The Rising Stars commercial featuring June aired the day after it was filmed, and it became a hot topic not only in Korea but around the world.
K-pop was already a global phenomenon, so people didn't only tune in to their favorite artists' songs but also to survival shows.
More companies were employing the 'survival show' concept to create their groups, and they also gave birth to a lot of popular groups. It gave them the chance to market their trainees and make them known even though they hadn't debuted yet.
Some groups that have debuted in the past year were NTC WHOOSH, TODDLERMONSTER, and ILLEST.
However, even with the success of these groups, the most popular survival show was still undoubtedly 'Rising Stars.' Azure just knew how to create a tension-filled survival show.
Moreover, with EVE's rise to fame, people became more aware of Rising Stars. So, now that the fifth season was going to commence, more people were tuning in.
- It's Rising Stars season again?
- I thought this was a once-every-two-year thing?
- I think Azure just wants to make a new girl group because BOYMYSTIC is disbanding soon.
- True. True. Do you think it's going to be rigged again?
- I don't think last season was rigged. They had that third-party counter.
- You guys are delusional. All survival shows are rigged to some extent. I'm sure they already have trainees in mind that they want to debut. They may not manipulate the votes, but they can always manipulate how the public views a certain trainee.
- Certainly. However, I think June wasn't pushed forward until the end of the show.
- Well, that's June. He's a different story. He captured all of our hearts despite Azure being a snake and editing him in a weird manner in the earlier episodes.
"The shoot starts today, right?" Jisung excitedly asked.
June nodded as he placed on his hoodie. Yena and Yejin said that they prepared an outfit for him so he didn't need to get dressed before he went there.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Yeah," June said.
"It's going to be fun," Jisung smiled.
"Sure," June gave a tight-lipped smile. It would've been more fun if he could just rot in bed all day, though.
They even have to re-shoot the scenes that included Lin Zhi for Untouched Souls tomorrow, so June was already exhausted while thinking about it.
With that, June left their dorm and went down to the parking lot.
June and Jay drove to Azure Entertainment's building, one that was very familiar to them since they practically lived in the building for a little over three months.
"Ah, this feels nostalgic," Jay said as they made their way to June's room. "It honestly feels like yesterday when I was walking down the hallways as a trainee. Now, I'm your manager...and you even have your own room!"
June nodded, looking around the same walls that gave birth to his career.
"Yeah, feels a bit weird."
He finally arrived at his room and saw a make-up artist already waiting for him there. However, the make-up artist wasn't the only person in the room.
On the couch, already dressed and appearing nervous, were Gun and Ji-hyun.
June paused in his tracks before bowing in respect.
"Good morning, Mentors."
Gun chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Don't call us 'mentors' anymore, June," he said. "You're also a mentor now."
Ji-hyun nodded. "Honestly, you can be a mentor for all the aspects! Singing, rapping, dancing, and now, even acting. I can't believe you've come this far."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})June chuckled in amusement. "I'm not that good," he humbly said. "Besides, I wouldn't have made it this far without you, guys."
Gun shook his head. "What do you mean? I was genuinely awful to you," he said, finally acknowledging his past wrongdoings.
"You made me want to be better, though," June said. "I wanted to prove you wrong. However, I think we got close after that toilet incident, don't you think?"
Gun froze as soon as the toilet incident was mentioned. Ji-
hyun looked at him curiously, but he cleared his throat and brushed the topic off.
Meanwhile, June sat on his seat to start getting his make-up done.
He closed his eyes while the make-up artist placed a headband over his head. Then, she softly clicked her tongue.
'This kind of face doesn't need any make-up,' she thought.
"By the way," Gun said, breaking the silence. "Have you went through the trainees' profiles?"
Kai froze as soon as Gun asked him that particular question.
Yesterday, he slept all day long—a whole 18 hours. His members even thought he had a stroke because of how unarousable he was. However, it was something that his body really needed.
Still, there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind the entire day, subtly reminding him that he had something to do.
However, he couldn't pinpoint what it was, so he decided to ignore it.
It turned out it was this.
He didn't read through the trainees' profiles. He didn't even know where the papers were!
Gun and Ji-hyun chuckled as soon as they saw June's expression in the mirror.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"It's alright," Gun said. "I only briefly went through them. They were quite interesting, so I couldn't put the papers down."
"Me too," Ji-hyun said. "I even had the privilege of watching some of the audition tapes."
"You did?" Gun asked in surprise. "How come I wasn't informed?"
"I came as a surprise," Ji-hyun responded. "Anyway, there are a lot of talented trainees, but of course, you can't erase the comedic trainees in the show."
"Like C-Jay?" Gun asked.
"Hmm," Ji-hyun nodded.
Jay chuckled in amusement. "I'm a changed person, Mentors. I even changed my name! It's only Jay now."
June sighed. "I went through only about 30 trainees," June chimed. "I've been so busy these days that it slipped my mind."
"It's okay," Ji-hyun said. "The profiles wouldn't tell much about the trainees anyway. Besides, wouldn't it be more fun to get to know the trainees on the stage first?"
June nodded in agreement. "I guess that works too."
Just then, the door opened, revealing Sheila, the intern who guided June during the filming of the commercial.
Her cheeks reddened as soon as she saw June's almost bare face.
"Yes?" Ji-hyun asked with raised eyebrows, recognizing the look on her face.
She subtly shook her head. Another soldier has fallen for June.
"Good morning," Sheila respectfully said. "I just wanted to check up on you and see if you're almost finished."
"We're good," Gun responded.
"This will take about 20-30 minutes," the make-up artist said, pertaining to June.
"Alright," Sheila said.
"I'm just here to inform you that the shoot will finally start. The first trainee is arriving at the set as we speak."
