Once Lǐ Xīnyí finished singing, Gu Luo and the others started applauding. She then handed the microphone to Shěn Yán, who took it while complaining.
He stood up and Lǐ Xīnyí took his place.
He clicked on one of the recommended songs, which happened to be the opening of a currently popular anime.
He sang half-heartedly while Lǐ Xīnyí and Leolia, knowing that he was not comfortable, whistled at him.
Gu Luo thought that if he had been in his place, he would have been embarrassed as well, so he listened to Shěn Yán sing in silence. Even though most of the time his voice was completely off-key, you could feel that he was really putting a lot of effort into it.
When he reached the chorus, Shěn Yán tried to go into the higher notes. The result was catastrophic.
"AAAAAH!"
Leolia immediately covered her ears and Lǐ Xīnyí burst out laughing.
"Why are you doing that?"
Shěn Yán nevertheless continued singing as if nothing had happened.
"Because I can do it!"
"No, you can't!"
"Yes, I can!"
He tried once again to reach the note. This time, Gu Luo could not hold back a small laugh. Shěn Yán stopped dead and turned toward him.
"Are you making fun of me too?"
Gu Luo immediately shook his head. "No, no."
"You just laughed."
"It was..."
He searched for an excuse.
"A natural reaction."
"A natural reaction?"
"Yes."
"That's even worse..."
The other three started laughing.
Shěn Yán nevertheless finished his song all the way to the end, under Lǐ Xīnyí and Leolia's ironic encouragement. When the last notes rang out, he placed the microphone on the table and collapsed onto the couch.
"There. It's over. I hope you enjoyed the talented young man who just sang because you're not going to see a performance like that again anytime soon."
"Thankfully," Leolia replied.
"You could at least congratulate me."
"For what?"
"For surviving."
Lǐ Xīnyí took the microphone back.
"Whose turn is it?"
Leolia immediately raised her hand.
"Me! Me!"
She jumped to her feet and took Shěn Yán's place.
A few seconds later, a much more upbeat song began.
Leolia clearly knew the lyrics by heart. She did not even need to look at the screen. She sang with energy, accompanying her voice with big gestures.
Lǐ Xīnyí accompanied her by clapping her hands. Shěn Yán, meanwhile, had started beating the rhythm against the couch.
Gu Luo watched them without saying anything. He found it strange to see how differently they could behave once they were together.
They were nothing more than friends spending an evening together.
Gu Luo wondered how long it had been since he had participated in something this simple.
He often tended to stay alone. Not because he hated other people, but because being with them required a lot of effort from him to appear normal.
You had to know what to say. When to speak. When to stay silent. How to react, or rather, pretend to react.
Here, however, no one seemed to expect anything from him. And this absence of expectations made him surprisingly comfortable.
Leolia finished her song in a theatrical pose. Lǐ Xīnyí applauded enthusiastically.
"Magnificent!"
"I know. I know."
"You know that nobody responds to that kind of compliment..."
"Why?"
"Because it makes you sound arrogant."
Her face lit up with a big smile.
"I am arrogant."
Shěn Yán nodded.
"At least she's honest."
Leolia threw a cushion at him, which he narrowly dodged. The cushion continued on its course, passing beside his head and falling onto Gu Luo.
He caught it reflexively.
Everyone turned toward him. Gu Luo looked at the cushion in his hands. Then he simply placed it beside him.
Leolia, who had apparently just realized while sitting down that it was quite convenient to have a cushion behind her back, turned toward Gu Luo.
"Can you give it back to me, please?" She joined her hands as if praying in supplication.
Gu Luo threw it to her, and Leolia caught it.
"Thanks."
She sat back down. Lǐ Xīnyí looked at the list of songs.
"Well."
She scrolled through a few titles.
"Who hasn't sung yet?"
Nobody answered her; she raised her eyes, scanning everyone with her gaze.
Shěn Yán immediately pointed at Gu Luo.
Gu Luo straightened up.
"Me?"
"Well, yes, you."
"I..."
He hesitated.
Lǐ Xīnyí cheerfully held out the microphone to him.
"Come on!"
Gu Luo looked at the object. There was nothing special about it. Just a simple wireless microphone. He weighed the object in his hand; it was much heavier than he had imagined.
"I don't sing very well."
"Neither do I," Shěn Yán replied.
Lǐ Xīnyí gave him a sideways look. "That didn't stop you from singing..."
"Exactly."
He smiled and then turned toward Gu Luo.
"So you have no excuse."
Gu Luo looked at Lǐ Xīnyí.
She was also smiling at him with all her teeth showing.
Leolia did the same.
He sighed.
"You're really persistent."
"Yes."
"Can I choose whatever song I want?"
"Of course."
He finally stood up.
He approached the screen and scrolled through the different titles. His finger stopped several times.
A popular song.
A ballad.
An anime opening.
Then a song that he knew particularly well.
He remained there for a few seconds in front of the title. He had listened to this song an countless number of times.
He knew the melody.
He knew the rhythm.
He knew almost every breath of the original singer.
But singing it in front of the others was a completely different matter. He felt a slight tension in his chest. He could have chosen something simpler.
Something he knew less well. That way, if he made a mistake, no one could really blame him.
But he eventually selected the song. After all, no one knew that he knew this song by heart.
The music began.
The first notes resonated in the room. Gu Luo remained silent for a few seconds.
He took a deep breath. Then he brought the microphone to his mouth. His voice came out softly at first.
After the first lyrics, he gradually began to gain confidence. He carefully controlled his breathing and focused on the melody.
He was aware that he did not have the most melodious voice, but he did his best to sing in tune. Carefully controlling his breathing.
He was putting so much effort into it that he became absorbed in the exercise. He was genuinely enjoying singing. He sang without paying attention to what was around him.
So much so that he did not notice that he was no longer in the karaoke room.