From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 182: Getting Scolded

The production team was truly an evil entity that didn’t care about the human rights violations of children and young adults at all.

That was Ari’s thought as he stared around incredulously.

"Is this even legal?" Ari muttered, and Benjamin elbowed him lightly before gesturing for him to be quiet as they took a seat.

After the long drive back to Los Angeles, rather than letting the contestants get some sleep, all of them, including the MC, were forced to get the results of their performance instead of pushing it to a later time.

Since his team lost to Rex’s team, which also performed SuperNova, Ari just cheered for Jamie’s overall win while trying not to look bored in front of the cameras.

Once they were finally free, and Ari was heading to the shower, writer Kate grabbed both him and Carlos, who had shown up late after temporarily dropping his siblings at home, telling them that at the PD, Emily wanted to talk to them.

"You’re really not afraid?" Carlos asked in a nervous voice.

After all, it was never a good thing when the PDs wanted to talk to you, especially after getting in trouble.

"Why should I be? If they were going to kick us out, they probably wouldn’t have let us perform in the first place. We’ll probably just get a warning from her."

Ari shrugged as he continued to walk toward the office.

What he didn’t add was that if the PD really wanted to kick them out, there was nothing he could do or say to change it, so why bother stressing about it?

What was done was done, and he had no regrets.

After knocking on the office door and getting the okay to enter, Ari strolled in, followed by Carlos.

PD Emily was sitting behind the desk, an open laptop off to one side and a notepad packed with scrawled notes in front of her.

"You. You. Sit." She pointed to the two seats in front of the desk, and both of them sat down, Ari in a relaxed slouch while Carlos sat with his back completely straight.

PD Emily growled in exasperation before turning to Carlos first.

"Firstly, you. We gave you special privileges due to certain circumstances, but abusing that privilege? Repeated sneaking out with a minor? And being gone for hours with no contact? Are you crazy?!"

"I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, and he had nothing to do with it." Carlos bowed his head contritely, but PD Emily simply snorted.

"What good is your apology? It’s useless, and this one here is quite the troublemaker, so I highly doubt it’s all your fault. Yes, you. I don’t know why you’re making that innocent face over there."

Since he was caught, Ari shrugged and waited for his turn for a scolding.

"As punishment, I’m revoking your special privileges. For the duration of your participation in the show, you may not leave the premises without permission from PD Ji-ho or me; if you do, we’ll disqualify you immediately. You’ll have to sleep here, practice, and live like all the other contestants from now on. No more outside trips. Understood?"

"Yes," Carlos replied quietly.

"Good. I’ll give you until tomorrow night to make any necessary arrangements and discuss them with your family. But that’s the status quo and if you commit then keep it, quit. And you."

PD Emily turned to look at Ari, who simply blinked expectantly at her with no fear visible on his face.

"You are a really bold kid, you know that?"

"I’ve heard that since my childhood," Ari replied honestly.

"You snuck out."

At PD Emilys accusation, Ari quickly interrupted.

"Supposedly."

"Supposedly? You weren’t on the bus, and you didn’t arrive with us at the location. Did you really think that the pillow dummy with a curly wig that Benjamin was carrying around would fool anybody? The head fell off twice!"

"Well..."

Truly, there was nothing he could say to that, so Ari just stayed silent while restraining the urge to laugh as he imagined the scene.

"Anyways, you’re banned from leaving the premises, not that you were ever allowed to in the first place, and we’ve left a message for your guardians to inform them of the situation and the resolution. As always, nobody picked up. Can you explain that?"

"They have 10 other children, so they’re a bit busy." And it’s a fake number, so...

"10?"

"Yes."

"Children?"

"Yes."

"In this economy?" PD Emily looked appalled at the thought of it.

"Yes. Uh, if that’s it, can I go now? It’s been a long day. I won’t sneak out again."

PD Emily opened and shut her mouth before rubbing her aching head and changing the subject.

"What was your complaint on stage about someone messing with your stuff? Did you go through the proper channels to report it?"

"I reported it to Assistant PD David, who said nothing could be done about it. He didn’t even bother investigating. Oh, speaking of him, he also threatened me with a visa expulsion if I didn’t stop being aggressive to a team member." Ari promptly snitched while Carlos stared at him in shock since this was his first time hearing about this.

PD Emily glanced at the boy in front of her, taking in his relaxed posture, especially when compared to Carlos, who sat straighter than a board.

He might be a bit brash and rude, but she would never call him aggressive by any means.

"I remember that you’re a dual citizen; you don’t need a visa."

"Yep. I asked to speak with you about it, but he refused. Isn’t that strange?"

It was very strange.

PD Emily mentally scanned through the members of Ari’s current team before circling a particular one in her mind.

And it just so happened that to be the contestants, she had concerns about, especially after today’s performance.

And he was also one who often met up with David and only seemed to listen to him.

Her suspicious spotlight was now on David.

Tapping her pen on the table, she began to grill Ari.

"That’s a bold accusation. Any proof of that conversation with David? How long ago was this?"

"It was around the time when we got into our current teams. And no proof. Not unless you want to lend me a tape recorder so I can go rehash that conversation with him?" Ari asked with an excited smile.

"Privately recording somebody is illegal in the state of California...but noted. Well...if evidence of such a thing happens to be collected, bring it to me and we can talk." PD Emily nodded to herself as she made a note on her notepad.

On a whim, she decided to ask the contestant in front of her, "Any other complaints?"

"Yes actually, I had to sleep on the floor at first, people say the food is terrible, the bathrooms get pretty gross, uhm-"

"Any meaningful complaints." PD Emily quickly interrupted.

"I think William used a pre-recording for his performance today," Ari said after pretending to think about it for a minute.

PD Emily just stared at him with an unsurprised expression.

"I know. I’ll look into it. Anything else?"

"None of the team had anything to do with that." Ari insisted.

"I’ll find that out when I investigate. If that’s all, then get out, and for the love of god, please, stay out of trouble."

"Only if you consider editing me in a good light from now on and stop using me for click bait with a bunch of misunderstandings. It’s annoying seeing hate when I haven’t done anything truly egregious yet."

"Ari! Stop it!" Carlos hissed appalled at the whole conversation, but Ari ignored him while maintaining eye contact with PD Emily, who let out a deep sigh before bringing out a pack of cigarettes and her lighter.

She had a headache and wanted nothing more than peace and quiet so she could think and process things before she began digging into whoever was messing around with her program.

Unfortunately, as she put the cigarette to her lips, preparing to light it up, the same accented voice sounded out.

"It’s illegal to smoke indoors. Plus, we’re singers. Are you trying to sabotage us?"

Naturally not.

PD Emily: "...you’re a very annoying brat."

Ari: "I’ve heard that since I was a kid, too. Is that a no on the editing?"

PD Emily could only laugh incredulously at his confident tone.

"...Get out. And behave. I don’t want to see you in my office again."

"I’ll try. Ah, I just remembered another complaint. My team won some money the last time, and we still haven’t received it."

"Contestant Ari." PD Emily took a deep breath before calling his name.

"Yes?"

"Out. Now."

"But my money? When I read the application rules and details, it specifically said that the money would be paid immediately."

"Speaking of rules, shall I just kick you off for breaking the rules and sneaking out?"

"But we already resolved that nicely. Besides, if you kick me off, who will you use as a villain? I make good TV because people love to hate me."

At the cheeky response, PD Emily made an expression of genuine anger, and Ari laughed before getting up.

"I’m kidding. Don’t be mad. See you around PD~. Good luck investigating."

Giving her a sloppy salute, Ari strolled out with Carlos following behind him while patting his chest to calm down.

Glancing at Ari, who didn’t seem bothered about talking back to a PD and even calling her out, complaining to her face, and even teasing her, he could only sigh at his guts.

"You know, I think Mathew was right. Social anxiety is scared of you. The PD looked really mad."

"She’ll be fine. More importantly, what are you going to do? Gonna quit or commit?"

Ari glanced over at Carlos curiously, wondering what his choice was going to be.

"...I’m going to call my parents and have them come back and watch my siblings, and I’ll quit at my dad’s shop as well. At least for now."

"So you’re committing? Full time. Putting yourself first?"

"...I’m committing. Even though it will be a tough conversation. Mierda."

"Good. And good luck. I hope things go well so the PD can stop her nagging."

"Thanks. But in the meantime, stop antagonizing the PD. She sounded serious when she said she didn’t want to see you in her office again.

"It’s fine. Seriously, what are the odds of my doing something to end up in her office again?"

"...I guess that’s true. See you tomorrow. I have to rush back."

"Yep. Drive safely."

Ari chuckled to himself, fist bumping Carlos, and peacefully went to bed after taking a shower.

And the next morning, he was back in PD Emily’s office.

Ari glanced between the angry-looking PD and the two annoying faces he didn’t want to look at before crossing his legs and sighing in irritation.

He really needed to stop talking because all the bad things he said out loud seemed to be coming true.

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