* * *
” Jisoo, it’s been a while since we walked like this.”
As they reached the pine forest, Minseong lowered his voice, trying to set a mood that wouldn’t settle.
He figured the curses he spat out earlier, provoked by Jisoo’s flashlight antics, would be edited out, aiming for a nostalgic ex-boyfriend vibe for the broadcast.
Jisoo, stifling a laugh, thought how his acting skills were always subpar.
“Did we ever walk together before?”
Jisoo wasn’t wrong. Minseong usually chased after him, and he either ran away or pushed him into the car to avoid being photographed.
They had walked together only once…
“Remember that time.”
When he hurried into his apartment’s parking lot to escape Minseong, only to grab his arm in surprise as camera flashes went off, resulting in an undeniable dating scandal.
Thinking about it made Jisoo want to reshape Minseong’s nose himself. Being linked with him was annoying.
Minseong’s tone suggested reminiscing about a beautiful past, but Jisoo only remembered the headlines about their “romance” that still made his shudder.
If it had been Dansol instead of Minseong, he would have proudly declared Dansol as his man at a press conference.
Ignoring Minseong’s chatter, Jisoo smiled, imagining a dating scandal with Dansol.
“What… why are you laughing alone like that? It’s creepy.”
Minseong seemed genuinely scared. Even back then and now, Jisoo didn’t see any value in conversing with him.
With a mischievous glint, he slowly turned his gaze away, making Minseong nervously ask what he was looking at.
“There’s a ghost.”
“Ahhh!”
Jisoo didn’t respond, just looked back at Minseong with a spooky expression, mentioning a nonexistent ghost. Scaring a coward was the best defense.
Minseong screamed, clearly terrified, and Jisoo laughed at his cowardice, a clear mocking laugh.
“You… seriously!”
Wanting to curse at him, Minseong noticed the cameras and couldn’t vent fully. Jisoo whispered in his ear, “Stop playing alpha. Know your place.”
Caught off guard by Jisoo’s dominant pheromones, Minseong froze.
When their dating rumors first emerged, the public thought Minseong deserved better. He too believed his name helped Jisoo, a rising actress, gain fame.
But now, the tables had turned. Jisoo, a well-established actress both domestically and internationally, made Minseong’s insecurities grow, still unable to hed his idol image.
If only we had never crossed paths, the feelings that could have ended as mere jealousy became even more intense being so close.
“Sigh… damn…”
***
“Dansol, take this.”
Taeoh entered the kitchen and came back with a handful of garlic, which he stuffed into Dansol’s pocket.
“What is this…?”
“Ghosts are scared of garlic, you know.”
“Taeoh… it’s not like we’re dealing with real ghosts…”
Dansol tried to protest against the overpowering smell of garlic, but Taeoh was insistent. The other participants watched, amused.
“If we’re going to fight ghosts, we need to be prepared.”
“Taeoh, courage is about fighting yourself. We’re fighting… ourselves. All our fears come from within… And there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
Dansol closed his eyes and took a deep breath after saying this. Taeoh shook his head.
“Dansol, you say that because you don’t know… I’ve actually seen a ghost.”
“What?!”
“I even fainted in a recording studio once. A fortune teller said that if I weren’t a celebrity, I would have become a shaman…”
“Aaah!”
As Taeoh was speaking, a scream came from below the cliff. It was either Minseong or Jisoo who had screamed.
“Why are you telling me this now…?”
Dansol seemed to lose strength in his legs and sat down.
“I was afraid you’d be even more scared…”
Dansol began to put the garlic Taeoh gave him back into his pocket.
“Senior, aren’t you scared of ghosts?”
“…”
Doohyun asked Daesoo, but he couldn’t answer easily.
“Don’t tell me, are you scared?”
“Well… I tend not to believe in things I haven’t seen with my own eyes.”
“What about you, Minhyuk?”
Doohyun intentionally avoided looking at Yiyeon when he asked. Ever since Yiyeon had firmly rejected him, Doohyun hadn’t gone near him.
“I don’t think they don’t exist. Especially… on an island, they say there are many ghosts. Ghosts can’t cross water.”
“But there’s a bridge.”
Minhyuk was right, but in this situation, there was actually a bridge that connected Chunmong Island to the mainland.
“I see…”
“He really seems more and more like a sage…”
“Minhyuk is working on an OST for a historical drama. That’s probably why.”
Doohyun muttered to himself in response to Minhyuk’s answer. Taeoh, trembling with fear, responded for Minhyuk instead.
“There’s nothing you don’t know, is there?”
Despite Doohyun’s sarcastic tone, Taeoh seemed to take it as a compliment and looked embarrassed. Frustrated by the lack of meaningful conversation, Doohyun clammed up.
“Senior Yiyeon, aren’t you scared of ghosts?”
Taeoh asked Yiyeon, who had been keeping a stern expression.
“More than ghosts… people are scarier.”
At Yiyeon’s words, Dansol unknowingly nodded in agreement. No one knew better than Dansol how scary people could be.
***
“Hey! Han Jisoo! Jisoo? Jisoo, where are you? I’m here!”
Meanwhile, Minseong had fallen into a trap set by the production team and was desperately calling for Jisoo.
Although the pit was cushioned all around, Minseong really felt like he was going to die when he fell in trying to catch up to Jisoo.
It had seemed like ordinary ground, but when he stepped on it, it felt like he was falling endlessly.
The diligent staff had really outdone themselves. The pit was at least 300cm deep.
With nothing to grab onto, the walls were just smooth mattresses and cushions. This was no ordinary horror experience.
“Hey… there’s a rope here.”
Jisoo said, shaking the end of a rope that the production team had installed in advance.
“Oh! Yeah! Give me that!”
“Why should I?”
“Because… we’re on the same team?”
Jisoo scoffed at Minseong’s words. Sensing something was wrong, Minseong began to try and calm his down.
“Hey… we’re not like that, right? If you go alone, you’ll be scared, and I’ll be scared too…”
“I’m not scared.”
“But… if you leave me here, people will criticize you, won’t they? Don’t you care about your image?”
“Well… I already have a reputation for being rude, so there’s no image to manage. And if I find the tokens alone, I get both date coupons and the elimination vote. I have even less reason to help you. Bye!”
Jisoo disappeared from Minseong’s view, leaving only the round sky. Minseong laughed, thinking it was just a joke.
“Haha, come on… Jisoo? You’re kidding, right? Jisoo? Jisoo? Han Jisoo?”
“…”
“Hey! Han Jisoo, you bastard!”
But there was no answer from Jisoo, only the sound of crows cawing.
— Team 1’s Han Jisoo has reached the cave and successfully obtained the date coupon. No teams have found the elimination vote token yet. Next team, Jeagal Minhyuk and Yiyeon, please prepare.
“Wait… shouldn’t we wait until Jisoo gets here?”
— The previous participants wait at the finish line. They do not return here.
“Oh… then can we leave first? It’s scarier being here alone…”
— The order has already been decided and cannot be changed.
“Let’s go.”
“We’re leaving.”
Yiyeon and Minhyuk, wearing headlamps, started walking down the cliff.
* * *
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Thanks!
yiyeon and minhyuk,,, interesting combo