The time for the ranking announcement had finally come. Henry maintained his position at 4th place, Justin climbed into the top 10, and Leonard remained firmly seated at number one—though his score was now closely chased.
What shocked Joshua even more was that his total score was the same as Luther’s.
Even the fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
[Best friend effect, hahaha.]
[Did their fans become besties too? What, did they coordinate the same number of votes or something, hahaha.]
[Maybe they really did! That’s adorable.]
Luther stared at the numbers on the big screen and couldn’t help laughing.
He grabbed Joshua and pulled him onto the narrow second-place chair beside him, squeezing together as he faced the camera and gave a thumbs-up. "Good job! Keep this up next time, too!"
Like a helpless little rabbit caught in a lion’s jaws, Joshua was trapped.
[Hahaha, look at Joshua’s face—he’s completely done.]
[Like this 囧]
[Hahahahahaha I’m dying of laughter!]
[I’ve noticed this before, but today it’s pronounced—Luther totally dominates Joshua!]
[Size gap, mlem mlem mlem~]
[Don’t be fooled by Luther’s baby face—take off his shirt and those arms could snap your neck in half.]
Leonard frowned as he looked at Luther and Joshua. His thoughts whirred rapidly, and he suddenly felt... if Joshua were sitting like that with him instead, it wouldn’t be bad.
"And with that, our results are in! Our 35 beloved trainees will now move on to Stage Three! National Producers, please continue to light their path—their glory belongs to you!"
The MC’s soaring voice marked the end of the live broadcast.
Joshua struggled in Luther’s grip. "Let me go."
Instead, Luther tightened his hold, nearly pulling Joshua onto his lap. "You were behaving just fine a second ago—so the moment the livestream ends, this is your true face, huh?"
Joshua was utterly fed up. He raised his hand to hit him, but Luther was faster—he caught Joshua’s wrist, laughing loudly. "Joshuashua, violence is not allowed!"
"Let me go!" Joshua wanted to bite his head off. He suddenly threw his head back, striking Luther’s nose. It wasn’t too hard but enough to make Luther release him.
Luther clutched his nose with both hands, bending over with a pained groan.
Joshua smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt and said coldly, "Stop pretending. I know I didn’t even use that much force."
Luther didn’t say a word. Seeing that, Joshua paused momentarily — no way, did I break Luther’s nose?
Worried, Joshua quickly opened the store with one hand while reaching up with the other to grab Luther’s hands covering his face. He lifted Luther’s head and asked anxiously, "Are you okay?"
"It’s too late to ask now," Luther roared. Before Joshua could react, Luther pulled him back, sprang to his feet, and pressed his hand against Joshua’s head, frantically rubbing — Joshua felt like he was going bald, he really did!
But Luther’s nose didn’t even look red; he was obviously putting on an act.
[How do we tell them the livestream hasn’t ended yet?]
[It’s off now — happy?]
[That was one precious minute hahahaha]
[I want to see more of Luther and Joshua, seriously, they’re so real!]
[PxP is real!!!]
[No, even if you don’t ship them, you can tell their relationship is good.]
[They’re actually fighting each other.]
[It looks like Luther likes teasing Joshua, and Joshua always gets mad. It’s the first time I’ve seen them like this.]
[Adorable.]
[What a ship material, oh my god!]
PxP skyrocketed fast, nearly matching Foby. Discussion topics popped up everywhere. Of course, more attention meant more choices for the leaders today.
"Henry, why didn’t you pick me? Lucian obviously could’ve made the top 30!"
As soon as Henry left the studio, a trainee blocked his way. It wasn’t anyone else — this guy was on the same team and had shared the dorm with them before. He was highly displeased. Henry could have allowed him to continue; they’d even been roommates.
Henry lowered his gaze at him without saying anything.
Faced with Henry’s attitude, the trainee took a step back. But thinking that he might never see Henry again gave him courage: "You clearly have it out for me and only do whatever you want! Henry, wait — you’ll regret this!"
With that, he turned and walked away, stewing in his resolve to do something about it.
Henry watched the trainee’s back as he walked away, his expression unreadable. At that moment, Joshua’s voice suddenly sounded behind him. "What’s wrong? Don’t mind him. It’s not your fault he got eliminated."
Only then did Henry turn around. When Joshua faced him, he instinctively took half a step back. Smiling lightly, he said, "Let’s return to the dorm."
Henry nodded—but before they could move, Luther came running over and immediately tackled Joshua from behind, nearly knocking him forward.
"Not bad, Joshua, running off on your own! Come on, I’ll take you to the convenience store. Fine, I won’t ruffle your hair next time, happy?"
Joshua pushed him away. "You always say that. Move."
He muttered, "I’m gonna buy something expensive."
Luther grinned. "You can buy the whole convenience store if you want. I’ve got money."
Nine couldn’t help chiming in: [Joshua, when will you say something like that to me?!]
Joshua: "...Maybe when you stop taking half my monthly fame points."
Nine huffed: [It’s not like I even use them! I’ve got more important things to do. You’ll never understand how meaningful it is!]
Joshua smirked. "Not particularly eager to, either."
Nine let out a dramatic snort and stormed off—kicking a chair for effect, even though Joshua still had no idea why there was a chair in his mental space. That’s just how Nine always was when he got mad.
"Why are you following us?" Luther frowned when he noticed Henry quietly walking behind Joshua.
Joshua elbowed him lightly. "The convenience store doesn’t belong to you. Besides, what’s wrong with Henry coming along?"
Luther gave a short, cold laugh but didn’t reply.
It was Joshua’s first time visiting the convenience store inside the training area. His eyes lit up immediately. Instead of grabbing anything immediately, he wandered around curiously until his gaze stopped at the carbonated drinks section.
Henry and Luther had been following him the whole time. Suddenly, both of them stopped—then simultaneously raised their hands. Hearing the movement, Joshua turned around curiously... only to see two cans of snow peach soda being offered to him simultaneously.
Even they seemed surprised by how perfectly synchronized their actions were. Henry quickly looked away with his usual calm face, while Luther frowned, clearly displeased.
His expression darkened further when he noticed Joshua’s eyes lingering on Henry.
"Joshua!" Luther barked suddenly.
Joshua blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He stepped back, casually grabbed another can from the shelf, and smiled cheerfully. "Snow peach flavor really is the best! You both like it, too, huh? Guess we’ve got similar tastes after all."
Henry nodded silently. Luther shoved his own can into Joshua’s arms. "You’re the only one who likes these sweet things. Let’s go."
He said it briskly and pushed Joshua toward the counter. Joshua glanced back at Henry, his eyes flickering with mixed emotions, but in the end, he said nothing.
Something felt... off.