"Dang, you're earning a lot of money, but the first place you brought me to was an abandoned building?" Jenny asked, looking around the place with furrowed eyebrows.
June shook his head, passing her an ice cream bar.
"And wow, an ice cream bar," she sarcastically said. "I'm dirt poor, and I can afford this."
"Do you want it or not?" June asked, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.
Jenny clicked her tongue and opened the cold packet before biting on the ice cream.
"Why'd you call me here for? Don't you have a performance later in the evening?" she asked.
"I do," June said, looking at his user interface.
[Mission: Find out why Haruki hates you.]
[Deadline: 23 hours]
June escaped from his members to meet Jenny for a few minutes. At first, he didn't see the reason for their reunion. However, in this life, it seemed like everything happened for a reason.
"Tell me everything you know," June said, getting straight to the point.
Jenny, currently having a brain freeze, looked at him with confusion.
"About what?" she asked. "About my near-death experience?"
"Near-death what?" June frowned. "Not that. What you told me about yesterday—our last phone call."
Jenny stopped mid-bite, and she slowly brought down the ice cream, her face turning serious.
She paused for a moment, recalling the phone call that had happened years before.
"It was after you left Phoenix," she started off, setting the tone.
"You had the most difficult times when you were a trainee."
"Despite the lack of opportunities in the company, you always maintained a brave face. You didn't call often. I was the one who initiated the calls since my parents would get mad whenever they found out you called," she continued.
"Every time I called, you always told me some frustrating story of you getting bullied by your fellow trainees. I would always get mad and ask you to leave that damn forsaken place. However, afterward, you would follow it up with how your friends made it bearable and how you couldn't give up your dream."
"In the end, all I needed to do was listen to your rants."
"However," she said, her eyes becoming blank.
"One day, you were the one who called."
A ringing sound resonated in June's ears, and faint memories started flashing right before his eyes. It made his head hurt, but he braved the pain and continued listening to Jenny's sorry.
"At that point, I already thought it was strange."
"You never called," she blankly said.
"At first, I thought it was a mistake. All I heard was static and the sound of heavy rain."
The images vividly appeared in front of June, and it felt like he was transported back to that certain time.
It was familiar. He had seen this dream before—when he saw a staggering figure on a dark, rainy rooftop. June wanted to run to him, but the soles of his shoes seemed to be glued onto the ground.
"Then, I heard your voice. I instantly knew that something was wrong."
"What did I say?" June asked, feeling rushed.
