As Ian sobbed on the stage as if his entire world was collapsing, Ari stood there before joining in with the others who were comforting him.
Dryly patting the boy’s shoulders several tis, he looked as sympathetic as he could since he actually felt bad, even though he didn’t like Ian in the slightest.
After all, it was the production team that asked the audience to vote for such a cruel thing, and anyone would be miserable when over 200 people agreed that you were the worst perforr on a team.
Even if it was true, it wasn’t kind to tell a kid that on stage and expect them to react gracefully.
Once again, he thought that PDs and most of the production team were cruel people, especially as a caraman walked closer to capture Ian’s face.
The boy wiped his tears away before grabbing the microphone from the MC.
"Sniff, I’m sorry that you all feel that way about . I really worked hard, sniff, harder than so people on the team sniff, but I guess it didn’t pay off because I didn’t have an injury to use as an excuse sniff, even though I worked hard and didn’t hide in the back."
[Isn’t he talking about you?]
[How bold. I like him.]
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
Of course you do.
Forget everything he just said; Ian could suffer for all Ari cared.
"I’ll try to do better in the future to not disappoint you." Ian finished his little speech in tears, and Ari clapped slowly while trying not to frown at the boy.
- awwwwwwww
The audience made sympathetic sounds while Ryan Leary handed over a red handkerchief for Ian to blow his nose.
"Thank you, contestant Ian. I’m sure that you can achieve your goal and do better in the future. Next up, the contestant who was voted as the best perforr on the Black Swan team, with 186 votes out of 300, is....contestant Mathew. Congratulations to him!"
As Mathews’ na was announced, the rest of the team sward him, giving him high-fives and patting his back while the audience cheered. Much more enthusiastic about Mathew winning, Ari mussed his hair up while clapping hard.
Truly, with all the work Mathew had put in after joining the team last minute, he truly deserved it.
Plus, he was an amazing dancer.
As Mathew smiled a slightly restrained smile while glancing at the red-faced Ian, the MC also gave him a high five before continuing his announcent.
"Thank you, team Black Swan. Please head backstage."
Happy to be done and thoroughly excited to avoid the heat on stage, Ari followed his teammates back to the waiting area, waving at the cara and smiling appropriately when Leo and Ian talked in a tearful manner.
As they walked in, Benjamin was waiting by the door with a large smile on his face.
"Good Job, boys. You put on a great show, innit?" The British boy, along with several other boys, went around patting everyone’s back and chatting with them while Ari just went to quietly sit by Carlos as Jamie’s team appeared on screen.
"Congratulations. You did a really good job." Carlos congratulated him with a gentle smile, and Ari gave him an exhausted one in return.
"Thank you. You did really well, too. Your voice sounds better."
"Yeah, it feels like it’s coming back."
"Good. Stay away from he who must not be nad."
"Mierda, this again?"
"I swear on your secret taco food truck that I’m serious. If I’m lying they should go out of business ooof-"
"Don’t say that."
At Carlos’ elbowing him in the side, Ari laughed before glancing over at William Forbes, who was staring between him and Mathew with a cold expression on his face.
Ari felt as if he could see the wheels turning in Williams’ head, and the blonde boy was probably trying to figure out whose stats to eat next, especially as he and Mathew had been praised the most on their team.
Giving the blonde boy a cheeky smile as their eyes t, Ari ntally cursed him out before turning to watch Jamie’s performance.
It was his sincerest wish that William would get eliminated, but unfortunately, it seed that he was quite popular, having won the best perforr on his team over Benjamin by two votes.
Since there was nothing he could do about the situation at the mont, Ari made himself comfortable and watched the rest of the performances in peace, cheering on Vishal and Jamie as their team delivered a great performance, with Daniel winning the best perforr award and Vishal unfortunately winning the worst.
As Vishal made his speech with slightly reddened eyes, he looked as if he had resolved himself to do sothing.
After the final two teams perford on stage, Ryan Leary took center stage with a bright smile.
"Thank you to all of the contestants for the amazing performances. It’s now ti to announce the top three teams as voted by you, the audience. As ntioned before, the top three teams will be getting a prize. Specifically, each mber of the third-ranked team will get an extra 10,000 votes, and each mber of the second-ranked team will get 20,000 votes. Each mber of the winning team will not only get 30,000 votes, but they’ll also get a group prize of 1,000 and a special privilege for the next round. As you all know, live voting begins once the first episode is released, and the next elimination round will depend on how many votes a contestant has, so this prize is very important."
"What do you think your team’s rank is?" Jamie whispered as he leaned his entire weight onto Ari’s shoulder as they watched the MC on screen.
"Dunno, but your team is probably up there. You guys killed it."
"Hehe. I know right, but so did your team. How did you even find out about that paint?"
"The internet," Ari replied dryly as he glanced at the cara and the other contestants whispering to each other, trying to guess how their teams did before looking away.
If he were to predict his team’s rank, he would put them in second or third place.
While he thought their team performance was good, he didn’t think that their performance was as flashy and put together as the Back Door team, who really utilized the entire stage, their outfits, and lights, and really knocked it out of the park.
Additionally, he was the only contestant who had gotten booed so far, so he figured that would bring their placent down as well.
With minimal expectations, Ari began ntally urging the MC to hurry up.
He was ready to go ho and ready for their two-week break after this.
As if he heard Ari’s thought, the MC, who was telling the audience about voting details, paused for dramatic effect as a staff mber brought him an envelope.
"Without further ado, let’s begin the ranking announcents. In third place, making us question whether what we see is real or if it’s an illusion, it’s Team n in Black who perford The Real. Please co onto the stage."
"Us??????? No way!" Jamie had a comically surprised expression as he glanced around the room in shock, while pointing to his chest.
He looked like he couldn’t believe it, even though his lips were twitching in a way that indicated a smile was going to burst out.
"Congrats!"
"Well done, bruv!"
"Congratulations, guys!"
Congratulations ca flying from all sides, but Jamie seed to blank out as he kept staring between the screen and Ari while mouthing, ’No way’.
"Yes way. Shoo shoo. Go on stage and Congratulations. You did a good job." Ari high-fived Jamie before grabbing his shoulders, spinning him toward the doorway, and shoving him forward.
In passing, he high-fived Vishal and nudged him as well since the other boy seed stunned as he stood there in shock.
Actually, Jamie’s entire team just seed stunned before they suddenly began cheering while jumping around.
Knock knock knock
"Team n in Black? On stage. Now."
It was only after a staff mber ca to grab them that they realized that they needed to be on stage, and in a panic, the nine boys rushed on stage to audience cheers, and Jamie quickly gave a teary-eyed speech while covering his face with a cowboy hat he pulled out from who knows where.
"In Second Place, showing us that if you open a door, you might end up in a battle for your life, it’s the Investigators who perford Back Door!"
As his team was announced, Justin jumped into the air while pumping his arms and clicking his feet together like a leprechaun.
"Woo hoo!!!!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Another round of congratulations went around the waiting room before Justin’s team left for the stage.
Since it was only the first-place team remaining, Ari yawned in resignation since it was quite unlikely for his team to win, especially when Rex and Benjamin’s team had done such a good job on their performances and had so of the most popular contestants.
As his eyes t Williams cocky gaze as the blonde boy began heading toward the door, Ari rolled his eyes, before focusing on the MC on the tv screen once more.
"And coming in first place-"
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