“It’s okay, Yuho. You were more entertaining.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. At least you probably won’t get edited out.”
I think getting edited out would be better. Even with Unseong’s not-so-comforting consolation, Yuho’s mood didn’t improve at all.
And so Yuho had to realize all day long that choosing the lesser evil instead of the worst wasn’t necessarily the best choice.
Inhan flew, crawled, and ran while doing all sorts of things in every event, as if he wanted to go to the Taereung National Training Center right away. Even Seonwoo, who was on the same team, advised him to take it easy.
Finally, it was the last chance for a comeback. Despite being at a disadvantage from consecutive losses, Yeomin’s team was on the verge of victory thanks to Jeonga’s great performance.
“Yuho! Run!”
The last mission item, a glass marble, was transferred from Jeonga’s hand to Yuho’s hand. Yuho felt a threat to his life as he watched Inhan rushing toward him from afar, creating a gust of wind. Yuho started running toward the mission location to survive.
Although Yuho was fast enough to win a bronze medal in the 60m dash at last year’s Idol Star Athletics Championships, it didn’t take even 5 minutes for Inhan to catch up to him. Of course, the gold medal in the 60m dash at that time went to Jung Inhan.
Instead of catching Yuho, Inhan overtook him further and blocked his path.
“Give it here.”
At Inhan’s subtle proposal as he extended his hand, Yuho quickly shook his head. Would you give it if you were me? He hurriedly brought the hand holding the glass marble behind his back. Yuho, who had good self-awareness, knew he couldn’t beat Inhan with strength. Instead of engaging in a physical struggle, Yuho decided to try an attack with desperate eyes. But today, even that didn’t seem to work at all.
“Sorry, but today I have no intention of letting you win. Hyung.”
With a simple warning, Inhan approached Yuho. Yuho stepped back in fear but was soon caught by the shoulder by Inhan’s hand.
“This is a game, right?”
At Inhan’s question, Yuho couldn’t even refute and made a tearful face. Taking Yuho’s answer as affirmative, Inhan put strength into his arms and pulled Yuho into his embrace. At the same time, he reached behind Yuho’s back to try to snatch the marble in Yuho’s right hand. Yuho desperately clenched his fist.
“Just let go. You’ll get hurt.”
“Can’t you just let me off the hook once?”
“Would that work? We’re on different teams right now.”
“What are you talking about? We’re on the same team.”
Yuho decided to try a different approach. He anticipated how absurd it would be from Inhan’s perspective, but for the team’s victory, he decided to be shameless.
“Don’t you know 6 minus 1 equals 0? 7SPOT is one.”
At Yuho’s statement delivered with even his pupils sparkling brightly, Inhan let out an incredulous laugh at the absurdity. Not wanting to miss that gap, Yuho quickly escaped from Inhan’s embrace and started running. But it didn’t even take 5 seconds for Inhan to grab the back of his neck again. It was a situation that made his bold attempt meaningless.
“Our Yuho hyung. You’ve gotten much more cunning while I wasn’t watching.”
Inhan hugged Yuho from behind and whispered in his ear. Yuho brought the hand holding the glass marble forward and continued his resistance, but it didn’t seem to yield any results. Inhan’s hand was already heading toward Yuho’s hand.
“Looks like your muscles have grown?”
“Just hand it over obediently. Hm?”
“Can’t you really just let me go obediently? Hm?”
“Even if your team wins, hyung, you won’t be the champion anyway. You’ll just be doing someone else a favor.”
“I’ll think about that after I win first.”
“Is this really something to go this far for?”
“Yeah. It’s something to go this far for.”
Yuho turned to look at Inhan with pitiful eyes and pleaded. Looking down at Yuho like that, Inhan wondered if he should just let him go like this.
“I’ll grant you a wish.”
If only Yuho hadn’t been blinded by victory and made that risky move, Inhan might have let Yuho go even if it meant getting cursed out by his team members.
“What did you say?”
“Ah. That’s…”
“You just said you’d grant a wish…”
“No. I was talking nonsense.”
Yuho hurriedly corrected himself, realizing his mistake. It was a statement that overlooked the fact that his opponent was Inhan. It was just something he said without thinking, but it was an inappropriate remark for their relationship. Yuho closed his eyes tightly in regret.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
As expected, Inhan clearly displayed his discomfort. And he pulled Yuho in closer and whispered in his ear in a low voice. It was a voice so small it wouldn’t even be picked up by the microphone.
“As if you know what I’d wish for from you, hyung.”
“Here. Take it.”
Reflecting once more on his recklessness, Yuho obediently opened his hand. Inhan, with his chin resting on Yuho’s shoulder, just quietly stared at the glass marble that had finally revealed itself. And he slowly loosened the strength in both arms that had been holding Yuho.
“Just let me go and I’ll grant you a wish.”
“No. Just take it. Hurry up and take it.”
Yuho grabbed Inhan’s hand, opened it, and firmly placed the glass marble on top of it. At that action from Yuho, Inhan let out a chuckle and then reached his hand toward Yuho’s hair. At the smile Inhan showed, even if only briefly, Yuho’s heart fluttered again. As expected, it was a harmful face.
“Hyung is really…”
Inhan was about to say something but suddenly hardened his expression.
“Huh?”
Without giving Yuho a chance to react, Inhan suddenly started running in the opposite direction. More precisely, toward the mission location. Yuho looked around in surprise and spotted Yeomin and Unseong running from the far left direction.
What are you, a wild animal? Yuho was amazed at Inhan’s incredible reaction speed and regretted even trying.
Yeomin chased after Inhan at a fast pace without giving up hope until the very end, but Inhan easily shook off Yeomin by climbing the stairs three steps at a time.
“Yuho. Are you okay? You’re not hurt? Jung Inhan didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
Unseong, who had approached Yuho at some point, had long given up on chasing Inhan and was busy checking on Yuho’s condition.
“I’m sorry. I should have held out a little longer.”
“No. It’s amazing you held out this long. That guy’s tension isn’t normal today.”
Unseong comforted Yuho and patted his shoulder. At Unseong’s actions, which seemed to show excellent character as well as looks, Yuho sent him a look of gratitude.
Soon the last mission ended with a loud whistle sound.
Now the variety show filming was coming to an end.
The cast members were all gathered together waiting for the winner announcement, but with such a predictable result, there was no sense of tension at all.
“Today’s winning team is the Red Team who obtained the last glass marble. And the winner is Jung Inhan-ssi who recorded the highest point score of 51 points.”
With the PD’s call, Inhan went forward and received the grand prize, a pure gold one-don golden key.
Following that, Jin Seonwoo and guest Hyun Jihee, who placed 2nd and 3rd, received a Korean beef set and a fruit set respectively, and then it was penalty time.
Yuho looked helplessly at the roulette wheel with the names of the Blue Team members, the losing team.
Yeomin. Yuho. Unseong. Jeonga.
The roulette wheel was fairly divided into four sections, and the probability of being selected for the penalty was one in four. The roulette wheel spun quickly by the hands of Yeomin, who had been the team captain.
Watching the arrow on the roulette wheel gradually approach his name as it slowed down, Yuho thought he’d feel more at ease if he received the penalty among the team members.
If only I hadn’t given up that last glass marble. He also felt resentful toward Inhan. When you always let me win. Now it was natural for him not to do that anymore, but he couldn’t help feeling unsettled.
“Ah. What are we going to do about our Hyo hyung.”
The roulette wheel cruelly stopped right on Yuho’s name. Listening to Yeomin’s sigh bursting out in dismay, Yuho prepared himself mentally. He had been prepared, but it was definitely a day when nothing was going right.
“This is all because of that rotten Jung Inhan.”
“No. This happened because I didn’t do well.”
Hing. Yeomin hugged Yuho in distress, and Jeonga and Unseong took turns offering words of comfort.
“Oh dear. What about Yuho.”
“Yuho. It’s nothing. Just close your eyes tight and take it.”
“I’ll receive it instead.”
And Inhan stepped forward to the penalty stand as if he’d been waiting for this.
“No. I’ll receive it. I’m the one who was selected.”
Yuho hurriedly tried to stop Inhan’s action.
“What’s this, Jung Inhan? You never did this even when there were female guests.”
“You didn’t do it when I received a penalty either.”
Seonwoo and Jeonga criticized Inhan’s actions in turn. Yuho waited with relief for Inhan to step back, but our tenacious maknae Jung Inhan was a man far from giving up.
“I’ll receive it. I feel like I bullied my team’s hyung too much.”
“Hey. Jung Inhan. Am I not your team’s hyung? You always try to make me get a penalty somehow…”
“Then will you receive it instead, hyung?”
“No! PD-nim. Just let Inhan receive it. Let us see him get a penalty too.”
Even Yeomin, whom Yuho thought was an ally, suddenly turned around and was agreeing with Inhan’s proposal. Yuho was flustered and expressed his opinion to the main PD that he would receive the penalty.
“I can just receive it though. I’m supposed to receive it anyway.”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to have the winner receive the penalty?”
Now even Unseong stepped up to support Inhan’s opinion. What is this? This natural flow where when one person sets the stage, another catches the wind, and the PD ends up agreeing? Yuho was confused.
“True. Inhan hasn’t received a penalty many times, right? Was it twice or three times?”
The PD was finally preparing to accept Inhan’s proposal. Yeomin promptly answered.
“Twice.”
“Hmm. Then how about we have Inhan receive it instead if all the other cast members agree?”
“I agree.”
“Me too.”
“I agree too.”
While everyone stepped up to agree, Yuho decided to strongly assert his opinion this time.
