Chapter 85

The Sun-Gyeol boom is coming.

No, it’s already here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (incoherent screaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Hah... hah... somebody check Kim Gan’s heart rate.

“Yes, doctor? I don’t see the patient.”

CHECK MY HEART RATE!!!!!!!!!

I seriously think I’m about to pass out

(insert “and then I collapsed” meme)

IVORY MANSION IS REAL???? HEY!! HEY!! PRODUCER YOO YOU MENACE— AUGH!! At least show us a tiny taste of Ivory Mansion before cutting the episode, I’m going insane!!!!! This show is literally driving me crazy!!!!!

(clack.)

“Gyeol.”

“Will you go to the mansion with me?”

(clack.)

“Gyeol.”

“Will you go to the mansion with me?”

(clack.)

“Gyeol.”

“Will you go to the mansion with me?”

(clack.) × 594817 times

(forever. eien ni. per sempre...)

Sun Choi tears through water.

Sun Choi tears through R-Connect.

Sun Choi tears through Gyeol—

No wait, you can’t tear that,,, lovingly wrap him up and cherish him and have a beautiful relationship you two~~~*

<Comment>

God, SHUT UPPP. Be quiet already.

↳ LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

↳ seriously this post is SO loud while I’m reading itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Hello officer? Yes there’s a patient who escaped the hospital—

↳ Shouldn’t you call 119 instead?

↳ Ah,,? (freeze.

↳ Why is THAT what matters right now LMFAOOO

hnghghk sob sniff hhkgh—

↳ wipe your tears and speak properly

↳ if you’re gonna lose it then LOSE IT.

↳ Pull yourself togetherㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ!!!

↳ everyone’s gone completely feral rn, dopamine addicts don’t know LIMITSㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

What’s per sempre..?? Spanish? Italian?

↳ “Forever.”

↳ omg how did you know?! ㄷㄷ genius

↳ ...because it’s literally next to forever’s

↳ “forever’s” just took me out, I’m so mad I laughed at thisㅠㅠ

Somebody knock me unconscious and wake me up next Friday please..

↳ same..

↳ seriously how am I supposed to wait a whole week

↳ at this point I can’t tell whether I’m extracting dopamine or dopamine is extracting ME

But seriously this episodeㅋㅋㅋ R-Connect screentime was INSANE. Producer Yoo went absolutely bloodthirsty. It’s only Day 7 and we’re already at Episode 12?? This thing’s gonna pass 20 episodes at this rate.

↳ fr even at Episode 12 the dopamine levels are MAXED OUT. Time flew by.

↳ The broadcast goes by fast. The week waiting FOR the broadcast doesn’t. (negative

↳ crying because that’s too relatable 흑

↳ Flop-Connect forever. always. eien ni. per sem... per? whatever that says. learned a new phrase and immediately using it.

Doesn’t matter. Final couple is still Yo Han-Gyeolㅋ

↳ get out

↳ LEAVE

↳ write your future goals in your diary instead

↳ why are you all so scaryㅋㅋㅋㅋ is this level of emotional investment in a dating show normalㅠ but the one ruining the party deserves to get kicked out so bye

↳ the mood swing in that reply killed meㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Okay Sun-Gyeol nation, let’s talk honestly for a second. Didn’t something feel weird during the Yo Han vs Sun showdown in the team match? It felt like Yo Han got pushed back at a moment he shouldn’t have. And he looked weirdly shaken too.

↳ wait really?? ㄷㄷ am I blind because I noticed NOTHING

↳ yeah look at this (YoHan_teammatch_shocked.png) I keep bringing it up but nobody reactsㅠ

↳ Yo Han fansㅠㅠ why are you like this.. why crawl into a Sun-Gyeol post just to do thisㅠㅠㅠㅠ he lost, that’s it. What’s with the “something suspicious happened” nonsenseㅠㅠㅠ just accept it already, even your actor accepted it

↳ Yo Han-Gyeol fans are hilariousㅋㅋ if Yo Han-Gyeol doesn’t happen it’s a problem, if it DOES happen it’s still a problem, they trash Gyeol nonstop then crawl back the second it looks like Gyeol might end up with the Emperorㅠ pick a struggle seriously

↳ no but seriously it WAS weird..ㅠ I’m not saying Sun-Gyeol shouldn’t happen, I’m saying the vibe felt off and nobody listens when I mention itㅜㅠ..

↳ y’all acting like this was the Olympic national finalsㅋㅋ it’s literally a variety show date-pass game,, maybe he just lost strength, why overanalyze everything

↳ I think this R-Connect addict was genuinely curious but everyone’s dogpiling them omg;;

↳ because they picked the wrong time and place.

The individual match ripped my heart apart and then they gave us THIS in the team match.. and the final scene was basically Sun confessing??ㅠㅠ

↳ It wasn’t a confession it was a date invitationㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ what do we even do with you people

↳ same thing.

From this moment onward Sun-Gyeol and I are one body. Any attack toward Sun-Gyeol shall be considered an attack against me etc etc

Sun Choi is truly the best!!!

Honestly Sun’s way too good for this. He’s a triple Olympic gold medalist who brought glory to South Korea... and the other one’s just a failed nobody idol. Plus he kinda seems like he has good-boy syndrome and uses that to string a line of Alphas along... I genuinely don’t get why someone like Sun would obsess over an Omega like that.

↳ first dating show you’ve ever watched?ㅋㅋ

↳ I’m so sick of comments like this; failed idol - good-boy syndrome - stringing people along < same tired propaganda combo every single time. At least get creative.

↳ Without Gyeol, Flop-Connect would’ve flopped for realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Gyeol is carrying this entire show. Sun getting bigger on the show is ALSO because of the impossible situation + the way he acts toward Gyeol + the “will they won’t they” narrative between them. Please look at the bigger picture.

If the love line had been locked in from the start this show would’ve been boring as hell;

Clearly none of you know what “stringing people along” actually means. Go watch R-Connect 7’s legendary flirting king.

↳ omg the former pickup artist guyㅋㅋㅋㅋ nostalgia hitting hard

↳ apparently after the show he founded a matchmaking startupㅋㅋㅋㅋ if you sign up they give you a book called [How to Capture the Heart of an Alpha/Beta/Omega] LMFAOOO

Stop talking about complicated stuff and only talk about Sun-Gyeol succeeding.

↳ sameeee everyone’s way too emotionally invested

↳ Sun-Gyeol kiss

↳ Sun-Gyeol get pregnant

↳ excuse me????ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Kinda feel bad for the person getting jumped in those replies; I immediately thought of the Sun injury rumors too..

↳ honestly same. My first thought was: what if the injury rumors are true > Yo Han realized it and hesitated. Their conversation did sound kind of loaded. Even the Emperor looked unusually emotional.

↳ ??? Wait what injury rumors?

↳ People said Sun retired because of an accident injury. There were supposed eyewitnesses and even comments from hospital staff floating around back then.

↳ omg this is literally my first time hearing this

↳ Wait, seriously?

↳ (probably deleting this later) I’ve been a fan of the Emperor for yearsㅠ_ㅠ).. Sun’s side denied it so the whole thing died down quickly.. the testimony posts disappeared fast too. But most fans basically think it’s real. It feels like Sun himself doesn’t want it public, so the fandom atmosphere became more about protecting him..

...

The first time Sun visited Ivory Mansion, he’d come alone.

He had escorted Gyeol there after Gyeol won the brunch date pass and left for an Ivory Mansion date with Yo Han.

He remembered that day vividly.

His heart had pounded so violently that every step up the mountain path had felt impossibly steep.

But now, on his second visit to Ivory Mansion, Sun was no longer alone.

He was here for a one-night, two-day date with the person he’d dreamed about.

With Gyeol.

“Sun, aren’t the bags heavy? I can carry mine myself...”

“They’re not heavy at all.”

“You already did squats this morning, and you’ve been competing nonstop all day...”

“Gyeol. I’m really fine.”

Compared to now, the way his heart had raced back then was nothing.

Right now, it felt ready to explode.

“I want to carry them for you.”

Sun’s face was slightly flushed as he answered firmly.

Looking up into his unwavering eyes, Gyeol nodded, his own cheeks faintly reddening too, like he felt shy.

His heart felt ready to burst, and his feet felt equally disconnected from the ground.

The luggage filling both arms didn’t feel heavy at all.

Saying his body wasn’t tired would’ve been a lie, but that kind of thing didn’t matter right now. Every nerve in his body was focused behind him because he was too conscious of Gyeol walking there with him.

Worried Gyeol might get tired, Sun quickly climbed the slope and finally reached the top.

Gathering the bags into one hand, he turned and held the other out to Gyeol. The last step was fairly high.

“Thank you.”

Gyeol was visibly shy too, the nervousness of the Ivory Mansion date written all over him.

Sun firmly grasped the cautious hand placed atop his palm and pulled him up.

An elegant, exotic view greeted them.

“The annex has a completely different atmosphere from the main building.”

The place where Gyeol and Yo Han had stayed before was the main building. This was the annex.

The buildings stood side by side and connected through a passageway, but the main building sat on the west side while the annex faced south, clearly separated from each other.

Jaekyung had gone to the main building for his date, while Sun and Gyeol were sent to the annex instead.

Producer Yoo had decided it would create more varied footage for Gyeol, the show’s breakout star.

“It really feels like Europe.”

The annex had bright yellow exterior walls, and the wide piloti at the entrance was finished in smooth white marble.

One wall overflowed with deep green vines blooming with vivid purple summer flowers, while sculptures of various sizes decorated the gardens throughout.

The two walked toward the entrance while taking in the gardens and fountains spread out on both sides.

“Have you ever been to Europe, Sun?”

“Yes. During the Olympics.”

“Ah, right.”

Watching Gyeol’s eyes dart busily around the scenery, Sun asked,

“Have you ever gone, Gyeol?”

“No. Back then I only went to Japan and China a little.”

Even those trips had only happened briefly during SAVE ME promotions.

He’d managed to look around during short breaks, but he’d never experienced anything close to proper sightseeing.

And overseas vacations beyond that had been unimaginable luxuries.

“I see. That’s unfortunate. Europe would suit you very well, Gyeol.”

Holding the entrance door open for him, Sun spoke casually.

Gyeol paused mid-step, tilting his head with an awkward laugh.

“Europe suits me?”

“Yes. I’m sure you’d look beautiful beneath the white sunlight pouring over the Mediterranean.”

Gyeol froze for about a second.

Then his face instantly turned bright red.

A beat later, Sun finally realized what he’d just said, and his own face became equally scarlet.

Both of them hurried inside the annex in complete flustered panic.

“S-s-sorry. I just...”

“It’s okay. This isn’t even the first time you’ve suddenly attacked me with lines like that...”

“Attacked you with lines...?”

“Like saying you wouldn’t mind a blood sugar spike as long as you were with me?”

Mischief sparkled across Gyeol’s face as he brought up the past.

Now even the back of Sun’s neck felt burning hot. He rubbed his neck with one palm while awkwardly glancing around.

“The inside is... beautiful too.”

“Fine. I’ll let you off this time.”

“Thank you. Seriously.”

Gyeol said it like he was generously sparing him, and Sun looked genuinely grateful.

Gyeol snorted out a laugh.

The two spent some time exploring the annex.

The most striking feature was the domed ceiling.

Sunlight poured through the glass overhead, and Gyeol stopped beneath it.

Watching Gyeol shimmer under the light as though enchanted, Sun swallowed hard.

This was a rare chance at a real date.

He had to lead properly.

He’d already discussed the schedule with Producer Yoo beforehand.

All he had to do was say the words.

But somehow, his mouth refused to move.

“Sun, what should we do now?”

The date course Producer Yoo had repeatedly insisted they absolutely had to do today.

“...Sw...”

“Hm?”

Gyeol stepped closer because the quiet voice was hard to hear.

Sun pressed his lips tightly together.

At that moment, returning to the Olympics honestly sounded easier.

After dragging a hand down his face and taking a huge breath, he gathered every ounce of courage in his soul and forced the words out.

“I want to go to the pool with you, Gyeol.”