Chapter 26

“You crazy perverted Alpha… Why did you skip your suppressants during rut season? Did you get excited thinking you’d be alone with Sol? Did you deliberately…”

While everyone was eating, Daesoo, avoiding people’s eyes, entered the tent to borrow suppressants from Jisoo.

Jisoo handed over a long windbreaker and Alpha suppressants with a look of disdain, clicking his tongue as he glanced at Daesoo’s groin.

Daesoo quickly zipped up the windbreaker and accepted the pills, swallowing them without water. The sound of the pills crunching between his teeth was chilling.

“I didn’t skip them.”

“Then why act like that…? Are you in puberty? If you suddenly went into rut, it’s a disease, you should see a doctor.”

The participants of the program were supposed to carry suppressants and manage their cycles. Someone as meticulous as Daesoo wouldn’t miss such a thing.

“It seems like someone switched my pills.”

Jisoo laughed at the absurdity of finding the same suppressants on this island.

“Have you been reading mystery novels? Who would do such a thing…?”

“They tasted different. I thought it was a bit strange.”

“Maybe your pills were just poorly made?”

“No way, I’ve been taking them since before we came here. This has never happened.”

Jisoo thought of the three people. Minhyuk, Taeoh, and Dansol… no, even Yiyeon and Doohyun, who couldn’t climb the mountain.

Could one of them have switched the pills?

“I have suspicions but no proof. Just calm down for now. If you go crazy and do something to Dansol, I’ll kill you.”

“Go ahead.”

***

“Hyung! Come here quickly!”

Dansol, excited about something, welcomed the slowly approaching Jisoo.

He patted the spot beside him, calling Jisoo. The sight, with his excited cheeks and cute actions, along with the faint scent of alcohol, made Jisoo feel like he had a tail.

Seeing him so happy and innocent, after appearing so dispirited, disarmed Jisoo once again. It was a relief that neither Daesoo nor anyone else had seen this side of him first.

“Sol, did you drink?”

“Oh… yeah. It’s a prop for later… Director Kim gave me a drink.”

‘That old man Kim gave him a drink…’

Jisoo’s hands easily covered Dansol’s cheeks. Dansol, usually stiff from sudden physical contact, was now so soft and pliable from just one drink, making Jisoo want to devour him.

Though he didn’t like that the director had given Dansol a drink, he restrained his urge to get angry because he got to see this side of him.

The bottle of liquor on the table was a pretty strong whiskey. Even with just one drink, Dansol seemed tipsy, indicating he wasn’t used to alcohol.

“Sol, will you sleep with me tonight too?”

“Yes! Of course. Hyung needs his cuddle buddy…”

“Yeah.”

Jisoo smiled, touching Dansol’s warm cheek leaning on his shoulder. As others began to gather around the campfire, the assistant director clapped the slate.

“We had an announcement, but since not everyone is here, we’ll address it later. We can’t play the game we planned due to numbers. So, we’ll just have some drinks and talk.”

Dansol sensed an accusatory tone from PD Choi towards the absent members. He felt he had narrowly avoided criticism.

“In the box are questions from our youngest staff members. There are questions from viewers and some from our production team. We’ll take turns picking one and answering. If you can’t, you’ll take a drink.”

As expected, PD Choi wouldn’t let them off easy. In his drunken courage, Dansol was the first to raise his hand!

“Me! I want to go first!”

“Sol, is that what you wanted?”

Minhyuk and Taeoh, who were with Daesoo who had already returned to the summit, were smiling as if they found his sudden enthusiasm cute. Jisoo, matching Sol’s energy, spoke up.

“Yes! I wanted to do it!”

“Alright, go ahead and pick!”

“Okay!”

Sol put his hand into the round opening and stirred it around. he felt the familiar shape of the capsule at his fingertips. When he pulled out a capsule and opened the lid, a slightly longer piece of paper than usual was inside.

‘Is there a contestant from “RO Match Survival in Island” that you like?’

Sol blinked slowly as he read the question.

From the very first question, it was a sensitive one. All the Alphas were looking at Sol’s mouth, waiting for his answer.

“Yes… there is.”

Someone he liked… Sol answered and then read the question again several times. The person who came to mind immediately after reading the question made his vague feelings a little clearer.

“Next, is it my turn?”

Jisoo, who had been staring at the smiling Sol, opened his mouth. Without hesitation, he put his hand into the box in front of him.

‘When was your last relationship?’

Many people passed through Jisoo’s mind. They were people he met too casually to call a relationship. Because of rumors, none of them lasted long domestically, and most were one-night stands he met overseas.

Since a few of his films won big awards overseas, it had been a long time since he had even those because people recognized him. Jisoo roughly answered.

“Three years ago.”

“Don’t you have to drink if you lie about this?”

But Daesoo, who wouldn’t just let it go, threw in a comment out of habit.

Director Choi’s eyes sparkled as if he caught something.

“Do you have some information?”

But Jisoo, who had already caught Daesoo’s weakness, looked at Daesoo’s center and Daesoo added a lame excuse.

“No… it’s just… I was asking about the rules. I’m not saying Jisoo is lying.”

“Ah… if there’s evidence, of course, there will be a penalty.”

“Three years ago is right. I know.”

Daesoo gloomily added as he looked at the grinning Jisoo.

“Now it’s Minhyuk’s turn.”

Han Jisoo handed the box to Minhyuk. After a long hesitation, Minhyuk picked a capsule.

‘Chance: Ask one of the contestants a question.’

“Wow, I got a chance! Hmm… what should I ask…”

Pretending to think, Minhyuk handed the question heet to Sol.

“Earlier… who was the person you said you liked?”

It was probably a question everyone there was curious about. When Sol, who had been relaxed since it wasn’t his turn, looked up in surprise, not only the Alphas but even the staff were staring at him.

“Well… I…”

He wasn’t sure yet. Sol had been hurt before because he fell for someone too quickly in his previous life with Yiyeon. His feelings were clumsy and embarrassing to hold in alone.

“I’ll just take a drink.”

‘I won’t let anyone know this time.’

Determined to cherish it as a good memory and return to an ordinary person after the program ended, Sol swallowed his feelings with a shot of strong liquor.

Skipping Minhyuk’s chance turn, the box went to Taeoh.

“Hakuna Matata, go!”

Taeoh chanted a strange spell and picked a capsule.

‘What’s your maximum round in one night?’

“Ahhh!”

Taeoh screamed suddenly after reading the question. As if that wasn’t enough, he pinched the question heet between his thumb and index finger like he was picking up something dirty and threw it away.

“Who asked this question? Director! I’m an idol!”

“That wasn’t me.”

“That question is totally your taste, Director!”

“…It wasn’t directed at you. Let’s just drink.”

Director Choi, as if Taeoh’s guess was right, scratched the back of his head awkwardly and poured Taeoh a drink. Taeoh, pouting his lips, drank it and brought the box to Sol.

“It’s Sol’s turn.”

“Why does my turn come so quickly…”

Sol’s lower lip stuck out slightly as he got a little more tipsy from the drink earlier. Normally, he would just laugh and do as told, but with alcohol, his honest feelings spilled out.

Everyone started giggling at his sulking chick-like appearance.

“Always me…”

“Sol, do you want me to do it for you?”

Seeing his on the verge of tears, Jisoo volunteered as his knight in shining armor, but Sol didn’t back down.

“No… no. You have to do your own tasks. That’s how you become a cool adult. I am a cool adult!”

Muttering words he usually only said to himself for courage, Sol punched the air. He picked a capsule and read it clearly, but his already numb tongue fumbled the pronunciation.

‘If you could go back to the past, when would you go back and why?’

Go back again when he had already returned?

With his face flushed from drinking, Sol patted his cheeks a few times and buried his face in his hands, pondering for a while.

It was clear that drinking more was out of the question. Letting out a long sigh, Sol started to answer.

“When I was thirteen.”

It was a much younger age than expected. Everyone fell silent, as if they were broken.

“That’s when I became a trainee. So if I could go back, I would… just live normally like other friends instead of dreaming of becoming a celebrity.”

Listening carefully, Minhyuk asked Sol.

“Do you have anything you want to say to thirteen-year-old Sol?”

Everyone held their breath at Minhyuk’s question. They all remembered the moment their fate changed.

Since that day, a normal and peaceful life had become very distant. There were days when they deeply regretted choosing to be celebrities.

Enduring baseless insults and criticisms, having to smile and act through experiences so painful they wanted to die—what was normal for others had become a special deviation for them.

Why did I say I wanted to do something like this? The day I deeply regretted my youthful foolishness.

Such a day came not only for Dansol but for everyone at least once.

Borrowing the courage from alcohol, Dansol spoke to his younger self, who had grown up too quickly and never properly cried.

“It’s okay not to grow up too quickly. Everyone is waiting for you to become an adult, so don’t try to grow up too fast… can I tell myself that?”