From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

"Luster?" Jaeyong asked. "But the song's not talking about lust!"

Akira shook his head, massaging his nose bridge as he looked at his stupid teammate.

"Idiot! Luster is not about lust. It's the shortcut name of that mouthwash brand."

June face palmed as he watched the two idiots argue.

"I wonder how the two of you ended up in the same group twice in your lives. You are utter idiots."

June began to explain the meaning of the title.

"Luster is the property where light reflects against a surface. It can be a rock, mineral, or crystal. Since our song talks about a love interest shining among others, I think it's a good representation. Moreover, we can't deny Luther's influence in the song, and naming it similarly to his name is paying him great tribute," June explained.

"Luster," Sehun said, trying it out with his tongue. "It does sound pretty nice."

"Yeah, it's addicting to say," Zeth chimed. "I think we can go with this one."

"I agree!" Jisung excitedly said since it was a name suggested by June.

Jaeyong, still embarrassed with his first question, gauged the other members' reactions. It seemed like all of them were amenable to the title.

"It's final then. The B-side track will be entitled—Luster."

The other members nodded in agreement, satisfied with the name of the song.

"Let's proceed with the choreography then," Jisung shyly said. "As I said, I will spearhead the creation. However, I will still need your guys' help."

"Of course," Ren said, ruffling their youngest members' hair. "Let's do this all together. We still have a few hours before we go for the jacket shoot this afternoon."

They started brainstorming for the choreography, and it seemed to be going well. The verses were quickly done since the group had quite a lot of ideas. It looked easy-going, but it was also intricate. It involved a lot of carefree movements and individualized gestures.

However, as they got to the chorus, the difficulty started rising.

"How are we going to do this?" June asked.

The members mimed some movements, but they all felt pretty wrong.

"I can't come up with anything," Casper sighed.

"Me too," Zeth said. "I'm stumped."

"Should we move on to the next verses?" Jaeyong suggested.

The other members agreed, so they proceeded with the other verses.

It seemed like the curse was merely stuck to the chorus since they seamlessly choreographed the second verse and the bridge, too.

"That was surprisingly fast," Zeth said, sitting on the floor.

"We did that in less than two hours!" Ren exclaimed.

"But we still don't have a choreography for the chorus. Up until now, I don't have any idea what to do," Jisung sighed, a bit disappointed.

"It's alright," Jaeyong said. "We already made good progress. The comeback date is more than a month away, so we still have some time. We're going to be busier once it approaches, so it's good that we have already accomplished more than half of the song."

Sehun glanced at the clock and saw that it was already lunchtime.

"I think we need to go. We still have to eat lunch and meet Jay to go to the jacket shoot site," he said.

"Yeah, let's call it a day for now. We all worked hard."

***

Currently, the members of EVE were in the van on their way to the studio for their jacket shoot.

June was on his phone, texting Jenny.

Cousin: I got fired.

June: Your company was shitty anyway. They keep the truth in exchange for bribes.

Cousin: Bitch, everything revolves around money.

Cousin: Now, I don't have any money.

Cousin: You should stay true to your word and send me a monthly allowance from now on.

June: *sent a screenshot*

Cousin: Holy...

Cousin: You sent me 1,000 dollars?

June: My salary just came in.

Cousin: Holy mother of cats! You really are rich now.

June shrugged. He saw his salary arrive this morning, and it was much more than he expected. It was probably because of the brand deals they had done in the past month.

It still wasn't as much as other idols probably made, but it was more than enough for June, who didn't have a high-

maintenance lifestyle. So, he didn't felt to bad giving some to Jenny.

They arrived at Itaewon, where they parked at a familiar studio. The other members enthusiastically went in, while June dreaded going.

They were greeted by a woman, who chicly led them inside. She stopped once she saw June.

June sighed as the two of them made eye contact.

"You're still working here?" June asked.

Esther shrugged. "It pays really well. However, I've already filed for an application outside of the country. I already got my visa and will be flying in two weeks."

June shook his head. "Good for you. Is he in?"

"He is," Esther smirked. "He's been waiting for you."

June shook his head as she led them inside the studio.

What greeted him was an extravagant display of royal and metallic accents. There were also pretty outfits laid on the side, and June inferred these were the clothes they were going to wear.

It was quite impressive that the studio was decorated as such when the photographer was known for his simple, white-

background photoshoots.

However, June didn't have any chance to dwell on it further when he felt a wet kiss on his cheek.

His eyes widened, and he quickly shoved away the familiar figure.

"Pablo, what the heck?" he exclaimed, wiping his cheek of the photographer's saliva.

"It's been a while. How come you're even more handsome?" Pablo asked, observing June's face.

June merely sighed and didn't respond.

"Oh, and I'm diligently watching your series. I don't like that Nayeon girl, but your bulge was very deli—"

"Shut up," June said, glaring at him.

Pablo pursed his lips and didn't dare continue his statement.

Jay cleared his throat and went in between them. "So, I'm sure you've all met Pablo. He was the one who took your photos during your debut, and he'll be the one to take them again for this album."

"That's right," Pablo excitedly exclaimed.

"I had my studio redecorated based on how I felt your album would look like. They gave me the title track, and I loved it. Well, I love anything with June in it, so even if it's hot trash, I'll still probably listen to it."

Jay looked around the studio, amazed. "Did you pay for all of this? I recall the company not giving any budget for the props. I thought it was going to be a plain photoshoot."

"Well, of course!" Pablo proudly exclaimed.

"EVE does not deserve a plain photoshoot!"

"They deserve everything in the world!" he enthusiastically said.

"And...maybe I want June to have an underwear photoshoot in exchange," he sheepishly added.