Chapter 255 To My Future Self
"Ah, please! End this misery," Zeth exclaimed as his audition piece was shown first. He showed off his rap skills with a self-made rap, and it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be.
Zeth, who still had black hair during this time, looked significantly younger, even if only a year had passed.
<nulli>"In the spotlight, dreams so bright, but it's a fight,
<nulli>Idol trainee life, every day and every night.
<nulli>Behind the scenes, the sweat and tears, we give our all,
<nulli>It's not as easy as it seems; don't want to fall."
"What are you embarrassed for?" Jaxon chuckled. "You did great. You've always been great."
"True," Daeho said. "I don't even remember what I sent, but I don't want it to be shown at all."
The next person to be shown was Ren, causing him to cover his face in embarrassment.
However, like Zeth, he had an impressive audition piece.
He had a full set-up in front of him, with synths, a keyboard, and those loop recording equipment. Ren pressed some buttons, played some instruments, and then recorded and looped it to his liking.
The other trainees grooved to the beat he had made.
"Woah, this is really good, bro," Jisung shyly said. "Teach me how to do it sometime."
"Sure," Ren said, equally shy.
The next person shown was Casper, and he didn't even bother introducing himself. Instead, he went straight to showing one of his specialties—break dancing.
The other trainees were impressed by his powerful yet precise movements. Every turn was powerful, and it appeared like he didn't even break an ounce of sweat after the performance.
Zeth nodded in acknowledgment. Casper was truly his rival.
However, the impressive stages ended right then and there because the next person to be shown was C-Jay.
The others burst into laughter from the sight of his outfit alone. He was wearing the stereotypical rapper's outfit—with fake grills, a bandana wrapped around an inverted baseball cap, a basketball jersey on top of a white shirt, and big sneakers.
"What were you even thinking?" Akira called out from the other side, stifling his laughter.
C-Jay scratched the back of his head. "I thought it was cool at that time!" he defended himself.
However, his embarrassment merely escalated when he started rapping to the beat.
Or maybe…away from the beat.
<nulli>"Yo…yo, mic check…1…2…check mic.
<nulli>Give me a bike.
<nulli>Don't want a trike.
<nulli>Just got me a like.
<nulli>Sike! People don't like me."
The room was filled with laughter as C-Jay continued rapping. Even June couldn't contain a chuckle. His words were so poorly-written that they could be mistaken for a grade schooler's poem.
"Are you afraid of the beat or something?" Zachary teased. "How can you be so bad at this?"
"Shut up," C-Jay said. "I've improved a lot!"
"That's because June rebranded you as a singer," Anthony said. "You must be glad you've met June. Otherwise, you'll still be a wannabe rapper."
"I know," C-Jay scoffed. "That's why I'm very thankful for him."
The other auditions weren't as impressive as the first three, but it wasn't as bad as C-Jay's, too.
June was increasingly getting more curious about his audition piece. He had never really seen it, but he guessed it must be at least decent for him to make it into the show.
It seemed like they were saving his audition for last, though. Fortunately, the other auditions passed by quickly, and June's was the only one not shown.
Just then, a new video was shown on the screen. The trainees were also expectant for it since they knew it would be June's. However, when the video was flashed, they couldn't help but squint their eyes.
"Why is it so blurry?" Sehun asked. "Is that really you, June?
June, however, knew it was him. Not only because they had the same body built but because this was the quality his old phone had.
"It's me," June muttered under his breath.
However, he quickly regretted saying those words when the music suddenly played. His eyes widened in surprise, and the others, too, were perplexed by his music choice.
"A girl group song?" C-Jay asked.
It was so out of June's personality to choose a bubbly girl group song. But there he was, dancing cutely to the beat of GIRLS' EVOLUTION's hit song—Geez.
The trainee on the screen appeared to be doing his best. However, it was obvious that he was far from natural.
The other trainees were cracking up in laughter as June's cute yet clumsy movements were shown on screen.
"So, you're actually a GIRLS' EVOLUTION fan? You must have been happy when we performed it during the first mission," Minx teased.
"This must be why you chose to perform Bubblegum Pop, too, huh?" Akira also teased from afar.
June sighed and looked away from the screen, massaging his temples.
Choi Joon-ho was more brazen than he had thought.
<nulli>How could he send this as an audition piece?
The other trainees continued laughing and teasing June, clearly enjoying his misery.
Meanwhile, behind the curtains, the interns were currently panicking since they weren't able to include June's interview during the video messages.
"How can we forget about that?" Xiao asked. "The fans are going to be upset if we don't include his footage."
"Should we include these ones, then?" Jumi asked. "The videos were actually pretty touching when I first saw it."
"But this hasn't been done before," Xiao responded. "Do you think we can just add it?"
Jumi shrugged. "Why not? The editors can just edit them out if they don't like it."
Xiao bit her lip before nodding. "Let's do it then. Let's start with June's."
Jumi nodded, queueing the video she edited tediously right after this one.
Coming into this room, the production team expected the trainees to cry their eyes out because of sadness and nostalgia.
However, now, they were crying with laughter because of June's audition.
June sighed in relief when the video finally ended.
"Thank goodness," he whispered, not bothering to look at the other trainees. June knew he was just going to be teased about it.
So, he kept his gaze on his lap.
However, he was surprised when his fellow trainees suddenly started praising him.
"You've improved so much," Anthony said. "You're like a monster now."
"How can you transform your skills in such a short amount of time?" Johnny asked.
Zeth and Casper glanced at each other, the two of them having the same thought—June was truly scary.
If he had improved this much in just a span of a few months, then who knew how much he could improve even further?
The trainees were about to leave once again, but another video was shown. A collective groan was heard in the room.
"What now?" they asked, looks of exhaustion etched on their faces.
Once again, a soft, steady piano melody began to fill the room, each note resonating with melancholy and hope. The trainees exchanged curious glances. <nulli>Wasn't the emotional segment over now?
Then, the black screen flickered to life, revealing bold white writing in an elegant script that read,<nulli> 'To my future self…'
June's eyebrows furrowed. Now, he had no clue about this one.
Just as June was about to voice his questions, his own face appeared on the screen, illuminated by a soft, glowing light. His eyes widened, and he watched, captivated, as a genuine smile slowly spread across his own face.
This wasn't him.
This was Choi Joon-ho.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶