"Let’s see what nonsense the production team is pulling today," Grace grumbled as she stared at her setup since she was going to be watching the episode alone today.

Episode on TV and her laptop - check.

Pop Star Academy Community on the tablet - check.

Twitter on her phone - check.

She was now prepared to argue online, take screenshots and screen recordings for reposting, and live-tweet the episode in the most optimal manner.

All that was left was for the episode to begin.

And right on cue, the screen lit up, and the opening signal song began to play as the contestants danced.

Staring at the numerous faces that flashed across the screen, Grace realized just how many people had started the competition and how many of these boys were no longer here. It was a bit sad, but thankfully, she was glad that everyone she had voted for and bet on was still in the show and hadn’t been eliminated.

After the signal song ended, the screen split into four quadrants, each showing a grayed-out image of the contestants in their practice rooms.

A caption saying [T-minus 6 days to the surprise showcase.] appeared at the top of the screen, then faded away as the first square turned into a full-color video.

In the first square, Benjamin sat on the ground, surrounded by 4 sweaty boys, and seemed to be giving them a pep talk to help them keep going.

Benjamin: [Even if the production team is not recording and we’re missing a member right now, remember, we’re doing this for the fans, and we need to make sure that we put forward our best effort, okay. They’re coming to see us, so let’s make sure that they have a show worth their time, even if it was announced at the last minute. Okay?]

The five boys piled their hands in the center for a cheer before getting into position as the music began playing.

Then the video froze as another square gained color, this time having Vishal giving his team members a pep talk.

Vishal: [Even if it seems a bit hopeless right now and our future is caught in a weird limbo, at the end of the day, we’re entertainers, and we need to entertain the crowd. Let’s work hard, show our fans our skills, and do the best that we can in the moment, okay?]

The other two team leaders gave inspirational speeches to their teams as well, and the production put together a fun training montage of the contestants practicing both their individual songs and the combined group performance of the signal song and Warrior.

And through it all, two people were missing.

One was William, who was temporarily banned.

And the second was Ari, who, of course, caused the chat to have a lot to say.

└ So all the contestants were working hard, but Ariel was skipping practice. Wooooow

└ └ Sybau! If you saw the performance, you would absolutely know he’s not skipping.

└ └ └ So you’re telling me that my eyes are wrong? That Ari is magically on the screen practicing with the rest of his team?

└ └ └ └ He clearly practiced with his team off camera, and he wasn’t skipping. He was at practice for his graduation.

└ So Ari just gets to skip with no consequences, but William, who I’m sure wanted to be there, doesn’t get to attend. It’s not fair!

└└ your boys a cheater who’s going to be getting that Pacific Records belt soon. Instead of voting for him here, you’d better save the money so you can send him some money in jail!

└ └ Ari is not skipping. This is an optional performance! Optional!

└└└ And yet all the other contestants except for him are here. Tsk tsk.

└ This was an OPTIONAL performance, meaning Ari didn’t have to participate! He just did so because he’s a greedy, sore loser who’s scared and can’t balance his time correctly. If he knew he had other commitments, he should have just stayed out of it rather than inconveniencing his teammates so much. I’m sure they hate him!

└└ Instead of being a hater, ask the production team why they scheduled a last-minute event so close in time to his graduation, which has been scheduled for over a year.

└└└ You think the entire show should revolve around Ari? I’m sure they didn’t even know about his graduation.

└└└└ Considering that the PD of the show was at the graduation, taking videos and livestreaming it, I think you’re stupid and full of bullshit.

└└ 1-800-did Ari’s team share an opinion about him not being there? Clearly, they were fine with him, and if you saw their performance on stage, the boys all love, care, and respect each other, so who are you to state your opinion as fact?

└└└ 1-800-did-I-ask for your opinion?

└└└└ Ari certainly didn’t ask for yours, but here you are making an entire fanfiction over a 2-minute clip. Grow tf up.

└ He’s already in first place and still participating? He’s just being greedy for votes and is taking them from other contestants, which isn’t fair to the others.

└ He’s a greedy ahh mf!

└└ Slow princesses talking about a fair in an idol competition show where people vote on looks and vibes. Gtfoh!

└└ Royal family fan talking about ’fair’ when William is getting investigated by the FBI, CIA, SEC, and NSA for cheating and stealing a song from a record label. Jail cell coming soon near you and your favorite.

└└└ Chat, is it wrong to attend an optional event like literally every other contestant, or is Ari the only one who gets blamed for something totally normal?

└ I think the production team should have stopped Ari from forming a super team. It’s not fair to the other contestants at all.

└└ EXACTLY!! 6 top 14 contestants on the same team is egregious! Why would they let such a thing fly? It makes things so boring! You already know who’s going to win.

└└└ Between Ari, Levi, and Jamie, it’s basically a nepo baby convention

└└ Super team? Chat, is it wrong to form a team with the people you’ve been joined at the hip with for the past couple of months? Y’all eat together, share clothes, secretly attend each other’s birthdays, enjoy your vacation in a different country, and have meals together, but all of a sudden, it’s a superteam?

└└└ Apparently so. We’re out here forming a superteam on a flipping idol show.

As Grace read through the comments that were getting increasingly wilder and more explicit, it reinforced her realization that this fanbase was extremely split, which was to be expected from those who watched an idol survival show, but the toxicity was really, really bad, and definitely needed to be addressed in the future, otherwise it would eventually split the gorup apart and could instigate or even worsen a conflict between the boys.

Holding back the urge to curse out the production team, which decided to edit such a simple non-issue in a way that showed Ari in a bad light, she continued watching the episode.

After the team practices, it transitions to the surprise performance stage, showing the contestants getting ready, and the audience area slowly filling up until it is packed.

Then, unlike before, without any fanfare, while the MC, Ryan Leary, was saying the same words, the production team listed the team members, along with the rank the audience had voted them to, and the percentage of the total extra votes they received.

[Team Cha Cha.]

[Members: Minjun Park, Minho Park, Jin, Choi Woobin]

[Voters Ranked: 4th Place.]

[Combined percentage of votes earned: 10%]

As the caption faded, and the team’s performance began, viewers began commenting angrily.

└ What kind of trashy editing is this? Why are you announcing who got what place instead of showing them at the end??

└└ Girl, a team jumped out of a helicopter. I think we ALL know who came in first place, so there’s really no need for them to fake like we don’t know

└└└ Who’s we? I certainly don’t know that! This is a spoiler!

└└└└ It was all over social media and the community page, so if you think it’s a spoiler, you’re just slow or a grandma ig.

└ The rank is one thing, but what do you mean that the team combined only got 10% of the votes for the day?? What the heck were the people who attended doing?

└└ Obviously voting for their favorites?? If you’re so angry about it, you should have attended to vote for your favorite, I guess?

└└└ Does this mean that they’re going to get eliminated?

└└└└ No, but these votes were worth more, so it’s not a good look. We’ll see the elimination later in the episode, though, so don’t start crying yet.

As Team Cha Cha finished their performance, Ryan Leary once again announced which team came in third place, while the production team showed the performance.

Then second place.

[Team Lonely]

[Combined percentage of votes earned: 15%]

Then Third Place.

[Team Bite Me]

[Members: Taeri Jang, Vishal, Agarwal, Jerome Tyler, Choi In-su, and Suzuki Rei]

[Voters Ranked: 2nd Place.]

[Combined percentage of votes earned: 22%]

As Team Bite me performed, many of the viewers who were paying attention began doing the math.

Team 1: 10% + Team 2: 15% + Team 3: 22% = 47%.

With those calculations, didn’t that mean the first-place team snagged over 50% of the vote?

└ Are you trying to tell me that the first-place team grabbed 53% of the vote? What the hell?? Isn’t this really a super team? Didn’t they just rig it to win?

At the realization, the chat went crazy!