?"Dang, you're earning a lot of money, but the first place you brought me to was an abandoned building?" Jenny asked, looking around the place with furrowed eyebrows.
June shook his head, passing her an ice cream bar.
"And wow, an ice cream bar," she sarcastically said. "I'm dirt poor, and I can afford this."
"Do you want it or not?" June asked, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.
Jenny clicked her tongue and opened the cold packet before biting on the ice cream.
"Why'd you call me here for? Don't you have a performance later in the evening?" she asked.
"I do," June said, looking at his user interface.
[Mission: Find out why Haruki hates you.]
[Deadline: 23 hours]
June escaped from his members to meet Jenny for a few minutes. At first, he didn't see the reason for their reunion. However, in this life, it seemed like everything happened for a reason.
"Tell me everything you know," June said, getting straight to the point.
Jenny, currently having a brain freeze, looked at him with confusion.
"About what?" she asked. "About my near-death experience?"
"Near-death what?" June frowned. "Not that. What you told me about yesterday—our last phone call."
Jenny stopped mid-bite, and she slowly brought down the ice cream, her face turning serious.
She paused for a moment, recalling the phone call that had happened years before.
"It was after you left Phoenix," she started off, setting the tone.
"You had the most difficult times when you were a trainee."
"Despite the lack of opportunities in the company, you always maintained a brave face. You didn't call often. I was the one who initiated the calls since my parents would get mad whenever they found out you called," she continued.
"Every time I called, you always told me some frustrating story of you getting bullied by your fellow trainees. I would always get mad and ask you to leave that damn forsaken place. However, afterward, you would follow it up with how your friends made it bearable and how you couldn't give up your dream."
"In the end, all I needed to do was listen to your rants."
"However," she said, her eyes becoming blank.
"One day, you were the one who called."
A ringing sound resonated in June's ears, and faint memories started flashing right before his eyes. It made his head hurt, but he braved the pain and continued listening to Jenny's sorry.
"At that point, I already thought it was strange."
"You never called," she blankly said.
"At first, I thought it was a mistake. All I heard was static and the sound of heavy rain."
The images vividly appeared in front of June, and it felt like he was transported back to that certain time.
It was familiar. He had seen this dream before—when he saw a staggering figure on a dark, rainy rooftop. June wanted to run to him, but the soles of his shoes seemed to be glued onto the ground.
"Then, I heard your voice. I instantly knew that something was wrong."
"What did I say?" June asked, feeling rushed.
"That was the problem...you didn't say much," she whispered.
June's frown deepened. "Then, if I didn't say anything, how did you come to the conclusion that something was wrong?"
"No...you were still saying something," she said, recalling the scary night.
"But it was only one word...a name."
"Haru..."
"Haru...," she muttered repeatedly.
June felt a chill run through his spine, and at that moment, he realized that meeting at an abandoned building near their dorm wasn't the smartest decision. It just added to the eeriness of Jenny's story.
"Haruki?" June asked.
"I don't know," Jenny honestly said.
"You only said that certain name. Only those two syllables."
"What happened after?" June probed even further.
"A loud scream was heard—something that depicted agony...the deepest pain a person could feel."
"Then, the call ended before I could ask any questions."
"That phone call stayed in my mind for a good couple of months...haunting me even in my sleep. Then, I tried calling you again, but you never picked up. It was strange. It seemed like you fell off the face of the earth."
"So, I was really relieved when I saw you on Rising Stars. I was glad that you were still alive."
"Because that night," she softly said, looking down at the ground.
"I felt like someone died."
***
"I felt like someone died."
"...died."
Died.
Death.
Jenny's words echoed in the back of June's mind as he prepared for the last live broadcast of King of Kings.
He was trying to come up with hypotheses on what really happened that night but couldn't come up with even one.
"Bro?" Jisung asked, nudging his shoulder.
June snapped out of his thoughts and stared up at their youngest member. He had already dressed up in their attire, and June couldn't help but nod in admiration.
"You look nice in that," June said.
Jisung smiled, proudly showing off his outfit.
"These outfits were a good call. It's the best possible outfit we could wear for the finale," he said.
June nodded and stood from his seat.
"I'll go ahead and change too."
June went to the dressing room, finding himself alone. All the other members were already done dressing up, so he had the room all to himself.
He observed the piece of clothing for a moment. It was red with gold details and plenty of buttons. The material was velvet, yet it didn't feel cheap at all. On his back was another velvet material, but lighter this time.
He observed himself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.
Their team had worked hard for their last performance, so June decided to forget about Haruki until the end of the show.
June went out of the dressing room and saw his teammates in similar outfits. A small smile appeared on June's lips, feeling excited to show off the stage they had worked hard for.
"June!" Akira exclaimed, running to where he was. "You look great."
June chuckled, looking down at his outfit.
"We're practically wearing the same thing," June deadpanned.
"But you look better," Akira complimented. "Maybe I should dye my hair blonde for this comeback," he said, raking his fingers through his hair.
Just then, a stylist shouted.
"Don't!"
However, it was too late. Akira had already messed up his hair. The hairstylist shook her head as she led Akira in front of the mirror once again.
June chuckled with the other members, waiting for Akira to finish getting his hair retouched.
Fortunately, they were going to perform last, so the stylist didn't have to rush.
They continued their conversations, discussing the finishing touches of their performance.
Then, when Wonbin and Haemin emerged from the stage, they turned silent.
The two hosts looked at each other before bringing the microphone up to their lips.
"Welcome to the last song, last dance, last performance—the King's stage!"
