Chapter 34

Omega late-entry twist Hanseul Ga lowered his head in greeting. The contestants applauded and welcomed him warmly.

Hanseul Ga was a classic catlike beauty, with sharply upturned eyes and a slightly cold impression. His clean monochrome outfit suited his chic atmosphere perfectly.

“I’m curious why you came with Yo Han Sung!”

Jaekyung Park shot his hand up and asked.

Hanseul glanced at the production staff before answering after receiving an OK sign.

“They told me I could go on a date with one of the Alphas as a privilege for being the Omega late-entry twist. I chose Actor Yo Han Sung.”

“Well, you did come in late. There should be some benefits.”

The contestants nodded in understanding.

Late-entry twists on dating shows usually received special treatment. They had to wedge themselves into already close-knit groups, and it was never easy to shake up romance lines that had already formed.

It seemed Hanseul had been given a date ticket.

While everyone accepted it naturally, Hee Jun Kang sharply picked up on a particular word.

“Actor Yo Han Sung?”

“Ah. Yes. We worked on a project together. I used the familiar way of addressing him without thinking. Should I match the way everyone else speaks?”

The question had technically been directed at Hee Jun Kang, but Hanseul’s eyes were fixed on Yo Han Sung instead.

In reality, he was asking for Yo Han Sung’s permission.

“You can speak however you’re comfortable.”

The moment Yo Han allowed it, Hanseul smiled for the first time, his eyes curving softly.

Hee Jun Kang and Jaekyung Park subtly exchanged glances.

‘Isn’t that a little too obvious?’

‘Yeah... I think so too.’

A silent conversation passed between them.

“Come sit over here, Hanseul!”

Tommy energetically guided Hanseul toward the center seat in the lounge.

Even Isu Yoon, who was hopelessly fixated on Jun Shin, treated him kindly and brought him coffee and snacks.

The surprising one was Woo Seok Jung. He immediately planted himself in the seat beside Hanseul.

Jaekyung Park’s brows twisted slightly.

‘What’s this about?’

After deciding he had no chance of winning Gyeol Go’s heart, Woo Seok Jung’s second-choice option had become Jaekyung Park.

Over the past few days, Woo Seok had acted as though he were deeply interested in Jaekyung. He repeatedly sought him out for private conversations and carefully put in effort, enough that the two had chosen each other during last night’s favorability vote.

The person Woo Seok had sought out after getting publicly scolded by Jun Shin while badmouthing Gyeol yesterday had also been Jaekyung Park. Jaekyung, quick on the uptake, had separately pulled aside Woo Seok, who had been sulking in a corner and acting distant from everyone.

Once they were alone, Woo Seok rambled to Jaekyung about how it felt like the Alphas were excluding him.

‘Still, Tommy doesn’t seem like that type, does he? From what I can tell, Tommy follows you around pretty well too, Woo Seok. You even share a room. Tommy wouldn’t do something like that....’

‘What, are you saying I’m lying right now?’

‘No, that’s not what I meant....’

‘There are things Omegas just don’t understand. There’s this thing between Alphas.’

The way he drew that line had felt unpleasantly sharp.

Still, Jaekyung had tried to think positively about it. Maybe there really was something he didn’t understand, just like Woo Seok said.

Maybe he had wanted to believe that.

After all, Woo Seok was an Alpha he had been interested in for the past few days.

But now, seeing Woo Seok immediately glue himself to the Omega late-entry twist and grin idiotically beside him, yesterday’s conversation suddenly felt suspicious.

‘Am I just taking it badly because I actually like Woo Seok?’

Woo Seok fired nonstop questions at Hanseul like he was conducting an interrogation.

“Hanseul, what’s your MBTI?”

“ISTP.”

“Wow, two letters are the same as mine. I’m ESFP.”

It was irritating how delighted he looked over something as insignificant as sharing two letters in a four-letter personality type.

“Wow! I’m ENFP! One of mine matches too!”

But whenever Tommy appeared, everything somehow became purified again.

“Tommy, why are you so excited over sharing just one letter?”

At Jun Shin’s playful jab, everyone burst out laughing. Tommy grinned brightly.

“Hey, at least one matches. None of them could’ve matched.”

He’s seriously so pure and cute.

Watching Tommy, Jaekyung ended up laughing too, soothing the sting in his chest.

‘Maybe I’m just getting jealous because I’m afraid even the one Alpha interested in me might get taken away. Don’t act childish.’

It was right to be kind to the new person.

After organizing his thoughts, Jaekyung returned to his usual lively self.

As the contestants happily chatted around Hanseul, they eventually introduced themselves one by one.

After counting heads, Hanseul tilted his head slightly.

“I heard there were five Alphas, but one’s missing.”

“Ah, two people are out on a date right now. There was arm wrestling this morning, and the winners got date tickets.”

“Ahh.”

Hanseul nodded neatly.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you pass them on the way here? Sun Choi and Gyeol. Isn’t this basically a date driven by pure personal desire at this point?”

Hee Jun Kang’s teasing remark unintentionally provoked two Alphas.

Yo Han Sung and Jun Shin.

“I want to go on a brunch date too. I heard the French toast they serve on the date is really good.”

Meanwhile, Tommy was focused entirely on the French toast. Hee Jun Kang snickered and teased him.

“Isu still hasn’t used his date ticket yet. Beg him.”

“Ah, no! I don’t want to pressure him like that!”

“If giant Potato wants French toast, he should make his feelings known.”

“...If Tommy really wants French toast that badly.”

Isu Yoon deliberately acted hesitant.

Tommy’s face turned bright red, transforming him into a burning Potato as he frantically waved both hands.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant!”

After everyone spent a while teasing Tommy, a brief silence suddenly settled over the room.

It happened from time to time.

Everyone would be noisily chatting together, and then all at once, a gap would appear.

“A ghost just passed through.”

“Please don’t say things like that......!”

“Looks like giant Potato’s gonna have to hold Woo Seok’s hand while he sleeps tonight.”

While everyone casually teased Tommy as usual, Jun Shin suddenly spoke in a slightly lower voice.

“Yo Han Sung.”

The timing was unexpected.

Whenever Jun Shin spoke like that, something interesting usually followed.

Curious eyes turned toward him.

“How was the Ivory Mansion date? I want to hear about it.”

As expected.

“Damn, Jun really knows how to stir things up.”

Someone muttered in admiration.

The atmosphere completely shifted.

Now everyone was just waiting for Yo Han Sung to speak.

The Omega late-entry twist appearing? Interesting.

Teasing giant Potato Tommy? Fun.

But the thing everyone was truly dying to know—though nobody had dared bring it up—was obviously Yo Han Sung and Gyeol Go’s Ivory Mansion date.

The aloof Hanseul spoke before Yo Han Sung did.

“I asked too, but Actor Yo Han Sung wouldn’t answer me.”

Eyes rolled toward Hanseul before gathering once more on Yo Han Sung.

Without the slightest crack in his composed smile, Yo Han Sung countered Jun Shin’s question.

“Are you curious about the ‘Ivory Mansion date’? Or are you curious about ‘Gyeol Go’?”

At that question, several people gasped and covered their mouths.

This was insane.

Jun Shin, however, remained completely unshaken.

Still wearing the same easygoing smile he always used with everyone, he answered smoothly.

“I’ll just say I’m curious about all of it.”

“Back during the truth game too. You’ve had this tendency to avoid things indirectly for a while now, Jun.”

Hee Jun Kang and Jaekyung Park exchanged looks again.

‘What kind of atmosphere is this?’

‘I dunno. Isn’t this like... a dominance fight?’

Tommy’s eyes grew huge as violent panic shook his pupils.

Jun Shin laughed softly through his throat.

“Avoiding things? I’m simply sincere about R-Connect and doing my best.”

As though he’d heard something deeply amusing, Yo Han Sung tilted his chin slightly and laughed quietly too.

Silence descended.

The two Alphas simply held each other’s gaze.

A quiet battle of nerves.

Unable to endure it any longer, Tommy abruptly shot to his feet.

“Shouldn’t we do something fun or— Ah! Gyeol!”

Tommy’s face lit up like he’d encountered a savior.

He quickly escaped the suffocating lounge.

Sun Choi and Gyeol Go were walking side by side down the hill. In Sun’s hand was Gyeol’s luggage.

The same luggage Yo Han Sung had carried when they left for Ivory Mansion.

The smile vanished from Yo Han Sung’s face the moment he saw them.

After several people hurried out of the lounge to greet the pair, Yo Han Sung finally spoke.

“Then Jun can just ask Gyeol Go himself. About how the Ivory Mansion date was.”

Jun Shin had no chance to respond.

At that exact moment, the two reached the lounge, and the contestants rushed to greet them first.

“Gyeol, did you have a good date?”

“Good morning. Looks like you ate well and slept well at Ivory Mansion. Your skin looks even better.”

“Hello, everyone. Good morning. I didn’t expect everyone to welcome us like this.”

In truth, they were only reacting so dramatically because the pair had appeared at the perfect moment to break the heavy atmosphere, but nobody bothered explaining that part.

“What were you all doing?”

“The new Omega late-entry twist arrived!”

As Gyeol entered the lounge and asked the question, Tommy answered energetically.

“Oh, you’re right. Someone new.”

Spotting the unfamiliar face, Gyeol hesitated while trying to sit in an empty seat.

“Hello. I’m Gyeol Go. It’s nice to meet you.”

Still standing, Gyeol bowed politely.

“Hello. I’m Hanseul Ga.”

Hanseul, who had remained seated the entire time, accepted the greeting without standing up.

His tone and expression feel strangely cold.

Forcing an awkward smile, Gyeol sat down.

The moment he did, Woo Seok Jung opened his mouth.

“Jun, didn’t you say there was something you wanted to ask Gyeol?”

He was deliberately pointing out Yo Han Sung’s earlier remark.

His intention was to make Jun Shin squirm a little.

But Woo Seok’s nasty little scheme missed its mark completely.

“I’ll ask instead.”

Hanseul cut in first.

“Gyeol Go. How was your Ivory Mansion date with Actor Yo Han Sung?”

It was practically a declaration of war.