Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, Rising Stars Season 5 was already going to air on national television.
There were already plenty of spoilers online, with snippets from Azure going viral every day.
They had edited the teasers in a way that people had no choice but to tune in.
Even those who promised that they wouldn't watch the show still opted to watch it through a pirated streaming service.
Meanwhile, fans of EVE were excited to finally see their favorite group with new juniors whom they could teach.
Along with that, with BOYMYSTIC's contract expiring in a few weeks, the people were looking forward to seeing another group from Azure.
It had been a while since Azure had created a girl season for Rising Stars, so the excitement increased a thousandfold.
- When is the stream going to start?
- In a couple of minutes. Please be patient.
- There should be English subtitles.
- I love EVE! From Mexico.
- I tell myself that I shouldn't watch another survival show for my own sanity. However, here I am again. At this point, I'm addicted.
The members of EVE were also free during the evening, so they decided to watch the show altogether.
Akira yawned as he went out of his room, having taken a nap as he waited for the show to start airing. He even set up an alarm since he was excited about the show!
He was expecting to be the first one there. However, as he arrived at their living room, he jumped in surprise when he saw that June was already sitting on the couch.
June was wearing his glasses (yes, he decided to get one because of his worsening vision) and was hugging a pillow while his eyes were focused on the screen.
Jisung quickly followed after him, also perplexed as to why June was the first one on the couch.
"Well, this is surprising," Akira said, plopping next to June as he ate the popcorn that the latter had prepared.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"You're usually the last one to come to our watching marathons," he pointed out.
June didn't respond and continued looking at the screen. He didn't know what to expect with the show. He knew he should be worried about how the production crew had edited him; however, he was more nervous about seeing Mei Ling.
He silently wished that she didn't get any screen time so she wouldn't be too exposed to the public. He even thought of contacting Cindy and making an official request, but June knew that he would just look weird.
Moreover, no other person knew about her connection with Mei Ling except for Bo Wen, Laohu, and Lin Zhi.
Then, he froze in his spot as he recalled his previous thought.
"Crap," he muttered.
That was right.
Lin Zhi and Laohu knew of Mei Ling's existence.
He sighed once again before closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose.
Everything just became even more complicated.
The other members started arriving, all of them looking forward to the show. They didn't enjoy watching the previous season because they still felt the stress of being a participant.
Now, having survived the show, they were looking forward to watching the fifth season.
"It's starting!" Akira exclaimed, making the members turn their attention to the screen.
Not June, though. His eyes were already focused on the screen even before Akira said those words.
- OMG! It's really here. I'm so excited.
- I can't wait to see June and the girls...mostly June.
- Goodness, it feels like everybody's watching this show for June.
- Well, of course! Who would deliberately choose to torture themselves and watch the trainees suffer?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})- I already saw Hong Jeemin's profile last week on Navel. She's so pretty!
- I saw another pretty girl! What was her name again?
- To be frank, a lot of them are pretty.
- You're right. Why can't mediocre-looking people ever be idols?
The show started with the girls entering the venue one by one.
"It's Harmony!" Akira exclaimed as the first trainees arrived at the set.
Then, some snippets of their interview were shown.
"I hope we can make our senior, Jisung, proud! He gave us a lot of advice before this audition, and we've prepared to the best of our ability. I hope you love us as much as you love Jisung!" one of them cutely said.
As soon as she said those words, the members started teasing Jisung.
"Eyy, you're a senior now," Akira said, nudging his shoulder.
Jisung's cheeks reddened in embarrassment.
"It must be nice to have juniors," Sehun said, quite sad that their company didn't join this time.
Jisung scratched the back of his head. "I hope they'd do well."
"Of course, they would," Ren said in an almost baby tone. "They're your juniors, after all."
Akira shook his head. "You should stop babying him."
Ren clicked his tongue. "Shut up. You're just jealous that Jisung's my favorite."
Akira rolled his eyes. "Whatever!"
They continued watching the show, and they were intrigued once again when the Top Star trainees entered the venue.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Woah, Mina's going to join?" Ren asked, surprised.
Zeth turned to him. "You didn't know?"
"Nope," Ren said, shaking his head.
"Well, she is. It's long overdue. She's been training for seven years."
"Seven years?" Jaeyong asked with wide eyes. "That's even longer than me."
"Yeah," Zeth said. "She started very young. She's very talented, though."
June nodded in agreement. Aside from Hong Jeemin, Mina was the most talented trainee in the entire show.
"There's no doubt that she's going to debut," Ren said. "She works hard, and she has the skills to back it up."
Zeth nodded in agreement, also rooting for the beautiful girl.
When Jeemin, ESPER's trainee, entered the set, the boys started talking about how she was also a no-brainer-debuter.
- What the heck? She's from ESPER?
- I was rooting for her without knowing about her company. Now, I like her even more. ESPER's idols are my favorite.
- Our talented queen!
- She hasn't even performed yet.
- I just feel it.
"I can tell that she's going to be the main character of the season already," Sehun pointed out.
Jisung nodded. "Agreed. I'm already intimidated by her."
"What do you mean?" Casper suddenly asked. "She looks sweet."
The other members turned to him before collectively shaking their heads.
"Those are the scariest trainees," Akira bluntly said.
"It's strange that she's not the last one to enter, though," Casper pointed out. "Is there a bigger company than ESPER?"
"I don't know," Jisung said. "It's making me more curious, though."
"The editing is so intense," Jaeyong sighed. "Won't you spoil it for us, June?" he asked.
"Ah, right!" Akira exclaimed. "I almost forgot that June knows about this already."
However, June kept silent, not giving anything away.
Then, Azure Entertainment's logo was finally shown.
The boys almost fell out of their seats as they stared at the logo with wide eyes and agape mouths.
- Azure? THE Azure?
- What went through Azure's mind? How can an Azure trainee participate in an Azure show?
- It's rigged, after all.
"Even I think this is unfair," Akira said. "It's like Jisung participating in the show again!"
The others nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, June sighed in frustration.
Mei Ling was already garnering so much attention when they hadn't even shown her yet.
The boys continued talking about how unfair it was to the other trainees.
However, as Mei's entrance was shown on screen, they quickly shut their mouths.
June frowned in confusion at their sudden silence, about to ask them what was wrong.
However, Akira's next words made June want to punch a hole in his face.
Akira gasped loudly.
"She's just my type!"
