Chapter 301

"It's too early!" Seven whined as they made their way to the venue. The other members trudged behind him, looking more well-rested than Seven.

"It's your fault," Ocho said. "Kun told you to sleep early but you insisted on playing games all night. You better not mess up the rehearsal later. New and senior groups alike are going to monitor our performance."

"I won't," Seven said. "You already know I never mess up our performances. I debuted with just three months of training under my belt. You trained for three years. I think you should use your advice for yourself."

Ocho clicked his tongue and was about to hit the back of Seven's head, but Uno cleared his throat, making the others stand in attention.

"Don't bicker. Let's head inside and get ready," he coldly said.

The group entered the venue with their manager and two guards and was immediately bombarded with attention.

A jolly man skipped over to where they were, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"OCTA! I've heard a lot about you."

"Mr. Park," Uno respectfully bowed. "Thank you for having us here."

"No," Mr. Park shook his head. "I should be the one thanking you for gracing us with your wonderful presence. Your CEO had told me to take care of you well."

Uno smiled. "We look forward to working with you."

"It's an honor," the jolly man said. "Well, EVE are still rehearsing, so I suggest you guys head to the lounge to rest first. RO5Y and MORPH3D are going to rehearse before you, so one of my staff members will personally fetch you when it's your turn."

"EVE?" Seven couldn't help but react. "They're already here?"

The others turned to the side and saw the rookie group that became their unspoken rival performing on stage.

They watched them perform with much struggle, and Ocho couldn't help but smirk before turning away.

"Should we go?" Ocho asked, not finding them worthy to be called their 'rival.'

"Yeah," Uno absent-mindedly said, his eyes not leaving the stage.

"But I want to watch more," Seven pouted.

"Just go," Dos insisted, pushing him inside.

Meanwhile, Uno continued looking at the stage, feeling a sense of rivalry fill his veins. Just then, his dark brown eyes met with the light brown ones of the pink-haired center on the stage.

It seemed like they were performing the bridge of the song, and their fatigue had caught up with them.

The most affected one was definitely June. As the main vocalist of the group, he was given the highest parts of the song during the bridge. However, it was right after an intense dance break.

So, as his high note neared, he couldn't control his breathing.

In the end, the full high note was sang in falsetto, causing Uno to smirk.

He then stopped watching their performance and made his way inside

"Where did you go?" Dos asked, patting his back. "You weren't behind us when I turned around."

"Nothing," Uno shrugged. "Just watched something that's not worth watching."

***

"Gosh, that was so hard," Akira groaned, plopping down on the couch. However, he quickly groaned when he felt the hard material.

"What is this couch made of? Ren's face? Why the hell is it so hard?" he dramatically exclaimed.

Ren clicked his tongue before sitting on a wooden chair.

"You guys had rehearsals like this before, though," Zeth pointed out. "Was this one more difficult?"

"Well, yeah," Akira said. "First of all...it's 2 AM. We're also preparing for our debut, and we didn't get any sleep!"

"Makes sense," Zeth said.

"Wait," Akira sat up, looking at Zeth. "Wait...I just realized. It looks like you haven't sweat at all!"

"I don't sweat," Zeth nonchalantly said.

"What?" Sehun asked, confused. "How can you not sweat? It's anatomically and physiologically impossible for someone not to sweat."

"I just don't," Zeth said.

"He doesn't," Ren said at the same time.

Akira looked at Zeth, a bit disgusted. "How can you have all these attributes? It's like you were born to be a star or something."

Zeth smiled, feeling elated with the compliment. "Thanks!"

Akira rolled his eyes and turned away from him.

Meanwhile, June sat at the furthest seat, resting his elbows against his knees and appearing to be deep in thought.

"Are you alright, bro?" Jisung asked, nudging his shoulder.

"Yeah," June softly said.

"Don't worry," Jisung said, sensing June's distress. "We're all fatigued at the moment. The microphones weren't as loud as I expected, too. It was hard to project our voices. I'm sure we'll do better during the actual performance."

June nodded. However, he still couldn't shake off his feelings.

His performance today disappointed him more than he expected. June knew it was just a rehearsal, but he felt like he still didn't deliver his best.

And when OCTA arrived at the field, it felt like they were being cast away by the crew...merely focusing on the new group from a big company.

Well, Azure was also known for debuting big idols.

GIRLS' EVOLUTION and BOYMYSTIC were the testament to that. However, there was definitely a barrier between K-pop groups who debuted from a company compared with a survival show.

First, longevity.

Most people didn't want to stan a group they knew wouldn't last anyway.

Second, biases.

People who watched the show would certainly have biases, and if their bias didn't make it, then those fans would turn into future haters of the group. EVE already felt that with the comments they've received on their concept photos.

Some people weren't happy with the composition of the line-up, and they weren't afraid to show their disdain.

Last but not the least, Azure wasn't known for their K-pop groups. Most of the famous talents from Azure were variety show comedians, hosts, and soloists. So, it was harder for their K-pop groups to break through the general public.

In the end, most of their fans came from the fans of Rising Star itself.

"Do you guys want to watch the other groups' rehearsals?" Jaeyong asked, standing from his seat.

"Sure," Akira chimed. "Who's performing right now?"

"RO5Y, I think? Their song is playing right now," Ren responded.

"Let's go then," Akira said, his smile reaching his eyes.

Jaeyong shook his head. "You're definitely going back here once RO5Y's setlist is finished."

Akira exaggeratedly gasped. "How did you know? Oh, wait. I might stay until LUNIX too."

Zeth chuckled as he shook his head. "Well, I'm staying here. I'm going to get some sleep since I wasn't able to last night."

"Me too," Jisung said with a yawn.

"If Jisung's staying here, then I'm staying too," Ren said.

"Alright, suit yourselves," Jaeyong said. "Are the others coming then?"

"Let's go," Sehun said.

June silently nodded, following after them.

The five members went out of the lounge room and to the spectators' seats.

As expected, the rookie girl group, RO5Y, were performing on stage. From June's view, he could clearly see their stats.

Their center, Rose, had the highest stats among them all. Her position was definitely well-deserved.

[Rose Lee

Vocals: B-

Dance: A-

Rap: C+

Visuals: A]

Their performance ended with Akira applauding the loudest. The girls looked over their way, one of their members blushing. June quickly covered his face since he felt embarrassed for Akira.

However, the Japanese idol continued waving at the rookie girl group, yelling compliments from a distance.

Thankfully, Jaeyong subdued him before Akira could embarrass himself further.

"Gosh, I hate being with you," Jaeyong groaned.

Amidst their bickering, a new group came to the stage.

Sehun, who had been laughing at Akira and Jaeyong, now turned serious when he saw who the next group was.

"OCTA," he whispered.

June, too, turned to the stage, his eyebrows furrowing as their center calmly commanded his members.

It seemed like they still hadn't noticed EVE's presence since they kept their gazes to the front.

June straightened his posture and paid more attention to their stage. Then, when the intense music started paired with very strong choreography, their stats popped up above their heads.

June leaned forward, trying to get a better glimpse of their stats—especially their center.

[Dos

Vocals: B+

Dance: A+

Rap: A-

Visuals: A]

[Seven

Vocals: B-

Dance: A-

Rap: C-

Visuals A-]

The members had very good stats, especially for a rookie group. June observed his teammates a while ago and inferred that their stats were mostly the same with the members of OCTA. It was quite frightening how alike the groups were in terms of their stats.

However, when June finally caught a glimpse of their center's stats, he almost fell out of his chair.

"S?"