437 Where It All Started
"Right there," Arin muttered, still embarrassed for taking up June's help.
She was about to leave the car when June suddenly held onto her wrist. Arin's eyes widened, and she felt her heart's pace quicken. "What is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, quickly retracting her hand away.
"You can't go out here," June said. "There are people around. We'll go inside the carpark." Arin pursed her lips, feeling a bit disappointed. "Ah, right. I almost forgot—you're an idol," she muttered. Jay drove to the underground parking lot and surveyed the area before opening the door. "You can go now," June said. Arin rolled her eyes and muttered a small "thanks" before leaving the car. Jay shook his head, chuckling as the two of them drove away from the apartment complex. "I still don't know why she's acting like that," June said. "I still believe she's attracted to you," Jay responded in a sing-song voice. ***
The two finally arrived at the dorm, where they saw the members of EVE having a small snack. "Our star is back!" Jisung exclaimed, and the others turned to June with wide smiles. June smiled softly as he gazed at the seven boys on the table. He didn't know how it happened, but at one point, he started looking forward to seeing them. June didn't have a lot of friends growing up—or possibly, he didn't have any friends at all. However, with these people he worked with, he finally realized what it was like to have friends. And although they were an annoying bunch, June felt endeared to his members.
"We saved you some chicken," Akira chimed, causing June to sigh in disappointment. "When is this fried chicken phase going to end?" he complained. Nonetheless, he still sat down with them to eat. Casper was next to June, munching on a chicken breast while observing everything around him. Casper wasn't much of a talker, but he was an observer...and at that moment, he observed something interesting. Casper glanced at June and saw what seemed to be a red stain on the polo shirt he bought for him. 21:56
Casper squinted his eyes to take a better look at the stain, wondering if it was blood.
Casper glanced at June and saw what seemed to be a red stain on the polo shirt he bought for him. Casper squinted his eyes to take a better look at the stain, wondering if it was blood.
However, upon closer inspection, he saw that it was lipstick! Casper's eyes widened, and he slowly placed down the chicken breast on the table. "Casper, what's wrong?" Akira asked, noticing the weird guy's even weirder behavior. Casper shook his head and stood from the table, throwing June a glare before leaving the table. The others were surprised. Casper practically praised the ground June walked on! How could he just glare at him? "Did you guys do something to him?" June asked. Akira shook his head. "Nah, just let him be." ***
June woke up early in the morning to learn the choreography that his members had prepared. Zeth had filmed it on his tablet so June could go over it in his free time. June mimicked their movements, finding it surprisingly easy to learn the choreography. He could still remember when it took him days to memorize a choreography. Now, he could learn a certain dance by practicing only a few times. "You're awake already?" Jaeyong grumbled as he went out of his room, rubbing his eyes awake. "Yeah, have been for a while now," June said. "I was practicing the dance you guys did. It's really good, by the way." Jaeyong proudly smiled. "Of course it is," he boasted, causing June to shake his head. "Well, let me wake the other boys up so we can go to the practice room," Jaeyong said, leaving for the other guys' rooms. After a while, they finally made their way to the practice room so they could polish their performance as a whole team. Ren played the instrumental of the song while June listened intently. He sat on the couch, his gaze on the ground, and he wanted to applaud Ren for doing such a good job on their song. The last version of the song sounded a bit empty, but with Ren's magic touches, he added string instruments and more percussion, elevating the overall quality of the song. "How is it?" Ren asked, a bit nervous to hear June's opinion. "It's great," June smiled, giving him two thumbs-up. Ren sighed in relief, sprawling on the couch. "I was worried for a moment." "Why would you be? You've always been a great producer," June smiled. Ren smiled down at the ground, feeling elated by his teammate's compliment. "June," Jaeyong said, interrupting their conversation. "Hmm?" June asked, looking up at their leader. "We left your part blank," he said. "We finished writing the lyrics of the song, and the others helped with their parts, too. But we felt like you're the only one who can write the bridge." "Yeah, I got it," June said. "Do you want to watch our performance first?" Zeth asked. "We were coming up with a storyline yesterday but couldn't think of one." "Let's see," June said, straightening his posture as his members assembled in their formation. The music started once again, with Zeth starting the song. Similar to their 'Prime' performance, this performance was also rap-heavy. It seemed like a lot of people really enjoyed June's rapping, so he decided to rap for this performance, too. Moreover, he wanted to save his vocal skills for their very last performance. The performance started, and June quickly became captivated. The lyrics were well-written, and it resonated well with what an idol truly was—not on the surface level, but what it actually felt like to always be under the spotlight. The performance itself probably didn't need a concept. Just them performing the song would be enough. However, they were competing against a group that had a five million lead, which meant they had to take it to another level. June continued to watch their performance, his eyebrows furrowing as ideas came to his mind. Then, when it ended, it finally hit him. June stood and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I feel like this song symbolizes growth," June started off. "We start with the perspective of a trainee desiring to become an idol." Jaeyong nodded. "That was the aim that we had. We also didn't know how to finish it off, so we decided to leave the bridge to you." June smiled. "That's a genius idea! From being trainees to participating in Rising Stars and now in King of Kings, we have undoubtedly grown." "So, in order to show this growth, I feel like we should go back to our roots..." "To where it all started."
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