"He's going to come back."
Bo Wen's words echoed in June's mind even throughout the filming.
It had just finished, and the members were now preparing to go back to their dorms after a long day.
June stood from his seat and was about to head to the car when Haruki suddenly approached him.
June stopped and looked at the more experienced idol with raised eyebrows.
"What?" June asked.
Haruki shook his head at June's passiveness. Shouldn't he be elated that Haruki was giving him attention now?
"Here," Haruki said, giving June a chocolate bar.
June's eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"What's this?"
"A chocolate bar," Haruki deadpanned. "Do you not have eyes or something?"
June clicked his tongue as he placed the chocolate bar in his pocket. He wasn't going to pass up on the chance, of course! He loved sweet things.
"You should have brought me gummy bears instead," June muttered so Haruki wasn't able to hear him.
"What did you say?" Haruki asked.
"Nothing," June brushed him off. "Why are you giving this to me, though?"
Haruki pursed his lips and didn't respond for a while. In reality, he bought the expensive chocolate bar as a way to apologize to June for his undeserved hostility.
"It's from Haruto," Haruki responded, not wanting to divulge his real intentions. "You know—he just got back from the States. We had way too many at home."
"Oh," June said, a small smile finally appearing on his face. "You should have brought more then."
Haruki shook his head in disbelief. "Be grateful!"
"I am," June said. "Say thanks to Haruto for me."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})With that, June finally walked away from Haruki, who yet again felt regretful that he didn't take the time to apologize for his past actions.
As June arrived at where his members were, they looked at him with inquiring eyes.
"Did he just give you chocolates?" Jisung asked.
"Yup," June said, already opening the chocolate and offering it to his members as they walked to the car.
"Don't mind if I do," Akira shamelessly said, chuckling to himself since he knew that the brand of chocolate was quite expensive.
As they arrived at the car, Jisung still couldn't shake off the weird feeling in his chest.
"You do know that it's White Day, right?" he finally asked as Jay started driving back to their dorms.
"White Day," June muttered. "Never heard of it."
"You don't know what White Day is?" Zeth asked in disbelief. "Didn't you get a lot of chocolates when you were in high school?"
"Nope," June shook his head.
"I got one from Casper today, though," June said. "And Haruki, apparently."
"You gave him one?" the members all turned to Casper.
"I was craving chocolate, and June wanted one," Casper said.
"What even is White Day?" June asked.
"It's similar to Valentine's Day. However, it's also a famous day for confessions. Usually, men prepare chocolates and give them to their loved ones."
"Oh," June said.
Jisung chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, oh."
***
The boys finally arrived at their dorms, and they quickly went to the living room so they could watch the pilot episode of 'The King's Joker.'
The airing date had been delayed a bit due to CHAOS' and EVE's hectic schedule, but it was finally here.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})June was about to head to his room to think about what Bo Wen had said when Jisung dragged him back to the couch.
"I'm going to shower," June groaned.
"Do that later!" Jisung exclaimed. "Akira's preparing some snacks. Let's all gather and watch the show."
A long time had passed, so the boys honestly couldn't remember all that happened during the episode.
So, they were once again surprised when the first mission was shown. The vibe of the show didn't feel cheap at all. SBC had done a great job editing the clips to the point that it looked like the boys were in real trouble.
- I'm a new fan of EVE. I came here when I saw the announcement of their show!
- Goodness, I feel like an old astra now. Why are there so many new fans these days?
- Isn't that a great thing, though?
- The boys are growing up too fast.
- I feel like I have to do even better during ticketing now.
- Honestly, I thought this show would focus on idols being pretty. I'm glad they took this escape room route for the first episode.
The part when June was solving the first puzzle was now shown, and the editors edited him very favorably, with flashbacks, echoing voices, and numbers flashing on the screen.
"You look like that one meme where the guy has equations floating all over his head," Jisung chuckled.
"How did we solve this one again?" Jaeyong asked.
"I barely remember," Akira responded. "However, all I know is that June looks very cool right now."
- Holy crap. As I said, I'm a new fan of EVE, so I haven't watched most of their content. Is June actually smart?
- He is.
- Oh, the good old times. At one point, we all thought he was dumb, too. However, our handsome cat is actually a genius!
- What the heck? How can he solve all that by himself?
- Did he save the world in his past life? Why is he so good at everything?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Jisung chuckled when he saw that particular comment.
"The fans are asking if you saved the world during your past life."
June chuckled at the ridiculousness of the question.
"Not at all," he muttered as he remembered his past self.
The missions continued, and the viewers grew to appreciate the level of June's intellect.
However, when it came to the final mission, where Haruki and June were placed in the same room, the vibe became even…
darker.
June knew that this hostility was now buried under Haruto Abe's grave (rest in peace) after they'd talked about their situation.
However, at that point in time, June could definitely see the tension rising between the two of them.
It didn't feel like a variety show anymore, but instead, a drama of two friends who had a falling out.
The last time fans saw June act like this was during King of Kings; however, it seemed like he had not only improved on his singing skills since then but also in his acting.
- I'm not gonna lie; this is pretty good.
- The plot and everything! Are we sure this isn't scripted?
- Are these two enemies or something?
- I don't think they are on good terms.
- They haven't been on good terms since King of Kings.
- You all noticed that too?
- Yeah, Haruki probably hates June's guts.
- Aww, these two talented dudes need to link up.
- I know we're focusing on June's and Haruki's relationship, but can we talk about their acting skills instead?
- Yeah, holy crap! June's acting is the best.
