The Angel Effect

02 | developpe

"No!" someone from the group yelled.

"Ames, no!"

Even Misaki was groaning. "I thought it was Jiwoo's turn!"

Despite the weeping and gnashing of teeth, the boy—Ames—stood up, brushed his jeans off, and plucked the sparkling microphone from the center table. "It's my turn," he said, clearing his throat loudly and dramatically.

Elaine raised an eyebrow as the rest of the group started to cover their ears. A slow, swelling piano tune began to blast through the heavy-duty speakers and the entire room turned to the blinding TV on the wall. Before any of them knew it, the blocky lyrics appeared on the screen.

Ames inhaled deeply and sang.

Elaine regretted coming here the moment the first note left his lips.

She didn't know what was coming from Ames' vocal cords, but it certainly wasn't music. The rest of his friends seemed to agree as he continued through the song, bellowing and screaming like a wounded dog into the microphone.

Somehow, Elaine found herself smiling as she turned to Misaki. 

Misaki tossed her head back, laughing loudly. "He's singing his heart out!" she replied, pausing to take a sip of whatever drink she had ordered. "Let him have his moment."

The two girls turned back to the singing boy with all lights shining on him. "We walk along together upon the desolate road," he sang loudly, passionately, as the sweeping piano carried his tortured notes through the hazy air.

The group just watched him in awe, grinning stupidly while covering their ears.

"How can I love the heartbreak..." 

They winced.

"... When you're the one I love," Ames sang, clutching his heart.

The group continued to watch in awe.

Elaine felt another laugh escape her. There was a vein popping out of his neck. "He's really into this, huh?"

"Karaoke night is Ames' favorite night, of course," a different voice chimed in. Elaine turned slightly to see the freckled girl, Sunhi, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide her laughter.

"And somehow, he manages to sing the male and the female part," Misaki giggled, also failing. Finally, the moment the group had been waiting for, Ames finished his heart-burning song with a passionate, "Our love so deep as the ocean, waiting till it runs dry will be our farewell."

The piano faded away into silence and was quickly replaced by smattering applause from the group. Whooping, cheering, and laughter quickly filled the once somber-ballad air.

"Beautiful, Ames!" another girl yelled sarcastically. "You never miss!"

"My ears are bleeding!" a boy groaned.

Elaine snorted.

"This, my friend," Misaki started as she turned to meet Elaine's eyes, "is the dark side of The Angels." Elaine stared at her, then the rest of the group, suddenly realizing this was The Group Misaki had been dying for her to meet. She finally remembered that the majority of Misaki's friends were contemporary and modern dancers. She was hanging out with a few of the SNU Angels.

Despite Misaki's dramatic words, the rest of the dance group laughed, holding their drinks high and chugging them like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, that was awful," Sunhi said with a dramatic sigh. She snatched the mic from a pouting Ames and handed it to the pink-haired girl. "Let's have Jiwoo cleanse our ears."