June looked at Ren, surprised that he actually admitted the truth. Ren then glanced at June and smiled softly.
"June made the song. It was his idea and production," he continued.
The room turned silent after Ren's confession.
In the end, nobody expected the song to be produced by none other than June—the individual trainee who sang a Little Meow Meow song at his auditions.
It was true that June had proved his talents over and over again for the past missions. However, he was involved in scandals not long after. To some extent, June's talent had been overshadowed by the bullying, stabbing, and rigging incident.
And since he had a nonchalant personality, people assumed he didn't work as hard as the other trainees.
However, as they internalized Ren's confession, they realized that June has come so far. He was probably the trainee who improved the most out of everybody else.
Who knew an individual trainee who even dropped as far as zero-stars would make it this far?
Even Gun, who always thought of June whenever he took a shit, found himself smiling when he watched the trainee's performances. June was the epitome of growth—and Gun wasn't afraid to admit that right now.
Sven raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It wasn't you?" he asked in disbelief.
He was sure that his precious student would have produced the song they had heard just now. Heck, even the other trainees and mentors believed so.
However, Ren stood his ground and nodded as he gestured toward June. "It was all June," he said with full honesty.
"Is that right?" Bone asked.
June pursed his lips as he felt everybody's eyes on him. Then, he eventually nodded.
The mentors and trainees whispered among themselves.
"Is June actually talented in music production?" Zeth asked.
"Well, he was the one who arranged our performance back then," C-Jay responded. "He didn't technically arrange it himself, but his vision was taken into consideration."
"He's really getting better than I had imagined," Hyerin whispered to Jihyun.
Jihyun nodded, appearing to have fallen even deeper for the charming trainee.
Lin Zhi, on the other hand, clenched his fists under his legs. June could write music, too?
What a fucking joke. Lin Zhi had to orchestrate a whole scene just for him to show the production crew that he was the one who produced their song when, in fact, he got help from a powerful person to accomplish it. Meanwhile, June was able to pull this kind of song right out of his ass?
"Ridiculous," Lin Zhi whispered.
As the whispers progressed, June raised his hand. "Umm, I just want to clarify that it wasn't just me who made the song. My team collaborated to create this piece. Ren helped me a lot, too, since he has more experience in music production."
Ren glanced at June, looking at his side profile. At the beginning of the show, Ren was sure that June was the type of trainee who slacked off because he had such a nonchalant vibe.
However, seeing him speak up for the team made Ren respect June even more.
June was actually a good guy.
"Well," Sven said, placing down his sheet of comments. "I can't say I'm not surprised. I really am. How long have you been producing music?" he asked.
June pursed his lips and thought of a reasonable answer. "This year," he said.
The producers glanced at each other with surprised looks.
"Only this year?" Samba clarified.
June nodded, wondering if he had made the time too short.
"So, it's been less than a year?" Sven muttered. "This kid must be a genius."
However, he kept the comment to himself so the others didn't seem to hear it.
"Well," Sven continued. "As I said, I was expecting the worst, but I believe you guys did the best. It was a well-produced song, and the chorus is still stuck in my head."
June hid his smirk as he bowed his head in gratitude.
Getting ice cream that day was definitely his saving grace. June will definitely post the review of the ice cream truck after the mission as his way to repay the father-and-daughter pair.
"I have nothing to say, too," Woo-jin said. "I already want the song to be produced fully so I can add it to my playlist. However, I do want to say that even though you made a good foundation for your song, this doesn't mean that everything is already set in stone. You still need the other elements to make your performance unforgettable."
Hyerin nodded in agreement. "The choreography is a very important element to your performance, too. Try to make it fit the song without it being too cringy. Don't bite off more than you can chew."
"Yes," Gun said. "As this is the time to show your skills as versatile artists, you should also take your concept more seriously. The choreography is one way to elevate your performance. But other than that," he continued, looking at June. "You guys did a good job. It's a good song."
Gun then quickly looked away, his neck red from embarrassment after complimenting June.
He had finally come to terms with the fact that he became a fan of the trainee who he had badly scolded in the past. However, Gun wasn't ready to admit it out loud just yet.
"Your lyrics, too," Samba added. "Your production has a lot of potential, so I wish you'd incorporate fitting lyrics for it, too."
"Thank you, mentors and producers," Casper said, bowing his head. "We'll take all your comments into mind."
"Thank you, mentors," his members followed, bowing their heads too.
"Good job, guys," the mentors clapped, and the trainees followed suit.
June glanced around the room and was overwhelmed by the feeling of being applauded. It finally felt like he was being…accepted?
He couldn't verbalize the feeling well, but it definitely sparked something in his heart.
"Right, one more thing before you go," Jihyun said, clearing her throat and capturing the trainees' attention.
"This genre and cuteness are paired hand-in-hand," she said, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Have you guys worked on your cuteness yet?"
