Appearing in the waiting room of the building, Alex could see about two hundred or so people, both males and females, waiting to be called in. All eyes were on him as he entered but after noticing that he was just a fellow contestant, they all averted their gazes to whatever they were doing before.
Luckily, the room was large and there were a lot of seats, about five hundred in total, so Alex was able to find a vacant spot.
'I guess people are yet to arrive. The crowds are usually more than this.' Alex thought.
He looked at the faces of those who had arrived, trying to see if he recognised any of them. Unfortunately, they didn't bear any hint of familiarisation. However, he did notice a guy staring intently at him.
He was sitting on the opposite of Alex, but he just won't stop sneaking at him.
'Did he recognised this body somewhere? Damn, it will be pretty bad if he's someone this body knows. What if he notices that I'm acting unusual or strange.'
Right at that moment, the man had stood up from his position and was already walking towards Alex.
"Hi." He said as he sat by his side.
"Hi." Alex replied.
There was silence for a few moments until the man decided to speak again.
"The name is Bob." He said.
Sighing, Alex replied with his own name.
"Ohh, you're Alex?" The man almost shouted, causing those who had heard him to tilt their heads towards his direction. They thought it was the popular Alex they knew, but seeing that it was just some random nobody, they instantly turned their heads away.
For a minute, some thought that the news of Alex being dead was just a fake news. Some were already planning what would have happened if the real Alex had showed up now.
They already had their cameras put to live in case the real Alex shows up alive and not dead. The streams, the likes… it was one of the reason why many had decided to join this contest. To confirm if really Alex Stale was dead or not. Although the body of Alex was shown on Tv, it was just for a brief moment as no reporters were allowed to see him.
Alex could notice this as well, some of the people here are reporters, disguised as a participant of the upcoming idol. They had to do this since no reporters would be allowed into the arena. They needed to confirm if Alex Stale will show up at the event today or not. If not, then it means that the claims of him being dead was real.
'It seems like they are yet to believe the fact that I'm dead.' Alex thought to himself before he was interrupted by someone's throat clearing.
"Is this your first time of participating?" Bob asked.
"Yeah sure, and you?" Alex replied him.
"Same here. You know, before I came here, I was told I would meet a person named Alex. That he's a lucky guy, and his presence would change my life for good. I have no doubt it's you." Bob said.
"Me? Hahaha, very funny." Alex said, he was starting to feel a little bothered by the man beside him that he prayed the administrating team arrives soon.
"Ohh, see. They're here." Alex said excitedly.
As if his prayers were heard, three ladies dressed in a nice office uniform could be seen arriving in the room. They all looked beautiful, and the scent of their perfumes wafted the noses of everyone present.
"Alright everyone, we'll begin administrating role numbers shortly. And we'll be starting from this side." One of the ladies announced, pointing towards Alex's role.
Everyone started murmuring as they realised that the person who had came after them was being answered first. Some were even annoyed that they had immediately left the room.
'Although I own this arena, and could have just told one of the girls to attend to the people as first come first serve, unfortunately, that's impossible since I'm now a nobody. And honestly right now, I wouldn't wish for that. Not when I'm about to be called.' Alex said to himself, before he was jerked on the arm by someone.
"Hey, are you okay?" Bob asked.
"Yeah, Yeah. What is it?" The more this strange man keeps on disturbing him, the more annoying he was starting to get for Alex. He was just being patient since he hasn't done anything that will make him lash out at him.
"Did you see that? We got picked first, I knew you were lucky." Bob said, but then he remembered something. "Wait, does it mean I'll have to go on stage first?"
A sudden realisation hit him as the image of him standing nervously before a multitude of crowd displayed in his mind. He saw himself getting a stage fright and failing to utter any statement, thereby losing the contest and getting booed out of the arena.
He turned to look at Alex with a pleading face, grabbing his two hands as he glanced nervously at him.
"Please… please can you swap seats with me. I don't want to go first." Bob said.
"I…" Alex wanted to speak but he was interrupted by a female's voice.
"Alright, the first person should come over right now." The lady said, staring at the two men from where she was seated. A thought was running through her mind that those two must be lovers, 'cause, that's what holding hands looks like to her.
'How I wish I had someone to hold my hands too. Damn all these relationship kids.' She cursed internally.
"Are you coming or not?!" She shouted, noticing that the two were still holding hands, when actually, Bob was pleading for Alex to switch positions with him.
However, despite all his pleadings, Alex still won't switch positions with him. With no other option left, Bob had decided to accept his fate as he walked towards the lady, ready to receive his role number.
"Your role number is 201. That's for wasting my time romancing your partner."