The stage flickered back to life, the lights now turned back on. June couldn't see the audience much when he was performing, but now that the lights brightly shone on their faces, he could see the red eyes and their tear-stricken cheeks.
He smiled to himself.
Well, it seemed like his message was delivered.
Kim San joined him on the stage with pursed lips, his hands folded over the microphone.
"That was…an impeccable performance," San said. "I didn't know I needed to hear those words until today. I almost forgot about the existence of the song, yet you made me recall it. I'll be sure to listen to it when I get back home."
Jia heard someone sniff beside her, so she directed her gaze to her mom, who appeared to have been touched by Tongman's performance.
Jia had tears welling up in her eyes, too; however, she held back in case June saw her in the front rows. Even if she wanted to bawl her eyes out, she had an image to keep!
"What do you think?" Jia asked her mom.
"That was…amazing," Cindy sighed, feeling a bit hesitant since she felt like Tongman did a better job than Guitarman. There hasn't been an instance where Guitarman made her cry like this, yet this person—one she wasn't familiar with—made her cry like a baby with just one song.
"Now, shall we go with the comments of the panel?" Kim San asked.
The panel members were shown on screen, most of them with red eyes since they held back their tears.
Ji-hyun was the very first one to speak.
"I think Guitarman finally found himself a great rival."
June's eyebrows raised in surprise underneath his mask. He knew that he did a great job. However, to be considered being at Guitarman's level was astronomical. He had basically been in the industry for more than two decades now!
Guitarman, however, didn't seem to be appalled. Instead, he nodded in agreement at Ji-hyun's words.
"I felt like I was being comforted by a genuine friend," she continued. "I like how you sang as if you were talking. That emphasized the emotions of the song even more."
"I've fallen in love with your voice," Mimi quickly added, eliciting chuckles from the other panel members.
"Me too!" Ji-hyun chimed.
"Like San said, you sang me the words I never knew I needed to hear. It was as if you were right beside me all throughout my life and that you knew of my journey. You've touched our hearts in unspeakable terms, and I'm really thankful for the stage you've put out today," Mimi concluded her comment.
"I must say—I'm quite jealous," Changjung, a veteran singer, said. "I want to sing as great as you. You carry a unique freshness in your voice, but you don't lose the emotions in it, too. Moreover, your vocal skills aren't compromised."
"I don't know if the other panel members have noticed this, but I feel like there has been a slight improvement in your voice," he continued. "It's very subtle, and it made me wonder if this genre is actually your profession and the other two were flukes."
"Ah!" Ji-hyun exclaimed. "I was so caught up in the performance that I forgot about his identity for a second. This just makes it more confusing."
"This just means that he's capable of doing a lot of genres," Chang-Jung said. "So, I have another reason to believe that he's a veteran singer who's somewhat young and started training in an entertainment company at a young age."
"Perhaps, maybe he's Storm?" he asked.
The other panel members exclaimed in agreement, fully agreeing with his guess.
"Omo, Storm? The first-generation idol?" Cindy asked, suddenly feeling excited.
The others, too, were open about the idea of Tongman being Storm.
"He can be Sandeul, too," another chimed.
"You're right!" Mimi exclaimed. "He's a multi-talented singer who dabbled in a lot of projects, too."
"So, we've narrowed it down to two—Sandeul and Storm," Ji-
hyun said. "I actually believe we got this one in the bag."
June smirked, subtly shaking his head. June hasn't even met those people. However, he knew that they had been in the industry for a long time, so being mistaken for them wasn't bad at all.
"Now," Kim San exclaimed, capturing everybody's attention. "We finally came to the last event of the night—the voting of the Disguised!"
The people were so caught up in Tongman's performance that they nearly forgot they still had to choose between Guitarman and him.
"Will Guitarman please come up to the stage?" San asked.
Guitarman unwaveringly stood and walked down to the stage, standing right beside June as they waited for the voting to start.
June glanced at him but was surprised when he saw that Guitarman was already looking at him. Guitarman gave him a thumbs-up, to which he nodded in response.
Kim San cleared his throat and brought the microphone to his lips. A subtle drumming beat could be heard, making the audience and panel members excited yet nervous about the voting period.
"It's time for us to vote!" San exclaimed.
The spotlight focused on the two singers, both of them deserving of winning the title. The drumming beat became more intense as Kim San introduced the two singers once more.
"Will it be Guitarman—the reigning ten-week champion with a voice that's captured our hearts week after week, or Tongman, the star that came from the shadows, whose identity has caused chaos among the panel and intrigue among our viewers?"
The audience held their breaths, their eyes darting between the masked figures on stage.
June glanced around and saw plenty of Guitarman banners in the air. There was no denying that this was his homecourt, and for June, this was a battleground where he had to prove his worth.
A one-minute countdown was shown on the LED screen, giving the audience only a small amount of time to think about who they would vote for. Each passing second was accompanied by the drumming beat, and at that moment, it seemed like the audience's hearts were beating as fast as the sound.
"In three…two…one!" Kim San exclaimed.
"The voting is now over, and the votes are in."
"It's time for us to reveal who is our 'Disguised!'"
