Chapter 41: She Tea
June sighed in frustration as he popped a gummy in his mouth under his mask. He was on his second pack of BenBen gummies. He's been addicted to them since he bought it last week.
However, he didn't even grow an inch! Those little kids said it could make people grow in just a day.
What a scam.
Everything was shitty.
The gummies are shitty (although they taste really good).
Their singing was shitty.
Their dancing was shitty.
The entire performance was shitty!
And Eli's continuous goat-like singing is the shittiest of them all!
And to make things worse, these people don't even want to listen! If June could use violence like he did in the gang, he might be able to get them to follow. But this was an idol survival show, and June was sure he was going to get kicked out if violence of any kind was imposed.
"Will you guys listen for a second?" June asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Yet, his teammates remained stubborn. Hoon and Bin continued to polish the dance routine separately. Minx was busy learning his rap verses. C-Jay and Jangmoon were busy playing around, and Eli was still trying to sing June's part.
"Guys," June said, his voice getting louder this time. "We need to talk about what we could improve in our performance."
"Will you keep quiet?" Hoon snapped. "I'm trying to come up with new choreography here."
June bit his lip in frustration.
He looked at his teammates, and it appeared like they couldn't care less about their performance.
June wanted to rip his hair off but decided to walk out to calm himself down in the meantime. He sat down in the lounge area and leaned against the wall.
[Another side quest is open: The side quest is entitled: Lead the Way! Add aspect LEADERSHIP under the skills status window. Become more empathetic and lead the team to victory! Starting level: C. Do you want to accept the side quest?]
June looked at the new pop-up with wide eyes.
This is exactly what he needed!
Fu isn't as useless as he thought he would be.
'I accept,'
[Very well. Here is your mission: Comfort a person. Practice your leadership skills and comfort someone until they feel better. Deadline for the quest: 3 hours. Failure to fulfill the side quest leads to a regression of skill. Good luck!]
'Three hours?'
Before June could even think of where he would find a person to comfort, he suddenly heard a sniff coming from behind the wall. He frowned and peered over the source of the noise.
He saw Akira sitting on one of the seats, appearing to be down.
June smirked. It seemed like he didn't need to search far and wide after all.
June walked cautiously to RAVEN's Japanese member, sitting down next to him silently.
Akira lifted his head, unshed tears in his eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Are ya alright?" June asked, scratching the back of his head.
Now that he thinks about it, he's not very good at comforting other people after all.
The only person he had comforted in his life was his sister—and that's when her favorite groups were disbanding, which included RAVEN.
"What do you think?" Akira asked. "Our team is a mess."
"Tell me about it," June sighed, leaning against the chair.
Akira glared at him. "What do you know?" he asked. "You're not even taking this competition seriously with your bright-ass mask and nonchalant personality. However, it's different for me. This is my last chance to debut."
"Do all RAVEN members think like that?" June asked. "Why do you all assume that I'm not taking this seriously?"
Akira looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Look at your cat mask! Who the hell wears that for a competition?"
"I have my reasons," June explained. "And I have my reasons for joining the competition, too."
Mei Ling.
"The two of us may have different reasons as to why we want to stay here, and I'm sure it's difficult to take part in an idol survival show when you've already tasted what it's like to become an idol once. You must have gone through a lot to achieve your dreams, but it feels like you're going back to square one," June said, his mind lingering on thoughts about his sister.
"You did so much to protect the things you love, but it just seemed futile in the end—all the hard work, sacrifices, and kiss-assing you've done are all lost. But there's nothing we could do but face whatever's handed to us. Because in this way, we're protecting what we love, too. In your case—it's your dreams."
And in June's case, it's his sister.
Akira looked at him with an unreadable expression.
June cleared his throat and looked away. He hadn't spoken such a long statement since forever, so he felt awkward.
Akira felt like June was a completely different person right then and there. He had spoken to Jaeyong about June, and Jaeyong always told him that he's a typical guy who only wants to become an idol for shits and giggles.
But listening to him now, it seemed like June's actually a decent guy.
"I'm sorry," Akira muttered. "I'm just frustrated, I guess," he honestly said.
"Jaeyong and Evan are on the same team, but I'm stuck in a team that's bound to lose," he continued.
*In Japanese* "They're a bunch of idiots," Akira said in his mother tongue.
June chuckled. "They are," he responded in Japanese too.
Akira looked at him with wide eyes. "You know how to speak Japanese?"
June shrugged. He was well-versed in the language since he made a lot of negotiations with Japanese gangs, too. He's definitely not as good as Akira, though.
"You could say that," June said, still speaking in the foreign language.
"Oh my goodness! I've been looking for someone to speak my language with. So, are you of Japanese descent?"
"No," June shook his head. "Just happened to learn it."
"That's so cool," Akira said with bright eyes, visibly looking better.
[Congratulations, host! You have completed a side quest. You now have the aspect LEADERSHIP on your status window. Current grade: C]
June smiled under his mask.
"Let's go back to the practice room. I think it's time I knock some sense into their brains."
Akira nodded and also stood up. "I'll help you, my friend."
The two of them walked back to the training room, but June paused when he realized that Akira could help him with something else too.
"Hey," June said, holding onto his arm.
"Yes, brother?"
"Do you mind giving me your signature?"
[Mission Completed: Get a signature from a famous person/celebrity. Please pick an aspect to improve.]
'Dance.'
[Dance + 1. Current grade: C-]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SandKastle
SandKastle Do ya'll understand the chapter title? ;)
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Chapter 42: Big Thrills
June entered the training room and sighed when he saw they were still in the same state when he left them. However, there seemed to be something different.
June looked at them one by one and was able to see their frustrated looks. His hearing had also become more keen. He heard how Minx tried to rap C-Jay's part, and it didn't sound too bad. He also heard Eli's singing and how the verses sounded like a rap.
That flow…
It didn't sound bad.
C-Jay and Jangmoon were jokingly singing the song, but the blending of their voice sounded harmonious.
And with Bin and Hoon facing away from each other and doing the choreography simultaneously, there was some type of unity in how they moved.
"Hmm," June hummed, assessing the situation once more.
He might be able to do something about this.
June clapped his hands loudly, yet they still didn't pay attention to him. He sighed and went to the music player, turning it off.
His teammates finally looked toward his way.
"What the hell? We were practicing." Hoon cursed.
"It's time we have a little chat," June said, his voice firm. C-Jay, Jangmoon, and Eli looked at him with wide eyes.
There it was again.
He was using the voice that subdued the entire zero-stars' class into obedience. The three of them lined up instantly. Bin and Minx also noticed the urgency of the three members, so they stood next to them.
"Hoon," June calmly said. "Come here. Right now."
Hoon felt a shiver run down his spine. Is it just him, or did June become more authoritative?
"Geez, you don't have to be so pissy about it," he said, but nonetheless, lined up with his other teammates.
June stood before them, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "We're going in completely different directions, and we're definitely going to show a ruined stage if we continue like this."
Akira nodded in agreement.
"We need to change everything," June said. "Starting with the parts."
"Change everything?" C-Jay asked. "But our parts are already perfect enough! I was even able to blow the mentors away with my good rapping skills."
June remained serious. "That's not what the mentors said a while ago. They didn't even give us any feedback, so I'm taking this time to say this all to you."
"Bin and Hoon, you should work together more. Your choreographies are quite similar to each other, and bringing them together would make a more harmonious stage."
"Akira will retain his part and take the center role," he continued. "I believe he's the most talented out of all of us here."
Akira shyly smiled. "Thanks, brother."
"Minx, you're going to take the main rapper position."
"What?" C-Jay and Minx said at the same time.
"I–I'll be the main rapper?" Minx softly asked.
June nodded. "I heard you rap C-Jay's part a while ago. You sounded good. You have talent in rapping, kid."
C-Jay shook his head. "Brother, you know that I like you very much, but I'm not going to be a sub-rapper."
"You're not," June nonchalantly said. "You're going to take Eli's part and become a sub-vocalist."
"WHAT?"
This time, it was Eli who refused to do so.
"I'm a vocalist! What am I going to do then?"
"You'll rap," June chimed. "The way you sing sounds like you're rapping anyway, and you have a good sense of rhythm. You'll do a good job at it."
"I'll remain the main vocalist, and Jangmoon will also retain his part," June said.
"But—"
"No more exceptions," he firmly said. "We only have less than four days for our performance."
June played the music and pointed at C-Jay, not giving them any time to argue.
"Now, start the song."
Despite his reluctance, C-Jay started singing the first words. His teammates looked at him with surprise.
He actually has a decent voice?
Then why the hell has he been trying to rap all this time?
The song shifted to C-Jay's original rap part. Minx started without confidence, but as June nodded in approval, he became more composed.
There was no doubt that Minx was better than C-Jay, and the other members thought so too.
Akira's voice filled the pre-chorus, and as much as Hoon hated to admit it, their performance was coming together after June's changes. He still doesn't like June, though.
As the chorus approached and June's soft yet powerful voice echoed in the room, the members started feeling more confident with their stage.
By the end of it all, they even saw themselves nodding their heads to the beat and enjoying how they sounded together.
Bin and Hoon also tried conceptualizing some dance moves, and they were surprised when they suddenly moved in unison during the dance break.
"That was a good move," Bin said.
Hoon smiled confidently. "Of course, I came up with it."
Bin shook his head in amusement.
The song was nearing its end, yet they only made a few mistakes. As the last notes faded, Minx looked at the older trainees with bright eyes.
"That was…good," he shyly said.
"Hmm," June nodded. "Definitely better. We can combine the dances you've made, too. Don't make it too complicated since we don't have much time to learn it."
Bin nodded while Hoon kept quiet.
"There's one thing left to think about, though," Akira suddenly said. "I think we need to change our concept. The band idea isn't working well for all of us."
"I agree," June said.
Surprisingly, all of the members agreed too.
"Do you guys have any ideas?" June asked.
They all stayed silent. Truly, it was hard to think of a concept for a song named—"Mermaid Melodies."
*In Japanese.* "Ah, this is hard," Akira said.
"Hmm," June hummed, looking over the lyric sheet. "The lyrics are quite dark," he said in Japanese too.
His members looked at June with wide eyes.
June lifted his head when he felt their gazes on his face.
"What?" he asked.
"What the hell? You can speak Japanese?" C-Jay asked.
"Oh," June said, not even realizing that he did. "I guess so."
"You guess so? You're so cool, big brother!" Jangmoon gave him a thumbs up. "I learn new things about you every day."
"You sounded so cool!" Eli exclaimed. "It reminded me of those Japanese Yakuza dramas I watched back in the day."
June smirked. Well, of course, he had talked to a lot of Japanese Yakuza members when he was still in White Tiger.
"I was just about to say that," Akira said. "Your accent reminds me so much of those action dramas—one where Yakuzas roam the streets and fight with other gangs."
"Whispers echo through the night,
A deal is made, and stars align.
Underworld, a lethal dance,
She's bound by fate, entwined in chance," June whispered, reading the lyrics of the song.
Wait…
"What do you guys think of this concept?"
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
32 Power
stone 
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