Chapter 231: Sweet Victory

"Single file, please. Single file!" the bucktooth guard shouted as the fans left the venue one by one. To ensure the safety of everyone, the guards, led by the bucktooth guy, organized the crowd to exit in a single line.

However, one man seemed more hurried than others.

Doctor Kim looked down at his phone while biting his lips in anxiousness. His lips, which were filled with fillers, bled as he couldn't stop the nervous action.

He scrolled through his Navel feed and found countless people, even those who supported his channel, cursing him on his page.

When June's team performed, Doctor Kim was determined to get an exclusive scoop about the independent trainee's face. However, he was immediately captivated by their performance.

He only snapped out of his daze when he saw their childhood photos during the bridge of the song. For a second, Doctor Kim felt touched, and he thought that it was a genius idea to incorporate such elements into their performance.

However, he came to realize the implications of those pictures.

The childhood photo—it still looked like the current June.

Doctor Kim felt icy cold after the realization hit him, and now, he couldn't wait to go home and make an explanation video.

He can just blame it on the user who sent in the wrong photo. Granted, he had been exaggerating other people's procedures from the very start since he realized it garnered more views.

So, he cursed the bucktooth guard in his head when they was instructed to line up in an organized manner.

Doctor Kim clicked his tongue and pulled his hat down to cover more of his face. He couldn't risk getting seen right now.

"Alright, keep the distance. We don't want anyone passing out now," the bucktooth guard said, his lisp resounding in the studio.

The guard nodded in satisfaction as the fans listened to his instructions well. However, one person, a man wearing a very suspicious outfit, caught his attention. He was way too close to the girls before him, and it seemed like the group of girls were increasingly becoming uncomfortable.

"Hey, you," the bucktooth guard said, pointing his baton to the man.

Doctor Kim froze as the guard confronted him. He cursed under his breath and decided to move even closer to the group of girls, causing them to exclaim in horror.

The guard shouted as he pointed his baton to the guy's chest. "What the hell is your problem?"

Doctor Kim pursed his lips. "I need to go," he insisted.

However, the bucktooth guard was more insistent. He placed his baton under the strange man's cap, and in one swift motion, he removed it from his face, revealing the doctor's well-made face.

The people around them started noticing the commotion, and they quickly closed in on what was happening.

However, Jia paused when she recognized the strange man who was suspiciously close to her.

"Doctor Kim?" she said his name out loud.

That seemed to trigger the people left inside the venue, causing them to turn to the scene like wild meerkats.

The people who were most interested were the group of old ladies, though. Their leader looked at Doctor Kim with narrowed eyes, circling around him like a predator would do to their prey.

Doctor Kim started sweating out of his ass. He looked around for an exit, but he was surrounded by a wall of old ladies.

"Shit," he muttered with wide eyes as the furious old lady pointed at him.

"Attack!"

***

As the fans left the venue, the trainees gathered in the studio once more, waiting for the announcement of the victors of each performance.

The teams were lined up, with their leaders in front.

"Did you hear what happened? I heard there was a brawl a while ago."

"News has traveled that it's a pervert."

"Well, his nose got broken by a group of old ladies, I believe. Then his nose implant got dislodged so bad that they called an ambulance."

"Damn, old people are really scary as fuck. We better treat June well from now on. I don't want to lose my nose, too."

June kept his gaze at the front, still feeling elated from their performance. An hour had already passed, but his heart was still racing inside his chest.

He wasn't tired at all, yet when his mind played their performance over and over again, his heart couldn't help but race even faster.

Maybe he should really get that check-up.

Maybe he can even get a free check-up from that doctor who wanted to experiment on him.

June snapped out of his daze when he suddenly felt an arm around his shoulder. He glanced behind him and saw Ren smiling at him.

"Do you need anything?" June asked.

Ren shook his head. "Nothing," he smiled even wider. "I just wanted to thank you."

June shook off Ren's arm and turned to him with raised eyebrows. "What did I do?"

"A lot," Ren said. "I feel like I'll be happy even if I lose to you. Wait, no, I'll be sad if another person from our team wins."

June nonchalantly shrugged. "Every one of us deserves to win, honestly."

"But you deserve it the most," Ren smiled.

Just then, Minho arrived in the room with cue cards in his hands. The trainees turned silent as he stood center-stage.

"Good afternoon, trainees! Just like that, the Production Mission is now over. It hasn't been easy for all teams, so I just want to say I'm very proud of you."

'Awws' filled the room along with small teases due to Minho's emotional statement.

Minho chuckled as he shook his head. "Well, I am here to break some special news for you. It's time for me to reveal the top team of the mission."

Murmurs of hope filled the room, all teams wanting their names to be called.

In the group of twenty-five trainees, two trainees were having a silent battle.

June and Lin Zhi focused their gazes on the front, but in their minds, they were both talking bad about the other.

'I need to win,' Lin Zhi said. 'No, I have to win.'

June glanced at Lin Zhi but quickly looked away. That guy wasn't even worth it. His performance was lackluster, and if he didn't take off his shirt, June was sure that he wouldn't even stand a chance against Steel, who performed the best in their team.

At the start, he wanted to win to show Lin Zhi that showing off wouldn't automatically mean taking the victory.

However, as June looked at his teammate's faces, his mindset changed.

He wanted to win this one—not to prove that bastard Lin Zhi wrong, but to taste sweet victory with the teammates he had worked hard with.

"Garnering more than 70% of the votes, the team who won the entire Production Mission is..."

The trainees held their breaths.

Minho silently shook his head as he read the name on the cue card. It was still pretty awkward to say, but he didn't have any choice.

"Team Adorbz!"