The room was heavy with anticipation as Jordan Lee leaned closer to the microphone.
The tension-filled background music thrummed, the notes hanging in the air like a suspenseful breeze. The music seemed to make the trainees even more axious, and the viewers watching at home felt the familiar nervous energy coursing through their veins.
- It's really happening.
- Goodness, Azure's playlist is so fitting for each scene.
"Alright, everyone," Jordan began, his voice cutting through the silence like a sharp blade. "Let us start with the 74th place."
As he spoke, the background music intensified, its haunting melody sending shivers down the spines of the trainees. Every eye was fixed on Jordan, and the atmosphere seemed to tighten with each passing second.
"The 74th place goes to..."
June played with his fingers. He knew better than to anticipate the announcement.
"To a trainee who was in the team that performed a song from a boy group."
And here it was.
The never-ending descriptions.
That only crossed out the teams that performed GIRLS' EVOLUTION!
"And...it's from a group that didn't win any of the benefits."
June sighed in frustration.
Is this what it's going to be like for every trainee?
This will take them an eternity to film, then.
"It's from the team that performed Crucifixion by CRXSS!"
The camera panned toward their team, nervousness evident on their faces.
"He...captured the audience with his good dance skills and stable voice."
- This is killing me!
- Jordan, I love you, but please make it faster.
"And the trainee in the 74th place is..."
We're back to square one.
The music's crescendo matched the collective tension in the room. Jordan took a deep breath, and then, with deliberate emphasis...
"Son Wooseok."
The fair-skinned trainee with short hair stood up, a look of relief washing over his face.
Fucking finally!
As June gazed at the 74th-place trainee sitting on his designated seat, he began to feel sleepy.
This is going to be one hell of a long shoot.
***
As the names continued to be called, the tension in the room seemed to grow thicker. However, amidst the hushed anticipation, a soft snore could be heard.
June jolted awake when Akira patted his arm.
Damn, he really fell asleep.
Unluckily for him, the camera captured that moment and was aired live to the starlights at home.
"He's sleeping?" Lala incredulously asked.
"He's so cute!" Mimi exclaimed.
Jia, in her small dorm, nodded in approval. "I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes."
June glanced at the ranking board and saw that they were already on the 37th trainee. He slept through almost half of the announcements!
He already saw C-Jay sitting around the 50s and Minx around the 40s. Eli, Jangmoon, Bin, Hoon, and Akira were still in their seats.
He straightened his posture and prepared himself to be called. He was the 35th on the first episode. It'd be a lie to say he didn't feel the shift in his popularity. Every time he goes to Navel, his bright pink cat mask will always be in view. He had gained more fans in that period too.
But then again, it isn't a guarantee that the people who keep talking about him online will grant him stars.
"37th, Jihoon"
"36th, Seungwoo"
"35th Taeyun"
"You rose in ranks, brother!" Akira exclaimed. "You deserve it."
"You'll rise too," June predicted.
"And just like that, we're already halfway through the announcements," Jordan exclaimed. "Let's move on to the 34th trainee..."
June straightened his posture. He'd be called out any time now.
"But before that, let's have a break and watch how the live stream mission of the trainees turned out to be!"
A collective sigh was heard in the room. June clicked his tongue.
He just wanted to get this over with!
The screen flashed the trainees gathering in the training center. Mentors Minho and Gun told them the instructions, and now, they were scavenging for the materials to use in their live stream.
The trainees quickly found their items—some were lucky while some were not.
Then, the camera panned to June, who merely wanted to rest but came across "gold" items.
"That's how you acquire the bunny ears and ballet shoes?" Jangmoon whispered.
June nodded.
- Huh? Where did the cleaning supplies come from, then?
- What the hell? Those are some good items.
- What happened? HAHAHAHA. Isn't that Jisung's item?
The video moved swiftly, and Jisung was shown to be in a dilemma.
- Aww, poor boy. He's just too shy.
- If I had been there, I would have given Jisung all of my items.
However, like an angel in disguise, June gave both his items to Jisung and Minx.
Then, a snippet of his interview was shown.
"They need it more than I do," he said, melting the hearts of many.
Jisung glanced at him with grateful eyes while Minx gave two thumbs up.
June's eyes widened in surprise. He never recalled ever getting interviewed after the live stream! He only recalled saying those words after the production crew found out that he had given his prize (the bleach) to Akira and Jisung.
He shook his head in disbelief.
This was the power of editing.
However, it seemed to favor him this time since the starlights were eating it up like a good stew.
- Best Boy June.
- He really is kind, hmm? First, he helped Akira, and now he helped Jisung.
- It's all pretend! He deliberately chose the cleaning materials to trend on Navel.
- MyKittyJune: How would he even know he'd go viral? June did that because he's a good friend.
- HELP! I'M FALLING FOR THIS MASKED DUDE!
- Still ugly. Why doesn't he show his face?
Mimi watched the scene with heart-filled eyes. "I should have bought you more stars," she said to the screen.
"You're going to become bankrupt at this point," Lala chuckled. "You already spent more than a thousand dollars for him."
"And I'd gladly spend a thousand more," Mimi said. "Us June stans aren't the biggest population."
They focused their attention on the screen once more, showing June desperately trying to find his item.
There were only less than 20 seconds on the clock when he came across the cleaning cart.
Without hesitation, he pulled it toward his body, securing it like a bag of money.
- Calm down, June. No one's going to take that from you.
- He's acting like someone's going to steal those cleaning supplies from him HAHAHAHA.
As June stood there with his cleaning supplies, captions suddenly appeared—
"The cleaning supplies weren't part of the hidden items. But whatever makes trainee June happy, I guess?"
The studio burst into laughter after they read the captions. Even Jordan stifled a little chuckle.
June closed his eyes and slumped on his chair.
When was this going to end?
