From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

845  Victorious n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lei woke up with a huge smile on his face. He left the office early yesterday, leaving the swamp of work that came with being Azure Entertainment's new CEO. Truly, great power entails great responsibility. However, a certain level of power would entail lesser work—one where you can just pay or exploit other people to work for you. After White Tiger was dissolved, Lei wanted to have the same kind of freedom in the entertainment industry. He wasn't there just yet, but he was getting closer and closer to his goal. Just then, his phone rang, showing Mr. Kim's name. A small smirk made its way to Lei's lips. It seemed like Dan wasn't lying when he said it was a done deal. The old man was calling so early in the morning. However, his smirk quickly fell with Mr. Kim's starting statement. "I can't buy the land in Dongdam," he started off. A deep frown replaced Lei's smirk. "Sir?" he asked, thinking that he heard wrong. Mr. Kim sighed. "As I said—I would not be able to buy the land in Dongdam. I cannot invest my money in your company." Lei pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes as he tried to make sense of the situation. "Did anything happen, sir?" he asked in apprehension. "Did you not have a good night?" Mr. Kim didn't respond for a few seconds before his sigh was heard through the phone. "I am only calling you as a sign of respect. I will not pull out my investment from Azure Cafe. However, I will not be able to invest in your new building." "That's it." "Wait, sir," Lei said. He pursed his lips since he sounded like he was begging. That was the last thing that Lei wanted to do—to beg others. "Do you want to talk about this in person?" "No," Mr. Kim impatiently said. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested anymore?" Lei's heart raced inside his chest. "But, sir—" "It's best if we just keep our relationship through Azure Cafe. I don't want to be involved in other things. I don't want to be involved with your assistant, too." With that, he turned off the call, causing Lei to drop his phone to the ground. He stared off into the distance before a chuckle bubbled up his chest. He looked at his desk and saw an unsuspecting vase with a yellow tulip inside. His hand itched to grab it and throw it to the television, but he stopped himself. He wasn't in his territory. He still had a front to keep up. With that, he settled on his teacup instead. He grabbed the ceramic cup and held it in his hand, squeezing it tightly until it broke into a thousand pieces. ***

"W—What?" Dan stammered in disbelief at what he was hearing. "He won't sign the contract?" "How is that, sir? Everything went well yesterday!" "Are you sure?" Lei asked, appearing extremely calm. Somehow, that made him appear even scarier. "Yes," Dan said with conviction. Lei continued looking at him. "Yes?" he repeated, sounding unsure this time. "He liked my gift!" he continued to defend himself. "He said that June was the most beautiful gift I've given him. They even went away on their own yesterday." Lei raised one of his eyebrows. "Then, why is it that Mr. Kim left all alone yesterday?" he asked. "The cameras in the club didn't even capture June." It would have been better if June had been involved in all of this. Through that, Lei could have used something as leverage. However, there was nothing. Nothing at all. It almost seemed…planned. Dan's face was drained of all its color. "B—but we were there." "It's impossible! He was going to sign the contract," he exclaimed. Lei massaged the bridge of his nose. "What are you going to do? I entrusted this to you." Dan scrambled to get his phone out of his pocket. "I'll fix it, sir. I'll try to convince him." "I already did that," Lei said. "Don't speak to him anymore. He's going to pull out his investment from Azure Cafe if you do that." Dan gulped and looked through his contact list. "It's alright, sir. I still have contacts with other important people. I can clutch a deal until tonight—or maybe until tomorrow. That way, we can talk to the land owner by the end of the week." Lei laughed out loud, halting Dan's actions. He laughed like a maniac who had lost his mind, causing Dan to close his eyes in fear. The sound alone sent shivers down his spine, and it was only then that he was reminded that Lei wasn't someone he could mess with. "What are we going to do now, though? I tried that, too," he smiled, showing his pearly whites. "And guess what?" Dan said. "The owner's already in talks with another person." Dan felt like he was hit by a truck multiple times in several directions. His mouth went agape, and he couldn't close it anymore. "What do you mean?" he muttered. "This was an exclusive sale. Not a lot of people know about it." "Think again, Dan," Lei said. "Who even bought it in such a short amount of time?" Dan exclaimed. Lei clicked his tongue and shook his head. He also didn't know…and that was what frustrated him the most. The two of them stood in silence for a while, feeling incredibly lost, when they heard chatter coming from outside of the office. Lei's office was a one-way mirror, so he could see outside it, but those outside couldn't see him. At that moment, he saw Jay along with the members of EVE, who appeared to be having a fun conversation. Then, at the very end of the line was none other than June, just listening to his members. Dan frowned when he saw his state. He looked completely fine—like he wasn't drugged the night before. Then, like he could see through the glass, he made eye contact with Dan, causing the latter to hold his breath. And with that, June smiled in victory.