Sun Choi glanced at Woo Seok Jung, unable to understand the intent behind the question. Woo Seok grinned and lowered his voice.
“No, seriously... doesn’t it feel a little off?”
“What exactly do you mean?”
“Gyeol Go. After talking to people, apparently every single Alpha picked Gyeol during the first selection. You did too, right?”
“I did.”
It seemed the other Alphas had compared choices while Sun was absent. It had nothing to do with him. Without much reaction, Sun calmly admitted his feelings.
“See? An Alpha unanimous vote is probably the first in R-Connect history. But then the second Yo Han Sung showed up as the late-entry twist, he immediately ran straight to Yo Han Sung.”
“...?”
Sun was not someone good at reading around indirect phrasing. It was difficult for him to grasp what Woo Seok was truly trying to say. Still, he could tell the conversation was heading somewhere negative.
Sun stopped walking.
Taking the silence as agreement, Woo Seok continued the gossip in earnest.
“No, I mean. I caught on early, so I’d already switched to pursuing another Omega. But then I saw you declaring you were going all in, and honestly, I felt bad for you.”
Woo Seok rambled while theatrically pounding his chest with his fist. The voice he had lowered as though sharing a secret had already grown louder.
“Should someone at your level really be trapped in an aquarium? I mean, even a beluga or a blue whale becomes nothing once it’s trapped inside an aquarium.”
“An aquarium.”
“Yeah. A dating pond. Ah, but this stays between us, okay?”
Woo Seok suddenly threw an arm around Sun’s shoulders and winked. His umbrella shoved against Sun’s, tilting it sharply aside. Heavy rain pattered over Sun’s left shoulder.
After glancing around, Woo Seok gave an awkward grin.
“Wouldn’t want cameras catching this.”
Silently looking down at him, Sun removed Woo Seok’s arm.
“Woo Seok Jung.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, Woo Seok blinked his large eyes rapidly. He had quietly underestimated Sun, thinking the so-called Swimming Emperor was merely quiet and gentler than expected. Lifting his chin, Woo Seok looked as though asking what the problem was.
Sun stepped closer.
He was taller than Woo Seok, so Woo Seok’s gaze naturally lifted upward. Now that they were this close, Sun’s overwhelming physique became strikingly obvious again. His shoulders were incredibly broad, his frame massive.
Woo Seok suppressed the urge to rise onto his toes and instead puffed out his chest.
“Whether it’s a dating pond or an aquarium, I don’t care.”
But beneath Sun’s calm expression, the intensity of his gaze pressed down hard enough to crush confidence. Irritated by the feeling of being overpowered, Woo Seok felt anger flare.
“No, I’m trying to say this because I actually thought about—”
Just as he was about to argue back, face flushed red, a voice came from behind him.
“What are you two doing over there?”
Startled, Woo Seok stopped speaking. The shame unique to someone caught whispering “secret talk” by a third party spread hot across his face.
“I waited forever and you never came in, so I came out looking for you. Why are you standing around in the cold?”
Jun Shin, dressed in a white windbreaker, walked toward them with a smile.
“Why are you soaked from the rain?”
Jun lifted the shaft of Sun’s umbrella back into place over him.
“Nothing much. It’s just raining hard.”
Relief that it was not production staff mixed with irritation at why it had to be this bastard of all people briefly crossed Woo Seok’s face.
Woo Seok disliked Jun Shin, who got along smoothly with every cast member through sheer social ease. Even the luxury brand logo printed on the white windbreaker irritated him. Brand P. The rain was pouring hard enough to soak everything, yet he wore a windbreaker worth several million won without a care?
On the first day, Woo Seok had looked down on Jun Shin even more than Tommy.
Jun approached him first, casually calling out to him while striking up conversation. He was quick-witted and excellent at reading the atmosphere. He made sure no contestant felt excluded and always led conversations whenever everyone gathered together.
Woo Seok decided it would benefit him to become close with Jun Shin. He had even wanted to share a room with him.
But then Jun Shin smiled pleasantly while rejecting Woo Seok’s suggestion directly to his face.
“I’m a fan of Sun, so I want to room with him.”
The way he singled out Sun and dropped Woo Seok so casually irritated him.
“That’s okay, right?”
Jun lowered his brows as though carefully checking Woo Seok’s reaction. There was no way Woo Seok could openly show irritation to that face.
Over the following days, Woo Seok became increasingly uncomfortable around Jun Shin.
Jun Shin was not easy prey. If anything, he was extremely calculating. Impossible to read. He possessed the sharp boundaries unique to someone with abundant social experience and excellent people skills. He knew exactly when to connect and when to cut someone off.
And again and again, the one getting cut off was Woo Seok.
“Ugh, it’s freezing. Let’s hurry inside.”
Just like now.
There was no way coincidence could overlap this often. It probably was not just Woo Seok imagining things.
Jun slipped neatly between Sun and Woo Seok, patting both their backs.
“Just looking at you makes me feel cold. Is it because athletes naturally run hot?”
“You’re wearing a short-sleeve shirt under your windbreaker too.”
“A windbreaker makes a huge difference.”
Sun smiled faintly at Jun’s teasing.
Woo Seok already seemed completely outside Sun’s attention.
Sun walked ahead while Jun Shin and Woo Seok followed side by side behind him.
Tap. Tap-tap.
Rain battered violently against the umbrellas. Woo Seok kept his mouth tightly shut, feeling vaguely guilty.
Had Jun Shin heard him talking about Gyeol?
If he had, from where? How much?
It felt unpleasant. But Woo Seok lacked the courage to ask directly. He knew Jun Shin and Gyeol had debuted in the same group together. And he had already confirmed Jun Shin’s feelings himself.
“I’m choosing Gyeol.”
“Ah, Gyeol Go.”
From the very first day.
“Yeah. I came here to see him.”
Woo Seok could not tell whether Jun Shin had meant it sincerely, but his expression at the time had looked deadly serious.
He recalled how public opinion had exploded daily after news broke that Jun Shin of Moving would appear on R-Connect. Endless comments asking, Why Jun Shin?
If Jun Shin’s words were true, and he had joined R-Connect specifically to meet Gyeol, then suddenly everything fit together perfectly. Gyeol filled the giant blank space behind all those question marks people had been throwing around.
That was why Woo Seok changed his strategy beginning on the second day. He did not believe he could win against Jun Shin head-on.
At the same time, he had another scheme.
The so-called “You’re the first person who’s ever treated me this way” tactic.
While every Alpha chased after Gyeol, Woo Seok planned to deliberately pull away and provoke curiosity instead. Then, the moment Gyeol’s popularity started cooling off, he would swoop in hard.
Woo Seok had been watching Gyeol constantly, waiting for an opportunity.
Because regardless of everything else, Gyeol was still the Omega he wanted most.
Just thinking about Gyeol made saliva gather in his mouth. It was not only the pretty face. Woo Seok still could not forget the glimpse of pink nipple he had seen when Gyeol bent over and his shirt had fallen open.
Woo Seok believed Gyeol had shown it to him on purpose.
Pretentious and cute at the same time.
Why else would he decide to appear on R-Connect? As long as nobody actually put it in, it was fine, wasn’t it?
Touch Gyeol, feel him up, make him burn hot—
“Go ahead to Hee Jun’s place first. I need to stop by the room and grab something.”
“Okay.”
Jun Shin’s voice abruptly cut through Woo Seok’s filthy fantasy.
The umbrellas folded one after another. Smacking his lips, Woo Seok started following behind Sun, but Jun suddenly grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.
Thunk.
Woo Seok failed to get inside before the door shut closed.
“Hold on a second.”
“What.”
The hell was this, grabbing people all of a sudden? Irritated, Woo Seok tried to shove Jun’s arm away.
But Jun Shin did not let go.
No matter how much force Woo Seok used, the arm did not budge.
“What the hell.”
“I had something to say.”
Jun Shin still wore the same bright smile.
Under different circumstances, Woo Seok might have admired how even among top-tier idols, Jun’s visuals stood out refreshingly.
But not now.
The fact that Jun could wear this expression while openly overpowering him irritated Woo Seok enough that the muscles in his jaw tightened as he shoved harder against Jun’s arm.
Still, it did not move at all.
Then Jun Shin tilted his head toward him.
A quiet whisper brushed against Woo Seok’s ear.
“Stop talking shit about Gyeol.”
Woo Seok froze mid-push.
“W-when did I ever—”
His words stumbled badly.
“I don’t know what kind of fantasies you’re having, but he’s not that kind of person.”
So he heard everything.
Woo Seok’s heart dropped.
Lowering his gaze, Woo Seok once again found himself staring at that irritating luxury logo from Brand P. The same brand Jun Shin worked for as a global ambassador.
“Next time won’t be funny.”
With that warning, Jun finally released him.
Then, suddenly bursting into laughter, Jun smacked Woo Seok hard on the back.
“Seriously, you’re hilarious. Born with comedian instincts.”
As if the conversation they had just whispered between themselves had merely been some incredibly funny joke.
The act was so shamelessly natural that for a moment Woo Seok’s mind nearly blanked.
Just as he started zoning out, Woo Seok noticed the camera fixed on the two of them.
Forcing a smile, he laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, hahaha. Right.”
“Yeah. You’re seriously funny. Go on inside first. I’ll be right back.”
After patting Woo Seok on the back one more time, Jun Shin turned and strode down the front steps.
Standing there stupidly frozen, Woo Seok could only stare at Jun Shin’s umbrella disappearing into the distance.
The hand clutching his umbrella trembled uncontrollably with humiliation and rage.