From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

"Special episode?" June asked, unaware of the fact.

"It was just announced yesterday," Jisung said. "You probably didn't catch it since you were resting really well."

"What's the special episode going to be about, though?" June asked.

"I think they're going to have some sort of field day—like that one we had," Akira answered.

"Oh," June said, remembering those times. He won those unusable phone accessories!

"Let's watch it, I guess," he muttered, curious as to what they were going to show.

Just as Akira said, they were going to have their field day.

June's eyes immediately went to Mei, who appeared to be teamed up with the most talented people in the show.

He shook his head as the camera panned towards their team multiple times.

It was obvious that they were going to have the most screen time and would probably perform last in the next episode.

- Those five are together? That's amazing!

- I see one impostor in that group.

- Jeemin and Mina are in one team! That's a recipe for success.

- Not if someone makes it into a recipe for disaster.

June sighed since it appeared like Mei was still receiving a lot of hate. He wasn't able to join them this week for the filming, but there was something different about her.

She was awfully quiet—although she was known to only speak whenever it was needed. Nonetheless, June still found her disposition quite strange.

"My ideal type is here again," Akira dreamily sighed, causing June to glare at him.

"Do you want me to remove your teeth one by one?" June asked.

Akira raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that's brutal."

June shook his head. "Don't talk about her like that."

Akira narrowed his eyes at June in suspicion.

"You know—I really think there's something going on between the two of you. From the very beginning, you didn't like it when we talked about her," Akira said.

"Don't tell me—you're really dating this trainee?"

June couldn't help himself. He slapped the back of Akira's head so hard that he lost his sense of speech for a second.

"What the heck?"Jisung asked, also surprised.

"Look, I don't know what's going on inside your head, but it's not that," June said, already cringing at the thought of being with his sister.

He wasn't a delusional anime protagonist, even if he looked like one!

Akira massaged the back of his head. "Geez, I get it. You didn't have to slap me so hard."

June clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Just—just don't talk about her that way. She's like a sister to me."

Akira turned to him. "Ah, I see," he said. "I nearly forgot that you're not capable of displaying romantic feelings."

"All of the women that have been linked to you had all been 'sister-zoned.' Rest in peace to all of them."

June sighed. "She's really, really, really a sister to me," he emphasized.

Akira raised his hands in surrender.

"I get it, dude," he chuckled. "You don't have to do a triple kill on her now."

June shook his head and gave up on explaining himself.

"I won't talk about her like that anymore," Akira said, making June sigh in relief.

"However," he continued. "Can we talk about how much spark she lost in her eyes?"

June's posture straightened as he directed his gaze to the screen.

He already had a feeling about it, but the fact that another person had pointed it out made it even feel more real.

"Right?" Jisung asked. "It's only been around a month, too. Didn't you go through this phase, June?"

"I did," June admitted, remembering the time when he was unreasonably kicked out of the 'Skateboard' team.

"But it's strange," Jisung continued. "I felt like she was the type of person to be really passionate about this. Mei had shown her passion since the very beginning. It's quite disheartening to see her so...sad."

- Is Mei okay? She's not participating in any games.

- Well, maybe she's bad at that, too.

- Don't ruin the group, Mei! You've already ruined a lot of this for us.

- I can't believe she's going to work with such talented people.

- It's a good thing, though. People are finally going to open their eyes and see that Mei shouldn't be on the show.

- Fuck, I feel bad for her, man. She looks so...lost.

The three of them continued to watch the show, appearing entertained by all the drama that Azure had included.

Then, after Field Day, which determined the song they were going to perform and the order in which they would perform, some clips of their practice were shown on screen.

Different scenarios were portrayed, but most people couldn't wait for Jeemin's team to appear.

"I wonder what their practice is going to be like," Jisung said, now on his third glass of hot chocolate.

"Hmm," Akira said. "It would be interesting to see if Mei could keep up with them."

June watched the show silently, already feeling that it wasn't going to go well.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jeemin's team was shown.

They were going to be performing 'Into A New Reality' by GOOD GAME. They were a girl group from ESPER Entertainment and undoubtedly one of the most iconic ones of all time.

The song was their debut song, and Jeemin picked it because it required a lot of skill and talent.

"Let's start, shall we?" Mina asked as their leader.

Jeemin and the rest nodded, already marking the movements. It was a well-loved song, so lots of trainees knew or were at least familiar with its lyrics and choreography.

However, Mei, having the least training time among them, wasn't too familiar with the movements.

As a result, she looked much more unskilled compared to the rest of them.

June clenched his fists on his lap as the editors capitalized on her mistakes.

"Cindy," he muttered before shaking his head.

However, he also knew that they were just doing their job. Azure's editing style has always been as such, and people eat it up every time.

Nonetheless, June found it upsetting to see so much hate for his sister when she was trying so hard.

He knew that he wanted her to be eliminated so she could go back to her safe space. However, he didn't want it to end like this.

- Just go back to your home country.

- She's so embarrassing. I can't believe she made it into the top five.

- Mina's so stable. Mei could never do that!

- What the heck is this shit show?

- Guys, this is their first day practicing. She's not familiar with the song, so how do you expect that she's going to be great right away?

- Excuses.

June clicked his tongue as the scene continued on.

"I think I know why she looks so down now," Akira said.

Then, just as he uttered those words, another scene flashed, causing June to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

It was Mei in a familiar room—the white room that was meant for pouring out all of your feelings.

Then, some sad ambient music was heard, setting the tone.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore."