Chapter 58 - The Star Comes Later (Part 1)

“Let me put the mic on you.”

A young, bright-looking female staff member came over and helped me put my mic on.

“You’re very pretty,” I said.

It must have made the employee happy because she began to smile.

“Thank you.”

“You and I should hang out sometime,” I said.

I may be a guy mentally, but physically, I am a woman. So she saw no reason to be suspicious of me and immediately agreed.

“I’d be honored to!”

“Great.”

After I got my mic set up, I headed over to the library with the other participants. The filming should start soon. That’s when the show cast members will run into the library to look for the boxes with our names on them.

“What’s up with them?”

I said to myself as I looked over at the male idols standing nearby. They were all tall, fit, and good-looking. Perhaps that was why they were currently trying to one-up each other. Men are so competitive. Since they’re young and confident in themselves, that spirit was probably at an all-time high. Even more so since the three of us female idols were with them as well. And just then, Minjoon came over to stand next to me.

“Sian, I’ll definitely protect you,” he said, trying to look all big and broad next to me.

‘Fuck you.’

I thought, feeling disgusted. I know I should stop cursing but I couldn’t help it. The more I tried to suppress it, the more life throws this sort of stuff at me.

“You still won’t talk. I guess I still make you nervous.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll take it slow. We have plenty of time. Hahaha.”

With that, he went back to his original spot. Soon afterwards, Jin-hyuk approached me. The guy I had thrown the quail eggs at.

He continued past me but as he did, he whispered, “When we’re in the library, you better hope you’re not on the same team as me. That is, if you don’t want to get hurt. You fucking bitch.”

He walked away and I felt a smile creeping onto my face. The devil’s smile. Once I realized it, I wiped it off. My murderous instinct was creeping up on me again.

Anyways, the filming was about to start.

“Take one!”

***

The eight of us idols began to stretch our bodies out, waiting for our names to be called. The game was nametag ripping. It’s actually really fun to watch. And for the guys, they get to show off their athletic prowess. For them, especially so, since it’s a chance to show up one another.

“What are they doing?” I heard Ha-jeong ask next to me. Her lips curled in distaste, which I found adorable. She’s really not that pretty, but there’s just something about her.

“Them?”

I said, gesturing to the male idols, and Ha-jeong nodded. She looked tired and irritated, but I guess she still had some spirit in her because she also began to stretch her body out.

“The prize is a gold necklace,” I muttered.

A gold necklace. I could sell it and treat me and my members to a nice meal. I’m always thinking of my group. I wonder if the girls realize that.

“I’m going to get it.”

Ha-jeong suddenly said next to me. Her dull eyes suddenly brightened up at the thought.

“It won’t be easy.”

Because I’m going to get it. And then it happened. Min-joon’s name was called out and Min-joon immediately sprinted into the library. And as he did, he waved at me.

“Which team is Min-joon on?” Sohee whispered.

“The red team,” the writer replied.

“Oh, he’s on the red. That’s not good for blue,” Sohee said.

It’s true. Out of all five of the male idols, Min-joon was definitely the most athletic. Then, it happened again. This time, it was the guy named Eleven and he ran into the library as well. Eleven. He was tall and very youthful looking. To be honest, he’s a pretty good performer with all his flips that he does on stage.

One by one, the idols were all called out until it was just me and Jin-hyuk left. Since neither team had started to attack the other team first, it seems like neither team had their seven members yet.

“Looks like you and I are going to be on separate teams,” Jin-hyuk said, looking excited.

“I guess so.”

“I’m going to be the one to rip your name tag off.”

“You do that,” I said with a smirk. Let’s see him try.

“Don’t hold it against me. You brought this on yourself.”

Was he really going to talk about karma? He kept going.

“I’m going to come after you and get your name tag. So don’t waste your time trying to get other people’s name tags. Just keep running like a good little girl.”

“Alright. Good luck with that,” I said with a big smile.

Soon, Jin-hyuk’s name was called out and he ran into the library with a grin. Jin-hyuk was gone. So one of the teams was now complete and they could start attacking the other.

The announcement came on.

[Red Team. The Red Team may now start their attack! Bing!]

The bell rang, signaling the start of the hunt.

[Jun-man Gee from the Blue Team! You’re out!]

Well, that was fast. How could the Blue Team lose a member already?

“Typical of Jun-man.”

I smirked. Jun-man Gee. He was the oldest cast member at forty-eight. And the weakest. Him losing a physical competition is expected, and he didn’t disappoint this time either. Then, another member of the Blue Team was out. Then another. Blue Team was already down by three members.

“When will they call my name?”

I was still outside the library. The blue team couldn’t rip anyone’s name tag off and I wasn’t allowed to enter the library until my name was found. But just as another blue team member was out, my name was called.

[Sian, you may now enter. Blue Team. Blue Team may now attack.]

“Finally.”

I sprinted into the library. Blue team had already lost four members. That meant there were only three left, including me. The last three were me, Ha-jeong and Yoo-gwang. Yoo-gwang is one of the original cast members of the show and he’s really tall and lean. He may seem gangly and awkward, but he has really long arms, which makes it easy for him to rip people’s name tags off. I ran into him in the lobby.

“Sian! Run! Let’s get out of here”

He was running really quickly as he yelled at me. So, I decided to follow him. I looked back and saw three of the idols from the Red Team running after us.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Can’t we just attack them?” I asked.

Yoo-gwang shook his head.

“They’re too fast!”

‘You’re just too slow.’

We kept running and we eventually lost the three members. We hid ourselves in a room to catch our breath.

“Ha…heh…ha…”

Yoo-gwang began to gasp for air and I patted him on the back.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…I…ha…I’m fine…but…Sian…aren’t…aren’t you….are you okay?…ha…”

“I’m fine,” I said with a shrug.

Yoo-gwang’s eyes widened in shock.

“Your stamina is…is…ha…amaze…ha…amazing…ha..!”

He continued to gasp in exhaustion but soon, he calmed down.

“So the blue team only has three members left?”

“Yes. You, me, and Ha-jeong. So, the three of us. None of the read team members are out. We’re doomed,” Yoo-gwang said, looking awfully serious.

“I guess so,” I said with a nod. Then I asked, “So who’s on the Red Team?”

“Guk-jong Lee, Sipko, Miyeon Song, Min-joon Seok, Jin-hyuk Skim, Sohee Jung, and Yoonhan. And they’re all really good.”

Yoo-gwang shook his head, clearly not liking the idea.

“So Guk-jong is also on the red team.”

“That’s why it’s harder!” Yoo-gwang exclaimed.

Guk-jong Lee. He started off as a martial arts athlete before he became an entertainer, so his strength and endurance was off the charts. He was the embodiment of Jumping Man, Flying Man.

“But we can’t just hide here forever. We have to find Ha-jeong, too.”

Ha-jeong Yoon. She really wanted that necklace. I could only imagine how she was feeling right now. I suddenly felt really bad for her. I really am a nice guy.

“Then let’s come up with a strategy,” Yoo-gwang said, leaning in towards me. I almost poked his eyes out. He was way too close. I only like it when girls did that.

“What strategy? Let’s just go and attack.”

Who had time for strategy? I was all for just running at them and ripping their tags off. Unfortunately for me, Yoo-gwang didn’t want to listen.

“No. We’ll get taken down. Let’s stay hidden and when we see someone from the Red Team, we’ll attack.”

“I need to go the bathroom.”

I said that just to get away from him. I knew staying with this guy was going to drive me insane.

“Let’s go together.”

“Um, I’m a girl?”

“Oh, sorry,” Yoo-gwang said with a sheepish smile.

Then he added, “If you follow this hallway in that direction, there’s a bathroom. Hurry, okay?”

“Okay. But where did our VJs go?”

We were so busy running that we ended up losing our VJs

“If you see a VJ, let them know I’m here.”

“Ah, okay. So you just plan to keep hiding here?”

“Yes,” he said quietly.

I left the room, but not to go to the bathroom. I was out to hunt.

***

[Yoo-gwang is out. Yoo-gwang is out.]

It hasn’t even been a minute since I started to run and Yoo-gwang was out. Wow, he couldn’t even hide properly. Well anyways, I was busy sneaking around, trying to find the Red Team members. Why can’t I see them? Then suddenly, I saw someone quickly running in the opposite direction. It was Ha-jeong. She looked terrified, but also very frustrated. Sipko and Yoonhan were both right behind her, giggling. I hid myself behind one of the pillars in the lobby as they began to run in.

“Oh, Ha-jeong~ Why don’t you just give up now~”

Sipko jeered as he cornered Ha-jeong. Yoonhan was on the other side. This was bad. And with my excellent hearing, I could hear Ha-jeong gasping for air.

“Ha…ha…ha…”

She sounded exhausted. Who told her to push herself? Did she really want it so badly? I knew this was just a show but seeing her cornered made me want to run out and help her. The protective instinct. I wanted to protect her. I was hiding behind the pillar right next to them. But since they were so focused on each other, none of them saw me. I mean, I had to hide myself well, right? But the VJs saw me and filmed me while pretending to film the other three. I winked at the camera.

“Ha-jeong, I’m really sorry!”

Sipko and Yoonhan began to move in. That’s when I sped out from behind the pillar and pushed Sipko.

Whoosh!

Bam!

Oops. I pushed too hard. Anyways, I grabbed Ha-jeong’s hand and pulled her behind me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I…I…ha…I’m fine…ha…ha…” Ha-jeong answered as she gasped for air.

Why did it sound so sexy? For a second, I couldn’t help but have some dirty thoughts.

“That’s good.”

“But…when…ha…when did you…ha… get here…ha…?”

“Since a while ago.”

“Then why…did…didn’t you…ha…save me earlier? Ha…were you…ha…thinking of just…saving…yourself?”

You know, this girl really had some problems.

“Just stay behind me.”

“O…okay..”

Ha-jeong hid herself behind me, grabbing onto my waist.

“Don’t hold onto me so tight. I can’t move.”

“Oh, right.”

She stepped back a bit and I took her hand. She squeezed it back.

“Can’t we just run away..?”

“Too late.”

Sipko and Yoonhan had finally gotten close and began to charge towards us, intent on ripping our name tags off.