Chapter 27

* * *

“Wait a minute! Director! Daesoo hasn’t gone yet!”

It was Taeoh who broke the somewhat solemn atmosphere. Daesoo, who had been trying to quietly skip his turn, cleared his throat as if caught off guard.

“You have sharp eyes.”

Daesoo’s expression was clearly not one of praise, but Taeoh wore a satisfied look.

“Jung Daesoo, pick two!”

Jisoo, who had picked one capsule, teasingly handed another to Daesoo. With a resigned expression after being caught, Daesoo took the question heet and began to read in a lifeless voice.

“Name the initial of the person who occupies the biggest part of your heart right now.”

“J.”

Daesoo answered without hesitation and picked the next question.

“When was your first experience?”

“Ha…”

Daesoo rubbed his brow, troubled by the blunt question that followed the romantic one. Ignoring the expectant gazes, he took a drink.

“I’ll just drink.”

“Ah… that’s no fun, Daesoo.”

“Then you try to make it fun.”

Daesoo handed the box to Jisoo, who was about to pick anything carelessly when a capsule seemed to slip into his hand as if someone was playing a trick.

Jisoo, who stopped moving at the unfamiliar sensation, stood still, and Dansol tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hyung…!”

“Huh? Oh… okay…”

Finally coming to his senses, Jisoo took out his question sheet and read it.

“What is the biggest mistake you’ve made recently?”

Jisoo’s mind was complicated. Although he had no intention of saying it out loud, meeting Dansol had been enough to rekindle the guilt that had dulled over the years.

Even though he was taking more than the prescribed dose of suppressants, sharing a bed and suddenly feeling lust was something he couldn’t control. The feelings he had started as a joke were growing deeper than he had thought.

“Hmm… I’ll take a drink.”

“What, that’s boring too.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. Now Minhyuk, huh?”

Jisoo, about to hand the box to Minhyuk, noticed his seat was empty.

“Wow… Minhyuk hyung must have gone to prepare already.”

“Prepare what?”

“He’s been practicing singing since earlier.”

“Ha.”

At Taeoh’s words, Jisoo looked at Daesoo with a grimace. Daesoo had the same look. They both knew Minhyuk wasn’t the type to climb a mountain with a guitar just to get on camera once more.

‘Anyway, that cheesy guy…’

Jisoo’s fighting spirit was ignited by Dansol’s solitary murmur as he neatly gathered his knees and brightened his eyes.

“Wow! A song… I love songs too…”

‘Oh, right. Sol is a singer too.’

Since the shockingly cute a cappella performance on the first day, Jisoo had forgotten that Dansol was also a singer.

Now he realized that Jaegal Minhyuk was a more dangerous competitor than he had thought.

“Mm, ah ah.”

As all the remaining alphas felt a subtle unease, Minhyuk, with a guitar, cleared his throat and stepped out.

“What the heck, that guy.”

“Wow… Minhyuk hyung is amazing.”

“Ha…”

Somehow, with a clean-shaven face and neatly styled hair, he looked like a scene from a photo shoot.

“He’s serious.”

“I never saw him like that… hiding nine tails. Using a cheat key…!”

Daesoo sighed as he looked up at the sky, and Taeoh stomped his foot in frustration. Even his outfit was different from before. He had come prepared, unlike they had thought.

Dansol was already waiting with his hands together, eager for the sweet song Jaegal Minhyuk would sing.

“This song… I composed thinking of one person… just one person… Joo…”

Minhyuk hadn’t finished his prepared speech. Jisoo, not willing to be a bystander in someone else’s spotlight, accidentally on purpose poured the remaining alcohol onto the small stove where the campfire was dwindling.

The almost extinguished flames met the alcohol and burst into a large flame.

“Oh no! Fire!”

Pretending to try to put out the fire, Jisoo subtly fanned the flames to make them grow larger.

“…Wow! Fire! Fire show!”

Thanks to that, the intoxicated Dansol quickly forgot about Minhyuk’s song and got engrossed in the fire spectacle Jisoo created.

Before the flames spread outside the stove, Dansol was moved to a safe place, and Taeoh and Daesoo excitedly brought water and sand to put out the fire. The romantic mood fizzled out with the flames, and the sudden extinguishing of the campfire left only thick smoke rising.

Jisoo, emerging from the smoke, slyly spoke to PD Choi.

“Phew, that was close. PD Choi, let’s use LED next time, okay?”

“…Ha.”

He sighed instead of replying, having lost the romantic scene for the trailer.

“Uh… that…”

Minhyuk, still holding his guitar and standing blankly, tried to say something, but Daesoo blocked the camera filming him, pretending to put out the fire.

“Hey, you need to make sure there are no embers left. Step on it.”

“Wow… Daesoo Senior’s quick thinking is amazing. You could be an honorary firefighter.”

Taeoh gave Daesoo a thumbs up. Their teamwork was perfect as if they had rehearsed it. Minhyuk, looking lost, stood like a homeless man.

“Sol, let’s go to bed.”

Jisoo pulled the drunken, swaying Dansol by the shoulder.

Dansol, who had been following Jisoo’s lead, stopped in front of the tent and refused to go in. In a small voice, audible only to the two of them, he spoke.

“Hyung… I know.”

“…What?”

“Your secret…”

Thud.

Jisoo’s heart plummeted to the ground. His hands trembled uncontrollably, something he’d never experienced, even in front of a gossip reporter who had heard stories from his former agency’s president.

Having someone know his secret was never a big deal for Jisoo.

He had sent his money-grubbing former agency president to prison on embezzlement charges and had completely shut down a nosy journalist’s third-rate newspaper.

He had gotten angry at bothersome issues but had never felt such… fear before.

Then, what about Joo Dansol?

What should he do about Joo Dansol?

His usually relaxed and cunning mind was paralyzed like a stone, leaving him at a loss.

It was then that Dansol mumbled from within Jisoo’s arms.

“Fire… want to… do that…”

“…What? What are you saying, Sol?”

“I know everything because you wanted to play with fire. I saw everything, Hyung, you pouring alcohol!”

“Hoo…”

Jisoo felt his legs go weak. In that moment, he had to admit that his feelings for Dansol were no mere game.

Jisoo was terrified that Dansol might hate him.

“Yeah, I was just messing around. I’m sorry.”

“Hyung… if you play with fire, you’ll wet the bed.”

“Okay… I’m sorry. I’ll be careful.”

“Be careful! Bed-wetter… Han Jisoo, the bed-wetter…”

***

After putting the drunken Dansol to bed, Jisoo stepped outside the tent, feeling troubled, and lit a cigarette.

Taeoh and Daesoo, who had just finished cleaning up, approached Jisoo. Daesoo silently took a cigarette from Jisoo’s shirt pocket and lit it.

“Hyung! No, Senior! How did you come up with such an idea? I was really… blown away by Minhyuk hyung’s shaved beard. As expected… the best Senior! You completely stole the show!”

Taeoh still seemed lost in the excitement of the earlier situation. But for Jisoo, who had no intention of playing along with Taeoh, the moment had already passed.

“Taeoh.”

“Yes!”

“Tone it down.”

“Okay…”

“Where’s Jaegal Minhyuk?”

Even among the staff bustling around with the equipment, Minhyuk’s long hair and tall stature were nowhere to be seen.

“He drank what was left and went to sleep. I comforted him, saying today wasn’t his day. I did well, right, Hyung?”

“Taeoh.”

“Yes!”

“You should go to bed too.”

“Okay…”

After patting Taeoh’s shoulder a couple of times, Jisoo gestured for Daesoo to follow him and walked into the nearby empty forest.

As Daesoo, annoyed, brushed his hair back and prepared to follow, Taeoh grabbed him.

“Hey, Senior… It’s true, right? There’s something going on between you and Jisoo Senior?”

“….”

As Daesoo’s face darkened menacingly, Taeoh raised his hands in surrender.

“Oh! Don’t get me wrong. I was briefly attracted to Jisoo hyung’s sexiness and wanted to get closer to him, but now I’ve set my sights clearly. I support you two. Fighting!”

“Ma Taeoh.”

“Yes!”

Daesoo’s low voice resonated. Taeoh looked at him expectantly.

“I won’t forget… the emotions I felt today.”

With his face flushed and veins bulging at his temples, Daesoo gritted his teeth and walked away.

Taeoh, oblivious to Daesoo’s feelings of shame and humiliation, smiled, thinking he had made a good decision.

“He seems really grateful to me… I guess giving up on Jisoo hyung was the right call. Man, I’m pretty cool!”

***

“Don’t call me out alone if possible. Crazy people might get the wrong idea.”

Daesoo, having followed Jisoo, spoke after confirming they were alone.

“It seemed like you were the one looking for me more today.”

“…”