"What?" Zeth asked, breaking the silence in the white room. "How did he even come up with those words?"
Haruki, too, stared at June with wide eyes, wondering how he guessed the statement without a tangible clue in the room.
The staff members were also surprised with June's quick wit. They were actually expecting that neither of the two would guess the statement.
The clues were too vague for them to come up with a definitive answer.
They were planning to squeeze the two until there wasn't any space between them. Then, they wanted to give them a fun punishment of performing a medley of girl group dances instead.
However, with June's utterance, their plans all went down the drain.
Even the creepy voice was a bit flustered.
"We have no choice," the producer said, the door finally opening.
June smirked as he stood from his seat, still looking at Haruki with a victorious gaze.
Then, he held out his hand for Haruki, offering to help him stand.
However, the more experienced idol stood on his own before leaving the room without even looking back.
June retreated his hand, still with a smirk, before shaking his head and leaving the room.
It turns out that they were right next to the white room, so he was greeted by his members as soon as he emerged from the chamber.
"That was so cool!" Jisung exclaimed, bouncing on his feet.
"You still amaze me every time," Akira said, slowly clapping in his seat. He didn't bother getting up since he was too comfortable on the couch.
Even the members of CHAOS nodded in agreement. If this was the type of person they were competing with on 'King of Kings,' then there was no question that EVE was able to capture the first place despite being a rookie group.
"How were you able to guess the statement?" Haruki suddenly asked, surprising everyone, including June, because he sounded genuinely curious.
June recalled the moment he realized they weren't in a simple role-playing game.
"Everything you see is there for a reason," June started off, repeating the voice's advice before the start of the game.
"At first, I thought the room was bare. However, when I looked closer, I saw writings on the wall--propositions such as 'If,' 'In,' and 'The.' I knew that they were there for a reason, so I concluded that they must be part of the statement."
"However, the problem was to figure out the words that these prepositions connected," he continued.
The others listened attentively, feeling like they were in a crime show.
"Everything happens for a reason," June said, saying the other advice that the voice had provided.
"Again, when the wall first moved, I tried to think of the reason why. When Haruki broke character in the middle of the conversation, the wall continuously moved. So, I thought that was it."
"However, it seemed to be a fluke," June smiled. "The wall still moved even when we were in character. The production team must have set that up as a distraction. The real trigger wasn't the breaking of character--it was the words in the statement themselves."
A look of realization passed through their eyes. Haruki, too, straightened his posture, realizing that the walls, indeed, moved when he said a particular word.
"Sweet."
"Betrayal."
"Wake."
June said the words that triggered the walls to move.
"I combined all of these words with the prepositions into a coherent sentence. Then, I just blurted it out," June nonchalantly said.
The others continued to look at him in amazement. However, Haruki's statement snapped them out of their reverie.
"Of course, you would have guessed the statement."
"Betrayal is your expertise."
Fortunately, the staff members entered before June could pry further.
"Gosh, Haruki's still in character," Jisung whispered. "What a dedicated man."
June shook his head.
He was definitely not in character anymore. Haruki just couldn't stop himself from saying those words.
They set up the camera once more and announced June's victory.
"Congratulations to June and EVE for winning the short and fun games we have prepared!"
"Short and fun? You mean—murderous," Akira whispered, causing the staff members to laugh.
"It must have been tough," the producer said. "However, we devised these games to bring you closer to each other. I hope it broke the ice."
"It broke more than just the ice," Ren said.
The others chuckled, and although they were a bit upset that the production crew had subjected them to such cruel games, they also couldn't deny that it did bring the two groups closer to one another.
Again, except for two people.
The members of CHAOS knew that their leader was acting strange. He was usually serious and only sometimes playful; however, his seriousness was taken up a notch whenever June was involved.
The other four members weren't around when June still trained in Phoenix, so they don't really know if the two had a past together. However, judging from their interactions, that must be the case.
"As a reward, the team will be granted a coffee truck for your fans during your promotion period," the producer said.
The members of EVE turned to each other with wide smiles, elated with the fact that their fans would be the recipients of June's hard work.
With that, the filming for the episode finally ended.
"See you after two weeks, guys," the producer said. "We'll be filming the second episode by then."
They all nodded in agreement before going their separate ways. Jisung and Gideon, who had become closer after talking about dancing, exchanged numbers before they parted ways.
As they went to their waiting room, where Jay was currently waiting, June couldn't shake off the strange feeling in his chest.
For some reason, he felt like there was still a lot to talk about with Haruki—one that shouldn't happen on camera.
So, before he could even enter the waiting room, he tapped Jisung's shoulder.
"I'll be going to the restroom," he said.
Jisung nodded. "Sure. We'll wait for you."
June walked away from their room. However, he didn't go to the restroom like he had told Jisung.
Instead, he went straight to CHAOS' waiting room. However, as he stood in front of their door, he started hesitating whether or not this was the right time or not.
Before he could think further, he heard Haruki's voice next to the stairs.
"The stairs again," June sighed, feeling like he had been unusually attached to the stairs since the beginning of his career.
"I know, mom. I'll be going home soon. Our comeback is in the fall, so I have some time," Haruki said.
June walked closer to him, compelled to listen to his conversation.
"Yeah. I know. I miss him too," Haruki sighed, suddenly sounding melancholic.
"I know he wouldn't be able to hear it, but I miss him every day."
"If only that didn't happen. If only he didn't have to give up on his dreams, then maybe he'd still be here...," he said, his voice getting weaker.
At that point, June's frown deepened, and he felt his palms sweating.
His head was aching, and his vision started getting blurry, too, as a person who appeared like Haruki invaded his senses.
"If only because of him...," Haruki said with contempt.
"Then, you would still be here..."
....Haruto."
And with that, the world turned black.
