Chapter 629: The 31st Trainee

"Thank you so much for doing this, June!" Yena exclaimed as soon as they were done.

Due to June's upgraded acting skills, they could finish filming in only one take.

"No problem," June said.

'It's not like I have a choice.'

Fortunately, he was going to join the show as a host and a judge this time and not as a participant.

He would much rather castrate both his big toes, place them in a grinder, pour them into a rusty cup, and drink the concoction sober and with mouth sores than participate in Rising Stars again.

That was how stressful it was.

"Well, these are the confirmed applicants," Yena said. "We will be filming on Friday, and it will be aired two weeks later. We'll be having weekly filming schedules from there on out. However, we won't bother you too much if you have a prior schedule. We know that you also have a lot on your plate."

"Thanks for being considerate," June said through his teeth. If they knew he had a lot on his plate, then they should have called somebody else!

"May I ask who the new judges are, by the way?" June asked.

Yena and Yejin smiled at each other. "Well, you'll be happy to hear that some judges stayed."

"Ji-Hyun will still be the vocal mentor, and Gun will be the dance mentor."

"Hmm," June hummed, somehow comforted that he was going to work with familiar people.

"Do they know that I have been chosen as the special host?" June asked.

Yena excitedly shook her head.

"I guess they'll find out once the commercials are out."

June smirked. He wondered how they were going to react.

Spoiler: They're going to react ballistically. Those two love June to a great extent now.

"Bone will also retain as the rap mentor," Yejin continued. "But there are two new people added to the roster."

"Amira will be the other dance mentor."

June tilted his head to the side in confusion.

Amira? Who was that again?

"And Lee Sik will be the other vocal mentor."

June's eyebrows raised in surprise. He didn't expect to meet his master in a new show. He felt that the trainees would be really lucky to be able to be taught by him right away.

"I see," June said. "That's a great line-up."

Yejin nodded in agreement. "And with your addition, we have the perfect line-up."

June chuckled in amusement.

"We'll see you on Friday then," Yena said, bringing out something from her bag.

"This is the list of the confirmed trainees and their short descriptions. We have made sure to recruit a variety of trainees, so I think this season's going to be fun."

"More fun than ours?" June teased.

Yejin and Yena shook their heads.

"Never as fun as your season," Yena confirmed.

With that, June made his way back to the dorms, finally having the chance to relax for the entire day.

As he arrived, his members all huddled toward him.

"You're going to become the special host of Rising Stars?" Jisung exclaimed.

June nodded. "Jay told you?"

They all nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah," June sighed. "Another project added to the huge line of projects."

"That's so cool, though!" Jaeyong exclaimed.

"Last year, we were the ones competing on the show, and now you're going to be the one hosting it."

"It makes me feel emotional," he said, feeling tears brimming in his eyes. "Our first year anniversary came too fast."

Ren clicked his tongue. "There goes our emotional leader. When is the first episode going to air? I can't wait to see how this season goes," he said.

"Two weeks from now," June responded. "We're going to film on Friday."

"Sweet," Ren said. "I guess I'll have another show to watch."

"Me too," Akira said with a wide smile. "I can't wait to see all the pretty ladies! All the legal ones, though. I wouldn't even look at the minors."

June rolled his eyes and placed the food he bought for his members on the table.

"Here," he said.

They flocked to the treats like starved dogs. However, in the process, Akira caught a glimpse of the paper that June was holding in his hand.

'RISING STARS SEASON 5 TRAINEES.'

Akira's eyes widened, and he quickly snatched the paper away from June's grasp.

"What is this?" Akira excitedly chimed. "The trainee profiles?"

June sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Give it back. I haven't even read it yet," he said.

"Then, let me do the honors," Akira said, already flipping through the pages.

"Oh, what's this? Jeemin? What a pretty lady! She's my age, too," Akira happily said before flipping through the next page.

"Jini? So cute! Ooh, she's a rapper? She doesn't look like it."

June sighed and started chasing Akira around the room, but the latter continued flipping through the profiles, hastily skipping through some pages.

"Nope, that's a child," Akira said, quickly flipping to the next page.

Then, when he saw the next one, he quickly stopped, looking at the photo with wide eyes.

"What?" June asked.

"So...pretty...," he muttered. "She looks like someone I know."

"Ooh! She's your age, June," he exclaimed, still staring at the photo.

"Let's look at her name."

"May?"

Akira snapped out of his fantasy as June snatched the paper from his hands, flipping it back to the first page.

"Stop exploiting the girls," he said.

"How is that exploiting?" Akira muttered. "I'm just appreciating them."

"Yeah," Jisung said. "We both know you wouldn't be able to approach them anyway."

Akira clicked his tongue. "I know the shy boy isn't talking."

Jisung pursed his lips and turned away with red cheeks.

"Aren't you going to eat with us?" Zeth asked.

June shook his head.

"It's fine. I bought that for you. I'm way too tired after the filming," June said.

"Rest well, June," Casper said in a serious tone.

June nodded and went to his room, got dressed, and plopped onto his bed.

He closed his eyes for a moment but felt something by his side. He opened his eyes once more and saw the stack of paper that Akira was messing with.

His curiosity got the best of him, so he quickly grabbed the paper and flipped to the first page.

"Jeemin," June read. He didn't pay much attention to their looks since he didn't want to judge them on the surface level.

"Her special talent is acrobatics," he muttered, finding it interesting.

He continued to flip through more pages but found himself getting sleepy on the 30th trainee.

"Goodness," he muttered. "I underestimated how many a hundred trainees really are."

He flipped through the next page but found his vision getting blurry.

"One more," he muttered.

However, his eyes were fully closed before he could even see the next person.

"May," he muttered, letting go of the paper and causing it to fall to the ground, the pages flipping and covering the 31st trainee.