Things were tough when June was a thug.
Things were just as tough when June was a trainee.
Therefore, we can conclude that June was meant to live a tough life.
And now that his life as a thug and as an idol was mixed together, things were even tougher.
There were two things on his plate right now:
1. Confront his past by finding a way to stop Lin Zhi's debut.
2. Lead their team in performing the signal song performance.
He wanted to take it easy on his second task, but why the heck was he voted as the leader and center when he didn't even apply for it?
"It's settled then," Sehun said. "June will be our leader and center."
The trainees clapped in joy as they stuck the stickers onto June's chest.
June sighed and nudged Sehun. "Why didn't you become the leader?"
"We want to take your lead," Sehun smiled.
"Yeah," Johnny chimed. "All of your performances have been legendary so far. I want to be a part of it too."
"I watched all of the episodes intently," Minx said. "And every time you suggested something, people were reluctant at first. However, in the end, they all regretted not listening to you earlier."
"It's like you have a face-slapping system within you!" the young teen exclaimed.
[That little gremlin did not just call me a face-slapping system.]
"But I learned my lesson through those episodes," Minx added. "I'll listen to you well."
"Me too," the others chimed, fully committed to making their performance better than the other team.
There wasn't a benefit this time around. This wasn't even categorized as a mission anymore. However, the team was more fired up than ever.
On the other hand, the people in the next team were having a hard time deciding their center since most of them wanted to take the position.
Ren, being their leader, sighed in frustration as they couldn't come to an agreement.
"I want to be the center for the last stage," Zeth said with conviction. "I have the most experience being the center out of everyone in the show."
"I want to try being the center this time, too," Casper said, not wanting to lose to Zeth. He believed this could be his chance to finally surpass his rival and take the number one rank in the finale.
"Umm, I want to be the center too," Jisung shyly said. "I have good memories of the signal song, and I think I'll be able to perform it well."
"Believe it or not, I haven't been the center throughout the show," Jaxon added, scratching the back of his neck. "So, I want to take this opportunity now."
Lin Zhi sighed as he felt greed fill his heart. His debut was already certain, but he couldn't help but want to show off one last time.
He smirked as he remembered June's annoyed face when he ruined his phone.
That guy definitely knew more than Lin Zhi had expected.
However, June was no match for the people Lin Zhi met when he was still a part of the White Tiger gang.
June was just a trainee.
And in the end, Lin Zhi knew he was in a more advantageous position.
So, unless June knew a more influential person than Laohu, then Lin Zhi's debut was already a hundred percent certain.
So, he cleared his throat and raised his hand, causing the others to look at him.
"I think I'm the best bet for the center here. Zeth, no offense, but you've already been the center way too many times. Same for Casper," he said in the most respectful tone he could muster. "I think it's best you give chances to others."
Casper and Zeth looked down at the ground, suddenly feeling ashamed.
"However, we also don't want someone who doesn't have any experience being the center to take this spot," Lin Zhi added, pertaining to Jaxon. "It's already the last stage, and we don't want to go in blindfolded."
Jaxon pursed his lips, not wanting to become the center anymore.
"And we also need someone who is confident enough to take the center position," Lin Zhi said, hitting Jisung's ego.
"So, in conclusion, we need someone confident, who had experience being the center, but not to the point where they've been the center numerous times," he said, all signs pointing toward himself.
In the end, the only person left in the criteria was him, and that was his plan all along.
"So, you want to be the center?" Ren asked.
"Yes," Lin Zhi said, a confident smile on his face.
"And I already have an idea of what to do with our stage."
"What do you have in mind?" Zeth asked, still feeling uneasy about how Lin Zhi seemed to have gaslit their team.
As much as they tried to deny it, Lin Zhi was damn charismatic.
Somehow, at that moment, Casper was reminded of June. However, Lin Zhi seemed like a copycat of June, one who was less genuine.
It was true that Lin Zhi adopted one of his member's personalities in the gang---that guy was damn cool despite being a loser.
"We just need to trace who the people are in that team," Lin Zhi started his 'speech.'
" There's one person in that team who had been dubbed as a person who comes up with great concepts—June," he said.
June's friends within the group were weirded out by how Lin Zhi was talking about him.
"I acknowledge that he comes up with great concepts," Lin Zhi said. "But by watching all his performances, we can already predict how they're going to perform."
"It's going to be emotional," he said, and the others couldn't help but think that Lin Zhi was actually right.
The dark concept...
The sexy concept...
The cute concept...
All of them had one thing in common---they were all emotional somehow.
The trainees didn't know whether June was a philosopher in his past life, but all his performances have been emotional so far.
"As far as I know, we have the benefit of choosing the order of performance," Lin Zhi said. "What if we pick to go first and perform something the other team is also likely to perform?"
"So, you're saying we should go the emotional route?" Ren asked, feeling a bit iffy about it.
June's friends could see that there was something hidden behind Lin Zhi's gaze---like he wanted to perform an emotional performance not because he wanted to, but because he wanted to beat June?
However, the other trainees thought it wasn't too bad of an idea. For the trainees, June's formula seemed to be a winning piece, and if they could perform a winning piece, the team was willing to do it.
Lin Zhi nodded, proud that he had come up with an idea.
"We'll perform an emotional performance before them."
'And beat them at their own game.'
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