?The members sighed in disappointment, leaning back against their seats and continuing with their meal.
Casper chuckled when he saw their reactions. "I still don't have an idea how we're going to execute the stage, but I suggest we start looking at our opponents' stages first."
The members turned to him, intrigued.
"What do you mean by that?" Zeth asked.
"We might not know how our stage will turn out, but maybe we could guess how their stages would be," Casper continued. "That way, we can create a stage that will stand out among the rest."
Despite their initial disappointment with Casper's suggestion, the members were pleasantly surprised by what he said next.
"That's honestly a great idea," Sehun said.
Casper smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You're looking at the person who ranked second almost all throughout Rising Stars," he boasted.
Akira chuckled, his cheeks filled with food. "I almost forgot about that. Your personality was really different when we were on that show."
"What do you mean?" Casper asked. "I was the same. You just didn't know me that well back then."
Akira sighed in relief, placing his hand over his heart. "And I'm thankful for that."
Casper clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.
As the two continued to bicker, June started thinking about Casper's question.
How would the others execute their stages?
"Well, OCTA will certainly perform something very intense and dance-heavy," June said. "Synchronized dancing is their biggest strength, so they will definitely do a remix of their dance break to make it even more intense."
"I can already imagine that," Jaeyong said, picturing their stage. "They might wear racing outfits too."
"SPADES, on the other hand, will go back to their roots," Jisung chimed.
"Their latest title track isn't that well-known, so this is the best time for them to promote it. They didn't even perform it during the first stage, so I believe they'll keep the same concept. It'll be an upbeat ballad with graceful dancing," he continued.
"With handheld mics and all!" Akira exclaimed. "It'll be a very impressive stage. I honestly can't wait to watch it."
Jisung nodded enthusiastically.
"MORPH3D will go with the rock band approach," Casper joined in. "It's been their signature sound since debut, and I don't see them straying away from it anytime soon."
"I'm guessing they would have wanted to bring a guitar and some other instruments in their performance if it weren't for the restrictions," he added.
"Robby…hmm, I honestly don't know. His latest solo release was R&B in nature. He's good at singing the genre, too, but he stands out more during ballads," Ren said.
"He's definitely going to stick with the RnB concept, though," Sehun commented.
The others nodded in agreement.
"BOYMYSTIC…this one's pretty hard. They're very experimental with their concepts, too,"
Zeth said, rubbing his chin. "But they have a similar concept with OCTA, just more tamed."
"Yeah, I can see them making their song bubblier. They've been doing that for the past missions, and I could see they're enjoying it well."
"CHAOS," June muttered, capturing the others' attention.
They all became silent for a moment when they heard CHAOS' team name.
"Their group is the hardest to grasp,"
Jaeyong said. "Although they've only been doing dark, chaotic themes for the past weeks, I somehow see them changing it up in the last week."
"Hmm," Jisung hummed.
"And the thing is, I don't know what they're going to change their concept into," Zeth said. "They somehow fit all of the concepts since they're a very talented group."
"We're talented too," Akira defended.
Zeth nodded with a boastful smirk. "I know that, of course. That's why I believe the others will also have a hard time figuring out what we're going to perform. We've done quite a lot of concepts, even on Rising Stars, so I don't think we have a signature sound."
"That's not a bad thing, is it?" Ren said, biting his lip.
"I don't think it's a bad thing," Jaeyong responded. "It just means we adapt well to all the concepts."
"So, what you're telling me is that we're a bunch of chameleons?" Akira jokingly asked, making the others laugh.
"Well, Zeth does look like a chameleon," Ren teased, causing Zeth to turn to him at an otherworldly speed.
The one thing you couldn't insult about Zeth was his looks. He could take everything else, but his looks were off-limits!
"Take that back!" Zeth exclaimed, shaking Ren's shoulders.
"Chameleons," June whispered.
"We're chameleons," he repeated, louder this time.
Zeth glared at him. "Stop saying that word!" he said.
June ignored him and turned to his teammates.
"That's it! Our concept—chameleons!" he excitedly said.
His members were stunned to silence before Akira chuckled to break the ice.
"You know, I said that as a joke, right?"
June shook his head. "But it isn't. It's a genius idea."
"It is?" Akira asked, confused.
"Yes. Since we can't figure out a concept of our own, what if we adopt other groups' styles?" he asked.
It seemed like a bell rang over their heads as they finally realized what June was suggesting.
"Think about it," June continued.
"Casper suggested we brainstorm about our opponents' stages, and that's exactly what we did. We gave each of them definitive identities—ones that they excel in," he started off.
"We can all agree that these groups are extremely talented, and it would be difficult to defeat them at their own game—their own concept. However, like you guys said, we're chameleons. Chameleons are creatures who adapt well to their environment, making them survive in even the most extreme weather conditions."
"We might not have done these concepts as EVE, but we've definitely dabbled in them during Rising Stars. It may not be our signature sound or style, but it's not anything unfamiliar, so I know we'll be able to do it."
The other members listened intently, already liking June's suggestion.
"Besides, we're going to be performing last, so I believe we have the greatest advantage of showing the most grand stage—"
"A stage that has nothing but everything at the same time."
