Chapter 15: Teammates
Aerine was aware of the gist of the whole affair, at least. Ronald, the male teammate of theirs, came from a medium-sized entertainment company. He wasn't famous, but at least internet famous. Divine, the woman she was arguing with, also came from a medium-sized company, but they were known to be competitors through and through.
She even read that the fan bases of both were always at each other's throats. Aerine didn't know exactly what happened, but they seemed to see each other as rivals, just like their companies were.
Sheena, their other teammate, was a newbie like her. However, this woman seemed to be enjoying the fight and didn't care at all about their team.
Aerine was already having a headache. How should she intervene? Even if they weren't serious about the competition, they at least had the ambition to move forward and not be eliminated early. Aerine thought of this.
Clearing her throat, Aerine touched her necklace, but she was actually touching her chest. Even if no one was paying attention to her, she at least wanted to show that her habit was holding her necklace and not her chest.
This was her being cautious for the future, as no one should be able to tell that there was something she was hiding.
"What happened?" Aerine asked, raising her voice a bit louder to gain their attention. It easily caught their attention, and the three looked at her.
Sheena had a look of astonishment in her eyes but also a playful grin on her lips. Divine and Ronald appeared annoyed at her for interrupting their fight.
Aerine didn't wait for their answer and spoke again after shaking her head.
"I don't know what happened, but we are on a team. This team is very crucial in the first stage, and..." Aerine had yet to finish when Ronald interrupted her.
"So what? And who are you to lecture us?" His brow furrowed and he glared at Aerine.
Aerine wasn't offended; at least, she didn't want to escalate the conflict. She also didn't like to lecture them or even talk with this guy, but this was truly important for her.
Clutching her necklace, Aerine lifted her brow and steeled her heart. This was not the time to show her weakness.
"This competition might not be important to you, but don't think that everyone is the same." Her eyes intently stared at Ronald before they landed on the two women and shifted again to Ronald.
Clearly, Aerine's words were not for Ronald; the two women immediately revealed a grimace and openly glared at her. Aerine hardly cared at the moment, and she continued, adding a few more chills to her words.
"I get that you both hate each other. And I'm also a nobody in your eyes. At least I know my priorities, and that is to do my best in this competition." Aerine stared at them as she swept her eyes around them. "Just look at them; they are professional enough to set aside their personal feelings."
For her, Divine and Ronald were immature, and this also included Sheena, who was enjoying the spectacle. Aerine was truly annoyed, but she couldn't do anything about this team but adapt to the situation.
"Hah." Divine let out a shaky breath before she looked at Aerine as though observing her intently for the first time. "You've got guts, newbie."
Aerine met her gaze without fear and smiled.
"I know."
If she didn't have it, would she sign a contract with the devil?
At her answer, Divine suddenly laughed.
"Well, I like that." She then rolled her eyes at Ronald. "Like she said, at least on this stage, let's get along."
Ronald was momentarily at a loss, but although his expression didn't ease, he went silent. which could also be a sign of agreement. Sheena also shrugged. Out of everyone, her circumstances were actually the most special.
She really only auditioned out of fun, but she had the talent, so she unexpectedly accepted. Now, she had to spend her vacation in this competition.
Aerine finally sighed in relief. Honestly, she didn't know if her words would be effective, and she also prepared for the worst. Fortunately, they weren't really unreasonable.
What Aerine had yet to understand was that these two were only venting each other's emotions earlier. They had no choice but to get along. Unlike Aerine, who was completely unknown, they had their respective fanbases, but they were still small artists after all, and they viewed Voice Arena highly.
The four had a meeting like the others, but on the first day, they couldn't come up with what song they would perform. On the group stage, each group was required to perform two songs, which then needed to be put together well.
Still, they were singers, and each of them had the talent to be here. They might not have decided yet on the final two songs, but the four had already set aside five songs, and they were thinking of the two best songs among the five.
What they also had to consider was the quality of their voices. There wasn't much to say about Aerine's voice, as she was very versatile, and she could sing any type of song, even more so if she practiced enough.
Sheena's voice was a bit low, and while she could sing higher notes, she preferred those with soulful and mellow songs. She was the complete opposite of Divine, who could belt out most higher notes, of which even Aerine was impressed.
Ronald's voice was also good, but deeper.
So, they had to think of a song that the group could blend and sing as a team and not only as individuals.
In the group stage, it really didn't matter if an individual carried the whole group, but if the weak link was too obvious, it was useless. In this stage, they are not only testing the caliber of each contestant's voice but also how a contestant would get along with others, not only off stage but especially on stage.
This was an even bigger challenge. Not only did they not know each other well enough, some even saw others as their rivals, just like Divine and Ronald.
To perform as a group well, they needed to work on their synergy and connection, something that was hard to practice by singing together alone.
Still, Aerine was satisfied with the first day. Hopefully, everything would go well until they performed.
Unfortunately, Aerine had just jinxed herself.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone