Chapter 81

“Ha.”

Whether Woo Seok scoffed in disbelief or not, Tommy brushed past him and headed toward the massive screen.

His gaze fixed on the enormous ladder. Past the covered center section, he stared at Gyeol’s face displayed in the lower-right corner.

Please.

After agonizing over it, Tommy finally chose the first ladder. A tiny image of Tommy’s face popped into place.

— Opening the ladder selection.

Please, Gyeol. God. Buddha. Every god out there, seriously. I’m not even religious, but just this once.

Pressing his palms together in a prayer he had never properly done once in his life, Tommy squeezed his eyes shut.

On the screen, Tommy’s icon began racing downward along a blue line without hesitation.

“Huh.”

Tracing the path in the air with narrowed eyes, Isu Yoon let out a low sound. His voice carried genuine surprise.

“Huh?!”

The contestants burst into exclamations right after him.

What? What happened? Tommy cautiously cracked one eye open.

Then his eyes flew wide.

Tommy’s icon had landed in Gyeol’s spot. The tiny Tommy and Gyeol icons sat side by side together while pink heart animations bloomed between them. Staring blankly at the hearts floating upward, Tommy slapped both hands over his mouth.

No fucking way. This actually worked.

“Look at that. I °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° was gonna pick that ladder too.”

Whatever Woo Seok was babbling about never even brushed Tommy’s ears. Dazed with joy, he sneaked a glance toward Gyeol.

And Gyeol looked happy too, as if being teamed with Tommy wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Feeling Tommy’s gaze, Gyeol looked over.

Then Gyeol broke into a bright grin, clenched his fist, and mouthed, “We’re gonna win.”

It felt like lightning struck Tommy straight through the heart.

Seriously. Literally.

Like he’d made eye contact with an angel and almost gotten dragged straight to heaven on the spot.

Soon all the Alphas found their places, and the ladder selection finally came to an end. The screen flickered before neatly displaying the finalized teams.

Tommy ♥ Gyeol Go

Sun Choi ♥ Jaekyung Park

Yo Han Sung ♥ Isu Yoon

Jun Shin ♥ Hee Jun Kang

Woo Seok Jung ♥ Hanseul Ga

“Feels like King Potato’s the only winner here.”

Still staring blankly at the screen, Jaekyung muttered under his breath.

While the Alphas wandered around trying to locate their partners, Sun approached him cautiously and asked,

“Do you not want to be on a team with me?”

“Huh? N-No, that’s not what I meant, Sun.”

Startled, Jaekyung waved both hands frantically.

Sun stared at him expressionlessly for a moment before giving a large nod.

“That’s a relief, then. Don’t worry. Trust me.”

“...What?”

“This game is the one we’re taking first place in.”

Sun’s eyes remained as unreadable and stoic as ever when he looked at the others, but somehow Jaekyung felt like he could see a small flame burning deep inside them.

“...A-actor Yo Han Sung.”

Isu Yoon felt like his heart might leap straight out of his mouth.

He’d been steadily building his filmography through all kinds of supporting roles, but he was still firmly in rookie actor territory.

And now he was paired with Yo Han Sung—a massive senior actor he had never even dreamed of appearing alongside in the same production.

Well... if R-Connect counted as a production, then technically they were already appearing together.

As equal cast members, no less.

“Looking forward to working with you, Isu.”

“...Y-yes.”

Rather than excitement or anticipation, tension froze his entire body solid.

Yo Han treated Isu with perfect gentleness and polished manners, but from Isu’s perspective, none of that mattered.

He usually avoided even speaking to major seniors in the industry whenever possible simply because they made him nervous.

“You’re not feeling sick or anything, are you?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“That’s good to hear.”

One thought consumed Isu completely.

I absolutely cannot cause trouble for Yo Han Sung.

“So we ended up together after all.”

“Looks like it.”

Jun Shin and Hee Jun Kang, already friendly with each other, exchanged an enthusiastic high five.

“We’re weaker when it comes to raw strength. And on the Omega side, Gyeol’s the wildcard.”

“Yeah. Gyeol Go really does seem strong....”

“He does. He moves well too. And he’s ruthless.”

In their industry, being called ruthless was practically praise.

Hee Jun tilted his head while quietly watching Jun speak seriously about Gyeol.

This bastard. Don’t tell me...

“You listening?”

“Y-yeah.”

“We go full speed. Fast and aggressive.”

“Okay.”

Already perfectly in sync, Jun and Hee Jun immediately began planning strategy together.

Meanwhile, Hanseul honestly felt like announcing his withdrawal from the show altogether.

“So we’re teammates now, Hanseul.”

“Yes.”

You filthy piece of shit.

Swallowing down the curse rising automatically in his throat as he looked at Woo Seok’s grinning face, Hanseul carefully smoothed his expression so his disgust wouldn’t show.

After hearing everything Woo Seok had done to Jaekyung, Hanseul had been seriously considering what to do with him.

I planned to use this bastard, sure, but I didn’t realize he was an actual psychopath.

It wasn’t because he cared about Jaekyung.

Hanseul was selfish to the core. A thorough individualist—and like most people who proudly called themselves individualists, his nature was fundamentally self-serving.

All Hanseul wanted was simple.

To end up with Yo Han Sung.

To become Yo Han’s final couple so the broadcast would stamp “Yo Han Sung X Hanseul Ga” permanently into viewers’ minds. ℯℯ𝘭.

Everything Hanseul did was strategy aimed at that single outcome.

He’d only tried to get rid of Gyeol because Gyeol kept hovering around Yo Han.

And to do that, he had planned to use Woo Seok.

Fucking psycho. Does this idiot even realize he’s a celebrity?

But in a situation where cameras could catch anything at any time, he’d really gone and pulled garbage like that.

Whether he rubbed lips with another Omega or shoved his dick inside one wasn’t Hanseul’s business.

But if the fallout splashed onto him too, that was a problem.

Fuck. If I’d known it would turn into this, I wouldn’t have thrown fuel on the fire last night.

Watching Woo Seok grin to himself, Hanseul recalled what had happened the evening before.

It was before the Day 6 favorability vote, during the two-hour free-date period.

Without hesitation, Hanseul had gone straight to Yo Han’s lodging and asked to talk.

Yo Han agreed easily enough, but just like always, his attitude remained lukewarm from beginning to end.

Not that Yo Han had openly acted cold.

As always, he was smooth. Gentle. Flawless.

He didn’t seem bored spending time with Hanseul, and he responded to everything politely and attentively.

But who carried the conversation? Hanseul.

Who asked the questions? Hanseul.

Who couldn’t stand the silence? Hanseul.

In the end, Hanseul was the only one desperately trying to make something happen between them.

Exhausted by the constant one-sided effort no matter how many times he went through it, Hanseul left Yo Han’s lodging in a thoroughly foul mood.

The other occupants of the lodging had probably all run off chasing after Gyeol because there wasn’t a single person in sight.

That irritated him too.

God. I need a cigarette.

Clicking his tongue against the bitter taste in his mouth, Hanseul headed back toward his own lodging.

There weren’t any other Alpha men he particularly wanted to talk to besides Yo Han anyway.

Then suddenly someone stepped directly into his path.

“Hanseul.”

Woo Seok Jung.

Startled by the man appearing out of the darkness, Hanseul stopped short.

“Talk to me for a minute.”

“...Ah. Sure.”

Once he realized who it was, Hanseul answered stiffly.

Why’s he acting like this?

Woo Seok’s face was flushed red, his breathing harsh and uneven. Something about him felt suspicious.

Too lazy to walk anywhere else, Hanseul suggested they just talk there.

But Woo Seok was insistent.

He stubbornly grabbed Hanseul’s wrist and tried dragging him toward his lodging.

Fuck. What’s wrong with this guy?

Pretending to let Woo Seok go first, Hanseul jerked his wrist free and shook it off like he was brushing away a bug.

Then, reluctantly, he followed him inside.

He almost wished that giant potato would still be there in the room, but Tommy had probably gone to see Gyeol too.

Seriously, every last one of them.

The moment Hanseul entered the lodging, he sat down in a dining chair.

He had zero interest in entering any place alone with Woo Seok that might feel even remotely private.

Like a bedroom, for example.

“Go ahead.”

“It’s not about asking you on a date.”

Who asked, asshole?

The fact that this bastard was talking like he had something to offer when nobody wanted him was already pissing Hanseul off.

Looking at the camera positioned behind Woo Seok, Hanseul swallowed the insult and nodded indifferently.

“It’s about Gyeol Go.”

The moment Gyeol’s name left Woo Seok’s mouth, Hanseul finally became interested.

Pulling his chair closer, he gestured for him to continue.

Contrary to expectations, Woo Seok’s story was unbelievably pathetic.

Apparently Gyeol had rejected him.

Woo Seok trembled with outrage like he genuinely couldn’t believe it, panting angrily as if his pride had been deeply wounded.

No, seriously. Is this idiot’s brain actually stuffed with noodles? I only nudged him a little, and he seriously thought Gyeol liked him?

Hanseul had only tossed in a spark to stir up trouble.

He hadn’t expected the idiot to go up in flames this badly.

“Hanseul, you clearly said Gyeol liked me. Didn’t you?”

At this point Woo Seok was practically interrogating him.

His face was red, eyes blazing. It looked ugly.

And slightly dangerous.

Is this bastard gonna start holding a grudge against me now?

Resting his chin in one hand, Hanseul thought for a moment.

Then he let his shoulders sag and answered in a deliberately gloomy voice.

“...After hearing all that, I think this one’s your fault, Woo Seok.”