From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

Chapter 412  Play the Beat

“Damn flies,” June said, swatting away the pesky little insects that were biting his skin. The afternoon had come, yet June was still waiting for Y and Magic Mama to finish their conversation. He could hear their happy chatter from inside the house while he was sitting on the narrow elevation of the gate. June yawned as he felt sleepiness get to him. He glanced at his watch and saw he had been waiting for more than four hours already. Thankfully, the gate finally opened half an hour later, revealing a happy Y with swollen eyes. “Oh, thank goodness,” June said, standing from his small seat and stretching his body. Y was startled when he saw June waiting for him.

“What are you still doing here?” he pointed at June. “I was waiting for you, of course,” June said, yawning once again. “I didn’t know you’d take that long.” “You could have just left,” Y deadpanned. “Yeah, but I’m afraid you’d get chased by squirrels again,” June teased, causing Y to shake his head. “What do you really want?” Y asked. “To be friends,” June smiled, placing his hands inside his pockets. Y disbelievingly looked at him. “You waited for more than four hours just to ask me to become friends?” “Well, it does sound pretty lame if you put it like that—but yes,” June said. “And aside from that, I think I’m paying the price for the comment I made during the first episode. Although technically, I didn’t even direct those words to your group.” “Fine,” Y said. “I believe you.” “Good,” June chimed. “So…friends?” June offered his hand to Y, but the older idol merely looked at it. Then, he shook his head before walking away from June. “Friends, my ass,” he muttered. [Congratulations! You have accomplished the mission: ASS!] [Vocal skill is now mirrored from Jang Yang-Jin.] [Current Grade: SS] June smirked, looking at the older idol’s silhouette. “It’s this way,” June called, pointing in the opposite direction from where Y was walking. Y paused and let out an embarrassed sigh. “I knew that,” he quietly muttered before going in the right direction. ***

EVE was the first to arrive for their second practice. The production crew was already there, waiting for another opportunity for a killer teaser. SPADES arrived not long after, rendering the members of EVE silent. They looked back and forth between their center and SPADES’ center, who seemed to still have tension between them. Just then, Y started walking to where June was sitting, making the others hold their breaths. June, however, was preoccupied with staring at a hair strand once again. His dark brown roots were definitely getting longer. It could now be seen when he bowed down. “June,” Y said, making him snap out of his thoughts. The cameramen zoomed in on the action. They couldn’t believe they would be getting something juicy so early in the morning! “Here,” Y said, handing June a gift of some sort. June stood and inspected the wrapped present. “This isn’t an explosive or anything like that, right?” he warily asked. Y sighed and shook his head. “It’s not from me. It’s from my mom. She wanted to give it to you as a thank-you gift or whatever.” “Ah,” June said. “It must be great then. I’ll open it when we get back to the dorm.” “Wait, you went there this morning? I thought you had to record another song for your album?” June asked. Y smirked. “I still have time to go to my mom, though.” The two of them continued to converse casually. Meanwhile, the others stared at them with agape mouths, wondering if what they were seeing was real. “Pinch me,” Hanbin said. Chan didn’t hesitate to do so. “It’s real,” Hanbin whispered. “Since when did these two act so friendly with each other?” “There must be some kind of glitch in the system,” Akira whispered to Jisung. Jisung pursed his lips. “Why is June so friendly with everyone?” The production crew was also shocked, wondering if they got it wrong all along. Were these two actually friends? June noticed the silence in the room, so he cleared his throat. “Should we start the practice?” he asked. Y looked around and also nodded. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go over our solo parts today.” Jaeyong snapped out of his daze and also stood. “Alright, let’s start the practice, guys,” he said. The members, despite finding the situation surreal, lined up for their formation. Y went to the music player to start the music but was interrupted when Casper raised his hand. “Yeah?” Y asked, seemingly friendlier than before. “Are our parts final?” he asked. Y pursed his lips. “Yeah. I don’t see why not.” “I practiced the fourth sub-rapper role, though,” Casper sheepishly smiled. “But you’re the main rapper,” June said, confused.

“Nah, I don’t want to be the main rapper,” Casper said. “I think it’s best if June becomes the main rapper. He hasn’t rapped much after we debuted, and I think this would be a good chance to give the audience some kind of surprise.” “People who watched Rising Stars would know that June raps, but I feel like he’s still being overlooked as a rapper,” Casper continued. “Moreover, I believe that most of your fans also don’t know that June raps. He’s been such a great vocalist, so they’d be stunned once they hear him rap.” The room was silent for a moment, and June, despite finding Casper weird most of the time, felt touched by his words. June still didn’t consider himself a ‘rapper,’ but he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. Moreover, he had just upgraded his vocal skills to SS. He didn’t want to reveal it just yet for the second mission. “Well,” Chan said, scratching the back of his head. “It’s not that I don’t trust your words, but we’ve never really heard June rap.” “That’s true,” Hanbin said. “Maybe we could listen to a bar or two so we can decide if he fits the role well.” “Are you alright with that, June?” Casper asked. The members of EVE knowingly looked at each other, expecting to see the reactions of their senior idols. June nodded before clearing his throat. “Sure,” he said. “Play the beat.”