FITDSLR | Chapter 6

By the time Gyeol finished his shower and stepped out, Yoon Isu was lying on the bed under the soft glow of a mood lamp, quietly reading a book.

“Mr. Isu, you’re not sleeping yet?”

“Oh. I was waiting to talk with you before bed.”

Closing his book, Isu sat up properly on the bed.

“How’s your ankle?”

“Thankfully, it seems like I only twisted it a little.”

He rotated the ankle with the pain patch attached to it.

“That’s a relief.”

Answering sincerely, Gyeol sat on the bed opposite him.

As though he had been waiting for Gyeol to settle down, Isu abruptly changed the subject.

“So, who did you choose?”

“Huh?”

“For the first-impression vote. Who did you pick?”

That came out of nowhere.

Gyeol hesitated.

While it varied from season to season, contestants of the same secondary gender often shared their romantic interests with one another. Sometimes that led to close friendships that continued long after filming ended.

For example, the Omega pair from *R.O. Connect* Season 7 had become fan favorites despite neither ending up with an Alpha in the final pairing. Their friendship had earned them immense popularity, leading to magazine shoots, music releases, and a thriving career together.

*If you play it right, it can work in your favor.*

But there was a risk.

A very obvious one.

When two people liked the same Alpha.

Friendships that shattered because of overlapping choices were a staple of reality-show editing. Contestants who started out getting along would drift apart—or worse, end up talking behind each other’s backs. The resulting “friendship collapse” always made for excellent television and terrible reputations.

Gyeol looked steadily at Yoon Isu.

His impression of the man so far wasn’t bad, but there simply hadn’t been enough time to figure out what kind of person he really was.

Now that they were sharing a room—and Gyeol had even sacrificed victory during the game to create a positive moment with him—it seemed wise to tread carefully.

Besides, during the first day of filming, he had been too focused on building his own image to pay attention to which Alphas the other Omegas favored.

He had absolutely no idea who Yoon Isu liked.

“Are we even allowed to talk about that?”

Gyeol already knew they could.

Former contestants had discussed their first-impression picks countless times.

Still, he deliberately played cautious. It bought him time and made him look respectful of the program’s rules.

Hopefully, Isu would understand the hint.

*Let’s not dive into this on day one. Maybe we can talk about something else.*

“Pretty sure we can. If it’s awkward for you to answer first, I’ll go ahead.”

That wasn’t what he meant.

A headache began to form.

*Note to self: Yoon Isu is not particularly perceptive.*

Short of physically covering the man’s mouth, there wasn’t much he could do.

Before Gyeol could redirect the conversation, Isu spoke.

“I picked Shin Juno.”

What?

“Ah! Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t choose him just because I’m a SAVE ME fan. Really!”

Gyeol blinked.

*I wasn’t looking at you any particular way.*

And what exactly was *that look* supposed to mean?

Isu buried his reddening face in both hands, and Gyeol smiled.

“I wasn’t thinking that. Wow, really? You picked Juno.”

Thanks to Isu’s unsolicited explanation, Gyeol had also learned the reason behind the choice.

Maybe he really was a SAVE ME fan.

After all, he had asked early on whether Gyeol and Shin Juno already knew each other, and he had shown unusual friendliness toward Gyeol from the start.

There was a certain consistency to his behavior.

“Yeees…”

Isu dragged out the word shyly.

“I thought about it a lot. But earlier, he came to check on my injury and made sure I was okay.”

Hearing that, Gyeol relaxed.

Shin Juno.

No matter how Season 10 unfolded, he was the one person Gyeol absolutely, positively, under no circumstances wanted to get romantically involved with.

As long as Yoon Isu’s feelings were directed toward Shin Juno, there was zero chance of conflict between them.

That was excellent news.

Smiling easily, Gyeol nodded.

“Juno does have a caring side.”

It was the truth.

Shin Juno had always been considerate. He looked after others naturally and had often served as the dependable pillar holding his team together.

“Exactly! I was really touched today. By both you and Juno. It made me feel like all those years I spent loving SAVE ME weren’t wasted…”

*Please stop talking about that.*

Yoon Isu truly was oblivious.

Resting his chin on one hand, Gyeol listened as Isu chattered happily, occasionally nodding along.

Judging by his enthusiasm, it seemed he hadn’t actually been curious about Gyeol’s choice at all.

He simply wanted to tell someone about his own.

“Ah, I’ve been talking about myself the whole time.”

After rambling for quite a while, Isu laughed sheepishly and fanned himself with one hand.

He really was handsome—clean-cut and attractive.

*What was Shin Juno’s type again…?*

“I told you about mine, so now it’s your turn.”

His eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Who did you choose?”

—

### ***

**— Brunch Date. Choi Seon has selected Go Gyeol.**

**— Matched couples may now enjoy their brunch date.**

If he’d known this would happen, he would’ve chosen literally any Alpha except Choi Seon.

“Good morning, Gyeol.”

“Good morning.”

Of all people, Choi Seon—the one holding a brunch-date privilege—had chosen him.

“The sunlight’s pretty strong. You should sit on the inside.”

“Ah, thank you. Though you’ll get all the sun then. How about we just move the chairs over a little?”

“Thank you. You’re very considerate.”

The previous night, Gyeol had chosen former national swimmer Choi Seon for his first-impression vote.

Not because he was interested in him.

It had simply seemed like the safest option.

Choi Seon was quiet.

He kept to himself, rarely initiating conversations with Omegas or actively approaching anyone.

After leading the Alpha team to victory in the group competition, a few Omegas had shown interest, but he responded to nearly everything with brief, curt answers.

People quickly lost enthusiasm.

Even while everyone else bonded and got acquainted, Choi Seon remained on the outskirts.

He hadn’t spoken to Gyeol.

Had barely even looked at him.

“I’ll cut the French toast for you.”

That was precisely why Gyeol had picked him.

He wanted to avoid unnecessary rivalries with other Omegas and, more importantly, avoid creating an immediate mutual-match storyline.

“Thank you. Would you like iced Americano or orange juice?”

The problem was that every Alpha had apparently chosen him.

Which meant Choi Seon had chosen him too.

“I only drink black coffee in the morning. It helps avoid blood sugar spikes.”

“Ah. Blood sugar spikes.”

In other words, out of all the Alphas interested in Go Gyeol, the one Gyeol had selected happened to be Choi Seon.

And now they were on a brunch date together first thing in the morning.

There was no way this pairing wouldn’t attract attention.

A complete miscalculation.

*How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this?*

Trying not to cry internally, Gyeol set the iced Americano in front of him.

Meanwhile, Choi Seon diligently worked on the French toast before eventually setting down the utensils with a sigh.

“Though if you’re eating French toast, a blood sugar spike is pretty much inevitable anyway—”

“Pfft.”

Gyeol couldn’t finish his sentence.

Covering his mouth, he burst out laughing.

The French toast had been utterly massacred.

“…I spent my whole life training.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”

But he couldn’t stop.

Moments earlier, the French toast had looked delicious.

Now it resembled a crime scene.

It had been shredded into uneven pieces, while the melting ice cream and raspberry jam had merged into something vaguely horrifying.

“Seriously, I’m sorry. Ah…”

“Just laugh.”

That only made it worse.

Gyeol finally broke into full laughter.

The image of this large, handsome Alpha creating what looked like a forensic investigation site out of French toast was simply too funny.

*Then why did you insist on cutting it yourself?*

“What exactly did that French toast do to you?”

“…I wasn’t trying to kill it.”

The tips of Choi Seon’s ears turned red.

Oh.

That was unexpectedly cute.

A mischievous impulse surfaced.

Putting on an exaggeratedly mournful expression, Gyeol said,

“Poor French toast.”

“I feel too bad for it to eat it.”

“…Are you going to keep teasing me?”

Choi Seon actually stuttered.

His dark eyebrows drooped helplessly.

At that point, he looked less like a stoic athlete and more like a giant, dejected puppy.

“Aww, sorry. It’s just such a masterpiece. I almost want to take a picture.”

After laughing to his heart’s content, Gyeol took a sip of orange juice.

The sweet drink cooled his throat pleasantly.

Then Choi Seon stabbed a piece of the fallen French toast with his fork and held it out.

His expression remained stiff and serious.

Clearly nervous.

Gyeol laughed again, lowering his head.

Then he opened his mouth and accepted the bite.

Clink.

The fork fell from Choi Seon’s hand.

Huh?

At the same moment, Gyeol noticed every staff member nearby wearing suspiciously delighted expressions.

And then realization struck.

*Damn it.*

*That wasn’t the right move.*

“S-sorry. I thought you were feeding me.”

It was an old habit from raising Yuli.

His son would often spear food with a fork and say, *“Daddy, ahhh~”*

Without thinking, Gyeol had responded exactly the same way.

Now Choi Seon’s ears were bright red.

“Mr. Choi? Are you okay? You look overheated.”

“You’re the one who made me overheat.”

“Huh?”

“You made me overheat.”

Choi Seon declared it with complete seriousness.

Then he grabbed his iced Americano and downed the entire thing in one go.

Immediately afterward, he stuffed three pieces of French toast into his mouth.

“You said you were avoiding blood sugar spikes.”

“This is a situation that requires one.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“You’re the reason I’m experiencing a blood sugar spike.”

“Oh my god.”

Gyeol burst out laughing again.

“You’re secretly hilarious.”

He really was.

Gyeol had assumed he was simply stoic.

Turns out he was just awkward.

The date he’d entered with zero expectations turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable.

Teasing Choi Seon, joking around, and laughing together made the time fly by.

**— Brunch Date has concluded.**

**— Pheromone Matching will now begin.**

**— All participants, please gather in front of the Pheromone Booth.**