10 There's Nothing Better Than a Game to Get Along

Emma finished setting up snacks and glasses before sitting down. As everyone was sitting, Jasmine spoke.

"Let's play 'Never have I ever' to get to know each other."

She explained the rules. The goal was simple. One person at a time said a true statement for him or her and if that statement was false for someone, he or she had to drink. Of course, Jasmine proposed to not force people to drink alcohol if it was against their principles. In this case, non-alcoholic people would only have to drink juice.

Jae Hyun says he wouldn't drink. He had always been careful to his voice, so he didn't drink or smoke. In addition, it offered a good role model for his younger sister. Everyone else did the same. Since no one wanted to drink alcohol, Tiffany went to get juice from the fridge. She knew the house as if it were her own.

Jasmine broke the ice with an example.

"I had never stolen before. Okay, if someone here has already stolen, they must drink."

Tiffany took a sip. Everyone except Jasmine and Emma turned to her in astonishment.

"What?! Don't tell me you've never stolen a candy or toys from a children's store before?!"

Everyone laughed at Tiffany's unexpected side. To get revenge, she asked the following question.

"Now that you've had a good time, it's my turn. I've never kissed anyone of the opposite sex before. I'm not talking about a kiss on the cheek, okay?"

She then took a sip before Tiffany and Hye Rin did the same. Jasmine jumped at the opportunity.

"Oh! Rin Rin!!! Who was the lucky guy?"

"Se-" Kylian cut her off. "There was this guy she loved, but she didn't know how to tell—

She tried to stop him, but he struggled—him and when he was about to leave, she ki-" Hye Rin put her hand on his mouth angry. Their altercation made everyone laughs.

Finally, Emma took over the torch.

"I've never made a prank call."

Everyone has a sip except Jae Hyun.

"No Way? You've never done a phone prank, Jae?! Tell me I'm dreaming!" Daniel was flabbergasted.

"Revenge Time!" Hye Rin got up and started talking quickly as she fled Kylian who had seen in her game. "When Lian was 10, I challenged him to make a joke to So Won. He didn't want to, so I called him a wimp, and he finally did it. So Won panicked and ran back home. Lian felt so sorry that he cried! Ah-!" He had caught her and thrown her to the ground. But the damage had already been done, and his face had turned tomato red.

"He cried? So adorable!!!" Tiffany had exclaimed.

"Lian? Can we call you like that too?" Emma giggled.

He looked at her coldly. Jae Hyun thought he must be embarrassed by such an affectionate nickname.

"Ah! Don't think we've forgotten you, Jae! We have to fix this. It's time to become a man and make your first phone prank!" Jasmine, all excited, had got up to approach him. He was sweating.

"These things are really not my thing. And we are too old for these kinds of stuff, didn't we?"

Everyone started teasing him. After about ten minutes, he had managed to convince them and the conversation topics had turned into anecdotes. These had dragged on for a while, and everyone enjoyed the evening.

The conversation diverted to the music and what had happened at the school in the afternoon. Whenever it came to music, Tiffany's eyes would shine at a thousand miles an hour. Since the subject was being discussed, Jae Hyun took the opportunity to ask a question that had been bothering him for some time.

"It seems that Utopia chooses those who can sing and offers them songs, but how come I haven't heard any music since I arrived or saw one of these singers?"

Tiffany jumped on the question to answer it.

"They set up this system mainly to calm the crowds, but everyone knows that they use these singers to convey their messages in their songs. There's no form of expression in there."

Emma added further.

"Most of their songs are stupid love songs or propaganda songs. Their singers release songs, but this is rare, and they often move from city to city. Also, they are more often on TV to talk and try to reason people than singing. They are entertainers rather than singers."

Tiffany spoke again.

"They must be afraid that songs make people want to change things. This happened shortly after the installation of the new government, hence the censorship law."

He understood a little better how the entertainment industry worked with these words. Utopia used singers as a means of propaganda and when it was quiet, they would entertain people here and there without promoting their profession as singers. Moreover, according to Tiffany, he was the kind of singer that Utopia abhorred because he used songs to get a message across and move people.

Another point bothered him, so he took the opportunity to address it too.

"In this case, wouldn't it be better to not sell instruments and micro? The fact that it's legal to have instruments, but not to sing, isn't that contradictory? Moreover, they must suspect that among those who buy instruments, some will try to become singers."

Niel whistled. "Good point!"

Tiffany then pretended to fit fake glasses on her nose, which made everyone laughs.

"It's good that you're asking because several people have raised this point before. Well, imagine you that... Utopia tried to ban the instruments before or otherwise, to have the list of buyers, but the law didn't pass because the protests were too strong. Fearing that the population would rebel, it never came to the surface again. After all, humans are naturally attracted to sounds and music, so it was a lost cause."

Jae Hyun plunged into his thoughts. He then thought about the fact that Lee's fans arrested yesterday had to pay a large sum. Would it be possible that Utopia let people sell instruments hoping some of them become singers and then take the opportunity to make money if they caught them? It was a little far-fetched, but it made some sense.

As he was still thinking, Jasmine got up as struck by a revelation.