?The color on June's face drained, and his members turned to him with excited expressions.
His members looked at him like a pack of hyenas, ready to pounce at him at any given chance.
Don't get them wrong. They might act suspiciously, but they didn't have any bad intentions.
They just genuinely wanted to see their homie act cute (and suffer in the process).
June looked around and saw that the other participants were already getting ready for the first game.
"I'll do it at home," June tried compromising. However, his members were as stubborn as bulls, and with all seven of them intensely gazing at him, June knew he couldn't escape without giving them what they wanted.
So, he hesitatingly did a finger heart and showed it for a split second. If there was something June wasn't good at, then it would be aegyo. He never really got the concept around aegyo, but it seemed like fans and other people enjoyed watching it—especially from idols.
It was borderline creepy how even old men would watch fan cams of underaged K-pop girls just for their cute acts.
"There," June said, already feeling embarrassed.
"Eyy, that's not aegyo," Jaeyong said. "Akira, show him how it's done."
Akira nodded excitedly, stepping forward so he could show June what it was like to truly act cute.
Akira twisted his feet, his arms, his fingers, and any extremity that could be twisted. He then pouted before bringing his chin closer to his neck, making his eyes bigger in the process. Afterward, he puffed up his cheeks and blinked rapidly, like dust was stuck in his eyes.
June quickly covered his eyes, not wanting to watch such an atrocity.
"Why do you even like these things?" June quietly exclaimed.
Meanwhile, OCTA, who was still deliberating on who to send against SPADES, noticed what EVE was doing.
At that moment, Jisung was demonstrating yet another cute act, and it appeared like Akira wasn't backing down either.
"Gosh, what are they doing?" Seven asked, looking appalled.
"You're more appalling," Ocho whispered.
Uno looked at their group and gestured to his teammates to step back.
"What a bunch of weird guys," Uno muttered.
"Enough!" June exclaimed. "I get it. I get it. Will you play if I do as they did?" June asked Casper.
Casper excitedly nodded, putting his hands together in anticipation.
June let out a deep breath before taking a look around. Fortunately, all of the cameras were turned toward the middle, where Y and Tres were getting ready for the first game.
With that in mind, June faced his members and closed his eyes for a moment. It was a good thing he was wearing sunglasses; otherwise, he would have felt more embarrassed.
Taking a deep breath, he channeled the cuteness that was hidden inside his heart…
…and with everything he got, he put out two peace signs, pouted his lips, and puffed up his cheeks. He stood on one leg in order to look like a cute anime girl before shooting arrow hearts at his teammates.
At that moment, it felt like sparkles exploded in the studio. The members watching had wide smiles on their faces, looking like proud dads in their son's very first recital.
Casper placed his hand over his heart, feeling satisfied with June's service.
After the cute act, June quickly went back to his original state.
"You'll compete now, right?" June asked, almost breathless from the shameless, cute act.
Casper enthusiastically nodded, now facing the middle to watch the first game.
Meanwhile, June turned around and performed deep breathing exercises to recover from the shame he felt.
However, at that moment, he saw a camera focused on their team.
His eyes widened slightly in surprise, and then he locked gazes with the cameraman.
The camera probably didn't catch him in the act, right?
…right?
***
June was the representative for their team to play rock, paper, scissors.
You could already guess how that went.
June just wanted to gauge his luck since things were actually going pretty well for him these days. However, it seemed like it hadn't changed—he still had shitty luck.
In the end, Casper had to play with CHAOS for the semi-final round.
Fortunately, Casper performed within June's expectations. He practically plummeted Nashon to the ground after seeing June's cute act.
Now, only the final round was left.
The members of EVE were deciding who to send, and it appeared like they were picking between two people.
The first candidate was Sehun, the member who undoubtedly had the biggest body in the team. He also had long legs, which would be an advantage when it came to kicking.
The second candidate was Zeth, the resident gym lad of EVE. He was someone who valued his looks a lot, so he couldn't skip one day of working out despite their busy schedules. Moreover, he really liked seeing himself in front of the large mirrors of the gym, all sexy and all.
Just then, Ocho stepped out from his team, walking to the middle and putting on his sparring gear.
"Aww dang, Ocho's going?" Akira asked. "Zeth should go then…
they have similar builds anyway."
"But Sehun's taller," Ren countered.
Zeth narrowed his eyes at Ren. "Only by a centimeter!"
June clicked his tongue, cutting their conversation short.
"I'm going," he confidently said.
"You?" Jaeyong couldn't help but exclaim. The other members, too, looked at him with wide eyes, wondering why he volunteered for such a rough sport.
June shrugged. "What's wrong with me competing?" June asked.
Jaeyong scratched the back of his head.
"It's not that we're underestimating you or anything," Jaeyong said. "We've already learned not to do that at any cost," he added.
"But you're going to get hurt!"
June sighed before shaking his head.
"What do you take me for?"
The members of EVE turned silent.Looking at June's physique, he was definitely more suited for other sports—maybe figure skating, fencing, or even swimming!
They couldn't imagine their center doing any contact sports.
June smirked as he observed their hesitant faces.
"Watch and learn."
