Chapter 213: Stuck

June walked inside Grandma's and Minjun's apartment, looking a bit dazed after the ice cream man's compliment.

His smile actually brightened someone's day?

June tried recreating the smile just now but failed despite numerous attempts. A while ago, the smile came naturally to him when he tasted the sweet ice cream. Right after it was over, he tasted the bitterness of life again—one that he couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried.

June was exaggerating, but you get the point.

"Oh, goodie," Grandma exclaimed when she saw June enter the door. "I'm glad you came here. I was about to eat dinner by myself."

"All by yourself?" June asked. "Is the little devil not here?"

Grandma shook her head in amusement. "You call Minjun a little devil, but I know you like the kid."

June shrugged. "Well, where is the cute little devil?"

"He's out and about," Grandma responded.

"Bummer," June said. "I was going to ask him for a favor, but I guess I'll post it myself."

A while ago, after June finished his ice cream, he quickly snapped a photo of the ice cream truck. June did it because he thought the little kid, Lila, would definitely be happier if his dad got more customers.

June didn't do it out of pity, of course. He genuinely thought that their ice cream was good.

It was affordable, too.

So, he wanted MinMin to make an exclusive post about the truck. However, since he was not here, June might as well post it on 'Hi_ImKittyJunexxR1s1ingSt4r5.' It has been a while since he used that account, and although he still got death threats on a daily basis, he had grown quite a following there, too.

"You can ask him when he gets back from his dad's," Grandma said. "It'll only be for a week anyway."

June nodded, then hummed in confusion. "Minjun's dad? But isn't he working abroad along with his mom?"

"He is," Grandma said, arranging the array of tasty dishes on the table. "But Minjun's dad goes back and forth between Korea and the States. You know that his parents had gotten a divorce, right?"

"Yes," June said.

"Well, a part of the reason is because of their work. They're both busy people. If Minjun's dad was in Korea, then his mom would be in another country, and vice versa. The two of them aren't bad people. Somehow, they just never worked out."

"Oh," June said. "So, Minjun is staying with his dad for a week?"

"Yes," she smiled. "Minjun and his dad have a pretty awkward relationship, but I can tell that Minjun gets excited whenever one of his parents comes home. He just doesn't like to show it."

June chuckled and shook his head. "He really doesn't."

Minjun was the same with June. As much as the little kid tried to hide it, June knew he was very fond of his presence.

"Well, more food for me then, I guess," June said, sitting on the chair and shoving the delicious food in his mouth.

Grandma laughed and patted June's back. "You have the same personality as Minjun, too. Did you know that?"

The two of them ate peacefully—like a real family. June never thought he'd get something like this from an old lady and a young kid, but here he was.

"I'm stuffed," June said. "You always make the greatest food, Grandma."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Grandma said. "By the way, are you going back to Azure tomorrow?"

June groaned. "I am," he said, finally remembering the song that his team still hadn't produced.

"Well, you better sleep early," she said. "Will you be having a break next week?"

"I don't think so," June said. "After next week, I believe it'll be the finale. We won't have any more breaks until then."

"That's a bummer," Grandma disappointedly sighed. "Well, I'm going to visit all my friends to tell them to vote for you. You better debut, young man."

June chuckled. "Thanks, Grandma. I'll pay you back plenty when I do."

Grandma smiled and patted June's head. "You'll make it. We'll see you in the finals."

"See you," June softly said, waving his hand and leaving their apartment.

He yawned as soon as he entered his room. This day had gone longer than he had expected.

June wanted to get started on the song tonight after acquiring his song production skills, but he was too tired to do so.

"Let's sleep," he muttered after brushing his teeth, plopping on the hard bed.

June closed his eyes and prepared to taste the sweet slumber.

However, just as he was about to capture sleep by its throat, an annoying tune echoed in his mind...

"La la la, Ice cream makes me scream! La la la, A sugary, sweet daydream."

***

In a spacious training room in the Azure building...

"Woah!" Jangmoon exclaimed as soon as he saw June. "Big bro, I thought we would try our best to look cute these days. Why do you look more rugged?"

"Did you even get any sleep?" Ren asked, although his under eyes weren't much different from June's.

"Damn," Daeho said. "Grab a pillow and take a nap."

"We can't afford to rest right now," Casper chimed, emerging from the door. "But woah! You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

June sighed and glared at all of them. "Did you all come up with something during the break?" June asked, changing the subject.

Casper sighed and leaned against the mirror. "I tried to," he said. "But I don't know if it's any good."

"I have an idea, too," Daeho said. "I don't know if it'll fit the Bubblegum Pop genre, though."

"Well, we need to hurry up," Jangmoon said. "I heard Lin Zhi's team already had a song idea even before the break."

"Umm, then, do you guys want to produce something individually?" Ren proposed. "This was something we did during production workshops. We'll come up with a short mix—mostly the 'hook' of the song, then critique each other's works afterward. We were given an hour at most, and it gave birth to quite a number of hit songs."

Jangmoon shrugged. "I'm down. I also watched a tutorial on how to produce music for dummies on YouWatch, so I got this one in the bag."

"Sure," Casper said. "I think that's a good idea."

"Then, let's borrow some laptops from the crew," Daeho said. Thankfully, the crew had prepared it beforehand since they knew the trainees were bound to finish their songs just in time for the interim evaluations tomorrow.

"Are you down for that, June?" Ren asked.

June silently nodded, grabbing the laptop from Ren's hand.

With that, the five of them settled on different corners of the room, each wearing headphones for optimal music production.

June opened the audio software and smirked when it felt familiar to his hands and mind.

Fu had done a great job. June actually knew the functions of each button now.

He just had to come up with a good tune—a strong base for their song.

The pointer hovered above the elements of the song. However, before he could even drag an element to the soundboard, the annoying tune that kept him awake all night echoed in his mind.

"La la la, Ice cream makes me scream! La la la, A sugary, sweet daydream."