Drake was a bit relieved to be going to Karaoke with the Asian Student Alliance tonight. He had a weird experience in his abnormal psychology class, his twin Dakota had suddenly sprouted a huge clump of chest hair. When Drake pointed it out, Dakota ran out of the class. Drake regretted making a scene of it, but it just didn't make any sense. There's no reason one of them should be so hairy if the other isn't, they had the same genetics!
Clearly Drake needed the distraction. He arrived at the Five Fish Bar just north of campus and met up with the other students that had been required to join the Asian Student Alliance through their Cultural Studies class, Karen, Terrence, and Charlie.
"Hi Drake, it looks like we're all here" Karen greeted.
"I hope I didn't keep you all waiting" said Drake.
"We only got here a few minutes ago, you're fine" Terrence reassured.
"Should we head inside...?" Drake trailed off, distracted by the sight of Charlie "Dude, what are you wearing?"
The pudgy white man was wearing a white shirt with the black print of several manga panels. In fact, the phone he was holding had a case that was adorned with a variety of anime characters. "This? I got the shirt online. It's one of my favorite manga and anime series." He proudly stated.
"I think he means 'why did you wear this?' It's embarrassing." Terrence chimed in.
"It is not" The weaboo frowned, "I bet there are tons of anime fans in the Asian Student Alliance. The shirt's a good ice breaker."
"Guys" Karen interrupted, "I think some ASA members already arrived. Let's just go inside." The rest nodded and entered the bar, making their way to the karaoke room the ASA reserved. The walls were lined up with couches and chairs, surrounding a table with a few bottles of soju and plenty of cups. A binder was being passed around that held all of the songs available on the karaoke machine. The machine itself was quite complex, and all the controls were written in Korean. The binder made the machine easy to use, as each song had a number code that could be entered instead.
Han Pei waved at the four Cultural Studies students, still as gleeful as he was at that afternoon's meeting. "I'm glad you all made it! Please, take a seat. Drink as much as you like. It's on the alliance." The Chinese man winked. The four of them sat on a couch together and Han remained standing.
"Don't mind if I do" Drake said as he poured himself a cup of soup.
Han Pei grabbed one of the karaoke microphones and addressed the entire group of ASA members who filled the room, "Welcome to the Asian Student Alliance's first Karaoke night of the semester. I'm Han Pei, your Chair of Social Events. We have so many fun socials planned for the rest of the year, so I hope you all make it to as many as you can. Now, without further to do, who wants to sing first?" Immediately half the room raised their hands
Han began selecting students for their turn to sing. They would read him the number code for the song they wanted and he would enter it into the karaoke machine before handing them the microphone. The lyrics and a video would play on a TV in the room. Since the machine was Korean, most of the video came from Korean music videos, even if an English song was playing. Though most of the students sang in English, some students chose foreign songs in a variety of Asian languages. After each song was finished, the TV would display a percent score for how well they sang. Most scores were around 80 percent.
Once the more eager students had finished singing, Karen took her turn on the microphone. She sang a recent pop song that was all over the radio. Soon after, Drake sang an 80s Rock ballad. Despite not singing it very well, Drake wasn't terrible either. The majority of the roomed joined in singing the song as well, since it was one of those catchy classics that everyone knew.
"Who's next?" Han asked. No one replied. The remainder of the students in the room seemed to be the more shy type. "Charlie, let's hear you sing" Han handed Charlie the microphone.
"No way, I can't sing" Charlie said as another student placed the binder in front of him.
"That's okay, none of us are professional singers. Just choose a song you like"
Charlie quickly browsed through the binder, finding a song that caught his eye. "Well, I guess I can do this one" Charlie stood and walked to the front of the group. "It's the opening to one of my favorite anime"
"What's the code?" Han asked, entering the number that Charlie repeated. Terrance facepalmed, Karen grimmiced, and Drake shook his head, all in embarrassment from Charlie's anime comment. The TV played a video of 5 Korean men dancing. When the lyrics appeared on screen they were in Korean, not Japanese.
"W-wait, this isn't the song I chose" Charlie stammered, "I must have said the wrong code. I can't sing this!"
"Just sound it out Charlie. We believe in you!" Han cheered.
Charlie timidly began reading the lyrics out loud. Surprisingly he wasn't butchering them. After a few sentences it was sounding good, almost authentic. Even his singing voice was following the melody. Charlie smiled and even danced along to the choreography on the TV. While hitting a high note he ran his free hand through his hair which became raven black in a wavy Korean perm. When a lyric about his heart came on, he grabbed his shirt. It was a long plain white tee. He conplimented it with articles of streetwear, a red plaid shirt tired around his waist and dark jeans. When he waved a hand over his face, it revealed pale skin and soft, handsome Korean features. The round shape of his face gave him a cherubic quality, solidifying him as a chubby, cute Korean man.
When the song was finished, the karaoke machine gave Charlie a score of 100 percent. The crowd of Asian Student Alliance members pumped their fists and cheered his name, even Drake joined the chant. "Charlie, Charlie! Chanlie, Chan-li! Chang-li, Chong-li! Chong-lui, Cong-Hui!" Chong-Hui (as he was now known) handed the microphone back to Han, gave a small bow to show his grattitude, and sat back down with his fellow cultural studies classmates.
"You were great up there" Karen praised, "have you really not done karaoke before?"
Chong-Hui blushed, "Well... Not publicly. Usually I just sing along to videos at home".
"I thought your obsession with Korean popstars was cringy" Terrence bluntly stated, "but hearing to tonight, you have some talent. I guess it makes sense you're passionate"
"Oh. T-thank you" Chong-Hui was a bit insulted, but decided to take it mostly as a compliment. He smiled down at his phone, which had a case with several K-pop group logos and idols. Drake had to agree with Terrence, his first impression of Chong-Hui was very off-putting. Hearing him talk at the meeting about his love for K-pop was about as embarrassing as if someone blabbed on about anime just because they were in an Asian group. But looking at him now, it made sense. Chong-Hui was Korean, so of course he liked Korean music. Still, something about that last thoughts seemed off. It was like Drake hadn't always know Chong-Hui was Korean, or maybe he was gushing about something other than K-pop? It was difficult to pin down, especially since he had only known the guy for one day.
Drake turned his attention to a Korean woman standing in front of their group, "do you mind if I sit here?" She asked. She was carrying a cup of soju in each hand, and used one of her fingers to point to a space next to Chong-Hui.
"Sure" Drake said, scooting away to make room for her. She sat down and handed one of the cups to Chong-Hui, who put his phone away to accept it.
"I hope soju is okay" she said. Chong-Hui nodded and thanked her before taking a sip. She continued, "I wasn't expecting to see another fan of my favorite band tonight."
"You like them too!?" He practically gushed, "Who's your favorite member?"
"Ooh, definitely Young" she said with equal enthusiasm, "He's the cutest. You kinda remind me of him, especially when you were singing." Chong-Hui blushed at this comment, or perhaps it was Asian glow from all the soju he was drinking. Maybe both.
Karen made eye contact with Terrence and Drake, then tilted her head away from Chong-Hui and the girl he was talking to. The two boys took this as a hint to give the couple space to chat. The trio got up and moved to different seats. Drake was happy that Chong-Hui was adjusting well to the club. Hopefully that would make it easier for all four of them to plan that end-of-the-term event Han mentioned at the afternoon meeting.