June couldn't believe his eyes.
Standing before him was Mei Ling—his sister whom he hadn't seen in almost a year.
He gazed at his sister and felt tears forming in his eyes. He also felt an ache in his heart, making him clutch onto his chest.
'What is this?' he thought.
He thought of Mei Ling almost every day. However, as he began to become busier with his schedules, he thought about her less and less. It didn't signify that he didn't miss her anymore, though.
Now that she was right in front of his eyes, all of the emotions hit him like a truck.
Although only a year had passed, he felt that she had changed so much. Her skin was smoother, and she appeared more vibrant. She had gotten skinnier, too, making him shake his head.
She was already skinny, to begin with. How was she going to withhold the stress of the show if she wasn't being nourished?
The most notable thing that changed about her was that she had gotten prettier.
He almost couldn't believe it. The sister he was used to seeing was was always bare-faced, foul-mouthed, and lazy at showering. Why the heck does she look like a proper idol right now?
However, that wasn't the most important thing...
What was more important was that she was actually trying to become an idol! How did she even come to Korea and become a trainee under Azure Entertainment?
Just then, Amira nudged his shoulder, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.
June gazed at her, and Amira's gaze softened further.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})June wasn't able to answer for the first few seconds. Honestly, he didn't know the answer to the question, too.
Of course, he wanted to see his sister in this life. However, seeing her on the show like this made him feel...ambiguous.
He knew that she had been fond of the idol culture at a very young age, but he never expected her to be interested in becoming an idol.
"Yeah," June said after a while. "I'm okay."
However, even then, Amira's frown didn't ease.
"Then, why do you look like you're about to cry?" Amira asked.
June's eyebrows raised in surprise. He quickly wiped his eyes and found that he, indeed, was on the verge of tears.
"Oh," he chuckled, trying to mask his real feelings. "This is nothing. I'm just sleepy."
Amira wasn't convinced, but she nodded nonetheless, not wanting to pry further.
After meeting June at a music show, she found himself watching all of his content—even Rising Stars.
She knew that June rarely cried, except for the time he went to a slump in the middle of the show. He didn't even cry when he won first place in the entire show!
So, seeing him tear up now was big news to her.
Then, Amira glanced at the trainees behind her, a small frown forming on her forehead.
Was June crying because of all the untalented people in the show? If so, then they needed a proper scolding!
"Could you introduce yourself to us?" Gun finally asked the pretty girl on the stage.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Good day, Mentors," she said, her Chinese accent almost unnoticeable in the way she spoke.
All of that K-pop content and K-dramas definitely paid off since she sounded like a native already.
"My name is Mei Ling, but you can call me Mei. I'm a trainee for one month, and I came here because I've always wanted to become an idol since I was a child," she greeted.
"Liar," June muttered. Her dream was to become a housewife when she was younger! She said she didn't want to work and wanted to stay at home while her husband earned money.
And Mei? Her stage name was going to be Mei? She used to hate it when June shortened her name! She said that her name was given by their mom, so June should utter it fully.
"A trainee of one month?" Gun asked, his eyebrows raised. "So, it hasn't been that long."
"Yes," Mei answered. "I only started with the formal training two weeks ago."
"Interesting," Amira said. "I didn't know that Azure was taking in trainees. Aren't you pressured that you're the very first Azure trainee to be revealed on the show?"
Mei thought for a while before shaking her head.
"No," she nonchalantly said.
Lee Sik chuckled at the young woman's bluntness.
"You're pretty strong-minded. With you being an Azure trainee, I'm assuming that a lot of the trainees already think that you're going to receive preferential treatment. This is an Azure show, after all," he continued.
Yena and Yejin turned to each other with a smile. Lee Sik was asking the most important questions! This was the kind of content that people would love to watch!
"What can you say about this?" Lee Sik asked.
The trainees started murmuring among themselves, knowing that they also felt such way.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})For a moment, June wanted to cover Lee Sik's mouth with his hand. How could he ask his sister such tough questions on the first episode?
However, Mei remained nonchalant despite the whispers surrounding her.
Then, she shrugged, shocking most of the people inside the set.
"I don't think that's my problem," she said. "I didn't choose to be an Azure trainee. They reached out to me and said that they wanted me on the show. They didn't even train me that much. However, they did pay for everything—including my trip to Korea and all that. I also live in their dorms!"
"Others could continue talking about me, and it will just give me more screen time. Isn't that how most survival shows work? They need someone they can talk about to make the show more interesting," she said with a straight face.
The mentors were silent for a moment before they erupted into chuckles.
Meanwhile, June sighed and covered his face with his palm, biting his lip to restrain himself from scolding his sister.
"Well, you're quite honest," Bone said.
Not only did she diss Azure Entertainment, but she also called out the entertainment industry. Moreover, the trainees who were speaking ill about her were also silenced, knowing that everything she said was right.
"Thank you," Mei said, even bowing as if that was a compliment, making the mentors erupt into laughter this time.
"Mei Ling," June muttered, continually shaking his head.
It was only her first appearance, but she was already creating such a topic.
But then again, June already expected this.
Why?
Because Mei Ling had the same personality as him...
However, the main difference was June was also afraid of Mei Ling.
