From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

"H—how did you—" Y stammered while June casually leaned against the sink. The older idol continued to look at June—in disbelief of what he just said. Their conversation was cut short, however, when Chan entered. Chan sighed in relief when he saw their current state. "Thank goodness," he said. "Hanbin was worried since you guys were taking so long. He thought you were engaged in a physical fight." June chuckled, standing straight. "I wouldn't do that to senior Y," he innocently said. "We're about to head back to the practice room, actually." "That's good," Chan said. "We only have around two hours of practice since your manager said you have some stuff to talk about." June nodded. "Let's head back then." "Wait," Y suddenly said, causing the two to halt. Chan looked at him with inquiring eyes while June remained nonchalant. "Is there anything you need, senior?" June asked, a small smirk gracing his lips.

Y stared into June's eyes before sighing deeply. "Nothing. Let's go," he defeatedly said, following after them. They went back to the practice room and continued learning Prime's choreography. Since they had a little more than a week before the actual performance, they merely focused on the dance this time around. Now, they were scattered across the room, catching their breaths after intensely dancing. "When is Jay going to pick us up?" Akira asked. "In less than an hour," Jaeyong said. "We're going to be talking about a track on our album." "Oh, they've already acquired a song?" Zeth asked. "I'm not sure," Jaeyong sighed. "I wish they'd tell us more about the production process of our album." Ren pursed his lips. "We could only wish." June also wished they'd be more involved in their album production process—especially since he and Ren had some background in music production. However, June knew how hard it was for idols, especially rookies, to be given musical freedom in their work. Just then, the light was blocked as someone stood before them. June lifted his head and saw Y looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Do you need anything, senior?" he asked. Y clicked his tongue. "Let's talk. Move out." The room suddenly turned silent once Y spoke. The production crew had come back when they resumed practicing, so they quickly panned the camera toward their way. Hanbin frowned and stood, placing his hand over Y's shoulder. "I don't think it's wise to talk right now," he nervously chuckled. "Yeah," Jaeyong agreed. "You guys can talk here if it's about the performance." Y sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "It's not what you're thinking about," he calmly said. "I just need to talk to him."

June stood despite the others' reluctance. "Sure, let's talk," June said, dusting off his jogging pants. Y turned to the cameras and subtly glared. "Don't follow us." With that, Y turned to leave the room while June quietly followed. June's members were still concerned for his well-being, but June turned around and gave them a reassuring nod. He wasn't going to get into trouble! He was just going to make a new friend!

Y led June to an isolated area without any cameras—the stairs. It seemed like June was really cursed with stairs. Almost all of his emotional conversations happened in areas like this.

"I'm cutting to the chase," Y said as soon as they arrived. "How do you know my real name?" he asked. June crossed his arms in front of his chest and sat on one of the steps. "That's easy—someone told me." "Who? Is it Chan?" Y asked, feeling confused. He had never used his real name in his endeavors. Even the one he has on his description page was an alias. Only his current members knew about his name.

June shook his head. "Don't worry," he said. "I didn't get your name from anyone in your company. I also didn't go snooping around to find out your real name." "Then, answer my question." "I learned it from Hong Sungye," June said, finally revealing Magic Mama's real name. Y paused, feeling chills run down his spine. He slowly turned to June with a subtle glare. "You—Are you that obsessed with my life?" "It's not what you're thinking," June quickly prefaced. "She's my vocal teacher." A chuckle bubbled up from Y's chest, and then it turned to full-blown laughter. "Your vocal teacher?" he asked in disbelief. "I've been looking for her for years! Yet, you're telling me—she's just your vocal teacher?" "Well, she lives deep inside a forest. She's honestly really hard to find," June said. "I'm not in the mood for jokes," Y snapped. "Neither am I," June smiled. "I'm just telling the truth. I saw your photo at her house during one of my vocal lessons, and then she proceeded to tell me about her life story. Oh, nice letter, by the way. It was a tearjerker." "Bastard," Y said, holding onto June's collar and pulling him up. June didn't even bother retaliating and let the senior idol vent his feelings. "Did you only find out about her existence when you released Prime?" June continued. "Your father must have hidden that information from you, right?" Y's gaze shook, and his grip loosened. He brought his fist up to attempt to punch June's annoying face, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Because in the end—June was right. "What do you want?" Y whispered, finally letting go of June's collar. "Are you telling all of this to blackmail me?" "No," June said. "Frankly, I don't care about your family matters." "Then why? Why are you bringing this up?" he nearly shouted. "I just wanted to be friends," June said, already thinking of replacing his S stat in vocals with an SS. "Friends?" Y scoffed. "Is this how you make friends, bastard?" "Not really," June chimed. "They usually ask me to be their friend first, but I guess you're a special case." Y impatiently sighed, not knowing where the conversation was going. "Here," June suddenly said, handing him a piece of paper. "What now?" Y exasperatedly asked. "I'll be there tomorrow for another vocal lesson," June said. Y looked down at the paper and saw a messily scribbled address on it. "10 AM," June cryptically said. And with that, he turned away and left Y all alone to ponder on his words.