The girls once again burst into squeals as June walked to the front of the stage. He looked ridiculously dashing with his casual clothes and unstyled hair, making them feel like they were closer to the idol.

Mei clicked her tongue. Then, she whispered something to the girl next to her—Ara, a trainee from Harmony who fell from three stars to zero stars after her nerves got the best of her.

"We just saw him earlier," she said.

Ara clicked her tongue and also whispered into her ear, "It's different! The lights are making him look ethereal!"

Mei shook her head since she still didn't understand what the hype around June was. For her, he just looked...average—like someone she would see on a daily basis.

June cleared his throat into the microphone, causing the girls to turn silent. He smiled to himself as he looked at their anticipating eyes.

Then, he stood at the center of the brightly lit stage, ready to announce the second mission of the fifth season.

"Ladies," June began, his soft yet deep voice projecting effortlessly through the hall.

"Your journey has already begun, and yet, there's still a long way to go."

A murmur rippled through the crowd as the girls exchanged nervous glances. They knew what was coming next.

"We're about to enter the live missions," June continued. "And with that comes the eliminations."

He paused for a while to create ssuspense. He had called Minho yesterday to ask for stips, and the successful actor told him to relay the announcements as slowly as possible to keep the tension of the show.

June knew that he was deliberately making it tough for the trainees!

After a few seconds, June finally spoke.

"After this mission...only 60 of you will remain!"

Gasps and whispers erupted amongst the girls, the reality of the competition sinking in.

"That's so unfair! Why are they cutting us off by almost half?"

"As far as I remember, they always went with the rules of 25. 100 to 75 to 50 and so on! Why are they suddenly changing the rules for us?"

"Well, in the end, only five are going to debut from a hundred trainees. They want to narrow down the numbers as soon as possible."

"However, before we get to the scary part," June said, halting their murmurs. "We're going to have sfun."

The trainees, although still nervous, were also excited for the next mission.

"Before I announce the mission, we need to create our teams. For this particular mission, we will have ten teams—all with ten members each."

"One person would have the chance to choose all of her teammates, and I'm sure you already know who's going to start us off for today," June said.

"The center!" the girls immediately exclaimed.

"That's right," June smirked. "Heemin, please cto the stage and call out your nine teammates."

Heemin, acting bashful, walked to the stage and shyly took June's microphone.

Heemin was quite confident in herself. In fact, she thought that she was an extremely pretty woman. However, looking at June from up close, she realized that she still had room for improvement. His skin was so flawless, and it even glimmered under the artificial lights!

"Heemin," June said, making her snap out of her thoughts.

"Right," she chuckled nervously.

"I'll start off my team with Riana," she said. The talented vocalist went up the stage with a wide smile, happy to be called first.

"Then, the next one would be Lia."

"My fifth member is Zuri."

She began to choose her teammates, and one by one, they walked to the stage.

The other girls were hoping for Heemin to choose them. However, it seemed like she was only choosing trainees who did well during the auditions.

Mei narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Isn't it strange, though?" she asked Ara, who was praying to be chosen. She felt like being chosen for Heemin's team was a sure win!

"What is? That I haven't been picked yet? If so, then I agree."

"No," Mei shook his head. "I don't think she's going to pick you."

Ara frowned as she turned to her friend.

"Why not?" she asked.

Mei gestured to the stage, where Heemin's group of ten was standing in an orderly line.

"Look at the girls she had picked," she continued.

Ara raised one eyebrow. "What's wrong with them? They all did well during the auditions and reevaluations."

"They did," Mei said. "There's no denying that. However, none of them are from five stars. They're mostly from three or four stars."

"If you look at it more closely, all of them are fairly popular, and they're also talented. However, not as popular or talented as Heemin," Mei continued.

Ara's eyes widened in realization.

"Holy crap. You're right!"

Meanwhile, June couldn't help but smile as he looked at their line-up. With one glance, he realized what Heemin was trying to do.

She must have watched a lot of survival shows to be able to master the formula—excel in your group, excel in the show.

Heemin must have been aware of her popularity already despite her audition not even being aired yet, and she was willing to use it to her advantage.

She deliberately picked out the trainees who were proficient and fairly popular, but not to the point where they could outshine her.

"What a scary one," June muttered.

"Thank you, Heemin," he said. "Please walk over to the side and form the first line."

The ten trainees went down and waited for the other ones to complete their teams.

"The next-ranked trainee," June continued. "Please cup the stage."

Mina, who was even more popular with the trainees for her skills and leadership, had everyone praying for her to pick them. They all wanted to perform with her once since she seemed great at leading a team!

Even Mei couldn't help but think that teaming up with Mina would be the best choice.

"Well, it seems like a lot of people want to be on your team," June remarked.

Mina humbly shook her head.

"Let's not make them wait any longer, so go ahead and choose your teammates."

Mina nodded and didn't hesitate to say the first name.

"Ara," she said.

Ara smiled in happiness as she skipped to the stage.

"Soomi."

"Lizzy."

"Yeri."

By the seventh name, June also realized what kind of strategy Mina was implementing. While Heemin went with the singular spotlight route, then Mina was aiming for a full-blown satellite.

She was only calling out the names of the trainees who were hot topics on Navel!

"Yuna."

Which would only mean one thing.

June froze when he realized what was coming next.

Mina placed the mic over her lips to say the nof her last teammate.

"...and Mei."