"I beg your pardon?" Wilford Forbes repeated again as he stared at Jamie in confusion.

Where was this chatty, nitpicky behavior coming from?

According to the reports he’d received, Jamie was one of the most laid-back contestants.

He was always smiling, didn’t really complain, never got in trouble, never got into fights, always worked hard, and was solely focused on music.

All the contestants liked him, and the only blemish against him was his close association with the number 1 troublemaker of the competition, Ariel, who always had something sharp to say anytime he became annoyed, but apart from that, Jamie was a veritable golden child who was a shoo-in to the debut group.

But what was happening right now?

Instead of Ariel, whom Wilford expected to be the person who protested the most against William’s return, it was Jamie who was smiling innocently at him while making cutting remarks in that southern drawl that made things sound kind and sweet.

Smiling brighter than ever, Jamie continued speaking, "You ain’t picking up what I’m putting down? I’m asking if it’s fair to reward William for his team coming in first place when everyone knows he didn’t put in any work for the song he stole. How is that fair to me and Ari, who actually worked hard?"

"...well, at the time, the audience voted for the best performance, which was William’s."

"So yer tellin me that the audience would have voted the same way if they found out it was stolen? Or are you tellin me that cheatin is allowed from now on?"

Finally losing his patience, Wilford leveled a cold glance at Jamie and then Ari.

"...I’ve told you before that we can discuss this after the meeting, James, so there’s no need to harp on the same issue over and over again. Or are you arguing this point because you think that contestant Ariel should get to pick the team for the finals? Are you doing this because he instigated you?"

At the random accusation being thrown his way, Ari blinked innocently.

Him?

Why was he getting dragged into this as an instigator when he was the one trying to stomp Jamie’s rampage?

"You think he’s instigating me? Not at all. I don’t want Ari to become a leader in the finals."

You don’t?

Although he didn’t want to be a team leader in the finals either, Ari felt a bit hurt.

Why don’t you want me to be a team leader, James? Huhhhh?

What did I ever do to you!

"Then what is the point of your complaint, Jamie? Or are you speaking just to hear your voice heard?"

"Yes? Partially? After all, it’s not like you’re going to do anything to me, right? Or do you plan to have the production team portray me in a bad light with only two weeks remaining on the show? Do you think people would believe it? I’ve been well behaved this whole time." Jamie asked, laughing innocently, as the contestants, the judges, and Wilford Forbes stared at him in shock.

Even Ari couldn’t help but look over with wide eyes.

Who are you and what have you done to Jamie??

I didn’t raise you to be like this?

Who corrupted you so that you would become like this??

As Wilford’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, Jamie continued with a wide smile, "Ima stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point. If the team leaders of the finals are chosen based on which teams won, and you insist on giving William leadership, I want to choose first because William should technically be disqualified for stealing a song, and you know it. If you dare let him go first or get an advantage for selecting things for the finals, I’m going to start getting really rowdy. And let me tell ya, you don’t want me to get rowdy." Jamie insisted with a focused smile.

No matter how hard Wilford Forbes glared at him, his smile and eyes didn’t waver in the slightest, and he even yawned as if he were bored.

Wilford glared at him for several seconds, weighing things in his mind before nodding.

Whether or not Jamie went first really didn’t matter.

He still had things well under control.

"Fine. Then may I finish what I said, James? Or do you have anything else to say?"

"Go ahead. I won’t say another word." Jamie pretended to zip his lips shut and tossed away the key.

"Somehow, I don’t believe that, but let’s move on. The leaders for the two teams of 7 will be James, who has decided that he must go first-"

"Because William stole a song and should have been eliminated-" Jamie interjected with his hand raised before zipping his lips and tossing away the key.

"And William." Wilford continued coldly, "In the finals, all contestants will be performing the signal song Pick Me, our first performance song Warrior. You will also be performing the songs created by Contestant Ariel and Jamie-"

"I’d like to discuss that, actually, since I was the one who created the song from scratch. I don’t approve of William performing it and will need extra compensation if you insist that he does," Jamie interjected once more with his hands raised, cutting Wilford off and causing a couple of contestants to snicker at the flash of anger on Wilford’s face.

"We can discuss that lat-"

"I stand in solidarity with Jamie. I also don’t want William performing the song that I suffered so hard to create, while the production team used the opportunity to slander me for clicks and views on the episode. I’m demanding extra compensation and an apology from everyone involved." Ari added on with a mischievous smile.

If Jamie had decided to go scorched earth on this issue, he might as well join him.

After all, what was the production team going to do? Paint them badly?

In Ari’s case, he had been dealing with that since the beginning, and Jamie had an almost immaculate reputation.

As for kicking them out?

Are you going to kick out your first-ranked and third-ranked contestants two weeks before the finals?

Ari didn’t know about Jamie, but the first thing he would do is open a GoFundMe to help deal with his legal bills and start screaming at the top of his lungs about every single bit of mistreatment that the production team had done to him.

He would feel a bit sorry for the contestants, but would do everything to drag Wilford and William Forbes down one way or another.

Wilford looked at the two of them before gritting his teeth and forcing a smile.

"We’ll discuss that later. As I was saying, apart from those songs, Jelissa has created two new songs for the entire group to perform. Each group will also be creating a new song with the help of our amazing judges-"

"Rightio. Quick question for y’all? Will William actually be making his own song from scratch this time, or is it going to be a repeat of last time’s situation, where he stole a song and tried to pass it off as his own?" Jamie raised his hand and interjected with that same bright smile that Wilford had come to hate.

For a second, Wilford actually saw red.

He wanted to begin shouting and screaming for this contestant to shut the hell up, but when he remembered who Jamie was and the family behind him, he held in his anger while shooting a glare at the green-eyed one, who was clearly the bad influence on him.

"He will be making the song from scratch with the aid of the judges. Such an incident won’t happen again, so please quit mentioning it every time you talk. And allow me to get to the end." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

With the way things were going, not only would the production team have a hard time cutting out the sections that weren’t supposed to be aired, but they would probably have to rerecord the whole thing.

All because of one person.

"Right, right. I’m sorry sir. Won’t happen again." Jamie smiled apologetically before pretending to zip his mouth once more.

However-

Each time Wilford spoke, he would interject at every opportunity, mentioning the fact that William stole a song and should have been eliminated, and generally making things difficult for Wilford Forbes.

By the time Wilford finally got through the details of what the finals would entail, Wilford Forbes entire face was red with anger, William’s was red with embarrassment, Ari’s cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much, and mentally he was cheering Jamie’s rebellion on while taking notes that he could apply to his future rebellion.

And when it was finally time to choose teammates, Jamie decided to continue his reign of terror.

Staring Wilford Forbes dead in the eyes, he announced his chosen teammates with a bright smile.

"Right. So, for my team members, you can just give me almost everyone in the top eight. So I’ll take Ariel, Benjamin, Carlos, Levi, Daniel, and Rei. Those are the people I want for my teammates."

"Did you not hear what I said. My recommendation is that you choose an even number of people within the top 7 and bottom 7 to keep the teams balanced." Wilford spoke to Jamie through gritted teeth.

"Right. I heard it, but I don’t particularly care to make things easy for someone who is supporting a person who stole a song. Is there a problem with that?" Jamie simply smiled back innocently while doubling down.

Everyone from the film crew, to the judges, to the contestants stared at him once more with an open mouth.

Seriously, what the hell was going on with him today?

Was he possessed?