"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 100 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 taught.

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