February 12th. Monday, 9:31 AM.
"We should've sat at the back", William said, kneeling on his chair, peering towards the back.
"Our class got on the bus second", Lucas replied, sitting next to him. "We were never getting those seats".
"We could've made them move", William replied, looking at him.
"It's not that deep", Lucas said, putting a chewing gum in his mouth. "The guys from 1-D are at the back. It would've been a problem if we tried".
"I don't mind. I'm happy we're on a bus", Ray said, joining their conversation from behind. "That means the challenge should be good".
"The last time we went out for a challenge together was the third challenge", Benjamin added, glancing up from his phone.
"The escape room", William replied, smiling, still kneeling on his chair so he could see Ray and Benjamin sitting behind. "That was fun".
"It was more stressful than fun", Lucas said, side-eyeing.
"Only you were stressed", William replied, wagging his finger at him. "You were stressed for no reason".
"No, you were stressing me out", Lucas said, turning his head and pointing back at him.
Ray chuckled quietly behind them. "It worked out in the end, so it wasn't bad", he said. "We did really good, thinking about it".
Benjamin slid his phone in his pocket, "Do you think this challenge will be similar?".
"It's a team challenge that's for sure", Lucas replied, turning his body and leaning out of his chair to look behind.
"Not definitely. It could be a solo challenge", Ray said.
"Nah", Lucas shook his head. "Last challenge was kind of like a solo challenge. This one has to be a team one".
"I kind of want it to be a team challenge", Benjamin said, rubbing his face, looking a little tired. "I'm not feeling a solo challenge right now. I'm not ready".
"Same", William quickly agreed, nodding with enthusiasm. "I hope it's classes against classes again. That'll be so cool because we'll all be involved".
"It'll be cool, but I feel like they'll switch it up", Ray replied, tilting his head slightly. "Doing classes against classes again might be too repetitive".
"Think of the leaderboard as well", Lucas said. "If it's class against class, 1-A will dominate the leaderboard".
"Ooh, that's a good point", Benjamin realised, sliding in his seat to get more comfortable.
"Darn it", William muttered, hanging his head. "I wanted to be with you guys".
"Hey, we don't know the challenge yet", Lucas replied, twisting his body back to sit normally again. "We might get to choose our teams. Who knows?".
William sighed. He wasn't that optimistic. He turned his head to look across the aisle. "Are those guys still sleeping?".
On the other side were David and Malakai. David had his head tilted back, resting on the headrest, with his eyes closed. Malakai was facing the window with his hood up.
"Why does he always wear tracksuits?" Lucas said. "It's getting boring".
Without even turning, Malakai slowly raised his middle finger to him. Then, like an owl, he turned his head toward Lucas.
"How'd he hear me?" Lucas mumbled, eyes widening, seeing earphones in his ears.
"You're not asleep?" William asked.
"Nah. I'm tired, but I can't sleep", Malakai replied, shaking his head.
"Were you listening to us?" Lucas asked, gesturing to his own ears. "You've got earphones in".
"Yeah, I was. The music is on low volume", Malakai replied, lifting his hood a little. "Why you hating on my tracky (tracksuit)".
"It's the only thing you wear", Lucas said. "Tracksuits every time".
"We're going to a challenge", Malakai replied, glancing down at his tracksuit. "What'd you want me to wear?".
"Something better", Lucas simply said.
Malakai slightly leaned toward the aisle and pointed to William, "Fam, look at Willy".
Lucas turned his head to inspect William's outfit.
William wore a plain block-coloured T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers.
Lucas turned back to Malakai, "I don't expect Will to dress good".
"Hey! What do you mean?" William said, hurt.
"Mally, why don't you help him?" Benjamin said, grinning.
"His closet is horrible", Malakai replied. "He's got nothing".
"Lend him some stuff", Benjamin said
Malakai thought about what he had in his closet. "He can have a tracksuit if he wants".
"No tracksuits", Lucas said immediately.
"Will in a tracksuit might be good", Ray said, picturing it.
"Why are you against tracksuits?" William asked Lucas.
Lucas leaned back in his seat. "Seeing Mally wear them all the time has made me sick of them".
"It's still winter bro", Malakai replied. "Tracksuit season will be over soon".
While looking at Malakai, Benjamin noticed David held the same position the entire time. "How is David still asleep?"
"He's a deep sleeper", Ray said. "He can sleep through these types of things".
William squinted his eyes, "I think he's faking it".
"Mally, poke him", Benjamin said, nodding to him.
Malakai looked at David as if he were a sleeping animal. He didn't oppose the idea. He cautiously raised his hand and lightly poked David's cheek.
No reaction.
Malakai studied David's expression for a second. "He's actually asleep".
"Wake him up", Lucas said, smiling.
Malakai smirked. He looked at all his friends who had the same smirk.
He raised his hand again and pinched David's nose. Since David's mouth was closed, he could only breathe through his nose. David's eyes opened instantly. Malakai quickly withdrew his hand and sat back, as if he were doing nothing.
David slowly turned his head to Malakai, his expression blank.
"What are you doing?" he asked, tired but coldly.
Malakai held his smirk while the rest of the boys burst into laughter.
David stared at them all for a second, unimpressed, before rubbing his nose and leaning his head back again.
"Idiots", he muttered with a slight smile.
9:47 AM
Ryan got off the bus and scanned around. Students began spreading out across the pavement, some talking loudly while others walked ahead towards the building.
He kept scanning until he found the person he was looking for. Once located, he quickened his pace and purposely strolled alongside them, making it seem like a coincidence.
"Hey Melody", he casually said. "Are you okay?"
Melody turned her head in mild surprise. She was zoned out, so she wasn't prepared to talk to anyone.
"Oh, hey Ryan", she replied after a brief pause. "I'm fine. You?".
"She's talking to me normally", Ryan instantly thought.
"Yeah. I'm good", he said, watching her carefully as they walked side by side. "I haven't seen you talk that much recently".
He didn't want to directly say you haven't spoken to me, so he rephrased it.
Melody nodded lightly, "I've just been addicted to music recently", she replied. "It's all I've been doing".
That made Ryan blink. It was word-for-word what Malakai told him. "I saw the TikTok's you've done. You made that song, right?" he asked, for confirmation.
Melody's face brightened. "Yeah", she proudly nodded.
"Are you trying to make more songs?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah", Melody excitedly nodded again. "I've already made a bunch of other songs. Most of them aren't completed yet, but I've started a lot".
"He wasn't lying", Ryan thought, watching Melody ramble about music. "I thought he was putting up an act, but he was clueless. I mean, there is a chance he could still be lying, and Melody is acting".
"Ryan, you can speak Korean right?" Melody suddenly asked.
"Uh", Ryan drifted for a second. He had no clue what Melody was talking about. "Yes... I can", he awkwardly answered.
"Hmm. I might ask you to record you saying something in Korean for an intro to one of my songs", Melody said. "Not right now. I need to make a song that fits the vibe first". The more she said, the faster she spoke. "That'll probably take a while because I have a lot of other songs to finish. Is that okay? You don't mind doing that right?"
"Yeah", Ryan slowly replied. "No problem".
"On second thought... there is no chance he lied", he thought, seeing the excitement in Melody's eyes. Her face was lit up the entire time they spoke about music.
"How did he get this out of her?".
The rest of the buses pulled into the parking area outside the building, and students slowly began stepping off one by one.
From the outside, the building looked like an indoor trampoline park or playground. The exterior was covered in bright panels of blue, orange and neon green, with shapes decorating the walls. Large glass windows wrapped around the front of the building.
The fun, playful, modern look immediately excited students. This challenge wasn't looking like a challenge. It was looking like a day out.
When they entered, they went through the reception. The theme still looked like an indoor playground, trampoline-type vibe. The walls were decorated with playful themes, bright lights streamed across the place, banners hung from the ceiling, and polished surfaces.
"Are we doing a challenge of having a day off?" Jason asked, confused, looking around the place.
"Whatever it is, it looks fun", Ash replied, smiling, gazing around.
All the students were guided up a wide flight of stairs. The stairs led to a large open space that resembled a hall or an activity arena.
As the students flooded in, their voices quickly filled the room, conversations overlapping until the space was buzzing with noise.
Frank glanced around as he stood beside Alexander, "Did you get any help from your brother for this challenge?".
"No", Alexander replied, keeping his eyes ahead. "This is a new challenge".
Frank folded his arms, "Got to hope it's a good challenge", he quietly said.
Students were bunched together. Forming groups of friends.
Across the room, Malakai stood with his.
"Are you still tired?" William asked Malakai, nudging him.
"Kinda", Malakai replied, brushing his hair. "It depends on the challenge if I fully wake up or not".
"By the looks of it, it should", David said.
"And you're not handicapped this time", Benjamin added with a grin.
Ray slowly scanned the room, feeling a sense of familiarity. "This does feel exactly like before we started the third challenge", he said, looking around. "Everyone in one room".
"Imagine if this challenge is a free-for-all", William said with his eyes lit up, seeing everyone.
"That'd be sick", Malakai agreed.
"No, it wouldn't", Lucas disagreed.
Malakai turned to William, "This guy is our biggest hater. Everything we say, he disagrees with it", he said, pointing his thumb at Lucas.
"I know right", William replied in a way to get a reaction out of Lucas.
Lucas sighed, shook his head and moved away from them, "I'm just going to leave you two".
Benjamin laughed, "The challenge hasn't even started, and you've broken Lu".
"They haven't broken me", Lucas said. "I'm being the bigger man".
"Hear my man", Malakai snickered.
"Who does he think he is?" William snickered.
Lucas bit the inside of his cheek, stopping his smile after hearing their jokes.
Suddenly, the chatter around the room began to fade. Students near the front stopped their conversation. One by one, conversations died down as attention shifted toward the front of the hall.
A tall, slender man stepped into view. His long white beard rested neatly against his chest, and his equally white hair was neatly combed to the right. He wore a perfectly pressed dark suit that contrasted the colourful environment around him.
He stood calmly at the front, his hands behind his back as he waited for the noise to disappear.
Within seconds, the room was silent.
The man looked at the sea of students from left to right. Then he spoke.
"Welcome to challenge 7".