Karaoke

“Welcome to Nagamura Karaoke!” A tall boy around Jin and Miyuki's age bowed. At the end of his bow his eyes lifted and were filled with recognition. “Ah, Iwazaki. I didn't expect to see you here. Who's this?”

Miyuki shrunk underneath the boy's gaze, praying he wouldn't recognize her. “I'm, uh…”

“She's my cousin,” Jin stepped in. “Here from Sapporo for the weekend.”

“I see,” he said. “Welcome to Tokyo. Is it just you two today?”

“Yes,” Jin responded. “I didn't know you worked here, Tanaka.”

“I started a few weeks ago. Any drinks or snacks to start?”

“No thank–”

“Do you have cream puffs?” Miyuki interrupted.

“We do.”

“We'll have some of those.”

The worker grabbed a notepad and pen to write down the order. “How long will you be with us today?”

“Two hours,” she said.

“That will be thirty-two hundred yen. Anything else I can get you?”

“That will be all,” she said, reaching into her coat pocket to grab her wallet. Miyuki handed him a five thousand yen note.

A moment later, he handed her some change along with a tag that read Room 17. “Enjoy your time.”

“Thank you,” she smiled behind her glasses and led Jin down the hall on the left. There were doors on both sides of the hall, and the one they were given was toward the back on the right side. Black letters above the doorway told the visitors what each room's number was.

The room was dark, lit only by dim blue lights that lined the edge of the ceiling. In the back of the room, a white bar on a large screen invited them to select a song. The booth looked cozy, with clay-colored couches surrounding a white square table that stood on a singular metal leg. On the table was a small black remote for the screen that only had a few buttons on it, as well as a microphone.

Miyuki sat down and patted the spot next to her for Jin to sit. “Do you sing much?”

“Not at all,” Jin said before taking a seat beside Miyuki.

“This should be fun, then,” she smiled and handed him the remote. “You first.”

“If you insist,” he accepted the remote and pressed the ok button. In response, the screen changed to a pink floral background with a list of songs on the left hand side. While Jin looked through the musical catalog, portions of the song he had selected would play until he moved on to the next one.

A knock echoed from the door and the employee from the front came in with a tray dotted with cream puffs. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said.

Miyuki eyed the cream puffs with the cute excitement of a child at an amusement park mixed with the hunger of a starving wolf. The moment he set the tray on the table, she lunged forward and popped one in her mouth. An explosion of icy sweetness filled her mouth. “So good…” she moaned.

“Happy it’s to your liking. Would you like anything else?” Tanaka asked.

Miyuki shook her head. “We’re all good, thank you.”

“Understood. If you change your mind, the remote has a button that brings up the food and drink menu. Have a good karaoke session,” he bowed and exited the room.

“I think I’ll do this one,” Jin announced.

On the screen, and playing on the speakers around the room, was a song Miyuki had never heard before. “Don’t Give Up by WANTED, huh?” She recognized the band; a year ago they reached out to her to star as the vocalist in one of their songs. “Let’s see how good you are,” she said.

Jin selected the song and there was a brief period of quiet before the song started where the lights in the room turned off. The lights powered on again when the song began to play. He cleared his throat and swapped the remote for the mic.

The song he had selected was rock, as Miyuki expected from WANTED. She listened to Jin’s singing, nodding along to the song.

When the music ended, his score flashed onto the screen. 6.2/10 for pitch, 7.5 for timing, and 8.6 for volume, with a 7.4 overall score for the performance. “That was pretty good for someone who doesn’t sing,” she clapped. “Good job, Jin! Maybe you have the talent to be a singer yourself if you put some effort in,” she winked.

“I’ll have to pass,” he said with heavy breaths to refill the extra air he had expended during the performance. “Your turn.”

“Prepare to be amazed,” she reached for the remote and searched for her name. Several of her songs were listed, but to her dismay, Phoenix was not one of them. “I guess it’s too new to be on here yet,” she muttered to herself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” she continued searching through the list until she stopped on Precious Memories, one of her first songs that had helped boost her popularity. The music started, and she took a deep breath.

Magic sparkled in the air as she sang. The lyrics reflected how fond her memories of the past were, and how she will cherish them forever. Those lyrics, meant for Jin, mixed with her melodic voice, did not spare Jin from feeling the bittersweet emotions that Miyuki must’ve had while writing the song. It was as if Miyuki was an enchantress, using her voice to make him feel whatever she wanted him to.

The song was overall happy, but had a deep undertone of sadness and longing that fit together in a way Jin didn’t think was possible. Tears formed in his eyes but refused to escape until the song came to a conclusion.

Miyuki’s score popped up on screen, and was perfect all across the board. “What did you think?” She glanced over at Jin and widened her eyes when saw his tears. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he wiped the tears from his eyes. “That was beautiful.”

Her mouth gaped open with glee and she sprung forward, throwing Jin onto his back in a hug. “I’m so happy you think so!”

“Miyuki, please get up…” He groaned. Her arms were squeezing him tight enough to make his breathing coarse.

“I’m sorry!” She pushed herself back to her knees. The room all of the sudden felt much hotter as she realized the situation she had put herself in. She sat with her knees on Jin’s legs, overlooking him laying down in front of her. She bounced back to her original spot with a yelp. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to–” she couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking. Her face was redder than a beat drenched in sweet and sour sauce.

“It’s okay,” he scrambled to a sitting position and breathed. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“M-maybe you should sing next…” she hung her head, hoping Jin wouldn’t notice how deep she was blushing.

Before he could respond, Miyuki’s phone started to buzz. Startled, she pulled it out of her coat pocket. “It’s my manager,” she said. “Sorry, I have to take this real quick.” She turned away from Jin and answered the call. “Hey Hiroshi, what's going on?”

“Miyuki, I need you at my office as soon as possible,” her manager urged.

“Huh? You don’t usually sound this serious. What's going on?”

“You'll see when you get here.”