Junhao KTV
1272 Words
While Theron Vale was turning off his phone to go to sleep, in Room 902 of Junhao KTV, Celeste fiddled with her phone, looking proud as she said to the other girls with her:
“See? I told you. As long as I call Theron Vale, he’ll definitely come. Has there ever been an exception in the past few years?”
The girls who had bet against him looked resigned, whispering among themselves:
"Pathetic. Rich kid playing backup boyfriend."
"At least he'll foot the bill," another shrugged.
"Free night thanks to Celeste's lapdog."
The girls whispered among themselves, and Celeste could see it all.
Although she couldn’t make out what they were saying clearly in the noisy KTV environment, she could guess a little from their expressions.
Envy, jealousy? Or maybe resentment?
She liked this feeling of being superior to others. That was also the reason why, even after officially announcing she was dating Elias, she still kept Theron Vale as a backup. This Theron Vale, with his money, obedience, and some connections with tough guys, was the kind of backup that gave her this feeling of being above others.
Originally, she had planned to meet Elias today, but unfortunately, he had something to do and couldn’t come, missing the most important audience member.
But that was fine. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Celeste selected a love song for herself and hummed softly as she sang.
She had a pretty face and a melodious voice, truly living up to the title of school beauty.
After she finished the first song, the other girls, whether genuinely or insincerely, clapped and praised her.
“Celeste, you sang so well.”
Celeste smiled, then selected the second song.
Third song, fourth song…
The more songs she sang, the worse Celeste’s mood became. She had finished five songs already, but Theron Vale still hadn’t arrived?
The few classmates in the audience had started whispering among themselves, occasionally letting out laughs that, without a doubt, were mocking her.
“What’s that guy Theron Vale doing?”
Fuming, Celeste took out her phone and found Theron Vale’s contact in her address book. She dialed his number.
“Hello, the number you have dialed is currently switched off…”
She dialed again, unbelieving, but the familiar message tone sounded the same as before.
Celeste started to wonder if something had happened to Theron Vale on the way. A traffic accident?
She had never imagined that Theron Vale would stand her up, would play her like that.
By now, it was already past twelve o’clock. The female classmates who had come out to play began to leave one by one.
“Celeste, it’s too late. We should get going.”
“Yeah, we have class tomorrow.”
“Is Theron Vale not coming?”
Hearing that they were leaving, Celeste didn’t react much, but when someone mentioned that Theron Vale might not be coming, she flared up instantly.
“No way, Theron Vale wouldn’t possibly not come.”
The female classmate was startled by her outburst, wrinkling her nose:
“Oh, well then, you wait for him. We’re leaving first.”
After seeing the three classmates leave, Celeste’s expression shifted erratically. The KTV room’s lighting fell on her pale face, making her look like a clown with makeup on.
“That guy Theron Vale…”
Celeste ground her teeth so hard her back molars ached, but there was nothing she could do.
She flipped through her wallet, then called over a waiter.
“Waiter, the bill, please.”
“Hello, for the room, drinks, and snacks, the total is 1,925 yuan.”
1,925 yuan, for the year 2012, was already a substantial amount.
Celeste’s family wasn’t poor either, but she was just a student, and the pocket money her family gave her simply wasn’t enough for this.
She had originally planned for Theron Vale to come and pay.
Now that Theron Vale couldn’t be reached, and she couldn’t gather that much money herself, she was stuck in an awkward spot.
“Wait a moment, I’ll make a phone call.”
“Okay, miss.”
The waiter could see that Celeste was in a bind, but he was an employee of Junhao KTV, so his professionalism was definitely above average. Pointing out a customer wouldn’t get him any benefits, so he wasn’t that foolish. He just stood back, ready to watch the show.
Celeste dialed Theron Vale’s number twice more, but the result was the same, of course.
She had told her mother earlier that she was studying at a classmate’s house. If she called her mother now, she would definitely get yelled at.
After thinking things through, Celeste finally turned her gaze to the number of her recently-official boyfriend, Elias.
She dialed his number.
Celeste’s heart instantly warmed. “Elias, can you come over and help me out?”
“Huh? Celeste? Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now, I’m riding my bike… Sigh… hold on, I’ll hang up now. See you tomorrow, Celeste.”
“You’re busy? You?”
Click. The busy tone sounded.
Celeste couldn’t believe it and dialed his number again.
But the result this time was the same as with Theron Vale.
“Hello, the number you have dialed is currently switched off…”
Celeste stood stunned on the spot for a while. She didn’t know what to do.
After a long moment, the waiter waiting outside finally came in.
“Miss, shall we settle the bill now?”
“I… can I pay a portion first, and the rest… I’ll come back tomorrow to pay it?”
Celeste said this thinking she was being very earnestly polite.
But she was still outrightly refused by the waiter.
“What’s the difference?” Celeste looked away.
“Just a waiter, what’s so great about that?”
"Waiters weren’t anything special, but customers still had to pay before they could leave."
The waiter spoke with a smile, but those words sounded like the deepest sarcasm to Celeste.
She placed her phone on the table. “Can I leave this here as collateral? I’ll come and get it tomorrow. Is that okay?”
The waiter glanced at the phone on the table. This phone was worth several thousand, enough to serve as collateral, but he still shook his head. “Sorry, Miss, we can’t accept items of unclear origin like this.”
There had been people before who tried to leave things as collateral. Some did come back to redeem them, but there were also cases where the original owner of stolen goods came back, causing a huge scene. KTVs dreaded causing a scene, and the waiter didn’t want this kind of situation to happen, so he refused.
But this made Celeste even more embarrassed.
This phone… was the birthday gift Theron Vale gave her before. Theron Vale paid over 50,00 yuan for it.
“Then, this phone and this…” Desperate, Celeste could only take out her student ID.
A student ID proved her identity, and the phone could serve as collateral for money. This fit the rules.
The waiter glanced at Celeste’s student ID and became serious. “Oh, you’re a student from No. 1 High School. Alright then, leave your things here. I won’t touch them. Make sure to bring the money tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Celeste picked up her bag and headed out.
The events of tonight were just too embarrassing. After walking out of Junhao KTV, she slammed her bag onto the railing by the street curb.
“That Theron Vale… Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll definitely make him pay!”
- Writer
