Chapter 26: Date
Of course, Valentin saw Seojin in the ballroom. He had inspected every contestant when they took off their mask. He just didn't want to believe it, wishing that he had seen it wrong. How could the filming crew cast an 18-year-old boy? He wasn't a minor, but still, he was way too young to be in this kind of show. Most of the contestants were already in their mid-twenties. Valentin realized once again that he was in the world of a novel. Common sense didn't matter in this world. Things could get weird, just like the assassins who had superpowers. He was even weirder because he had a system. Who was even behind the system? Why was he chosen to transmigrate into this broken world?
Valentin and Yuna walked on the sand with their slippers on. Taking out the umbrella he had prepared, he held it so that they could hide from the hot sun. As they walked, he could feel the smoothness of the sand and the smell of salty water. They sat on the wooden chairs that were prepared for them. The table was decorated with colourful flowers found on the island. It was a light meal with fresh salad, steak and cocktails.
Yuna raised her glass to toast with Valentin.
"Cheers!" they exclaimed in unison.
Yuna's brown eyes shone happily as she sipped the sweet cocktail. She was glad to meet Valentin again.
"Did you recognize me through the mask?" Valentin asked.
Yuna laughed and replied, "There aren't a lot of people with red eyes. Only the Vronsky family has them."
"How is the island?" Valentin asked curiously. Since she was one of the participants who came to the island from day one, he was curious about what happened.
"It's nice. The other participants are also nice," Yuna replied.
"Do you like any male participants?" Valentin continued asking. He saw the other female contestant, and Yuna was probably the one who was the most popular with the men since she was everyone's type; kind, gentle and pretty.
Yuna shook her head. It was a bit exhausting for her these days. All the male participants wanted to know more about her, so she didn't have any time to rest. Valentin's appearance in the show was like a breath of fresh air for her. She finally had the time to relax.
Noticing Yuna's tiredness, Valentin said, "Don't worry about it. Just take it slow."
After they finished their meal, Valentin accompanied Yuna back to the villa. The judge suggested that Yuna take some rest and sleep since they would probably gather up later for activities. Yuna smiled and thanked him. The judge was always observant, and he wouldn't force her to do anything.
Valentin also returned to his room. It was a bedroom with two single beds. Who will be his roommate? Since the room was clean, he guessed that he would be living with a new participant for the next few days. Gazing outside the window, he saw that the other contestants were also slowly getting back to the villa. He wondered if Seojin was having a good time with his date. Valentin sighed and decided to take a nap. Seojin was old enough; he didn't have to worry about him every time.
Coming back from his date, Seojin walked to the bedroom he was assigned to and knocked on the door gently, afraid that there was already someone inside. Since no one responded, he opened the door hesitantly. To his surprise, the judge was his roommate. Valentin was sleeping on the bed.
Controlling his joy, Seojin carefully covered Valentin with a light blanket. He tried to hide his excited expression since there were cameras in the room. It seems like his wish has come true. He didn't want to share a room with the other male contestants.
The woman he was on a date with was nice, but he didn't feel anything. Throughout the date, he couldn't stop thinking about Valentin's date. He must be enjoying himself right now with that beautiful girl. He had never seen Valentin smile that brightly to strangers. He thought that he was one of the few who had seen Valentin's smile.
The judge had been sleeping for hours. He had too much on his mind to think of. Transmigrating to another world wasn't a simple task. Suddenly, a soft voice woke him up from his slumber.
"Hyung, it's time to wake up. The filming crew said that we have to gather up outside in 30 minutes." Seojin gently woke Valentin up.
The judge rubbed his eyes and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your roommate."
Seeing Seojin's bright smile, Valentin sighed. Seems like he was meant to be attached to the male lead. The judge ruffled the kid's hair and asked, "How was your date?"
"It was nice. My date treated me nicely," Seojin replied.
Valentin nodded and felt relieved. The dating show was a great opportunity for Seojin to experience something new. Maybe Seojin could gradually forget about the unhappy moments in his past life. The judge knew that it would be hard for Seojin to let go of his past grudges.
"How about you, Hyung?" Seojin asked. He was curious about the woman who made Valentin smile.
"It was nice too. Do you remember when I told you my parents arranged a blind date for me? That was Yuna. I didn't expect to meet her here."
Seojin remembered that Valentin said that he wasn't interested in dating yet. That must mean that Yuna and Valentin were just simple friends.
After washing up quickly, Valentin dressed up, simply putting on a black shirt and black pants. All the contestant headed outside where they would be cooking their dinner.
"Tonight is going to be a BBQ night. We have already prepared the ingredients for you. Good luck!" the staff member exclaimed.
During their three days on the island, they ate simply, since none of them had a lot of experience with cooking. Their cooking was bland and sometimes burnt. They no longer had any expectations for the meals they cooked themselves.
"Does anyone have any experience with BBQ?" a male contestant asked, hoping that there was a cook among the new participants.
A loud silence followed. They all glanced at each other, not knowing what to do. Seeing that no one volunteered to be the main cook, Valentin suggested, "If you don't mind, I can do it."
All the eyes turned to the new contestants with powerful red eyes. The person they least expected to be a good cook has volunteered. They didn't expect the man to know how to cook since he looked like he came from a rich family. People all knew that rich kids didn't cook for themselves.
"Great! We will help you. Just tell us what we need to do!" one of the male contestants exclaimed. Will they finally be able to have a good meal?
Valentin snickered inside his mind. He has done his research before coming to the dating show. They said that cooking guys in dating shows don't end up getting picked by girls. He didn't know why, but it must be some kind of curse. Valentin would become the main cook so that he wouldn't leave the island hand in hand with someone at the end of the show. It was a perfect plan to avoid dating. He was only here for his mission. The judge still couldn't guess why the system asked him to be on the show. Was there something dangerous going to happen, or was it only for the system's enjoyment?