"Well, contestant Caleb? I am waiting for an answer. What possessed you to think it was okay to sing and behave like that?"
Larry Jackson continued to press Caleb with an angry expression.
Caleb bit his lips before bowing his head slowly.
"I'm sorry?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Larry spat out.
"Uhm, telling you?" Caleb mumbled before looking away.
"Why? I'm not on your team. And speaking of the team," Larry swept his angry gaze across the rest of them before continuing,
"Why was this allowed to go on for this long? You think that this type of performance is okay, or did none of you have thoughts of building a cohesive team performance? Who is the team leader here? All of you look completely unprepared, and you're letting this buffoonery happen. I want to know who's in charge and who can't control their team."
Before Larry Jackson finished speaking, everybody's gaze immediately turned to Caleb, and as a collective, they all took a step back, leaving him to stand alone.
Caleb's face flushed an even deeper red as all eyes and the camera focused on him, and he bit his lips so hard that they turned white.
Following the gaze of the contestants, Larry looked at the contestant he had just been scolding.
"It's you?" His tone was one filled with complete disgust before he looked at the entire team with disappointed gazes, like he couldn't believe their choices.
"Him? This is who you chose as a leader? Hah." Larry Jackson couldn't help but laugh in disbelief, causing Caleb to bite his lips harder.
Although Caleb was talented, it wasn't spectacular, and he wasn't somebody that Larry would choose to lead him to water, even if he was standing in front of the sea.
So the fact that he was a group leader, and these contestants went along with it? Larry could only say they had bad judgment, especially the one with the weird face paint.
"You're the leader who orchestrated this entire debacle? Amazing. Truly a rarely seen talent." Larry clapped sarcastically while ridiculing Caleb.
The rest of the judges shook their heads or covered their eyes, but didn't say anything to stop Larry Jackson.
"It's not me. I'm not the leader!" Caleb fervently denied it!
He hated getting in trouble, hated being embarrassed, and hated being ridiculed in front of his peers.
Having all three happen to him was literally his worst nightmare, so he regressed to how he usually handled the situation.
Avoid, deny, and pass on the blame.
He had already tried the first two, and it didn't really work, so he had no choice but to focus on the last one.
The list of his enemies ran through his mind, from the catering staff who gave him a smaller piece of bacon compared to others, to Ian, who didn't select him for his team, to his teammates who weren't supporting him through this troubled time, and to Ari, who had led all this to happen.
If Ari hadn't challenged him each time, he wouldn't have been hidden in the back of the choreography, he would have gotten the vocal parts that he wanted, and he wouldn't have had to try to stand out.
It was all his fault!
Anger surged through Caleb's body, and venom filled his eyes as he stared at the trainers who were picking on him for no reason.
"I'm not the leader!" Caleb denied it again, but Larry Jackson just laughed in disbelief.
"Really? Everyone seems to be saying that you're the leader. If it's not you, then who is it?"
"It's him."
Caleb pointed his finger at Ari.
"He's the leader."
Ari: ಠ_ಠ
What kind of nonsense lie was this? In broad daylight as well? Had this kid finally lost it?
He didn't understand why the boy was stupidly lying when there was so much camera footage of Caleb talking about being the leader and complaining.
Either way, he was not taking the fall for this.
"I'm not the leader." Seeing the judges pivot to look at him, Ari immediately denied it and took another step back to further separate himself from Caleb.
"He is!" Caleb insisted while moving closer to Ari.
The rest of their teammates distanced themselves from the weird tag game that was being played.
"I'm not the leader. You can ask anybody, and they'll say the same thing." Ari kept his response simple and just stared at the judges.
He didn't want to appear like he was arguing with Caleb.
Crazy people like him who refuse to take accountability for their actions should just be ignored.
"And I'm telling you that he is! He's always undermining me, and trying to do my job, talking over my ideas, and rubbing it in my face when we go with what he wants, so it's clear that he wants to be the leader instead of me!" Caleb shouted once more before waving his arms wildly, almost hitting Ari in the face.
"I'm not the leader." Ari shook his head without flinching or acknowledging the other boy's presence.
"…so Caleb. First, please calm down. Secondly, are you aware that you just admitted that you're the leader? Is that correct?" Jelissa interrupted in a cautious voice as she looked between the red Caleb, the blank-faced Ari, and the rest of his teammates, who were trying to distance themselves from him.
"Yes, it might sound like that, but no, it's not like that! I-I, it's his fault! It's not my fault."
THUD!
Larry Jackson slammed his fist on the table.
"Enough! What is this, a kindergarten playground where you squabble and point fingers?!!! You're both acting disgracefully!!"
As Larry screamed, it became dead silent in the room, and everybody, including the MC, looked tense and confused as if they couldn't believe what was happening right now.
Larry sighed while rubbing his brows before speaking in a calmer tone.
"Michael, step forward."
"Yes, sir," Michael responded in a subdued voice as he cautiously walked up. His stocky body was curled in on itself, and his face was dotted with nervous sweat.
"Calm down. It's not like I'm calling you forward to execute you. It's a simple question that can be verified by asking the PDs to pull up the footage." Larry paused to stare at Caleb, who froze with a shocked expression, as if he had forgotten that there were cameras in the practice room.
"Just be honest, Michael. Who's the leader of your team? Ari or Caleb?"