From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

The room became silent as soon as June asked that particular question.

His members looked pleased with his suggestion, wanting to create something they could proudly call their own.

It wasn't rare for idols to create their own songs, but rarely did this become the title track of the album. Moreover, since the market had become very competitive, companies and idols relied on expert producers to make songs for them.

June thought the directors were seriously pondering upon his question since they were completely silent. However, his hopes were quickly shattered when Mr. Ong let out a loud laugh, followed by the chuckles of the other directors.

Mr. Ong continued laughing until there were tears in his eyes, but none of the members, as well as Jay, didn't find it funny.

"Oh gosh," he said, wiping the tears in his eyes. "That was such a good joke, June."

"I wasn't joking," June quickly said.

Mr. Ong halted, his eyebrows slightly furrowing. Then, a professional smile emerged from his face.

"Well then," he said. "I don't think we can take your suggestion into consideration. Self-produced title tracks are a rarity in this industry. Unless you want to go solo, which you can't at the moment, I'm afraid a self-produced title track wouldn't be possible."

Ren raised his hand, intercepting his statement. "But June already produced some parts of Oasis. For this next title track, it wouldn't just be him who'll be making the song. I'll help, too. In fact, the other members can also help with the lyric-writing and all."

Mr. Ong pursed his lips, annoyance evident in his features.

"It's final," Mr. Ong said. "This time, a more well-known producer will be making your song."

"Now," he continued, going to the next topic before anyone could interrupt him.

"Let's talk about your major projects of the year."

June sighed and focused on the presentation before him. He decided to forgo the issue for now since the preparations still hadn't started. Maybe he'll be able to convince the higher management to let them have a self-produced song later on.

"There are three major projects for this year," Mr. Ong started off. "First, the most important one—your comeback. The second is show guesting and participation. And third is brand deals."

"You all had an opportunity to go to different variety shows, and it made a positive impact on the group's popularity. So, we have contacted different variety shows to see if they could accommodate you, but none of them have responded yet."

June understood Mr. Ong's sentiment.

Back then, seeing idols in variety shows was more common compared to now. Currently, there were too many artists wanting to be invited to the popular shows, so TV stations were definitely pickier with their guests.

"There's something huge lined up for the year, but we can't divulge the information to you until it has been confirmed," he continued.

"For now, we're going to be uploading the process of your debut album on YouWatch so people can know you more."

"Moving onto the third agenda for today—brand deals," Mr. Ong smiled, showing a slide of all the brand deals they'd done during the past year.

"I'm happy to report that your team bagged 6 brand deals last year, with Zeth having the most."

Zeth smiled proudly as his members congratulated him.

In particular, Zeth had represented a coffee brand and an air purifier. His looks were already enough to capture buyers' attention. He created a frenzy in appliance stores after he made a cameo in an air purifier commercial!

The four other brand deals were distributed to the other members.

Ren had a photoshoot with a headphones brand because of his 'producer' reputation during Rising Stars.

Casper modeled for a trendy t-shirt shop along with Dos from OCTA.

Jisung also modeled for a school uniform brand in Korea because of his fresh visuals and tall physique.

And lastly, Sehun was part of an underwear campaign where he showed off his toned abs.

June was yet to receive a brand deal since Chul blocked off his opportunities when he was still their manager.

Meanwhile, the other members, despite not saying it explicitly, were quite disappointed they hadn't done any brand deals either.

"This brand contacted us after they saw your performance during the year-end show. I'm glad you made a good impression on them."

"Who's going to be starring in the brand deal?" Akira asked, hoping he'd be included since he hadn't done one ever since they debuted.

Mr. Ong smiled and clapped excitedly.

"I'm happy to inform you that the brand has requested for all of you to become their brand ambassadors!" he exclaimed, causing the members to look at each other with wide eyes.

June, too, was surprised.

It was rare for brands to hire an entire group since it was generally more expensive. Having all of them as ambassadors meant that the brand was a big force in the industry!

"And get this—you're also going to be starring in a commercial film for the brand! This is huge, guys."

Jay smiled at the boys, pride filling his eyes.

"I'm so excited," Jisung said. "What brand are we going to represent?"

The members were giddy in their seats as they imagined the type of commercial they were going to film.

OCTA already had their own commercial, and it was for a soda brand that made use of its 'heatwave' concept. It was fun, refreshing, and youthful!

Zeth stared off into the distance as he imagined how it was going to turn out. He really wanted to do a perfume commercial and show off the group's sexy side!

Meanwhile, Akira wanted to do a soju commercial since all of them were already of legal age. Moreover, soju was considered a staple in Korea. Being brand ambassadors of any soju brand meant they had made it big in the industry!

"I hope it's something about cats," Casper said, causing everyone in the room to look at him weirdly.

"Please ignore him," Jay, the equally weird person, formally said.

Mr. Ong cleared his throat.

"I'm sure you're all curious as to what product you're going to represent."

The members nodded.

"Well, I'm not going to make you wait any longer."

June leaned against the table, actually looking forward to their very first brand deal.

Mr. Ong smiled widely as he pressed on the next slide, the room being engulfed in a familiar orange hue.

"It's none other than—cheese balls!"