CHAPTER 220: FAN SHOWCASE (1)

"It’s finally the day of the fan showcase~. My Precious~ Soon, I’ll be able to see you with my own two eyes up close and personal." Rachel Smith happily told her home screen, which was a picture of Ari’s judgmental eyes staring at her.

It was her favorite picture that she used to motivate herself when she was feeling down about something.

Almost reverently, she packed her things into the appropriately sized clear bag, double-checked her outfit and makeup to ensure she looked cute, and stood at attention by the door as she waited for Justine and Grace to come and pick her up, since she wasn’t driving today.

Robert, her little brother who was walking by with a popsicle in his mouth, stopped and gave her a disdainful look.

"Don’t you think it’s pathetic spending your money and free time on fake wanna be idols? I can see your brain cells disappearing each time you replay a video from them."

"Well, actually, my soon-to-be idol pick is the valedictorian of his school and is very smart, so my brain cells are actually increasing, thank you. We even did homework together on stream, and I got all the answers right." Rachel bragged, glad that she could claim that the person she was supporting was not only pretty and talented, but they were also smart.

Even her parents could be proud of her for supporting an idol who prioritizes doing his homework and helping others over self-promotion.

"So, you chose to support someone ugly. Wow. I’m proud of you for not judging on appearance. This is progress because you used to drop an entire band if somebody got plastic surgery and ruined their face."

"Hmph. That can never happen. I’ll have you know he’s the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen. He’s even prettier than me, and that’s saying something."

"Your delusion gets stronger and stronger by the day."

"Go do something useful with your life, you loser."

HONK HONK!

Ignoring her brother sticking his tongue out at her, Rachel excitedly entered the car containing Justine, who was driving today, and Grace, who was sitting in the passenger seat and had several flyers spread out and her phone in her other hand.

"Hi!"

"Omg, Hey! Your outfit is so cute."

"Thank you! Here’s some gas money."

After handing the goods over, Rachel turned to Grace.

"Are you looking over our route?"

"Yes! I’ve reviewed the materials for the showcase, and there are only three main stations. We’ll spend 15 minutes checking in and chatting with the contestants there. Then, we’ll head to the photo booth and gift shop to take photos and do some shopping for 20 minutes. Finally, we’ll go to the cafe and eat for 30 minutes before heading to the performances. Depending on which station Ari is at, we can adjust the timing to spend as much time with him as we can."

"I’m so excited for the photobooth. God, if you exist, please let Ari be stationed there so I can get a photo and signature from him!"

"No! I want him at the restaurant. Just imagine. A hot, French waiter greets you in French before taking you to your seat. He’ll call my name and say, Justine, you are so beautiful. I’d faint."

"I would say that I would catch you, but I’d faint too."

"Both of you, please don’t faint. I don’t want you to become a news article."

"Wait, what type of meal box did you select?"

"I chose the eastern lunch box."

"I chose the western lunch box."

"I got them both. Because double the prizes."

"Lucky~ but I’m saving my money for the gift shop."

As Justine carefully wove her way through traffic, Rachel watched Grace typing away before she got a notification from Twitter reminding those who were participating not to forget their equipment.

"Did you get the notification for the support banner too?"

"Yes. The organizer said that we weren’t allowed to bring banners, but if we all bring letters on paper and sit together, we can definitely show them to him during his performance. I brought smaller ones to try to sneak the smaller banners to pass around as well."

"Same! I also brought the Lafufu dolls. I want to give them to Jamie and Ari as a gift, if I can!"

"Ohhh, good luck. I hope you can pass it on."

The car was silent for a bit before Justine spoke up, "What concept do you think he was given?"

"Summer," Grace replied promptly, "I think a refreshing concept fits his face the most. And that’s what I voted for."

"Really? I voted for military or bad boy. I liked the Supernova performance in Vegas. He looked very cool with the motorcycle helmet and the battle suit, so I want him to do something like that again."

".... .Am I the only person who picked the sexy concept?" Justine whispered in a small voice, causing the heads of the other girls to whip toward her.

"A sexy concept?"

"For Ari? Why? That’s definitely something for Benjamin since he used to model or even William. Definitely not Ari."

"I don’t know! I just thought it would be fun to see him in a more revealing outfit. At least the other contestants have let us see their arms and legs; all Ari wears is that brown tracksuit, and all his other costumes have covered all of his body, so I thought that production would finally give him something that showed a bit of skin if he did a sexy concept. Maybe abs if we’re lucky!"

"Oh, that’s not happening." Grace immediately refused, and their eyes turned to look at her.

"A sexy concept? Showing abs? I’m just saying, I can’t imagine it? I feel like he would have the biggest look of judgment on his face if someone asked him to do that." Grace quickly clarified when she saw their brains turning as they wondered if Ari had something to her.

The three of them immediately pictured the gif of the expressive green eyes that looked disgusted during the homework livestream as Ari was asking the production team why he had to do something that he clearly didn’t want to do, and laughed.

"You’re right. He would be judging. Hard. But I hope he’s on Jamie’s team again, or at least he dyed his hair red. If he did that and also did a summer concept, I think he would immediately win as the best performer."

"Ah, I hope so too. As much as I love the black hair, I feel like it’s time for a change, you know? Maybe they can even straighten his hair. It’s getting pretty long even in the curly state."

As the three of them continued chatting, they finally arrived at the venue and began walking inside.

Since both Justine and Rachel had come to a previous performance, they were expecting the usual experience: going through security, signing in with the staff members, getting their voting devices, and then being given free rein to mingle with other attendees before finding their seats, but today, it was different.

After going through security, instead of the strict older staff members who droned on and on about the rules, what they saw were 14 handsome boys, standing and sitting at the check-in table.

The boys were wearing a crisp white button-up shirt with a black bow tie and black slacks.

Some of them had suspenders, one even had a beret, while others wore a vest, giving each of them a unique vibe from the next person.

The hairstyles were just as diverse.

A few of them had neutral hair colors like black, while others stood out with red, blue, and even orange.

The lengths, cuts, and styling were all different and were accentuated by the contestants’ piercings, slits in their eyebrows, and makeup ranging from subtle to overtly obvious.

There was no standard of beauty among them; they all looked different.

The only undeniable fact was that they were taller, more muscular, and even more handsome than when observed through a screen, and the closer they got to the boys, the more attractive their faces looked.

In fact, it felt like a golden light was shining from behind the boys, providing a type of visual eye candy that had never been seen before.

"Welcome!"

"Can I help you sign in?"

"Do you need me to direct you anywhere? Or help you to your seat?"

At the intensely attractive visuals and differently accented voices constantly bombarding their senses, the three girls felt a bit overwhelmed as their eyes kept darting from one face to another, and a deep blush swept across their faces before Grace snapped out of it.

"Ladies! We are on a schedule that we have to honor! We’ve wasted 2 minutes, meaning we only have 13 remaining at this station. Otherwise, we will be cutting into our time to see our favorite contestant!"

Like a slap to the face, Grace’s strict words woke Justine and Rachel up from the beauty-induced daze, and their eyes sharpened.

Yes, they would definitely enjoy chatting and meeting the other contestants, but their primary focus was on one person.

Wait for us, Ariel!

We’re coming soon.

But first-

"Hi, my name is Grace. Can you please help me get my badge? Oh, and would you mind signing this card? Ah, please don’t worry, I brought enough for each of you to sign one. No, no, don’t write Grace on it. The person who wants Suzuki Rei’s signature is Hina. So please write it ’To Hina.’ Ah, would you guys happen to be on the same team? Can you tell me your concept? Can I get a team signature as well?"

With her usual business flair, Grace began shaking hands, snooping out information, and completing the tasks requested by online fans she was bribing to support Ari.

And right behind her, Rachel and Justine enjoyed themselves while meeting the other contestants.