I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
48. Sabotage

By midnight, [Pantages Theatre].

A man slipped in in staff clothes and wore a hat that slightly covered his face from the glare of the surveillance cameras.

The man managed to get into a room filled with musical instruments. Not knowing what he was doing in the dark, the man came back out after a few minutes inside, and left as if nothing had happened.

####On the night of the next day###

Ariel has just walked out of her apartment and is shocked by Joel and Bram waiting near Bram's car.

"What are you doing here?" ariel asked as their distance was only two steps away from her.

"I was just thinking of leaving together" said Bram.

"Of course to pick you up" said Joel.

They both answered with different answers. Hearing that, they looked at each other with gazes unwilling to budge.

"You're going with me, aren't you, Ariel?" ask joel.

"can't. Ariel will be with me, I'll be here first" Bram said.

"Just because you arrived first doesn't mean Ariel has to go with you" Joel said.

"Why not? Don't you ever hear the word who's fast he got?" reply Bram.

"Unfortunately, I'm not an item" Ariel said.

Bram closed his eyes, and slowly turned his head towards where Ariel was standing with her arms folded.

"That's not what I mean," said Bram, feeling guilty.

"Instantially you call me an item, don't you?" ariel's toilet.

"No, no, No, I mean, I'm, I'm just, I'm, "" Bram stuttered to explain his point to Ariel.

"Then will you go with me?" joel asked happily.

Ariel turned to look at Joel without a smile on her face. That made the smile that had originally adorned Joel's lips vanish without a trace.

"No" said Ariel.

They both lowered their shoulders. Sighs slowly, then holds Ariel again.

"Come, Ariel, what's wrong with going out together when our destination is the same?" persuade Joel.

"That question is exactly what I want to ask you. What's wrong with you two? For a moment you can be very compact, but the next second you come back with your quarrel," said Ariel staring Joel and Bram alternately.

Ariel glanced at the circular clock on her wrist, then sighed softly.

"We only use one car" Bram suggested.

"I don't want Ariel to be late, so just use your car" Joel said.

"Wow, I'm impressed" greeted Bram with a wide grin.

"Whisper,!" hatch Joel. " Just leave. We're running out of time" Joel said.

"Okay" Bram replied happily.

"Wait a minute, I'll have to wait for one more person" Ariel stopped.

"Who?" ask Bram.

"Charlie?" guess Joel.

"Ken," Ariel answered briefly.

Simultaneously the faces of the two turned one hundred and eighty degrees. Without realizing it, they snorted in annoyance while turning their faces away.

'What's with them exactly?' inner Ariel, inner,

Shortly after, a taxi stopped not far from them. From the passenger door, Ken came out and immediately ran over to Ariel.

"Lho,, kok," Ken stared puzzled by the presence of Joel and Bram.

"Let's go," Bram asked.

"Ah, well," replied Ken nervously.

Joel directs Ariel to sit in front with Bram. Don't let Ariel sit in the back with Ken.

"You just sit in front, I'm in the back" Joel said.

'I dream what the hell? Why am I now confronted with them again, ' complains Ken.

Ken sat in silence as the car started to walk out of Ariel's apartment.

"May I ask you something, Ariel?" bram asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yes, sure," replied Ariel.

"It's not usually that you appear to be wearing formal clothing, is there a specific reason?" tanya Bram took a quick look and looked back at the road again.

"Because this is not purely my performance, but rather towards those I trained. And of course, I will continue to perform with them at the end of the show. To show the bond between me and those I train" Ariel said.

"Ahh,, so. It seems that the final show will be a much-anticipated wait" Bram said.

"You said as if you had claimed the best value is in our hands," Ariel replied with a brief laugh.

"To be honest, I'm pretty sure it's you. I don't have the slightest doubt about that" Bram replied.

"Why don't you just say that you've peeked at them in training instead of saying in a convoluted manner" Joel said.

Ken tried to hold back his laughter.

"As if you didn't do it" said Joel.

"Oh, of course. The difference is that I don't admit it as openly as you, '" Bram replied.

"If something like this is called not confessing, I don't know what to say anymore" Ken said.

"Heeppp,,,"

Ken quickly closed his mouth while closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt_,,," Ken regretted.

Unexpectedly, Ariel, Bram and Joel spouted out their laughter, leaving Ken flustered.

"It looks like someone has lost his nerves" Bram said glancing through the windshield.

"Ehh,,"

Ken seemed to have just woken up. They are not as bad as he thinks. He only realized when the nervous feeling that had previously been felt had evaporated somewhere.

"So, like, earlier," Ken hung up his line.

His eyes turned to look at Ariel, Bram and then Joel who was beside him.

"I hope you don't have stage fright" said Ariel.

"Are you aware you're looking very tense before we leave?" ask Ariel.

"They even realized it" he added.

"And give you the best therapy during the trip. It will incur expensive tariffs" Bram said.

"Of course the therapy really does deliver results" Joel added.

Ken smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thank you very much" said Ken Tuus.

"If you want to thank me, just play to the best of your ability" Bram said.

"Surely, I will" replied Ken.

They arrived a few minutes before their time and were greeted by a charlie figure who waved lightly towards Ariel.

Besides Charlie, Oliver and Gina are waiting for Ariel.

"Will there be any more competition?" oliver said when he saw Bram and Joel coming together.

"Be quiet, now we go in to prepare yourself" said Ariel.

"Well, brother," replied Oliver.

They immediately entered the building where the show would be held.

Oliver and Gina, who are used to it, do all the necessary things without being asked.

While Ken watches his two friends, occasionally does what Ariel asks.

As time went on, the atmosphere of the building became more crowded when it began to be filled with people who would display the ability to play their musical instruments.

"Sister," cried Oliver frantically.

"What's? Why are you panicking?"ask Ariel.

Oliver waved, asking Ariel to come closer.

"There's something wrong with her cello suitcase.not just that, it's a musical instrument that we're going to use as if someone just moved it," Oliver explained.

"Maybe it's the janitor" Ariel greeted. "Isn't that natural?" continued.

"Better brother look first" Oliver asked anxiously.

Ariel frowned and followed Oliver's advice.

Bram, Joel and Charlie who saw the panic of Oliver immediately approached Ariel who was checking the musical instruments prepared for them.

"What the fuck is this,?" hiss Ariel.

Ariel sees a crack in the body of the cello and violin. Another strange thing was in the piano section that was clearly visible piano keys had been replaced by force.

"How did this happen?" mumbling Ariel.

Tension began to creep in his heart.

Ariel fell silent, thinking of the worst possible event that could happen if they abruptly canceled to perform.

They will be labeled incompetent and only look for excuses if they say their musical instruments are damaged.

Ariel pressed the piano keys, and immediately frowned not recognizing the resulting tone. Same with Violin and Cello. The resulting tone was completely discordant.

"Ariel, right,,? Did something happen?"

Bram shows up and asks what is going on. So did Joel and Charlie.

"The instrument they will use is broken" said Ariel Lirih.

"......"

"....."

"....."