Chapter 360: Talent Monsters

"Bastard," Uno muttered with a smile as June was shown bowing on the screen.

EVE had just finished their performance, and it showcased their contrasting charm. Oasis showed off a fresh and fun concept while Red Moon revealed a sexy and dangerous one.

"Uno's smiling at EVE's performance," Seven loudly exclaimed, causing his members to turn to him with raised eyebrows.

Uno quickly dropped his smile and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Stop talking nonsense," he snapped.

"Yeah," Dos said, nudging Seven's shoulder. "Stop messing with Uno."

"I'm not, though," Seven pouted. "I'm telling the truth! I even saw Uno talking with June during our last music show performance. It should've been me!"

Uno's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure. His other members remained skeptical before shaking their heads.

"Uno? Speaking with June?" Ocho deadpanned. "You're delusional."

Seven clicked his tongue and tilted his head to the side.

"Was it just my imagination?" he whispered.

Meanwhile, EVE cheered as they went down the stage.

"That was so good!" Jisung exclaimed, feeling the most excited after pulling off a 'sexy' concept. It definitely wasn't at the level of other groups, but for the little chick who has been called cute and innocent his entire life, getting to act cool and sexy felt very euphoric.

"You did a great job," Ren said, ruffling his hair.

"I can't believe it's over," Akira said. "We practiced so hard for it."

"Wouldn't this be the last time we'll be performing this song?" Sehun asked in a sad tone.

"Well, it'll be the last one for the year," June joked, causing his members to turn to him in surprise.

"Did you just crack a joke?" Zeth asked.

June cleared his throat before shaking his head. "I was just telling the truth."

Zeth sighed in relief. "I was worried for a while there. You're really not funny."

June clicked his tongue and opened the door to their waiting room.

"It's quite disappointing we weren't invited to go to any award shows this year," Jisung said as he sat on the couch.

"It's only expected," Casper answered. "We debuted late November. Other artists had an entire year to build their records."

"You're right," Jisung said. "OCTA hasn't gone to any award shows too."

"We still have a chance next year," Jaeyong said. "For now, let's enjoy the New Year with everybody else."

June tuned out their conversation and scrolled through the comments on the cover he posted last night.

Contrary to what he thought, it actually received more praises than hate. However, there was still an underlying sassiness in most of the comments.

- This impostor has a pretty nice voice. Almost sounds like June too.

- I listened to this thinking it was June <3. It felt nice.

- I felt shivers down my spine, impostor. Good job.

- Your voice brought me to sleep. Post more covers in the future! Maybe we'll actually like you if you do that.

- Sounds like a rookie singer.

- Too much vibrato!

- It was weak in some parts, but your voice is pretty nice. If you weren't June's impostor, I feel like I'd like you more.

June ignored the sassy comments and focused on the valid criticisms.

"Lessen the vibrato..."

"Weak in some parts," he muttered under his breath.

***

The 18th performers of the night took the stage. It was none other than than the girl group who took the world by storm during the last year—FRESHIES.

Their retro pop sound became a hit to many, and they were the youngest girl group to break multiple records in the K-pop world. So, despite only debuting for one and a half year, they became one of the enders of the year-end show.

To be fair, girl groups had been killing it for the past two years. It was definitely their era, and it was just EVE's luck that they debuted during it.

June was still busy scrolling through his phone when he heard the MC introduce the next group.

"Undoubtedly, they are the most awaited performers of the night. The most popular boy group of the year—CHAOS!"

The stadium erupted into cheers, causing June's eyebrows to furrow. It was definitely the loudest cheers of the night. Even in their waiting room, the cheers were so evident.

Come to think of it, June saw plenty of blue lightsticks during their performance.

Blue was the official color of CHAOS—as per Jay, which meant that the stadium was dominated by their fans.

June watched the television intently as the five members of CHAOS took their positions.

Out of all of them he only recognized Xion. However, he also knew they were all probably familiar to Jun Hao.

The lights shone down upon them, casting a glow on their handsome faces.

The song started with Xion's singing, causing June to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

He already knew Xion was a great singer, but June was still taken aback by his voice. It seemed like it was better suited for pop songs rather than ballads, fully showcasing his SS vocal skills.

The second guy also sang, and he didn't lag behind Xion. June couldn't see his status window through the screen, but if he could guess, then this guy would also be in the S-tier.

With the third guy's rap verse, June was even more amazed. Whoever this guy was, his rapping must also be in the S-tier.

Their fourth member appeared to be the main dancer of the team, appearing even more graceful than Jisung.

The dancers in EVE also watched him intently, feeling a sense of inferiority as they watched his controlled movements.

"Gideon's really good," Zeth said. "We were together in dance camp once, and he teared us all up."

The fact that this Gideon guy actually beat Zeth when they were younger was insane, especially when Zeth was already known as a monster during his trainee days.

Right, monsters.

That's what they were.

CHAOS must be a bunch of talented monsters.

Their last member, who June hasn't gauged yet, was hidden in the dark even as the chorus approached; so, June grew more curious about this mysterious member. Even with his shadow, June could already feel an unspeakable force emanating from him.

June leaned closer to the television, resting his elbows against his lap while waiting for the reveal of the last member.

"June?" a crew member suddenly opened the door, interrupting the moment. "It's time for you to prepare for the last performance."

June turned back to the television, but the camera was already focused on another member.

"Ah, yeah," June said, standing and following the crew member.

"Good luck, June!" Sehun exclaimed.

"You're going to kill it, bro," Jisung said.

"Slam their faces on the floor," Akira aggressively cheered, causing June to shake his head.

"We'll be watching well," Ren smiled, and June softly smiled back.

This was it.

June realized how great of a support his members were on stage. Even if he was nervous for some stages, his confidence triumphed since he knew he was performing with reliable people.

Now, he was performing with people he barely knew, making him feel more nervous.

However, he tried to show to his teammates that he was somewhat confident.

"I'll be back, guys."