From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

After successfully filming the important scene last night, June had become more interested in acting. He found himself watching iconic movies and studying their techniques during his free time, which surprised even himself since he had never really been interested in acting. However, thinking about it now, pretending to be a different person was actually pretty fun.

They only had a few days left of filming for 'Hate To Love You', so he wanted to make the most of it.

Today, though, June had to set those thoughts aside to focus on their next performance for King of Kings. They were currently in the van to go to the filming site, with the boys being rowdy as always. However, one person, in particular, seemed restless among the group of noisy boys. Jisung, sitting in the very middle, fiddled with his fingers and nervously bounced his leg. June had enough of the shaking, so he placed his hand over Jisung's thigh and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?" June asked. The other boys stopped whatever they were doing and turned to their two youngest members. "Jisung's been restless since morning," Jaeyong pointed out. "Aww, is the baby chick nervous?" Akira teased. Jisung pursed his lips before bringing out his phone. "I—I was just wondering…," he stammered. The others paid close attention to him.

"Spill it, Ji," Sehun encouraged. "Don't act shy around us now." Jisung sighed and pressed something on his phone. Then, the boys received simultaneous notifications. "What's this?" June asked when he saw the video Jisung had sent to their group chat. "It's a present," Jisung said. "I thought it would be nice if we played this video during June's part in the bridge." The members silently played the video, concentrating from start to finish. Then, when it ended, June faced Jisung with a proud smile. "You're a genius, Ji," he complimented.

***

It was almost a ritual for K-pop fans to sacrifice their time and effort to watch their favorite artists perform on stage. However, for one person in the line, this was the very first time she had done something like this. "Gosh, what am I even doing here?" she whispered, slightly regretting coming to this place. She could see June's face on some of the banners, causing her to shake her head. It was supposed to be her day off today, yet here she was, lining up with K-pop enthusiasts just so she could watch June perform on stage. Last night, after they had filmed, her heart continued to feel fuzzy even when she got home.

She didn't even get an ounce of sleep because every time she closed her eyes, June's face would appear!

Arin had a very big pride, so she wanted to prove to herself that these lingering feelings were for Jin, June's character, and not June himself. "Yeah, that's right," she muttered. "You're doing this because you don't like him." "I wonder what they're going to perform this time," a girl said behind her, causing Arin to turn around. There, she saw a group of four girls who all seemed to be fans of EVE. It was quite obvious with their lightsticks and the large banner that said 'June' on it. "I don't know, but I bet I'm going to fall in love all over again," a very pretty girl with long brown hair and bangs said, leaning against her shorter friend. "You fall in love every single time you see him, though," the shorter friend chimed. Arin's eyes widened in surprise. Was June just someone you'd fall in love with easily? ***

The studio was now filled to the brim as enthusiasts waited for the performances to commence. The idols backstage practiced for the last time, quite nervous to perform their original songs in front of the audience. Moreover, SBC did a really great job keeping their performances from the other artists, so they had no clue what each other's songs would sound like! "I just hope our song doesn't sound like everybody else's," Seven sighed, shaking his hands in nervousness since they were going to perform first. "Do you think our song will sound similar to the other teams?" Zibo asked his members, also feeling nervous. "It won't matter if our song sounds similar to the other teams," Xion said. "Just as long as we're able to show them that we're the best, then it'll all be good."

Their conversations were interrupted when Kim Wonbin appeared on the stage, ready to announce the mission and mechanics to the audience. "Good morning to everyone!" he exclaimed, and the crowd erupted into cheers. "We are now down to the third mission of King of Kings, and this week, our beloved participants will be showing us what it's like to be an idol!" he explained. "For this week, we have all members of THRICE as our special judges!" he gestured to the nine beautiful members of the popular girl group sitting at the judge's table. The audience enthusiastically welcomed them, wondering how such beautiful women could exist in this cruel world. Hyo, their leader, took the mic and smiled gratefully at the audience. "Thank you so much for inviting us to the show. Sunny is a very huge fan and has been watching every week!" Sunny shyly nodded as she took the mic. "Every time I watch this show, I get inspired to perform better as an idol. I know that they're all capable of great performances, so I'm looking forward to watching them all live." Wonbin smiled. "Our very talented participants have curated their own songs this week. However, the twist is—they were given the same chord progression to work with." The audience murmured and exclaimed in surprise, finding the mission very interesting. "So, today, you will not only see performances that show what an idol is, but you'll also get to see the uniqueness each group brings to the table. Are you guys ready?" The audience enthusiastically shouted, "Yes." "Without further ado, let us now start the IDOL mission!"