Chapter 50: The Second Episode (1)
"Would you guys make it faster?" Jia urged as she sat down on the couch. "We're late since you decided to study at the library."
Soo-min chuckled as she sat beside Jia. "Who knew you'd be the most enthusiastic fan out of all of us? It's our final exams next week! Of course, we need to study. We'll be going to college soon."
"Tell me about it," Na-ri said. "Jia's been stocking up on some stars so she could vote for June after this episode."
"Shut up. You guys are doing it too."
"Not as much as you," Wei said. "How much have you spent on those stars already?"
"Well, June needs more stars than your famous trainees. Even if you don't vote for them, they'll still probably end up in the top 20. Just let me be!" Jia defended.
Her three friends shook their heads and chuckled in amusement.
They tuned in to the live stream being aired on YouWatch, so there were comments popping up on the side from here and there.
- Ahhh! I'm excited. I can't wait for Zeth's audition. It's going to be nuts!
- They're definitely saving the talented trainees for the last portion, aren't they?
- They're going to show the signal song performance process today, right?
- Yeah, I saw it in the teaser. I wonder what happened in the zero-star class?
The show finally started and continued from last week's audition.
Wei, Na-ri, and Soo-min squealed as the famous trainees' auditions were shown. Indeed, they were a different breed.
- So fucking good!
- These guys are geniuses.
- Totally deserves the five stars.
After the auditions, the signal song reevaluation process was finally shown. It started with the smooth-sailing process of the five-stars and four-stars.
"It's June!" Jia exclaimed when she saw the pink mask pop on the screen.
"Well, he's very hard to miss," Wei chuckled.
"I feel like he's the only trainee I can recognize from a mile away," Na-ri joked.
Jia frowned when the music came on, yet June still hadn't danced. Azure's signature dramatic music played, creating a dramatic and tension-filled scene.
- Is he stupid or something?
- Is this guy in three stars? What a joke!
"Of course, he doesn't know!" Jia exclaimed. "It's not like Gun had already taught their class."
"Calm down," Wei laughed. "It's fucking funny. Look at the other trainees. They look like little worms being sprinkled with salt."
"But this Gun guy is taking it too far!" Jia said. "The other trainees were taught the dance before they were asked to demonstrate."
"That's how mentor Gun is," Wei said. "He's been that way since the first season. It's a fact that he doesn't like unpopular and untalented trainees."
"June's talented, though," Jia muttered.
She saw quite a lot of hate comments for June, saying he didn't deserve his star level, so Jia quickly opened a YouWatch account and named it "MyKittyJune."
- MyKittyJune: June is very talented! I went to the first live showcase, and this editing doesn't do his skills any justice!
- ^This is me when I lie. June can't dance for shit.
- MyKittyJune: I did go. Just wait and see.
- Woah, June stans are scary.
- June is good! I watched their first performance live too.
Jia sighed in relief when the dance training portion was finally over. Jihyun walked inside the three-stars' room to ask the trainees to sing. They sang in unison, and Jia's ears perked up as soon as the first note was sung.
"That's June's voice!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, his voice is really good. I still remember it from the showcase," Na-ri said.
"His techniques are comparable to Ren's," Wei commented.
The people watching online were also impressed by June's vocal prowess.
- Oh, he isn't too bad.
- Yeah, I thought the Little Meow Meow song was a fluke.
- Kekekeke, even better than some of the five-star trainees.
Jia smiled in satisfaction as she read the comments praising June. She focused her attention on him and smiled as he was asked to demonstrate again.
She could never get tired of hearing his voice.
It sounded very unique. June had the technique of a seasoned vocalist, yet his vocal color was very trendy. However, she grew worried when mentor Jihyun made him demonstrate the song over and over again.
Even when their vocal training was already done, he helped Jisung and some other trainees in tweaking their vocal choices.
"Aww, June's growing on me," Soo-min said. "He's teaching my baby Jisung."
"He seems like a pretty decent guy, hmm?" Wei said.
The next few scenes passed quickly, and it was time for their reevaluation stage.
Jia was nervous about June's dancing. She acknowledges that her bias isn't the best at dancing, and there's only so much he could improve in a matter of days. And since the final signal song performances had been aired, Jia knew that June would be regressed to zero-stars.
It must be because of his dance, right?
The reevaluations continued on, and like ill fate, June went after a bunch of five-star trainees performed.
"Please do well," Jia whispered.
"We already know he's in zero-stars, Jia," Wei said. "You better close your eyes and ears for this one."
Jia wanted to, but couldn't take her attention away from the screen.
Why is June so cute?
Even with the mask on, he looks hella cute!
"Ah, so handsome," Jia couldn't help but exclaim.
Her friends looked at her weirdly.
"You've gone insane," Soo-min said. "You can't even see his face!"
"I don't care," Jia said, her gaze focused on the screen.
The song started playing, and Jia held her breath as June danced.
However, she was surprised to see June doing quite well.
"Yo, he's not bad, though," Wei said.
"He improved a lot," Na-ri said. "And it's just within 2 days. What a scary trainee."
Jia couldn't hear her friends' conversation anymore since she was too focused on June.
However, when he opened his mouth, it felt like a cold bucket of water was poured all over her body.
Why did he lose his voice now out of all days?
- Woah HAHAHA. He lost his voice?
- Unlucky guy.
- What a shame. His dancing improved, though.
- So, that's why he ended up in zero-stars. Such harsh mentors.
- Lmao! He lost the one thing he was good at.
It seems like being a June stan is not an easy feat.