The mentors monitored the results with hawk eyes.
"This is quite difficult," Woo-jin said. "Even though Kingz is full of talented and popular trainees, I feel like Abyss didn't lag behind."
"Of course," Jihyun said. "June's on that team."
Hyerin chuckled and nudged her shoulder. "You've already got a favorite, hmm?"
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for good idol vocalists. I see lots of potential in him."
"That mask, though," Hyerin added. "It really creates such a sense of mystery."
"It's going to be a landslide win in favor of Kingz," Gun chimed. "The trainees on Abyss aren't nearly as popular as Kingz."
The final results were shown, and Gun couldn't help but cheer.
"See? I was right," he proudly smiled.
Minho chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think I've ever seen you this enthusiastic before, Gun. Do you dislike Abyss that much?"
Gun shrugged. "It's not that I dislike them. I just don't prefer untalented trainees."
In the results room, team Kingz rejoiced, while Team Abyss felt quite disappointed. However, June's words backstage resonated with them.
Akira stood up and smiled at his team.
"It was a fun stage," he concluded. "I learned a lot from you, guys."
His little ment sent the zero-star trainees into an emotional frenzy.
"Don't speak like that, Akira," Jangmoon sniffed. "I'm an emotional person."
June sighed as he stood up. "You guys did a great job," he said.
In the end, it was just as he had expected.
It was too soon for Abyss to be able to beat a team like Kingz.
However, seeing how close the results were made him a bit surprised.
Jaeyong and Casper, too, couldn't show utmost happiness.
"The results...," Casper whispered.
"Are too close," Jaeyong concluded.
However, their other members were already celebrating their victory.
C-Jay suddenly felt emotional as he watched them cheer. "We can't lose to them!" he exclaimed. "This was such a good and fun stage! We need to rejoice too."
He held onto June's hands and looked at him with bright eyes.
"You've been such a great help, brother! You've never disappointed me," he said. "Come here."
June's eyes widened as C-Jay suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist, hoisting him up in the air. Although C-Jay was the shortest among them, there's no doubt that his body's the most toned.
He had very strong arms, and with June's current body, he felt as light as the cloud to C-Jay.
"Let me go!" June said, pathetically trying to escape his arms. However, his other teammates, with the exception of Hoon, flocked to him and started throwing him in the air like a newborn being played by his parents.
Fuck this.
"Yay!"
"Brother June!"
His other members continued treating him like a baby. Team Kingz found their team weird. Casper looked at June, still with his cat mask, and smiled.
Hmm, pretty cute.
"Put me down," June said in a serious voice, and it was only then that his teammates let him go.
"With this celebration, it felt like we had won," Jangmoon chuckled.
June sighed and straightened his clothes. "Let's just go. The last team still has to perform."
They went back to the trainee's watching area, and they were surprised to see some of the trainees applauding upon their arrival.
"Aww, shucks," C-Jay gushed. "Don't flatter us too much, guys."
"Shut up," Hoon said, focusing on the TV.
The last team to be performing is Zeth's Avengers team. Everybody saw this coming. They were the most popular group, with almost all of its members being in the top 10.
The trainees watched intently, focused on the large-scale performance that they had prepared.
Right from the very start, their aura was different.
June clicked his tongue.
Definitely unfair.
These guys can debut right now, and it wouldn't be much of a problem.
Lin Zhi was shown on screen, and his mood became bitter. This guy's doing a good job, too. He gets to live his dream while Jun Hao is probably rotting underground already.
The cheers were comparable to team Kingz's performance, and it was obvious that their team was going to win with landslide votes.
After their performance had finished, June quickly stood up from his seat since he felt mother nature calling.
"Where are you going?" Akira asked.
"To the bathroom," he said.
June went to the bathroom and did his thing. He then washed his hands and looked at himself in the mirror.
He didn't look too bad with this mask, but it reminded him too much of the BDSM kink.
He'd gladly pick his bright pink mask over this any day.
Moreover, the material was made of thick latex, so he was already sweating underneath.
June looked around the place to see if he was all alone. Once he confirmed that no one else was in sight, he decided to momentarily remove his mask to wipe away the sweat build-up on his face.
He even splashed his face with some cold water, sighing in relief as he felt invigorated.
Then, before placing his mask back on, he observed his face in the mirror.
He looked like shit.
The latex had imprinted on his skin, so there was now a red indent on his face in the shape of the mask. His complexion had improved, though, and the acne marks he once had were fading, courtesy of the cream and masks that Grandma had given him.
His nose seemed a bit taller, too, probably due to the one upgrade he had used for his visuals.
His scars and bruises were still intact, though, so he still needed to wear a mask for a couple more weeks. Maybe just in time for the next live performance.
As he placed his mask back on, he suddenly heard the sound of the door closing.
June frowned as he watched the door vibrate as if somebody had just slammed it close.
He quickly placed his mask on and peered outside to see if anybody entered while his face was exposed.
As he opened the door, he sighed in relief when he saw there wasn't anyone there.
That was close.
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