From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel
Chapter 192: Watch Your Son (3)

Chapter 192: Watch Your Son (3)

"They’re finally coming out!!!" Justine cheered in excitement at the little crowd that had gathered around the stage.

Due to the early time, it was mainly students from UCLA who weren’t in class, a few adults and children, older people who attended the Cultural Festival, since it was a community event, and of course, fans of the show who could spare an hour or two to come watch the free performance.

A decent-sized crowd of close to two hundred people had gathered around the small stage area as the student MC began greeting the crowd and introducing the afternoon performances.

As the student MC spoke, the Pop Star Academy contestants began arriving and grouping up behind or around the stage, with groups of them wearing different costumes and camera crews recording their every move.

When some of the boys waved, cheers rang out as people recorded and waved back, but Grace stared in concern, wondering why the only security for the large number of boys was two campus police officers standing far away.

There weren’t even that many staff shirt-wearing members for the number of contestants present, and even though they weren’t famous yet, she thought the production team should do more, especially considering some of the hate the boys had been receiving online.

Personally, she didn’t think that was enough for protection, but seeing that the audience was calm and not trying to swarm the boys, she relaxed as she, Justine, and Rachel began scanning the faces of the boys while on their tippy toes, looking for one particular face.

The contestants were dressed in a variety of costumes, ranging from hip-hop-style clothes to Western-style suits, kimonos, and traditional Korean hanboks.

And towards the very back of the group of boys in a variety of suits that featured a mixture of red and black with gold embroidery and buttons.

The person in the lead was a handsome Brazilian boy with long hair tied into a ponytail, then a Spanish boy with curly caramel brown hair, a blonde boy with a bowl cut, and a boy with freshly dyed red hair that seemed to be bleeding a little.

There was a bit of a gap until the next person who was a tall pale boy with a golden blonde buzzcut a holding his jacket over his shoulder, a handsome boy with golden skin with doe brown eyes and a gentle smile as he looked around, a taller boy with shoulder-length blonde hair covered by a white cowboy hat, and in the middle of the pack was a slightly shorter, slender boy with slicked-back, jet-black hair and slightly pointed ears.

Even if she couldn’t see all of their faces, Grace immediately recognized them as Levi, Carlos, Jamie, and Ari from their distinct profiles.

Something funny seemed to have been said because Levi’s eyebrow twitched, Carlos laughed lightly, and Jamie threw his head back and roared with laughter while patting Ari’s back, almost sending him flying forward.

As Ari turned to expose his face, exposing his furrowed eyebrows, slightly slanted sea green eyes framed by thick black lashes, that were narrowed in irritation, his pouting full red lips, and the single black curl that fell over his face, Grace heard an audible gasp from the people around her as they looked at Ari’s face.

Someone whispered "Snow White," and she could hear the sound of camera shutters flashing.

Even she had to do a double-take because he looked even prettier than the last time she saw him.

What the heck were they feeding him on the show?

Actually, what were they feeding all of them?

Carlos seemed more handsome, Levi’s jaw looked like it could cut a diamond, and Jamie-

He seemed to have gotten even more handsome, or maybe it was because he was smiling so much.

His blond hair seemed to have gotten lighter by the sun and fell around his face and shoulders in a thick beach curl wave that was held in place by a white cowboy hat.

Compared to others, he wore his red suit with the sleeves rolled up, exposing muscular forearms, and when he smiled, his blue eyes sparkled like a little kid in a candy store.

When Jamie wrapped one arm around Ari’s shoulders and said something, causing Ari to smile reluctantly, Grace heard Justine’s breath hitch as she choked and began patting her chest to calm down.

After ensuring she was okay, Grace brought out her semi-professional camera and began taking photos, while Justine and Rachel whipped out their phones to capture the moment.

"Oh my gosh, they’re walking together. Ari...He’s so much prettier in real life. That face is insane!"

"The height difference! The height difference! Photo video photo!"

"Let’s get his attention."

"No, lets no-"

Before Grace could interrupt them, the two girls started shouting with all of their might.

"Ari!"

"Ariel!"

As Rachel and Justine screamed his name, both Ari and Jamie turned and looked around, Jamie smiling his usual bright smile while Ari was squinting as he tried to find who was screaming his name.

His eyes quickly scanned the audience until he caught sight of and met Grace’s eyes before meeting his eyes.

"Ahhhh! He’s looking this way!"

"Oh my gosh!!!"

’Grace?’

Even if she couldn’t hear his voice, she could clearly read his lips, so she nodded.

Ari arched a brow at her, tilting his head up to look at the sun high in the sky before glancing at her again while mouthing ’school?’ and miming getting hit on the head, while Jamie waved enthusiastically from the side when he saw where Ari was looking.

Ari was clearly referencing her grandmother, knowing full well how she felt about skipping school.

Immediately avoiding eye contact, she turned to Rachel and Justine, who were staring at her with sparkling eyes.

"Do you know each other?"

"He was clearly talking to you...dating?"

"No! No! Absolutely not! He’s an employee at my family’s Korean restaurant." Grace immediately denied it, even though she had a slightly guilty conscience.

She felt as if she were giving out details about Ari’s life when she had boldly proclaimed that she would become his PR manager, but she also didn’t want to leave others with the impression that she was in any kind of relationship with him, and get caught up in weird drama with someone trying to become an idol.

She knew how rabid online fans could be, and she absolutely didn’t want to be involved with that.

"You should come by some times, my grandpa makes good food, and Jamie’s eaten there too and liked it. But please keep it on the low, I’m not sure I’m supposed to be sharing employee information. My grandmother might really kill me."

"Really? Please give me the name and address. If you have a flyer or business card, I’ll take it as well!"

"Of course, we will keep it a secret! Thank you for sharing that with us!"

As the two girls accepted her reasoning and refocused on recording the boys, some of whom were getting dangerously close to the audience members, Grace let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed that she would have to have another conversation with Ari about speaking with female fans in front of others.

But for now, though, all she planned to do was watch the performance, capture as many good pictures and videos as possible for her blog and secret fan accounts to push the agenda so that the two contestants that she knew personally would win.

"Welcome, welcome to the UCLA culture festival! Our first eight performances will feature these handsome young men, currently on a show called Pop Star Academy, where they are vying to become the next male global boy group. Each group today will be performing a song from the different regions of the globe, from Latin America to South America, and of course, Japan and Korea! So, please give a hand to the first group that will be performing the loved K-pop song by Shining Stars, ’Replay’!"

As the audience clapped to the MC’s words, Grace focused her camera on the group coming up on stage.

They were dressed in hip-hop style clothing, and as the 8 boys arranged themselves on stage with hand-held microphones, Grace noticed that this was a group of not-so-popular contestants that were in the lower ranks.

Wondering how the stage order had been chosen, Grace watched with neutral eyes, taking a photo when she saw a good angle, but for the most part, she wasn’t too impressed with the song choice, especially when it was one of the most covered K-pop songs ever, and she had seen much better cover performances.

Additionally, the MR (instrumental track) was a bit too loud, and the microphone volume was not high enough and kept breaking, making the performance somewhat messy, especially when the tech team managing the stage scrambled to adjust it right then and there.

Adding in the fact that somebody fell off the stage mid-performance, it was a bit bad.

Still, the audience was kind and clapped for the first team when they bowed before stepping off the stage.

As the next team to perform was arranging themselves on the stage, a short young girl with pig tails, 2 young boys who looked quite similar, and a pretty middle-aged woman shoved themselves next to their group.

As Grace was about to say something since she almost dropped her camera from being bumped, the girl turned to apologize with red eyes immediately.

"Ah, I’m so sorry. Please forgive us. We’re just trying to watch my brother perform."

"It’s fine."

As Grace moved over, she heard the girl’s mother mutter quietly.

"I told you this is a waste of time, Gabriella. I have to go to work and I have no plans to support your brother’s nonsense!"

"Mami, once, just this once, just watch Carlos perform, okay? Please! I won’t ask or complain again. Just please!" the girl with the pig tails pleaded until her mom reluctantly nodded her head with a frown.