June finally felt what his teammates felt during their time on Rising Stars. In the past, it was he who left them speechless.
However, now, another idol group left him questioning his talent. Their center, Haruki, is undoubtedly the most talented idol he has ever encountered. He didn't know what to do with the information. However, he felt competitive—he needed to improve faster. Jee Haemin, who thought EVE's performance wasn't going to be topped, was proven wrong.
CHAOS showed why they were the most popular boy group of the fourth generation. Wonbin cleared his throat into the mic, making the participants snap out of their daze. "We're speechless," he chuckled. "That was such a good performance." Haemin nodded. "A performance fit for a king." Haruki humbly smiled, taking a bow. Zeth sharply inhaled behind him, so June turned to his temples.
"What's wrong?" June asked. "Was that what I was like during Rising Stars?" he shakily asked. Akira chuckled, joining in on their conversation. "Don't let your head get too big," he said. "Haruki is definitely scarier." Zeth nodded, feeling a bit humbled. In his mind, he still had a long way to go. "Well, that marks the end of the first performances!" Haemin exclaimed. "Time passed by quickly because all of the performances were all worth watching." "Indeed," Wonbin agreed. "Now, our crew will take the time to edit your footage and upload it on YouWatch tomorrow. The voting will then start as soon as all performances are uploaded." "And the results?" Y asked, his hand raised. "It will be revealed a day later during the first episode of the show," Haemin smiled. ***
The announcement of the participants of King of Kings led many K-pop manias to become excited. SBC announced the line-up right after they finished filming the first episode, and the reaction was already massive.
- So many daddies in one place! I'm definitely tuning in. - The only real daddies in the competition are SPADES. What are they doing in this survival show when they're way past their beekeeping age? - I'm a proud fan of these old men. Shouldn't you feel more ashamed to be a fan of high schoolers? I bet Seven could be your child. - Astras can't relate. All of our men are legal and fresh. - EVE's going to trash the show. They haven't even gotten their first win yet. - Am I the only Robby fan in the audience? - Yes.
- CHAOS rocks! - CHAOS will win in the end. - All the other fandoms arguing in the comment section, but chaotics are calm. We already know our boys are going to nail it! Jia and her friends, too, couldn't believe that EVE was going to participate in another survival show. One thing was for sure, though—they were going to vote for EVE until the end of the competition. They were currently in their school's library, having just finished watching EVE's performance.
Jia almost passed out from holding her squeals in, and she immediately went to SBC's voting website to cast her votes for EVE.
"Don't you think we should watch the other performances?" Soomin whispered. "What for?" Wei asked. "We only like EVE out of all these groups." Nari sighed. "But then, wouldn't it be unfair?" "How?" Jia whispered back. "It's not like we're rigging their votes. We do need to make more email accounts so we can vote for them multiple times. It is said on the website that the winner will get a benefit for the next mission." "Yeah, it's not unfair," Bora said, having transferred to their school for the semester. "It's just the way survival shows are—especially one that already has idols with established fandoms. In the end, they'll vote for their favorite group." "I guess you're right," Nari said, scratching the back of her neck. "But then, isn't the winner decided already?" Soomin said. "If we're basing it on popularity, then CHAOS would win." The group paused, not being able to say anything. Indeed, CHAOS' chaotics were far greater in number than EVE's astras. "Maybe the only way someone else would win in King of Kings is if they get the general public on their side," Soomin added. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Jia said, feeling hopeful about the situation. "Maybe the result will not be as everyone expected."
***
EVE gathered around their living room to watch the first episode of King of Kings. They were pretty excited to watch their performance, especially since they felt proud of the 'siren' concept they came up with. However, their excitement all came crashing down when the idols' entrance was shown on screen. As SPADES entered, tension-filled music resounded through the speakers. They made it as intense as possible, showing even a slowed-down video of Seven gulping his water nervously. Then, it also showed Jaeyong nervously fiddling with his fingers.
"Man, I thought SBC would be better in terms of editing, but they're the same as Azure,"
Jaeyong sighed.
However, just when they thought it couldn't get worse…it did. Because right then and there, June was shown on screen. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. All of the participants were interviewed right after the performances to get their insights about their competitors. June was confused since he didn't recall ever saying anything about SPADES' entrance. The June on screen crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed. "What are they doing here?" he said. His members' eyes widened in surprise, and they turned to him with shaky gazes. June's frown deepened, and he also sat straight up. "Holy crap. You really said that about them?" Akira asked. June shook his head. "No," he denied. "I only said positive things during my interview." "Then, what's this?" Ren asked. "I didn't say this about SPADES. I recalled saying this for BOYMYSTIC. I said I was shocked when they entered since we're both from the same company. I had to ask myself, 'What are they doing here?' since we just met a day before the filming," he explained.
"Then…does that mean?" Jisung implied. "Yes," June sighed, massaging his teammates.
SBC had cut out his response to make it look like he said it to SPADES. It seemed like the evil editing had started once again.
