Chương 118: Bonus story : More than just colleagues : Part 22 : Karaoke

The following Saturday, Lucas asked everyone to meet outside a small establishment. Unlike the restaurants, bars, and homes where they had gathered so far, the place displayed large photographs of colorful microphones across its façade, along with a glowing sign advertising several private karaoke rooms. Aldric found Emma standing by the entrance, reading the list of prices posted on the window.

"Do you already know what we're going to do?" she asked.

"Lucas explained the general principle to me. Music is played while a person reproduces the lyrics displayed on a screen. I still do not understand the purpose of doing so in front of other people."

"Because it's fun."

"For the person singing or for those listening?"

"That depends on the person singing…" The answer did little to help him, but Aldric did not have time to ask any more questions. Patrick arrived with Karim.

"Lucas isn't here yet?" Patrick asked.

"He still has two minutes," Aldric said.

"There's still hope…" Karim studied the establishment.

"Have you done this before?" Aldric asked.

"Twice."

"And do you enjoy this activity?"

"I mostly enjoy watching other people."

"Same…" Patrick said. A voice came from behind them.

"You lack ambition." Lucas was approaching with a broad smile. Patrick checked his watch.

"On time." Lucas raised his arms.

"As always…"

"With thirty-four seconds to spare," Aldric said. Lucas pointed at him.

"Thank you. I want that officially recorded." They all went inside together. Lucas had reserved a room for two hours. Behind the counter, an employee with purple hair looked up at them.

"Good evening! What name is the reservation under?"

"Lucas. Five people." She checked her screen.

"Room twelve, for two hours," she confirmed.

"Have you been here before?"

"I have," Lucas replied.

"They haven't."

"Then don't worry. The rooms are well soundproofed."

"Why are you looking at us while saying that?" Patrick asked.

"Experience," she replied. Lucas immediately turned toward Patrick and pointed at him with a grin.

"You're right to be concerned. We already have our favorite." Patrick frowned.

"I'm not singing."

"That's what they all say when they arrive. Forty minutes later, they're asking for a second microphone."

"Not me." She picked up a tablet from behind the counter and motioned for them to follow her. They walked down a corridor lined with red, blue, and yellow doors, behind which voices of varying degrees of accuracy could be heard. In front of a pink door, the employee stopped and listened.

"That one has been singing the same song for twenty minutes," she confided.

"His friends are very brave." Emma stifled a laugh while Patrick looked at Lucas.

"There's still time to leave."

"Absolutely not…" The employee opened a blue door and invited them inside. The room contained a U-shaped couch, a speaker, two microphones, and a screen mounted on the wall. Several colored lights shifted from one shade to another across the ceiling.

"You choose the songs on this tablet. You can search for a title, an artist, or browse through the categories. The microphones turn on with the button here. Please avoid hitting them against the table to check whether they work." Lucas, who had just picked one up, froze mid-motion.

"I was only going to speak into it."

"Of course…" She then showed them a button near the door.

"If you have a problem, press this. If someone refuses to give up the microphone after six songs, however, you'll have to settle that among yourselves. We don't provide family mediation." She wished them a good evening and closed the door behind her.

"She was unsettling…" Patrick said.

"She mostly sounded experienced," Karim replied.

"And she was right. In an hour, you'll all be fighting over who gets to sing."

"I'd rather face another hike," Patrick said. Aldric examined the screen, the tablet, and the lights.

"I still do not understand why a room intended for singing needs to be private." Emma took off her jacket with a smile.

"Wait until you hear Lucas. You'll understand." Lucas gave her a mock-offended look before sitting down in the middle of the couch. Aldric continued inspecting the room.

"Two microphones for five people," he observed.

"Two people can sing together," Lucas said.

"And the other three?"

"They listen, applaud, or make fun of you." Patrick sat down.

"Mostly the third option."

"I'm sensing a lot of negativity…" Karim took a seat beside Patrick.

"That's experience." Emma sat down on the other side of the couch.

"Who's going first?" Lucas grabbed one of the microphones.

"Me." He picked up the tablet and browsed through several categories before selecting Alors on danse by Stromae.

"You're choosing that?" Emma asked.

"I've got this."

"That sentence is probably going to age badly," Karim said.

"Prepare yourselves for a demonstration of pure talent."

"That's exactly what we're worried about," Patrick replied. The opening notes of Alors on danse began to play, accompanied by a countdown that appeared in large letters on the screen. As soon as the lyrics started scrolling, Lucas began singing with absolute confidence, following the rhythm but considerably less faithfully following the melody. Patrick initially tried to keep a straight face, but he did not even make it to the chorus before bursting out laughing.

Without stopping, Lucas turned toward him and gave him an offended look. When a few instrumental seconds finally gave him a break, he moved the microphone away from his mouth.

"You could at least wait until the end before making fun of me."

"I tried," Patrick replied.

"You didn't give me the chance."

"I'm singing in tune."

"You're following the rhythm…" Karim said.

"That's already an important part of the song…" Emma was laughing now too.

"Keep going. With a little luck, the music might eventually catch up with you." Lucas brought the microphone back to his mouth.

"You're just jealous." The chorus began. He raised his voice even more. Patrick leaned forward, unable to hold back another burst of laughter.

"The walls may be soundproofed," he said, "but I'm starting to think they're not soundproofed enough."

"Respect the artist!" The interruption made him miss several words. Patrick put a hand over one ear.

"You know there's a microphone, right?" Lucas kept going. Karim leaned toward Aldric.

"He always sings like this."

"Loudly?"

"Very loudly."

"The microphone does indeed seem unnecessary at this distance." When the song ended, the screen displayed a score of seventy-two points. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Lucas raised his arms.

"There!" Lucas turned toward Patrick.

"Your turn." Patrick shook his head.

"No."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because that's the whole point." Patrick looked at Karim.

"Help me."

"Sing…" Karim said. Emma smiled.

"I want to hear you." Patrick sighed before taking the second microphone.

"Fine. But one song." Lucas picked up the tablet.

"I'll choose."

"Absolutely not." Patrick took the tablet from him and searched for a song himself. After a few moments, he selected Un autre monde by Téléphone.

"Very good choice," Lucas said. The music started, and Patrick waited for the first lyrics to appear before raising the microphone to his mouth.

"Je rêvais d'un autre monde…" He delivered the line with complete seriousness, but on a note so far from the melody that Emma looked over at Lucas. He bit his lip to hold back his laughter, while Karim lowered his gaze toward the floor. Patrick continued singing the next lines with the same confidence. He was not merely slightly off-key: every new line seemed to follow an entirely different melody. After a few seconds, Lucas could no longer contain himself and burst out laughing. Patrick lowered the microphone.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"Then why are you laughing?"

"No reason. Keep going."

"You didn't even try to hold it in."

"I did. For almost ten seconds." Patrick turned toward Emma, but her eyes were already watering.

"You too?" Emma raised her hands apologetically.

"Sorry. I really was trying not to laugh."

"What are you all laughing at? I'm singing normally." Patrick gave her an offended look before bringing the microphone back to his mouth. He resumed the song with even less effort to follow the melody, raising his voice with every line.

"Louder doesn't mean more in tune!" Lucas shouted.

"I'm drowning out your laughter," Patrick replied between two lines.

"You're drowning out the music too!" Emma added. This time, even Karim burst out laughing. Aldric looked back and forth between Patrick and the lyrics scrolling across the screen.

"The words appear to be correct," he observed.

"Thank you."

"The melody, however, seems different from the one being played through the speakers." Lucas doubled over on the couch while Patrick resumed the song without replying. When he finished, the screen displayed a score of fifty-nine. Lucas stood up.

"Beaten." Patrick handed him back the microphone.

"Enjoy it. It won't happen often."

"Fortunately for our ears," Karim said.

"You're singing now," Patrick said. Karim raised his hands.

"I didn't say anything."

"Too late."

"I agree," Emma said.

"Are you serious? …" Patrick held out the microphone.

"Completely." Karim took the tablet and browsed through the catalog before selecting Les Murs de poussière by Francis Cabrel.

"What's that?" Lucas asked.

"A song," Karim replied.

"Thanks, I figured that out. But nobody knows it."

"You don't know it." Lucas turned toward the others.

"Does anyone know it?" Patrick shook his head, while Emma studied the title without recognizing it.

"See?" Lucas continued.

"Nobody."

"Then this will be an opportunity to hear it." When Karim began to sing, the atmosphere changed. His calm voice followed the melody with unexpected accuracy, and Lucas's jokes gradually gave way to silence. Lucas slowly stopped smiling, while Emma raised her eyebrows and Patrick sat up straighter on the couch. Karim could sing. Lucas exchanged a look with Patrick.

"Since when can he sing like that?"

"No idea." When he finished, a score of eighty-six appeared on the screen. Lucas stared at it before abruptly standing up.

"No. I refuse." Karim put down the microphone.

"What?"

"You can't keep quiet about this for years and then suddenly pull that out."

"I've worked with him for years and I didn't know either," Patrick said.

"Do you sing often?" Emma asked.

"No."

"Then why can you sing like that?" Karim shrugged.

"My mother sang a lot when I was little. We used to sing at home."

"Fine. New rule. You're no longer allowed to say you can't do something without proof…"

"Okay."

"You clearly have good control over pitch," Aldric said.

"Thank you." Lucas placed a hand over his heart.

"He gets a positive analysis, and I got 'the microphone is useless.'""You were singing much louder." Emma burst out laughing. After Karim, it was Emma's turn. She quickly browsed through the list before selecting Moi… Lolita by Alizée, a song she had known since she was a teenager. When the title appeared on the screen, Lucas nodded.

"Of course." Emma took the microphone.

"What do you mean, 'of course'?"

"Every girl from your generation knows this song."

"And unlike you, some of them can actually sing it."

"That hurt…" The music started. Emma sang well enough, without Karim's natural ease but accurately enough that Lucas began moving along in his seat. When the chorus came, he raised his hands. Emma burst out laughing in the middle of a line and missed several words.

"Stop! You're distracting me!"

"I'm encouraging you!" Aldric was mostly watching the screen. The more he observed the progression of the lyrics, the more structured the activity seemed to him. The words were provided, the rhythm was predictable, and the system even assigned a score. It almost resembled an exercise. When Emma's song ended with a score of eighty-one, Lucas applauded.

"Very good." Emma bowed.

"Thank you." Then she turned toward Aldric.

"Your turn." Aldric frowned.

"Why?" Lucas's eyes widened.

"Are you seriously asking that?"

"Yes."

"Because everyone gets a turn." Aldric looked at the two microphones.

"I have never sung in this context before."

"We noticed," Patrick said. Emma held out a microphone to him.

"That doesn't matter."

"I know almost no modern songs." Lucas picked up the tablet.

"That, I can fix."

"I would prefer to choose for myself," Aldric said. Lucas stopped before handing him the device.

"Fine…" Aldric browsed through the list. He recognized a few songs he had heard at Emma's place or in movies, but none whose lyrics he knew. After watching him hesitate over several titles, Lucas lost patience and leaned toward the tablet.

"You're taking too long. I'm just going to help you a little." Before Aldric could stop him, he selected Les Lacs du Connemara by Michel Sardou.

"I wasn't finished," Aldric pointed out.

"You were never going to finish." The title appeared on the screen.

"Why did you choose this song?"

"Because it's about wild lands, clans, and conflict. It was made for you."

"Your description seems deliberately incomplete."

"You'll discover the rest while singing." Patrick studied the smile on Lucas's face.

"I really don't like that expression."

"I do," Emma replied.

"I want to see how this turns out." The first notes began to play. Lucas immediately sat back down, clearly pleased with his choice, while Aldric took the microphone. The music started, and the first lyrics appeared on the screen. Aldric spoke them. After a few lines, Lucas frowned while Patrick leaned toward Karim.

"He's not really singing." Karim nodded as he watched Aldric.

"He's reciting the lyrics over the music."

"Aldric…" Aldric continued until an instrumental break.

"Yes?"

"You have to sing."

"That is what I am doing." Emma burst out laughing.

"Not exactly." Aldric frowned.

"I followed the rhythm."

"Yes, but you're reciting."

"What precise difference am I supposed to apply?" Lucas covered his face with both hands.

"He wants a manual." Patrick burst out laughing.

"You need to vary your voice more to follow the melody," Emma explained.

"According to the notes?"

"Yes." Aldric looked at the screen.

"They are not displayed."

"Use your ears," Lucas said. Aldric resumed when the chorus began. This time, he tried to imitate the melody, and the result sounded much closer to actual singing. Emma's eyes widened before she burst out laughing. Lucas turned toward her.

"Wait. That's not bad…" Patrick nodded as he continued listening.

"No. It's actually pretty decent." Aldric kept trying to apply the corrections he had just received. At the end of the chorus, Lucas gave him a thumbs-up.

"There! Now you're actually singing!" When Aldric finished, a score of seventy-six appeared on the screen.

"That is higher than Lucas's score," he said. Emma burst out laughing, and Patrick turned toward Lucas while Karim could no longer hide his smile. Lucas simply stared at Aldric with his mouth open.

"Did you seriously just say that?" Aldric pointed at the score.

"It is accurate."

"Are you provoking me?"

"Partly…" This time, everyone burst out laughing. Lucas placed a hand over his heart.

"I regret everything we've taught him…"

"I don't," Patrick said. Lucas announced that he refused to remain behind Aldric and selected Je te donne by Jean-Jacques Goldman, a song he claimed to know much better.

"This time, you'll see the difference."

"You already said that before the first one," Patrick reminded him.

"Now I understand the scoring system."

"You think that's going to help you sing in tune?" Emma asked. Lucas ignored her and started singing. He scored seventy-nine points and immediately raised both arms.

"There! Three points higher!"

"You are still behind Karim and Emma," Aldric said.

"Nobody asked you to check the rankings…"

"Only three points ahead of me."

"You're really looking for a fight…" They then began singing duets. Lucas and Patrick chose"Antisocial" by Trust, a rock song. Patrick was still just as off-key, but Lucas raised his voice enough that no one could tell which of them was making the bigger mistakes. Instead of following the melody, they shouted the chorus with growing conviction, making Emma and Karim laugh. Karim looked at Aldric.

"Their strategy is interesting."

"The volume does indeed conceal some of the inaccuracies."

"We can hear you!" Patrick shouted. When the song ended, Lucas looked at the score.

"Sixty-four?" Patrick shrugged.

"We did our best."

"I did my best. You destroyed our average…"

"Prove it…" Lucas looked at the screen.

"Impossible."

"Then we share equal responsibility." Karim applauded. Emma then chose"J'irai où tu iras" by Céline Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman to sing as a duet with Karim. Their performance was accurate enough to push their score above ninety, prompting immediate protests from Lucas.

"You cheated."

"How?" Emma asked.

"I don't know yet."

"Figure it out quickly," Karim said.

"They simply reproduced the melody more accurately," Aldric said. Lucas turned toward him.

"You always take their side."

"There are no sides. The result is numerical." Lucas selected"Je te promets" by Johnny Hallyday and positioned himself in front of Patrick as soon as the music started. Throughout the entire chorus, he sang while staring directly at him.

"Why me?" Lucas continued without answering and even held out a hand toward him. Emma was laughing so hard that she had to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes, while Karim pulled out his phone.

"Don't film this," Patrick said.

"Too late."

"Karim…"

"The group deserves to see this tomorrow morning." Patrick shook his head. When the music stopped, Lucas bowed to him.

"Thank you for sharing this moment with me."

"I'm never coming here with you again."

"You say that now." Patrick took the microphone from his hand.

"Give me the tablet. It's my turn." Patrick selected"Let It Go", the song from Frozen. When the title appeared on the screen, Lucas stared at him in disbelief.

"Seriously?"

"Sit down." He began singing even more off-key than before while imitating some of the character's gestures. This time, even Aldric understood that he was deliberately exaggerating. Lucas went from surprise to laughter, Emma could barely breathe, and Karim was still filming. Aldric watched Patrick. At the depot, their team leader was usually the one who kept everything organized. He remained calm and reasonable and rarely found himself at the center of their jokes. Here, he no longer seemed to care about his image.

He was deliberately singing badly in front of everyone simply because it made his friends laugh. When the song ended, Patrick scored thirty-two points. Lucas immediately stood up and applauded.

"New record!" Patrick placed the microphone on the table.

"I'm proud of myself."

"You should be ashamed." Karim finally put his phone away.

"The video's going in the group."

"I can still fire you…"

"Not on a Saturday," Karim replied. Emma burst out laughing, and Patrick gave up on responding. The evening continued in the same spirit. Drinks were replaced, songs followed one another, and even Aldric agreed to take part in a second song, this time with Emma. She selected On écrit sur les murs and handed him one of the microphones.

"You know the chorus."

"I've heard it at your place before."

"Then you have no excuse."

"I wasn't looking for one." Emma smiled at him as the first notes began to play. Aldric managed to follow the melody. He still sang far too seriously, but his voice blended well enough with Emma's. During a short instrumental break, he looked up at the counter evaluating their performance.

"Are you still watching the score? You don't need to analyze it throughout the entire song."

"Then why display it?"

"To make the activity fun, not to produce a performance report."

"I am indeed participating in this activity for the purpose of having fun."

"You know that simply stating it makes the sentence much less convincing?"

"And yet, it is accurate." The chorus resumed before she could answer. Emma brought the microphone back to her mouth.

"Sing!" Lucas shouted. The music continued and, this time, Aldric followed the melody much more naturally. Emma helped him when he hesitated during one passage, and during the chorus, they sang well enough for Lucas to start waving his arms above his head. Karim lightly tapped out the rhythm with his hand. Aldric gradually noticed that he was barely looking at the lyrics anymore. He already knew this part and was able to follow Emma without needing to check the screen.

When the song ended, a score of eighty-three appeared. Emma raised her hand toward him. He lightly slapped his palm against hers.

"He does high fives now…" Lucas said.

"The transformation is almost complete," Patrick added. Aldric returned to his seat on the couch.

"I was already familiar with that gesture."

"But you never used it," Emma said.

"The opportunity had not presented itself before." Around ten o'clock, their original reservation came to an end. Lucas nevertheless managed to get them an extra hour. Patrick protested for a few seconds before agreeing.

"See?" Lucas said.

"What?" Patrick asked.

"You want to stay."

"Only for an hour."

"So you want to stay." Patrick sighed. During that final hour, the competition disappeared. They mostly chose songs they all knew well enough to sing together, and the two microphones passed from one person to another. Lucas still sang louder than necessary, Karim remained the most in tune, and Emma regularly burst out laughing in the middle of the lyrics.

Patrick, meanwhile, had abandoned any attempt at accuracy, while Aldric was beginning to understand the activity well enough to participate without asking for explanations. When their extra hour came to an end, the microphones passed from hand to hand one last time before the music stopped. Lucas protested, but Patrick immediately stood up to get his jacket.

"This time, we're leaving."

"We could ask for another hour."

"No."

"Half an hour?"

"No." Karim checked the time on his phone.

"It's almost eleven thirty." Emma stood up as well while Aldric placed the last microphone back on the table. Several photographs and videos taken throughout the evening were already appearing in the group chat. Patrick looked at his screen.

"Karim…"

"Yes?"

"Delete that video."

"Too late, I saved everything…" Lucas said. Patrick gave him a threatening look, but Lucas did not even notice. He had just opened the group's photo gallery and was scrolling through the images. The others were finishing gathering their things when he suddenly stopped.

"Wait…" Emma turned toward him.

"What now?" Lucas enlarged a photograph, then scrolled back through the conversation.

"I found the first photos of the group."