Larry Jackson watched the Super Nova team performance, still partially in shock at the visual switch-up of the contestant he disliked.
The heavy electronic bass of the instruntal was blasting as the eight boys in front of him were performing to the best of their abilities, but his gaze kept going to Ariel, who seed to be really enjoying himself as he put a lot of energy into dancing the choreography with a fierce expression on his face.
As he sang his part while dancing in the center, even Larry had to admit that Ari’s vocals had beco even better than before, his unique tone making it easy to tell that it was him singing, even with your eyes closed.
The slightly raspy tone that caught your attention and made you want to listen even closer and rehear his part was impressive, but the most remarkable thing about his performance was his improved dance skills.
Compared to Mathew, an exceptional dancer who hit every beat with the perfect amount of power while adding his own personal touch, Ari’s dancing was much more stiff, as if he morized every movent and was spitting it out like a robot.
Occasionally, his usual cat-like grace could be seen in the moves, as if sothing clicked both physically and ntally, but for the most part, it was a bland dance performance, or at least, it should have been.
The difference was that he now combined his already good vocals with excellent visuals and better-than-expected dancing, making him have a greater impact than before.
Larry Jackson had to admit that this contestant, who had perford a stupid, childish dance for his audition, had improved in such a manner that he didn’t stick out even among extrely good dancers such as Mathew and Haruto.
And as Larry heard Ari sing, providing the stable lodic layer for Carlos’ soaring high notes to be highlighted when needed or harmonizing and supporting others as the song called for it, Larry Jackson had to admit it.
Ari had beco a really good, core component of the team.
At least vocally.
And he was proving that he belonged on the show.
And rather than Ari being the one to bring down his team’s performance, it was instead sobody else.
Larry Jackson’s blue eyes turned to the struggling William, who was making pitch mistakes that even an elentary schooler wouldn’t make, and struggling to control the tone of his voice.
It was as if he had never sung before, and the previous skill and talent he had shown were a joke.
It was clear that the blonde boy was embarrassed, especially since he had perford worse than anyone else on the team.
Thankfully, there was sobody on the team who covered up the remaining parts, and the song was finished successfully with all the boys except for one panting and sweating.
As they stood there waiting for feedback, Larry Jackson paused, for once thinking through his words, before deciding to switch targets entirely.
"Mathew. Step forward."
"Yes."
"For the positive, you made it through the song. But on the negative side, I’ve ntioned it before, but I’ll say it again. Your dancing is amazing, and you’re a great choreographer. Everyone knows this. In fact, you might be the best dancer here; however, we’re not looking for the best dancer and choreographer, we’re looking for a complete idol who can preferably sing and rap, but if not both, then can do one or the other really well. Do you think the rap performance you gave was as good as Benjamin’s or Haruto’s?" Larry Jackson asked him in a cold tone.
"...no," Mathew replied in a quiet tone.
"I’m sure X-ponent can say it better than I can, but we need to see so improvent from you, especially when you’re paired with talented people who can aid you in what you’re lacking."
"Right. I think part of your issue is confidence, and this applies to Vishal as well." The rapper, X-ponent grabbed his microphone and spoke up in his usual asured tone, "I know you’re nervous to perform and obviously don’t want to get criticized, but with a crazy song like this, unlike the vocals where you sing on tune, when you rap, you have to sell it and make us believe what you’re saying, even if you think it’s nonsense, understand? I want to see that sa confidence you have when you dance translate to your delivery."
"Yes."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Ben, you did well, but you can always improve. Try varying your voice a bit and see what fits better. You know which style of rap works for you, but I would love to see you expand your repertoire."
"Got it," Benjamin replied casually.
"Haruto, Nile, this might have been your best performance yet, but as always, pronunciation is key. I want to be able to understand what you’re saying, even if you’re speaking and dancing on a train at 90 miles per hour. Okay? I would ask your teammates to clarify so words for you, and you can imitate their mouth positioning and pronunciation, understood?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
The two boys nodded with a smile, but then there was a pause as the judges looked at each other, and then, surprisingly, Kim Young-woo spoke up.
"Ariel."
"...Yes?"
A bit surprised at being called by a trainer who usually didn’t bother to speak with him, Ari replied a bit slower than usual.
"Your vocals aside, I can see that your dancing has improved a lot, so you must have put in so effort." The Korean dance choreographer spoke slowly but clearly.
"Yes, I’ve been receiving a bunch of help from Mathew and have been practicing to improve my skills with Vishal."
"I can see the improvent, but part of being a good dancer is not only learning how to do the moves, but also integrating them with your own personal style, which is sothing you can improve on, especially with this type of performance. I recomnd you work on trying to make the choreography your own rather than just spitting out the moves that Matthew choreographed. This applies to Vishal as well as to Carlos."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Sure."
"Understood."
At their polite responses, Kim Young-woo nodded before leaning back.
"Ah, I guess it’s my turn? William, William, William." Jelissa’s gentle voice sounded out, and the blond boy’s face darkened defensively.
"...yes?"
"This is the worst performance you’ve given so far. You know that, right? What’s going on with you? You’ve been on a downward trend for a while. Is there sothing that you’re not telling us? Or that you need help with?" Jelissa asked him in a gentle but pointed tone.
"I’m fine."
"I don’t think you are, and this performance shows that you’re not. Do you plan to go on stage like this?" Jelissa replied bluntly.
She might disagree with him sotis, but William was still a student whom she nurtured and taught, and she wanted to see him succeed.
His doing badly was a poor reflection not only on her but on his team as well.
As William stayed silent, his neck and ears flushing from embarrassnt, Jelissa turned to Ari and Carlos, who were objectively the two best singers on the team and were also her direct students.
"Carlos. Ari. You’re all a team, and I know that both of you are excellent singers who can help other people improve when they’re having issues. Is there a reason why you let it get to this point?" Jelissa subtly scolded them while trying to figure out what the issue was.
Previously, it was Carlos on a slump, but now it seed that the slump had transferred to William.
No matter their personal feelings towards him, as teammates, they should be doing sothing to help, not watching William fail.
Ari stared at Jelissa, but before he could say anything, Carlos spoke first.
"Sorry. We’ll try to be better in the future so we don’t disappoint you."
Hearing the sincerity in Carlos’s tone and seeing no signs of deception, Jelissa sighed before turning to William, who had his head bowed.
"And William, I understand that you’re the leader, but it’s okay to accept help from your teammates. Especially these two. You know how good their skills are, so you should utilize their help or co to the trainers. Understand?"
"...fine."
"Sorry, what was that?" Jelissa asked with a raised brow at the muttered comnt.
"I said I’ll fix it by performance day. One way or another." William said as he suddenly looked up, his fierce blue eyes eting Ari’s, who blinked before looking away.
"Good. Then, that’s all. Super Nova team number 2. Please co forward."
As the entire team went to sit back down, Ari was sohow sandwiched between Benjamin, Carlos, and Vishal, who seed to be bent on keeping him and William far away from each other.
With a peaceful heart, Ari watched the rest of the team’s performances, clapping appropriately with a smile on his face while pretending he couldn’t feel the burning eyes of a certain individual.
After they were done, they naturally went back to the practice room to debrief.
The team looked between William’s swollen face with a lot of foundation on it and the large band-aid on Ari’s forehead hidden beneath his hair, as well as the cold glares at each other on both of their faces, before making sure they sat as far from each other as possible.
Although the issue between them wasn’t known, now wasn’t the ti for that.
"Shall we talk or shall we practice?"
"Let’s practice."
"Yes. Let’s." William gave Ari a cold smile.
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
Why would you say it in such a nacing way?
And just like that, the remaining days passed filled with practice, avoiding William, and even more practice until it was finally the evening before they had to go to Vegas for their performance.
Ari had just finished the final check of his outfit and was just waiting for Carlos to co back with his motorcycle helt so he could decorate it before going to bed.
As Ari lazily rolled around the practice room floor, he finally heard the door open.
Sitting up, he looked at Carlos, who quietly stood in the doorway for a while before speaking in a quiet tone.
"So, I won’t be able to make it to the performance."
"Huh? What do you an by that?"
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