From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

The car was filled with silence after June's blatant rejection.

"I think this is the first time you've spoken about the festival today," Sehun said.

"True," Ren chimed. "You've been awfully quiet. Why the sudden rejection?"

June ignored their statements, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"We can't just perform our own songs," he repeated, making the boys confused.

"Why not?" Akira asked. "We don't have a lot fans there just yet. It is a good way to showcase our songs, just like Lei had said."

"Yeah," Jaeyong chimed. "I bet they'll like Oasis and Luster, too. They're good songs to perform in festivals."

Jay, despite driving, was curious about June's reasoning, too.

June let out a deep breath before responding.

"The Jade Music Festival isn't popular without any reason," he started off.

The others listened with intrigue.

"It's a cultural event," June continued.

"I figured," Jaeyong said.

"It shows the pride of the people for their homeland."

"So, Chinese artists dominate the festival. It's a time to showcase their talent while inculcating the culture of China. So, foreign artists aren't warmly welcomed."

The boys turned silent after June said those words.

They had already arrived at their dorm's parking lot, but they stayed in the van as they internalized his statement.

"It's true," Casper said, scrolling through his phone. He had also been silent in the meeting, taking his time to research about the festival.

"Korean pop group gets thrown with tomatoes for their vulgar performance in the Jade Music Festival," Casper read.

"The tomatoes being sold outside the Jade Music Festival are for the foreign artists who ruin it."

"Should foreign artists be allowed to perform in the Jade Music Festival? A resounding no from the audience!"

"Tomato juice or blood? Girl group member gets sent to the hospital after a tomato from the audience ruptures her optic nerves."

The boys felt shivers down their spines as Casper read the articles.

June turned to him with surprise.

"You actually found such articles?" June asked. "They're usually written in Chinese."

"Oh, web translators exist now," Casper said.

Ren sighed, already looking worried. "So, the Jade Music Festival is only for domestic performers?" he asked.

"Yes," June nonchalantly confirmed.

They turned silent for a couple of moments before chaos erupted in the van.

"That's why Lei did such a good job planning this," June whispered, so nobody was able to hear him.

It wasn't a known fact that the Jade Music Festival was only for domestic singers.

Well, it wasn't explicitly written in stone.

However, with how the audience treated foreign artists, it might as well be.

Every year, a couple of acts still fall prey to the festival, wanting to test out the waters in China. However, the Jade Music Festival was the worst one to join as a rookie.

"Then, why did Lei ask us to perform there?" Jaeyong asked with a small frown.

Zeth scratched the back of his head. "Maybe he also doesn't know."

June scoffed. Lei was a native Chinese. He most definitely knew.

"But don't worry," June remarked, trying to alleviate their worries. "It's not like foreign artists are banned from performing in the festival."

The boys sighed in relief.

"So, some foreign artists succeed in not getting thrown tomatoes at?" Jisung worriedly asked.

"Yes," June said, recalling some performers from his teenage days.

"And some artists succeeded in penetrating the market?" Akira excitedly asked.

"No," June said, making the others slump in defeat.

"There are only three reactions that foreign artists mostly get-tomatoes, tears, or tolerance."

"Tears?" Ren asked. "Has an artist moved the audience to tears?"

"Oh, that was wrong," June said. "The audience has moved some artists to tears."

Ren pursed his lips.

"And tolerance?" Zeth asked. "What does that insinuate?"

"Oh, they just tolerate the performance," June responded. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"They don't make any noise. Mostly, they're ignored," he continued.

"So, what you're saying is that we're...fucked?" Sehun asked.

June nodded. "In a way."

"But also, I think it's partially the artists' fault for not researching about the Jade Music Festival before performing there."

The other boys continued to listen, knowing that June was bound to present a solution somewhere.

"As I said, it's a cultural festival where people take pride in their homeland," he continued.

"However, most artists only perform their songs without regard to the intention of the festival. Raunchy songs are also out of the picture," June said. "The first person who got thrown tomatoes at performed a very sexy song after an old artist just performed something

cultural."

"Oof," Akira said. "So, we also need to take what the past acts perform?"

"Yes," June responded. "But there's no way for us to figure that out before the start of the

event, right?"

"Hmm," the others agreed.

"So, we have to prepare a performance that appreciates the culture of China, not something

that appropriates it," June said.

"That's how we can get past the prejudice that the audience already has."

The others nodded in agreement. However, their dilemma still wasn't finished.

"But how are we going to do that?" Zeth asked. "We don't have anyone who knows much

about Chinese culture."

"We can hire someone to teach us about it, but then I'd fear that we wouldn't be able to

understand it fully."

June smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Don't worry," he said.

"You guys have me."

The boys were confused, looking at June with furrowed eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked. "Are you well-versed in their culture? I recall you having

good knowledge during that quiz show, but you're still Korean, right?"

"Right," June nodded.

And that was the reason why Lei decided to throw them into such a festival.

It just sucked for him that June was actually Chinese.

"Ah, right!" Jay exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. "You guys don't know yet

since his movie hasn't aired, but June's fluent in Chinese."

They turned to each other with shock.

"Wait, what?"