The Truth

"...We tried contacting him, but no one answered the phone," the person in the television said in between sniffles.
Three other young men sat together, their heads bent low. It was a talkshow hosted by Matilda Tao.

"...He has changed. He's not the same Jason that we knew last time," the boy with shoulder length hair and tanned skin mumbled.

"...Kunda, he has been your best friend since senior high, am I right?" The host asked. The member with brownish blond hair hung his head and nodded. As the camera pulled in closer to his face, a tear was seen rolling down his cheek....

Click.
Shuwei paused the VCR. He scratched his neck and yawned. Brushing away the potato chips crumbs away from his shirt, he sat up straight on the sofa and looked at the clock on the wall. 5pm.

Someone was very late.

Shuwei looked back at the television screen and grunted. Kunda's face was still on the screen.
"That son of a gun..."

Beep beep! Beep beep!
He picked up his mobile phone on the coffee table and saw a new message alert.

Shuwei pushed open the heavy door of the Starcover coffeeshop and was greeted by the fragrant smell of coffeebeans and buzzing conversations of people.

"Hey, over here!" He heard a familiar voice and turned. The supposedly late guy was waving at him. Slowly, he approached the table.

"YO!" Milk greeted him, followed by a high-five, knock-fist and a thump-heart-twice.
It was their greeting ritual.

"I thought you said all of you were present? Where's Ah Di?" Shuwei questioned.

Kunda lazily pointed to a guy leaning on the wall and smoking a cigarette in the outdoor section.

"Oh."

Milk slapped a stack of envelopes with the openings torn open onto the table.
"Got this from the company yesterday. Same old stuff, fans wishing for a reunion."

Kunda's eyes widened as he scanned through a randomly-picked letter.
"Energy! We are recreating the miracle of 829! Please agree to the reunion concert!" he read dramatically from the pink paper.

A person at the table was silent.

"Hey, say something!" Milk knocked on the table twice and looked at him.

Toro gulped his last mouthful of cappucino and wiped his mouth gently with a napkin. He looked at the ground for a few seconds, and rose his eyes to look at Milk.

"We're supposed to be rivals, you dumbasses," he finally spoke.

Shuwei snapped his fingers in front of Toro's face. "Sir, for your information, the drama has ended. And be glad that the media hasn't found out yet."

Kunda nodded and continued, "Yeah. Our money will be gone if we're exposed."

In the outdoor section

Ah Di pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down. He took a big puff from his cigarette and exhaled it slowly with a relaxed sigh. Reaching out to tap the ashes into the ashtray, he caught sight of the headlines from the entertainment newspaper that the man opposite was reading.

5566 in final stages of bribery lawsuit

With a cold chuckle, Ah Di sat back and closed his eyes.

I wish that I can admit everything now....

Three years have passed...since our contract dispute.

So much hype from the media.....

So much tears from us....

When in fact....

None of us were victims.
Just a scam...

a self-written drama...

For extra cash.

The people that were truly hurt...

are...

He expression was pained at the thought.

Our fans.