Entering the Competition (6) - Evan's POV

The moment I entered the room, I felt like I was breathing in fresh air from the countryside. The temperature was also perfect for their thin uniforms. The floors were also heated, and their walls were soundproof, unlike ours. I couldn't hear anyone other than the people in this room. This was on a whole other level.

They replaced the old furniture in their rooms for more expensive and modern ones. I couldn't believe they had an entire living room designed as a study room. When Rika showed me her room, my jaw almost dropped with the collection of jewels on her accessories displayed on the shelves. Her friend also had a shelf for herself, not looking much different than hers.

The bed was also different as they chose to sleep on the floor. With the exotic tatami mats, it appeared as it was the better choice. Was this how my sister usually lived? It was no wonder she was coughing all the time in our parent's house.

The entire room sparkled as it was customized to suit their needs. My friends were also speechless as this was more than they anticipated. Luke offered them some snacks and tea on the glass table. They appeared shocked from one bite like I was when Luke offered me the leftover plates that Rika didn't touch.

"Is this usually how you live?" I became curious.

"It's better than the makeshift room we're in. We tried our best so we could survive for the rest of the week in this room," she sadly smiled.

My friends stiffened from her answer. How could it get even better than this? No wonder they threw out everything with no hesitation outside this room. While we ate all the cookies, I noticed she sat far away from them. We started to feel a bit guilty as none of them touched the snacks with us.

"Where are you planning to go during the break?" I switched the topic.

"The break isn't long enough to go anywhere," she sulked.

"My family has a villa nearby. We may go visit one more time," Alex joined us.

I nodded, wondering if every one of them had their own villa in the third district. Noticing the sun starting to set, we reluctantly left their rooms. It was like we were going back to our normal lives again. We got ready to sleep as we changed into our pyjamas.

However, someone pounded on our door. My senior opened the door, wondering what was going on. One of the organizers panted as she trembled, "someone managed to get past security to kidnap one of our contestants."

"We're gathering everyone in the auditorium to place all our guards in one area," she told us to follow her.

I walked to follow her with my friends. Once I entered, there were an extra set of security guards placed around the people from the first district. It was likely they would become the targets. Rika looked unfazed like she was used to it. In fact, none of the people in the first district seemed to fear the danger.

Someone screamed when all the lights suddenly turned off. The window shattered, making the security guards distracted with protecting the students. When the lights turned back on, I found Rika struggling with someone placing a cloth over her mouth. There were signs of blood dripping down her arm as the stranger struggled to hold both the knife and Rika at once. He injured her in the process as Rika kicked and turned as much as she could.

Meanwhile, Luke continued to land precise kicks at the stranger for him to loosen his grasp. With Alex helping him, the kidnapper soon released Rika from the pain as Luke pulled her behind him. Seeing that he wouldn't be able to grab her again, he quickly escaped from the scene. I couldn't believe what I just saw.

Luke pulled out some bandages out of nowhere as he tried to treat her wounds. A crowd of people from the first district surrounded her, blocking her from our view. Even my friends were stunned from the scene.

"Is your sister going to be ok?" One of them worried for her.

"I don't know," I hoped she would be.

"Can you tell me how the security has gotten this relaxed? My fiancée is injured due to your carelessness," Luke glared at the closest person in charge.

Fiancée? I never knew this was their relationship to each other. I couldn't believe it wasn't a joke when they told me last time. At the same time, it explained everything. Rika was considered as one of their own since she was engaged to one of them. I did wonder what Luke meant when he said they were family. It started to make sense why Rika stayed at his villa instead of staying with us until the weekends ended. Seeing how my parents didn't react last time, they must have accepted their relationship.

"Can we leave?" Rika tugged his sleeve.

"We'll increase the security and defer the main part of the competition to the day after tomorrow. We'll do all that we can to keep the environment safer," the person in charge begged them.

"It doesn't guarantee anything, does it?" Rika coldly responded.

"You don't have to follow the schedule and just have to attend the events where you have to compete," the person added.

"My fiancée may not be able to attend all the events," Luke glanced at her injuries.

"We'll decrease the number of rounds that you'll have to attend," he seemed to be getting more desperate.