From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel

Chapter 403: Tête-à-Tête (2)

After staring at the chessboard for a second, Caellum grabbed his pawn and moved it up two spaces. E4. A standard starting move for beginners like him.

After a second’s hesitation, Victor moved his own pawn forward 1 space. E6.

"French defense?" Ari asked quickly, recognizing the strategy from his cramming session.

"I thought it would be appropriate for the occasion. But it seems that you’re an expert from how easily you recognized it?" Victor asked, his eyes filled with curiosity at what the blunt guy would say.

"If my cramming chess strategies all night is the criterion for an expert, then I’m Albert Einstein himself," Ari replied as he moved another pawn up two spaces. D4.

"Why were you cramming? Did you see my post that I would be at the park playing chess today?" Victor asked as he moved another pawn to d5, blocking Ari’s pawn directly.

"Nope. To be honest, I had no idea who you were until 5 minutes ago, since I don’t follow basketball. No offense. I made a bet that I would win 10 chess matches in a row, and came to the park, and just so happened to meet you here. I didn’t expect this many people to be here. I’m glad I dressed well instead of wearing what I usually do." Ari moved his left knight to C3 as his eyes swept over the people recording Victor and, by extension, him.

Thankfully, NOVA had forced him to dress nicely, but in a way that didn’t make it look like he was trying too hard. Otherwise, wouldn’t Victor think he was lying?

"Puahaha. The straightforwardness is refreshing. What do you usually wear then? And how old are you? I feel like you’re my age? I’m 20." Victor asked as he moved his own left knight to F6, causing both sides to almost mirror each other.

"18, so we’re close in age. And usually, I do a lot of dance practice, so whatever is clean and easy to move in."

"Are you a professional dancer? A musician? You certainly have the...appearance for entertainment."

"I’m currently a contestant on an idol survival show."

Victor was silent for a second before shaking his head and making his next move, "I’ll be honest with you as well. I have no idea what that is."

"In the beginning, neither did I. But imagine they throw a hundred kids into a football club training camp, torture them in the name of training while recording every moment, edit it in a sensationalized manner, and make them perform against each other each week, and have the public vote so you can eliminate them each week. But instead of practicing technical skills and scrimmaging, we’re singing, dancing, rapping, and creating new songs and performances in self-managed groups. What do you think that’s like?" Ari explained as he made his next move.

"L’enfer."

"Yep. It’s hell. And on top of that, imagine that the football club’s owner’s nephew is there ruining everything for everyone. And the director who’s in charge of recording and conveying the story fabricates story lines and stitches together clips to further their own agenda.

Victor gave him a pitying look as he moved his bishop forward," It seems that you are going through a lot."

"It’s a bit tiring to deal with, which is why I’m skipping out today in protest. But clearly not as much as you. Today’s an elimination game for you. Shouldn’t you be reviewing film or practicing with your team?" Ari asked as he used his bishop to take out one of Victor’s knights.

At least, that was the game-day standard he was used to.

Victor was silent for a moment, his long fingers hesitating over the board before he eventually made a move, using his pawn to take out Ari’s bishop.

"Right now, I am a bit frustrated. So I’m taking a breather and calming my head before heading back."

"Why? Worried about the game?"

"Not so much worry about the game, I’ve practiced and conditioned. Right now, it’s a matter of external circumstances," Victor said as he glanced around.

Although there were still a few people recording them, perhaps because he was speaking solely in French and not engaging with them, a good amount had cleared out, and the rest seemed ready to leave as well.

Catching his gaze, Ari realized that perhaps Victor didn’t want to air his business out to people recording and shrugged.

"You don’t have to talk about it. We can talk about something else or stay silent. I’m fine with either."

"No, it’s fine. I’m enjoying the talk. For one, my parents are currently delayed in France due to an issue with their plane, and they will not be able to make it to this very important game."

"That’s fair. I hope they’re safe and that the airline handles things well. We all only have one life and should try to treasure it a bit."

Especially that of parents.

"Thank you."

The two of them exchanged the next several moves in silence.

Victor stole a pawn from Ari.

Ari used his knight to capture that same pawn.

Then, the battle of repositioning began.

Turn by turn, each of them began shifting the pieces to hide their king, to optimize their queen, and to set traps with the less important pieces until the Victor mistakenly moved his queen between two of Ari’s knights.

As the other boy froze while trying to figure out a way out, he began to speak slowly, as if carefully thinking through his words.

"This survival show...you mentioned dealing with fabricated words and storylines. Is that something you’ve dealt with personally?"

"Nobody in the show has dealt with it more than me. I could bet my life savings on that. Every word I say gets twisted not just by the production team, but by the viewers as well. I’ve been called rude, cocky, prideful, and a bunch of other things, and there’s no particular basis or truth in it, apart from the fact that I’m confident in myself. Well...I can be pretty rude and direct, but that’s just how I talk, and it’s also a French thing," Ari answered honestly.

"Yes. Exactly! I am someone who’s dealing with something of the same thing right now." Victor slapped the table in excitement, accidentally knocking over his king and several other pieces of the board.

As Ari stared at him, Victor laughed before arranging the board again.

"Ah, sorry. I’ll take the loss. Let’s start another match. Do you want white or black?"

Before Ari could respond, NOVA filled his vision.

[Matches Won In A Row: 1]

Even an accidental win like this counts?

[Barely.]

Either way, I guess I’ll take it.

"I’ll go with white again. Bon chance, Victor."

"Bon chance, Ariel."

Ari started the game again, using the same opening move, and the two of them continued to talk while the area around them emptied out.

Victor told him about his brutal NBA season; Ari told him about the torturous idol show; and they bonded over being misquoted by the media or fans, being pressured to have a certain image, and how they dealt with negativity. Ari told him about trying to complain whenever he could and getting his microphones cut off or his scenes deleted or used out of context, and Victor told him about all the fines he got after criticizing the organization and the officiating.

They talked about France; both grew up in the Parisian region, although Victor’s father was from Senegal and he often visited. They talked about their favorite football clubs; Victor spoke about the basketball cheering section he was trying to create to capture the same atmosphere as going to a football game at the Stade de France, and Ari shared a bit about the Pop Star Academy fandom and what his fans had done for him.

They talked about their attitude towards things, how to handle naysayers, what their teammates were like, and the goals they wanted to achieve in the upcoming year.

To be honest, for Ari, it was quite a nice venting session and a great change of pace from the frustration and bad mood he had been in all week.

He got to vent his complaints to a completely unrelated party about what was going on without cameras in his face while speaking French for a long time, and Victor got to do the same to him.

It also helped that he completely overwhelmed Victor in chess.

[Rather than overwhelming him, you only reached the goal because his long legs kept bumping into the table and knocking things over, and he’s gracious enough to concede, while you barely won the other 4 rounds even after taking white and going first?]

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

A win is a win, and it doesn’t matter if I won gracefully or not. Give me my reward!

[Tsk.]

Don’t you click your tongue at me! Now, can you read my mind or not?

The blue screen immediately disappeared from his vision.

"Ah. That was quite a good match. It’s such a shame that I lost so many times, but I enjoyed this conversation." Victor said honestly as he stretched, his long arms waving like tree branches.

Maybe it was because he got to speak with someone in French for an extended period, or maybe it was because they had so many similarities, including their straightforward way of speaking and analyzing things, but Victor felt way more relaxed and at peace.

And even though he’d lost here today, he’d gotten some good advice and strengthened his resolve.

"I enjoyed it too. When I get my phone, I’ll add you on social media. Good luck with your game today. Remember what I said. No mercy." Ari responded as he got ready to leave.

He would probably head back to the church, do some cleaning while dying his hair, then help out in the restaurant before going back late at night.

Hopefully, by then, the family day stuff should be over, right?

Just as Ari was getting up, Victor stood up to his full height and grabbed his shoulder.

"Ariel."

"You are very tall, you know that?" Ari replied as he kept craning his neck up to stare at Victor’s face.

Wow.

He had to be at least 220 cm.

"How tall did you say you were? My neck hurts looking up at you."

"Somewhere around 226 cm? I grew a bit last year." Victor said in amusement, since this was a common reaction even among NBA players who were taller than average.

"No wonder your nickname is the Alien. I think you should stop growing, otherwise you’ll bump your head on every door frame," Ari told the giant boy honestly.

"I already do that, unfortunately. Thankfully, it seems my growth plates are closed. But on a more serious note, since you’re skipping, do you want to come to the game? I just so happen to have 2 extra tickets since my parents can’t make it. I can raffle one away to the audience, and you can have the other one. It comes with unlimited food, drinks, and swag, and if you want, you can teach the cheering section some football cheers."

"Can I use a sink to dye my hair without getting in trouble?"

"Why not?"

"Then, sure, let’s do it."

"Excellent. Then let’s go. One of the team’s staff members is bringing the van over."