"Wait! Director! Daesu-sunbaenim hasn't gone yet!"
Taeoh was the one who broke the slightly subdued mood. Daesu, who had been trying to quietly pass his turn, flinched and let out an awkward cough.
"Good eye."
Daesu's expression clearly wasn't praise, but Taeoh still looked pleased.
"Jeong Daesu draws two!"
After drawing one capsule, Jisu teasingly shoved another toward Daesu. With a look of resignation now that his weakness had been exposed, Daesu took the slip and read it in a flat, lifeless voice.
"Please say the initial of the person who currently occupies the largest part of your heart."
"J."
Daesu answered without hesitation, then drew the next slip and read it.
"When was your first time?"
"Ha..."
The blunt question coming right after a romantic one made Daesu rub near his eyebrow, visibly uncomfortable. Ignoring the expectant gazes, he tilted his glass.
"I'll drink."
"Ah… that's boring, Daesu."
"Then you try being interesting."
Daesu passed the box to Jisu, snapping back at him. Jisu reached in to draw one casually, but as if someone had played a prank, a capsule landed squarely in his hand.
Startled by the odd sensation, Jisu froze for a moment. Dansol, beside him, tapped his shoulder lightly.
"Hyung…!"
"Huh? Oh… yeah…"
Only then did Jisu come back to his senses and pull out his question.
"What's the biggest mistake you've made recently?"
Jisu's thoughts grew complicated. He had no intention of saying it out loud, but meeting Dansol had been enough to pry open guilt that had dulled over the years.
Even though he was taking more suppressant than prescribed, sharing a bed made indecent impulses flare up without warning, beyond his control. What he had started as playful teasing had already gone deeper than he intended.
"Hmm… I'll drink."
"What is it with you guys? You're all boring as hell."
"Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. Now it's Jegal— huh?"
As Jisu turned to hand the box to Minhyuk, he noticed the seat beside him was empty.
"Wow… looks like Minhyuk-hyung went to get ready already."
"Get ready for what?"
"He's been practicing to sing for a while now."
"Huh."
At Taeoh's words, Jisu looked at Daesu with a face like he'd bitten into a bug. Daesu wore the exact same expression. They both already knew Minhyuk wasn't the type to haul a guitar up a mountain just to get more camera time.
"That slimy bastard…"
What really pushed Jisu's irritation over the edge was Dansol's muttered comment, knees neatly together, eyes shining.
"Wow! A song… I like songs too…"
"Oh, right. Sol used to be a singer."
Ever since the shockingly cute a cappella performance on the first day, Jisu hadn't seen Dansol sing again and had somehow forgotten he was a singer at all.
Now that he thought about it, Jegal Minhyuk was a far more dangerous rival than he'd expected.
"Ahem, ah."
Just as the remaining alphas were all feeling a vague sense of unease, Minhyuk appeared, guitar slung over his shoulder, clearing his throat.
"What the hell is with that guy."
"Wow… Minhyuk-hyung is insane."
"Ha..."
Sometime between then and now, he had shaved, and his neatly styled hair made him look like he'd stepped straight out of a photoshoot.
"He really came prepared."
"I never pegged him for that kind of guy… Turns out he was a nine-tailed fox hiding everything. Using cheat codes like this…"
Daesu sighed toward the sky, while Taeoh stomped his foot in frustration. Even his outfit was different now—so he hadn't come empty-handed after all.
Dansol had already clasped his hands together, waiting for the sweet song that would come from Jegal Minhyuk.
"This song is… one I composed while thinking of someone… just one person… Ju—"
Minhyuk didn't even get to finish his prepared line.
Jisu, who had no intention of standing by as a backdrop for someone else, pretended to make a mistake and poured the remaining alcohol onto the stove where the campfire was faintly crackling.
The dying embers met the alcohol and suddenly flared into a towering column of fire.
"Oh no! Fire!"
Jisu pretended to put it out while subtly fanning it, making the flames surge higher.
"Whoa! Fire! A fire show!"
Thanks to that, thoroughly drunk Dansol immediately forgot about Minhyuk's song and became absorbed in the spectacle Jisu had created.
Before the flames could spread beyond the stove, they moved Dansol to a safe spot, while Taeoh and Daesu enthusiastically brought water containers and sand to put the fire out. The romantic mood vanished with the embers, leaving only thick smoke as the fire died.
Pushing through the smoke, Jisu spoke casually to PD Choi.
"Whew, that was close. Next time, PD Choi, how about we just use LEDs?"
"…Ha."
Having lost the romantic footage meant for the teaser, she responded with a sigh instead of words.
"Uh… um…"
Minhyuk, still standing there blankly with his guitar, tried to say something, but Daesu blocked even the camera filming him under the pretense of putting out the fire.
"Can't leave any embers. Gotta stomp them out."
"Wow… Jeong Daesu-sunbaenim, your reflexes are amazing. You could be an honorary firefighter."
Taeoh gave Daesu a thumbs-up. As if rehearsed, the three of them worked in perfect sync. Faced with their rare show of unity, Minhyuk could only stand there helplessly, like a citizen who'd lost his country.
"Sol, let's go to bed now."
Jisu tugged at the shoulder of the drunken, wobbling Dansol. Following him, Dansol stopped in front of the tent and stubbornly refused to go in, then spoke in a small voice only the two of them could hear.
"Hyung… I know."
"…Know what?"
Thud.
Jisu's heart dropped straight to the ground. His hands trembled uncontrollably—something that hadn't happened even when entertainment reporters confronted him after talking to his former agency's CEO.
Someone knowing his secrets wasn't usually a big deal to him.
He had sent that money-grubbing CEO to prison on embezzlement charges, and he'd wiped out an annoying journalist along with his shabby newspaper. He'd been angry at nuisances before—but this was the first time he felt afraid.
Then… what about Joo Dansol?
What was he supposed to do about Joo Dansol?
His usually quick, sly mind froze solid, like stone.
That was when Dansol mumbled from Jisu's arms.
"The fire… because… that…"
"…Huh? What did you say, Sol?"
"I know everything… about you playing with fire. I saw you pouring the alcohol!"
"…Whew."
In that moment, Jisu felt the strength drain from his legs. And at the same time, he had to admit that what he felt for Dansol was no longer just playful mischief.
He was afraid Dansol might hate him.
"Yeah. Hyung was messing around. I'm sorry."
"Hyung… if you play with fire, you'll pee yourself."
"…Mm… sorry. I'll be careful."
"Be careful! Pee-pants… pee-pants Han Jisu…"
After settling the still-muttering, drunken Dansol to sleep, Jisu stepped outside the tent, troubled, and lit a cigarette.
Taeoh and Daesu, having finished cleaning up, approached him. Without a word, Daesu took a cigarette from Jisu's shirt pocket and lit it.
"Hyung—no, sunbaenim! How did you even think of that? I swear… when I saw Minhyuk-hyung shaved and all cool like that, my heart dropped. As expected… you're the best senior! You completely flipped the stage!"
Taeoh still seemed intoxicated by how perfectly they'd worked together earlier. But that was the only moment the three of them had been a team—Jisu had no intention of humoring Taeoh.
"Taeoh."
"Yes!"
"Tone it down."
"…Yes."
"Where did Jegal Minhyuk go?"
Even among the busy staff packing equipment, Minhyuk's long hair and tall frame were nowhere to be seen.
"He chugged the leftover alcohol straight from the bottle and went in to sleep. Said today just wasn't his day, so I comforted him. I did good, right, hyung?"
"Taeoh."
"Yes!"
"Go in and sleep too."
"Yees…"
After patting Taeoh's shoulder a couple of times, Jisu motioned for Daesu to follow and walked toward the empty forest.
As Daesu followed, raking a hand through his hair irritably, Taeoh grabbed his arm.
"Uh, sunbaenim… You really do have something going on with Jisu-sunbaenim, right?"
"…."
Daesu's face turned ferocious. Taeoh immediately raised both hands in surrender.
"Ah! Don't misunderstand. I was briefly—just briefly—captivated by Jisu-hyung's sexiness and thought about getting closer, but I've clearly chosen my route now. I'm rooting for you two. Fighting!"
"Ma Taeoh."
"Yes!"
Daesu's voice rumbled low. Taeoh looked at him with expectation.
"I will… never forget today's feeling."
Daesu turned away, face beet-red, veins standing out at his temples, grinding his teeth.
Taeoh, completely unaware that what Daesu felt was humiliation and mortification, smiled to himself in satisfaction.
"He must be really grateful to me… Yeah, giving up on Jisu-hyung was the right call. Man, I'm pretty awesome!"
"Try not to call me out alone. People get the wrong idea, those lunatics."
After following Jisu and confirming no one was around, Daesu spoke.
"Looked more like you were the one seeking me out today."
"…."
Jisu wasn't wrong. Without Jisu's help today, Daesu might have made a complete fool of himself on camera in front of the entire nation.
"So what is it? You catch the culprit?"
"I… want to confess."
"What? Ha… figures. It was you, wasn't it? You're the culprit."
Daesu growled like he was about to knock Jisu flat, convinced his suspicion was confirmed. Jisu shuddered, clearly fed up.
"Ah! Not that!"
"Then what!"
Even knowing no one was around, Jisu stepped closer and lowered his voice.
"I'm going to confess. To Sol. That I'm an alpha."
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