From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show
chapter-980

By that time, Akira had risen from the floor, massaging the back of his neck as he staggered toward the bed.

"Why the heck am I on the floor?" he exclaimed, groaning once more as he cracked his joints. "My body hurts."

June ignored Akira and just looked at Mei's message. Then, he stood from the bed to look for his earphones.

Meanwhile, Akira looked at him weirdly. "What are you doing?" he asked. June didn't respond to him, so he shrugged and scrolled through his phone.

The moment he opened his Navel account, his eyes widened, and he stood from the bed, feeling excited.

"Omo!" he exclaimed, walking to where Casper was to shake him awake.

"This is big! This is huge! No, this is humongous! This is like Zeth's ego!"

Casper finally woke up and was instantly met with Akira's phone screen. His eyes also widened, and he was now alert, looking at it with dilated pupils.

"We need to tell this to everyone!" Akira excitedly said.

The two of them went out of June's room to wake the other members up.

Meanwhile, June had just found his earphones, causing him to sigh in relief.

He walked over to his bed and sat, leaning against the bed frame as he plugged his earphones in.

He let out a deep breath and mustered up enough courage to click on the voice message. He didn't know why he found it so difficult-especially since it had been a while since the two of them had met. They didn't even talk much these days because they were busy with their own lives.

However, even then, June considered Mei as her real sister-even though she would never acknowledge him as a brother.

There was a slight pause in the beginning before Mei finally spoke. June couldn't help but chuckle because of the first two words. It was very fitting for someone like Mei.

"Hey, loser."

He shook his head in amusement and leaned his head against the wall, not knowing what to expect with the three-minute-long voice message she had sent.

"You might find it weird that I'm sending a voice message. I just have a lot on my mind, and I didn't feel like typing out a long ass paragraph, so I'm doing this instead."

She let out a deep breath before continuing.

"Congrats on your achievements, I guess. Don't get used to hearing it from me. I'm not gonna make this a habit."

June chuckled once more. It seemed like she was being held at gunpoint when she was recording the voice message. However, in her next statements, her tone shifted drastically, causing June's eyebrows to furrow in concentration.

"Honestly, when we first met, I really didn't like you. I'm sure you already know that. However, I never really told you the reason."

June listened intently.

"You reminded me of someone from my past-not someone I hated, but someone I think I cared for too much. That scared me, okay? I didn't like how easy it was to want to like you. It made me mad because I was convinced you were just another stuck-up idol, used to getting everything handed to you. I was wrong. You're not like that at all."

June was surprised by her reasoning. He would have never thought that she felt such a way.

"I really didn't want to send this, but Fu keeps pestering me to do so. Does he do that to you? I feel like he's been getting sassier and sassier as days go by. Why does a system even whine to you? I thought they weren't even meant to be sentient! Anyway, I'm getting off-topic now," she muttered, causing June to chuckle.

She let out another deep breath.

"You've done more for me than I could ever put into words. I mean, you pulled us out of that hellhole of a company, for one. And that's just one thing on a long list of everything you've done. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did. For me. For all of us. And don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I'll start treating you any differently. I'm still going to call you names and mess with you, so don't expect anything else."

June smirked. He felt the back of his eyes getting warm. It was a good thing Mei wasn't talking so seriously and was still adding jabs here and there. Otherwise, June felt like he was going to bawl his eyes out.

In the end, it was only his sister who could evoke such emotions from him. She was, in fact, the reason why he did all of this in the first place. However, he was glad that he kept with it for himself and not for anybody else.

"Here's the thing," she continued. "I feel different when I'm around you. Lighter, somehow. Like maybe, just maybe, you'll always have my back. It's not something I'm used to, you know? Feeling safe. So yeah, don't let it get to your head, but I trust you. I do."

"And before you get any weird ideas-no, I don't like you like that. Gross."

June closed his eyes and shook his head. Goodness, he couldn't even imagine Mei feeling that way for him.

"That's never going to happen. Honestly, I feel really bad for your future partner. I bet they'd live in constant pressure, trying to live up to your perfection. Anyway, I'm getting off-track

once again."

"What I really want to say is that I'm happy," she said, the smile in her voice being heard through the speakers.

"I'm happy that I met you, that I got to see the real you. And I hope-really hope that you're

happy too."

"So, congratulations on all your achievements. You all deserve them."

"And thank you. Thank you for always being there for me. You're the first person I think of when I'm in trouble-and somehow, you're always the first person to come through."

"The one who protects me."

"So," she said, sighing in resignation.

"If I were to live another life, I'd want you to be my brother. The real kind."

"And I know it might sound weird, but I mean it. I really do..."

"...brother."