Chapter 83 - And The Winner Is...

“It’s on!” Heeang called out and went to turn on the television.

What Shun saw was Suu Jin, his darling prince, arms around… Lisa. Inhaling deeply, Shun went to sit on the couch and watched the scene. The pinkette nodded and smiled, looked over at the raven haired female and kissed her lips. He forced himself to swallow when the couple laughed and spoke about them being steady in their relationship.

“I still don’t know why Lisa is with him,” Heeang pouted, “He don’t deserve her.”

“Ah Ang, you like Lisa?” Mikey blinked at his friend wide eyed.

“I like her way more than Suu Jin.”

Shun sighed and shrugged, watching as the couple walked off to some sort of building. They continued to watch other people being interviewed. Today was their break and Shun was glad for it, but he was also confused that they were not invited to the award show. He knew Mix4U, the group his good friends were in, were invited to it.

“Ah Shun,” Prince Peter’s face popped up to cover the television. He blinked his blue eyes surprised, before smiling.

‘Prince Peter, long time no see.’

“Wish to see status?”

‘Mm,’ he nodded.

“Health 68%. Stress 60%. Singing ability 66%. Dancing ability 55%. Confidence 70%. Charisma 53%. Memory 48%. Fans accumulated fans 457,339/ 1,000,000. Wish to see overall status?”

‘Yes.’

“Star meter 62%. You are almost there, Prince Shun. Congratulations.”

‘Thank you, Prince Peter!’

The prince smiled and Shun heard the announcement at the award show.

“Nominations for breakout male group: Mix4U- Hold You, Symmony- Top It, Tomorrow- Burn It Up.”

They watched the clip of their music video along with the others. Shun was proud of his friends and of himself. They all worked really hard to get to where they were now. The announcement came and he stood up when it was revealed.

“Symmony- Top It!”

The female announcer smiled and looked around to not see the winning group. Another envelope was handed to her and she opened it.

Manager Bon was rushing up the yard and slammed opened the front door. Shutting it closed and locking it up, she quickly looked over to see the boys all staring at the television. They were not jumping for joy and they were as stiff as a board.

“Unfortunately, due to circumstances, Symmony is disqualified. As a result, the runner up will receive the award,” the female stated, “Mix4U. Please come to the stage to receive your award.”

Wen Dong didn’t move for a moment. None of them did.

‘What was this? Symmony was disqualified? What the hell for?!’ He forced himself to stand up and held Ping’s arm and smiled. He held the pinkette and whispered words to calm the young boy, before walking up stage along with his members.

Shun was happy for his friends… but…

“Shit,” Manager Bon went to turn off the television and stood before the boys, “Listen. Sit down, all of you.”

They did as she asked and she sighed with her arms crossed.

“I just got word. Team is being disbanded.”

“What?” Shun questioned softly.

“Task completed: hit top charts for 1 month. Points earned,” Prince Peter stated and Shun was in no mood to hear that soft voice.

‘Go away.’

“Ah Shun-”

‘GO AWAY!’

All Shun could think about was that he had failed. He failed Xiong Shun and he failed his friends. He failed everyone!

“I don’t understand!” Heeang stood up with tears streaks on his face, “How! Why?!”

“There was bribery during the Idol show,” Manager Bon sighed and looked over at the door to see a fuming Donny Wang appear.

“What the fuck!” The eldest male stomped over, “Now my name is being dragged too! Fuck! Did you know about this?”

The experienced idol accused Manager Bon who scowled at him.

“If I knew, then it would have been stopped already!” She rubbed her temple, “Everyone will return to their studios. The company will make a statement soon,” she saw tears in all their eyes and she felt her own welling up, “I am sorry.”

“God dammit! I knew it was a bad idea!” Donny Wang growled and slumped into his couch.

“Go live,” Manager Bon spoke softly with a shaky voice, “Let your fans know.”

So, they did.

All crying and thanking their fans. They hugged and pretended to be happy one last time. They played together, celebrated by making food together, sang their songs, and shared stories of their times together. All this time while being live. They ended with saying good night to their fans and asked that they continue to support them.

Online, news were already spreading across the web. Videos were made upset at the breakup of the group and some happy it happened. The forums and fan accounts were in a frenzy of sadness. How their idol felt was how they felt.

Broken.

When it was time for them all the depart the next morning, they hugged one another tightly. Separate cars they took, since each of them were in separate studios, they were alone. For Shun, he found it hard to keep his head up. He had failed and his friends were sad.

There was nothing he could do to ease their pain. Yes, he made sure to tell them to reach out to him and to not forget one another.

Yet, here, alone in the car, he covered his eyes and tried to breathe.

His phone rang and he picked it up without looking at the screen.

“Baby.”

He hiccupped and the tears he was holding back slipped down his eyes. Suu Jin, his beautiful voice only made him even more upset with himself.

“Come to my place. Let me hold you tonight.”

“You serenading me?” He laughed softly through the hiccups.

“Whatever you want,” Suu Jin said just as soft, “Ping Ping would be upset if I didn’t take care of you.”

He chuckled and let out a sigh, “Alright.”

He asked the driver to drop him off at Suu Jin’s place. The driver didn’t ask why, only nodded and took a different route. Being dropped off, he thanked the driver and wiped his eyes. Walking up to the door, he nodded at the bodyguards.

He didn’t even knock on the door when it opened to reveal the pinkette. Shun smiled and stepped in with his bag. The door closed and locked, then he was grabbing the pinkette tightly. Fear held him just as tight as the disappointment in his heart.

Suu Jin wrapped his arms around him and Shun cried harder.