"5, 6, 7, and 8…," Casper counted, teaching his members the choreography they had created.
Things were progressing smoothly for the team. Their lyrics were already set, and they were now learning the choreography.
There were four days left until the actual performance, which was ample time for them to polish their performance and put on a great stage.
June once again felt a tingly feeling in his heart, similar to the time he performed 'Tie Me Up.' And until now, he still wondered what the feeling was.
'Maybe I should get a check-up,' he thought.
However, even if things were smoothly falling into place, it couldn't be denied that there was an elephant in the room.
June still couldn't act cute for shit.
Ren sighed as he guided June's index fingers to his cheeks, poking the plump and fair flesh.
"Like this…just smile!" he said, demonstrating a bright smile. "Then sway your hips side to side."
June pursed his lips and looked at his reflection in the mirror, quickly doing what he was instructed to do.
"Oh damn, that was really bad," Jangmoon said, causing June to glare at him.
June groaned as he slumped on the floor. "I can't believe the two of you came up with this choreography," June exclaimed, pointing at Casper and Daeho.
"And I can't believe you can't pull it off," Daeho chuckled. "You have the softest visuals out of all of us right here. How can Jangmoon even be better at this cute thing than you?"
June glanced at Jangmoon, who was currently practicing the choreography while staring at himself in the mirror. He was appalled to see the tall trainee shamelessly swaying his ass while winking at his reflection.
He felt goosebumps form on his skin.
"Do it like this," Casper said, demonstrating once more. Daeho quickly followed, and June felt betrayed by all his teammates.
They had all improved so much after they established their concept, yet June was stuck with his not-cute self.
June hated to admit it.
But maybe the comments were right.
Maybe he wasn't cute at all.
As a child, he was never really cute, either. He was taller than most of his peers, and he had multiple scars on his face by high school due to the fights he engaged with.
In short, cute was not in June's dictionary.
"Channel your inner child!" Ren exclaimed. "You're the one who established this concept. I thought you'd be the best one at this."
"It's not that simple," June whined.
"Alright, let's take a break," Casper said. "It's almost lunch, too. So, why don't we eat first?"
"Sure, I'm starving," Jangmoon said, snapping out of his cute trance.
"Let me go with you, too," Daeho said.
"Me too," Ren joyfully said.
"I'll stay here first," June said, still feeling frustrated that he was the only person in their team who still hadn't embodied their concept.
"Are you sure?" Jangmoon asked. "Do you want me to grab you anything?"
June shook his head. "I'll follow after practicing."
"Okay," Jangmoon smiled. "We'll go ahead, then!"
June then looked at the cameraman who had been filming them this morning.
"You may go too, sir," June said. "It's almost lunchtime."
The cameraman smiled and excused himself to eat lunch. So, right now, June was all alone in their practice room. He stared at his reflection, determined to get his 'cuteness' down.
He smiled at himself, trying to remember how he smiled as a child, then started performing their song.
As June continued to dance, he suddenly heard the door open, making him stop dancing to glance at the intruder.
"What are you doing?" Mr. Klin asked as he stared at June with disgust.
"Janitor!" June exclaimed, surprised that he had come into the practice room. "What are you doing here?"
Mr. Klin clicked his tongue. "What else would I be doing? Of course, I'm going to clean. All trainees are in the cafeteria right now."
"Oh," June said. "Well, I'll be here in the corner. You can do what you want."
Mr. Klin shook his head and brought out his cleaning supplies, happily sweeping the floor and wiping the mirrors.
June, on the other hand, continued practicing his gestures and facial expressions.
"What the hell was that?" Mr. Klin asked.
"Huh?" June asked, turning around to face the bald janitor.
"What were you doing just now? Was that for your performance?"
June wordlessly nodded.
"It's awful," Mr. Klin said. "You got a cute concept, right? You weren't cute at all."
June clicked his tongue and glared at him. "It's not like you can do any better."
The janitor scoffed in disbelief. "Me? I can't do any better? You have a naive mind, kid."
June raised one of his eyebrows in inquiry. "Why? Do you have any experience dancing and acting cute?"
Mr. Klin held onto his mop and walked toward June. "Come here," he said.
June frowned yet nonetheless followed his instruction. "Let me tell you one thing. Cleaning is actually my third most advanced skill. The first one is dancing. The second is acting cute."
June wanted to laugh out loud since the bald janitor looked so serious as he said those words.
"Back in my day, I was in a boy group," he said, looking into the distance, nostalgia in his gaze. "Ah, those were some good times."
June shook his head in disbelief. "And what? Did you guys have a janitor concept?" he joked.
"Yes," Mr. Klin said without any hesitation, causing June to pause.
"Wait, you're serious?" he asked.
"More than serious," the janitor responded. "And we did better than what you demonstrated a while back. We were the cutest acts in town!"
"My stage name was KlinChi since I loved KimChi very much," he continued. "We were a trio, but our career ended not long after."
"However, I can still remember those days. The days when we were still—the Balditors," he stretched out his arms, standing near the curtains, which acted like a makeshift spotlight.
"The Bald, the Beautiful, and the Broom-tiful."
