#36
“I’m going to choose you.”
Bae Taeseong said.
“Because I’m curious about you.”
“……Hyung.”
“Just as my choice is my heart, your choice will be your heart too.”
The sunset spread warm, reddish light across the evening sky, and on his ears and cheeks.
“I can’t help it if you reject me. But I’d like you to just remember the fact that I hoped for a chance.”
“……”
“I was waiting to say this.”
Bae Taeseong, who had let me go, went into the dormitory first.
‘I was thinking of choosing him anyway……’
The Alpha group participants are Bae Taeseong, Choi Eungi, Lee Chan, and Han Jiwon.
Of course Lee Chan is excluded—Lee Chan wouldn’t choose me either—and I went on a date with Choi Eungi last time. Though the time was a bit short, I also had dinner with Han Jiwon, but Bae Taeseong was still left.
“What’s this.”
I placed my hand on my chest and tilted my head.
My heart was beating with a strangely fresh feeling. It wasn’t that loud, so I wasn’t anxious either.
Just, thanks to that, the feeling of not wanting to enter the dormitory eased somewhat. So I briefly thought it was fortunate.
Dinner took place in a somewhat awkward atmosphere. Lee Chan and I sat at diagonal ends of the table, with others filling the distant space between us.
Because this morning’s commotion had grown bigger than expected, everyone in the dormitory came to know about Lee Chan’s and my relationship.
Should I be sorry? I was about to think that, then stopped. It was something that would be revealed someday anyway.
‘And it’s not like I caused it.’
It was quite a selfish thought, but I just wanted to think that way.
“Try this, Sanho. Don’t you like fried food?”
Unlike An Lei, Kim Sehyeong, and Hwang Yeonwoo who were carefully watching our mood, Han Jiwon was calm. As if he had no idea about what happened today, he sat across from me, busy pushing and serving various foods.
“Fried food…… I eat it.”
“Then try the flower bread with the stir-fried chili peppers. That one over there……”
Bae Taeseong, who was sitting next to him, tapped Han Jiwon’s wrist.
“That won’t work. There’s peanut sauce in the yangjanpi.”
“I was going to serve him yusan-seul, not that.”
He replied with a bright smile.
“Even if it wasn’t the sauce, I wouldn’t have given him yangjanpi. There’s jellyfish salad in there. Sanho hates fishy things. Jellyfish, uncooked shrimp, raw fish……”
There was something strangely pointed in his words.
Sure enough, Han Jiwon asked Lee Chan with a smiling face.
“But Chan likes sushi.”
Lee Chan looked at Han Jiwon and me in turn. Then he chuckled as if incredulous.
“That’s true. It’s a loss if you can’t eat something delicious.”
Lee Chan’s words carried a somewhat resentful attitude. It was close to saying, whatever happened, however we broke up, it’s a problem between the two of us, so why should he be treated like this by other people?
It wasn’t a surprising reaction either. I’d seen him fight with Gam Seonghan over similar issues several times.
Still, I felt uncomfortable. Maybe I should have endured it, such regret came belatedly. I stuffed the dry-feeling flower bread into my mouth.
Whether good or bad, it’s communal living, so I should refrain from actions that might affect others. I should at least pretend to have a separate conversation later.
Having thought that far, I got up first to do the dishes. Others also helped with cleanup and took a brief rest. I put my hands in lukewarm water and worked hard to make bubbles.
Then, an arm suddenly extended from behind. Han Jiwon rolled up my sleeves and said.
“Who are you going to nominate for the date later?”
I smiled softly and answered.
“Did you also come to make a pre-appeal, hyung?”
When I tilted my head back to look up, Han Jiwon smiled with crinkled eyes.
“Since you said ‘also,’ it seems the diligent Bae Taeseong-ssi already said something and left.”
“Yes, well.”
The response that came back was quite unexpected.
“I was going to recommend going out with Taeseong.”
“Huh?”
I asked with wide eyes.
“Taeseong hyung? Not Jiwon hyung?”
“Yeah. Bae Taeseong. Not Han Jiwon.”
“That’s unusual……”
Didn’t we have a good atmosphere during dinner last time? Of course, we both sent our sincere text messages to other people.
“I thought hyung would ask me to date you.”
“I was going to, but I want you to go out and have fun. Oh, be careful.”
Being distracted by the conversation, I almost dropped a dish. Water full of detergent splashed, wetting my clothes and apron a little.
“Dating is all about going out and having fun.”
“That’s true, but…… I guess the approach is a bit different.”
Han Jiwon glanced around briefly, confirmed no one was there, then bent his head toward me to whisper.
“If you go out and have fun with him, you’ll definitely get a change of mood. How should I put it, you feel refreshed. He makes people feel relieved. Trust me because it’s from experience.”
“You know him well.”
“Of course.”
His smile became slightly complicated.
“It’s been 7 years.”
After finishing up, we chose our next date partners according to the production team’s guidance. Meanwhile, the four Alpha group participants went out for interviews one by one.
[Bae Taeseong]
[Matching successful. Have a wonderful time.]
* * *
[We’re boycotting TaesungSanho. (Buying like hotcakes, buying passionately like fire, buying quickly while pretending to complain, loving burningly every day, buying disadvantageously, buying while overcoming insomnia, buying immortal love, buying suddenly…….)]
└ Since they’re going on a date anyway, get a grip
[(°ロ°) My JiwonSanho stocks……]
└ (°ロ°) My TaesungJiwon stocks…….
└ (°ロ°) My JiwonTaesung stocks…….
└ (°ロ°) My EungiSanho stocks…….
└ (°ロ°) My LeeChanSanho stocks…….
└└ What’s with this person, drag them out
└└ What times are these that you’re eating ㅇㅊ, do you have a conscience?
└└ That one won’t work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Isn’t JiwonLei the unexpected matching this time?]
└ I never thought they’d match like this in my life… how did this combination happen……?
[Lee Chan choosing Sanho could be because they want to talk separately? There might be something they want to resolve, but why… Lei, why?]
[Right, it is puzzling; as the fans say, even if Lee Chan was two-timing or cheating while dating and that’s why they broke up, that’s a problem between those two people, it has nothing to do with Lei. Even if his image gets damaged, that’s not Lei’s story, right?]
└ ㅁㅈㅁㅇ Lei has a history of field activities and has fans, so most opinions were that he’s pitiful… He also got along well with Sanho as roommates
└ Everyone knows Lee Chan ↔ Lei is mutual… They seemed to think so too, but it’s really strange;
[But more than anything, Jiwon chose Lei instead of Sanho??? No, it’s a dating show so meeting everyone is right…… it is right…… wow, really mysterious]
└ He has feelings for Sanho, and while knowing Sehyeong wants to go out with him again, he chose Lei?
[Q. Is there a reason you chose An Lei-ssi, with whom you have no connection?]
Han Jiwon: Isn’t living in the same dormitory a connection? (laughing sound)
I don’t not understand why you’d think it’s unexpected, but in a situation where not even half of the group lodging period has passed, I don’t think we need to decide on an answer and move accordingly. To accurately distinguish certain emotions, I think you need to compare, question, and worry countless times.
I think I was lucky. Lei-ssi seems like a good person too. I’d like the two of us to go out and get to know each other. We can break the ice while we’re at it. We did break the ice, but it’s still a bit uncomfortable, haha.
[Q. How did it feel to be nominated?]
Bae Taeseong: It felt good. (After a long pause) ……Oh, what more should I say? But what do I say. I was very happy? Good is good, what more…….
If I really have to say something more, um, I guess I felt something like responsibility. Since entering the dormitory, I’ve seen Sanho suffer quite a bit mentally. When he’s with me, I hoped he could forget about such things and laugh and chat comfortably.
“Taeseong-ssi really seems to have deep thoughts.”
Mariella muttered as if talking to herself with a very concentrated expression.
“He’s honest, and also bold. How should I put it, he doesn’t have that thing that makes people anxious? I think I understand why he dated Jiwon-ssi for 7 years.”
“Right. And I get a strong feeling that he’s very intuitive.”
Han Dajeong nodded.
“In contrast, Jiwon-ssi seems very delicate. Like in the interview earlier, he seems like someone who defines his emotions by throwing questions and pondering.”
“Ah, right. The feeling that he wants to break down and clearly distinguish things like interest, curiosity, sympathy, affection into very small units? He was like that in the anonymous chat room too, right? He said he wanted to distinguish between interest and jealousy.”
Juyeon said.
“He was like that when they broke up too. He said he wanted to separate love and habit.”
“Looking at it this way, they really don’t seem compatible…… but maybe because they’re complete opposites, they were attracted to each other.”
“Right. I wonder what will happen.”
After the panelists’ conversation passed briefly, the screen showed the dormitory again.
Around the time the sun had just risen.
Yoo Sanho, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he came downstairs, began slowly moving around the kitchen to make food.
And below that, a diagonal subtitle appeared.
[Yoo Sanho begins making lunch boxes that could feed an entire village and still have leftovers]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
