“……?”
Yuwon, who had approached Sungjin holding a patch in his hand, suddenly bent down and knelt in front of Sungjin, then made a shocking statement while looking down at his feet wearing indoor slippers.
“Pull down your sock. I’ll put it on for you.”
“……?”
What, what is he saying? Sungjin immediately swallowed a scream.
“No! I’ll, I’ll do it myself!”
He had no choice. Right now, Sungjin had been doing outdoor activities all day, and as soon as he arrived at the resort, he went straight to eat without even washing. He had simply washed his face while washing his hands, but there was no way he’d had time to wash his feet that had been trapped in sneakers the entire time.
Even if he didn’t usually think he had strong body odor, there was no way feet that had done outdoor activities for several hours on a hot summer day like this would be fine.
He’d rather die. It would be better to actually die.
“Really, really, it’s okay! I can do it myself!”
When Sungjin refused with all his might and tried to make Yuwon stand up, it got on Yuwon’s nerves. No, it was just rolling up a sock to show the twisted area—what was this that made him refuse so violently?
It was absurd that he was rejecting not ‘just’ putting on a patch, but as if he was rejecting not only his goodwill but all his efforts entirely, showing disgust.
“Is touching your foot such a repulsive thing for me to do?”
When Yuwon asked with a rebellious feeling, Sungjin couldn’t answer properly. He couldn’t bring himself to say with his own mouth that it wouldn’t work because it would smell bad.
“No, so….”
So what? Shouldn’t he speak properly? Yuwon glared at Sungjin fiercely. However, the standoff didn’t last long. Because there wasn’t much time left until the evening assembly, a notification message announcing the gathering made the watch on his wrist light up.
“Ah.”
Seeing that it asked them to quickly come to the outdoor meeting room since assembly time had arrived, it seemed all the other participants except the two of them had already gathered. There was no time to waste like this. Sungjin sprang up from where he was sitting and exclaimed.
“We, we’ll be late at this rate! Let’s hurry down! Putting on the patch can be done later!”
Yuwon was considerably annoyed by the sight of him deliberately exaggerating his movements and flustering to escape the situation. What’s this even about? You don’t even want me to touch you?
Whether Yuwon was watching with terrifying eyes or not, Sungjin quickly exited through the door with the shallow trick of thinking he needed to escape this predicament quickly, even looking back at him.
“Hurry and come out. It seems everyone’s only waiting for us!”
Yuwon watched such Sungjin, then let out a long sigh, threw the patch on his bed, and started walking.
***
When they went down to the outdoor meeting room, a different scene from this morning was waiting for Sungjin. First, what stood out was the arrangement of where the participants were sitting. The furniture was the same, but how they were gathered together was quite different from the morning.
Even this morning, several participants who had been stuck next to each other were now sitting separated as if divided by gender. The only couples sitting side by side with the opposite sex were just two pairs: Juhoon and Yunchae, and Jiyoon and Sina.
Even counting Jiyoon and Sina as practically siblings rather than a couple, there was some strange atmosphere flowing among the other participants.
“Sorry for being late.”
When Sungjin awkwardly bowed his head and apologized while sitting down, Muncheol, who was sitting next to him, cleared his throat. Until this morning, he seemed to have been stuck quite affectionately with another female participant. Did something troublesome happen in the meantime?
Sungjin was curious but didn’t show it outwardly and calmly corrected his posture before looking at the speaker.
[Finally, the time has come to convey the sincerity of the third night. Did everyone have an enjoyable time?]
However, this time no one answered. Whenever the speaker threw out the customary question each time, one or two people would excitedly answer, but now it was only quiet.
“……”
“……”
It was Jiyoon who broke the awkward silence.
“Well, the weather was really nice!”
From the point that it wasn’t a review about his partner or the date, it was clearly revealed that Jiyoon hadn’t had a particularly enjoyable date. Regardless, Yuwon didn’t care at all.
[Yes, good. It seems everyone spent a day with more worries than yesterday. Then from now on, please select right away who today’s arrow of affection is pointing toward.]
On Sungjin’s wrist, too, the option to send a heart appeared. A small hourglass blinked at the top of the screen asking him to complete his selection within 30 seconds.
Sungjin pondered for a moment, then sent a heart to today’s date partner. He thought it was courtesy toward the person who spent time with him anyway. He didn’t expect at all to receive that courtesy back.
Yunchae seemed to have connected with Juhoon, so she’d probably choose Juhoon today too. Probably no one would choose him. Sungjin earnestly hoped this time would end quickly so he could wash, and waited for the results to be announced.
[All participants’ selections have been completed. We will reveal the results immediately.]
Shortly after, when Sungjin checked the results on his watch, he doubted his own eyes.
[The number of participants who sent you a heart is <4>.]
“……?”
Sungjin couldn’t believe it even seeing it with his own two eyes. What does this mean? Why? Why did it suddenly become such an absurd number? There’s no way this many people would like me.
In the midst of it all, whatever had happened, most participants’ watches weren’t shining. It meant either many people hadn’t chosen anyone to send a heart to, or a few people had monopolized the hearts. Since Sungjin himself was one of those people who monopolized hearts, he had an ominous feeling about what on earth was going on.
If he had actually received hearts by doing actions worthy of gaining popularity…. No, even then he would have been anxious. But anyway, if that were the case, at least he could have been convinced. However, Sungjin’s current situation wasn’t like that.
The only one he could understand was perhaps Yunchae. If she gave him a heart because she felt bad that he almost got hurt because of her, that was a result within the range Sungjin could understand. But the other three? Who on earth were they, and for what reason did they give him a heart?
His mind went blank. Unaware of those complicated feelings, a cheerful announcement voice flowed from the speaker.
[As you all know.]
What? Sungjin barely came to his senses and paid attention to the announcement coming from the speaker.
[On the sixth night, participants who don’t receive a heart from anyone automatically become elimination candidates and will leave the island according to voting results.]
The voice was light, but the content wasn’t light. Tension descended at the announcement voice’s stern warning.
[Remember. While someone here will find true love, someone is aiming for victory.]
Victory. At the word piercing their ears, everyone watched each other. What was the victory condition? It was obtaining the most hearts in the final selection. Perhaps the exchange they thought was sincere might have been simply manipulation to obtain hearts. That’s what the speaker was warning them about now.
“……”
Sungjin’s mouth went dry. No, not me. How on earth did four people give me hearts—I suspect two of them might have touched wrong!
Just looking at the number of hearts received, it seemed like he was a womanizer going around testing the waters with this person and that person, pretending to have feelings. However, that clearly wasn’t the truth.
‘This is driving me crazy….’
His mind was complicated. In the midst of it all, Yuwon was still stuck right next to him, glaring at him. He thought it wouldn’t be visible well since the watch basically had a privacy film attached to prevent peeking, but because they were sitting at too close a distance, his expression was terrifying as if he had confirmed the number.
What’s more, this time Yuwon’s watch wasn’t shining. It meant no one had chosen him. Did that touch his pride? Sungjin wanted to run away anywhere because he was scared of Yuwon.
What situation is this even? While Sungjin was swallowing a scream inside, a voice flowed from the speaker announcing that today’s group activity had ended.
[You’ve all worked hard today too. Hoping everyone has enjoyable exchanges filled tomorrow, let’s meet again in the morning!]
“……”
“……”
Even though the announcement ended and it was now time to move one by one to do interviews, no one opened their mouth. A frigid silence heavily descended on the meeting room.
