The other female contestants weren’t dressed much differently either. A few wore swimsuits that covered slightly more area, but everyone was clearly showing off their well-maintained figures.
In the midst of all this, Jiyoon was the only one who hadn’t completely exposed his upper body.
“Everyone seems so confident. That’s why I decided to compete with cuteness instead.”
Unlike the other male contestants whose abs were clearly defined, Jiyoon’s stomach was soft and flat. Thanks to his slim build, there was no disaster of a belly poking out, but it was true that his body had less impact compared to the other contestants.
“Ahem…”
Finally, when everyone revealed the hot visuals they had prepared, coughs and throat-clearing erupted among the male contestants. Their movements seemed to be struggling not to react to the provocative visuals unfolding before their eyes. Of course, this didn’t apply to Yuwon and Sungjin.
Sungjin was desperately fixing his gaze forward to avoid sneaking glances at Yuwon’s body standing right next to him. Lee Yuwon exposed under the bright summer sunlight was like a pictorial just by his mere existence. His smooth, perfectly sculpted body, as if carved by a sculptor, gleamed white like ivory. If seen in a dream, it was a figure that could be mistaken for a god from Greek and Roman mythology appearing in one’s dreams.
He had no idea what Yuwon was thinking, nor could he predict what he was trying to do, which was terrifyingly frightening. Yet in the midst of all that, his appearance was horrifyingly to his taste, so his gaze kept drifting in that direction.
Then he’d flinch and repeatedly turn his gaze away, afraid of making eye contact with Yuwon. Even to Sungjin himself, it felt like his intelligence was gradually regressing.
But what could he do? Scary things were scary, and pleasing to the eye was pleasing to the eye. A person who seemed capable of stealing his soul just by looking at him was standing next to him almost naked, and not looking was too difficult a task. Even if that person might inflict some harm on him.
I need to get it together.
Sungjin took a deep breath internally, hoping this would be the biggest crisis of the day. Soon, a signal sound announcing the start of the full-fledged competition rang out.
[We will now begin the first round of the date ticket competition.]
The competition was basically individual and point-based. Each round would be ranked, with 1st through 6th place receiving 6 points down to 1 point respectively. After all rounds ended, one male and one female with the highest scores would take the date tickets.
The game format varied by round. Round 1 was a couple competition where randomly matched males and females formed teams. Males and females each drew one card from six face-down cards, and those with matching pictures were paired.
“Oh.”
Sungjin’s partner was Suyeong, the CEO of the clothing shopping mall who had received great attention for her amazing figure.
“Please take care of me.”
As soon as Sungjin made eye contact with Suyeong, he bowed his head. Although she was five years younger than him, perhaps because she had entered society from a young age, she actually gave off the aura of someone older. It seemed all too natural that he should follow her instructions.
“I look forward to working with you too.”
Suyeong glanced over Sungjin from head to toe, then satisfied that he appeared to have no disqualifying factors as a pair to carry out joint operations with, extended her hand. Sungjin lightly grasped Suyeong’s hand, shook it, and then stood next to her. What then caught his eye was, of all things, Yuwon paired with Harin, with whom that incident had happened yesterday.
……
Yuwon’s face was openly scrunched up. Harin was like a small animal trembling in fear of such a Yuwon. How on earth did those two end up together? Even at a glance, their compatibility was the worst, making it pitiful for anyone watching.
Jiyoon was paired with Sina. Sina was tall, close to the mid-170cm range, and unfortunately, Jiyoon was the shortest among the male contestants, so the two were almost the same height. Perhaps… Jiyoon even seemed to be shorter. However, fortunately, the relationship between the two wasn’t too bad as they were overflowing with enthusiasm.
“Let’s go, fighting!”
“Fighting!”
How should I put it… There was no romantic interest felt between them at all, but they seemed to have good rapport as colleagues? The atmosphere was much better than the disaster pair of Yuwon and Harin right next to them. Watching them, Sungjin said to Suyeong.
“Let’s… fighting too.”
He didn’t have an enthusiastic desire to win the date ticket, but at the very least, he didn’t want to be a burden to his pair. In that case, he needed to place at least 3rd. And when it came to physical tasks, he was fairly confident…
Sungjin looked at the set before him. The first round’s mission had the male contestants using strength while the female contestants balanced. In the pool spread out against the backdrop of the dazzling sea, a suspension bridge floating on water was prepared, and the male contestants had to cross the suspension bridge while carrying the female contestants on their backs. The female contestants, while being carried on the male contestants’ backs, had to eat all the mini donuts hanging in the air. In short, it was a race with intense physical contact and suffering scheduled for both sides.
I just need to endure well for now.
If it was patience, he was quite confident. Same with stamina and endurance. When it came to carrying heavy objects on his back, he would probably do it best among everyone here.
That was because Sungjin came from a furniture company. Unlike the other male contestants whose experience was at most carrying copy paper or water cooler bottles, his experience level was different.
[We will now start the first round.]
The first order went to the Muncheol and Yeonjin pair. Yeonjin, who was said to have established herself as a hundred-million-won annual salary instructor in the academy district at a young age, jumped up onto Muncheol’s back. Muncheol staggered from the start, as if he wasn’t used to carrying someone on his back. Then, as soon as he stepped onto the suspension bridge, he lost his balance and plunged into the water. It happened 3 seconds after the timer started.
“Ahahaha, uhahaha, ah, this is so funny. Uhaha.”
Jiyoon laughed almost sobbing. He was laughing so hard that tears were flowing. Muncheol came up from the water with his face bright red and wiped his face with a towel handed by the staff. Yeonjin, who had come up first, said reproachfully.
“How can you not even cross the first plank?”
Then Muncheol kept shaking his head.
“No, I mean… No. Let’s try again later.”
The turn quickly passed to the next pair. This time’s challengers were the Jiyoon and Sina pair. This time, even more disastrously, Jiyoon carrying Sina was a crisis from the start.
“Waaaah, wait a second, time time time time! Noona, I really don’t think this is going to work!”
Jiyoon whined tremendously and immediately put Sina down. Sina raised her voice with an incredulous face.
“Hey, you can’t lift one woman?”
“No, Noona, aren’t you and I almost the same height? It’s physically impossible.”
“Hey! You!”
Sina pounded Jiyoon’s forearm with her fist. The two looked more like siblings than a couple to anyone watching. Eventually, to give the two time to practice, the order passed to the next pair.
After two failures, the first pair to create a decent scene was Juhoon, who introduced himself as a veterinarian, and Yunchae, who came from being a resident. Thanks to Yunchae being the shortest among all contestants, Juhoon carried him without difficulty and advanced to the midpoint of the suspension bridge.
However, when Yunchae lost balance while stretching to eat a donut and fell from Juhoon’s back, succeeding on the first attempt went down the drain.
“Ah~.”
“Ah, that’s too bad~. I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”
“No, I should have held on tighter from below, I’m the one who should be sorry.”
Although the first attempt failed, a picture befitting a dating show finally emerged. Juhoon and Yunchae, walking out together from the water with bitter smiles, looked like a well-matched pair.
The next order was… the Harin and Yuwon pair. Yuwon silently lowered his body and offered his back so Harin could easily climb on. The problem was Harin. She struggled even to touch Yuwon’s body, so eventually, Yuwon, who had been keeping his mouth shut the whole time, said something.
“Are you planning to fall as soon as we start? Hold on tight so you don’t fall.”
“Y-yes…!”
Was she instinctively distinguishing between those who would accept her whining and those who absolutely would not? Harin barely grabbed Yuwon’s shoulder with trembling hands. Since he wasn’t good at chopping or grilling meat, Sungjin had wondered if Yuwon would struggle with this too, but this mission involved movements similar to weight training like balancing and enduring, so he showed the most stable appearance among all the male contestants who had attempted it so far.
