The others halted their movements as soon as Hana spoke to June. June felt their gazes on the two of them, but he decided to ignore them. The cameramen were already out of the room anyway, so there was no use keeping their friendship in the shadows.
"You should have told me you were coming," June said as he took the small paper bag. "What would you have done?" Hana chuckled. "Would you have prepared an entourage or something?" "Only if you wanted to," June teased.
June smiled in amusement as he opened the paper bag and brought out the bright red pack inside. "Really?" he asked, chuckling as he looked up at her. Hana fondly smiled at him, making the others even more stunned. Why was she looking at him that way? "What?" Hana chuckled along with him. "You like those, right?" June opened the package and popped one gummy in his mouth. "I can't believe you got me BenBen gummies," June said. "It's been a while since I've had them." "Well, do you still like it?" Hana asked in a hopeful voice. "Yeah," June said, popping another one in his mouth. "I almost forgot how good these were." "I'm glad you like them," Hana meaningfully said. She was about to say something more when Seobin called her name. "Hana! Your manager's looking for you already," he called. Hana glanced back and bit her lips in disappointment before turning back to June. "I have to go now," she pursed her lips.
June hummed and nodded. "See you around." "Yeah," she softly said, sounding a bit disappointed. The both of them knew it would be hard to see each other around. In a way, Hana wanted to continue their conversation and spend more time with each other. However, their schedules didn't really allow it. Hana waved at June, and the latter reciprocated it with a small smile. She left the room along with the other actors, chattering among themselves. Meanwhile, the participants, especially those who wanted to get closer to Hana, were baffled. Y stood from his seat and went to June, holding him by the collar. June raised his eyebrows in surprise and took a step back, holding onto Y's wrist. "Calm down," June chuckled, already aware of why the older idol was doing this. "You know her?" Y asked in an exasperated tone. "Yeah," June said. "She's a good friend." "A friend?" Nico exclaimed, joining in on the commotion. "That's not how friends act with each other! Have you seen the way she looks at you?" June blankly stared at him. "What look?" he innocently asked. Nico pursed his lips and leaned against Sunwoo's shoulder, already lamenting. "I can't believe I lost another woman to June," he muttered in a defeated voice.
"What the heck?" Ren asked. "Since when have you known her?" "We trained together," June honestly said. "She was in Phoenix when we were younger." "How the hell don't I know this?" Zeth asked, still in disbelief. "Oh, she probably doesn't want the media to pry further," June responded.
Gideon turned to Haruki, the member who had trained the longest in their team. "She trained in Phoenix?" he whispered. "How come I've never seen her?" The other members also turned to Haruki, appearing curious.
Haruki sighed. "It was before you guys joined the company," he answered. "Oh," Gideon said. "So, did you train with her?" They waited for their leader to answer, but Haruki merely pursed his lips together and didn't respond. "What did she give you?" Y asked, still in despair. "Oh, just some gummies," June nonchalantly answered. "Just some gummies?" Chan exclaimed. "You really don't know how lucky you are." "Yeah," Y chimed. "Give me those gummies if you don't think they're special!" Y was about to snatch the paper bag from June's hand, but he quickly moved it away.
"No can do," June shook his head. "I missed these gummies." Y shook his head in disappointment. "Do you have her number then?" "Naturally," June responded, making the others even more jealous than they actually were. Zeth turned to Akira, Jisung, and Jaeyong with raised eyebrows, confused by their calm demeanors. "Why aren't you shocked about this?" he asked. "I told you already," Akira chuckled. "We've met her before because of June. She was so kind, and she gave June some gifts then, too."
Ren looked at them with wide eyes, feeling stupid for not believing Akira's words. Akira smugly smirked and nudged his shoulder. "I'm not a chronic liar like you think I am," he smiled. Ren merely shook his head and massaged his aching temples. Seven watched them bicker with a wide smile. "I can't believe June and THE Hana Lim actually know each other," he said. "It's a combo I've never expected." "Yeah," Dos agreed. "It seems like they're pretty close, too." "Oh, that's already obvious," Seven said. "I don't think Hana Lim will give anyone a gift if she's not close with them, and have you seen the way she talked to him? It's like she's in love or something. June is truly on another level," he sighed. "Let's go," Uno coldly said, standing from his seat. Seven frowned at Uno's tone. "Are you alright, bro?" he asked.
Uno sighed and glanced at June before shaking his head. "Do you think she really likes him?" he muttered, but it was barely audible. "Huh?" Seven asked, leaning closer to him. Uno clicked his tongue. "Let's just go." The members of OCTA were still confused, but they followed their leader nonetheless.
CHAOS, MORPH3D, and Robby followed not long after. BOYMYSTIC still had to drag Nico away from June, so it took longer for them to leave. Meanwhile, SPADES couldn't convince their leader to go since Y clung to June like a Koala. "Come on," Y urged. "Give me her number. I'll be very respectful." June shook his head in amusement. "And I told you already—no. I can't just give out her number without her permission." Y narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Do you like her or something? I'd back off if you do." June was perplexed. "Of course, I like her!" The people inside the room were baffled. "I knew it," Akira said. "June is a big boy already." Jisung pursed his lips in disappointment. "As long as it's Hana Lim, I'll be okay."
"Damn, Y just lost to a rookie," Hanbin remarked.
Casper, on the other hand, became wide-eyed in his seat. Jaeyong clicked his tongue. "It's alright to deal with feelings and stuff, but just know that we have a dating ban," he advised. June's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at all of them. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, confused. "You just confessed your feelings for Hana Lim," Jaeyong pointed out. "It's a good thing there are no cameras around here. Otherwise, you would have been in big trouble." "Why would I be in trouble? It's not like I like her like that," June said. "Huh?" The others were now equally confused. "But it just came out of your mouth that you like her," Zeth said. "Yeah, like a sister," June smiled. "I like her like a sister."
