Chapter 268: Journey To South Korea
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
"What now?"
Ari put down the beef on his chopstick and gave Grace a look since she had been glaring down at him while he ate his food.
"You really need to cover your face up. People are taking pictures, and I refuse to get dating allegations because of you."
Click!
The two of them turned their head simultaneously to the side where a few girls were sitting at a table, and with their phones pointed in their direction, while giggling.
Despite it being evening, this was the third group of girls that were doing this, and Ari already felt exhausted.
He simply wanted to enjoy his meal in peace without people walking by him with their cameras pointed his way.
"I am wearing sunglasses indoors, the restaurant hat, the restaurant t-shirt, and the restaurant apron, with a restaurant name tag. I look like an employee. What else do you want me to do while I’m eating?"
"A mask? Sunglasses? Take a page from my book. Fully covered, and my identity is protected." Grace gestured to her outfit, which covered every inch of skin, and her head, which had a black facemask, black baseball cap, and dark sunglasses, making her face a mystery.
"You want me dressed like a mummy of darkness? Once again, while I’m eating? I think people should just not be weird."
"This is the price of fame. Get used to it."
"I’m not even famous. How did they even find this place?"
"Did you forget that I’ve been using your face for free advertising? And then you posted about your birthday on your account? People put 2 and 2 together, and walla, Sales have gone up tremendously. Did I say that right? Walla? Okay, clearly, I didn’t with that face you’re making."
"The word is voilà, with a V."
"Noted. Anyway, cover your face."
"I think I’ll just go eat in the kitchen. This is annoying," Ari grumbled, but before he could get up, Grace blocked his way with her arms spread wide.
"If you think I’m letting you into the kitchen, think again! As a matter of fact, when you’re done, I will give you a tour of all the fire extinguisher spots. If I see you within 3 ft of the kitchen, I’m telling Grandma to unleash her wooden spoon attack. Straight to your head. You’ll wake up in 2 weeks with your memory missing."
"Why are you treating her like a pocket battle monster?"
"Because she treats me like an unpaid servant," Grace grumbled before turning away, "Hurry up and eat and cover your face. The bathrooms are calling your name."
"Yeah, yeah."
With a resigned sigh, Ari rushed through the food, not even getting a chance to enjoy it due to the occasional camera flashes.
If this was what fame entailed, it was already unpleasant enough.
Once the restaurant closed, Granny Choi looked at Ari’s tired expression and Grace’s fully covered face, which was currently being fanned by a paper fan, before frowning.
"Enough is enough. I’ll ban photos from being taken from now on."
"It’s okay. I don’t want to disturb your business."
"No. This is a place to eat, not to observe the two of you like a zoo animal. You should be comfortable. Discussion over. "
As she stomped away, Grace collapsed on the table top and began removing everything from her face.
"Phewww. I can breathe again. Thank heavens. Speaking of which...will you be temporarily ascending to heaven on a bird made of metal to the city that rhymes with bowl?" Grace began waggling her eyebrows at Ari for the latest scoop.
"That’s a strange way of asking if I’m getting on an airplane to Seoul."
"Well, are you? You know I won’t tell."
"Ya."
"Good. I won’t ask your rank, but with how much your fans have grown and how much work we’ve been putting in, if you didn’t make it safely through this time, I would have shown that PD of yours a crazier scene than you creating a bomb when trying to cook chicken stew."
"What?"
"It means by followers alone, you should be safely within debut ranks."
I highly doubt that.
Since Ari didn’t want to burst her bubble, he just kept the conversation going without expecting a real answer.
"Why do you say that?"
"When was the last time you checked your social media account?"
"I don’t. Not unless I’m posting a music cover or song snippet. I’ve been busy."
"What a waste! Go and check it, and also change your captions and hashtags to be both English and French! You’re getting really popular and even have some celebrities following you. You need to capitalize on it!"
"Celebrities? Like who?" Ari asked curiously.
He was wondering if Jelissa had found his account since he really wanted to speak to her after she had suddenly left.
Unfortunately, Grace’s response was disappointing.
"Pink Puma"
"Oh, her."
"Yes. Her. Thoughts? How did you two meet anyway?" Grace asked subtly, wondering if there was something between the two of them, considering how much Pink Puma posted about the show and Ari in her story.
"It was random, and I think she and her boyfriend are...interesting characters," Ari replied honestly.
"Ex."
"Marks the spot? You liked my pirate king performance?"
"No. Ex. As in ex-boyfriend. They broke up."
"Good for her, or oh no, my condolences. Which reaction is appropriate?"
Grace carefully examined Ari’s expression and, seeing as he maintained his usual nonchalance and seemed bored with the conversation, let out a sigh of relief.
If he had a crush on Pink Puma and pursued a romantic relationship at this point, over half of his fans would disappear immediately.
And although she didn’t support idol culture, which restricted dating heavily, that was just how it was in the industry.
"I don’t know. She’s your friend, not mine. Anyway, since you’re going to Korea, I have a list of things that you should bring back for me, places you absolutely have to visit, and stuff to take with you. Don’t worry, someone will pick it up. You know I’ve been working hard for you, right? You owe me."
"Is it drugs?"
"No."
"Okay, that’s fine. I’m allowed two suitcases, so as long as it all fits in one, I don’t really care."
"Then, I’ll have it packed tomorrow and prep the list. Are you going to school?"
"Ya. Got assignments to turn in."
"Okay. Then I’ll let you get some rest. And Ari?"
"What?"
"Good job making it this far and staying true to you. You’ve worked really hard, and I hope you go all the way."
"Thanks, GC."
"I hate that nickname."
"I know."
Laughing in his usual cheeky manner, Ari got up with his usual lazy movements before Grace stopped him once more.
"Wait, Ari. Before you go...you’re not secretly rich or have a sugar mommy or daddy, right?"
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
What kind of messed-up question was this?
"Hell no. Is there something wrong with your brain? Why are you asking me that?"
"It’s not me, geez! There’s been weird rumors on the internet with people claiming you’re secretly rich and have been cosplaying as poor to get sympathy votes. Some weird account keeps saying they’re going to expose your truth. It’s been picking up a little steam because people have been analyzing the clothes you’ve been wearing, which is all name-brand, unreleased stuff from the runways. I’m not saying it’s suspicious but..."
"I modeled for a photoshoot and was gifted the clothing as part of the payment. I meant to sell the clothes off, but they’re pretty comfortable, so I’ve been wearing them. Should I just get rid of them?"
Ari had a headache at the thought that people would now be accusing him of having a secret sugar parent instead of earning money through legitimate means.
Once again, he thought a lot of people needed to find something productive to occupy their time and imagination.
"No, keep it. You’re dressing better than you were before, and you really need to dress to suit your face instead of wearing one outfit constantly. No offense to the iconic animal tracksuit, of course. I’ll just continue keeping tabs on the issue. You should, too."
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know."
After waving her off, Ari walked back to the church and began the process of doing the cleaning he hadn’t done in a long time, and once everything was done, he began opening his presents, starting with Jamie’s gift.
It was an oversized box, and upon opening it, the first thing he saw was a tan cowboy hat resting neatly on the top.
Beneath it were several electronic devices, including a laptop, smartphone, headphones, a microphone, and an envelope containing two plane ticket vouchers and a bright yellow note written in a familiar slanted scrawl.
- To The Sea Captain Himself.
Howdy partner,
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays.
It was an honor meeting you, and I hope we continue to grow our friendship and make music together for years to come, with or without the show that allowed us to meet.
P.s. I used my dad’s credit card to buy the electronics, so don’t tell him and use it all comfortably. He deserves it for talking trash and raising his voice at you :)
P.s.s. It’s the same setup as the hardware and software I have in my studio, so it should be comfortable for you to use when making music, but I can give you another walk-through if you want. :)
P.s.s.s. The tickets are for you and me(hopefully) to go to France together so you can show me around. I’ve never been, and you haven’t been in a while, but you make it sound like a lot of fun whenever you talk about it. We can wear matching cowboy hats when visiting the Eiffel Tower and the museums.
Sincerely,
The Yee to your Haw, James Jones III
Ari looked at the gifts with a sincerely touched expression before picking up the cowboy hat with a pained expression.
"Jamie...if we randomly walk around Paris in matching cowboy hats, they’ll laugh at us and call us weird Americans."
But if that was what he wanted to do, the least Ari could do was accompany him and curse those who made snide comments out in French.
Putting it aside, he opened up all the other presents and quickly sent a thank-you message to all five people before using the laptop to do the tedious work of sorting through his inbox and through the message requests on his social media account.
Just like that, two days quickly passed, and before Ari knew it, he was checking in his luggage and walking to his gate with a simple backpack that contained these things.
Beside him, Jamie had his guitar case strapped to his back while Benjamin, who was dressed like an off-duty soccer player, with his tracksuit and duffel bag, veered off to the side to buy a snack.
When they arrived at their gate, which was slowly filling up with other contestants, causing them to get some looks from people, Ari went to sit down sleepily, while Jamie went to upgrade his seat with a couple of others.
"Are you going to upgrade your seat to business? It’s a long flight, so it will be good to stretch your legs out. There are a few seats still available."
"How much is it?"
"5k."
"Miles?"
"No money."
"As in monopoly money?"
"No real money. American dollars." Jamie replied in confusion.
Ari gave Jamie a bright smile while patting his shoulder firmly.
"Have fun in business class. Eat lots of food for me. Make sure you stretch yourself out properly on the bed. I will be slumming it in economy and plan on sleeping the entire way there or studying Korean when I wake up. See you when we land."
"Are you sure? 15 hours is a really long flight to be squished in economy."
"Very positive. The only way you’ll see me in business class is on someone else’s dime or when I become a multi-millionaire. I’m not picky about where I sleep. Nothing is as bad as being homeless, so I’m not too worried about it." Ari assured him.
Seeing that Jamie didn’t look convinced, Ari whipped the gifted laptop out and waggled his eyebrows.
"I’ve been using the gift well, so thank you once again. Actually, I had something I wanted to show you. I got this song request offer and thought you’d be able to tell me if it looks legit. Take a look."
As Ari handed the laptop over for Jamie to read, the blond boy nodded his head in thought for several minutes as he scrolled down the document while clicking around.
When he reached the end, he nodded at Ari and handed the laptop back.
"So...what do you think? Legit? Scammer?"
"....hmm...Well, I dunno. It’s all in French, and the translate button didn’t work."
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
Jamie: ಠ_ಠ
"...my bad. I’ll translate it into English."
Before Ari could say anything else, the airline worker at their gate began their announcement.
[Korean Air Flight KE018 from LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, to ICN, Incheon International Airport, will now begin boarding.]