“By the way, how’s our Siyoung-ssi doing these days? I’m dying of curiosity, really.”
“I’m currently working hard on filming a project.”
“Really? What’s the title?”
“It’s called <Affair>. It’s in pre-production.”
“Oh, I saw that article. The plot sounds totally interesting, doesn’t it?”
“Awesome. But it’s still a long way from airing, right?”
“Yes, since we’re still filming, I don’t really know the specific date either. But please look forward to it—at the earliest, late this year, or at the latest, first half of next year.”
“Oh, of course! I’ll mark it on my calendar starting today.”
“Did our Siyoung watch this program a lot?”
“Of course. On days when I don’t have a schedule, I deliberately don’t make plans just to watch <Come On, Play On>.”
“Wow, really?”
“Naturally. I’m such a fan of everyone. I really wanted to meet you all.”
“Wow, he’s so polite too. You rarely see young men like this these days.”
The panel members clasped their hands together and raised them to their chests with touched expressions. Watching this from a distance, Seungun unconsciously let out a snort. Lies. An actor really was an actor. He wondered what would happen if they knew about the arrogant demeanor of Gi Siyoung that he had witnessed this morning.
“Today, we’re going to play a game with Gi Siyoung-ssi, who came to hang out with us. As always, it’ll be played in teams.”
“Ha, I’m nervous.”
Siyoung rubbed his palms together.
“Then you must already have someone in mind that you want to team up with, right?”
“Ah….”
Siyoung laughed awkwardly.
“Me! Me! Me! It’s definitely me!”
“You know I’m good at strategizing, right?”
“Strategy my ass! This guy’s the one who backstabs at the end!”
“Hahaha, everyone stop fighting.”
“Right, why are you all so hyped up today? Calm down a bit.”
“So what game are we playing today?”
“Right. I’m really curious too. You told us to come in resort fashion, so I wore this, but I have no idea what it is.”
Siyoung answered with his eyes wide open. After arriving on set and changing clothes in the waiting room, Siyoung was wearing dark knee-length shorts, a white t-shirt, and a yellow long-sleeved button-down shirt. Even though everyone wore eye-catching outfits—a panel member in a palm tree patterned shirt, another wearing a straw hat and ridiculous sunglasses—Siyoung stood out the most.
“Today, since we’ve specially invited only Gi Siyoung as our guest for Part 1, we need to fill the numbers.”
The host said cheerfully.
“What do you mean fill the numbers?”
“Don’t tell me someone else is coming? Well, we usually invite at least three people.”
“Where are the other guests!”
“Now! So now I’m going to explain that. Please give me some time to talk.”
“Be quiet and listen.”
“It’s ‘How Far Can We Connect?’!”
The host announced the game name rhythmically by herself.
“It’s a friendship test. Friendship with whom! A friendship test with your ‘manager.'”
The production staff standing around, including Seungun, were taken aback. Among them were people who were taken aback even though they knew. That included Myeongwoo. Myeongwoo nodded up and down with a face that said what had to come had come.
“What? Manager?”
“Wow, that’s ridiculous.”
The panel members grabbed their temples in surprise. Siyoung also wiggled his eyebrows as if hearing something completely random. Everyone acted like they were just finding out, even though they all knew.
“Now, let me explain the game rules!”
The rules of the game were as follows: One manager from each cast member comes out as a representative. The cast member and their manager form one team, and excluding the MC, the four people divide into teams. They draw lots, and the person who draws the question mark card attaches a card with the answer written on it to their forehead.
Then the other person gives hints, and the person with the card on their forehead guesses the answer. However, if they use words directly related to the answer, both people get the penalty.
“Now, managers, don’t hesitate and everyone come out! Come on out.”
“Jeongryeol-ah, hurry up!”
“We won’t hurt you, come out.”
Myeongwoo handed his belongings to Seungun. Since he was going to go out anyway, he hadn’t given Seungun advance notice. That’s when it happened.
“I have a suggestion.”
Suddenly, Siyoung raised his hand high.
“Feel free to speak! What is it?”
“A new manager recently joined our team. We’re still so awkward with each other, and I want to use today’s game as an opportunity to build friendship with that person.”
“Oh my—what do we do. His heart is so beautiful.”
“Seungun-ssi, come over here. Let’s play together!”
Siyoung called out to Seungun with a bright smile.
“What’s that bastard doing?”
Myeongwoo muttered without hiding his flustered state.
“Seungun-ssi? Where?”
“Come out! Seungun-ssi. I want to see you!”
“That’s right! Let’s play together!”
All the cast members confirmed where Siyoung was looking. When they received the variety show offer, they had also checked the game rules in advance. And they had already agreed beforehand that Myeongwoo would go in.
Myeongwoo was just as ready to go crazy and jump at this sudden unexpected behavior.
“Seungun-ah, there’s no choice. You have to go out….”
“What? Sunbae-nim, this isn’t right! I absolutely can’t do something like that. Besides, isn’t this appearing on a broadcast?”
“There’s no choice. This is something even I can’t do anything about.”
“No, ah….”
Myeongwoo took back his belongings from Seungun, who was shaking his head desperately. The situation became increasingly awkward. With Seungun hesitating, the cast members shouted, “Come out! Come out!” Eventually, Seungun moved forward slowly with a face like someone whose entire fortune had been stolen.
“Aigoo, how cute, how old?”
The most mischievous panel member made baby talk at Seungun being dragged out. Seungun showed a stiff smile and shuffled sideways next to Siyoung. Standing in the middle of the set, Seungun looked at the numerous cameras and staff right in front of him and his mind went blank. Now every single action would essentially be preserved in those cameras. It was truly an enormous burden.
“……”
The other managers participating in the game must have felt the same way, as they were all sweating profusely. From far away, Myeongwoo clenched both fists and silently mouthed, “You can do it! You can do it!”
“Seungun-ssi, do well.”
Siyoung offered a handshake.
“…I’ll do my best.”
Seungun squeezed his eyes shut and clasped hands.
The game proceeded smoothly. In fact, until Siyoung had him appear on the broadcast in his manager role, Seungun had thought it was to get back at him for what happened earlier. However, Siyoung seemed determined not to reveal any personal feelings here, and focused solely on the game with the purpose of winning.
It was telepathy. Once the game started, Seungun also became absorbed in the game to avoid falling behind the other teams.
“Wrong!”
The game had a time limit. If the question-and-answer time exceeded 15 seconds per problem, it naturally moved on to the next question. And the first wrong answer came out. Seungun swallowed. Because he knew the penalty the previous cast members had received. Seungun’s body stiffened as he flew through the air.
“Aaaah!”
The reason there was a wide blue swimming pool was precisely because of the penalty. Suddenly, the things caught in his vision became smaller. Black bean-like tops of heads—the cast members looking up at him were either surprised or grinning. His body lifted high enough to make his hair stand on end, his legs flailed, and at the same time—splash!—he sank right into the blue swimming pool.
The water level was deep enough for a sturdy adult man to sink completely. Water rushed into Seungun’s shocked eyes, nose, and mouth. Bubble bubble. Bubbles formed above the water surface, and Seungun’s struggling body thrashing around below could be clearly seen from above.
“Puheu!”
As soon as he barely lifted his head above the water, loud laughter erupted from outside. Even though it was just a game, to laugh like that at seeing someone in such a drowned rat state. They were all cruel people.
Seungun stepped on the pool ladder and barely climbed up to the ground. As he fully lifted his body, Siyoung, who had approached at some point, was standing there holding a large towel. Standing with his back to the camera, he was annoyingly smirking.
“Are you okay? You must have swallowed a lot of water. Spit some out.”
Siyoung kindly patted his back and draped the towel over his shoulders. Seungun spat out the water in his mouth where the camera couldn’t see and wiped his mouth. He had nothing to say since it wasn’t because of Siyoung that he fell in the water, but because he couldn’t answer correctly.
“Are you okay, Seungun-ssi? No problems, right?”
The host shouted from far away. Seungun nodded.
“Wow, but Siyoung really takes good care of his people. Among everyone here, Siyoung’s the only one who immediately ran out when his manager fell in the water.”
They were making a complete fuss among themselves. In between, the cast members were busy praising Siyoung. As if to faithfully follow those words, Siyoung stuck close to Seungun’s side and kept acting affectionate. He shook out his wet hair with the towel and even pulled out a chair for him.
Returning to his seat, Seungun rolled up the hem of his t-shirt and wrung it out. Water dripped down under the chair. At least it was fortunate that the sun was out.
