Chapter 90

Rush hour. After finishing a deadline right on schedule, Jung Heeju escaped work with a blissful Friday sharp exit and boarded the subway.

And somehow, after passing just one station, the seat directly in front of where she’d been standing opened up. The very end seat too, next to the divider wall.

When a day was going well, everything seemed to go well. Today had been lucky in every possible way.

Settling comfortably into the seat, Jung Heeju slipped in her wireless earbuds and turned on her favorite playlist.

The first song the shuffle landed on was none other than the main theme song for R-Connect 10. A sleek jazz-pop track layered with exotic rhythms.

Right. It’s already R-Connect broadcast day.

The week had been brutal, but the reward was sweet. Everything had gone so smoothly that, thanks to how frantically the week had passed, it almost felt like she’d somehow cheated her way into broadcast day arriving faster.

R-Connect 10 should just air forever. Don’t ever end.

Jung Heeju instinctively opened the R-Connect community page.

As expected for broadcast day, the community was on fire. Every time she swiped and released the screen, new posts flooded upward in waves.

She skimmed through the titles.

Most were posts obsessing over certain contestants, analyzing personalities, or predicting the final couple rankings. But there were also no shortage of posts outright labeling Woo Seok Jung, Hanseul Ga, and Jaekyung Park as “villains.”

People really did see things the same way. Apparently other viewers and fans had felt the same unease Jung Heeju had while watching those three.

She tapped through a few eye-catching threads and skimmed the contents.

/ [BEST] That one man kissing Jaekyung Park then hitting on everybody else is fucking disgusting;

The post had climbed all the way to #1 in the trending rankings with massive views and recommendations.

Under a detailed breakdown exposing Woo Seok Jung’s behavior, comments piled up demanding that his screen time be reduced.

People said they wanted to shut the screen off every time he appeared. Plenty admitted they skipped his scenes entirely.

/ Reasons Hanseul Ga is the REAL final villain.zip

This post criticized Hanseul for pretending innocence while making his gaslighting painfully obvious — and embarrassingly sloppy at that.

/ Jaekyung Park is definitely a victim. But isn’t he also kind of a perpetrator?

Hee Jun Kang occasionally ended up dragged into the discourse too, caught between them all... but the other three were so overpoweringly controversial, and perhaps thanks to the attitude he’d shown so far, public opinion still leaned toward staying neutral about Hee Jun for now.

Jung Heeju nodded along while reading.

And whenever she came across posts or comments sympathizing with Gyeol — who kept becoming the unwilling target of all this chaos — she reflexively hit the like button.

Enough with the annoying people....

Now it was finally time for the real dopamine hit.

Jung Heeju picked one of the top trending posts. The one with the most comments.

/ [BEST] Title: R-Connect addicts rewatching before tonight’s episode get in here 13-14 (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

No negativity/villain talk/fighting.

Let’s only talk about good things.

Thirst comments VERY welcome!

Mandatory rewatch before the live broadcast (∩^o^)⊃━☆

Come watch together ㄱㄱ

Personally I completely lost consciousness over the Sun-Gyeol Ivory Mansion date.

The Sun-Gyeol pool scene is making me lose my mind I’ve been replaying it forever..

⤷ (Sun_entering_between_Gyeol’s_legs.gif)

⤷ thank u..

⤷ the GIF filename is insane but the fact it ACTUALLY happened is driving me crazierㅋㅋㅋㅋ

(Gyeol_soaking_wet.gif) Isn’t he seriously beautiful..? Legendary..

⤷ holy shit Sun Choi’s patience is unreal because if it were me I’d have swallowed him whole already

⤷ have sex.

⤷ Everyone please calm down

Why are Sun-Gyeol shippers so weirdly aggressive latelyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ???

⤷ because we’ve been starving for too long

Why is nobody talking about baby King Potato..ㅠ? He confessed to his older boy and then his older boy went on an Ivory Mansion date with another Alpha what do we do.,.,

⤷ Shhh.. we’re all pretending not to notice!

⤷ The R-Connect addict who wrote this comment is the cruelest one hereㅋㅋㅋ

Thank you for the R-Connect Olympic Village. If they did two more games all the Alphas would’ve died

⤷ 222ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋWhy is going on ONE date this difficult?!

⤷ It’s really hard to go on one date with you.

...

Saint. Yo Han.. doesn’t look like the devoted type but 인정? Look at how firmly he drew the line with Jaekyung

⤷ fr though but it’s kinda surprising seeing him keep proper boundaries so politely

⤷ But with Gyeol he’s all! tangled up in bed! under the blankets! and then with Jaekyung he instantly goes “I’ll sleep in the living room.” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ He was SO firm about itㅋㅋㅋㅋ and smiling kindly while saying it made it even harder to argue backㅋㅋㅋ

But why did Jaekyung suddenly choose Yo Han for the Ivory Mansion date? I missed last episodeㅠㅠ can someone explain

⤷ Jaekyung explained it in his interview. He said he didn’t want to get to know Woo Stone anymore, and after thinking about it a lot, he’d admired Yo Han Sung for a long time and wanted to go on a date with him aside from romantic feelings

⤷ ohhh.. understandable.. honestly I’d wanna go on an Ivory Mansion date with Yo Han Sung tooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ Butㅋㅋㅋ is this really okay..? Jaekyung’s close with Hanseul right hmmㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ Hanseul already looked pissed as hell during his interview lol. He kept saying he was fine but his expression was another story

..you guys know Yo Han kept looking outside the pool right? and you could SEE the Sun-Gyeol pool from there?? Am I the only one losing my mind over this insane triangle setup??? Am I imagining it?

⤷ everybody thought the same thingㅋㅋㅋㅋ it’s obviousㅋㅋㅋㅋ

⤷ honestly if you watch carefully Yo Han isn’t even trying to hide itㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Ah lately Yo Han-Gyeol crumbsㅠ.. there’s so little.. give us more.. sob.. there’s nothing..

⤷ Haah can’t Gyeol use the Golden Date Card on Yo Hanㅠ (the reverse would also be good)

⤷ Yo Han seems possible but Gyeol..? Honestly no clue who he’s interested in

⤷ Still, he did say the two people he was considering were Sun and Yo Han

⤷ Considering he already went on an Ivory Mansion date with Yo Han once, isn’t there a chance..?

⤷ holy shit from today onward I’m praying over bowls of water PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE use the Golden Date Card Yo Han-Gyeol!!!!!!

...

2 minutes until broadcast..

⤷ 1 minute..

⤷ Finally we find out who came to pick Gyeol up!!!!!!!!

⤷ Can’t Sun Choi just stay there forever sobsob evil Producer Yoo

⤷ Saint. Yo Han. GO!! I choose you!!!!!

⤷ Jun please don’t lose!!!!!!

⤷ But then Woo Stone appears.

⤷ please don’t do this to me

⤷ Tommy’s here too..

⤷ King Potato destroys French toast

⤷ It’s starting!!!!

⤷ STARTING!!!!

⤷ AAAAAAHHHHHHㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ(zooming to live thread~

***

“Did you sleep well?”

Jun Shin greeted Gyeol with a calmer expression than usual. Gone was his usual playful teasing and effortless joking. The face welcoming Gyeol now carried nothing but pure tension.

“......”

Gyeol’s lips parted, but he couldn’t answer immediately. The mere fact that Jun was here threw him into confusion.

It would be a lie to say he hadn’t thought of Jun now and then.

A lie to say he hadn’t wondered who Jun had sent his favorability card to after practically drawing a line between them, or who he planned to pursue from now on.

A lie to say he wasn’t curious why Jun was suddenly approaching him again after eight years — why he kept acting like someone abandoned and desperate.

But in a place where every movement was captured on camera, there was practically no chance to hear the truth openly.

And even if he did hear it, would that erase the eight years Gyeol had spent alone?

He didn’t think so.

And yet Jun Shin was standing in front of him again.

“Were you surprised? Sorry.”

Wearing the exact defeated expression Gyeol hated most.

As was typical of trainee life, idol life, celebrity life, disasters lurked everywhere. Practice wouldn’t go well. Someone would make mistakes on stage. Hate comments would pour in. Rankings would drop. Executives or company heads would tear into them.

The possible disasters were endless.

But Jun Shin had always been someone who almost never broke.

Like a punching doll, he bounced right back up, encouraging Gyeol and the other members and dragging the atmosphere upward with him.

Gyeol had quietly admired that about him.

Because Jun possessed something Gyeol never had.

Still, there had been rare moments when even Jun Shin sank into himself.

Whenever his mother contacted him.

And later, not long after their debut, when the father he’d supposedly cut ties with suddenly appeared outside LM Entertainment’s headquarters.

During those times, shadows had settled over Jun’s face too. He’d stare blankly into space or make careless mistakes he normally never would.

Back then, worried about him, Gyeol had slipped into Jun’s bed late at night and asked what was wrong.

Jun had buried himself in Gyeol’s arms and confessed everything.

The two of them had shared different but strangely similar pasts.

Both came from broken homes.

That was their common ground.

And because of that, Gyeol had started watching Jun Shin more carefully. More deeply.

Don’t look so defeated.

Does it bother you?

You look ugly when you don’t smile.

What are you talking about.... Just say you like seeing me smile.

He had wanted to become the light that erased the shadows lingering over Jun’s face.

Yeah. Your smile is my favorite thing about you.

But now, after all this time, Jun was wearing that same expression again.

Except this time, the cause wasn’t his parents or some outsider.

It was Go Gyeol himself.

“I won one of the games this morning. So I came to pick you up.”

Something near Gyeol’s chest tightened painfully.

“...We’re just having breakfast together, right? Order whatever you want to eat first. I’ll shower and get ready quickly.”

“Okay. Take your time.”

He couldn’t greet Jun warmly. Couldn’t tell him he was glad he came.

Gyeol only gave a small nod before retreating into the bathroom.

By the time he emerged again, he had already made up his mind.

Meeting Jun Shin’s gaze with steady eyes, Gyeol sat across from him and ate breakfast without once asking the obvious question:

Why are you here?

Instead, they ate an ordinary breakfast.

Talking casually about what the others back at the lodging had done the previous night. Asking what kind of game they’d played that morning. Since Jun had apparently won on the Alpha side, asking who had won among the Omegas.

As if nothing had happened.

Peaceful. Monotonous.

“Everyone was exhausted yesterday, so after dinner and interviews we all split up and went back to the lodging early.”

Jun answered naturally too, without showing any awkwardness.

“Hee Jun won on the Omega side. He’s probably eating French toast with Tommy by now.”

“That’s good. Tommy really wanted French toast.”

“Yeah. He liked it.”

By the time they nearly finished eating, even the conversation topics had run dry.

Breaking the silence, Jun Shin placed a single card on the table.

A favorability card.

“...There was another favorability vote yesterday?”

There shouldn’t have been one on the day of the Ivory Mansion dates.

Confused, Gyeol looked up.

Jun shook his head and slowly pushed the card toward him.

“No. It’s the card I didn’t send that night.”

“You didn’t send it?”

Only then did Gyeol finally realize where the missing favorability card — the one neither he nor Isu Yoon had received — had gone.

“I wrote it for you. I just couldn’t send it.”

“......”

What’s the point of that?

What are you trying to do?

He wanted to ask.

But Gyeol stayed silent.

Instead, he pulled the gold card from inside his clothes and held it out toward Jun Shin.

“Go on a date with me.”