From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

The boys excitedly looked at each other.

June, too, was intrigued since his original country was mentioned.

"China?" Jay asked with a curious glint in his eyes.

"Yes," Lei smiled. "Although EVE is still a relatively new group, I think this could be the time to expand your popularity overseas."

"You're already very popular in Korea, and your popularity is also increasing in other

countries, but China has one of the biggest impenetrable markets in the world."

"Once you enter it, consider your careers cemented," he continued.

The boys couldn't shake off the smiles on their faces.

"Wouldn't this be our first overseas schedule too?" Jisung asked.

"It is," Jaeyong answered. Then, he turned to Lei.

"What kind of schedule did you bag for us?" he asked.

June pursed his lips and listened intently. Everything that Lei had said was on point. China was truly a great yet difficult market to penetrate.

However, June couldn't shake off the feeling that there would be a catch in what Lei was suggesting.

Lei's smile widened. "You guys are going to perform in a big event!" he exclaimed.

"The Jade Music Festival," he revealed.

"I've never heard about it, but I'm already excited," Jisung giddily said.

The others chattered excitedly, elated with the opportunity that was handed to them.

June, however, stayed silent since he finally realized the catch.

"I see," he muttered. "Wise move."

Lei looked at the boys with proud smiles. However, his smile slightly faded when he turned to June, who still had a neutral expression.

"You alright?" Lei asked, patting his shoulder. "Aren't you excited for this?"

June lifted his head and politely smiled.

"Yeah, everything's great," June said. "Thanks for the opportunity."

Lei's smile widened once more. "You're welcome," he said.

Then, he turned to face the boys again to talk about the details of the festival.

"This festival will be conducted next week," he started off. "I apologize if I wasn't able to relay the information to you guys sooner since I still had to wait for their confirmation." "Oh, that's alright," Zeth chimed. "We're used to learning about events at the very last minute. This is actually a very nice change."

The other boys nodded in agreement.

"The Jade Music Festival will be held at a large open field in China, and twenty artists will be performing. As I said, you guys will be going there next week, so you'll have to miss LUNAIRE's debut."

June pursed his lips in disappointment. He wanted to witness his sister's debut live, but at the same time, he couldn't really do anything about their conflict in schedule.

"You will be the tenth performer of the night," Lei continued. "I tried getting you to perform later on, but that's the best that I can do."

"It's fine with me!" Ren said, sounding happy. "The fact that we could perform in foreign lands is already enough."

"Thank goodness," Lei said in a relieved tone. "Each artist is given 15 minutes, so you can prepare your performance with that in mind."

Jaeyong nodded, typing the details on his phone.

"Do you have any restrictions for the performance?" Sehun asked.

"What do you mean?" Lei clarified.

"Well, I was just wondering if you had any requests or if there are any songs we can't perform?"

Lei chuckled. "That's ridiculous. I trust your guys' artistry."

The boys beamed as soon as Lei said those words.

"So, go ahead and perform in whichever way you like. However, if you want a tip, then I'll definitely recommend singing your popular songs. That way, you can promote the group, too."

Just then, Lei's phone rang, halting their conversation.

He looked at his screen and sighed. "Well, I have to go now. I have to accompany LUNAIRE for their preparations for the debut showcase."

"You guys can leave the plates. I'll clean them when I get back."

The boys nodded and stood from their seats.

Lei was about to leave but stopped when he was at the door frame.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said, already looking apologetic.

"Since I am yet to find a replacement manager for LUNAIRE, I'll have to ask Jay to accompany me to their debut showcase as the director of management," he said.

Jay frowned in confusion. "Then, that means that I won't be able to join the boys in their first overseas schedule," he inferred.

"Yeah," Lei sighed. "I'm sorry about that. I can't seem to find a suitable applicant for

LUNAIRE just yet."

Jay turned to the boys, and they all had understanding looks on their faces.

"It's alright with us," Jaeyong said. "I'll watch over the boys. Just as long as we have good security, then we'll be alright."

Lei smiled. "I'll make sure to do that," he said. "Sorry, I really have to go!"

With that, he waved his hand and left the room.

The boys waved at him and also went out after a few minutes.

They rode the elevator with wide smiles, already imagining their performance for the Jade

Music Festival.

As they got to the van, they chattered excitedly.

"Our first overseas schedule! Can you guys believe it?" Jisung asked. "I've never gone to China

before."

"Me neither," Casper added.

"Count me in," Ren said.

"I don't think any of us has gone, right?" Jaeyong asked, looking around.

June stayed silent and continued analyzing Lei's decision.

Then, the other boys started researching the Jade Music Festival.

"Holy cow!" Ren exclaimed. "It's deemed as the biggest summer festival in the entire

country!"

"It had a 60,000 attendance last year," Jisung muttered. "That's too much!"

"Oh, goodness! Lei has given us such a great opportunity! I can't wait for us to start planning

our performance," Akira chimed.

"The Jade Music Festival, huh?" June muttered.

To the foreign eyes, it might sound like a luxury to perform in such a large event.

And it was.

It truly was.

To native groups and artists, that is.

As expected, Laohu was still smart.

He knew that they were an all-Korean group that didn't have any background information on

the Jade Music Festival, so he gave them such an opportunity.

June smirked.

Unluckily for him, they inherently weren't an all-Korean group.

So, June knew just what he was trying to do.

"Should we really perform our songs like Lei had suggested?" Jisung asked.

June snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.

"No," he answered.

"We can't do that."