From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 114: Crazy Director (2)

"Cut! Cut! Cut! Somebody in the back messed up! Let’s start again from the top!" Director Cooper Braggs yelled out, causing everybody from the contestants to the staff members to freeze in place before quiet groans sounded out everywhere as people moved to rearrange themselves.

"Huff, huff."

Personally, Ari felt like he was dying as he was slumped over with his hands on his knees.

Because he was used to wearing his Otterly Adorable tracksuit all the time, which automatically regulated his body temperature and caused him not to overheat and sweat, he felt like he was in h*ll right now.

The studio lights were bright and hot, causing the school uniform to stick to his sweaty body, sweat ran down his face, stinging his eyes, and his knees, back, and feet hurt.

Badly.

The contestants surrounding him didn’t look much better.

Everyone’s face was slightly red and sweaty from exertion because this crazy director had made them sing and dance to the signal song live for several hours without even a water break or opportunity to sit on the floor, since there was not a single chair in sight.

Ari had no way to know the exact amount of time that had passed because there wasn’t a single clock on set, and his only indication was the hunger that was slowly creeping on him.

After each take, the director, Cooper Braggs, was completely dissatisfied and spent time moving people around, complaining about their live vocals, and even the messed-up transitions before making them go all out with the signal song again and again.

Considering the fact that all the contestants were still standing on the same level ground and the platforms hadn’t even started rising and moving around, it was clear that it was going to be an extremely long day.

Ari met the eyes of Caleb, who had his hands on his knees while panting to the right before dabbing his eyes with his sleeve.

Man, was he tired.

"Pick Me Signal Song - Take 36 - Mark!"

"Mark!"

Click!

The dreaded sound of the man closing the clapperboard rang out.

"If you guys want lunch in time, you better nail it! Action!"

At the director’s command, Ari forced himself to stand up straight as the intro of the signal song began playing.

Forcing a bright smile on his face, Ari began performing the introductory actions, making a heart above his head when it was his turn in the formation.

Ignoring the cameraman who dashed past, he held his position as the beat of the music increased rapidly.

With every second, he could hear contestants jumping around, and after the 83rd thump, he spun with a bright smile on his face while staring into the blinding light.

When all 100 contestants had turned around, they began dancing in unison to the intro.

Ari’s hands crossed his body in the predetermined poses while his feet slid and rotated on the smooth floor in accordance with the choreography.

Then he began to sing the cringy lyrics.

When you walked into the room

Pick me, love me, choose me

Couldn’t help myself, couldn’t look away

Pick me, love me, choose me

Shining like a firework, a firework

Lighting up my heart and soul, heart and soul

Pick me, love me, choose me

Due to his tiredness, his voice came out breathier than usual, and he continued cursing the director out in his head while singing the cringy lyrics and embodying the feeling that Jelissa had requested in the recording studio.

The entire group of 100 contestants successfully got through the first verse in a manner that was satisfying to the director, even though Ari could hear several people who were out of tune.

He just continued doing his best to dance the choreography as best as he knew how, without making a mistake while singing with all of his strength, hoping that the people around him would lock in so that they could break for lunch.

Even if the director didn’t want to provide them chairs, at the very least, they could sit on the floor to eat their food and rest their legs for a bit.

Right?

...

It seemed that his wishes had been heard.

"And cut!"

Director Cooper Braggs clapped his hands as the music stopped and all the contestants, including Ari, dropped straight to the ground to rest their aching legs.

Finally, finally, it was over.

Lunch, here I come!

"Uh uh uh, you know the rules, no sitting."

At the director’s strict words, the 100 boys dragged themselves up with a groan of exhaustion and hunger.

They stared at the director with expectant gazes as they had been promised lunch and wanted to be released.

As if he were embarrassed, Cooper Braggs scratched the back of his head before speaking softly.

"Actually, I lied just now. The food isn’t here yet. You guys really want to take a break now? You just did so well, and I don’t want to break the flow. If you guys continue like this, I’m sure we can nail the moving platform portion, and all of you can go back early. Okay?"

The studio was quite silent with only a few contestants agreeing with the directors words, and seeing it, Director Cooper Braggs laughed his strange laugh before continuing in a gentle tone, "Ah of course, if you really want a break now, I can give you one but really the food is not here yet and while we do have some snacks, if you eat now, you’ll get bloated and look swollen and fat on camera, so let’s just push through, okay? Does anyone want to take a break? Just raise your hand and speak up, and I’ll let you go for a quick five-minute break."

It was crickets as not a single contestant spoke up.

As the director repeated the offer while meeting the eyes of each contestant, Ari marveled at how slick he was.

Of course, nobody wanted to be the first person to drop out and ask for a break because they were all afraid of looking bad, especially when they spotted PD Ji-ho standing in the back with several cameras pointed in their direction.

And as if he knew, Director Cooper Braggs smiled wildly before speaking in a soft tone once more, "We’re almost done. I promise. You’ll all stick it through, right? It will look so good!"

- yessssss!

At the deceptively kind words of the director, the expressions of the contestants brightened up, while Ari had to control his expression so he wouldn’t frown forcibly and be caught on camera.

He wanted to tell them that they were all being fooled, but as both the director and some contestants began clapping and cheering, he kept quiet while looking around and eventually meeting Levi’s eyes, which were openly filled with disgust.

The boy with the blonde buzzcut was openly looking at the director as if he were a scammer and snorted before looking away with folded arms as if he couldn’t believe what was going on.

Ari felt the exact same way, but not to be the odd man out, Ari clapped politely along with everyone else.

And with a resigned expression, when the music began playing once more, they continued dancing and singing.