Chapter 4

Dansol finally realized why the Omegas were so infatuated with Jung Daesoo.

‘Wow… Who is this guy? I almost swooned. Get a grip, Joo Dansol.’

“I need some vitamin D. I have to do a bit of photosynthesis, senior.”

Dansol flashed a smile and raised his head, stepping into the sunlight. Jung Daesoo, seeing his cheerful face, seemed at a loss for words and clamped his mouth shut.

Behind Jung Daesoo, the other cast members began to appear. Because Jung Daesoo came out first, the order got mixed up.

Even then, Jung Daesoo was staring intently at Dansol.

The Alphas included the movie star Jung Daesoo, model-turned-actor Lee Yiyeon, singer-songwriter Jaegal Minhyuk, and Ma Taeoh, the leader of the idol group Zeus.

The Omegas were Dansol, Yoo Doohyun, Han Jisoo, and Yoon Yeomin. Apart from Dansol, everyone else was an actor.

Seeing them, Dansol felt his breath catch in his throat.

After being cast into the abyss and banned from the broadcasting station, he had vowed to get revenge when he met them again, but facing them in person made him feel even more intimidated and shaky than before.

Later, he found out that Yoo Doohyun was from a subsidiary of the large company that Han Jisoo and Yoon Yeomin belonged to.

There was a good reason why the staff overlooked Yoo Doohyun’s harassment of Dansol, considering he was affiliated with a somewhat powerful company.

‘It hasn’t happened yet. I can change it; it’s okay.’

Before appearing on this show, Dansol wasn’t such a weak or timid person.

He felt like he could barely breathe, almost on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Everyone else knows each other… Please introduce yourself.”

Yoo Doohyun’s remark snapped Dansol out of his thoughts.

He knew he was an idol and had appeared as the youngest son in the daily drama ‘Kim Seobang’s Five Sons,’ yet he acted clueless.

His intention was clear from his cheerful demeanor, to give him attention from the start of the opening and make him act impulsively out of nervousness.

During his reclusive days, Dansol had developed an eye for reading people’s moves by only reading community comments.

‘I wouldn’t have known your malicious intent before, but now I won’t be fooled.’

Before his regression, during the opening, he had glanced around nervously, which led to an accidental glare.

While others might have overlooked it, people later used that scene as evidence to claim that he and Yoo Doohyun were at odds from the start of the opening.

Evolving into a ‘keyboard warrior’ during his isolation, Dansol composed himself.

This place was a jungle, and he had to survive.

Not by standing out, but by staying under the radar.

Taking a deep breath, Dansol immediately launched into the strategy he had stayed up all night devising.

Ruining the mood.

The opening of a dating show is supposed to be exciting.

He needed to create a scene so awkward and beyond recovery that the meticulous PD Choi would cut out all his scenes in fury.

“Hello, seniors! I’m Joo Dansol, the leader of DinoSoul!”

Dansol, bowing 90 degrees as he did in music show waiting rooms, tightly shut his eyes and took a step forward.

‘Oh! I waited for you, I~ Until my traces remain~’

‘Someday find me~ Waiting under the faraway earth~’

‘You’ll know by the big footprints~ I left them so you could see~’

‘Follow me, follow me, I’ll be there beneath them~’

‘DinoSoul!’

Dansol danced harder than he did in the music video and struck the signature DinoSoul pose, panting like an ending fairy while looking at the camera.

Yoo Doohyun, who had asked him to introduce himself, and everyone else present, dropped their jaws.

The place fell silent in an instant.

Everyone had a look as if they couldn’t believe what they had just seen.

‘Phew… This should be enough for a full edit, right?’

Dansol felt so embarrassed he wanted to die.

But it was better to feel humiliated in front of a few cast and crew members than to turn the entire nation against him.

PD Choi Mijin was an emotional person. There was no way he would keep such a tacky scene.

Dansol put on a satisfied expression. Even after returning to his place, he kept a bright smile, just in case the camera caught him.

Standing next to him, Jung Daesoo, feeling the second-hand embarrassment, blushed and couldn’t even look at him.

‘It worked.

They won’t have any footage for the opening.

Yes! Just cut me out entirely!

At this rate, I might be eliminated in the first round. Please, please, let me get eliminated in the first round…’

Clap—

Clap clap clap—

Someone started clapping, and soon awkward applause erupted here and there.

An awkward air flowed between the people still standing dazed and those clapping.

“Well… We’ll do the official introductions inside. Let’s wrap up the opening here.”

As expected, the main PD took control of the situation.

After saying that, the PD, who had been frowning for a while, continued the proceedings.

“Uh… From now on, in our ‘RO Match Survival,’ you cannot use your phone or any communication devices until you leave the island. Please hand in all your belongings.”

It was the same rule applied in the previous season, so everyone knew about it.

“Do we really have to?”

The quick-witted Lee Yiyeon, despite the chaotic atmosphere Dansol had created, pretended not to know and made a regretful sound.

He certainly had a good sense of humor for variety shows.

This was exactly why Dansol couldn’t even protest after being edited as the villain.

Because the schedule was so tight to maintain secrecy, it was almost like a live broadcast.

By the time Dansol returned home after filming the final round, he had already become an irredeemable national villain.

Dansol fidgeted with his old phone, which he hadn’t held in a long time.

Now, except for the group chat with his members, no one contacted him, but after the program ended, he had to change his phone number several times due to persistent anti-fans’ terror phone call.

Turning off the power and placing his phone in the box handed over by the PD, Dansol began to feel the reality of his return.

Before, he would at least send a greeting to the members, but now he put his phone in the box without any contact. After all, if things go wrong, none of them would look for Dansol.

“Everyone, please move into the dorm now.”

As the cast members put their phones into the box with a lock, the assistant director shouted loudly.

PD Choi continued to have a deeply thoughtful expression even amidst all this.

Dansol felt reassured by the serious expression on the PD’s face and entered the dorm.

However, Dansol was unaware.

No matter how much he resisted, he was destined to receive a close-up shot, a fate unavoidable for a natural “idol.”

“Ah… something’s strange.”

Rubbing his stiff neck, Kim Seontae, the filming director, approached PD Choi, who couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor.

“PD Choi, is there a problem?”

“That kid. I didn’t have high expectations when casting him… but he keeps catching my eye.”

On the monitor that PD Choi was staring at intently, the image of Dansol dancing just a moment ago was replaying repeatedly.

“I feel the same. Strangely enough, he grabs your attention. Did you see earlier? Dancing without music on the dirt ground. It would be quite an embarrassing situation for others…”

“Isn’t it cute how hard he works?”

“Yeah, how about we highlight that scene? It’s not really PD Choi’s style, though.”

“Wow, Director Kim, saying something like that.”

Kim Seontae wondered if he was getting too attached to an idol at his age.

Is this what they call a “bias accident”?

No, when he looked at Dansol’s face, he felt emotions more complex than that.

A tender and fluttering feeling. He didn’t bother explaining that indescribable feeling to PD Choi.

“His features tell a story. Let’s keep an eye on him. Let’s see how he does among those successful guys.”

Only then did PD Choi get up from his seat. The monitor was frozen with Dansol’s image full-screen.

Dansol, wearing a sky-blue shirt and cotton pants, moving like an ion drink commercial in the blue sky and green garden, was stopped in mid-motion.

PD Choi also felt a strange sensation looking at that image.

* * *

[Alpha’s Inner Thoughts Interview]

Q: Who was the most impressive Omega at first sight?

Jeong Daesoo: Joo Dansol.

PD: Why?

Jeong Daesoo: He seems close to my ideal type.

PD: What kind of style is your ideal type?

Jeong Daesoo: Cute style.

PD: Could you explain in more detail…?

Jeong Daesoo: Small and pretty.

Lee Yiyeon: …Oh, Joo Dansol? He seems really crazy. So cute. I really didn’t expect anything. Where did he come from? A dinosaur… wow… He’s the cutest dinosaur I’ve seen since Dooly, in my opinion.

Jaegal Minhyuk: Joo Dansol? What’s the title of the song he sang?

PD: ‘Follow Me.’

Jaegal Minhyuk: Hmm… It was really cool. As a fellow musician. I tend to be a bit selective about my stages now since I’ve been around for a while. But seeing him perform without accompaniment reminded me of my old busking days and brought back my initial passion. I’d like to talk with him. I’m curious.

Zeus’s Ma Taeoh: Joo Dansol from DinoSoul? Why haven’t I seen him on the show? Ah, I should have gotten to know him earlier… Actually, I was really sleepy. I only slept for an hour today. But watching Dansol sing woke me up immediately. He stood there looking like a model student, so I thought he was a rookie actor. His singing style is purely idol. Shining and sparkling. We’re both idols and around the same age. I think we could become friends quickly.

Q: Who was the most impressive Alpha at first sight?

XXX: Does it have to be an Alpha? I keep thinking about Joo Dansol. Ah, did I not mention? I don’t really distinguish between Alpha and Omega. But… do I really have to date only Alphas?