* * *
“It feels… a bit eerie.”
Feeling awkward in the quiet atmosphere, Yiyeon struck up a conversation with Minhyuk. Although they were rivals competing for Dansol, Yiyeon thought Minhyuk was quite a good person.
“How was the date…?”
“Are you… jealous?”
“I’m just asking.”
However, Minhyuk didn’t seem that way. He appeared calmer than anyone else, truly serious about this competition.
“It wasn’t exactly good… but it wasn’t bad either.”
“Are you saying Dansol wasn’t good?!”
Minhyuk snapped, almost as if he were Dansol himself.
“No, that’s not it…!”
Yiyeon, seeing Minhyuk’s stern expression as if he were Dansol’s bodyguard, covered the mic slightly and lowered his voice.
“It feels like Dansol… is angry with me.”
“With you?”
“He told me to apologize. he said I should have been sorry back then, but no matter how much I think about it… I don’t know what I did wrong. Oh, gosh! That scared me…”
Yeon was startled by a ghost doll hanging at the entrance to the pine forest. Minhyuk, finding it cute, fiddled with it.
“Hmm… maybe that’s the problem?”
“What is?”
“Not knowing what you did wrong. Sometimes… just existing can hurt someone else.”
“Are you saying I’m that kind of person?”
“Yiyeon, you’re kind and considerate to everyone… so it’s likely.”
Yeon frowned, not understanding.
“Is being kind and considerate a crime?”
“In certain situations, being kind to everyone can be a crime. It can make the person closest to you feel neglected. It’s like… feeling lonely even when you’re together.”
“…I don’t understand. When did I ever…? So what should I do?”
“Why are you asking me? Hurt feelings come from love too. I didn’t even realize you and Dansol were that close. For the sake of fair competition, I won’t say more.”
“Oh, come on! Tell me! True competition starts on equal grounds!”
“Equal grounds? Aaaaagh!”
“Aaaaagh!”
***
Minseong, who had been trapped for 30 minutes, didn’t notice Yiyeon and Minhyuk approaching because he was covering his ears from the eerie cawing of crows.
The three people, meeting in the trap set by the production team, screamed in surprise at the sight of each other.
“Aaaah!”
“Aaah!”
“H… Minseong?”
Recognizing Minseong, who was drenched in sweat from tension, was Minhyuk.
“Minhyuk! Yiyeon! Why are you so late…? Crazy Han Jisoo left me behind… Anyway, let’s talk up there, it’s too hot and… there are so many bugs… let’s get out of here!”
“Uh…”
At Minseong’s words, Yiyeon and Minhyuk stood frozen like statues.
“What are you doing! Hurry up! Weren’t you here to rescue me?”
“The thing is… we fell in too.”
***
“Wow… this place is really scary.”
Even Doohyun, who frequently appeared on variety shows, found the path to the set prepared by the production team to be frightening.
The pine trees, through which the sound of the waves transmitted clearly, stretched towards the sky, and there wasn’t a single streetlight in sight.
Moreover, the set beyond, modeled after an abandoned house, looked incredibly realistic, amplifying the eeriness even more.
“The staff, who mainly work on movies, did a great job… Maybe that’s why we ran out of budget and got that weird drink sponsorship…”
“…”
But Daesoo was silent, his mouth tightly shut. Overcome with sudden fear, Doohyun lost his composure and snapped.
“Ah! Why aren’t you saying anything! Did you pee your pants or something?”
Doohyun, realizing he had shouted without thinking, quickly changed his tone to a kinder one.
“…Not yet.”
“What?”
Doohyun’s expression twisted as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
“Are you really scared?”
“Not yet…”
“What do you mean by ‘not yet’? Aaaaagh!”
Walking while looking at Daesoo, Doohyun fell into a pit, not watching his step.
Minhyuk, Yiyeon, and Minseong, who were below, barely avoided collision by pressing against the wall.
“Oh… I thought it wasn’t yet.”
Realizing that the same screams were heard twice at the same timing, Daesoo guessed there must be some kind of device.
Knowing Doohyun’s words, Daesoo, who wouldn’t usually pay attention, concluded that “not yet” meant there was no noticeable device yet.
“So that’s how it is. Han Jisoo got two date tickets because of this…”
Like true friends, instead of helping, Daesoo lowered himself to look at the trap and was about to leave just as Jisoo did.
“W-wait! Senior! Where are you going! You have to save us first!”
“…Why should I?”
“Because…! You can’t just leave people trapped!”
“What’s in it for me if I save you? I don’t want to share date tickets or voting rights with you.”
“I won’t take them!”
Drenched in sweat, Minhyuk, his long hair sticking to his face, shouted. Daesoo scoffed at his words.
“How can I trust you? Didn’t you see Ma Taeoh steal the voting right from your pocket?”
Daesoo’s gaze from above was like that of a ruthless loan shark. The trapped people began to wonder if this was a scene from a movie or if they were genuinely captured for some wrongdoing.
Despite the heat, Daesoo, clad in a white shirt and suit pants, made the green dating survival show feel even more brutal.
“If I find the voting rights or date tickets, I’ll give them all to you. It’s easier to find them together than alone. Also…”
Losing interest quickly, Daesoo crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“Dansol!”
“What?”
Yiyeon, who had been silent, finally spoke up.
“You’re the next runner, Dansol… Don’t you think people will be disappointed if you just leave like this? Without saving anyone and monopolizing the voting rights… Do you want to look like Han Jisoo ?”
Yiyeon spoke persuasively, like a salesman, noticing Daesoo nodding slightly.
“I’ll tell you everything once we get out of here. Oh! By the way, we should mark this trap clearly so Dansol doesn’t fall into it. Luckily, we have two headlamps…”
“Enough, come up.”
Daesoo interrupted Yiyeon, tying a rope to a nearby tree and lowering it.
Minseong, who had been clinging to the rope without the strength to climb, finally touched the ground with Daesoo’s help.
The PDs, who had been monitoring Daesoo helping the others, chuckled.
Even a top star couldn’t escape this. Despite their high fees being as much as a quarter’s production cost, it was worth the investment.
“Hey, zoom in on the scene where Jung Daesoo helps Jaegal Minhyuk and add grand music. Make it overlap with the movie Daesoo filmed before.”
“Hehe… It’s funny, right? Where else would you see them playing so childishly?”
“Joo Dansol is Daesoo’s weak spot. He’d probably follow his to the moon if he had to. Since it’s come to this… maybe we should trap the participants on a deserted island without a bridge.”
“That’s a good idea. It’d cause a stir outside, but people would be curious and watch. We need to get the ratings up, no matter what.”
As the assistant directors and writers shared their opinions, Mijin nodded quietly, finding the idea appealing.
The staff looked around, knowing that if the participants heard this, they might panic and call their legal teams to terminate their contracts.
At that moment, PD Choi Mijin noticed the youngest assistant director standing quietly in the corner and asked for his opinion.
“What do you think?”
“Me? Oh… Isn’t love inherently childish?”
“Hey! What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you paying attention?”
The youngest assistant director, who seemed to have been lost in thought, received criticism for his out-of-context comment. He awkwardly smiled, scratching the back of his head.
“He’s not completely incompetent, but…”
“What? PD?”
“Oh… nothing.”
Hearing Mijin mutter to herself, a writer asked, but Mijin quickly fell silent.
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
Thanks!