Chapter 349 Lee Sik
Tres quickly stood from his seat and bowed at Xion, the popular vocalist of the idol group CHAOS.
June, although not recognizing the idol, also stood and bowed in respect.
Meanwhile, Xion stood at the doorway, observing the newcomer in the room. When he first found out they were going to add another member to the line-up, he was quite annoyed.
Why didn't this so-called 'newcomer' come to their first practice?
When he saw that it was June, the member of the idol group he had been wary of, his annoyance escalated even further. However, it was also paired with curiosity—just how good was this guy?
"You're late," Nico jokingly said, standing up and giving Xion a man-hug.
"Aww, come on. Mr. Lee Sik isn't even here," Xion chuckled.
Mimi, being the most senior idol of the group, didn't bother standing and just smiled at Xion.
"We're complete now," she said. "Why don't we introduce ourselves to our new member?"
They all sat and started introducing themselves.
"The name's Tres," he started off. "I'm from OCTA. Nice to meet you."
"Hi, June! I'm Mimi," she enthusiastically offered her hand to June.
June shook it with gratitude, and Mimi felt her heart explode with how cute June was. Her cheeks visibly reddened, causing Nico to click his tongue and break their contact.
"My turn," Nico said. "I'm sure you already know me since you went to our waiting room during the Abracadabra Festival."
June stared at the person before him and found he wasn't familiar at all. He knew he was from BOYMYSTIC, but aside from Jordan, he wasn't too familiar with their members.
"I'm sorry, senior," June apologized. "I don't think I caught your name."
Nico's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt annoyance build inside his heart.
"You—"
"He's Nico," Mimi quickly cut the annoyed guy off. "Don't pay attention to him too much. Life is bitter for him."
"Mimi," Nico whined, causing June to chuckle.
"Nice to meet you, senior," June respectfully bowed.
Then, he turned to the last person—Xion.
Xion, despite being a loud guy, was silent all throughout the exchange. Mimi found it quite weird since he was usually on the same wavelength as Nico. Now, he wasn't being his usual self.
"Xion," Mimi said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Ah, right," Xion said, clearing his throat. "I'm Xion from CHAOS."
June nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you for welcoming me warmly. My name is June, and I am from the group EVE. I also apologize for the inconvenience I've caused. Let's work together from now on."
"Nonsense!" Mimi cheerfully said. "You're very welcome here. Right, guys?"
The three guys didn't respond, causing Mimi to shake her head.
"Sorry, June," she whispered. "They're just a bit grumpy because of the new arrangement."
"It's okay," June whispered back, his minty breath brushing against Mimi's cheek, causing her stomach to erupt into butterflies.
"By the way," Nico suddenly said. "You also trained in Phoenix, right?" he asked.
Mimi turned to him, confused. "How do you know that? I thought you didn't keep up with this season's Rising Stars."
Nico's eyes widened in panic. He cleared his throat and collected himself. "Of course, I didn't!" he exclaimed. "I just saw it on the…news. Yeah, on the news! It was big news back then."
"I did," June said, answering Nico's question.
"Then, did the two of you meet back then?" Mimi asked, looking between June and Xion.
June remained silent since he genuinely didn't know the answer to the question. Moreover, he was curious about Xion's answer.
June knew that CHAOS was the group Joon-ho was supposed to debut in. He was already aware of his relationship with Alex and Hyunwoo, but his relationship with the CHAOS members was still hidden in the dark.
"I did see him around back then," Xion said, causing June to become even more curious. "But we weren't acquainted. I was practicing to be in CHAOS back then, and he wasn't."
"Ah, I see," Mimi said. "I guess that makes all of us new friends then."
"Friends?" Nico scoffed. "How about more than friends?" he said, smiling as he leaned closer to Mimi.
However, Mimi scooted further away from Nico and closer to June.
She just hit two birds with one stone—she got away from Nico while getting to stay close to June!
Just then, the door opened, revealing the legendary artist—Lee Sik.
The five idols immediately stood and bowed deeply, showing their utmost respect for the veteran singer.
Lee Sik chuckled, his deep voice resonating in the room. His short hair, now in the color of salt and pepper, was spiked on top of his head. He was wearing a shirt in the style of a modern hanbok, and it was paired with white trousers.
June could already feel the immense amount of energy from the older man even when he hadn't spoken at all.
Lee Sik, the 52-year-old singer, had been in the industry for more than 30 years. He first started singing when he was in high school and joined the longest-running song competition in South Korea—Karaoke King.
At a young age, he already had a passion for traditional pansori music, so he incorporated those sounds into his songs. He was also a great lyricist, painting the struggles of many generations, which made most of his songs emotional and relatable.
After his venture into Karaoke King, he was recognized by the Prime Minister of South Korea, who had him sing on his birthday. That was the start of his mind-blowing career.
He had released over 20 albums in his career, and the title tracks of these albums were all great hits. Undoubtedly, the greatest hit he had written was 'Father,' which was the song they were going to be singing for the year-end show.
"I'm sorry for being late," he said. "Father duties."
The idols stopped bowing.
"It's no problem, senior," Nico smiled, appearing kinder than he was before. "We can wait all day for you."
Lee Sik chuckled, patting Nico's shoulder.
Then, he turned to the new face in the room. His expression held some kind of hostility for the newcomer. Nonetheless, June bowed and greeted him kindly.
"My name is June, sir," he said. "Thank you for welcoming me into your team."
"Hmm," Lee Sik merely hummed, causing the atmosphere to dampen.
It wasn't that hard to notice that Lee Sik wasn't too happy with the sudden changes, too.
"Should we get started with our last practice?" he asked.
They enthusiastically nodded and took their places on the elevated stage. Meanwhile, June didn't know where to go. He was just given the music sheet and the lines he was supposed to sing, so he had no clue about the other details.
"Umm, where is June supposed to go?" Mimi asked, feeling concerned.
Lee Sik sighed as he stood at the center.
"Why don't you sit down and listen to us first, young man?" he asked. "Then, you'll see how great our performance is."
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