The downside of appearing on a dating show was that time alone was absurdly scarce.
Living together with people he had only just met while sizing each other up was mentally draining. Since the premise of a “dating” show was, by nature, to take interest in others and get to know them, he also had to behave in ways that fit that purpose.
R-Connect, in particular, had a more varied format than other dating shows.
Games, for instance, or pheromone matching. It was already difficult enough that new tensions kept being added like blows to the back of the head, but once he got through the schedule, even time itself was ridiculously lacking.
Of course, on rare occasions, they were given free time like today. But it was only free in name. It was essentially time for Alphas and Omegas to talk on their own and enjoy dates.
Because the cameras were rolling twenty-four hours a day.
That was the biggest problem.
According to many people who had appeared on slice-of-life reality entertainment programs, most of them were tense at first, but after two or three days, they got used to it and stopped caring whether cameras were there or not.
On top of that, dating shows, where romantic feelings tangled together and sometimes led to deep emotional outbursts and messy affairs, often showed people in their so-called “raw” state. That was exactly the picture viewers wanted, and also exactly what the production team was aiming for.
To become the main character, he could not let his guard down until the very end.
Some people might show their raw selves and win over the public, but Gyeol Go firmly believed that he could not.
Especially now, when dangerous factors like Jun Shin and Yo Han Sung were lurking. Gyeol wanted to bet only on certain victory.
For that, he had to stay conscious of the cameras at all times. Even when other people slowly revealed their true colors, he had to keep acting completely.
He had to act twenty-four hours a day, for fifteen full days.
It’ll be a problem if I can’t organize my thoughts already.
Returning to the beginning, Gyeol thought that time alone was absurdly scarce. Naturally, that meant he also lacked time to organize his thoughts.
Ever since he had received the late-entry twist’s entrance notice disguised as a favorability vote, Gyeol had been gripped by the feeling that he was missing something.
Even after he safely finished his Day 2 interview and started back toward the lodging, that ominous feeling did not disappear.
What the hell is it?
A large shadow fell over him as he sank into thought. The moment he looked up at the other person a beat too late, the identity of what he had forgotten surfaced in Gyeol’s mind.
The moment Yo Han Sung’s face entered his eyes.
Pheromone matching. There were four Alphas, but five people’s pheromones came out. Then why aren’t the other Omegas saying anything?
Unlike Gyeol, the other Omegas should not have known about the late-entry twist before pheromone matching. And yet it was strange that none of them had said a single word.
Had the production team forbidden them from revealing it? Or else—
“Don’t you think you have no right to act that way with Jun Shin?”
Yo Han Sung’s words cut off Gyeol’s thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Gyeol took his words as provocation. He dismissed it as being about the conversation he had had with Jun Shin by the sea earlier.
Why is this bastard popping out at this timing again? I feel like I ran into him in the same place at the exact same timing yesterday too.
Gyeol narrowed his eyes and looked around. It was the same path as yesterday. Feeling suspicious, Gyeol asked,
“Don’t tell me you were waiting for me.”
“Me? Waiting for you?”
Yo Han Sung snorted with derision. Gyeol was not especially shaken.
“Then fine. I’ll be going.”
He did not want to be alone with Yo Han Sung for even one minute—no, not even one second. There was no chance he would hear anything good.
“Says who?”
The moment he tried to pass him, Yo Han Sung seized Gyeol’s wrist. Reflexively, Gyeol shook off his hand. He had been so startled that the motion came out rough.
A brief silence passed.
Yo Han Sung looked down at Gyeol with an overbearing gaze. Damn it, he had made a mistake. His mouth felt dry.
“...That just now wasn’t on purpose.”
He opened his mouth, seized by the feeling that he needed to make some kind of excuse, but Yo Han Sung stepped closer. Because of what had just happened, Gyeol could not back away.
The distance closed in an instant. Yo Han Sung grabbed Gyeol’s hand again and squeezed hard.
“What are you—!”
At the sharp pain, Gyeol could not hold back and tried to shake off his hand again. But the force was too strong; he could not move at all.
Looking down at Gyeol with cold eyes, Yo Han Sung murmured,
“I’m telling you this because you don’t seem to understand the difference in position between you and me. There’s a limit to how much I can tolerate.”
“Difference in position?”
Gyeol had reached the limit of what he could tolerate too.
In the past and now. Gyeol had no idea why Yo Han Sung tormented him like this.
He was exhausted from the whole day. The emotional stimulation he had received from Jun Shin had also been intense. Gyeol felt his patience hit bottom. Old emotions and memories surged up.
Hello, actor Yo Han Sung. I’m rookie Gyeol Go, playing Lee Jung this time. I look forward to working with you.
Hello, Gyeol. I look forward to working with you too.
A supporting role close to an extra who did everything he could to seduce the male lead. A shoot that would last for one episode’s worth of screen time. That had been his first meeting with Yo Han Sung.
Gyeol still had not forgotten the smile Yo Han Sung had shown him then.
Back then, Yo Han Sung had been an actor Gyeol admired and respected beyond words. The kindness such a person showed him had felt overwhelming.
“Cut! Let’s go again. Gyeol. Do it properly, all right?”
But it did not take long for that fantasy to shatter.
It had definitely been fine when they filmed the first scene. Yo Han Sung had been kind and gentle. Watching him lead Gyeol with skilled acting had made Gyeol feel almost deluded enough to think he was truly falling for him.
But when they filmed the next scene after the break.
In the scene where Gyeol climbed on top of Yo Han Sung to seduce him, rubbing against him and kissing him, Yo Han Sung’s attitude changed completely.
“No, just now...”
“Hm? Are you talking back right now? Do you know how many times we’ve had to reshoot because of you?”
“...I’m sorry.”
The director snapped, and Gyeol lowered his head weakly. Had he heard wrong? In the middle of all that physical contact, Yo Han Sung had quietly whispered.
This is so filthy I can’t even do it.
But after the cut, Yo Han Sung returned to his original gentlemanly, perfect self. He even pretended to care about Gyeol with a smile that bewitched people.
“Gyeol seems nervous. That can happen to anyone. Why don’t we take a short break, Director?”
So Gyeol judged that he had simply misheard. That he must have heard things.
But it was hard to shake the uneasy feeling, so instead of digging a hole by himself, he chose to ask Yo Han Sung directly. It seemed like that would make his heart feel much lighter.
But then.
“Ha. You really have no fucking sense. You crawled all the way here yourself?”
Gyeol had not heard wrong.
After even the fragments of the past swept over him, Gyeol finally exploded.
“Are you talking about the difference between a producer and a cast member right now? Or the difference between a great actor like you and me, a failed idol and minor-role actor?”
The words spilled out quickly. The wrist Yo Han Sung held hurt, and because of the physiological size difference between an Alpha and an Omega, he even felt afraid, but he could not stop.
“Aren’t you the one who doesn’t understand that difference in position? I can’t understand why someone on Yo Han Sung’s level keeps obsessing over someone like Gyeol Go, who’s nothing but an unknown nobody.”
“Obsessing?”
Yo Han Sung’s eyes sharpened, and he let out a laugh of disbelief. It was a reaction as if he had heard something insane.
“At this point, it is obsession. Back then and now. I tried to be polite to you, I tried to treat you as a senior, and I even tried to treat you as a producer. But you’re the one who breaks that every single time and picks fights over every little thing, aren’t you?”
“Ha.”
“If you don’t want to hear this, then stop paying attention to me. I don’t know what exactly you dislike so much. No, I’m not even curious. In any case, there’s nothing good for R-Connect if I leave the show like this, and I’m sure Producer Sung doesn’t want that either.”
Gyeol made a strong move. A cast member leaving was something every dating show hated. The emotional lines that had been built up would suddenly lose momentum, and viewers would drop off fast.
If Gyeol, who had been gaining popularity from the start, left, the impact would be even greater.
“......”
“If you understand, let go of this.”
Yo Han Sung said nothing. Thinking he had conveyed his intention sufficiently, Gyeol lightly shook his wrist. At this rate, it felt like it would bruise.
Viewers were the sort to dig up every tiny detail. Yo Han Sung would not want pointless marks left behind and useless talk starting up either. He was smart enough to know that much.
But Yo Han Sung’s reaction went in a direction Gyeol had not expected.
He suddenly burst into laughter.
“...Why.”
He did not even let go of his wrist. As Gyeol stared blankly up at Yo Han Sung, who laughed like a madman for a long while, he felt a shame he could not name and clenched his teeth hard.
Then Alpha pheromones surged thickly into the air.
Gyeol knew these pheromones. Dense, intense pheromones that wrapped around his body in an instant and conquered it completely.
They were the very pheromones he had encountered earlier that day.
“You’re running your mouth so well... it’s almost sad enough to bring tears to my eyes.”
Then Yo Han Sung abruptly stopped laughing and used his other hand to cup Gyeol’s chin, dragging it upward.
“What do you think will happen if the world finds out a father came on a dating show?”