"Nico, one of the members of BOYMYSTIC, is currently dating GIRLS' EVOLUTION Mimi!"

Akira burst out of his room with his phone in hand, his hair still messy and his cheeks stained with dried saliva. He walked to the dining table, where his members were already eating breakfast.

They all lifted their heads when they heard Akira approaching.

"So, that's the reason why you weren't leaving your room a while back?" Jaeyong asked.

"That doesn't matter," Akira exclaimed. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Nico's dating Mimi?" Jisung asked in disbelief. "Didn't she like June or something?"

They all turned to June, who was happily eating the pancakes that Casper had prepared.

"What?" June asked when he felt their stare. "I could care less about who's dating who. Although, I'm quite surprised that Nico managed to pull Mimi. He's been pining for so long."

"He has?" some of his members asked.

"He has," Zeth confirmed.

"How do you know about this?" Jisung asked in confusion. "Ah, right. You have that thing going on with Kiera."

Zeth pursed his lips before scratching the back of his head. "Umm, we broke it off."

"What?" his members asked.

June, too, turned to him in surprise. He thought that everything was going well between the two. They have also never been caught, even after seeing each other for more than four months already.

"Yeah," Zeth said. "It was getting harder and harder to hide the relationship with how our career is going, so she broke up with me."

Ren pursed his lips and patted his friend on the back.

"Welcome to the single club, my friend," he said. "It's quite enjoyable here."

"Yeah," Jisung chimed. "Let's all enjoy being single together."

"That's right," Akira nodded in agreement. "Cheers to the single community!"

"Cheers," the members said.

"Can we talk about this dating scandal, though?" Akira asked, pertaining to the news of Nico and Mimi dating each other.

"How is it even a scandal?" June asked. "It's just news."

Akira scratched his nape. "I guess you're right. I'm just used to idols revealed to be dating being called a scandal."

"It's honestly disheartening," Sehun said. "Nico and Mimi have been working in the industry for so long, so I hope people can just wish them happiness."

"Yeah," June said. "Especially Mimi. I hope she finds happiness in Nico."

Zeth shook his head in amusement. "Well, that's one way to look at it."

"Fortunately, the reaction isn't as bad as I had thought," Akira said.

- Nico and Mimi? Our Rising Stars couple!

- I knew it. Nico has been looking at Mimi with such love-struck eyes, even when they were rookies.

- That's disgusting, then. Why would a rookie lust over his senior?

- Lust? Nobody's talking about lust here.

- You're so weird. Idols are damn good-looking. Do you guys really think that they don't date each other?

- Honestly, idols shouldn't date. It will feel like they're cheating on their fans.

- Cheating? You're not in a relationship with them!

- No, Nico! I can't support you anymore.

- I'll support you, Nico! Be sure to be a great man to Mimi.

"Well, there are still some nasty comments here and there," Akira said. "But more than half of the comments are supportive. I think they're going to be okay."

"Yeah," Jaeyong nodded in agreement. "I think it's also attributed to the fact that the two had been in the industry for a long time. Moreover, GIRLS' EVOLUTION is no longer active while BOYMYSTIC's contract is going to expire by next month."

"Is that really a factor? Being in the industry for a long time?" June asked.

"Of course," Ren exclaimed. "It can't be denied that an idol's career also has a life expectancy. You have a peak, and you also have a plateau, where most of your real fans stay after all the things that have happened."

"Their careers are already at a plateau, which means that it's already stable," Ren continued. "Therefore, a dating scandal will only mildly affect their career."

"But what happens if an idol is found to be dating during their peak?" June asked, causing his members to turn to him with wide eyes.

"I can't believe you asked that question," Akira muttered.

"Don't even think about it," Zeth said. "As much as I liked Kiera, I also couldn't throw our reputation to the ground. I know it's not a sin to date, but for fans, it is."

"Zeth's right," Jaeyong said.

"Dating at your peak will only lead to one thing."

"Your downfall."

June shrugged, feeling like he wouldn't have any trouble with that since he wasn't interested in dating at all.

"Well, I'm going now," June said, standing from the dining table so he could brush his teeth and leave for the filming site once again.

It was currently their third round of filming, and they had now finished most of the introduction scenes. The main characters were already residing in the quarters provided for them within the filming site, which was where they would be staying until the shoot ended.

However, since June was just a side character and had to do a lot of idol work behind the scenes, the production crew decided that it would be best for him to come only when he was needed.

The only time he needed to stay at the filming site was when the battle or the climax was going to be filmed.

He got out of his room and placed his backpack on before heading to the dining table to say goodbye to his members.

When he got there, he saw all of them with pale faces, their eyes glued to their phones.

"Well, it looks like they're busy," June muttered.

With that, he left the dorm room without saying goodbye. Then, he went to the car so Jay could drive him to the filming site.

"I'll be back later," Jay said, waving goodbye to June.

June nodded and went to the filming site so he could get his hair, make-up, and wardrobe done.

Jay then heard endless notifications from his phone, so he checked it before driving off.

His eyes widened when he saw that it was Mr. Ong who had texted him. Then, his eyes widened even more when he read the contents of the text.

He quickly turned to where he left June but found that he had already gone inside.

Meanwhile, as June walked into the filming set, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being stared at and whispered about.

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. Did he forget anything? Was there something stuck to his face and his clothes?

Just then, he heard his phone ring, so he retrieved it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

He frowned when he saw that it was Minjun. The young man told him that he'd only call during important matters, so he stepped to the side to answer his call.

"Hi, little bro—"

"You're dating someone?!"