault we ended up like this."
"How is it my fault?"
"For not coming back. Anyway, if you’re carrying it, let’s add a few more things."
And true to his word, Ari just kept stacking the items in the basket higher and higher until Levi could no longer see due to the height of things in his basket.
"Why didn’t you just get a cart?"
"I forgot. Should I hold it? I’ll consider it if you come back to our team."
"Enough."
After buying snacks, Ari forced Levi to drive to their most important destination-
Overnight Karaoke.
As Levi drove to the slightly shady-looking building in Koreatown that turned into an arcade-style music and lighting when they entered, he turned to Ari in disbelief.
"What the hell is this?"
"Karaoke."
"Why?"
"To practice my rapping skills and get help."
"Help from who?"
"You? Who else is handcuffed to me? Don’t tell me you’re tired?"
He was.
Levi was completely exhausted.
As an only child who liked solitude, not only was his social battery drained, but his mental, physical, and patience meter had now dropped below zero.
All he wanted to do was sleep.
Instead, he was being dragged around by an Energizer Bunny demon wearing a furry hat who didn’t seem to care that people were staring at their handcuffed hands.
"You don’t plan on going back and sleeping?"
"What is sleep? I was serious about the 12 hours of bonding. Let’s continue to bond with each other. Unless you’re ready to come back to the team for at least one more performance?"
"No."
"Then we continue until the sun rises."
Levi: ಠ_ಠ
Ari: ^_^
Seeing the bright smile on Ari’s face with the threat of an all-nighter being pulled, the final dregs of Levi’s temper snapped.
"No, let’s go back. I’m tired of this."
"No way."
"I wasn’t asking. Let’s go."
As Levi began yanking his handcuffed arm and pulling Ari towards the door, Ari immediately began dragging his feet on the floor and throwing his whole body back in the impromptu round of tug of war as a shouting match began.
"I’ll saw this damn handcuff off or die trying!"
"Just keep it on!! It’s not like you’re doing anything anyway!"
"I was until you decided to use me like a chauffeur!"
"Hey! It was more like a personal assistant!"
"And that’s better?"
Despite his best efforts, Ari was slowly but surely dragged toward the door while the lone worker watched with wide eyes.
Ari latched onto the door with the remnants of his strength and refused to let go.
"Let go and come peacefully! You think I can’t break down this door?!"
"Never! You’re a law-abiding citizen!"
"All I have to do is pay for it after breaking it!"
"That’s still criminal activity!"
As his fingers began to slip from the bar on the door, Ari changed tactics and started the tried and true tactic of complaining.
"My arm, my arm, my arm. Ohh, my arm will never recover. The nurse said that my bones are fragile. Oh, my arm, my arm. Ahhhh!" he stopped to peek at Levi, seeing the other boy stare at him with complete disbelief before continuing his act.
"Ohhhh....the pain. The anguish of trying to bond with my teammate, to show him that I care about him, that I want to be friends, and don’t want him to quit. Mom. Dad. I tried to be good, but it’s time. Your only son is coming to join you in the grave."
"Seriously?"
"Ah, the pain. The pain that my poor orphan soul feels. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? My poor wounded arm. Maman. Papa. I’m coming. All I want is one night of karaoke. Just one night. I’ve never gone and wanted to bond with a friend." Ari peeked at Levi once more before continuing to wallow in self-pity.
"Fine. Let’s go do your stupid karaoke."
"And scene."
After hearing the response he wanted, Ari happily jumped to his feet and dragged Levi to the front desk.
How did I do?"
"Terrible."
"I think you did great!"
The person at the desk clapped enthusiastically, and Ari gave a small bow.
"Can we get a small room for the next 10 hours?"
"Sure. Cash or card?"
"Card. And I’d like several bottles of water as well."
After paying, they were led to a decently sized room lined with LED lights, a large-screen TV, and several microphones scattered around.
"Bathroom?"
"No."
"Wanna rap?
"No."
"Wanna listen to me rap?"
"No."
"Okay. Feel free to put your headphones on."
With a shrug, Ari plugged in his personal USB and used the remote to queue up tracks that Levi had rapped to before, and then, doing his best to imitate Levi’s sharp style of rapping, which was what he wanted to channel for their performance.
Although he stumbled a few times, he was slowly getting the cadence down and made it from end to end, making little comments meant to encourage(harass) Levi to engage with him.
"It would be so nice if someone good at rapping helped me."
"Ah, I wish someone with voice acting experience could coach me on this part of the performance."
"Wow, if only a super good buzzcut rapper would give me some one-on-one coaching."
"Ah, I need to get good at rapping to show off to a terrible producer, but I can’t..."
After a good 30 minutes of mostly failures-
Slam!
"Enough."
"Enough of what?" Ari played completely innocently.
Sharp blue eyes glared at him as a pair of black headphones slammed against the table.
"You’re imitating me. With my songs."
"Am I?"
"You are. Don’t play dumb. You shouldn’t rap like that. When you’re spitting out the words, you should Dat-da-Dat-da-Dat." Levi clapped his hand on beat to emphasize his point before continuing, "You have to emphasize some words to give it that punch-like effect, especially if your bars are supposed to be aggressive."
"Like this?"
Ari repeated a line, but was immediately rejected."
"No."
"This?"
"No. You suck at this."
"...do you want just to show me?"
"Pretty please?"
"Oh, my poor orphan life."
"...fine. Just once."
"I see, I see. So, I wrote this. How do you think I should go about it?"
"Could you demonstrate this?"
"If this were a freestyle and you wanted to make sure that it was as sharp and as aggressive as possible to diss a couple of people, how would you go about it?"
"Nice, nice, nice. Additionally, for the performance, we’re trying to finalize the intro portion and your part. Since you might not be there, how do you feel about us using the lyrics you wrote?"
"Absolutely not."
"Why not? Don’t worry, we’ll properly credit you. And we’ll have the best rapper amongst us, do your part. It won’t be as good as if you did it, though."
"....."
"Did I also tell you that the producer called us fake rappers? He said you’re ugly too."
"....I don’t think he said that last part."
"You’re right. He didn’t. Are you coming back for this performance?"
"...."
"Well, even if you don’t, can you demonstrate your previous performances? I really am trying to get better at rapping and need to practice your style so I can do your part if needed."
"...Fine."
Slowly but surely, by being annoyingly persistent, Ari eventually got Levi to help him and demonstrate several songs.
When Levi’s voice grew hoarse, and he looked as if he were going to pass out, Ari calmly handed him a glass of water and turned the TV off.
"Alright, alright, let’s take a break for an hour. I’ll rewrite my lyrics. Then we’ll start again from the top."
"Is this how you practice? Every single day?"
"More or less? I’m very behind everyone, so I need to catch up."
"And you’re not tired?"
"I took a nap earlier."
"I think you’re crazy," Levi said suddenly.
"Why?"
"You just have the kind of craziness and energy I thought was reserved for the youngest children. Handcuffing me and forcefully doing activities together is literally insane. I’m exhausted just dealing with you."
"But you obediently came along, didn’t you, so you must have secretly enjoyed it."
"We literally fought a couple of hours ago?"
"Jamie says that it’s a rite of passage between brothers and friends. Do you feel that I’ve made enough effort to convince you to stay? About the same amount as Carlos?"
"I wonder."
Levi then let out a small laugh before leaning his head back on the couch and falling asleep.
His forehead was damp with sweat, and he looked completely exhausted, but there was still a small smile on his face.
Ari calmly waited 20 minutes until the blonde boy’s breathing became deep and heavy before taking a key out of his shoe and carefully releasing the handcuffs.
Covering the sleeping Levi with his jacket, Ari pillowed his head so he was more comfortable.
[You are such a liar.]
[And that was a waste of time.]
Well, it was worth a try anyway, and at least I had fun.
Quietly leaving the room and stretching out his sore arm, Ari went back to the front desk to speak with the person there.
"Did you need something?"
"Yes, can I get another room? Preferably right next door to my first one."
"Of course! Same setup?"
"Yes, please."
"Got it! And I forgot to mention, you look familiar. Have I seen you on TV?"
"I’m on an idol survival show called Pop Star Academy with my friend. Please vote for us if you can." Ari replied with a smile.
"Okay! Here’s your key."
"Thanks."
Holding back a yawn, Ari walked to the new room, turned the sound up, and whispered.
"Pull up my rap repeat missions, please?"
[Don’t Be Quiet! Spit out those words! - Rap a song longer than 2 minutes without skipping a word or stuttering 10 times! (9/10)]
[Don’t Be Quiet! Spit out those words! - Rap a song longer than 2 minutes without skipping a word or stuttering 100 times!]
[Don’t Be Quiet! Spit out those words! - Rap a song longer than 2 minutes without skipping a word or stuttering 1000 times!]
With a resigned sigh, Ari prepared himself for a long grind.
His goal was to complete rap songs both 10 times and 100 times to gain 2 more stat points before Levi woke up.
By the time, the sun rose once more.
Ari’s voice was hoarse and he was quite tired, but his rap stat-
[Ding!]
[Rap: E -> D-]
Had risen nicely.
By the time Levi came into the room by slamming the door open, Ari was lying on the couch, well on his way to taking a nap.
His balled-up jacket was thrown at his face, and as Ari was contemplating suffocating or moving, a sharp voice sounded out as the jacket was removed.
"You had the key the whole time?"
Even though Levi was glaring, for some reason, his appearance didn’t seem as sharp.
Or maybe Ari’s eyes were just that blurry.
"The handcuff fairy was the one who set you free, ahem."
Levi just stared at him in silence before snorting.
"Let’s go."
"To?"
"Weren’t you the one begging me to come back?"
"Oh? Are you coming to practice?" Ari quickly sat up, felt the blood rush to his head, and sat still while things stopped spinning.
"I’ll think about it if you buy me breakfast."
"Deal."
Clearing his suddenly itchy throat, Ari trudged behind Levi into the car.
And after sneaking in with snacks and arriving in their practice room-
"Sorry for skipping."
A slightly sharp voice filled the air, and the rest of the occupants stared at the owner in shock.
When 4 pairs of eyes turned to look at him, Ari held up a peace sign with a tired expression.