"Second row, No. 8, Erika Ikuta."

At that time, all Ikuta could think about was other things.

In the reading order of the third column, the second column, and the first column, what I care about more than my own Ikuta is the name of another person.

The one who will tolerate her little willfulness, will accompany her to be crazy and stupid together, and will scold her with a straight face when she is too noisy, "This is not okay, Ikuta-chan. Shh-keep quiet." Then she will be disappointed.

His shoulders slumped, "Yes——"

"'Yes' doesn't need to be elongated!"

"..."

It's Zhongyuan Japanese bud fragrance.

Not long ago, Ikuta and Zhongyuan went out to play together. They watched a newly released movie and ate cake in a store.

At that time, Zhongyuan absentmindedly cut off a corner of the square cake on the plate with a fork. At this time, a fork reached out from the other side and just took away the small piece of cake.

"Ikuta-chan..."

Zhongyuan looked up helplessly, just in time to see the cake robber chewing hard in his mouth and quickly destroying the evidence.

"Ha~"

Ikuta held his cheek with his hand and narrowed his eyes happily, "Sure enough, other people's cakes are the most delicious."

Zhongyuan puffed up his cheeks and stared at her angrily. He suddenly stretched out his hand to touch the cake in front of Ikuta. He didn't want to have the plate protected by the alert Ikuta as soon as he made a move.

"No, Riyaxiang, it's wrong to eat other people's cakes."

When Ikuta said this, he spoke righteously.

"So Ikuta-chan is the least qualified to say this." Zhongyuan couldn't laugh or cry.

"It's all because Hiyaxiang is in a daze. It's hard to come out for a while, so you should really enjoy it." Ikuta raked it over instead.

Zhongyuan smiled and shook his head.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Well...it's nothing..."

"Say what you say~" Seeing that Ikuta was about to make a fuss again, Zhongyuan quickly made a gesture of silence, and at the same time looked around to see if he was disturbing anyone else.

"Okay, Ikuta-chan, if you don't make a fuss, I'll tell you."

Ikuta immediately sat upright, staring at Zhongyuan with his big eyes flickering, waiting for the next words.

"...Actually, I was thinking about the selection of the eighth single, and I always felt a little worried. I am very grateful that the seventh single can enter the selection, but after experiencing this kind of thing once, isn't it like asking for more, so, eighth single

If I lose, the blow to me may be greater than losing six consecutive singles..."

"..."

Ikuta was silent for a moment and said, "Hiyaxiang is fine."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Zhongyuan said with a smile, "No one can guarantee this."

"Anyway, there's nothing wrong with Hikari!" Ikuta said firmly.

Ikuta has said this many times. Erika Ikuta believes in Nakagen Hikari, believes in her strength, believes in her efforts, and believes that everything she does will never be in vain.

However, sometimes it is quite difficult to trust someone unconditionally. What's more, it is Ikuta who has held the record of all selections since debut, her good friend.

The closer it gets to the day when the eighth single selection is announced, the more turbulent her heart becomes. The more she wants to work hard, the less she can find the direction to work hard. Besides, is this something that can be determined by hard work? After experiencing successive defeats, she thought

She had been beaten enough to feel like a rock, but when the rock was thrown into the clouds, she regarded the rise through external force as her own soaring, and from the bottom of her heart she did not want to fall back to the ground again.

This is human nature, isn't it?

"Anyway, Ikuta-chan, you don't understand..."

The cake fork was hanging in mid-air, Zhongyuan felt nervous, and he quickly took the strawberry off Ikuta's cake with a smile and put it into his mouth proudly.

"Anyway, Ikuta-chan, you don't understand the sadness and anger of having my cake taken away!"

"Ah - Hiyaka, so despicable!" Ikuta immediately took a counterattack.

"This is called concealing the truth from the sky." Zhongyuan said with a smile.

But can she hide it from her heart?

No one can give an answer.

——

Standing at the selection position No. 8, Ikuta's eyes stayed on Nakamoto. When the members of the third row were called, Nakamoto's hope of being selected was already slim, but she still managed to maintain a smile.

"Next is the announcement of the selected members of the first column."

Many things always backfire.

Ikuta couldn't bear to look at Zhongyuan's smiling face. The smile that was supposed to bring vitality and spirit to the fans, the smile that was praised and praised at the handshake meeting, may have unknowingly become the smile that tightened Zhongyuan's face.

Yuan's rope. So even at this time, she is still smiling.

Obviously you don’t have to work so hard...

It wasn't until the last selection member finished reading and Bananaman simply said two concluding remarks that all the recording tasks for today were finally completed.

In Ikuta's ears, there were mostly words of congratulations. He was first selected, marching in line, and first became the center. The members whose names were not called were still sitting where they were. At this time, the banana people would go over to encourage them. However, such cheering words were heard.

If it is too much, it will not bring much emotional excitement.

Everyone has their own way to recover from loss, whether it's exercising, listening to music or watching movies, or crying, but it can't last long anyway. There are still things to do tomorrow.

Zhongyuan sat on his seat with his head lowered, his hands folded on his thighs, with his palms facing him. Ikuta stared at her for a long time, and inadvertently met Zhongyuan's gaze when he raised his head, and found that her eyes were red, and she was not there after all.

Cry it out.

Zhongyuan sniffed, smiled at Ikuta, stood up and left. Ikuta took a step forward, wanting to stop her, but what could he say.

"Ikuta?"

Wu Geng, who was standing in front of her, thought she looked a little strange and called out softly. Following her line of sight, Zhongyuan walked faster and faster, and in the end he was almost trotting away from the escape tunnel with his mouth covered.

She left. The staff along the way subconsciously moved out of the way. A cameraman wanted to reach out and pull her, but missed the opportunity.

Nakayuan Rimaxiang fled the venue just like that.

"Xiaoxiao, why don't you come over?"

Turning her head, in the commotion, Nishino pursed her lips and looked at her. There was something inexplicable in her eyes. At that moment, the surrounding atmosphere changed. Nishino's eyes seemed to pull her away.

Entered a heterogeneous space.

Wu Geng opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Aren't you going to chase after me?"

"Na-chan, I..."

Before Wu Geng could speak, Ikuta took the lead and grabbed her hand, "Shixiao-chan, come with me!"

Ikuta's hands were calm and strong, which contained a certain sense of firmness and determination. He pulled Wu Geng out of his trance.

This was the first time Wu Geng had seen Ikuta with such a serious expression. She frowned as if she was holding back tears, and bit the corners of her mouth tightly. Wu Geng was dragged out of the recording venue before Wu Geng had time to react.

Wu Geng staggered out as she followed Ikuta, and when she turned around, she saw Nishino still standing there, nodding to her hesitantly, and then showing a helpless smile, as if to say, "There is nothing we can do about this."

She suddenly felt a twinge in her heart, but she couldn't tell why.

——

On that day, Zhongyuan Ri Yaxiang’s name was not called.
Chapter completed!