18
Ding. The café door opened with a clear sound. Instead of turning his head, the person sitting by the window fiddled with the lighter in his hand before setting it down on the table.
A delicate yet sophisticated impression. And flashy piercings that filled his ears completely.
It was Lee Chan, the participant who was currently gaining word-of-mouth fame as having the most distinctive look among the Alpha group participants.
[Q. How did it feel to meet your X again?]
– How was it… Well. It just felt like we met because there was an occasion to meet? I didn’t have any particular feelings or impressions about it.
[Q. It seems you kept in contact even after breaking up?]
– No? That wasn’t the case. We did for a bit right after, but (beeped out) couldn’t sort out their feelings so we cut contact for a while. I couldn’t keep giving hope to someone who still liked me when we weren’t going to get back together.
– Thinking about it now… I think I wasn’t particularly surprised or amazed because I thought we would definitely meet again someday. Appearing on the show was just one of many reasons we would meet again.
“This is just my personal opinion.”
The screen changed, and Juyeon, one of the panelists watching the ‘Conversation Time with X’, spoke.
“Lee Chan-ssi seems like someone who had a long-term relationship. At least 5 years or more? Or maybe he knew his partner for a very long time before they started dating.”
Ari turned her head.
“Either way, you’re saying they knew each other for a long time? Why do you think that?”
“As you mentioned, there’s no sense of finding the meeting with his X particularly special… Even after breaking up, there’s a strong feeling of ‘we’re not strangers,’ that kind of vibe.”
“Ah. I thought the same thing. But while that’s partly because they knew each other for a long time…”
Han Dajeong thought seriously before adding.
“There was this leisure that you feel from someone who holds the initiative. That kind of thing.”
“Right, right! Since he has nothing to regret, he’s relaxed, right? Beyond having cleanly sorted things out with his partner, there’s something more bold about it.”
Kim Yeseok, who had been sipping coffee, also nodded.
“You really get the feeling that he came to meet someone completely new. Maybe there’s a possibility that his partner suggested they appear and that’s why he came.”
In the cleverly edited screen, only Lee Chan’s image was captured. Since they hadn’t revealed all the X’s yet, only his words from the cut conversation flowed out in sequence.
– If I didn’t intend to get back together with you, I thought it was courtesy not to give you false hope.
– You were popular, so why.
– We should each meet people who suit us well.
“Wow, definitely.”
Juyeon crossed her arms and spoke seriously.
“I’m getting the slight feeling that it might have been a relationship with a clear power dynamic…”
Mariella spoke honestly.
“Slight? I’m getting it very strongly. He’s completely on top right now. The partner is overflowing with lingering feelings while he has none at all, so he’s kindly reasoning with them? It feels like he’s never been swayed once in his life, just…”
Her voice was full of annoyance.
“But is there really someone who has absolutely no lingering feelings?”
“True. You might think there are none, but if you keep running into them in the same house, your thoughts might change. If you had no idea about their current situation it would be one thing, but seeing them doing well with someone else right in front of you… that would feel really strange.”
“Right? And if the reason Lee Chan-ssi was so confident was because his partner only liked him? Then I think if the situation changes, Lee Chan-ssi’s position could change too.”
“Wow.”
While the panelists were murmuring, the screen changed.
Choi Eungi was sitting occupying one side of the cocktail bar, slowly fiddling with his drink glass. An expression heavy with many thoughts flickered across his profile.
[Q. Is there anyone you’re interested in?]
– Well. I’m not sure yet. There is someone I’m concerned about, but it doesn’t seem like romantic feelings. Rather… hmm. Whether my X will be able to adapt well. That’s what came to mind more.
“…Huh?”
Ari, who had been watching the screen, clapped her hands.
“This… So, doesn’t he talk as if his X… isn’t in the dorm?”
“Huh? Wait, wait, wait. That’s really it, isn’t it? So, he saw someone who couldn’t adapt well to dorm life and thought of his X. His X should also come in and do well. Isn’t this it? Totally?”
“Oh my.”
As if to prove the panelists’ assumption, Choi Eungi’s voice continued.
– There are many good people.
– …Why did you lose more weight?
– I’ll make you something delicious when you come in. Think about what you want to eat.
“Look at this, look at this, look at this.”
“Right, they haven’t joined yet!”
“No wonder the dorm was spacious!”
Mariella jumped up.
“Since it won’t be an odd number, at least two more people are coming in, right? At least ten people. This is really amazing.”
“If Choi Eungi-ssi’s X hasn’t entered the dorm yet, then among the people staying in the dorm, there are others whose X hasn’t entered yet either.”
Kim Yeseok held his head and groaned.
“Wow. I was roughly guessing who was whose X, but more people might come in. I really have no clue…”
In the confusion, the screen changed again.
The remaining Alpha group participants were Bae Taeseong and Han Jiwon.
But since it had already been revealed in the early episodes that the two were in a relationship, Han Jiwon and Bae Taeseong’s conversation was broadcast in its entirety without editing.
[Q. What if your X meets someone else?]
Bae Taeseong: I think that could happen. I’m curious though. What kind of person they would like.
Han Jiwon: I should congratulate them, right? Since they found a good person. But I can’t really imagine it. It’s not because I’m confident that my X will definitely like me. But… maybe I just didn’t want to think about it.
“I really sometimes don’t know what you’re thinking.”
Han Jiwon, who had arrived and sat down first, shook his head with his legs crossed.
“Why are you stirring things up? Between me and Yoo Sanho-ssi.”
“Ah, that.”
Bae Taeseong replied while taking off his leather jacket and hanging it on his arm. The two were sitting side by side on a park bench overlooking the neighborhood.
“Didn’t you not like it when I pushed things like that?”
Bae Taeseong’s face briefly appeared as he turned to look at Han Jiwon, then the screen changed to show when they were preparing dinner.
– You two look good together?
“Either way, you played along too.”
Bae Taeseong rustled through his pocket, unwrapped a lollipop, and put it in his mouth. Soon there was the sound of teeth and candy colliding and rolling around.
Then he lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.
“Be a little honest, Han Jiwon.”
Instead of answering, Han Jiwon quietly looked at him.
“You do like Sanho-ssi, right? That’s why you were all excited and flirted with that ideal type stuff, wasn’t it?”
“……”
“You went even further than me, trying to package it like there was something between you two. Provocatively telling your X to pay attention. Even though you don’t know what kind of relationship they had before, just being displeased based solely on how upset Yoo Sanho-ssi was.”
Bae Taeseong spoke while crunching on his candy.
“That’s the same thing you did for me. When I was training and got pushed out by association politics, couldn’t even make the national team, and was going crazy for a while, when you got uncharacteristically angry at players and coaches you’d never even met. It’s exactly that same behavior.”
“Well…”
Han Jiwon said “I guess so” and chuckled softly.
“Back then I was on your side. Even if you were somewhat in the wrong, Taeseong-ah. So even if people said things about you… I still thought I should be by your side.”
“……”
“Are you thinking that me, who was like that, now wants to be by Sanho-ssi’s side?”
“Then refute it. Whether you really have no interest in Yoo Sanho-ssi. Whether I really said unnecessary things about someone I have absolutely no feelings for.”
Han Jiwon, who had leaned his upper body forward, laughed for a while.
“Haha, ahahaha… Right. I can’t refute it. To be honest, I think I was a little interested. The kind of curiosity that’s a bit embarrassing to call anything grand?”
Soon the laughter gradually faded, revealing Han Jiwon’s face glowing white under the streetlight.
“But, Taeseong-ah. You be honest too.”
A voice that was soft yet somehow cold, strangely thorny with sharp edges, leaked out from his thin lips.
“Why are you talking as if you’re not?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
