From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

At the set of 'Untouched Souls,' a handsome and fresh-looking young man clad in historical clothes was sitting in one corner with his legs crossed and his hands busily scrolling through his phone.

A new discussion had opened up about the trainees of the fifth season of Rising Stars, and Mei was quickly becoming the most trending topic.

June clicked his tongue. "How come she's getting so much attention already?"

- Can we talk about Mei's visuals? She looks like a well-known Chinese actress!

- Right? Like Angel Baby?

- Exactly, that's who she looks like!

Then, attached to the thread was a collage of the two of them looking similar in some angles.

"They edited this so well," June muttered. "She only looks like her from the side. Angel Baby is way prettier."

- Her vocals sound like a dying goat, though. If I was her, I'd go back to my homeland and study at a university instead. However, I highly doubt that she'll pass the entrance exams since she looks dumb.

June bit his lip in annoyance.

"Mei Ling is actually an achiever in school. We inherited our mom's mind, so the two of us are smart."

"I'm still smarter, though," he said, still talking to himself.

- I want Mei to be my girlfriend! You don't have to be an idol anymore, bub. I already have a stable job, so I can take care of you. Maybe you can sing and dance for me personally instead.

June's face twisted into a grimace as he clicked on the profile of the man who said those words, only to find a middle-aged man who appeared to be into NFTs.

However, all he had on his page were retweet deals that encouraged people to follow him.

"He should worry about his job instead," he muttered.

- I want Mei to debut! I feel like she'll improve a lot on the show. I'm looking forward to it.

"Don't look forward to it!" June exclaimed, his voice sounding a bit louder, causing Ann and some interns whom she was training to look in his direction.

Ann looked at him weirdly as he continued looking at his phone. However, it seemed like the interns were infatuated as they started taking note of his professionalism.

"June practices even after their filming is over!" one of them exclaimed, jotting it down in his notebook.

"Hmm, he's very hardworking indeed."

Ann massaged the bridge of her nose. "What are you even writing?"

"About how we should work as hard as June!" he exclaimed.

Ann was about to tell them that June wasn't practicing, but she held her words back.

Maybe this was actually a good thing for him. Passionate employees were great to work with!

"Sure, sure," she said, patting his back. "Make sure to work hard, okay?"

The group of interns enthusiastically nodded, causing Ann to smirk.

Meanwhile, June was still scrolling through posts and muttering to himself whenever he saw something he disagreed with.

"Seriously, she doesn't need to debut. She could work as a flight attendant like she always wanted," he muttered.

"She's not good at singing at all," he continued.

- She's so fucking bad that I want to cut my ears off every time she opens her mouth.

"Alright, this is too excessive. She has quite a pretty speaking voice!"

[You know, you should really make up your mind.]

[Do you support your sister or not?]

"Fuck off," June cursed.

"Oh, sorry," a familiar voice suddenly said, causing June to freeze.

He lifted his head and saw Hana looking at him with an embarrassed expression. Her gaze was focused on his phone, and it seemed like she had been there for a while.

"That wasn't for you," June said, quickly turning off his phone and placing it by his side.

"Oh," Hana muttered. "You weren't telling me to fuck off?"

June pursed his lips before clearing his throat.

"No," June said. "I was just...scrolling through some posts."

"I did see," Hana said, smiling as she sat next to June.

June froze as he kept his phone close to his side.

"You don't have to hide it," Hana said. "I already saw. You were looking at Mei, right? The pretty trainee from Rising Stars?"

June turned to her with raised eyebrows. "Are you also tuning in on the show?"

"Of course," Hana said. "I started becoming a survival show fiend after I watched your season. I just love all the drama!"

June narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You know that they exaggerate the drama, right?"

"I do," Hana calmly said. "However, it still doesn't take away the fact that I enjoy it very much. I think Azure does a great job at editing it."

"Sometimes, the evil editing could be too much, though," she added.

June sighed as he raked his fingers through his hair.

"Are you happy that you stopped being a trainee?" he suddenly asked.

Hana was surprised by June's sudden question.

"Well, you're throwing the deep questions," she said.

June clicked his tongue. "Just answer it."

Hana pursed her lips as she hummed.

"I guess it's 80 20? I'm 80% happy about my decision," she responded.

"How come?" he asked.

"Well, being an idol was my childhood dream. I've always wanted to sing and dance on stage, and there's still a part of me that wants to do that."

"However, I don't regret shifting to the acting industry at all. There are still a lot of restrictions, and we also have to show our best selves on camera. But being an idol is on another level, I think."

"I don't know how you guys are able to do it. For us, we have to be perfect on screen. However, idols have to perfect both on- and off-screen, do you get me? As an actor, you act. As an idol, you also act...but as yourself. However, you can't be yourself. You can just be...perfect."

"It's a demanding job—one that requires great passion. Not anyone can be an idol."

"Sometimes, I look at you and wonder why you're not miserable."

"Because I like what I'm doing," June responded. "Singing and dancing is fun. Having people who care about it is also fun."

"I know that you feel that way," Hana smiled, looking down at her lap.

"But sometimes, it's not that simple—wait, no. It's always not that simple," he added.

June pursed his lips. All of her statements made sense, and it also strengthened his belief that Mei shouldn't be an idol.

He couldn't protect her back then because he died, but now, he was more determined to protect her at all costs—even from afar.

As he continued to think, he suddenly felt a nudge to his shoulder.

"Why are you looking at her photo, though?" Hana suddenly asked.

June sighed. "I was just monitoring the show," he said.

Hana raised one eyebrow in suspicion. "Are you sure? You were looking pretty intensely."

"Yes," June said. "Let's not talk about it anymore."

Hana smirked and didn't let the topic go.

"Or maybe...she's your type?"

June nearly collapsed.

"Heck no!"