Chapter 06

Kwon Seok-jun took a short breath before speaking.

“Choi Do-yoon got an upset stomach, so I’m going instead.”

“……What?”

“Let’s go.”

Without even waiting for her answer, he strode toward his car.

What? So both of them were substitutes?

Minju felt frustrated by how, the more she tried to avoid him, the more she kept running into him.

A moment later, Kwon Seok-jun, sitting in the driver’s seat, rolled down the passenger-side window and leaned his head out.

“Aren’t you getting in?”

Minju, who had been standing there blankly because of the sudden situation, reluctantly moved toward the car when she noticed the camera filming her and his intense gaze fixed on her from beyond it.

Just thinking about being alone with him in such an enclosed space made her chest tighten, and her palms began to sweat.

Seo Minju, don’t be nervous.

Kwon Seok-jun is perfectly fine, so won’t it hurt your pride if you’re the only one getting worked up over this?

Avoiding him means you lose. Act the same way he does, as if nothing happened.

After steeling herself, Minju got into the passenger seat of his car.

Whether he had been doing well in America or not, the interior of the hundreds-of-millions-of-won sedan was spacious and luxurious.

After confirming that she had fastened her seat belt, Kwon Seok-jun smoothly pressed the accelerator and drove out of the resort.

Apart from the cameras installed inside the car, the two of them were alone.

A suffocating silence settled over them.

She wanted to turn on some music, but she was afraid that doing so might reveal that she was the only one feeling nervous, so she couldn’t bring herself to move her hand.

Minju turned her gaze toward the window.

The supermarket, which was only fifteen minutes away, felt strangely far.

Then Kwon Seok-jun casually spoke.

“Are you disappointed?”

Minju turned her head and looked at his profile as he drove, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“What do you mean?”

He glanced at her before speaking.

“You seemed disappointed that it wasn’t Choi Do-yoon.”

Then did he think I’d be happy about it?

If he really thought that, he was ridiculous.

“I was a little surprised, but I don’t care who I go with. It’s not like we’re going on a date.”

“I thought it was a date, but I guess Seo Minju didn’t.”

“A date?”

“Does a date have to be something elaborate? If two people make eye contact in the same space and share even a little of their time together, isn’t that a date?”

Minju was momentarily at a loss for words at his casual response.

“You have a different idea of what a date is.”

“What do you think a date is, Seo Minju?”

“I don’t know. To me, a date is… something you do when you’re emotionally connected to each other. Simply spending time together is just an itinerary.”

“So you’re saying that right now, we’re simply sharing an itinerary?”

“Yes.”

Minju firmly drew the line between them.

He should understand by now.

But his next words made her stomach churn.

“I guess I’ll have to try harder from now on.”

“……What?”

“So that we can have a date instead of just sharing an itinerary. I want to make sure you have more fun than you do with Han Sang-ho.”

“What does that even…….”

Knock, knock.

Someone tapped on the passenger-side window.

Startled, Minju turned her head and realized that they had already arrived at the supermarket.

When she rolled down the window, a staff member who had arrived ahead of them bent down.

“You two, preparations for filming inside the supermarket are finished. Please go in right away.”

Minju nodded in understanding and unfastened her seat belt.

The tense atmosphere that had filled the car moments ago quietly dissolved with those words.

The supermarket was crowded, as expected on a weekend evening.

Minju pushed the shopping cart and quickly placed the necessary ingredients inside.

Meanwhile, Kwon Seok-jun leisurely pushed the cart beside her, looking over the shelves before casually picking something up and placing it inside.

Minju was putting milk into the cart when her gaze stopped at the familiar packaging.

What he had picked up was none other than a brand of yogurt she usually enjoyed.

It must be a coincidence. There’s no way he chose it because of me.

She reassured herself that it was just a coincidence, but combined with the suggestive things he had said in the car, the fact that an item not on their shopping list had ended up in the cart made her heart flutter for no reason.

At that moment, Kwon Seok-jun glanced over the cart, which was now filled with groceries, and asked,

“What else do we need to buy?”

“Only the meat.”

At her answer, Kwon Seok-jun nodded and immediately headed toward the butcher section.

With her thoughts becoming increasingly complicated, Minju hardened her expression and quietly followed him.

When they reached the pork belly display, the woman arranging the meat looked back and forth between the two of them before smiling brightly.

“Welcome.”

“Please give us some pork belly.”

“How much would you like?”

“Hmm…… Four geun of pork belly and three geun of pork shoulder, please.”

Minju said this while looking at the memo she had written on her phone.

But at Kwon Seok-jun’s following words, she could only bite her lower lip slightly.

“Ma’am, please divide it into two geun of samgyeopsal and two geun of ogyeopsal.”

“You know your meat.”

Because I liked ogyeopsal more than samgyeopsal.

With every coincidence piling up, Minju’s heart continued to waver.

“These days, it’s nice to see young married couples shopping for groceries together.”

Minju was startled and quickly shook her head.

“Ah, we’re not married.”

“Really? You two look like newlyweds at first glance.”

The woman smiled knowingly as she wrapped up the meat.

Not knowing what to do, Minju avoided her gaze, but Kwon Seok-jun said nothing.

He simply accepted the packaged meat with a subtle smile and placed it in the cart.

After finishing their shopping and getting back into the car, Minju looked at him as he started the engine and asked accusingly,

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“We’re not going to see each other again anyway. Why does it bother you?”

He calmly shifted the gear into drive.

The car smoothly left the supermarket parking lot.

“People might misunderstand when the show airs.”

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, we don’t know yet.”

“……What does that mean?”

“You and I might become a couple, Seo Minju. You never know what might happen.”

“No. That won’t happen.”

“We’ll see.”

Even in response to her firm reply, he didn’t so much as blink.

He simply turned the steering wheel, wearing an inscrutable smile.

Lights came on in the yard of the accommodation, and the savory smell of food filled the evening air.

As the contestants gathered in small groups to prepare dinner, Han Sang-ho rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the kitchen.

“Sang-ho, you know how to cook too?”

He smiled gently at the female contestant’s question.

“When you live alone, you kind of end up learning.”

His movements were quick and neat.

He minced garlic, chopped vegetables, and seasoned the food with effortless, natural movements.

Unlike the other male contestants, who claimed they couldn’t cook and simply sat in the living room watching, Han Sang-ho had stepped forward on his own and was actively helping.

For some reason, seeing him like that made him look even more attractive.

When the fragrant smell of sesame oil spread through the air, admiration broke out among the female contestants.

“Wow, you look like a chef.”

“At this point, shouldn’t you go on a cooking show?”

One of the female contestants jokingly added,

“I like men who can cook.”

“A man who can cook? That’s too much praise.”

Han Sang-ho gave an embarrassed smile as he stirred the pan.

Minju wanted to help him, who was busy working all by himself, but she couldn’t bring herself to push her way through the group of female contestants surrounding him.

She quietly organized the groceries they had bought from the back when Han Sang-ho called her.

“Minju.”

“Yes?”

At the sudden sound of her name, she looked up in surprise.

“Could you prepare some mushrooms?”

“Ah, sure.”

Minju quickly finished organizing the groceries and walked over to Sang-ho.

At that moment, the gazes of the female contestants around him subtly shifted.

He could have asked any of us who are right here, so why did he specifically call the woman who was farther away?

A short while later, the female contestants exchanged glances without saying anything and then slipped out of the kitchen, pretending they suddenly had other things to do.

“How should I cut them?”

“The size doesn’t matter. Just cut them into pieces that are easy to eat.”

Minju nodded, washed the king oyster mushrooms, and began slicing them diagonally.

The tip of her knife struck the cutting board in a steady rhythm.

“Is this size okay?”

“Oh, you’re good.”

At Han Sang-ho’s compliment, Minju suddenly felt her fingertips grow warm.

After that, she did her best to act casual as she prepared the ingredients Sang-ho asked for, moving naturally beside him.

As if they had been cooking together for a long time, their movements matched surprisingly well.

A faint smile rested at the corners of Han Sang-ho’s lips as he explained the cooking process to Minju.

Perhaps she was infected by his smile.

Minju kept finding herself smiling and felt embarrassed, but she soon got used to it and began enjoying the time she spent with him.

A male contestant who had been watching the two of them closely from the living room spoke quietly.

“Those two look like they’re about to become a couple.”

“Isn’t that too fast? It hasn’t even been a full day.”

“Look. They smile every time they make eye contact.”

At those words, all the contestants’ gazes turned toward the two of them.

Just then, whatever Sang-ho had said made a bright smile spread across Minju’s face.

At that moment, Kwon Seok-jun, who had been watching them from a distance, quietly stood up.