?Fortunately, aside from the incident with the pesky reporter, the press conference went smoothly.
"Congratulations, everyone!" Director Nana exclaimed. "The first episode will be airing on March 1st, and almost all the preparations are done. It might not be promoted like a regular drama, but it has already garnered a lot of good noise."
"Congratulations!"
"We're trending number one on Navel!"
"Look forward to the first episode, guys!"
Greetings and praises were heard in the room, and June smiled curtly, already feeling drained.
His introverted self wanted to go back to the dorm and bask in the sanctuary he called his room.
Arin wanted to approach June but noticed his sleepy eyes. In the end, she decided to let him go.
June said his polite goodbyes and made his way to the parking lot where Jay was waiting.
He sighed in relief when he saw the familiar black van but stopped for a moment when he felt someone's presence behind him.
June frowned, feeling something was strange. Actually, he had been feeling like someone had been watching him for the last couple of days...like there was a shadow following him around.
Yet, as he turned around, the feeling also disappeared.
June's frown deepened, and he continued walking. Fortunately, the feeling passed, and he safely arrived in their van.
"Are you okay?" Jay asked, looking concerned. "I saw you stopped for a moment before you came here."
June sighed. "I just feel like someone's been watching me these days, that's all."
"WHERE?" Jay asked, looking around frantically.
June was startled for a moment, shaking his head at Jay's dramatic ass.
"Calm down," June said, removing his suit jacket since it was uncomfortable. "It's not something I can't handle."
"You don't know that!" Jay exclaimed.
"Do you know how crazy sasaengs are?" he asked. "One time, during a fan sign, they put super glue in the idol's drink. He almost died! Not only that, but another one wrote the name of her bias on her wrist with a blade."
"People are crazy nowadays, I tell you," Jay sighed.
"I know," June said. "I'll be more careful."
"You do that. Tell me when something happens, too."
June nodded before staring out at the window, wondering if he was just being paranoid or if he was truly being followed.
Nonetheless, he really needed to be more careful.
He didn't want to boast (he slightly does), but their group was becoming more and more famous as each day passed.
Their appearance on King of Kings definitely boosted their popularity and with June's role in 'Hate To Love You,' June was expecting their popularity to get even bigger.
"We're here," Jay said, pulling up to their dorms. "I can't accompany you upstairs since I need to go to the studio. Ted has been on my ass after I asked him to give you guys more time on the song."
June pursed his lips. "Thanks for doing this," he said.
"It's no hassle," Jay smiled. "I just want to bonk his head with a frying pan most of the time, but aside from that, I'm happy to be helping you guys."
"Makes me feel like I'm part of the team," Jay muttered.
June smirked, patting his shoulder. "Of course, you're part of the team," he said.
Jay smiled down at his lap. "Yeah," he whispered.
"I'll go now, then," Jay said. "Just call me if you run into any trouble."
June nodded, getting out of the car to take the elevator up their dorms.
June shook his head when he saw it was out of order. Although Azure's building, which was only on the next block, appeared sophisticated and modern, their dorms were shitty as hell.
He clicked his tongue and took the stairs instead. June hummed 'Oasis' under his breath but stopped when the strange feeling of being followed emerged once again.
June was already in their hallway, looking behind him from time to time.
June must say, whoever this person was, they were good at hiding.
The fact that they got through security was also impressive.
However, at that moment, he saw a black figure behind a large post.
June shook his head. So, he was really being tailed. It wasn't a foreign experience to him, so when he saw the figure hiding, June also took the time to hide behind another post.
Then, he just had to wait.
A few minutes later, he heard footsteps coming near him. Then, the black figure emerged, looking around the place, seemingly looking for June.
"Got you," June whispered before swiftly walking over to the figure and wrapping his arm around their neck.
June tightened his grip around the woman, causing her to exclaim in shock. However, since her airway was being occluded, she couldn't scream.
Instead, she slapped June's arm to escape.
"Do you think I didn't notice you following me, huh?" June whispered, almost cynically.
He saw the camera hung around her neck and shook his head. Was she some kind of paparazzi or something?
The woman continued trying to escape June's hold, but the latter didn't let her.
"Joon-ho," she managed to whisper.
"Who are you, and why are you doing this?" June asked, tightening his hold as he heard his real name.
"I—It's me, M—Mario!" she managed to joke despite the circumstance, making June frown.
"What the heck?" he muttered, letting his guard down for a second.
That was enough time for the woman to break away from June's hold. Then, she brought down her black hood and glared at the blonde idol.
"Gosh, since when were you so strong?" she asked, massaging her sore neck.
June didn't speak and continued looking at the woman.
Somehow, she seemed familiar, but June couldn't quite pinpoint where he had seen her before.
"Dang, you got really handsome," she said, tapping his shoulder.
"I thought you didn't have the potential to get this handsome, but it turns out I was wrong."
"You got stronger too. I remember beating you in wrestling back then. Did you get a revamp after debuting or something?"
June turned his head to the side.
"How were you able to enter?" June asked.
"Oh, I just entered," she said. "They didn't stop me or something."
June massaged his temples. Their security guard was really really useless at times.
"Why are you even acting like I'm a stalker or something?" she asked.
June's eyebrows furrowed. "You've been following me."
"I was going to approach you normally, but your manager is always on the lookout."
"Why are you even doing this?" June asked, already feeling tired.
The woman frowned. "Why are you acting so unfamiliar?"
"You're acting like we didn't play together when we were children."
"Huh?" June asked, getting more confused,
"Gosh, did everything but your memory get an upgrade or something?" she grumbled.
"It's me, Jenny...your cousin!"
