Six.
There were six days left until the finale—the event everybody was waiting for.
June also had six days to accomplish his, quite possibly, last mission in Rising Stars—to stop Lin Zhi from debuting at all costs.
However, as he stood one line behind him, he realized how tough of a situation he was currently in.
"Hey, are you alright?" Sehun asked, nudging his shoulder. Sehun, ranking eleventh during the midway results, was naturally next to June. He had a concerned look on his face like he was the one who dropped in ranks rather than June.
"Peachy," June said.
"I don't deserve to stand next to you," Sehun sighed.
June frowned as he looked at Sehun. "What do you mean?"
"You don't deserve to be here. You're supposed to stand over there," he said, pointing to the first line, where the top five currently were.
June pursed his lips. He'll get there…he hoped.
Their conversation halted when all the mentors came on stage. The trainees cheered as they stood in a line.
It was a rare occurrence to see all the mentors during normal days like this.
And it just emphasized the fact that they were truly near the finale.
Jihyun looked around the room until her eyes landed on June. She frowned because he was too far from her view right now. June should have stood at the front. She was already planning to buy more stars for him when she got home later.
"Trainees," Minho greeted. "Such a small number you are right now."
"And you're only going to get smaller," Gun said, looking proud of the group of boys.
"There's six more days until the eight of you will venture into another world."
"But before that, we'll have to stick to our traditions," Jihyun said. "We will still have to prepare for your final stages."
The trainees listened intently. A lot of them already expected to prepare for another stage.
Again, during the past seasons, they were usually divided into three separate teams for their last stage—the final signal song performance.
"This season, you will be divided into two teams," Hyerin announced. "And each team will arrange the signal song to their liking. It could be sexy, sweet, emotional…anything you like!"
"The stage will only be revealed during the final stages. This means there won't be an interim evaluation this time. So, surprise us during the finale, dear trainees," Bone said.
"Do you have any questions?" Minho asked.
C-Jay bravely raised his hand. "Are the teams going to be randomly picked like the last seasons?"
"Right," Minho said. "We almost forgot about that. The teams have already been decided. In fact, you're already standing with your teams."
June looked around.
They were standing in four rows, with five people in each row.
June pursed his lips. So, it was going to be like this?
"Rising Stars values ranks very much, and from the very beginning, everything has something to do with your ranks. So, we won't be wasting any more time by dividing you into groups. Instead, you'll perform with the trainees in your rank bracket," Minho announced. "The top ten will be performing as one team, and the others will form another team."
June silently scoffed. Others?
Great, he was being referred to as merely 'others' right now.
He looked at his teammates and saw the dejected looks on their faces. Aside from C-Jay, Bin, and Sehun, he had never performed with these people. And it looked like they were already losing hope.
On the other hand, the people in the top ten cheered—like they had already won the entire show.
The happiest, without a doubt, was Lin Zhi.
June shook his head as he gazed at the side of his face.
Lin Zhi. Lin Zhi. Lin Zhi.
'How am I going to stop you from debuting?'
After the midway results were shown yesterday, June couldn't help but think there was something wrong with all of this.
He knew that Rising Stars took extra precautions to ensure that the results of the voting would be fair—especially with what happened last year.
They even hired a third-party voter this time around, but then again, that doesn't guarantee that everything going on behind the scenes was going to be fair and square.
June couldn't stand still.
So, as soon as the gathering was over, he started following Lin Zhi. The trainee seemed to be in a hurry, so June already had a suspicion that something was going on.
June trailed behind Lin Zhi, careful so he wouldn't be caught. Lin Zhi was talking to someone on the phone, and although June couldn't hear their conversation, he knew that it was something urgent.
Lin Zhi had now gone outside using the backdoor, and June was about to follow him when the bucktooth guard suddenly spotted him.
"Hey, you," the guard said, pointing at June. "You're a trainee from Rising Stars, right?"
June pursed his lips. Out of all times, why did he have to run to the bucktooth guard right now?
"No," June tried to lie, but he was wearing their official shirt, so it wasn't very convincing.
The guard clicked his tongue. "Go back to the dorms. The trainees aren't allowed to leave the building for the time being."
June sighed. "I'm going to come back after a few," he said, tapping his foot on the ground.
"And I'm telling you that it's not possible," the guard stubbornly said, sticking his chin up high.
June sighed deeply and was about to make a run for it when a loud sound was suddenly heard in the comfort room.
"Help! Help! I've collapsed. Please help!" a familiar scream was heard.
The bucktooth guard's eyes widened in surprise. And being the righteous person he was, he decided to help the person in need.
The guard narrowed his eyes at June. "Go back now, alright?" he said in a threatening manner. However, he was as threatening as a hamster with food stuffed in his cheeks.
As the guard ran in the direction of the comfort room, June smirked.
"Thanks, Mr. Klin," he muttered before going through the back door.
He opened the door gently, trying not to make a sound just in case Lin Zhi was there.
And indeed, he was there. Lin Zhi stood in the corner of the buildinf, just parallel to the door.
However, he wasn't alone.
Lin Zhi was with a man June had never seen before—or at least that was what he thought.
June wasn't able to make out what the man actually looked like because he was in the midst of leaving.
However, June didn't miss the mark on the man's lower posterior arm.
A white tiger tattoo.
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