Chapter 73

“Holy shit, Golden Date Cards.”

“They finally showed up.”

“I get the ‘win the date pass’ part, but what the hell is Infinite Racing?”

The contestants immediately brightened, everyone chiming in at once.

“Starting now, the contestants will participate in three games back-to-back without rest.”

“The first game will be an Omega individual match. The second will be an Alpha individual match. The third and final game will be a team match with Omega-Alpha pairs.”

“Then the Alphas have to do the team match immediately after finishing their individual round.”

“Exactly. Damn, Jun Shin really is smart.”

At Jun’s deduction, Hee Jun Kang clapped enthusiastically.

The other contestants also swallowed nervously or nodded in understanding as the meaning of “Infinite Racing” sank in.

“Wow, this is gonna be brutal... Alpha individual matches are always insane.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Their physical stats are so ridiculous it basically turns into a bloodbath.”

When Hanseul Ga tilted his head curiously and asked, Jaekyung Park kindly explained it to him.

The two of them looked noticeably closer lately.

Honestly, maybe even closer than Jaekyung and Hee Jun.

“......”

Woo Seok Jung’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced around.

Every single Alpha bastard here was built like a tank.

The strategy he’d once considered foolproof—taking down the seemingly easiest target, Jun Shin, first and then dealing with the exhausted leftovers afterward—had already failed spectacularly. Now he needed another plan.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out how to beat these giant muscle freaks with endless stamina.

Fuck. Shouldn’t these assholes have focused on being celebrities instead of doing nothing but work out all day?

Woo Seok bitterly shifted blame onto everyone else, but the truth was he’d had every opportunity to improve his own physique too.

After being cast for R-Connect, contestants had over six months before filming began.

The head of Woo Seok’s agency had repeatedly emphasized that he absolutely needed to build up stamina and muscle beforehand. The show constantly required contestants to strip down, and most of the date-pass games revolved around strength and endurance.

But despite being given expensive personal training sessions with a famous fitness coach, Woo Seok skipped constantly.

He’d turn off his phone during workout hours and disappear to go drinking instead. The next day, he’d lazily send AI-generated meal photos pretending he was following the diet plan.

The other Alphas were completely different.

For over twenty years, Sun Choi had swum ten kilometers every single day while simultaneously enduring brutal land training. Even with his shoulder injury, his overall physical capabilities—honed through a lifetime as a swimmer—were unmatched.

Yo Han Sung, who spent his school years in America, had played football throughout middle and high school. That background was why he could perform rough action scenes himself without a stunt double. His muscles were dense, balanced, and powerful.

Jun Shin was famous even among idols for his athletic ability. Built through dance and strength training, he had a solid physique and sharp reflexes. He’d even taken first place multiple times on the variety show Run! Dream Team.

Even Tommy—who practically lived to eat—had gone through six months of hellish training before appearing on R-Connect.

Because he naturally built muscle easily and genuinely enjoyed working out, he’d always maintained what people jokingly called a “muscle pig” physique. But preparing for R-Connect, he intensified his workouts even further and followed a strict diet to the letter.

He’d filmed ridiculous mukbangs eating thirty servings of salad while silently crying after reading comments like:

[Elephants get fat eating only grass tooㅠㅠ]

Nobody here had achieved their current results easily.

It was the kind of effort Woo Seok would never understand, even if he died and came back to life.

“All contestants, please change clothes and gather on the beach.”

After scattering back to their lodgings, the contestants changed and regrouped by the sea.

Under the blazing sunlight, the Alphas stood in a row with their impressive upper bodies fully exposed, while the Omegas wore short shorts, water suits, T-shirts, or thin rash guards layered over them.

“Aren’t you staring a little too obviously, Hanseul?”

Jaekyung giggled while jabbing Hanseul’s side with his elbow.

Hanseul had been staring at Yo Han the entire time.

Pretending the sunlight was too bright, Hanseul narrowed his eyes slightly before answering flatly,

“It’s my first time seeing Yo Han sunbae’s body in person.”

“And? What’s the verdict?”

“He looks like he walked out of a photoshoot.”

Jaekyung burst out laughing at the answer.

Hee Jun laughed too.

Aside from Woo Seok standing alone looking sour, the Alphas were all in good spirits.

Meanwhile, Gyeol and Isu Yoon stood awkwardly like abandoned scarecrows.

I’m gonna lose my mind.

Being left out of groups or wandering around alone without close friends wasn’t unfamiliar to Gyeol.

Before Jun Shin joined LM Entertainment as a trainee, Gyeol had always been alone.

It wasn’t that nobody approached him.

Even though he grew up in difficult circumstances, Gyeol had a gentle personality. Plenty of people had approached him because they were drawn to his pretty appearance, liked his personality, or admired the talent he’d painstakingly built through hard work.

Who actually wanted to be alone?

Especially someone like Gyeol, who genuinely liked people.

No matter who approached him or what their intentions were, he willingly opened his side to them and accepted them.

At first, the relationships always seemed good.

But before long, those people would start subtly flaunting their friendship with Gyeol to others.

Even that had been fine.

The real problem started during monthly evaluations.

Most trainees were still just teenagers, even if they happened to be older than Gyeol. When immature [N O V E L I G H T] kids gathered together chasing dreams, jealousy and envy inevitably took root in hearts not fully grown.

And Gyeol, who consistently ranked near the top in evaluations, naturally became a thorn in many people’s sides.

They would stay close to him. Protect him. Defend him.

But after remaining in his shadow long enough, eventually they’d hit their limit.

And then those same people would drag him down without hesitation.

Apparently his brother’s a prostitute.

He became a trainee using money earned selling his body.

The only reason he even got accepted is because his brother sleeps with sponsors.

The rumors had spread endlessly, growing larger and uglier each time.

The uncomfortable atmosphere brought back cold memories that brushed painfully across Gyeol’s chest.

Even if he’d grown used to it, it never stopped feeling awful.

Under the blazing sunlight beating down over his head, nausea suddenly rolled through his stomach.

At that moment, Jun Shin—standing slightly apart beside him—pretended to stretch his upper body side to side before lightly bumping Gyeol’s arm.

“Ah, sorry.”

“...It’s okay.”

Jun acted perfectly calm, as if yesterday’s events didn’t bother him in the slightest.

After stopping his stretches, he quietly studied Gyeol’s complexion before jogging over toward the production staff.

When he returned, he unscrewed a bottle of water and held it out toward Gyeol.

“You don’t look good. Drink some.”

“......”

Hiding his hesitation, Gyeol obediently accepted the bottle.

The cold surface pressed against his palm.

Memories from ten years ago flickered through his mind.

Jun Shin always somehow noticing whenever Gyeol wasn’t doing well and silently handing him cold drinks.

After drinking the cold water, his head finally felt clearer.

Gyeol emptied half the 500mL bottle in one go before wiping the moisture from his mouth.

“Thanks.”

It was such a trivial sentence.

And yet Jun smiled so brightly it was as if he’d just heard something extraordinary, the bridge of his nose wrinkling slightly with the playful expression Gyeol used to love so much.

Who did you send your card to?

The question rolled around silently inside his mouth.

I heard you even cried in front of Isu. So why are you still pretending to be fine while taking care of me?

Out of everyone here, the person who understood Gyeol best was Jun Shin.

Which meant he knew better than anyone that once Gyeol said something aloud, he would absolutely keep his word. If he couldn’t keep it, he wouldn’t say it in the first place.

Yesterday’s conversation had practically been a declaration that their relationship was over.

It had simply taken eight years to finally put an end to something that had been severed one-sidedly long ago.

Once Gyeol said those words, the possibility of things changing was as close to zero as it could get.

There was no way Jun didn’t understand that.

So then why are you still...

...smiling at me like nothing changed?

Why now?

“Can I have a sip of water too?”

Tommy suddenly interrupted, scattering Gyeol’s turbulent emotions instantly.

Jun nodded readily, and Gyeol handed Tommy the bottle with a faint smile.

“Thanks. It’s hot already, and now I’m nervous too, so my insides feel like they’re burning.”

“You survived all those squats this morning. What’s there to worry about, huh?”

Tommy immediately made a miserable face at Jun’s teasing.

“If I’d known we were doing something called Infinite Racing today, I never would’ve done those squats this morning. My legs are shaking.”

In the distance, a narrator stepped forward in front of the dozens of cameras and production staff.

At least thanks to Tommy, the conversation with Jun had ended naturally.

Feeling relieved, Gyeol turned to return to his spot.

The Omega contestants who’d been staring openly at him immediately looked away.

Apparently they’d all been watching Jun bring him water.

The only one not looking at Gyeol at all was Isu Yoon.

Swallowing down the sigh threatening to escape him, Gyeol straightened his posture.

The production staff appeared to be doing final checks now that camera setup was complete.

Carefully organizing the lingering emotions and thoughts inside his head, Gyeol focused on his immediate goal.

Win first place in the Omega individual match.

...And no matter what, win the Golden Date Card.

***

Day 6 Night — Jun Shin Interview

“Why didn’t you participate in the favorability vote?”

“Because I couldn’t send a card to the person I wanted to send one to right now.”

“Your stance was so firm that we made a special exception and allowed you to abstain from voting. Was the person you originally wanted to vote for the same person you’ve been consistently sending cards to all this time?”

“Yes. Gyeol.”

“But footage did capture you writing a favorability card.”

“That’s... no comment.”

“Then what are you planning to do moving forward?”

“Nothing changes.”

“What do you mean by ‘nothing changes’?”

“I’m not giving up.”

Jun lowered his gaze briefly before lifting his eyes to stare directly into the camera.

“No.”

“I can’t give up on Gyeol.”