From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

"That was tough, Mentor Gun," Akira said, lying down on the practice room floor. He was about to take off his shoes to air out his feet, but June glared at him, causing him to withdraw his hand away.

"Yeah," even the main dancer, Jisung, said, out of breath.

June sat on the floor and drank some water. He couldn't deny that the choreography was amazing. However, it was definitely tiring. His stamina was challenged as soon as the second chorus hit.

They would definitely need to practice a lot if they wanted to perform the song near to perfection. It didn't help that the song had quite a lot of high notes, making it even tougher to perform.

"It is harder than the usual choreographies I had made," Gun admitted. "However, it's only because I know you guys could do it."

The members were encouraged by Gun's compliment.

"June," Gun suddenly said.

June raised his head to look at their mentor.

"Yes?" June asked. Somehow, even until now, June could still remember the shit incident they had during Rising Stars.

"Have you been taking any dance classes these days?"

June paused for a moment and reflected on Gun's question. He realized that he had been neglecting his dance skills a little bit. Maybe he should find a dance mentor.

"No," June shook his head, making Gun surprised.

Did he actually improve this much with his own effort?

"Well, if ever you want to join classes, you can come to the studio," Gun proposed.

June was pleasantly surprised. He never expected Gun to actually invite him to his dance studio, knowing that they weren't even close during the show.

"I'll think about it," June said, although he was seriously considering it.

Gun was a bit saddened that June didn't agree right away, but he quickly shook off the thought since he shouldn't be feeling this way for a grown man.

"Well, that's it for today," Tank said. "I'll come back tomorrow so we can work more on the details."

"You're not going to come tomorrow?" Jaeyong asked Gun.

Gun shook his head.

"I have to teach a dance class. More and more people are becoming interested in dancing because of idols, so the business is booming."

"That's a shame," Jaeyong said. "We'll make sure to do your choreography justice."

Gun smirked and patted his shoulder.

"I'm sure you will," Gun confidently said.

The two dance mentors prepared to leave, but they turned back when they saw that EVE was still sitting on the wooden floor.

"Aren't you going to leave too?" Gun asked.

Jaeyong shook his head.

"We have to work on another choreography," he said.

"Oh, for that B-side track you produced?" Tank asked.

Ren nodded. "Yeah. The company didn't hire a third-party choreographer, so we're taking the initiative to do it ourselves."

"Do you even have any time to do that?" Tank asked.

"Barely," Akira sighed. "We have a jacket shoot later in the afternoon, and we also have another photoshoot tomorrow."

"That's tough," Tank said. "Just tell us when you need some help."

"It's alright," Jisung said. "We would like to take on the challenge despite the busy schedule. We already produced the song, so we want to make the choreography too."

"Well, you already have experience during Rising Stars," Gun remarked. "You wouldn't struggle much, I believe."

"Hopefully," June whispered.

"Well, what's the song called? I still haven't heard it until now," Tank said.

The members of EVE paused for a while after Tank's question.

It was weird since they had never been asked this question before.

"What was that?" Jaeyong couldn't help but ask.

"The title?" Tank repeated. "So I know what song to look out for once the album is released."

The members turned to each other, all of them having a realization.

"Why?" Tank asked, confused by the members' reactions.

"We might have forgotten a teenie, tiny detail about the song," Jaeyong chuckled nervously.

***

"How could we forget the one of the most important aspects of the song?" Akira exclaimed.

"And how come no one has ever asked us about the title?" Jisung chimed.

"They really don't care about this song," Sehun sighed. "No one dared remind us."

"Well, honestly, I also don't know how to name the song," Jaeyong said.

"You're right," Zeth sighed. "It's so amazing that I feel like it cannot be summed up into a few words."

"Well, let's decide on the title right now before we get started on the choreography," June said.

The other members nodded enthusiastically, diving into their minds to come up with great titles.

"So, our title track's name is 'Skyrocket.' The album's name is 'Starlight.' What could be a good adjunct to this?" Jaeyong asked.

"Somehow, all of this is related to space. Even our team name and fandom name are related to the stars and universe of some sort," Jisung pointed out.

"I like our lore," Akira smiled. "We even came from a show named Rising Stars. I think we're really meant to be stars of the universe!"

"We're going off-topic now," Zeth said.

"What were we talking about again?" Akira asked. "Oh, right. The

title!"

"What about 'Counting Stars'?" he suggested.

The members tilted their heads in confusion.

"Isn't that a song that exists already?" Sehun asked.

Akira pursed his lips.

"Umm, what about Pat A Trick Star?" Jisung suggested.

"Pat A Trick Star? Patrick Star?" Zeth asked. "What does that even mean?"

Jisung pursed his lips. "I just thought it was pretty cute."

"Why are we so hung up on stars?" Ren asked.

"Let's try something else. Maybe something like—'Shining Bright Like A Diamond?'" he asked.

"That also sounds like an existing song," Zeth pointed out.

"Nah, it's just a lyric," Sehun chuckled.

"Do you have any other ideas then?" Ren asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Hmm," Zeth placed his fingers under his chin. "I Am The Bestest Star?"

"That's a shitty ass name," Akira said.

"Yeah, and it's not even grammatically correct," Jisung added.

Zeth clicked his tongue. "Alright, Patrick Star," he retorted.

They continued brainstorming the titles of the song, but all of their suggestions seemed useless.

Suddenly, Casper exclaimed loudly.

"Luther!"

The other members stopped conversing and turned to their weirdest member.

Ren sighed. "We know you love your cat very much, but we can't name our song his name."

"Yeah," Jisung nodded.

"His moans are already in the song," Akira chimed. "It would be excessive to let him be the title too."

"Oh no. That wasn't what I was suggesting," Casper shook his head. "My sister just sent a photo. Look!" he exclaimed, showing off his cat clad in a diamond tiara.

"Are those...real diamonds?" Zeth asked, squinting to get a better look.

"Yes," Casper nonchalantly said. "Nothing but real diamonds for the king."

They gushed at Luther and his expensive diamonds while June was still busy thinking of a title.

Luther...

Diamonds...

Stars...

Then, it struck him—the perfect name.

"Luster!"