Twelve attractive idols were gathered in a studio provided by SBC, their visuals overflowing despite the casual setting. The cameramen and producers present in the room couldn't help but gush at their appearance. "I don't see a single pore on their skin," the cameraman whispered. "How do these idols maintain their appearances so well?" another asked. "I think you have to be born with it." "I completely agree. I definitely heard one of the CHAOS members fart, and it smelled like flowers. FLOWERS!" he whisper-shouted. Jaeyong cleared his throat, finally breaking the silence between the two teams. "So, uh, how do we go about with the performance?" he asked. Chan kindly smiled. "You guys already know the song, right?" The members of EVE all nodded. June wasn't too familiar with the song, but he took the time to research about it. "What do you guys think it portrays?" Hanbin asked. "It's a flexing song, " Akira smiled. "I think it represents the glamorous side of being an idol well."
"I think it's a song that shows haters that idols are still successful even if they hate on us," Zeth added.
"It does sound like that, doesn't it?" Chan chuckled, looking at the lyric sheet in his hands. "Hanbin and Y wrote this when we were still rookies," Eric, their last unidentified member, chuckled. "We weren't even that popular when this was released, but I think we manifested too close to the sun since we really did hit our prime." Some of the members chuckled at Eric's anecdote.
"There's one main problem about this song, though," Hanbin quickly added. "This song is rap-heavy, which isn't really our style," he said. "Moreover, our only two rappers are currently in the military." "That's not a problem," Jaeyong said. "We have five rappers in our team." "Five?" Chan asked, a bit confused. He didn't watch Rising Stars, so he wasn't familiar with their positions. However, based on their first performance, only four people truly rapped—Zeth, Casper, Jaeyong, and Sehun. Aside from that, it was pretty absurd to have a team where more than half of the members could rap. "Yeah," Zeth chuckled. "June raps extremely well, too." The members of SPADES were surprised. June didn't look like a good rapper at all. "June is a good rapper," Ren quickly added. "And having him rap will equalize the parts more. We'll have five rappers and seven vocalists." Eric leaned closer to Chan and whispered, "I'm still skeptical about his rap skills." "Yeah," Chan agreed, also whispering. "He's too good of a singer to be able to rap well, too." "Well, June can take sub-rapper 5 then," Y quickly said. It had the least amount of lines and didn't jive well with June's style. Sehun frowned. "I think I could take that one," he quickly countered. "I'm more of a mellow rapper, so it'll suit me better." "Actually, June suits the main rapper part pretty well," Casper said. "I can take the fourth sub-rapper role." "I'll take the third one then," Jaeyong chimed. "Sweet!" Zeth exclaimed. "I'm actually eyeing the second part." "Is that alright with you, bro?" Jisung asked. June nodded. "Anything's fine with me." Y pursed his lips together, not really liking how this was coming together. After seeing the first episode, he was certain June was looking down on their team. Joining the competition wasn't an easy decision for SPADES. Even when the lineup was first revealed, they had already received so much criticism from both fans and non-fans alike. 'What are they even going to do there?' 'A third generation group competing with the younger generations? Don't they have any shame?' Honestly, they joined the competition because they wanted to stay relevant. Even though they have a loyal fanbase, they were slowly becoming irrelevant in the industry, and since they've been on a semi-hiatus as a group for two and a half years because of their military service, they were more than eager to make it back to the spotlight. The comment that June had made stepped on Y's pride. They had been in the industry for so long, and he didn't want a snarky young idol looking down on their group. "I think Casper suits the main rapper role," Y quickly intercepted. "You'll take it, right?" he asked, looking intensely into Casper's eyes. "Umm," Casper said, feeling awkward about the situation. "June said he's fine with anything," Y nonchalantly said. "That's what you said," he stared into June's eyes as if he was challenging him. June kept his guard up and smiled softly. "I'm fine with anything." "Good," Y said. "It's settled then. You'll be the fourth sub-rapper, and Casper will be the main rapper." June was telling the truth when he said he didn't mind any particular part. For now, they were competing as a team—not as individuals. There were no benefits for each member, so what was important for him was the overall performance. However, it also didn't feel good being cast aside by Y. Ever since their practice started, it was evident that the senior idol had it out for him. They continued dividing the vocal parts, and afterward, they finally practiced the choreography. Y took the center role—as expected, since he was the original center of the song, while June was at the very back.
It was almost absurd since he was once again pushed to the back, even during his solo line. June observed their performance from behind and couldn't help but feel dissatisfied. Despite the talented individuals in the team, it couldn't be denied that they were from two separate teams.
As they danced to the chorus, which Y led, June halted. "We look separated," June said, stopping mid-performance. Y frowned, turning off the music. "Practice was ongoing. Why did you stop halfway through?" June sighed. "I just wanted to voice out my opinion, senior. This is our third round, and we still don't look like a team." "That's because we aren't from the same team," Y massaged the bridge of his nose. Chan placed his hand over Y's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "As much as I hate to say it, June's right," he said. "We really don't look like a team at all." Eric nodded. "There's only so much our talent can take us." "So, you're siding with him?" Y asked in disbelief.
The room turned silent after Y's statement. June caught a glimpse of the producers sitting at the side, their eyes shining like diamonds. He sighed, already knowing where this was going. The production crew released exclusive clips of idols interacting on their channel to build anticipation for the next episode, and let's just say they were far from pleasant. Robby was the victim yesterday, with him being painted as the 'uncooperative' soloist. He probably was uncooperative, but June was sure SBC exaggerated it. It definitely became favorable to them, though. Most of the viewers couldn't wait for the next episode to find out the entire situation.
Now, with what just happened, June was sure they were going to be the hottest topic tomorrow. With the lack of response from his members, Y sighed. "I'm going to the restroom," he said, leaving the eleven idols in a state of awkwardness.
