There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Fifty-Nine

When the group arrived at the karaoke building the employees on the front desk paled and visibly panicked at the idea of accommodating so many people in a single room. It was only when Eun-young explained that they were happy to split up into groups and rotate between several neighbouring suites that they relaxed and began talking her through the price lists for drinks, snacks, and how the song selections worked. As they were the only people who weren't fluent in Korean, it was decided that Hitomi, Yuta, and Rose ought to stick together and join native speakers so they wouldn't have to struggle through the menu options or worry about switching the languages between songs. As a popular tourist destination for English speaking travellers seeking to immerse themselves in a foreign pastime, the karaoke machines had been loaded with songs in all manner of languages, and Rose was somewhat disappointed that this meant she had no excuse for not standing up and singing. If she'd been able to honestly claim that she didn't know the language of any of the songs she might have been allowed to simply sit and watch the others utterly humiliate themselves. Instead, she would be forced to take part in the challenge both Si-woo and Tae-won had dragged her into.

Jin-hee was a picture of superiority as she walked beside the attendant who showed them to their best room. Naturally, this was the one she wanted to spend her evening in, and wasn't about to go switching into any smaller, dirtier rooms for the sake of fairness. Rose had been called spoiled by several people in her life, but she had nothing on Jin-hee. She even offered to start out in a different room so one of the assistants could enjoy seeing the idol belt out a few of her own songs without the aid of auto-tune. Rose's suggestion was immediately shut down, and she found herself caught up in the tide of people as they swept through the door and found their seats. Hitomi and Jung-wook snatched up the song directory tablet and began hunting for their favourites while Yuta and Eun-young took charge of the snacks for the room. A small wooden dancefloor area stood before a television screen which displayed a screensaver image while the machine waited for the users to select their song. At the opposite end of the room was a long U-shaped sofa area upholstered in red leather with a wooden table in the middle, almost like a booth right out of an American diner. A tacky light show started up as soon as the door was closed courtesy of an overhead system, and Rose cringed inside at the thought of standing in front of all these people she had to work with and singing her heart out.

Before Hitomi and Jung-wook could choose their first number, Jin-hee snatched the tablet out of their hands and stood in front of the television screen. 'Aish, they never have my new material,' she complained loudly.

'Maybe you should go and shout at them?' Hitomi suggested. 'Take as long as you need. Like, all night.'

Jin-hee glared at her. 'Yah, little cousin, keep your mouth shut if you're not going to sing with it.'

'Who're you calling little cousin?' Hitomi snapped at her.

''Tomi,' Rose hissed at her, worried her friend might work herself up into a rage and reveal their secrets just to prove that she wasn't someone Jin-hee should order around. If she'd had any idea the company Hitomi would one day inherit, she'd have been hanging onto her hand and asking if they could be best friends. Rose shook her head pointedly and said in Japanese, 'It's not worth it.'

Hitomi dropped back in her seat and pouted. In their native tongue, she replied, 'Fine. But she'd better be terrible.'

'I speak Japanese!' Jin-hee snapped at them in their language.

'Then sing something Japanese,' Hitomi retorted. 'If you're really that good it shouldn't be a problem, right?'

Jin-hee hesitated. There was a huge difference between grasping basic conversational skills in a different language and singing in it. For one thing, a person had to know the inflections of each word, mind their tone, and be careful not to mix it up with a similar expression which was easily done when singing. Rather than rise to Hitomi's bait, she thrust the tablet into Si-woo's arms and ordered, 'You sing first.'