For a brief moment, everybody was silent.
Akira shook his head as he observed June's nonchalant yet confident expression. June had always been a good speaker, and Akira admired him for that.
Chul let out a deep breath.
"Alright, that's enough. Sit back down," he coldly said.
June sighed before sitting back on his seat. Casper quickly followed, too.
"Let's do this the formal way," Chul said. "Let's collate all opinions from the members of the team."
"I think Restart should be the title track," Chul firmly said. He made eye contact with June for a second, and then a small smirk made its way to his face.
"Does anybody agree with me?" Chul asked.
Two staff members raised their hands, causing Chul's smirk to widen.
"Alright, that's three," he said. "What about Red Moon?"
The two members of the Marketing team raised their hands.
"Two? Okay, for Caffeine?"
The remaining two staff members raised their hands.
Chul shrugged. "Well, I guess it's official, boys. Restart will be our title track."
June sighed in disappointment. He didn't bother glancing at Jaeyong and Akira since they were probably be jumping with joy.
It was a shame.
However, much to his surprise, Jaeyong suddenly spoke.
"You aren't going to ask for our opinions?" he asked.
Chul raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You vouched for Restart," he stated the obvious. "You guys did a great job."
"I've changed my mind," Jaeyong said. "We can also participate in the voting, right?"
"What do you mean?" Chul asked with an apparent frown.
"Well, it's going to be our title track. You also said a while ago that all members of the team will be asked about their opinions."
Chul pursed his lips since he couldn't refute what Jaeyong had said.
"Fine," Chul sighed. "I didn't include you in the voting at first since you already chose your sides."
"We should still vote," Zeth chimed.
Chul pursed his lips, feeling like he had no other choice.
"Who votes for Red Moon?" he begrudgingly asked.
June was expecting Zeth and Sehun to vote for the song. However, surprisingly, they kept still. Chul was confused, too.
"Caffeine?"
Again, nobody raised their hands.
"Restart?"
June glanced at Jaeyong and Akira, but they kept their gazes to the front, unmoving.
Chul became more annoyed.
"...Oasis?" he softly asked.
June and Casper calmly raised their hands. However, surprisingly, his six other members also raised their hands.
June looked at his teammates in disbelief.
Chul was stunned to silence. The other staff members uneasily glanced at each other, then someone from the Marketing team raised their hand.
"I think Oasis would also be a profitable song," she said. "There are three other boy groups coming back this month, and most of them have the same sound as the other three songs."
"Ah, right. BOYMYSTIC is also having a comeback next month. I doubt it's going to be the same week as EVE's, but they're probably going to go with the trendy trap genre," another staff member spoke.
Chul didn't speak, obviously not expecting things to turn around at the last minute.
"I quite like Oasis, too," a producer said. "But it's still not finished. The ending isn't impactful compared to the rest."
"I'll take responsibility," June suddenly said. They all turned to them, surprised.
"If you give Oasis a chance, then I'll take responsibility with the outro."
"I think that sounds good," one of them chimed. "Being involved in the album can increase its popularity, too."
"So," Jaeyong said. "Does that mean that Oasis will be our title track?"
"Yes," a producer responded before Chul could even speak. "We'll forward the raw version to June, and we'll expect it early next week. Is that alright?"
June smirked, feeling victorious.
"Duly noted."
***
Alright.
Maybe June was regretting it a bit.
June didn't have a clue what to do with the outro of the song. He has always been good at this! All of his outros in Rising Stars were considered iconic. Yet now, he couldn't think of anything.
He glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 4 AM.
They had a schedule at 6 AM, so he got up early since he didn't want to fight his members for the bathroom.
They were going to have their jacket shoot, and June was already dreading it.
June really didn't like his photos being taken.
June had just gone out of the bathroom after a long shower. He was currently drying his hair, a white towel wrapped around his waist.
He walked through the living room to get to his room when he felt a chill run down his spine.
June paused, then he frowned.
Someone was inside their dorm. He slowly turned around and saw a shadow near their shoe rack.
He frowned. It definitely wasn't his members since they were still dead asleep at the moment.
So, there were only two options:
1. An intruder.
2. A ghost.
But since June didn't believe in ghosts, it was most definitely an intruder.
He took a cautious step forward, his wet hair clinging to his neck as he glanced around the room. The dawn's moonlight seeped through the curtains, causing the shadow to become even more evident.
That's when he noticed it—the faintest hint of movement by the shoe rack in the corner.
June froze in his tracks. With painstaking care, he inched closer, his bare feet making no sound on the cold tiles.
That person seemed to be rummaging through something. He remembered placing his MJ shoes on that rack. Was it because of that?
Those MJ shoes were damn comfy.
It became June's favorite pair, so it couldn't be taken!
He saw the guy's figure from where he was standing.
Then, with a swift, expert motion, June lunged at the intruder. He grappled with the dark silhouette, aiming to suppress him. Their bodies collided, and for a moment, June was the predator, his thug instincts taking over.
As the struggle intensified, June had no choice but to step on the intruder's head, causing him to groan.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" June asked.
The man struggled to speak underneath him. June continued to press down on his head with his foot, making sure it was painful.
However, much to his surprise, the intruder actually didn't make a sound!
Was this guy a masochist or something?
June's frown deepened as he tried to make out the intruder's face.
Then, June paled as the moonlight illuminated the the supposed 'intruder' face.
"Manager?"
June quickly removed his foot from their manager's head and took a step back. Chul stood up and glared at him, dusting off his clothes.
Well…if the manager already disliked June, then he definitely hated him now.
