From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

Their own photos stared back at them, their names written in an illegible font. Below them were black plastic bags that the boys couldn't wait to unravel. However, a pungent smell led them to step back, observing the room with furrowed eyebrows.

"This is worse than I thought," Jisung said, about to throw up.

"Oh, gosh," Akira gagged. "I see my photo at the corner."

"All of our photos are here," Casper said, his frown deepening as he observed the room.

"Other groups are also here."

June looked to where Casper was pointing and saw that; indeed, there were photos of K-pop idols from other groups. It was a relatively large room, and June counted at least 23 photos inside.

"What are these black bags for?" Casper asked, finally having the courage to open one of them up.

It just so happened to be a girl group member's designated black bag.

Casper unraveled the bag while the others waited in anticipation. As Casper opened it, he quickly let it go in shock.

The contents of the bag sprawled out on the ground, causing the others to exclaim in shock.

"Fuck," Akira covered his mouth. "He's really a sock thief. I can't believe this."

"I think he's more than a thief at this point," Casper said. "He's insane."

June was speechless. He walked over to where his picture was located and peeked inside the bag.

He took a step back and cursed under his breath.

"Can we go home?" Jisung asked, tugging on Akira's sleeve. "I don't feel so good."

"Hold it in," Akira snapped. "We're not yet done with our objective."

"First, let's take videos," June said, bringing out his phone.

However, before he could do that, they heard a sound coming from outside of the room.

They looked at each other with wide eyes while June looked at his watch with a confused expression.

"It's still early. Who might it be?" he asked.

Casper brought out his phone and saw over 25 missed calls from Zeth and an infinite amount of text messages. His eyes widened in surprise as he clicked on one of the messages.

Zeth: The shoot was moved to tomorrow. Chul's on his way back now.

Zeth: Bro, answer! He's really on his way back.

Zeth: Casper, you ghosted me! Don't get caught now.

"Chul's back," Casper whispered, looking out of it. "The shoot was cancelled!"

"What?" June exclaimed, quickly pulling out his phone and recording everything in a brief minute.

However, he had to quickly stop when they heard Chul's familiar voice singing a very familiar song—their title track.

Akira clicked his tongue. "And he says he's not a fan of this song."

"Shh," Jisung said, covering his mouth. "Oh gosh. We're going to get caught. I'm going to get convicted. This really will become my first crime."

"Calm down," June said. "Let's quickly move out through the balcony. Make it fast, alright?"

"I'll go first," Akira said, quickly going out to the balcony as they heard Chul's voice coming closer and closer.

June quickly pushed the others outside while he stayed behind, making sure to get footage in the process.

Time seemed to slow down as Chul's footsteps neared. Akira already made his way to the the old woman's balcony, and Jisung was halfway through. Fortunately, Casper didn't take too long to cross over, which gave June more time to escape.

However, as June lifted his leg over the railings, someone's silhouette was seen through the curtains, startling him.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath.

No doubt, it was Chul's lingering figure. Before June could process everything, the balcony door slid open, and it felt like time froze.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm setting things up," Chul's voice was heard. "I think I'm going to get that promotion. Yeah, the boys are doing well, so the directors are favoring me. I don't like the group's center, though. I think they'd be better off without him."

The balcony door opened; however, it showed Chul's back figure. June sighed in relief since it seemed like he hadn't noticed his presence.

His teammates frantically coaxed him over. June moved at the speed of light and made his way to the old woman's balcony.

Chul heard a subtle thud behind him, causing him to pause.

"Wait a second," Chul said to the phone and quickly turned around.

The other boys froze as they stared at the person before them.

"Why are you back so early, boys?" the old woman asked, startled to see the four boys staring at her and her husband. They were sharing a kiss when the four of them entered, which made Jisung fully retch.

Akira squeezed his side. "Bro, swallow back your vomit right now."

Jisung nodded and kept it in.

"Umm," Casper scratched the back of his head. "We're about to head out."

"Yeah," June said. "Thank you so much for all the help."

"Oh, no need to mention it," the old woman said, still clinging to her husband. "Do you want

to join us for lunch?"

"No need," Akira squeezed out. "Jisung over here just ate," he chuckled.

"Oh, I see," she said. "Well, you can come back whenever you want!"

"Will do," June politely smiled. "We'll be taking our leave then."

The four of them quickly scurried out of the room, quickly heaving sighs of relief as they walked through the hallways.

"That was so damn close," Akira exclaimed. "I thought we were going to get caught."

"I'm sorry, guys," Casper scratched the back of his head. "I didn't see Zeth's message on time."

"It's alright," June sighed. "It's done."

"Did we get something good?" Jisung asked, finally calming down.

June brought out his phone and watched the footage he filmed. It was really shaky, but nonetheless, it showed how much of a creep Chul really was.

"But how can we prove that this is really Chul's room?" Akira asked. "Will people believe us without any solid proof?"

June kept silent and showed them another footage.

His members looked at him with wide eyes.

"Where did that come from?" Akira exclaimed.

"Hey, Chul. You still there?" the person on the other side of the phone asked.

"Yeah, still here," Chul said, shaking his head since it might just be his imagination. "What were we talking about again?"

"Your promotion. Do you think you can help me enter the company once you get promoted?"

"Of course," Chul smirked, going back inside his room. "I promised you, yeah? I'll definitely get you that position."

"Yeah, and then…I'll give you something in return, too," the other person said in a seductive tone.

Chul bit his lips. "And what might that be?"

The other person in the line continued talking in a seductive tone. Chul intently listened.

However, he was quickly distracted when he saw something on the floor—one of his precious socks.

He frowned and walked over to where it was.

It was one of his favorite socks—June's. He clasped onto the material tightly and shook his head.

Chul was careless with his other belongings…but never with his socks.

He smirked and clenched his jaw before looking at the CCTV footage in the corner of the room.