Chapter 496: Bloody Addicting

?"In my heart....right here...right now," Ted muttered as he leaned his elbows against his knees.

He was currently in the bathroom, trying to pass stool that had been stuck in his colon for the past three days. He held his breath as he felt it pushing out. However, it quickly went back in when he realized that he was singing EVE's song.

"Shit," he cursed, feeling wronged.

"Why is that song stuck inside my head?" he exclaimed, frustrated in the office's restroom.

Meanwhile, Mari was coming up with newer, fresher lyrics for EVE's chosen title track. She had taken Minzy's suggestion more seriously, so she went ahead and wrote the lyrics right away.

However, she couldn't find the right words. She wanted to do her best for EVE since she was aiming for yet another successful comeback.

After a few seconds, some words appeared in her head.

She quickly jotted them down, liking how it sounded in her mind.

'Cause I'm tongue-tied...and I'm hypnotized,' she wrote.

Then, she halted, looking at the familiar words with narrowed eyes.

"This is...," she muttered, the tune suddenly resounding in her mind. She shook her head when she realized what she was currently writing.

"Gosh, I can't get their song out of my head."

Minzy went to the mall to get herself a new bag for her recent freedom from her dad. A song was playing through the mall's speakers, but she was humming another song under her breath—one that hadn't been released yet.

She halted when she realized it was, indeed, the song that EVE had presented to her mere moments ago.

Minzy shook her head to get rid of the song in her head.

"Why is it still playing in my head?" she muttered before going on her way.

"Cause I'm tongue-tied..."

"And I'm surprised..."

"Every single time you look into my eyes..."

"Yeah, you make me want to fly...."

[Music Production Skills +1. Congratulations on earning a fifty work points.]

[Current stat: S-]

"Will you guys stop singing the song?" June asked as they sang the unreleased track in the car.

At first, he felt proud because he wrote most of the lyrics of the chorus. Moreover, being able to upgrade it with his own hard work felt satisfying.

However, his members sang it even when they talked to the choreographers, had lunch outside their dorm, had collective bathroom breaks (don't ask them why), and now, as they were driving back to their dorm.

"I can't help that it's so addicting, though," Jaeyong muttered.

"Yeah, did we put a crack into that song or something?" Akira asked. "This is the first time in a while that I've been so fixated on a song."

"You guys did a really great job," Jay said, giving the guys a thumbs up as he parked their car in front of their dorms.

"We might not have reached our main objective, which is to have it as a title track, but I'm still glad we can promote it alongside the title track. I'll try to ask the higher-ups if we can make a special video about it once the comeback season comes," Jay said.

"You aren't that useless after all!" Akira joked, saying it as a way to show appreciation for their manager.

"Well, you better head up now. Tomorrow will officially start your untiring preparations for the comeback," Jay said, chuckling.

The boys were about to leave the car.

"Oh, and before I forget, June's drama is going to air its first episode tonight on YouWatch.?You guys might want to watch it," he smiled.

The other boys, except for June, perked up with the thought of seeing one of their members on the big screen.

"Can we not watch it?" June groaned.

"Why not?" Jisung asked. "I'm sure you did a great job on it!"

That wasn't the issue for June.

He hasn't seen any clips yet, and he has stayed away from the trailers despite people hyping it up.

He didn't think it was particularly an issue with his acting but more that he was embarrassed seeing himself play another character.

"Nobody's going to watch it tonight," he warned the other members, causing them to slump in disappointment.

"I know I won't be missing it!" Jay chimed.

With that, the members of EVE made their way back to their dorm.

They talked happily amongst themselves, still elated with the fact that their song had been chosen to be promoted. Moreover, they were also excited about June's drama.

As they got near their door, however, June felt that something was...off.

There wasn't anything significantly out of place, per se...except his shoes.

June was very particular with his items. It would be linked back to the time in Rising Stars when he remembered his items getting displaced because of that one loser on the show.

Moreover, he was the cleanest member in the entire dorm.

He wouldn't leave his shoes just lying around the floor.

As they walked inside, with the other members still laughing happily, June quickly made his way to his room.

He twisted the doorknob and sighed in relief when he found it was still locked.

However, his thoughts were cut off when he heard a shrill scream that seemed to have come from a little girl from the other side of the dorm.

June's fight or flight responses kicked in as he quickly made his way out to the sound of the scream.

There, he saw Casper, who was standing still in front of his door.

The other members started arriving, too, alarmed by the sound.

"Did that scream come from you?" Akira asked, pointing at Casper.

Casper merely stepped back, not responding to his question. That pretty much confirmed it, though.

"What happened?" Sehun asked.

Casper pointed to his room, so the oldest member took the courage to step inside.

However, he cursed loudly and quickly made his way outside when he saw the scene before him.

June frowned in confusion, wondering what could be there to have his teammates react as such.

"If Sehun and Casper are scared of it, then I'm most likely sure I would be too," Jisung said.

"Don't worry," Akira patted his back. "Nobody's expecting you to go in there."

They turned to their leader but quickly looked away since they knew he was probably even more of a scaredy-cat than Jisung.

So, naturally, they turned to June, one of their youngest members.

June didn't have to think twice.

He entered the room without any hesitation.

June's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the scene before him.

On the wall, in the middle of the room, there was a realistic black cat taped on. Alongside it was big, red letters just right below.

He went closer as his members peeked inside, gasping when they saw the situation in Casper's room.

June swiped his finger on the writing and frowned when it stained his hand.

Then, he brought it to his nose to give it a whiff before turning back to his teammates.

"It's blood," June deadpanned.