Chapter 533: The Present is a Present
From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show
So, he was right.
Haruki was right.
June might not have killed anyone, but he contributed to the death of a seemingly innocent person.
At this point, June recalled the first years of his trainee life--the good times.
He had also confirmed that the man in his visions was Haruto, none other than Haruki's twin brother.
And now, he didn't know what to do.
Back then, after somebody was murdered, he even had to bury them or throw them into the water to hide the body.
June would do it without remorse because he knew of the crimes that they committed.
However, this time, he felt entirely guilty even if Hana assured him that it wasn't his fault.
Based on all the memories that resurfaced, Haruki was a good man--a man of his word and a very supportive friend.
Losing someone like him must have felt like losing a family member to the former Joon-ho.
Even now, June could still feel the pain in his heart, even though he had never met Haruto.
June sighed, leaning against the bed rest and closing his eyes. It was only then that he felt the exhaustion of everything happening. He was about to fall asleep when someone interrupted him.
[You have acquired a mission!]
June's eyes opened, his brows furrowing when a new mission appeared. He had been sleeping in this very room for more than three months, but a mission had appeared out of nowhere.
"You always appear at the most inconvenient times," June sighed.
[It's my joy in life.]
[Anyway, here's your mission! As the season of summer arrives, it is time to leave the cold past behind. The grudges, the bitterness, the anger--it's time to put them in the past.]
[The title of your mission is: The Past is the Present. The Present is the Past. The Past is the Past. The Present is a Present.]
June's frown deepened as he read the title of his new mission.
"Are you writing a poem or something? Why is the title so long?" he asked.
[I worked really hard on it.]
[You have no choice but to accept it.]
June sighed deeply as he shook his head.
"What do I need to do?"
[In order to have a peaceful present, you need to confront your past. And in order to leave it behind, you must learn to forgive despite everything that happened.]
[With that said, the host needs to meet with a person from the past and rebuild your friendship!]
[What better way to rebuild a friendship than a kiss on the cheek!]
[Fulfill the mission and get the chance to upgrade one aspect by two grades! What a steal!]
"Wait, wait, wait. Let us backtrack a bit. A what?" June exclaimed, sitting up straight once he saw the new prompt.
"You want me to kiss someone on the cheek to rebuild a friendship? Are you insane?"
[Yes.]
June raked his hands through his hair in frustration.
"You do know that I've met plenty of people from Choi Joon-ho's past, right? I could kiss Hana on the cheek, but I'm afraid that would cause more harm than good."
[Who said it's the people from Choi Joon-ho's past?]
"Huh?"
[Meet someone from YOUR past.]
[A person from Chen Jun-hao's past.]
[That is your mission.]
***
June yawned as Jay drove them to Stupefy's office, another leading music platform not only in Korea but also in the entire world. They were going to film some content to promote their album since it was less than three weeks before its release.
They were bound to announce it tonight, so it meant that the boys were going to become busier than ever—filming content left and right.
"Were you able to sleep?" Jay asked, glancing back at June.
"Sure," June bluffed, knowing that telling the truth would only make Jay unnecessarily worry.
He was actually planning on resting for a bit after his conversation with Hana.
However, after Fu revealed his new mission, he found himself unable to rest once again.
Meet a person from his past—Chen Jun Hao's past—and rebuild friendship?
That was ridiculous.
Aside from Mei Ling, he couldn't think of another living person he deeply cared for in his past life.
The people whom he thought were his friends turned out to be the people who stabbed him in the back in the end. So, June felt like he couldn't rebuild any of these friendships.
Moreover, he couldn't really look for Mei Ling with what he has right now. He became acquainted with quite a lot of people in this life, but then again, it would be weird if he suddenly asked them to look for a young girl in China and bring her here.
On the other hand, Lin Zhi and Laohu were the only people he had met here in Korea. There was no way he could forgive the two of them, and even then, he also didn't know where they currently are. After Rising Stars ended and Lin Zhi's cheating scandal was revealed, it seemed like they laid low in the entertainment industry.
"We're here!" Jay excitedly said, trying to cheer the members up despite their tired bodies.
"Let's do this," Jaeyong smiled. "After this, we can go home and sleep again."
"But then, we have to practice again in the evening for our performances," Akira complained.
"It's comeback season," Jaeyong said. "Let's make the most of it. We're practicing despite our tired bodies to show our fans and other people that we deserve to perform on the big stage."
Despite the cheesiness of Jaeyong's statement, the members couldn't deny that it also uplifted their moods.
With that, they enthusiastically got out of the car and went to Stupefy's studio to film some promotional videos.
As they arrived inside, they were immediately greeted by the staff members of Stupefy.
"Thank you for coming here," one of them said. "We're glad that the group decided to work with Stupefy. We have been eyeing EVE after your performance in the ABRACADABRA festival, so we're very honored that you guys are here."
"It's an honor to be here too," Jaeyong responded. "We have been told that we're going to be filming something related to our fans?"
"Yes!" the staff exclaimed.
"This is actually a very popular segment on our channel. We have consulted with your PR team, and they think that it's also a great idea."
"Let's hear it then," Jisung chimed, already excited.
There was no doubt that the young idol was a mania for social media, TV shows, movies, and the like. He's the typical Generation Z representation.
With that, he had watched a lot of Stupefy's content, wanting to film a video for the brand, too.
'Is it going to be 'Fans Guess Their Favorite Idols?' Jisung thought.
'Or maybe 'Idols Surprise Their Fans?'
'Ooh! What about 'Idols Answer Fans' Questions with Puppies?'
Just the thought of filming those types of content already made Jisung giddy.
The Stupefy worker smiled meaningfully as she looked at all of the members.
"It's 'Idols Reading Fan's Thirsty Posts!' Isn't it exciting?"