"So…"

Ari paused to look around at the members of his team in the practice room.

Like usual, Levi took a wall up by himself.

Justin was sitting on a chair with his foot resting on another one while Jamie, Alfonso, and Woobin sat in the center of the practice room.

There was a subtle divide that could be tackled later, but for now, the more pressing issue was-

"Let's first decide who the team leader is. I want to do it, but who else wants to do it?"

Ari asked as he looked at each of their faces.

He didn't particularly want to be the team leader, but-

[I'm not Bossy, I'm the Boss - Successfully become a team leader and lead your team to a first-place victory! ]

He just wanted to focus on finishing one of his missions and gaining an extra stat point to help round out his dance stat.

Everyone else shook their head except for Justin, who raised his hand and then dropped it, raised it again, and then dropped it.

Not one to beat around the bush, Ari called him out.

"We're going to have a vote, so speak up. Do you want to be the leader?"

Justin opened and closed his mouth for several seconds before speaking with a slightly embarrassed look.

"Yes? No? Kinda?" He scratched his head before awkwardly continuing, "I know I have to be sidelined and tucked away because of my injury, so I want to have a more impactful part, so I'm not cut out of editing, you know?"

"Who said we're sidelining you?"

"Huh?"

Ari looked at him as if he were crazy, "I said, who said we're sidelining you?"

"Isn't it the obvious thing to do? I can't do the choreography."

"We'll change it."

"B-but Idol Areum and the PD said that Golden Generation specifically requested that no modifications be made to their song and choreography."

"So?"

"So? What do you mean so? Are you going to ignore their preference?" Justin looked appalled as he stared at Ari, as if he were crazy.

"With all due respect to Golden Generation, their preference is one thing, but what we're capable of as humans and what we decide as a team is another because at the end of the day, we have to be realistic in what we can achieve and put on a good performance to the best of our ability. You're part of the team, so naturally you'll be included and not sidelined. Ah, I'm not saying we can magically fix the fracture in your foot so you can do the choreography, but we're not going to shove you into a dark corner and make you sing in the shadows. Right?"

Ari stared at the rest of the room with eyes that seemed to threaten that if they disagreed, a green laser beam would come flying out and immediately turn them to ashes.

"Of course! We're not going to leave you out, Justin. We're going to figure it out." Jamie was the first to speak out, giving Justin's foot a gentle pat.

"Of course, teammates support each other," Alfonso added with a small smile.

"Right." Levi dropped one word and then stayed silent.

"Oh. Yes, of course, we'll stick together and work it out." Choi Woobin added a beat later.

His original idea was just to have Justin sit down in a corner and just sing when it was his part, while the rest of them completed the performance.

While Justin wouldn't get any spotlight, it was the easiest way to do things and wouldn't offend the respected Golden Generation Idols, who might not be happy with the decision to change things.

But with green-eyed Captain Crashout glaring in the front, buzzcut Captain Crashout glaring to the side, and green-eyed Captain Crashout's best friend already agreeing, he might as well blend in with the team decision.

He would just make sure that when they got blamed later, it would be known that he wasn't involved in the decision.

"Really? Guys? Really? Wahhhhh. I mean, I know I should quit. My foot is fractured and definitely won't heal in time before the show is over, so I can't do choreography again, but I came this far, you know, I don't want to quit like this, sob sob."

As Justin began crying hard, Ari awkwardly stood there like a deer in headlights as the intense urge to run away filled his body.

If you were to ask him which situation made him the most uncomfortable and could render him speechless, he had one simple answer.

People crying.

It was just awkward, mainly because he couldn't gauge what to say or how to respond physically to them.

To hug or to give a head pat?

Were they even close enough to do those things?

As Jamie, Alfonso, and Choi Woo-bin comforted Justin, Ari and Levi exchanged awkward glances.

"Ahem, can you take the battery from the camera so he can have some privacy?"

"Already checked. It's drilled into the wall so it can't be removed. Can't access the power button either."

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

This freaking production team.

"Should I break it?"

"Please don't. After the cooking fire incident, they might actually make us pay for things we break."

Since he couldn't do anything without causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage, Ari covered the camera with his jacket and began playing the song from the room speakers so Justin's cries wouldn't be heard.

STANDING NEXT TO YOUUUUUUUUUU

STANDING IN THE FIRE NEXT TO YOU, OHHHHHHHH

A high-pitched voice singing the lyrics blared out, and as the three people in the center of the room turned to glance at him, Ari reassuringly gave him a thumbs up as he dropped the tissue box on his lap.

"No, no, feel free to continue crying. This way, the camera can't pick up anything. You're good."

Take-take-take-take-take-take off

STANDING NEXT TO YOUUUUUUUU

Are you crazy?

Who the hell can cry with this atmosphere??

Justin stared at the well-intentioned Ari before bursting out laughing.

Wiping his snotty face, he gave the awkwardly standing boy a smile.

"Okay. If you won't sideline me and make sure I'm included in whatever we do, then I don't need to run for leader. You do it."

"Cool. Does anyone else want to be a leader?"

Everyone in the room shook their heads.

[Congratulations on your first unanimous leader vote.]

[Good luck with your efforts to complete a mission for the first time in a long time.]

[Hopefully, you didn't bite off more than you can chew, promising not to sideline the injured one.]

Thanks, I guess?

Swatting away the transparent blue screen, Ari continued speaking.

"Alright, thank you all for allowing me to be the leader this time. Let's all work hard together to put on a good show. Then, before we even discuss the choreography, we need to determine who will sing what, as there's no rap part, and as Justin mentioned earlier, Golden Generation doesn't want changes made to the song. Since we inevitably have to make changes to the choreography, let's try to keep the same key. Listen and mark the parts you want, and we'll audition afterward. Sound good?"

"Yep."

"That's fine."

Ari passed out the lyric sheet and pens before taking a seat next to Jamie and began playing the music.

As the sound filled the room, Ari hummed along quietly while marking the sections where he thought his voice would sound good or where others wouldn't be able to sing it without straining.

Unfortunately, from the sounds coming from his teammates, it seemed like the song would be straining everyone's vocal cords.

And in the back of his mind, he was replaying Golden Generation's choreography while trying to devise a way to integrate Justin into the performance without taking the easy way out and just letting him sit off to the side.

While he had a few ideas, in the end, he would have to do some research, which meant, once again, pulling an all-nighter.

Yawning tiredly, Ari continued listening.

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