"I don't think I've ever seen him act this way," Akira whispered to C-Jay.
"I've seen him like this," C-Jay said in an equally quiet voice. "When he was frustrated with us during the signal song and the first performance. However, it wasn't to this extent. How many chocolate bars has he eaten right now?"
"Eight," Jisung responded.
The others turned to him with raised eyebrows, causing his cheeks to heat up.
"I was counting," he chuckled.
Akira clicked his tongue. "Is he frustrated because we aren't on the same team? I would have liked to perform the signal song one more time with him, too."
"We're in the same team," C-Jay butted in.
"That's even worse," the other two said in unison.
"I can hear you," June said, his voice hoarse after all the chocolate bars he had eaten. He took every sweet thing he could find in the cafeteria. It was his guilty pleasure—something he does when he was frustrated.
And he was very frustrated right now.
Enraged, even.
Not only did Lin Zhi step on his pride, but he also stepped on his phone! The phone he wanted to vanish but was secretly addicted to.
Now, how was he going to scroll through his favorite topics on Navel?
"What are you doing here?" June snapped, wondering why the three were bothering him in such a frustrating time.
"Didn't you hear the announcement?" Akira asked. "It's time to start practicing for the last performance."
June sighed. Right, they still have to redo the signal song once again. And on top of that, his mission with Fu was still pending.
"Are you worried, bro?" C-Jay asked, walking over to June and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry. We'll destroy the top ten! They won't even get close to us."
June pursed his lips and pushed C-Jay away.
"Let's just go," he said in a quiet voice.
With that, he left the room, leaving his three friends to gaze at his back with confused expressions.
Sure, June looked angry.
But he also looked determined?
Jisung and Akira glanced at each other, a shared thought running through their mind.
They had to step it up. It seemed like June was ready to bring his A-game.
"Wait for me!" C-Jay shouted as he ran after June.
***
"There they are!" Sehun exclaimed when June and C-Jay entered the room.
The other trainee's faces lit up as soon as they saw June. For some reason, June was like the beacon of hope within their group.
It was already expected that the other team would have a good performance, considering the amount of 'ready-to-debut' people within their team.
However, in their team right now, it couldn't be denied that June was that person.
"It's been a while, handsome bro," Minx said, practically bouncing on his feet as he walked over to June.
June nodded in acknowledgment of the young teen. At 16 years old, he had already accomplished so much. June could still remember how Minx helped him with one of his very first missions back in the day.
"Yeah," Bin smiled, his eyes turning to crescent moons. "It seems like the first mission was forever ago. I still enjoy 'Mermaid Melodies' out of all the performances I've put out."
"Same," Minx exclaimed. "That was legendary."
The other trainees wanted to join in on the fun, too.
"I've always wanted to perform with you!" Anthony exclaimed. "But I never really got the chance to. I guess your rank going down was good for one thing."
A collective chuckle was heard in the room, and even June laughed at Anthony's joke.
"Yeah, your performances were all great. I even enjoyed the Little Meow Meow ones," Evan said. "I'm kind of jealous you hit it off with Akira and Jaeyong but not me. I'm a RAVEN member, too."
The room once again burst into chuckles. A small smile appeared on June's lips.
"Umm, sorry to bother you," Zachary said, interrupting the joyous atmosphere. "But can I have your autograph?"
June raised his eyebrows in surprise, causing Zachary to scratch the back of his neck.
"Look, dude. I won't do anything weird with it. Just…my grandma wanted me to ask you. I already told her we aren't close, but she keeps on insisting. You don't have to do it if you want—"
"Where should I sign?" June shyly asked.
Zachary looked at June with wide eyes. "Wait, you're actually a very decent dude. I thought they were exaggerating when the other trainees said you were kind, but I guess they were right. You can just sign here," he said, bringing out a small piece of hard paper.
June quickly signed it, even placing a star.
"Umm, there," he said, handing it back to Zachary.
"Sweet," Zachary exclaimed. "Thanks, man. If it makes you feel better, my grandma is voting for you and not her grandson."
Once again, the others laughed.
All in all, the atmosphere in the room was bright and harmonious. June looked at the nine other trainees' smiles and was pleasantly happy about the situation.
Maybe this wasn't too bad after all.
June even forgot about Lin Zhi as he conversed with these people.
"Well, this is going to be our last performance," Johnny said, the sadness in his voice evident. Being 19th during the midway rankings, he was slightly losing hope in the competition. However, the people around him weren't going to let him think like that.
"Hey, don't say that," C-Jay said. "We'll still have plenty of chances to perform in the future."
Johnny smiled softly. "I guess you're right. What I meant was—this is going to be our last performance in Rising Stars."
"Hmm," Sehun nodded in agreement.
"Well, I don't know about you, guys, but I want to blow the audience away with this performance," Zachary said.
"Not just that," C-Jay added. "I want to blow the other team away. Heck, I need their jaws to drop once they see our performance."
"Heck yeah!"
"Oh, that'll be good."
"Let's show them."
The team spirit had gone up, and the trainees were now more competitive than ever.
June was also fired up, and he wanted to channel his frustrations for Lin Zhi to this performance.
He'll show him who'll be the next big thing.
"But, uh," Minx said, scratching his neck. "How are we going to do that?"
Just then, June saw a huge piano sitting in the corner of the practice room. June tilted his head to the side in confusion.
Has that always been there?
Then, an idea lit up in his mind.
June smirked as he recalled the time he went to his Gangwon province with Minjun—where he first showed off his piano skills to somebody else.
"This kind of talent is something you want to gatekeep until it comes in handy!" the little kid's voice echoed in his mind.
Well, it seemed like the time had finally come.
