In the midst of all this, Suyeong seemed a bit surprised, but Lee Yuwon held his head up confidently. His attitude was that he didn’t care what effect the golden apple he threw had on others.
“Please wait a moment, we’ll inform you after consulting with the production team.”
Faced with a situation they hadn’t prepared for, the production staff gathered in a circle and began a meeting. Yurim was just as flustered. If Yuwon became the men’s division winner, he had naturally expected him to pick Yoon Sungjin, but he hadn’t expected Suyeong to choose Sungjin as well. From the atmosphere on the first day, it didn’t seem like Sungjin had left a particularly good impression on the female participants.
Of course, it was the same with the other male participants. That’s why, far from preparing separately, he had only planned to stimulate Yuwon’s anxiety to make him participate more actively. But Yuwon had actually become the men’s division winner, and with another female participant choosing Sungjin, one person had received two date requests, making it a problem of who should be given priority.
“In this case… should we give priority to the one with the higher score and have the lower one choose again?”
While belatedly discussing countermeasures, one of the directors made the first suggestion. However, if they did that, it was unpredictable how Lee Yuwon would react.
If he started seriously obstructing things, saying what kind of rule is this and shouldn’t they have announced or prepared in advance, there would be no words to refute. It was indeed the production team’s mistake not to have clearly established regulations with the complacent judgment that surely no participant would choose someone of the same sex from the early stages of filming.
“Hmm…”
The decision was up to Yurim. What to do about this. If he gave Yuwon priority by attaching various reasons, Suyeong would naturally express dissatisfaction.
Suyeong also had a formidable personality, though not as much as Yuwon. True to being a self-made entrepreneur at a young age, she couldn’t live with losing and absolutely couldn’t stand being wronged unfairly.
He couldn’t disadvantage Suyeong by siding with Yuwon. Even setting aside fairness, since there were relatives among the production staff anyway, it could lead to controversy over bias or favoritism.
What should I do?
Yurim pondered for a moment, then thought that when you think about it, this situation was exactly the kind of spectacle that could only be shown in a dating show that didn’t restrict participants’ sexual orientation.
Wasn’t it meaningless to say they didn’t discriminate by sexual orientation, yet only have men show interest in women and women only in men? This was perhaps provocative direction that could only be shown on COOL&BEAUTY.
Yurim quickly finished making his decision and spoke.
“Let’s just make it possible for both of them to designate him.”
“What?”
At Yurim’s conclusion, the other staff members doubted their ears and raised their heads. Yurim answered confidently without changing his expression at all.
“We’re not going to have them date all day anyway, and it’s a schedule that takes about two to three hours, right? Have Suyeong and Yuwon play rock-paper-scissors or something to each choose one activity, and have Sungjin go twice.”
“But…”
“Is that really okay…?”
Similar situations had occurred in other dating shows from time to time. It was a common occurrence when a specific person was too popular and there were many participants targeting them. It was just that in COOL&BEAUTY, one of those targeting him was a woman and one was a man.
Yurim finally firmed his resolve and said.
“It will be a bit physically burdensome for Sungjin, but we’ll have to ask for his understanding. We can’t make a decision that’s only disadvantageous to one person.”
Yurim was already thinking of extracting about twenty promotional short-form videos from this situation. Yuwon was already a famous bi, and Sungjin was also… As Yurim shrugged his shoulders and spoke, the other production staff didn’t strongly object either.
“Then… let’s fix the snorkeling tour that must be done during the day from 3 to 5 o’clock, and go on the winery tour from 7 to 9 o’clock this evening.”
“Yes, sounds good.”
“Okay.”
After a brief consultation, the production staff who had reached a conclusion returned to their places and announced the decision.
“Is there anyone among you two who would like to reverse their decision?”
They asked just in case, but neither Yuwon nor Suyeong seemed to have any intention of backing down.
“No.”
Both answered simultaneously. The assistant director swallowed a sigh and announced the policy.
“Then we have about two courses prepared, and Yoon Sungjin will accompany each of the courses you two draw by lottery. Any objections?”
At that moment, both Yuwon and Suyeong quickly did mental calculations. In terms of total points alone, Suyeong’s score was higher, so if they judged as fairly as possible, the probability of Suyeong being the winner was high.
Therefore, Yuwon chose not to unnecessarily step forward and compete. He hated the sight of Sungjin flirting with another woman, but if obstructing here would only result in his own defeat, it was safer to keep his mouth shut.
Suyeong also quickly finished her judgment. Lee Yuwon and Lee Yurim. The fact that the two people who were born around the same time and used the same generational name character were relatives could be known just by looking at their faces.
This was because Yurim also had quite excellent looks, though not as much as Yuwon, and had a subtly similar impression. Moreover, the story that Lee Yuwon’s family was one of the wealthiest in the country and that there was a high-ranking official working in broadcasting among his relatives was a famous rumor within the modeling industry. The fact that various top domestic variety shows had desperately wanted to cast Lee Yuwon but repeatedly failed, yet he appeared on a program where Lee Yurim held full authority, was enough grounds for suspicion.
If a situation arose where Yuwon’s interests conflicted with another participant’s, the arm bends inward and the crayfish sides with the crab, so Yurim would side with Yuwon. She couldn’t stand ending up in that situation by stirring things up unnecessarily. Anyway, didn’t it mean that she also secured the right to date Sungjin? Sungjin didn’t seem to have much interest in men anyway. No matter how much of a Lee Yuwon he was, there was no way she would lose to a man.
After both finished all their calculations, they answered simultaneously again.
“No objections.”
“None.”
How did things turn out like this again? Only Sungjin, caught in the fight between two whales, turned pale. He didn’t look like someone enjoying the happiness of being popular.
[Yes, then thank you all three for your understanding. All participants worked hard.]
Thus, the date ticket competition ended. For Sungjin, it was the moment the second gate of hell opened.
***
A little later, as soon as a short break was given after the competition ended and before departing for the first date, Sungjin immediately ran into the building.
Not only was the shocking incident that had just happened to him shocking, but he didn’t want to stay even a moment longer in this uncomfortable state. His whole body was covered in sand and salt, and he had constantly been going in and out of water and facing the wind in the chaos, sweating tremendously, so if left any longer, he felt like he would stink.
The other participants were in similar situations, but since Sungjin and Yuwon were scheduled to go on a date first, they were considerately allowed to wash first to have time to prepare.
“Wow… I’m jealous, hyung is so popular.”
Jiyoon giggled teasingly, not knowing what was inside. Sungjin’s insides burned at how this tragedy had occurred when he hadn’t wanted anything like this at all.
If Yuwon’s purpose was to torment and trouble him, that was understandable, but he couldn’t understand why Suyeong had designated him.
I don’t think I did anything particularly favorable…
Of course, it was true that Suyeong had gotten a good start from the beginning thanks to him holding up well from below, but he couldn’t believe that she had chosen him, the most insignificant among the male participants, just because of that.
Or does Suyeong also… have some other reason?
Maybe she had a participant she liked and chose him as a way to provoke that person in reverse… Sungjin recalled something he had actually experienced long ago.
It was something that happened in the year he returned to school after being discharged from the military. Out of nowhere, a junior he had never properly spoken to followed him around calling him oppa, oppa, begging him to buy her food, so he had a meal that was no different from having money extorted from him, and the very next day, a male junior he had never seen before came to the lecture hall.
He humiliated him in front of all the department students, telling him not to disgustingly cling to a young kid when he was just an old, pathetic returning student. Shocked, Sungjin protested that he hadn’t suggested it, that she had arbitrarily dragged him along, but it didn’t work.
Then are you saying Hyejin asked someone like you out on a date first?
At that one questioning remark, the surrounding students burst into laughter. Pfft, keke, kheuk… Not only did he become an object of ridicule when he had done nothing wrong, but it was utterly unfair to become a pathetic guy who didn’t know his place and clung to a popular freshman.
However, no one believed Sungjin. A loser with terrible looks, a gloomy personality, who always curled up in a corner and only attended classes. That was all there was to describe Sungjin.
