Chapter 106

“What?”

“Just a moment, please.”

The atmosphere around the drinking table shifted awkwardly with the sudden appearance of the staff member. He smiled apologetically and gestured for the contestants to keep enjoying themselves.

The cast, all experienced enough with broadcasting to understand how things worked, quickly slipped back into character and resumed the noisy atmosphere.

But Yo Han Sung and Sun Choi didn’t relax their attention. Their eyes stayed fixed on Gyeol and the staff member, clearly trying to figure out what this was about. Apparently deciding that much couldn’t be helped, the staff member lowered his head slightly toward Gyeol and spoke quietly.

“Could you come with me for a moment?”

“Okay.”

As Gyeol stood up, several gazes followed him before eventually drifting back.

A staff member suddenly pulling someone away wasn’t especially rare. Nine times out of ten, it meant an interview.

Still, because he already had something weighing on his mind, unease prickled beneath Gyeol’s skin.

“See you in a bit.”

“Come back soon, Gyeol.”

Gyeol gave a small nod to Yo Han and Sun’s farewells before following after the staff member.

As they passed the rows of cameras and moved farther behind the production crew, Gyeol’s anxiety quietly intensified.

Should I ask what this is about...

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the staff member stopped at the entrance to the uphill path.

“You can head up and do the favorability vote.”

The tension drained out of him so suddenly it almost made him dizzy.

So that was all this was. The rigid tightness unconsciously locked in Gyeol’s shoulders loosened at once.

“You don’t need to write letters today. When you go up there, you’ll see heart cards placed in front of the mailbox. You can put them in for everyone you’re interested in. There’s no limit on how many people you choose.”

So they’d changed the voting rules.

Wanting to confirm he understood correctly, Gyeol asked back,

“So if all five Alphas appeal to someone, they could vote for all five?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Got it.”

“We’ll be bringing contestants up one at a time, and you’re first, Mr. Go Gyeol, so please don’t mention it to the others beforehand.”

Gyeol walked up the now-familiar uphill path.

It was the road leading to interviews and favorability votes—

and also the exact path where Yo Han used to wait for him because there were no cameras here.

If I’d known this was happening, I should’ve brought my bag.

The second he realized cameras were no longer pointed at him, the urge to check his phone became overwhelming.

Maybe something came in while I was gone.

In an age where people could instantly hear from family whenever they wanted, being unable to contact anyone made him feel like he’d genuinely been stranded on a deserted island.

How was I supposed to bring my bag? What would I even say during voting? It would just look suspicious.

Shaking the thoughts away, Gyeol continued up the hill until he reached the mailbox.

Just like the staff member had said, stacks of business-card-sized cards were piled in front of it. Black cards with large red hearts printed across them.

Gyeol scooped up a random handful like he was holding poker cards.

Then, without hesitating long, he slipped one card each into Sun Choi’s and Yo Han Sung’s mailboxes before stacking the remaining cards neatly back where they’d been.

***

Just like Gyeol, the contestants were called away one at a time by the staff before returning.

Meanwhile, everyone became considerably drunk.

Beer wasn’t especially high in alcohol content, but after hours of continuously emptying cans, staying sober was impossible.

As the drinking session dragged on, it became harder and harder for Gyeol to remain the only fully sober person there.

More than anything, the urge to check his phone kept clawing at him.

But he had already gone to the bathroom two or three times today carrying his bag with him.

Unlike the others, Gyeol almost never touched his phone during filming. Usually, he only turned it on briefly before the day started or after everything ended, inside the bathroom.

For security reasons.

Producer Yoo and the staff were already hypersensitive because of the Woo Seok incident. If he kept touching his belongings any more than this and ended up looking awkward or suspicious, it could become a serious problem.

“Is there any cold beer left over there?”

“Of course. I’ll get you one.”

In the end, Gyeol chose the easier option:

drinking a little instead.

By the time Gyeol had finished about half a can of beer, Hwang Gyujin—the final person to go vote—returned.

Soon after, the alert tone rang through the speakers.

— Starting now, we will reveal today’s [Paradise Love MAX] favorability vote results.

This was different from before too. Instead of each person checking their own mailbox individually, the results would now be publicly revealed.

An explanation followed that the name Paradise Love MAX symbolized expressing love to its absolute maximum. Apparently, that was why there had been no limit on the number of voting cards.

Pleasantly drunk, the contestants reacted loudly with surprise and cheers.

— Please look at the screen installed to your left.

Everyone’s eyes and bodies turned left at once.

The same screen used during the games had been set up there.

The blinking display flickered like the opening of a video game before shifting into pixel art animation. A tiny character ran across the island holding a heart while cheerful music played.

“So cute!”

“This suddenly feels really intense. My heart’s pounding.”

The anticipation built and built until—

ta-da!

A bright sound effect rang out as the results appeared.

< Love MAX Voting Results >

[ Alpha ]

Yo Han Sung — 3 votes

Jun Shin — 2 votes

Sun Choi — 2 votes

Tommy — 1 vote

Hwang Gyujin — 4 votes

[ Omega ]

Hanseul Ga — 0 votes

Hee Jun Kang — 1 vote

Gyeol Go — 2 votes

Jaekyung Park — 2 votes

Isu Yoon — 1 vote

The instant Gyeol saw the screen, relief washed through him.

Two votes. Probably from Sun Choi and Yo Han...

The fact that he hadn’t received more than that meant things had settled exactly the way he’d hoped.

“So what the hell? Did the Alphas just stop voting halfway through?”

Tommy shouted teasingly while pointing at the screen with his tongs.

“Put the tongs down first.”

“That’s harsh, seriously. Do you realize how huge the vote gap between the Alphas and Omegas is right now?”

“They literally told us we could vote however we wanted.”

Hee Jun and Jaekyung chimed in one after another.

Then a brief silence fell.

Usually, Jun Shin would’ve jumped in here to continue the joking around or steer the conversation forward like a host, but tonight he’d been unusually quiet and withdrawn.

Unable to tolerate the silence, Tommy started rambling.

“Um. Uh. I’m dead last among the Alphas. How tragic...”

He looked so flustered it seemed like he was just saying whatever came to mind. Beside him, Hee Jun sympathetically patted his back in comfort.

It really was a cruel system.

They had only barely gotten used to facing empty mailboxes in private—

and now this was practically a public execution in front of everyone.

Just imagining the first version airing on television was enough to make someone lose their mind, but this version was even crueler because it forced people to feel the humiliation immediately.

Under the table, Hanseul clenched his fists tightly.

He barely managed to maintain a blank expression, though he couldn’t stop the tension from hardening his jaw.

Are you serious?

Humiliation and fury surged through him.

Yo Han was one thing.

But even Hwang Gyujin, whom Hanseul had deliberately invested effort into today, hadn’t voted for him? Even with unlimited voting cards?

He wanted to storm out immediately, but he couldn’t.

Not with this many cameras around.

Woo Seok had already imploded, Jaekyung was acting like that, and Yo Han wasn’t even worth mentioning... nothing was going the way Hanseul wanted anymore. At the very least, he wanted to preserve his image.

Gyujin, who had been energetically leading the drinking atmosphere all night, spoke in a lazy drawl.

“So I’m first place among the Alphas. Guess everyone was nice to the new face.”

Then he raised his hand and asked,

“There’s something I’m genuinely curious about. Can I ask another contestant something related to the voting?”

— You may.

“Perfect. Then let’s go around one at a time asking questions. If you can’t answer, you drink a paper cup of beer. But the questions have to be related to the voting.”

With flushed cheeks, Gyujin stood up holding a beer can.

“Sounds good!”

There was no way the contestants would reject someone willingly stepping up to organize the atmosphere and create a game when they’d been lacking a proper host figure. Everyone clapped and cheered enthusiastically.

Holding up a paper cup filled to the brim with beer, Gyujin grinned.

“What I really want to know is who the one person was that didn’t vote for me.”

Unintentionally, the question directly targeted Gyeol.

Because the only Omega who hadn’t voted for Hwang Gyujin was Gyeol Go.

Hee Jun, who had been blinking in confusion, suddenly shot his hand into the air.

“Oh? Hee Jun, you didn’t vote for me?”

Gyujin misunderstood immediately.

“No, that’s not it. The punishment for not answering is drinking, right? But in this situation, four people voted for you and only one person didn’t. So what you’re really asking is who that one person was.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Then how is someone supposed to answer and drink the penalty beer? If the person who didn’t vote for you says, ‘I’ll drink,’ then that basically reveals the answer.”

“Uh...”

“And if the four people who did vote for you all say they voted for you... then the one person who didn’t gets exposed automatically anyway.”

Gyujin looked too drunk for his brain to be functioning properly. He narrowed his eyes and visibly struggled to process it.

“Hee Jun’s right.”

“Uh... then what do we do?”

As everyone threw around confused suggestions, Gyeol stared blankly.

I could just say I didn’t vote for Hwang Gyujin.

It wasn’t exactly difficult.

Still, everyone was currently discussing the rules and adjusting the flow of the game together. Interrupting that atmosphere felt oddly awkward.

Maybe I should just raise my hand, drink the beer, and confess afterward.

If he drank first in a clean, straightforward way, it probably wouldn’t kill the mood.

The only problem was that he’d have to drink even more alcohol when he’d already been trying not to.

But what could he do?

Not everything in life went according to plan.

Just as Gyeol made up his mind and started to raise his hand—

Yo Han grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand back down.

“...?”

For a split second, Gyeol genuinely couldn’t understand what Yo Han was doing.

Then Yo Han released his hand, stood up from his seat, and said,

“I’ll take the hit for him.”