June let out a deep breath as he leaned against his seat. He thought everything would be much clearer once Fu answered his questions, yet it seemed like he was just getting more confused instead.
'Sometimes, I think you're a great system, but then you make me take back my words every single time.'
[ :( ]
Always remember the origin?
Life has three strikes?
What does he mean by all of that?
Just then, June snapped out of his thoughts when Lee Sik suddenly patted his shoulder.
"What did you think, June?"
June lifted his head and saw that a new trainee was already on stage. He cursed inside his mind since he wasn't able to watch her performance at all.
He could feel the anticipating stares of the other trainees and the mentors, which made him feel even more pressured.
June cleared his throat before speaking into the microphone.
"You've worked hard," he vaguely said since he didn't know how the particular trainee performed.
The mentors looked at him with raised eyebrows, surprised by his comment.
'Fuck,' he thought. 'Was she awful?'
The trainees were silent, too, not giving anything away.
Then, they suddenly burst into whispers.
"He's so kind! He's the only one to tell her that she has worked hard."
"Well, her performance was awful, vomit-inducing, and even nauseating, but I can tell that it was her best."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Dang, that's pretty rude. I'll cry if I hear that."
"June is really such a kind soul, though. She's been training for a long time, but she's just not talented."
Gun looked at June with admiration in his eyes, his lips pursed as he held back his tears.
"I have a lot to learn from him," he muttered.
Lee Sik also showed a guilty smile, patting his back once again but gentler this time.
The other mentors only said harsh words to the trainees because she wasn't decent at all! Meanwhile, June still told her that she had worked hard despite the awful performance.
What a kind man!
'Gosh. Did I say the wrong thing?' he thought. 'Why are they praising me so much?'
Then, to make matters worse, the girl on the stage suddenly started crying, catching June off guard.
He scratched the back of his head before asking her what was wrong.
The others started empathizing with her while June continued regretting his words.
"Sorry, mentors," the girl sniffed. "It's been a while since somebody told me I had worked hard. I also really like June and his group, EVE, so it means a lot to me. Thank you, really."
June pursed his lips and subtly shook his head.
Goodness, he was being misunderstood all day long.
However, he couldn't really burst her bubble, so he decided to proceed with it.
"You've worked hard up until now," June repeated. "However, I hope you realize that hard work is not enough. You need help from others, and you need to examine where your weaknesses lie. Through that, you'll be able to improve."
"If you think you're working hard enough, then think again. There might be something wrong with how you're practicing."
The girl pursed her lips, trying to hold back her tears. Then, she nodded and bowed gratefully before walking away from the stage with zero stars under her name.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})As soon as she was out of the stage, Amira nudged his shoulder.
"You're quite the ideal mentor," she said.
June raised one eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Nothing," she muttered. "You're my ideal man too."
"What did you say?" June asked, not really hearing what she just said.
Amira shook her head and quickly changed the topic. "The last contestant is coming."
Everybody started gossiping as the last trainee of the day made her way to the center of the stage.
Above her was the intimidating logo of her company, and others began to voice their envy since it was a company that all of them wanted to be accepted into.
"Good afternoon, mentors," the pink-haired girl greeted.
"My name is Hong Jeemin. I am 19 years old and from ESPER Entertainment," she introduced herself.
The trainees clapped, appearing to be fond of her already.
Well, she was the embodiment of an idol trainee. Her looks were comparable to Mei's; however, she had more 'idol-like' charms. She looked approachable, warm, and had a lot of ambition. Meanwhile, Mei was a cold, blunt beauty that most people would be afraid of.
"Jeemin," Gun said, reading through her profile. "It's the first time that a trainee from ESPER entertainment has joined Rising Stars."
Jeemin smiled and nodded. "I was sent by my company after seeing the success that EVE experienced," she said in all honesty.
Jeemin smiled and nodded. "I was sent by my company after seeing the success that EVE experienced," she said in all "There were a lot of trainees who wanted to go, but I was chosen," she continued.
Lee Sik raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You must be really good, then," he said.
Jeemin shook her head and even stepped back, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Ah, no, no. I'm not that good. I was just the most enthusiastic one, so they gave it to me."
"You're humble too," Ji-hyun noted, already liking her personality.
At that moment, June glanced back at Mei Ling. He saw that she was almost dozing off, making him shake his head.
If Jeemin was the embodiment of an idol trainee, then her sister was the complete opposite. Well, he couldn't really blame her since he was also the same up until the end of Rising Stars.
"Why don't you start your performance?" Lee Sik said.
Jeemin nodded and went to the center, immediately assuming her position. She placed her handheld microphone over her lips and tilted her head a bit as she waited for the music to start.
Then, the loud music began, startling most of the trainees. Even, who had been bored after all the mediocre performances, snapped out of her sleepy state as Jeemin's voice resonated in the entire studio.
"Oh, oh, oh, it's so electric!
Give me that love, so magnetic.
The clock going tick tock tick.
You can never give me the ick."
She sang a popular K-pop song with some questionable lyrics, yet she somehow still made it work.
June looked at her status window and nodded in acknowledgment. It was already the highest he had seen in the day. It seemed like there was a reason why ESPER Entertainment was the pioneer of the K-Pop industry.
[Vocals: A
Dance: A+
Visuals: S
Rap: B-]
"She's good," the other mentors began to say, enjoying her performance.
June nodded in agreement as he nodded his head to the beat.
"She's a potential frontrunner of the show."
