From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

"How could you not swoon at him?" Ara asked, nearly shaking Mei's shoulders as they walked to the elevator.

Mei shrugged. "Because he's our manager. There's no reason for me to swoon at him."

Yeri chuckled in amusement. "Don't be surprised anymore, Ara," she said. "Mei didn't even feel attracted to June when he was mentoring us."

Jeemin and Mina looked at Mei with wide eyes.

"You didn't?" Jeemin asked. "How can you even resist his charm?"

"He's like a brother to me," Mei honestly said.

Ara smirked. "Well, if he was my brother—"

"Don't even go there," Mei said, glaring at her friend.

Ara laughed loudly. "I didn't even get to finish what I was saying!"

Mei groaned. "You didn't even have to finish it for me to understand."

"Fine, fine," Ara said. "Anyway. Enough about June. We don't have a chance with him anyway! He's too big of a star to even think of having a relationship with."

"Instead, let's talk about Manager Lei! Do you think he has a wife?"

"I don't see a ring on his finger," Mina smirked.

"Yes!" Ara said, raising her fist high in the air.

The girls chuckled in amusement as they observed their youngest member.

Although they hadn't built that close of a connection just yet, they already knew that Ara was going to be a handful.

"You agree that he's handsome, right?" Ara asked, holding onto Mei's arm. "He slightly reminds me of June."

"He does not," Mei snapped before she could stop himself.

The girls stopped, and they looked at Mei with wide eyes.

"Well, that was an aggressive opposition," Mina muttered. "And you say that you're not attracted to June."

"You really need to stop with that romantic agenda. The public is already fueling it," she muttered.

Mei sighed and raked her fingers through her hair.

"You really need to stop with that romantic agenda. The public is already fueling it," she muttered.

"Anyway," Mei continued. "I don't think they're similar. June is much more...natural," she said.

"Natural?" Yeri asked. "Are you saying that Manager Lei got a lot of plastic surgery or something?"

Mei sighed and shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying."

"It's just that—I feel something pretty weird about Manager Lei," she muttered.

Ara sighed and shook her head. "Didn't you feel the same way for June during the start of Rising Stars? Manager Lei is fine!"

"Yeah," Yeri chimed. "Your guards are just up most of the time, so you have a hard time letting people in."

Mina frowned in confusion. "You seem okay with his presence, though," she chimed.

"I am okay with it," Mei sighed.

"He's just...too kind," she concluded.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Jeemin asked. "I would rather have a kind manager than Mr. Ong."

The girls enthusiastically nodded in agreement.

"Oh, we're here," Ara said when they saw their team name on the door.

Ara gasped loudly when she saw that EVE's door was just right in front of their door.

"Omo," Ara said. "We'll be blessed with eye candies every morning!"

The other girls shook their heads in amusement.

Then, Jeemin opened the door, expecting to see only their manager inside.

So, imagine their shock when they saw the eight members of EVE, along with their manager, holding party poppers with a banner that said—'QUIT SOLITAIRE! STAN LUNAIRE!'

In the middle was Zeth, who was holding onto a cake.

Mina, being their leader, bowed as soon as her surprise wore off.

"What's this, seniors?" she asked. "You shouldn't have."

Zeth chuckled as he placed the cake on the table. "Oh, come on now. Our dorm was pretty lonely when BOYMYSTIC left. This is the least we could do."

"And stop calling us 'seniors' already," Ren said. "It's not like we didn't train together."

Mina scratched the back of her head, feeling shy.

"The other girls, too," Sehun said with a kind smile. "You guys can call all of us normally, alright? Don't hesitate to ask for our help too. We'll make sure to aid you when we're free."

Lei excitedly clapped, causing June to narrow his eyes in suspicion.

"Isn't it fortunate that you guys have such kind co-workers?" he asked.

"Oh, stop it," Jay said. "We're the ones lucky since LUNAIRE has such a kind manager," he teased.

The others agreed, praising Lei for helping the girls with their move.

June, on the other hand, still didn't know what to feel.

'This must be what Elmo felt whenever Rocco's around,' he thought.

"Well, what are you guys still doing standing there?" Akira asked.

"Let's eat the cake!" he exclaimed.

The girls excitedly nodded and joined EVE on the floor, where Lei was already cutting the cake into equal pieces.

"Zeth bought this with his own money, which is a big surprise since he's usually stingy," Ren said, earning chuckles from the big group.

"So, dig in! This will probably be one of the last times where he's going to treat you guys."

Zeth rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to him," he said.

Lei distributed the plates, and since June was pretty hungry, he quickly took a bite.

The sweet taste instantly invaded his senses.

However, he frowned despite his sweet tooth.

"Pineapple," he muttered.

Then, he turned to Mei, who was about to eat some of the cake too.

June quickly sprung into action, and he slapped her hand, causing the cake to plop to the ground.

The others looked at him with wide eyes, unable to speak for a moment.

"What...was that, June?" Jay asked after a while.

June sighed. "That was close," he said. "It wasn't obvious at first sight, but the cake has pineapple."

Mei frowned.

"You're allergic to pineapple, right?" June asked.

Mei slowly nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Zeth said, feeling guilty. "I wasn't aware that you had a pineapple allergy."

"If I had known, then I would have chosen a different one."

Mei shook her head with a small smile.

"It's alright," she said. "It's not a common allergy."

"Yeah," Akira chimed, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't even know that it existed."

"Hmm," Mei hummed.

They were engulfed with silence once more before Lei spoke, capturing everyone's attention.

"Why is it that you know about her pineapple allergy, then?"