Ariana responded calmly, “This practice room belongs to my group. You should vacate it immediately.”
“It belongs to you?” Carl scoffed and sneered, “It was yours. Now it’s ours. Is there an issue with us using it?”
Ariana stood her ground and retorted, “The production team has designated practice rooms for each team. We shouldn’t share
or lend them out.”
Carl sneered, “Do these doomed teams still bother practicing for the next round? What’s the point guys?”
He glanced at his buddies behind him, and they nodded in agreement.
“Who is saying such nasty words this early in the morning?” A strong voice came from outside the door, and Ariana turned to find
an irate Tom bursting through the door.
Having just arrived and heard the situation from Woodrow outside, Tom’s temper flared when he heard Carl’s remark, prompting
him to charge in.
Carl appeared to pay him no mind and continued to taunt, “You couldn’t humiliate yourself enough on stage yesterday, now
you’re here for a brawl?”
“Say that again?” Tom grabbed Carl’s collar.
“You want to fight? Bring it on! I’ll show you what I’m made of!”
Carl snapped and threw a punch. People from both sides immediately stepped in, and chaos ensued.
Ariana rushed to break up the fight, but Carl shoved her away.
“Ariana!” Jim yelled as Ariana’s head collided with the sharp corner of the sound system, causing her forehead to bleed and her
to lose consciousness.
The young fighters were shaken. Tom pushed Carl aside, picked up the bleeding Ariana, and rushed her to the hospital in terror.
Other contestants from different practice rooms heard the commotion and peeked out to check what was going on. They saw
Tom rushing out, carrying the bloodied Ariana.
Some contestants made a video of the incident and shared it online.
In the hospital ward, a row of young men with various styles stood silently with their heads bent.
Ariana had awakened and sat on the hospital bed, her face drained of color. Her forehead was wrapped in bandages, to prevent
further blood loss. Her pale lips made her appear even more fragile and pitiable.
Thankfully, there was no damage to her nerves, just some minor injuries.
Upon learning about the incident, Calvert hurried to the scene and offered a sincere apology, “Miss Edwards, I’m deeply sorry. It
was all my fault.”
Ariana lifted her head and gently shook it.
“You didn’t push me. You needn’t apologize.”
Calvert smiled and continued, “Then, I apologize for my team member’s thoughtless actions.”
Tom couldn’t help but mock, “Is he still a child? He made a mistake and expects others to apologize for him? Shouldn’t he act
like an adult and take responsibility?”