From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

With the utterance of her real name, Mei turned to the culprit.

There, she saw June standing in the middle of the rain, his clothes stuck to his skin and his hair nearly covering his eyes.

However, even then, she couldn't find it within herself to move.

June, on the other hand, knew that he had to run to where Mei Ling was and pull her under the shade.

But at that moment, something compelled him to stay still.

Voices.

Suddenly, there were voices inside his head.

"Run!"

"Run away and hide it!"

"We need to save him!"

June's mind raced with memories that weren't his.

It was dark, cold, and rainy, like the moment he was currently in. However, it felt like he was in a different body.

The scene now and the scene in his mind glitched, showing the present reality and what seemed to be a distant, forgotten memory.

"You need to take this," a woman said, her voice young and beautiful.

"You need this, right? I heard you talking to your friend and saying that you need it."

"So, take it before they take it away from my brother."

With that, the girl handed something to him.

He looked down at it but didn't find anything—almost like the item vanished right before his eyes.

Then, she started screaming once again.

However, at that moment, her face became clear.

A month.

A name.

A beauty under the rain.

"May?" he muttered.

"Run now!"

"They're coming!"

"You need to make it quick!"

With that, the scene went back to reality, and June now realized that the beauty under the rain might have been Mei.

...and that maybe, just maybe, Mei had something to do with the past Joon-ho even before all of this happened.

With June snapping out of his daze, he went over to where Mei was. The car was getting nearer and nearer to where they were, but it seemed like she had no plans of moving.

With that, he ran even faster and dragged her away just as the car entered the parking lot.

June ignored how cold Mei's body felt as he pulled her toward a secluded spot. Then, he faced her, appearing to be upset.

"What are you doing?" he couldn't help but exclaim in a loud voice.

Mei looked into the distance as her eyes watered up.

June sighed as he raked his fingers through his wet hair, trying to calm down.

"What are you doing?" June repeated in a calm voice.

Mei finally looked at June, but her eyes showed that she was still afraid.

"What are YOU doing?" Mei asked, her voice filled with disdain. "We don't even have anything to do with each other! So, why the hell have you been on my business ever since I entered the show?"

"In fact, you've been on my business ever since! No matter where I went, you're always there. I wanted to become an idol because I wanted to make other people happy, but they keep comparing me to you!"

"I don't care if we look alike. You're a different person, and so am I!"

"Yes, I started this late, but who the hell cares? I'm the one suffering. I'm the one practicing. I'm the one working hard for my dreams."

"However, I'm still here—trying to figure out why I'm so broken. I can't even stand in the rain without thinking of someone that looked awfully like you," she ranted.

June listened intently, trying to digest her words.

"Maybe it was me," June finally said, holding onto the visions he saw just a while ago.

"What?" Mei asked in exasperation.

"I haven't been out of the country before. There's no way I've seen you if you haven't been where I'm from."

"I've been to Shanghai," June muttered. "A year ago, before I even joined Rising Stars—I was there."

"So?" Mei snapped. "Do you think we've met when there are so many people in Shanghai?"

"I believe we met that day," June continued, searching his mind for the answer. "The day you had an accident."

Mei closed her eyes as she felt a headache coming in.

"The accident," she muttered.

"Can you really tell me what happened that day?" June asked, stepping closer to her.

Mei clicked her tongue. "I don't know, okay? I genuinely don't know."

"After the accident, everything became hazy in my memory. I don't know who my friends were. I don't know where I grew up. All I knew was that I was running and running until a car hit me."

"I thought it was the end of it all, but I woke up in the hospital with my parents waiting for me," she explained.

"Gosh," she said. "Why am I even sharing this with you?"

"Come on. Think," June said, ignoring her latter statements. "There must be a reason why you were running. Were you running away from something...or perhaps, someone?"

"No," she shook her head. "Wait, I don't know. It felt like I was chasing after someone. However, the car accident happened after the chase had ended. Does that make sense?"

"So, maybe it was both?" June asked.

"You were running to someone before running away from another?"

Mei closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to remember that day.

For some reason, all of her past memories never came back to her—except for this—the day of the accident.

It was still pretty hazy in her mind, but with June's presence, she felt that it was showing more vividly in her dreams.

"I was running," she said in a soft voice. "I was also holding onto something."

"I felt...anxious—almost as if somebody's life was on the line if I didn't manage to give away what was in my hands."

"Then, I finally found him—the person who could help me. He walked swiftly, but I didn't give up."

"Despite the cold rain, I kept pushing through."

"Then, he finally stopped," she said, a small gasp escaping her lips as the scene before her finally turned clear.

Her surroundings were more apparent.

She was outside of what seemed to be a warehouse.

However, the man before her was still unfamiliar—almost as if there was a shadow occluding his face.

"Finally, I gave him something," she said, dictating the story that was painting itself in her mind.

Mei gasped loudly as she opened her eyes, finally looking at June.

"It's you!" she exclaimed, pointing at him.

June's breath got caught in the back of his throat.

Somehow, he already had a hunch. However, it surprised him nonetheless.

It seemed like the story ran deeper—much, much deeper than he had imagined.

This web that they were entangled with—it was almost impossible to think that all of it was random.

It was like fate.

"I gave you something," she continued.

The two of them shared a thoughtful look before saying the next words simultaneously.

"A briefcase."