Kyle started clapping. Slow at first. Then faster. "Okay. I take back everything I said about choir."

Leo looked shell shocked. "Dude. What the fuck."

Alexis picked up her soju glass. Drank. Set it down. "That was acceptable."

Coming from her, that was basically a marriage proposal.

Jordan walked back to the booth. His legs felt weird. Disconnected.

He dropped into the booth beside Chloe. Put the microphone down on the sticky tabletop.

She turned. Those blue eyes were different now. Wider. Like she’d just watched something that broke a rule she hadn’t known existed.

"You said you got kicked out of choir."

"I did."

"That doesn’t make sense." Her voice came out quieter than usual. Almost confused.

"Makes perfect sense if you knew the rest of the story."

"Jordan."

"What?"

She started to say something. Stopped. Pressed her lips together and looked away. "Forget it."

Except she clearly wasn’t forgetting it. Her fingers were white where they pressed against the table’s edge. Her chest rose and fell too quickly. Too shallow.

The Alluring Whisper trait hadn’t just worked. It had landed like a freight train.

Kyle lunged for the microphone. "Alright. My turn. Let’s see if I can top that."

He could not.

The next twenty minutes turned into an amateur disaster showcase. Kyle picked some grunge anthem from the 90s and strangled it with pure confidence. Leo chose a sad ballad and gave up before the first chorus ended. Alexis sat there like a statue and refused to even touch the microphone when it got passed her way.

Kumiko grabbed it again. Selected another K-pop track. Performed it competently but without the raw edge Chloe had brought. The energy was good. The impact wasn’t there.

Then Kumiko whirled on Chloe with predatory enthusiasm. "Duet time. You and me. Right now. Let’s go."

Chloe shook her head. "I already sang."

"So what? Sing again."

"Kumiko, I really don’t—"

"Please?" Kumiko’s eyes went wide. Pleading. "I’ll pick an easy one. Something we both know."

Chloe sighed. Stood. Took the second microphone from the stand in the corner.

They scrolled through options. Picked something. Some upbeat pop song Jordan didn’t recognize.

The music started.

Chloe and Kumiko sang together. Their voices blended well. Kumiko’s was brighter. More energetic. Chloe’s was smoother. Richer.

Jordan watched Chloe move. The way she smiled when Kumiko hit a high note. The way she laughed when Kumiko spun and nearly tripped over the microphone cable.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

He ignored it.

Buzzed again.

He pulled it out. Glanced at the screen under the table.

System Notification

Proximity Alert: Beauty Detected

Alexis Van Der Berg

Status: Available for Registration

Register to Slot 2?

Jordan’s stomach dropped.

The quest. He’d forgotten about the quest.

Register someone before midnight or miss out on fifteen tickets and a gold mystery box.

Four hours left on the timer.

He looked at Alexis. She was scrolling through her phone. Bored. Uninterested in the performance happening five feet away.

Jordan’s thumb hovered over the yes button.

One tap. That’s all it would take. Lock Alexis into Slot 2. Complete the quest. Get the rewards.

Move one step closer to the fake inheritance goal.

His eyes flicked to Chloe. She was still singing. Still smiling. Still completely unaware of what Jordan was about to do.

The lie he told her was supposed to make this easier. She already knew about the three girlfriends requirement. She’d agreed to be number one.

Registering Alexis was just following through on the plan.

So why did his finger refuse to move?

The song ended. Chloe and Kumiko took a bow. Kumiko was breathless and grinning. Chloe looked happy.

Actually happy. Not performing happy. Real happy. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She walked back to the booth. Sat down next to Jordan. Their thighs pressed together.

"Your turn again," she said.

"Absolutely not."

"Come on. You were good."

"I was acceptable. Alexis said so."

Chloe laughed. Soft. Genuine. The sound did things to Jordan’s chest that had nothing to do with the Alluring Whisper trait.

His phone was still in his hand under the table. The notification glowed.

Register to Slot 2?

[YES] [NO]

Jordan looked at Alexis again.

She was pretty. Objectively pretty. The kind of pretty that made freshmen walk into lampposts.

And she was available. Single. Potentially interested based on the eighteen percent chemistry reading.

The System wanted him to register her. The quest demanded it. The fake inheritance story required it.

Everything pointed to yes.

Logic demanded yes. The quest required it. The timer was merciless. The rewards were substantial, maybe even game-changing.

Jordan’s thumb moved to the screen. Hovered over the confirmation button. The glow from the UI reflected faintly in his eyes as he sat there, weighing everything he knew about consequences and shortcuts.

His thumb dropped.

Hit the no button instead.

The notification blinked out of existence like it had never been there at all.

For approximately three seconds, Jordan felt relief. Maybe even pride. He’d made a choice based on something other than pure optimization and desperation.

Then the System proved it wasn’t done with him.

A new notification materialized on his screen. Same format. Different name.

System Notification

Proximity Alert: Beauty Detected

Kumiko Yamanaka

Status: Available for Registration

Chemistry: 0% (New Contact)

Register to Slot 2?

[YES] [NO]

Jordan stared at the screen like it had just insulted his entire bloodline.

The System was offering him options. Multiple options. Back-to-back options with zero breathing room to process what any of this meant.

His eyes tracked across the table to where Kumiko stood near the karaoke TV. She was still browsing through the song catalog with that focused expression people get when they’re trying to find the perfect track.

Her twin-tails swayed slightly every time she tilted her head. Everything about her outfit screamed pastels and soft edges.

She looked like the human embodiment of a Sanrio store.

Kumiko had defended him yesterday. She’d called Alexis cruel to her face without hesitation. She’d been genuinely nice to Jordan without expecting anything in return, without any apparent ulterior motive, without treating kindness like a transaction that required repayment.

That alone made her an anomaly in his recent experience with women at Pacific Crest Academy.

She was also Chloe’s best friend.

Jordan’s brain started running calculations. The logistics. The complications.

Dating Chloe and Kumiko simultaneously would be a nightmare. They hung out constantly. Texted every day. Probably shared everything.

The secret would last maybe forty-eight hours before exploding.

But the quest timer kept counting down. Three hours fifty-one minutes remaining.

Fifteen tickets. Gold mystery box. Unknown rewards waiting.

Kumiko laughed at something on the screen. Turned around. Made eye contact with Jordan.

Smiled.

[YES] [NO]