As Jelissa stared at the boys who rushed to clean up the red water splattered before rushing back to their seats, she decided to kick things off, since Wilford still seemed to be in a bad mood despite having initiated a childish complaint against a literal child.

"Hey guys, how are you all doing after such a busy week? Ari, I’m loving the wet and wavy hairstyle, but not so much the splashing. Let’s calm it down and scare Jamie at a later time, okay?"

- I’m sorry, Jelissa

- good

- tired

- sleepy

At the mixed responses from the other contestants and Ari’s remorseful apology, Jelissa laughed in understanding, recognizing the tiredness and frustration they might be feeling.

"Well, just know that I’m proud of you all for working hard, but please make sure to take care of your bodies and your voices. You only have one, and it would be a shame to get injured or to damage your vocal cords right before the finish line, understood everyone?" Jelissa asked as she stared pointedly around, first at Justin, who still had a brace on his leg and constantly winced each time he had to put weight on it, then at Ari, who had lost his voice multiple times, sprained his wrist, and gotten a bruised face, among other injuries.

Now that she thought about it, wasn’t he the person who needed to be more careful than anyone?

Shaking her head, Jelissa decided to get back on topic. "We’re going to start with the team songs and performances that you’ve each been working on. So, with that being said, which team would like to go first?" Jelissa asked, looking between Jamie and William, who were nominally the two team leaders.

The hands of both boys immediately shot up into the air, and the two shot competitive glares at each other.

"Should we arm wrestle for first place?" William asked with a challenging look at Jamie

"I’d rather not. Do you still not wash your hands when you use the bathroom?" Jamie replied with an innocent smile, causing William’s face to turn red immediately as he sputtered.

"That’s a lie that HE made up, so if you’re scared, just say that!"

"I’m definitely not scared of you. You’re not even top 10 in strength here. But everyone always gets sick and loses their voice when they touch you and around you, so...I’d rather not." Jamie blinked innocently before scooting away from William, who looked like he wanted to strangle Jamie.

"You-"

"Let’s calm down, boys. While I’m glad to see such enthusiasm, there’s a much easier way to decide this. We can flip a coin, or you both can pick a number from 1 through 20, write it on a piece of paper, and the number closest to what I’m thinking wins. What will it be?"

"Let’s pick a number."

"Fine!"

Seeing that the two were in agreement, staff members passed both Jamie and William pieces of paper and a pen while Jelissa scribbled her number on a piece of paper before everyone handed their papers over to Larry Jackson for fairness.

Giving the two boys an intense stare, Larry picked up his microphone and began announcing the results.

"Contestant William wrote down the number 1. Contestant James wrote down the number 7. And the number Jelissa selected is... 7. Contestant Jamie, it seems you’re the winner. Congratulations on your first win in a long time." Larry Jackson said dryly.

"Yes! Thank you! We want to go first!" Jamie pumped his fist in excitement.

"Sure thing. Team Jamie, please get ready. I’m looking forward to hearing the song you created." Jelissa laughed before putting her microphone down.

The 5 boys quickly arranged themselves in a tight group formation in the center of the room, while Ari stood off to one side and Jamie to the other.

A bit confused about why it was set up that way, the judges glanced over at Kim Young-woo, who had helped the team choreograph, but he shook his head with a mysterious smile, tapping the paper with the performance details before saying, ’Just watch.’

There was a pause, and then a simple 4-note piano melody began playing.

Lalalala la lalalala~

Lalalala la lalalala~

As the simple piano melody filled the room, the 5 boys standing in a tight group pretended to play along, making exaggerated finger movements while Ari did the same movements from the side.

Lalalala la lalalala~

Lalalala la lalalala~

Then, as the piano notes repeated, Jamie began to pretend to hit a drum while the

Boom boom boom boom chk

Boom boom boom boom

The simple beat and simple melody intertwined before Jamie and Ari rejoined the group, which was slowly spreading out while pretending to play the piano.

And as the bass drums’ sound grew even more intense, the choreography slowed and grew heavier, featuring occasional stomps and exaggerated upper-body movements.

Then, in unison, everyone jumped into the air, and as they landed, Benjamin took the center and began rapping in an uncharacteristically aggressive tone with Vishal adding ad-libs.

Welcome to the round (LA!)

The final round (LA!),

No turning round (LA!)

No more frowns (LA!)

With Benjamin leading the charge and bringing the energy, the 7 boys executed strong, powerful moves in time to the heavy bass, pumping their arms, twisting their torsos, and stomping as if they were preparing for more.

We’re homebound (LA!)

You’ll hear the sound (LA!)

Of the 7 who’re gonna get crowned (LA!)

Pretending to place a crown on his head while winking, Benjamin slid to the side as Daniel took the center position, his usual cute demeanor gone as he smirked while utilizing his deep voice to the fullest extent.

No more worries, it’s okie dokie!

With one hand pretending to hold a microphone, the other formed an okay sign that he peeked out of before tossing it away.

Then, while dancing at a level that was a step above everyone around him, Daniel continued his lines.

These memories are our war stories,

Through the battle, there was only one thing,

That held me up to this point that I’ve reached.

Its-

Just as Daniel was about to say the next word, Justin seemed to push him out of the way as he took the center with an excited smile.

La!, the music goes bang bang

Let’s lose ourselves and get the party going

Say La! The me~lo~dy,

Gets your body moving, now you know the story

As the 6 boys behind him paired up to dance playfully, despite the ankle brace, Justin danced energetically, not flinching from any jumps and stomps.

And as Justin pivoted to the side, Vishal came to the front smiling, before he sang his lines

No more time for gripes and sadness

Rock the stage and feel the madness

Thank the fans, express the gladness

And let the music soar~

Then Jamie took the center, his expert vocals mixing perfectly with the melodious piano instrumental as the drums sped up once more.

Just feel the rhythm of the world

The music makes it right,

You know you can always depend on it to hold you down,

It fills your heart and your soul~

As Jamie held the high note, his smooth voice rose without a single crack, his teammates froze, and Ari took the middle position.

And with a neutral expression that was almost somber, Ari sang the chorus in a low tone.

Lalalala la lalalala

Then, as if he got a shot of adrenaline, he sang the line again at a much higher pitch.

Lalalala la lalalala

Then seemed to lose his mind as he began dancing with frenetic energy as he rapped.

Just feel the track

And let it rock

Just feel the track

And let it rock

Feel the track rock rock rock

Never let it stop stop stop stop

******

When the performance finished, all the judges and Wilford Forbes clapped enthusiastically.

The song was good; it was clear the team was practicing, and nothing stood out as extremely wrong or needing urgent fixing.

And yet- 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Some of the judges felt dissatisfied.

"I think you all did very well. Jamie, the song turned out better than expected, and I can see that your skills have improved to yet another level, both vocally and as a producer. Good job. As for the rest of you, great performance. Overall, I think the distribution is fine, and if you continue practicing, I’m sure it will be perfect for the finals. As a side note, Justin, please be careful on that leg. I saw you wince a couple of times. Maybe you could talk to Kim Young-woo about alternative moves that you can do that won’t look out of place." Jelissa said with a pleased expression.

Hearing Jelissa’s unabashed praise for the team, Larry Jackson was a bit surprised.

Sure, the performance was good, but compared to past performances put on by members of this team, it was lackluster, and he expected Jelissa to call the contestants out for not pushing themselves in both music production and choreography.

Glancing over and seeing that Jelissa really didn’t plan on adding anything else to her statement, Larry Jackson picked up the microphone and began to speak.

"So....all in all, the performance was solid. But is it intentional that the choreography is not as intense as it could be and the rest of the song and performance is soo....empty?" Larry Jackson asked as he stared at one specific contestant.

During past performances, the performance document submitted by any team Ari was on was packed to the brim with details about what they would be doing on stage, extra instruments they wanted to add, additional things they were adding to their choreography, etc.

It was always overly ambitious and seemed childish, but the results were always phenomenal.

But now, this performance was just disappointing for Larry Jackson, who had unintentionally set a high bar for this team.

Towards Jamie, he expected more from his producing skills. The song he had created didn’t sound bad, but it was very simple, and Larry could tell he had lazily reused many of the same sounds.

And for Ariel, he expected a more packed performance, especially since this was the finals.

Larry Jackson was prepared to see a document that would make the one Ariel submitted in Korea look like it was requested by a kindergartener, and that he would try to bankrupt the production team, but it was the complete opposite.

The fact that the only extras he wanted for the stage were pyrotechnics, a white robe, a piano, and drums, which would be played for only about 10 seconds of the introduction and then discarded, was completely disappointing to him.

Especially compared to the previous performance, which not only had a storyline but also involved them jumping out of a helicopter. Or the Korean performance, which was top-notch.

Compared to those two performances...this was just lazy.

Putting the song aside, since the short time to develop it must have affected Jamie, did Ariel get overly comfortable because of his high rank?

Had he lost their touch?

Or did he just not care anymore, especially with director Forbes micromanaging everything?

Even then, he was their number one most rebellious contestant to this day.

Was he just going to let himself be rolled over without saying a word or fighting back?

After fighting with Larry all through the show and never giving ground, even though he knew Larry was intentionally harsher on him than on everyone else.

How dare he?

Larry Jackson found himself completely irritated, especially when meeting Ari’s eyes, which looked a bit bored and sleepy, as if he didn’t care anymore.

What the heck was this?

Where was the care?

Where was the hunger?

The judgmental stares?

The arrogance that made him say he was going to be number one?

Wasn’t he ashamed to put his name against such a lackluster performance?

How could he cave to someone so easily?

Larry Jackson tapped his fingers impatiently before turning the question to him.

"Contestant Ah-ri-el. Is this really the best performance you can come up with for the finals? Really? This is the best you can do?"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

Why am I being called out? I’m not even the team leader?