Chapter 68
The cast members, having quickly finished cleaning up after dividing roles, gathered one by one in the living room. Cha Yoon also joined the group and left the kitchen.
When he entered the living room, most seats were already taken. Quickly scanning for an empty space, Cha Yoon noticed that one of the seats next to Seo-jung was vacant and that Jung Soo-ho was eyeing that spot.
Cha Yoon moved without thinking. He swiftly approached Seo-jung’s side. A collision between the two large men was inevitable. A scream similar to the previous day escaped Soo-ho’s mouth. For him, walking unsuspectingly, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Watching Soo-ho stumble away, Cha Yoon glanced at Seo-jung and said in a feigned voice:
“Are you okay? I didn’t see you coming. You’re not hurt, are you?”
Even though he was smaller than Cha Yoon, Soo-ho was still over 180cm tall. Unless one was walking with their eyes closed, it would be impossible not to see him.
But Soo-ho didn’t think to argue about that. It was all because of Cha Yoon’s following words. Just as someone who rarely does well suddenly impresses when they do something right, Soo-ho felt somewhat touched. Cha Yoon, who usually only scolded him, was now expressing concern.
“Cha Yoon… Did you just worry about me? I’m touched…”
“Just answer. Are you okay?”
“Oh, of course! I’m perfectly fine.”
“Good then.”
This should be enough to resolve things as Ki Seo-jung said, Cha Yoon thought. He wore a self-satisfied expression and sat down next to Ki Seo-jung.
Cha Yoon unnecessarily tensed up and pretended to clear his throat. It was an attempt to draw Ki Seo-jung’s attention away from his lively conversation with Ji-yoon.
Ji-yoon was the first to give Cha Yoon attention, her gaze drawn by the sound loud enough to interrupt the conversation. As her gaze moved, Ki Seo-jung also turned his head to look at Cha Yoon.
Cha Yoon, who had shown no interest when Ji-yoon’s gaze followed him, blinked unnecessarily as soon as Ki Seo-jung’s eyes fell on him. It was meant to ask if he had seen how he had taken care of others. Along with the confidence that he could do such things if he wanted to, there was also a subtle expectation for praise.
“……”
“……”
The eye contact between the two gradually lengthened. As time passed, expectation and tension grew. Just as Cha Yoon unconsciously swallowed, Seo-jung returned his gaze to Ji-yoon. It was as if the eye contact with Cha Yoon had never happened, so decisively did he look away. Cha Yoon, who had unnecessarily clenched and unclenched his fist, soon grasped the situation. The expectation that had filled his eyes faded away.
Who says I was looking for praise or anything? I just did it because that’s what people do, he thought. Even as he thought this, his plump lower lip protruded sulkily. It was exactly the face of someone who had done a good deed but was disappointed that no one acknowledged it.
As Cha Yoon picked up his fork to soothe his hurt feelings, he saw Park Woo-jun speaking to Da-bin across from him. It was the same unchanging behavior he had seen in the kitchen.
Right, why sit idle? Let’s help that guy at least. Having made a one-sided alliance unknown to Park Woo-jun, Cha Yoon spoke in a low voice.
“Excuse me, Park Woo-jun.”
At Cha Yoon’s call, Park Woo-jun’s face, which had been turned towards Da-bin, turned around. He looked puzzled, as if he hadn’t expected Cha Yoon to call him.
“You two look good together.”
“Pardon?”
“I said you and Shin Da-bin look good together.”
To Park Woo-jun’s question, as if he had misheard, Cha Yoon emphasized by pointing his finger at Shin Da-bin and Park Woo-jun. This time, he meant for him to understand clearly. The impact of his casually thrown words was bigger than expected.
Although it was a dating program, it was a place where former lovers were together. Unless it was a joke, no cast member had openly said such things in front of everyone before, so everyone blinked in surprise. The only ones who weren’t surprised were Cha Yoon and Ki Seo-jung.
Cha Yoon was someone who didn’t care about others. The reason why he would say such things to someone else was obvious. He must think that Cha Yoon had feelings for Shin Da-bin and wanted to interfere.
Seo-jung, who had roughly reached the correct answer, noticed the other cast members rolling their eyes. Since the person who spoke seemed to have no thoughts about it, he felt it would be good if he stepped in to change the atmosphere.
“I think it would be harder to find someone who doesn’t look good with Woo-jun. He has such a good impression.”
With Seo-jung’s words, the frozen atmosphere thawed as if playing freeze tag. The cast members tried to lighten the mood with awkward laughter.
“R-right! That’s exactly what I thought!”
“The men should be on their toes, huh?”
“As new people come in, our chances are getting slimmer. This is trouble.”
“This won’t do. I should use a face pack before bed tonight. If any men want to join, come to our room.”
As voices chimed in one by one, trying to change the topic of conversation to something else, it happened.
“I said they look good with Shin Da-bin, so why are you talking about other people?”
“Huh?”
As the blunt voice suddenly emerged, Min-ha reflexively responded. Encouraged by this response, Cha Yoon pointed at the two people sitting together.
“To my eyes, those two look good together.”
With Cha Yoon’s words, the situation returned to square one. It was a moment that nullified all the efforts of the cast members who had been trying to change the topic. Among the cast members blinking with dumbfounded expressions, he continued speaking with an nonchalant face.
“I’ll cheer for you, so do well.”
It was a nuance that could be misunderstood as picking a fight. But that was the maximum level of encouragement Cha Yoon could offer to others. While everyone else looked uncomfortable, only Cha Yoon, having said everything he wanted to say, looked at ease.
What seemed to save the irredeemable atmosphere was the sound of the doorbell from outside. All the cast members living in the X House were gathered in the living room. So there was only one reason for the doorbell to ring.
“Looks like something’s arrived.”
The cast members internally cheered, “Nice timing!”
“What could it be? Is it a mission card?”
“Everyone, wait a moment. I’ll go out quickly and bring it in.”
Min-wook, who was sitting closest to the entrance, stood up. He disappeared into the hallway and reappeared shortly after. In one hand, he held a pink envelope.
“Oh, it really is a mission card.”
The seated cast members clapped and welcomed the gesture of Min-wook waving the card.
“Let’s read the card quickly!”
“Alright. I’ll read it.”
Min-wook pretended to clear his throat unnecessarily and opened the envelope.
“From now on, all cast members can reveal their ages. Please take this time to disclose your ages and get to know each other better.”
Min-wook raised both hands as if he had read all the writing on the card. The cast members who had been listening to his voice exclaimed.
“We’re finally revealing our ages.”
“Is it because we’ve been living together for over a week without knowing? Somehow, I can’t predict anything.”
“Me neither.”
“Usually, when you meet people, the first thing you do is exchange names and ages, but why does this make me so nervous?”
Even as they said this, the cast members glanced at each other with expressions tinged with tension and excitement. As they hesitated to start, Joo-ah raised her hand.
“Then shall I start and we go around to the opposite side?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll take that as everyone agreeing. I’m twenty-nine years old.”
Starting with Joo-ah, the cast members began to state their ages in order. Some cast members made a quiz out of it, asking others to guess their age, while others boldly revealed it, even using their fingers. After going around once, it was Seo-jung’s turn.
“I’m thirty-one this year.”
“Somehow, I felt that about Seo-jung. Should I say he has an older brother feel?”
“Right. If you just look at his face, you wouldn’t think so, but there’s something about his aura and personality that feels like an eldest child. Maybe it’s because he takes such good care of everyone around him.”
“Hmm, it feels like you’re trying to hastily cover something up, but that must be my imagination, right?”
“Of course! Don’t misunderstand anything strange!”
Min-ha waved both hands in explanation to Seo-jung’s joking words. Watching the two of them, Cha Yoon smiled crookedly. They’re having such a great time. He irritably poked at the ham in front of him with his fork.
“Now, lastly, it’s Cha Yoon’s turn!”
“But Cha Yoon’s age is hard to guess, isn’t it?”
“Right. It was like that for everyone, but especially for Cha Yoon, I have no idea.”
Although they didn’t spell it out, most of those sitting understood what that meant. Judging by his profession, he seemed quite mature, but looking at his face and actions, he appeared quite young.
“Since we’re on the last person, how about we try guessing Cha Yoon’s age? And the person who guesses correctly gets a wish granted!”
At Soo-ho’s words, agreement flowed from here and there. Cha Yoon put down the fork he had been using to mash the ham and said:
“What wish?”
“What does it matter? It’s fun, isn’t it?”
Fuck, what’s so fun about it? I don’t find it fun at all. Only you think it’s fun. Just as he was about to tell them not to say such nonsense:
“Then let’s make it so each person only gets one guess.”
“Good idea. One chance per person, and the first person to guess correctly gets the wish granted.”
Before Cha Yoon could say anything more, rules were quickly established, and the “Please Take Care of My X: Guess Cha Yoon’s Age Game” began.
