Chapter 51

Three people were sitting together on the floor in the dark. One of them glanced around the room before lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Didn’t every Alpha pick him during the first-impression vote too?”

Apparently he thought whispering would keep the microphones from catching it.

Unfortunately for him, it failed miserably.

Every single word was broadcast loud and clear.

There was no subject in the sentence, but Kisoo Yang instantly knew who they were talking about. His mouth slowly fell open.

They were seriously gossiping about Gyeol behind his back?

“Well... I mean, Gyeol Go does seem like the kind of person people would like. The first-impression vote was basically based on looks anyway.”

Another person spoke cautiously. But the remaining voice clearly disagreed.

“Honestly, this is basically stringing people along, isn’t it? I tried to think positively about it during the first-impression vote, but when even Woo Seok picked him earlier, I was honestly stunned.”

Even whispered, the anger in the voice was obvious.

A sharp ache throbbed through the back of Kisoo’s head. People called R-Connect a dopamine-fueled reality show, but at this rate, the dosage was lethal. Viewer reactions were exploding too. The comments section was absolute chaos.

The conversation between the three continued.

“Did Woo Seok even have any connection with him?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never even seen them talk before... Seriously, isn’t this ridiculous? And today he completely ignored me.”

That comment made it easy to identify the furious speaker.

Jaekyung Park.

And the person who had ignored him was Woo Seok Jung.

“Wow... He’s incredible. Honestly kind of scary.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Acting like he’s the nicest person in the world all by himself.”

“...Still, isn’t this kind of conversation a little dangerous? I don’t think he’s acting with some kind of ulterior motive.”

The first two had already concluded that Gyeol was stringing people along, while the third person stubbornly continued voicing a more reasonable opinion.

Then Jaekyung snapped at him.

“Hee Jun. What are you going to do if Tommy picks him after break time ends?”

“Huh?”

The one trying to stay fair was Hee Jun Kang. His voice turned flustered.

“Looks like they went off to talk earlier. Tommy might pick him instead of you.”

“N-No. That’s Tommy’s choice, and I’m planning to get to know other people too...”

Hee Jun faltered awkwardly beneath Jaekyung’s aggressive tone.

Then Hanseul Ga asked quietly,

“Who?”

“....”

“You all like him, don’t you? So who exactly are you planning to get to know instead?”

Hanseul questioned the speechless Hee Jun again.

His tone was mild and gentle.

But the words themselves were razor sharp.

After a suffocating silence, the screen abruptly changed and commercials began playing. The bright, bubbly background music clashed horribly with the atmosphere from moments earlier.

“Wow... what the hell was that?”

Letting out a breath, Kisoo collapsed back into his chair and tipped his head against the headrest. His skull throbbed like he’d just been struck in the back of the head.

The Episode 8 preview had been nothing.

The preview itself had only been bait designed to drag as many viewers as possible toward the utterly insane actual broadcast.

His throat felt dry. Kisoo grabbed his drink and gulped it down. The commercials felt unbearably loud and chaotic, so he muted the sound entirely. He needed to monitor the online communities, but he genuinely didn’t have the courage to refresh the pages.

“...Wow. Seriously, what even is this? Huh?”

Dragging both hands down his face, Kisoo ended up clutching his forehead.

Ever since his trainee days, Gyeol had attracted an unusual amount of envy and jealousy from the people around him. Even adults could see it clearly, so LM’s CEO, the staff directly assigned to him, and Kisoo had all known.

From a professional perspective, though, it wasn’t necessarily a bad sign.

If anything, it was the opposite.

Maybe it was the ability to drive both fans and haters equally insane.

Just as dazzling flowers attract both bees and insects, people with powerful presence naturally invited both praise and vicious criticism at the same time. The entertainment industry didn’t risk noise marketing for no reason.

“Even so... our kid really never gets a single easy break.”

For the first time in ages, Kisoo desperately wanted a cigarette.

Still, even if he smoked later, he had to do his job first.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Kisoo refreshed the online community page.

Posts were updating by the minute.

Comments were updating by the second.

After hesitating briefly, Kisoo reopened the live discussion thread and started reading.

***

Holy shit holy shit holy shit my brain feels like it’s on fire

Hey fuck pleaseㅠㅠㅠ Hee Jun, withdraw from the show. Our Hee Jun needs to leave. Hee Jun get out now

↳ People are mass-posting the hashtag #RConnect_HeeJunWithdraw on YellowBird social media, spread it aroundㅠㅠ

↳ Going right nowㅠㅠㅠㅠ our babyㅠㅠ fuckㅠㅠ

R-Connect 10 is no joke lmfaoㅋㅋㅋㅋ this might seriously be the craziest season everㅋㅋㅋ holy shitㅋㅋㅋ how... how does this even happen?ㅋㅋㅋ

↳ The live viewer count is insane right now tooㅋㅋㅋㅋ even during commercials

↳ Wait?? You can see live viewer numbers?

↳ Yeah yeah yeah. If you watch Mflix on browser during live broadcast hours, it shows them

Vote for the villain ㄱㄱ 1) Gyeol Go 2) Hanseul Ga

↳ same

↳ 1..

↳ Fuck are you seriously comparing them? You’re comparing Gyeol to the late-entry twist who immediately started talking shit behind people’s backs?

↳ Anyone calling Gyeol the villain is actually stupid. Do you people even know what a villain is???? Typical R-Connect viewers hating on a popular Omega at the first opportunityㅋㅋㅋ

↳ This poll itself is wrong.. the correct answer is number 3 -> 3) Woo Seok Jung

↳ Agreed with the comment above.

↳ 333 obviously it’s 3;;

But honestly I really can’t figure Hanseul outㅋㅋㅋㅋ His attitude just seems super easygoing... Maybe Woo Seok got carried away and Jaekyung got triggered all on his own?

↳ Hanseul is that you?

↳ It’s obviously Hanseulㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s the final boss villain. Egging Woo Seok on, stirring up the Omegas behind the scenes... you can practically hear the gears turning in his head

No but Hanseul literally just arrived on the first day though???? Isn’t it understandable if he doesn’t know the full situation? Just hearing about it secondhand could totally make it seem like Gyeol’s stringing people along. Hanseul just seems cool and straightforward to me. Honestly the one snapping emotionally and making it obvious he’s upset is Jaekyung because nobody likes him.

↳ Jaekyung wasn’t innocent either but saying Hanseul did nothing wrong is kindaㅋㅋ

↳ “Doesn’t know”? What doesn’t he knowㅋㅋㅋ He’s obviously trying to pair other Alphas with Gyeol so he can take Yo Han for himself, and it’s painfully obvious he’s manipulating the Omegas behind the scenes to create sides

Forget all that, Producer Yoo scares me;;

↳ same;

↳ SAME holy shit.

↳ Seriouslyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ the fact she edited it like this... terrifying woman.

↳ I could never survive on R-Connect

↳ Like they’d ever invite you?

↳ Get over here and get in the carㅋㅋㅋ

I seriously seriously hate Woo Seok now what the hellㅋㅋㅋㅋ

↳ For real... his image used to be so good... “everyone’s boyfriend”? Yeah that’s dead now

↳ Same, I got the ick instantly

↳ Doesn’t he seem kind of dangerous...? I had a bad feeling about Woo Seok from the first time I saw him. Physiognomy really is science

↳ OMG SAME!!!!!! He has that exact kind of face!!!! Those muddy eyes and everything?!!!

Welp nobody’s sleeping tonight

The fact Gyeol got another unanimous Alpha vote is absolutely insaneㅋㅋㅋ and nobody’s even talking about it

No but...ㅠㅠ Gyeol must feel so uncomfortable... If I were him I’d honestly want to run away. I have avoidant tendencies...

↳ Same. At first I was like “wow lucky, getting all that attention from Alphas, I want to be Gyeol in my next life,” but after the preview and this episode I completely changed my mind. Being beautiful is genuinely terrifying holy shit

↳ “Uncomfortable” my ass. His agency and Gyeol are probably throwing a party celebrating him locking in number-one buzz rankingㅋㅋㅋ

↳ I’m an emotional avoidant too and this episode genuinely gave me PTSD... seriously impressive

↳ He survived being in a failed idol group. This is probably nothing to himㅋㅋㅋ He’s a celebrity

(This comment has been deleted by moderators due to multiple reports.)

↳ Fuck you, I was one of the people who reported it

↳ I saved screenshots. Sending them straight to Gyeol’s agency good luck

↳ People like this are exactly why celebrities end up with panic disorders...

↳ Modsㅠㅠ please permanently ban the accountㅠ

Don’t care just end the commercials already holy shit I’m losing my mind

It’s starting again!!

***

By the time Gyeol returned after finishing the final interview segment, the drinking gathering was already winding down.

Only Sun Choi, Jun Shin, and Isu Yoon remained around the campfire, chatting over cans of beer.

As Gyeol approached, all three turned to look at him.

“You’re back, Gyeol.”

“Gyeol, how’d the interview go?”

Sun greeted him first, and Isu followed with his usual easygoing attitude.

“Good. Why are you all still up?”

“I waited for you. It’d feel lonely if you came back and nobody was here.”

Because of the strange atmosphere among the Omega contestants earlier, Isu’s unchanged behavior eased some of Gyeol’s tension.

For some reason, he felt grateful.

“Took you a while.”

Jun slipped naturally into the conversation and subtly tried to make space between himself and Sun for Gyeol to sit.

Gyeol waved both hands lightly.

“We just kept talking longer than expected... No, it’s okay. You don’t need to make room. Thanks for waiting. It’s late, so everyone should probably head in soon.”

Whether they had truly been waiting for him or not was impossible to know, but with this particular combination, it honestly didn’t feel like empty politeness.

It was already past midnight.

Considering tomorrow’s filming schedule, they really should rest now.

Checking his wristwatch, Jun nodded.

“Yeah. It’s already after twelve.”

“Already?”

Startled, Isu began cleaning up the empty cans. Sun and Jun helped immediately, and Gyeol joined in too.

“You really lose track of time here. Yo Han’s probably finished showering by now, right?”

“Who knows. Maybe someone stopped him to talk.”

The conversation between Sun and Jun—both of whom shared the same bungalow as Yo Han—drifted into Gyeol’s ears.

Apparently Yo Han had already left earlier.

Noticing Gyeol paying attention, Jun explained that the three Omegas had gone back first, then Tommy had gotten up to check on Woo Seok because he was worried about him, and Yo Han had followed after Tommy.

Gyeol merely nodded occasionally, careful of the cameras.

With four people cleaning together, the campsite was tidied up quickly.

As they walked back toward the lodging area together, Gyeol promised himself he would collapse into bed the second he finished showering.

His whole body felt heavy with exhaustion.

Ever since arriving on Pheromone Island, not a single day had been peaceful, but today in particular felt overwhelmingly eventful.

“Isu, go shower first. You must be tired.”

“Huh? Gyeol, you can go first if you want...”

“No. I rested well at Ivory Mansion yesterday.”

In reality, he’d spent Ivory Mansion trembling because of Yo Han rather than resting.

Still, Gyeol wanted to be considerate toward Isu, who had been kind to him.

After refusing once more, Isu finally relented and hurried into the bungalow, saying he’d wash up quickly.

“Then I’ll head in too. Sleep well, both of you. See you tomorrow.”

Gyeol gave Sun and Jun a small bow in farewell.

“Good night, Gyeol.”

“Wait a second, Gyeol.”

Just as Gyeol stepped toward the entrance, Sun called out to stop him.