by Nara Noelle
After I mustered up a bit of energy, I stripped off my clothes and took a hot shower.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” I sang in a whisper as I washed the shampoo out of my bright-red hair, which looked much better than before now that I had professional hairstylists for the show to dye it for me. “Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
God, I should’ve knocked on wood or something. Moments later, I stumbled in the shower and nearly slipped over as a huge siren went off.
As if the noise wasn’t deafening, Juno screamed over the siren, “Hamin? Where are you?”
“I’m in the bathroom,” I yelled as I got out of the shower and picked my clothes up off the floor.
“Dude, what on Earth is going on? What are we supposed to do?” he croaked, slamming on the bathroom door.
“I… I don’t know,” I said, frantically throwing on my T-shirt, boxers, and sweats. With the siren ringing in my ear obnoxiously, I could hardly focus on what I was doing; I could’ve put everything on inside out without realizing.
“Students, this is a tsunami drill,” someone announced from outside the bathroom.
“What? A tsunami? Bloody hell, we’re going to drown!” Juno bellowed.
“No. That’s not what I said. This is a tsunami—”
“A tsunami, a tsunami! This has to be a dream. Please tell me it’s a nightmare. I can’t swim!”
“Could you calm down and let me finish speaking?”
After I put on my belly bag and dashed out of the bathroom, I saw Juno standing by our front door next to one of the security guards.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Hello. We’re in the middle of a tsunami drill. Please put on some proper footwear and use the stairs to evacuate the building,” the security guard explained.
Though my stomach was beginning to hurt again, and all I wanted to do was snuggle in bed, I followed his instructions. Soon, I was standing with the other students in the garden behind the east wing. Since it was barely dawn, everybody was in pajamas or trackpants. When I spotted a couple of cameramen with their filming equipment, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of joke. The other students grumbled and chattered among themselves until Sammy and PD Oakland appeared. Okay. This definitely had to be a dumb prank.
“Good morning, guys,” Sammy called out.
“Good morning,” some of my classmates replied in unison.
“What the heck’s going on, Sammy? Why are we doing a tsunami drill so early in the morning?” asked another student.
“Because tsunamis don’t care whether we’re awake or not,” Mas said with a yawn. His friends roared with laughter as if he’d made the most hilarious joke of the century.
After Sammy gave PD Oakland a knowing nod, he said, “Actually, your tsunami drill ends here. Let me tell you the real reason you guys had to jump out of your beds this early in the morning. You’ll be taking part in a surprise activity today.”
I put my hand over my belly and tensed up in pain. If this surprise activity involved any physical activity, I was going to flip out.
“As you guys know, being a television personality is a major part of stardom. While it’s important to be charismatic when you’re performing on stage, it’s also crucial for you to be entertaining and authentic when you appear on variety shows or play games in interviews. To encourage you to share a different side of you with our viewers and try new things with an open-minded attitude, you’ll be going on a hike today.” Sammy looked at me with a contemptuous smile. “Oh, and the next round of viewer votes will take place afterward. The top fifteen students will be staying on the island.”
Chapter 21
RJ
People think guys like me—the big, strong, and aggressive type drenched in testosterone—must be sex-crazed beasts. While they’re not entirely wrong, the truth is, all men are capable of being horny motherfuckers. Apparently, even chubby dorks like Hamin are not an exception. Who would’ve known he was a peeping tom, lurking around in women’s bathrooms? Pretty hilarious, really.
I recognized his filthy red sneakers the instant I saw them under the partition. Even though he killed the mood when he ran away out of the blue, I wasn’t too worked up about the fact that he’d cockblocked me. First off, I had no feelings for the girl. Candy? Sandy? Whatever her name was, I had no interest in remembering it. Frankly, I wouldn’t have looked twice at her if she hadn’t come onto me while I was tipsy. I was also sexually frustrated due to the fact I hadn’t gotten any since I arrived on Starsaw Island.
Admittedly, it turned me on to know that there was someone listening to my grunts and ogling at my big fat cock—whether he was titillated or envious, I didn’t care. What I liked most of all was how I had a secret to hold against Hamin while we were up in the mountain. I was determined to give him hell.
Before the hike, Sammy had already divided the students into five groups and assigned each one to our band members and Eugene, who for some reason was the only judge that had volunteered to join us. When I received a piece of paper with the list, I scanned through it with just one name in mind.
As soon as I checked which group Hamin had been allocated to, I went up to Sammy, who’d been talking to Eugene.
“Hey,” I said, tapping Sammy’s shoulder. “Can I have a quick word with you?”
“Sure. What’s up?” he replied.
“Before I get into it, can we talk—”
Sammy nudged me, then quickly turned his head toward Eugene and one of the cameramen.
Fuck. Right. Now was not the time to discuss anything privately.
“If it’s alright with you, could you put me with Group 5 instead?” I asked, holding up the list.
“What’s wrong with the group you’re with now? Are you trying to avoid someone?” Eugene joked.
I clenched my jaw. “Do I look like the kind of guy that needs to avoid people?”
“Just checking,” Eugene replied with an uneasy chuckle.
When I saw the camera zooming in on us, I laughed with him. “No, man. It’s not like that. You see, I’m rather fond of the contestants in Group 2. They were all great students in my class, which isn’t surprising, seeing as they’re mostly alpha students. On the other hand, I noticed that I haven’t had a lot of time with the students in Group 5. I’d like to get to know them better, you know?”
“Gotcha. Eugene’s currently been put in charge of the Group 5 students, so if you guys want to make a switch, go ahead,” Sammy said.
“What do you say, Eugene?” I asked.
Eugene nodded. “RJ, I get what you’re saying. In fact, I was looking forward to getting to know the boys in Group 5 a little better too. Other than Mas, these students seem to be the underdogs—the ones who managed to pass the first round of votes despite not having had much airtime. So why don’t we switch later? You go with Group 2 and I’ll supervise Group 5 on the way up. Then you come back down with Group 5 and I’ll take care of Group 2.”
“You want us to take turns?” I groaned.
“Yeah. Is there a problem with that?”
“These are students, not toys. Forget it. You have fun with the Group 5 contestants,” I snapped.
During the hike up the mountain, I barely talked to the students in my group. Although they wanted to receive feedback on a new verse they’d recently written—I suppose to earn brownie points with me and score some airtime—I couldn’t stop thinking about how I should confront Hamin. When we stopped for a bathroom break, I spotted Eugene standing in line, talking to Hamin, and approached them.
“Great weather today, huh?” Eugene said to me.
“It’s a bit too sunny, but otherwise, yeah,” I muttered, my eyes on Hamin. He was fanning his face with his left hand and placed the other on his belly bag. I furrowed my brow. What the hell was he hiding in there? Chocolate bars? Donuts? A pet hamster?
“So are you going to use the bathroom or not?” Hamin asked. Though he’d said it in an innocuous tone
of voice, one corner of his mouth curved up. The bastard was clearly trying to fuck with me.
“I need to talk to you,” I hissed, ignoring his question.
“And I have to use the bathroom. Looks like it’s my turn,” he replied the moment the wooden bathroom door swung open.
I stepped off to the side to wait for him. What the idiot didn’t know was that keeping me waiting would merely fuel my anger. As soon as he came back out, I flashed him a smirk and grabbed him by the wrist.
“W-What’s going on?” he yelped while I dragged him to the bushes behind the bathroom.
“Nobody can help you now, so I suggest you lower your goddamn voice,” I whispered.
“Sorry. What did you say?” he said, slipping his hands into his pockets.
“Shut the fuck up, alright?”
“Or you’re going to do what?” He laughed. “It’s not like we’re all alone out here. There are people over by the bathroom.”
When I swooped him up by the collar of his sweatshirt, he grew quiet. For a few seconds, neither of us uttered a word. Then, while still carrying him, I marched over toward an overhanging rock.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Hamin muttered.
“I’m surprised you continue to underestimate just how terribly I can fuck you up,” I growled, my hand shaking while I raised him higher.
“Alright, alright. Point taken. Put me down,” he cried out.
When I swung him around, he squeezed his eyes shut. I slammed him down onto a shrub.
“Ouch!” he squeaked as something fell out of his pocket. It slid down the leaves and onto the dirt. His face turned pale the instant he saw the little black thing land on the ground.
“What the fuck is that?” I hissed.
Though he extended his arm and leaped toward the item—which appeared to be an electronic cigarette or USB stick—my feet were faster.
“No,” he murmured when I stomped on it.
However, curiosity got the better of me, and I made sure not to crush it up. Whatever the hell this thing was, he’d been trying to hide it from me. I swooped down and picked it up in one swift motion.
“What do we have here?” I said tauntingly.
“It’s nothing,” he blurted out.
“Hamin, what do you take me for? Clearly this isn’t nothing, seeing as it was important enough for you to bring with you during an early-morning tsunami drill.” I blew dirt off the item, then gave it a second glance. “Come on, buddy. Admit it. This is the one thing you couldn’t leave your room without, isn’t it? I’m not sure what you do with this, so let me guess. Is it a hard drive of your favorite porn?”
“No.”
“What is it then, you piece of shit?”
“I… I don’t know, RJ—I mean Teacher. I didn’t even know I had it in my pocket.”
For somebody who knew how ruthless I could be, he sure liked to push the boundaries.
“Sure. Keep bluffing. You’ll see where that takes you,” I said, grinning at him as I pressed a little button on the side of the electronic device.
Nothing happened. This wasn’t enough to dissuade me though. You see, I wasn’t the type of guy who knocked on a door once, then called it quits. Nope. I was a stubborn bastard who knocked on the door again and again, regardless of whether the door was covered in spikes. Hell, I was willing to smash it down with my bare hands if I wanted to get in badly enough.
In this situation, there was no need for any of that. When I pushed down on the button for the second time, a sound came on.
“Shut the fuck up, alright?” played the device.
I recognized the voice immediately because it was mine. So this was a voice recorder, huh?
The recording went on. “Or you’re going to do—”
Suddenly, the audio stopped as white noise came on. I pressed the button repeatedly, then shook it, but it appeared to be broken. Goddammit. I clenched onto it and drew my hand back as I intended to throw it away. However, when I heard laughter from afar, I was reminded of Sammy, Terry, and Arang and changed my mind. I could chuck this out after I’d shown it to them. Once I shoved it into my pocket, I swooped up a handful of bark and leaves.
Hamin stared at me, his eyes full of trepidation.
“You were going to record our conversation and use it against me, weren’t you?” I growled.
He shook his head. The son of a bitch was obviously too scared to muster a single word.
“Sucks to have someone screw up your plans, huh? How does failure taste?” I said, flinging the bark and leaves at his face.
“That’s not true. I wasn’t—”
“Shut it.” I slapped his mouth. “Now, I’m going to ask you some questions. You better not fuck with me, unless you’d like to swallow a pound of bark, you hear me?”
“O-Okay,” he quavered.
I tapped on my pocket. “What did you intend to do with this? Who were you going to play this to?”
“Nobody.”
“Jesus, you’re wasting my time.” I kicked him in the shin. “I guess you’d like a bark sandwich then.”
“No, no! Wait. Please.” Hamin sighed. “The truth is, I’ve been bullied all my life.”
I bit the inside of my mouth and squinted to keep my emotions under control. To be completely honest, the tremor in his voice when he said the word “bullied” made me feel sort of bad for him. However, seconds later, it left me feeling furious. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to attempt to tug at my heartstrings. If I was gullible and sympathetic, I never would’ve dragged him over here in the first place.
He lowered his gaze and continued. “I’ve never been the cool kid. Heck, I was never even considered normal. I was always the easy target. Wherever I went, I never quite fit in. And the audition for Idol High School was no exception. So when I found out I’d be competing on the show, I was as scared—no, petrified—as I was excited for my future. Since I knew I was bound to be picked on, I purchased a discrete voice recorder online to protect myself with.”
“Did you really think you could protect yourself with a flimsy device that’s the size of my thumb?” I laughed angrily. “God, you’re a weird motherfucker. Why didn’t you bring a taser gun? Or better yet, a mini pepper spray, seeing as you’re such a weak pussy.”
“In that case, I wouldn’t have passed the airport security screening,” he said, pursing his lips. Fucking hell. Was he trying to fight back a smirk? Did he think I was a friend who was giving him pointers on how to deal with big, bad bullies?
“If you knew you wouldn’t have fit in here, you should’ve stayed away. You know why idols don’t come in all shapes and sizes? It’s in the goddamn name, Hamin. Idols are meant to be aspirational. Ordinary teenagers are supposed to pine over their favorite heartthrobs’ unattainable perfection.”
When he turned his head away, I grabbed his chin and pulled it toward me.
I went on. “That’s why the other students think you’re a fucking joke. I swear most of them hate you even more than I do. They’d eat you alive if they found out you were going around recording every insult that came out of their mouths and accuse you of trying to sabotage their careers. But you knew that, didn’t you? Why’d you take the risk? You must’ve had a goal worth risking your life for, you cunning shithead.”
Hamin’s eyes filled with tears. To fight them, he squeezed his eyes shut. “Because I wanted to perform for people. It’s the only dream I ever had. I’d watch Future Idol to sing along to my favorite songs and note down the names of the producers and choreographers I wanted to work with. It wasn’t easy growing up as a lonely outcast. My saving grace was the dream of making it big one day.”
“You can’t be serious. Is that all you’ve got?” I muttered.
He opened his mouth but said nothing.
“I’ll give you a four. As in a four out of ten, not five. By the way, those teary eyes earned you a bonus point. It was a reaction straight out of PD Oakland’s wet dreams. I can see you’ve rehearsed the last li
ne a hundred times. Overall, it was a lackluster performance though. Maybe you should’ve prepared a better sob story. Bullying is relatable and everything, but your story wasn’t particularly unique, you know?”
“I…”
“Hamin, let me tell you something I never want you to forget. A flabby, talentless fuck like you has no chance of making it big. Do you know why? It’s because you’re a sneaky little cunt who amounts to nothing. Absolutely nothing. At least a pile of shit can be used as fertilizer. You, on the other hand, are truly unwanted and undesirable. That’s how it’s always been and how it always will be.”
I wanted him to bawl his eyes out. It was what he deserved. He needed to learn that he’d made the mistake of his life by coming on the program and messing with Pluto Entertainment. However, he refused to cry. To stop the tears from streaming down his cheeks, he pressed his lips together and took a few deep breaths—his nostrils flaring. I would’ve cracked up if it weren’t for the fact that I was so pissed off. Fuck. I knew I was stubborn, but he was even worse.
“RJ! Hamin!” several voices yelled in unison.
“Goddammit,” I grunted, glancing in the direction of the sound. When I looked back at Hamin, my eyes went to his belly bag. Right. I had to know what he was hiding in it. “Give me your bag.”
“What?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Hamin. Take off your stupid brown bag and hand it to me.”
“Hey, RJ, Hamin! Where are you guys?” someone called out from afar.
When I extended my arm, Hamin swatted it away like I was a fucking mosquito. Had I not heard footsteps, I would’ve grabbed him by the neck and pinned him down onto the ground. Jesus, was that why he was getting ballsy? Because he knew people were close by?
“What’s in your bag?” I said.
To my surprise, Hamin unzipped it a little and pulled out a black pair of boxers.
“What the fuck?” I muttered.
“I’ve got my underwear in here. You know, for emergencies and stuff,” he replied, the words coming out in a rush.
