Chapter 35: First Episode
"Don't mess up," Minjun said. "You need to be famous. You're going to end up as a street thug if this doesn't work out."
If this kid only knew.
June rolled his eyes. "Yes, big brother."
Minjun smiled. "That's good, kid. You should do well since you've been fed good meals by my grandma."
"Don't listen to Minjun," Grandma said. "You should take care of yourself well while you're in the competition. At least I wouldn't worry about your meals since they must be feeding you there."
June nodded. "Thanks," he muttered. He doesn't express his gratitude often, but Grandma has done a lot for him since he gave her a cup of coffee.
"We'll continue to watch you on our TV," she smiled.
With that, June left the apartment building, putting a black face mask on. He fixed the duffel bag on his shoulder and walked to the train station to go to the Azure building.
Today was the airing of the first episode of Rising Stars, and after this, their missions would be given out as well. Honestly, June wasn't excited to watch himself on the big screen. He could already imagine his audition and attempt at dancing.
He glanced at his watch and saw he arrived later than their call time. Well, he still did not have a manager who could transport him, and the train arrived longer than usual.
June was given a schoolboy outfit at the main door and instructed to wear it. He went to the dressing room and quickly changed before heading to the amphitheater. He also placed his signature pink mask, newly-washed courtesy to Grandma.
As he arrived, he was greeted with the sight of the 99 boys he would live with for the next few months. He tried to find a seat as discreetly as possible, but it was practically impossible, with C-Jay and Jangmoon screaming his name.
"Brother June! Brother! Here, here! We saved a spot for you," C-Jay screamed, getting the attention of the other trainees.
June pursed his lips together.
"Our big brother is here!" Jangmoon boasted. "He's the one who led our team to victory! Who would have thought the zero-stars would win against all the other levels?"
The other zero-star trainees exclaimed in agreement, obviously elated with the results they had achieved last week. June wandered his eyes around until he saw Jisung. He saw a vacant seat next to him and sighed in relief.
June ignored the zero-star trainees and walked over to Jisung. Jisung looked at him with wide and bright eyes.
"You're not sitting with them?" he asked.
"Too noisy," June said, focusing his gaze on the front.
Just then, the intro of the signal song started playing, startling some of the trainees.
"Ah, that scared me!" Zeth exclaimed. Ren laughed by his side while the other trainees who wanted to suck up to the five-stars reacted the same way.
Just then, the door opened, causing the trainees to look around. They gasped in surprise when they saw the popular idol Mimi from the first season of Rising Stars! She was part of the group Girls' Evolution but became a solo artist when their contract expired two years later.
"Oh my! It's Mimi," Jisung gasped. "She's so pretty."
"Mimi!" the other trainees exclaimed.
Mimi smiled and walked down the stairs. She stopped for a second when she arrived at third row. June made eye contact with her, and a small smile appeared on her lips. However, June was too focused on getting the itch on his back that he didn't even notice.
She went to the front and smiled at the trainees. The guys were immediately mesmerized by her beauty. At the end of the day, they were still boys. June glanced at her and quickly looked away.
Too young.
She really looks young.
"Good day, dear trainees! You have made it past the initial phase of Rising Stars, and we are now on the first episode! We shall watch the episode together, and the initial rankings will be revealed in the end."
The trainees murmured to themselves. Jisung fiddled with his fingers and leaned closer to June.
"I'm nervous, brother. I want to rank high."
"You will," June said.
It was obvious. Jisung came from a big company. He looked pretty and handsome at the same time, and he wasn't talentless.
June's guessing he will get into the top 15, at least.
The first episode started, and the trainees tuned in, hoping for a decent amount of screen time. The first trainees who entered already felt boastful that they could open the show. The extravagant stage was shown on screen, and the trainees exclaimed in awe even when they'd already seen it before.
Then, the mentors were mentioned, eliciting some cheers from the crowd.
Jisung was the first trainee to be shown. The trainees exclaimed when they saw his face on the big screen.
Ah, as expected. Handsome trainees are different.
His stage was amplified by the effects and the editing, and by the end of it, everyone thought his level was well-deserved.
The auditions continued, and everybody knew the show was already guaranteed to be a hit.
Ye-jin and Yena monitored the reactions online and couldn't be happier. Both hate and praise were being thrown around on social media platforms.
And if that's not a sign of success, then Yena doesn't know what is.
After the lukewarm performances, it was time for the segment of "funny and untalented" trainees. Mike was the first to be shown, and the trainees burst into laughter at his attempt to dance. It only continued after that. The stages of the zero-star trainees were shown, and the room was filled with laughter with every performance.
Even Mimi was laughing in her seat.
However, when C-Jay was shown on screen, the room had turned silent. This was the time when the mentors gave the trainees some scolding.
June knew what was coming next.
Somehow, he wished his performance would be shown on the next episode—just so the other trainees couldn't watch it live. However, his hope was shattered when the screen showed him entering the stage.
Some of the trainees cheered, the zero-stars being the loudest, as he introduced himself.
"Umm, trainee June?" Bone said. "This mask. Is it a concept?"
June nodded. "Yes," he said. "I like cats."
June sighed when the trainees laughed once again.
"You're hilarious, brother!" Eli exclaimed from the back.
Mimi even turned around to look at him. Since she saw their signal song performance on TV, she had grown more curious about June. How could someone wear a mask during an idol survival show? And to think he actually has a good voice.
Mimi definitely thinks June is one trainee to look out for.
June's audition started, and the initial laughter turned into awe.
'He really sings well,' Mimi thought.
Ren sighed. "I think he sings better than me," he whispered to Zeth.
"Eyy, I thought you were confident in your skills, hmm?" Zeth teased. "But he does sing quite well. Even in their signal song performance, his voice stood out."
Jaeyong and the RAVEN members watched him intently too. Jaeyong still didn't feel like June was taking Rising Stars seriously and didn't want to get close to people who thought this competition was just for fun.
However, he does recognize that June could sing well.
June kept silent as he watched his performance. He sounded quite good and wanted to give himself a pat on the back. However, he knew what was about to come next.
The Little Meow Meow song played, and he started moving to the beat. The trainees burst into laughter once again, tears in their eyes as they watched June's pathetic attempt at dancing.
"Ah, you're so cute, brother," Jisung giggled by his side.
June sighed and clenched his fists from the cringiness he was feeling. How could the editors add meowing sounds and hearts floating through the screen during this performance?
"So cute!" Jangmoon whispered, smitten. "How come I didn't notice that our big brother is so cute until now?"
"You know you're older than him by one year, right?" Mike retorted by his side.
"A more talented brother is a big brother."
By the end of his audition, the room was practically in shambles. The real-time rating of the show soared to an all-time high, too, and the comments on the live stream were phenomenal.
- This kid! Does he think this competition is a joke or something?
- I really like his voice! And his dancing was so cute, too.
- I'm becoming more curious about this guy.
- He can't dance for shit, kekeke. But his voice is the main vocal material.
- Ugly. He's definitely ugly. No one could have a voice like that and be handsome.
- I'm becoming a fan <3. I'm so sad I didn't give him stars during the preliminaries.
The trainees quickly stopped laughing when they saw that the rankings were finally going to be announced. They focused their attention on the screen, hearts pounding in nervousness.
100. Eli
Eli felt his breath get stuck in the back of his throat when he appeared to be last. He tried to smile, but he was obviously devastated by the results.
After that, more trainees from the zero-stars were on the list.
June frowned when it was already in the 50th rank, yet his name still wasn't shown. He was expecting to rank around that place since he still doesn't have a lot of individual fans.
37. Minx
36. Hoon
35. June
His eyebrows raised in surprise when he saw himself at the 35th spot.
That was higher than expected.
"Congrats, brother," Jisung sincerely said.
"Thanks," June muttered.
On the other hand, Hoon couldn't help but fume at the results. 36th? After he became the center of the three stars? And how could that faceless trainee from the zero-stars rank higher than him? This might be some kind of joke!
Starting from the 30th, the rankings was filled with handsome or already-known trainees.
14. Jinsol
13. Steel
12. Jisung
11. Bin
June knew it. If Jisung stands out even more in the future, there's a guarantee he's going to debut.
"Congrats," June said.
"Ah, thank you, brother! I never expected my rank to be this high!"
After that, the top 10 trainees were shown. These were the trainees that had the highest chances of debuting.
10. Lin Zhi
Lin Zhi proudly smiled when the people around him started congratulating him. June, on the other hand, felt like this situation was laughable. He couldn't believe the guy who contributed to killing him made it to the top 10!
9. Alex
8. Jaxon
7. Hyunwoo
6. Leo
5. Yuri
4. Ren
3. Jaeyong
2. Casper
1. Zeth
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Chapter 36: Avengers
The 100 boys changed into their black shirts after the airing of the first episode. They weren't divided by their star levels anymore, and now, they were going to form another team for their very first performance with a live audience.
June wandered his eyes around the familiar room that he always saw on TV.
In front of the trainees was a wide wall with multiple covered cue cards on them.
The song mission cards.
June was familiar with them. Some songs were definitely more popular than others. There will be some unexpected songs among the bunch, and it would either be criticized for being a "bad" performance or become iconic since a group of well-known and talented trainees performed it.
"Line up according to your ranks!" Yena instructed, and the trainees with lower ranks were devastated.
Hoon clicked his tongue as he stood beside June. He hated the fact that his rank was lower than his!
Kang Minho entered the room, and the trainees burst into applause.
"He's still so handsome whenever I see him."
"I wonder what it's like to live with such a face."
"I think I need to be reborn if I want to live a life like his."
"Good evening, trainees," Minho said.
"Good evening, mentor."
"How was the first episode?" he asked.
Different reactions were heard across the room.
"That's nice. With the airing of the first episode, your dreams of becoming a worldwide idol are finally within your reach!" Minho enthusiastically said.
"However, you will have to complete a series of challenges before you reach the top. Today, the first mission will commence. It is entitled—Artist Battle!"
"Artist Battle?" June whispered.
The other trainees were also unfamiliar with the concept. The first mission was always a song battle! Girl seasons were given girl group songs, while boy seasons were given boy group songs.
What the hell was an artist battle?
"Settle down, trainees. I'll explain it to you."
The cloth was let down, and numerous artists were shown. For one artist, two cue cards with different colors were on the wall.
LUMINOUS
GIRLS' EVOLUTION
THUNDER
CRXSS
ROMANTIX
CHAOS
In total, 12 cue cards with 6 different groups were shown.
"Chaos? That's a guaranteed win!"
"Why is there a girl group here?"
"Damn, I don't want Romantix's song. They're unpopular."
Different opinions were heard in the room. Some songs were more wanted than others, and it seemed like GIRLS' EVOLUTION was the least popular among the male trainees.
"You shall battle with two different songs from the same artist! So, you must choose your teams and songs wisely because the winner between the two teams will get 50,000 stars each! And get this, the highest ranked trainee will get an additional 50,000 stars."
"A total of 100,000 stars? That's unfair! They're basically debuting," some complained.
"I'm definitely going to win this," some exclaimed, confident that they were going to take the points.
"And the team with the highest score out of all will get another 50,000 stars!"
"But before we get to the song reveals, you shall form your teams first. I think you already know who the first person to pick will be!"
Everybody glanced at Zeth. Zeth smiled, his charisma unhidden despite the simple shirt he was wearing.
"Zeth, can you please come here," Minho said.
"You shall pick your teammates first. Four teams will have nine members, while the other eight will have eight. The chosen picker would have the power to decide the number of his teammates too. Zeth, are you ready to pick your team?"
"Yup," Zeth said, his happy-go-lucky personality coming through. He scanned the room with his eyes, and some of the trainees swelled with hope, wanting to be picked by the number one trainee.
It was almost a guaranteed win if they were picked by Zeth. Each season, there was an "Avengers" team, and it usually had the person who was voted first on the pilot episode.
On the other hand, June didn't want to be a part of the Avengers team. With his current skills, he definitely would fall behind and look like a fish out of water.
"You may start with picking your teammates," Minho said.
Zeth already knew whom he would pick. He already had a team and song in mind, so it wasn't too difficult for him.
"Ren," he said with a smile.
"You again?" Ren teasingly said, but he was happy to be a part of a good team.
"Yuri."
Yuri smirked. It was already shaping up to be such a good team. With Ren's and Yuri's top-notch vocals, a good performance was guaranteed to be shown.
"Jaxon."
A good dancer with a sexy charisma.
"Steel."
A well-rounded trainee with choreography skills.
"Alex."
Out of all the trainees called, he's definitely the least talented one. But he has a unique voice that could add something special to the team.
"Lin Zhi."
"Leo."
"Jisung. He's the last member of our team."
Jisung gasped loudly, and he bowed his head in gratefulness. It seemed like he really wanted to be with the Avengers.
"Ah, this is unfair! They've already won."
"We have to avoid them at all costs."
"The next trainee to pick will be chosen through a lucky draw," Minho said.
The trainees exclaimed excitedly. The zero-stars still had some hope that they could pick some good teammates.
Minho rummaged through a ball of names and quickly picked one out. June wanted to be called because he wanted to pick his teammates.
"Jaeyong."
June shook his head. Truly, this was a lucky draw. The third placer still ended up having the privilege of choosing a team!
"That's hella unfair," a trainee whispered.
"He's going to take all the other talented trainees."
Jaeyong went to the front. This might potentially become another set of Avengers—maybe like the Justice League.
June definitely wasn't expecting to be picked. This guy still hates his guts for whatever reason.
"Evan."
As expected, Jaeyong picked a member from RAVEN.
"Casper."
June frowned. It was surprising. Casper and Jaeyong both have rapper positions, and their styles are quite similar too. Jaeyong will have a hard time securing the top spot with Casper in his team.
"Hyunwoo."
"Daeho."
"Zachary."
"Jinsol."
"Youngmin."
"This is really unfair. Jaeyong took all the good trainees!"
"What the hell? There are two teams I'd like to avoid already."
Minho looked at the newly formed team and nodded in approval.
"It's time to form the third team," he said, rummaging through the balls.
June wanted to get picked this time around. Based on the past seasons, the third team wasn't the most "stand-out" group, but their performance would also become well-loved since a number of talented trainees were also included in them.
"C-Jay."
Or not.
June definitely doesn't want to get picked now.
The zero-star trainees cheered, while others avoided his eyes.
C-Jay excitedly went to the front and scanned the room, his eyes shining with a mischievous smirk.
"Of course, I have to pick my boy Jangmoon!" he excitedly exclaimed.
Jangmoon practically bolted to the front, fist-bumping with C-Jay as he went beside him.
"And Eli, too! Don't be so down even when you're the only one with a three-digit rank, brother."
Minho chuckled while some trainees laughed.
The three zero-star trainees appeared excited on the platform.
Doomed.
June knew that their team was already doomed! How could three-zero star trainees be in the third group when there were still a lot of options to choose from?
"Akira."
RAVEN's Japanese member tried to smile when he was called, but it was obvious that he dreaded being part of the team.
"I always wanted a little brother, so Minx," he called the youngest trainee.
Minx couldn't hide his disappointment, but he still stood next to Akira.
"Bin."
C-Jay's picks are actually getting better, but June still wanted to avoid the team.
"Hoon."
Oh, he definitely wants to avoid this team.
Hoon cursed under his breath before going to the front.
"And last but definitely not the least..."
Everybody held their breaths while waiting for the last trainee to be called.
June looked down at the ground and prayed he wouldn't get picked. However, as he lifted his head, his eyes were met with C-Jay's enthusiastic smile.
"June."
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SandKastle
SandKastle
Thank you everyone for the overwhelming support! Love ya'll
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