Facing Alice's expectant eyes, Ronan responded with a big smile, spreading his hands and conveying a hint of indulgence in his tone. "I only have one vote."
The subtext was clear: Ronan had already agreed, but the other three votes needed to be won by Alice herself.
Understanding Ronan's message, Alice clenched her fists and jumped up and down with joy.
She stepped forward, kissed Ronan on the cheek, and then turned to look at the other three band members with eyes filled with anticipation, shining brightly in the dim yellow light.
Ronan was taken by surprise by Alice's actions, and his eyes widened. He couldn't help but wonder, "Are expressions of emotion this direct?"
At this moment, Ollie was the first to raise his right arm high and enthusiastically declared, "I agree! Ronan's sister, how could I not support this?"
"Yeah!" Alice cheered immediately. She took a step forward to hug Ollie but found her right hand being pulled back by a force behind her.
She couldn't move forward and even took a step back. Turning around to look, she saw Ronan wearing a serious expression.
"They're all dangerous people; you need to keep your distance," Ronan warned.
"Ronan!" Before Alice could protest, Ollie was the first to playfully complain. His exclamations and antics were so amusing that Alice burst into laughter, momentarily forgetting to argue with Ronan.
Then, Maxim raised his right hand as well, saying, "Count me in, but I have a condition: I must showcase my dashing figure!"
While speaking, Maxim touched his chin and lifted it slightly, appearing as if he were lost in his own world and couldn't snap out of it.
Others didn't need to ask to know what he was thinking about, judging from Maxim's blissful expression.
As a result, no one interrupted Maxim, and all eyes turned to Cliff.
Cliff, deep in thought with a furrowed brow, seemed to have some reservations of his own. After a brief pause, he spoke, "I...uh..."
There was a hint of concern in his words, and his gaze roamed past his bandmates before settling on Alice. Slowly, his eyebrows relaxed.
"I have one question: Will you invade our privacy? I mean, inside the bathroom?"
One second. Two seconds.
"No" Ronan replied firmly. His concise words left no room for ambiguity, decisively shutting down any possibility.
All eyes then turned towards Ronan in surprise, as if they couldn't believe he was being so emphatic.
Initially, Ronan had already given his approval, but these glances compelled him to add something to underscore his stance.
"No! No! Under no circumstances! Cliff, snap out of it. You're not sleepwalking now. No! No! This is the final answer. Do you understand?"
Silence.
They exchanged glances in silence, and then, in unison, Ollie, Maxim, and Cliff cheered.
"Yo! Ronan! Ronan! Ronan's the boss!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up, everyone!"
"Ronan, when did you learn to rap? You've got great rhythm and flow. It's amazing!"
The room was filled with the jovial sounds of their banter, and even Ronan couldn't help but smile. He was still adjusting to his role as an older brother and to his friends' style of joking.
In just twenty-four hours, from last night to tonight, there had been so many changes, and he needed time to adapt.
Unexpectedly, Alice came to Ronan's rescue. "Hey, hey! Please don't equate me with paparazzi. I'm preparing to become the most esteemed film director in history. If I'm willing to enter the bathroom and film you, you should consider it an honor to sacrifice for the sake of art."
Boom!
Her confident and proud words instantly brought laughter from everyone, including Ronan.
Observing Alice standing tall and resolute, unapologetic for her pursuit of art, Ronan couldn't help but feel touched. Even though they had just met, he could sense the bond that came with being part of the Cooper family. It made him uncomfortable, but this sensation... wasn't unpleasant.
"Ah!"
Alice's unexpected exclamation disrupted the cheerful atmosphere in the room. Laughter abruptly ceased as all eyes turned towards Alice, thinking something had gone wrong. However, Alice had just clapped her hands together and spoke impatiently.
"Now that everyone has agreed, filming starts tonight!"
With that declaration, before anyone could react, Alice turned and left.
"What?"
"Wait."
"So fast?"
"Don't we need some time to prepare?"
"What should we do?"
For the four members of the One Day King band, this was their first experience being in front of a camera on such a scale. They felt they needed a sense of ritual or something else to properly prepare. The suddenness of it all left them in a bit of a panic.
Chatter erupted, but they couldn't find a definitive answer because none of them had one.
So what should they do?
In the end, each of them began to prepare in their own way.
While they waited for Alice to return with her camera, the scene in front of her amused her:
Cliff sat earnestly flipping through his notes as if he were about to record something significant with his pen. The only issue was that his notebook was entirely blank, and his improvisational effort was glaringly obvious.
Ollie sat on the sofa with a book in his arms, flipping through its pages. Surprisingly, it was "Advanced Mathematics." It was the first time Alice had seen him read.
And what about Maxim and Ronan?
Maxim was seen struggling into a pair of jeans, with one foot in the leg and one foot stuck in the crotch, hopping on one foot.
Jump!
Maxim leaped out of the bathroom door, with his back to Alice. He made inarticulate sounds as if he were in a battle with himself.
Then, with a squeaky sound, he crashed to the floor, exclaiming, "I'm fine, I'm fine."
If Alice observed correctly, Maxim had managed to change into a new shirt in this short period of time.
Alice had to stifle her laughter as she watched this intense activity, as it almost caused her to drop the Super 8 camera she held. She let out a long breath and held back her amusement.