Chapter 165: I Am Alone (2)
Kang Siwoo let out a deep sigh as he reviewed his mission again.
Stack a stone tower without the other members noticing. And there were quite a few conditions attached.
(A large stone with a diameter of 15cm, 12 tiers or more, in a designated location)
Kang Siwoo, having arrived at the "designated location" the production crew mentioned, seriously contemplated whether to give up on the mission.
He frowned and muttered his honest impression.
“Here?”
Maybe if it was a corner of the yard covered in bushes….
But this was too central.
A stone tower right in the middle?
That would be too suspicious….
“No, it's totally doable.”
Kang Siwoo swept up his bangs and murmured softly.
Come to think of it, yeah.
There are houses with stone towers in the yard sometimes.
Especially considering this is a resort, having a stone tower awkwardly placed in the center wouldn't be too strange.
A tourist could've stacked it out of boredom while passing by.
But there was one prerequisite to that.
The stone tower had to look like it had always been there… it had to be natural.
Which meant he had to complete the mission before the recently arrived members got used to the surroundings.
“There’s no time.”
Now that it had come to this, Kang Siwoo planned to quickly stack the tower while the others were resting.
He hurried around the yard, scouting for usable stones.
‘I don’t even know what I’m doing.’
He was stacking a tower.
Groaning, Kang Siwoo dragged a large stone across the yard. Judging by his hand span, it seemed to easily exceed 15cm in diameter.
Naturally, the base stone had to be generously sized.
Ugh—
“It’s heavier than I thought….”
Muttering just enough to keep the audio from being empty, Kang Siwoo finished moving the stone.
He didn’t forget to keep an eye out in case any members came out into the yard.
“Doesn’t seem like anyone’s here?”
Only then did Kang Siwoo feel satisfied and dragged over the second stone.
It was a whole 3-day, 2-night schedule.
“Plenty of time.”
This might actually be doable?
A hopeful glow appeared on Kang Siwoo’s face as he figured he could stack about five tiers in advance and add more stones whenever he had time.
If he added one layer at a time, the other members might not even notice.
In the cold weather, Kang Siwoo’s hands turned slightly red as he dug through stones.
The upside was that because it was cold, the members were unlikely to come out while chatting inside.
“Found one!”
Stacking the tower had unexpectedly become kind of fun….
Before he knew it, he had already reached four tiers.
Something had happened recently that brought a big emotional shift, and though it had been resolved, it was barely patched up thanks to Seohan’s help.
It’d be a lie to say everything was completely fine.
But doing this kind of mindless labor helped clear his head.
This wasn’t bad either.
“Mmm~”
Humming, Kang Siwoo set out to find the next stone. It was flat and had the perfect bottom surface for stacking.
However, despite being just barely over 15cm in diameter, it was quite heavy.
Taking a breath, Kang Siwoo lifted the stone in both arms.
“Whoa, this is heavy….”
And just as he was dragging the stone to the tower’s location,
A dark shadow loomed over his head.
“Whoa, you scared me!”
Thud—
Startled, Kang Siwoo dropped the stone.
“W-When did you get here?”
“Just came out for a walk.”
“……”
The top contributor to the Taewoon Group gossip incident, the youngest, Do Seohan, was standing there nonchalantly.
Kang Siwoo rotated his arms as if stretching and muttered to recover the situation.
“There’s this huge stone lying where people walk…. That’s dangerous.”
“Ah.”
Still, it was better than getting caught by Jin Sehyun, who was way too quick-witted.
Kang Siwoo glanced at Seohan and gave an awkward smile.
He thought it was a pretty decent excuse for something made up on the spot.
Do Seohan would probably fall for it.
“I’ll help clean it up too.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Due to their self-content setting, Kang Siwoo switched to formal speech with Seohan and looked away.
Not far from them, the stone tower he had stacked up to four tiers stood precariously.
Worried about getting caught, he blurted out something meaningless.
“That’s a really big stone….”
“Seems like the stones on this planet are just big.”
“R-Really, huh.”
No way.
He won’t catch o—
“There’s even a stone tower over there.”
Game over.
Kang Siwoo tried to suppress his rising anxiety and rolled his eyes.
“Stone tower…?”
“Is that your mission, hyung?”
“Uh, uh?”
Ahem.
Caught off guard by Seohan’s blunt question, Kang Siwoo almost admitted it.
“N…No?”
It was already here from the start.
Kang Siwoo scratched his head awkwardly with a sheepish grin.
He’d briefly forgotten, but Do Seohan wasn’t any less sharp than Jin Sehyun.
Man, this is why I hate quick-witted hamsters.
Still, maybe he’ll let it slide.
Because Seohan is kind.
With eyes full of trust, Kang Siwoo smiled warmly at Seohan.
“Must’ve been stacked by someone who visited here before….”
“So, it’s definitely not your mission, right?”
“Of course… not.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Huh?
“W-What are you doing?”
Tap—
Seohan smoothly took the stone from Kang Siwoo’s hands and….
With a sly grin, he threw it straight at the stone tower.
Kang Siwoo’s eyes widened like saucers at what came next.
“W-Whoa!”
Crash—!
Before he could even stop it, the stone slammed into the tower, and it crumbled down with a rumble.
“N-No! My tower….”
Kang Siwoo cried out in despair and dashed forward.
Sprinting away—
Do Seohan, sensing the danger to his life, was already bolting in the distance.
“Hey, Do Seohan!”
I take back what I said about him being kind.
“If you get a mission, just wait and see!”
.
.
“You chose Do Seohan as your first impression — how do you feel now?”
Hmm.
Our Seohan.
He definitely had a pure side once.
Kang Siwoo let out a deep sigh while staring straight into the camera.
He was so overwhelmed by the sense of betrayal, he couldn’t even put his feelings into words.
Our maknae picked up something bad from somewhere. It was probably the influence of Cha Seongbin or Jin Sehyun.
“Ha, what did you teach that pure kid….”
Regardless, Kang Siwoo swallowed dryly and shared his thoughts on his first impression choice.
“My first impression pick was Do Seohan.”
Haa….
“I’d like to cancel that.”
One person you should never be picked by.
“Yes!”
At those words, Kang Siwoo had no idea that Seohan was cheering happily just behind him.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
While Kang Siwoo was being led by the production crew for his interview cut, the members were seated around a fancy table, waiting for their brunch-lunch meal.
Ha Junseo picked up the menu and quickly scanned the available dishes with his eyes.
“Oh, there’s a lot to choose from. Looks like we can just pick and order what we want.”
“Whoa, there really is a lot.”
Since they had arrived at the filming site early in the morning, all the Stardust members were quite hungry.
But not wanting a heavy meal first thing in the morning, Cha Seongbin took the menu from Ha Junseo.
“What are you going to have, Seongbin?”
“I’m…”
Maybe a simple brunch item and an iced Americano would be enough.
Cha Seongbin opened his mouth without much thought.
“Ice…”
[Mission: No English allowed between 6:00 AM and 12:00 PM]
He almost blurted out “iced Americano” before his brain kicked in. Cha Seongbin cleared his throat and trailed off.
“Ice… geez. It’s hot, so I want something cold. Maybe some tea. Milk tea.”
“…Milk tea?”
Unable to call milk tea by its name, Cha Seongbin awkwardly glanced around.
“Suspicious.”
Seohan’s suspicious gaze briefly shifted toward him, but that was all.
Thankfully, not many members seemed to have heard the softly muttered words.
Seo Haim was too focused on choosing her breakfast.
“I’ll have sausage~ Mustard sauce sounds yummy.”
“Siwoo hyung— I mean, Kang Siwoo said he wants ricotta cheese salad.”
“Alright, then I’ll place the order~.”
After everyone had finished ordering, while they waited for the food to come out, Jin Sehyun brought up the topic.
“Everyone got a mission, right?”
“…Yeah, we did.”
“To be honest, mine’s really hard.”
Assigned with the mission [Draw on every member’s face at night without getting caught], Jin Sehyun spoke with a grimace.
“Should we try guessing each other’s missions?”
“Ugh, why would we do that~.”
Just moments ago, nearly getting caught had made Cha Seongbin extra sensitive as he shot down Jin Sehyun’s idea.
Seohan took a sip of water and opened his mouth.
“Well, I know Siwoo hyung’s mission.”
“What is it?”
“I promised to keep it a secret.”
“……?”
To be more precise, there was pressure from Kang Siwoo along the lines of “You think you won’t get caught later?”
If [Don’t get picked by anyone] was Kang Siwoo’s mission, the moment someone did pick him, it would be game over — so Seohan agreed to pretend not to know for now.
“Come on, letting that slide is cheating~.”
“Siwoo hyung is scary.”
“It might be a primal kind of fear.”
“Hamsters are supposed to be at the bottom of the food chain~.”
“Hmm. But among us, I think he’s at the top.”
Not missing the chance, the older members chimed in one by one.
Seohan stirred his soup quietly with a spoon and sat in silence.
Just then, Jin Sehyun, who had been glancing around the table, locked eyes on one person.
Ha Junseo, who was munching on garlic bread and sipping plain water.
It wouldn’t have meant much for someone else, but for Ha Junseo, it felt out of place.
Jin Sehyun’s eyes sparkled slightly, sensing an opportunity.
“Junseo hyung, why aren’t you drinking Americano?”
“Huh?”
“Is not drinking Americano your mission?”
Hm?
At the same time, the gazes of the other hyenas all zeroed in on Ha Junseo.
“Ahem.”
I'm gonna choke, you bastards.
Ha Junseo nearly swallowed the garlic bread the wrong way.
“Ah, I’ve been trying to quit… lately.”
“You didn’t even bring your tumbler.”
“Ha Junseo’s quitting caffeine?”
Seo Haim tilted her head and asked again.
“Then what about barley tea?”
“Trying to quit that too….”
“Oh~.”
“My fans were worried. I’ve been getting a lot of Private Messages lately.”
“Ah, I see.”
Cha Seongbin smiled brightly and nodded.
“Yeah, Junseo~. Keep going~.”
“Huh?”
“Make more excuses~. We’ll listen.”
Damn it.
Ha Junseo quickly glanced around, desperate for help, but the only one he locked eyes with was Seohan.
Seohan quietly muttered while poking his garlic bread with a fork.
“Americano goes best with garlic bread…”
“Right? I think so too~.”
“You guys weren’t even drinking it!”
Is this really a friendship program?
Ha Junseo felt like he was getting dizzy from this unexpectedly heartwarming scene.
Just then, Seo Haim raised her hand and stood up.
“I want to order an Americano~.”
“Why are you ordering it? Is it your mission?”
“Nope. It’s to make Junseo hyung drink it.”
“…!”
Ha Junseo frantically waved his hands to stop Seo Haim.
“Hey!”
Not that it mattered. Seo Haim cheerfully shouted even louder.
“Make it weak, please! He said he’s thinking about his health!”
“No, not you too… Seo Haim….”
“She’s less than a month away from being a legal adult. She's corrupted now.”
“Wait a second. Guys, hold on.”
They were supposed to find friendship, but the members were fully committed to sabotaging each other’s missions.
As Ha Junseo flailed his arms, the ordered iced Americano was placed in front of him.
“Hey, come hold him down! Make him drink it!”
“How should we feed it to him?”
“Aaaaah!”
Just then, Kang Siwoo, who had just finished his interview, sensed the chaos the moment he returned and quietly stepped back.
“Mm, I’m sitting this one out.”
Cha Seongbin, holding the iced Americano in his hand, asked Ha Junseo.
He was giving him one last chance.
“I… no, this…”
He couldn’t say anything since he couldn’t use English!
Cha Seongbin passed the line to Jin Sehyun.
“Hyung, just be honest. This is your mission, right?”
“It’s not!”
“Then you can drink it.”
The younger members, who had already latched tightly onto Ha Junseo’s arms, murmured beside him.
“Hyung, our friendship will last forever~.”
“Then let go of my arms when you say that!”
“On a day like this, iced Americano is just perfect. We had no choice.”
“It’s minus ten degrees outside!”
Ha Junseo protested indignantly, but it was already too late.
Cha Seongbin smirked and waved the iced Americano right in front of his eyes.
“Here’s your drink…. Coming in~.”
“These kids are scary!”
Flail flail—
“Save… save me!”
In the end, he was force-fed.
“Ha, iced Americano really does go with garlic bread….”
Ha Junseo, seemingly enlightened, drank the long-missed caffeine with pleasure.
“Might as well have added six shots while you were at it.”
“It’s all because we care about your health, hyung.”
Bzzz—
From the speaker, a system voice rang out announcing Ha Junseo’s elimination.
[Ha Junseo has failed his mission.]
At that announcement,
“Wow, Ha Junseo failed his mission!”
—exclaimed Cha Seongbin in joy…
Mission?
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
[Cha Seongbin has failed his mission.]
And he went down with him.