"No hablo inglés."
[....]
[No way.]
[Really?]
[I can't believe you said that!]
[Puahahahahahaha]
NOVA burst out laughing, filling up his vision with multiple transparent blue windows.
Seeing the response and repeated laughter, Ari wanted to fall to the ground from embarrassment.
Instead of devising a way to avoid touching or punching William Forbes, it seems that his brain glitched and decided that he would speak Spanish this time while claiming not to understand English.
[No hablo inglés.]
[Shall I shake your hand?]
[No hablo inglés.]
[Will you marry me?]
[No hablo inglés.]
[Should I give you a million dollars?]
[No hablo inglés.]
[lllllllllloooooooooooolllllllllllll]
As his vision filled with text of the system laughing, Ari was once again happy that he was wearing his snail mask.
Otherwise, his completely red face would be exposed.
"I beg your pardon? What did you say to me?" William Forbes stared at Ari with a disbelieving expression as his hand fell to his side.
William thought his ears were playing tricks on him.
He had lowered himself not once but twice to speak to this weird-looking mask-wearing gremlin of a boy wearing animal-style clothing because he thought the boy's singing ability was good.
He also thought his talent for composing tacky yet catchy songs was something to keep an eye on and maybe bring to his side.
Yet each time he spoke to the boy, he seemed to be mocking him, and those catlike green eyes seemed to be filled with disgust and anger.
As if he hated his very being.
Considering he had never seen the boy a day in his life, William had to be attribute it to jealousy.
Some losers were just like that.
They hated to see others doing better than them, so they just hated on them irrationally.
He could tell by Ari's clothes that he was poor and had no class.
As a superior member of society, it was his duty to at least pretend to be gracious to those who were beneath him.
"I'll give you one last chance. What did you say to me?" William asked while trying to maintain his princely smile.
Ari wanted to take the words back, but since he had already started, he had no choice but to double down.
"No hablo inglés."
[Hahahahahahaha]
[🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣]
NOVA began laughing so hard that it turned into emojis that were rolling around in Ari's vision.
[Ahhh. I missed this.]
[My favorite lying show has begun.]
[And this time it's no longer bilingual lying but tri-lingual lying.]
[We've moved on to Spanish now?]
[Since when don't you understand English?]
[Hmmm?]
The sarcastic comments continued coming, but Ari studiously ignored the system while looking at William in pretend confusion.
"Last time it was French, and this time it's Spanish? What exactly is your problem?? Do you enjoy messing around with me? I don't even know who you are, and I'm just trying to be friendly with a fellow contestant." William asked in a slightly irritated voice.
You don't know who I am? You bastard, you ordered me to be killed when I had done nothing to you!
Do you just go around killing so many people that you can't even recognize their voices?
Get wrecked!
And why can't you take a hint?
If I said I didn't understand English, then I don't understand it!
If you don't like the response, then too bad!
The other party should take the hint and go away!
"No hablo inglés," Ari repeated with his confused expression while mentally yelling at the blonde boy to go away.
At his response, William's eyebrow twitched, and his smiling face seemed like it was about to crack as his face turned slightly red.
He clenched his hands into a fist before stuffing them in his pockets while speaking through gritted teeth.
"Really? That's the story you're going with? You refuse to speak English with me?"
"Lo siento. No hablo inglés," Ari repeated with a shrug.
I'm sorry, I don't speak English.
William Forbes' eyes suddenly became cold as he snorted in disbelief.
On the other hand, Carlos looked at Ari in surprise before speaking to him in Spanish as well.
"¿Tú sabes hablar español?"
Do you speak Spanish?
"Si. Hablo español un poco, pero quiero mejorar."
Yes. I speak a little Spanish, but I'm trying to learn more.
"Ohhhh, lo estás haciendo muy bien."
Oh. You're doing a very good job.
"Muchas gracias."
Thank you very much.
William glanced back and forth at the two of them, who were speaking in a language he didn't understand, before shooting Ari a dirty glare, whispering something under his breath, and walking away.
As soon as he left, Carlos turned toward Ari, covering his mouth before whispering.
"As funny as that was, why are you avoiding him?"
"I have an unreconcilable personal grudge against him," Ari whispered back while covering his mouth and making sure he wasn't looking anywhere near William.
"Against the number one ranked contestant? Seems like a bad idea on your part."
"Probably, but it's personal. Thanks for helping me out there. You don't need to do it if it makes you uncomfortable." Ari shrugged before looking away.
He and William were bound to not get along, and he didn't want to make it awkward or uncomfortable for anyone, especially somebody whom he had just met.
"It was no problem at all, and I don't mind. Really. Let me know if you ever need a cover or somebody to practice Spanish with. I help out when I can." Carlos looked at him and smiled kindly, almost reaching out to pat his head but pulling back at the last minute.
"Sure," Ari replied noncommittally before glancing around in boredom.
He really hoped that they didn't plan to keep them in this room until all the other contestants showed up. He wanted to head to whatever housing they were supposed to be at, change into something a little more decent, and remove his snail mask.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what the production team did.
They kept delivering contestants individually or in groups until all of them had arrived at around 2 pm.
Having wasted the whole time staying awake, Ari wished he had used the opportunity to sleep like Jamie, as he was completely exhausted.
If he had known it would be like this, he would have just come right before 6 pm.
That way, he could have accomplished his Repeat Missions instead of just sitting there and occasionally chatting with Carlos.
Then, PD Emily arrived with staff members carrying bins with badges, name tags, and what looked like clothing.
"Everybody gather up! Let's begin."