Chapter 166: I Am Alone (3)

First day of the friendship trip.

After Ha Junseo and Cha Seongbin’s successive eliminations, the day seemed to be ending in peace….

But for some, this was only the beginning of the real mission.

Gulp—

Jin Sehyun was holding his breath in the dark.

His arm had gone numb from the lowered posture he had taken to minimize noise.

[Draw on the faces of sleeping members]

It was a three-day, two-night trip.

There was another chance tomorrow, but… he really wanted to finish it tonight if possible.

Because if everyone woke up to find doodles on their faces, they’d definitely be more alert tomorrow night.

“Let’s go easy, nice and easy.”

Mouthing the words, Jin Sehyun sat beside the first target.

He even brought a pillow in one hand just in case he had to pretend to be asleep in an emergency.

First target: Kang Siwoo.

“What should I draw on our leader hyung?”

Gripping the marker tightly in one hand, Jin Sehyun racked his brain.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to draw a smiley face on Kang Siwoo.

“Because hyung is most charming when he smiles.”

Swipe. Sketch.

With firm resolve, Jin Sehyun lightly drew on Kang Siwoo’s face with the marker.

Even though the sensation must’ve felt cold in his sleep, Kang Siwoo merely squirmed a bit and showed no further reaction.

“Mmh….”

The problem was that even that small movement made Jin Sehyun extremely nervous.

Each time he mumbled in his sleep, it felt like Sehyun’s heart dropped straight down.

“Jeez, thought he was waking up.”

Anyway, the smiley face was complete without incident.

A bright smile that oddly suited the sleeping Kang Siwoo faintly appeared.

How was he supposed to get through all six remaining members?

Jin Sehyun exhaled in relief and shook his head at the camera.

“This is… way too intense.”

A mission that was literally shaving off years of his life.

Jin Sehyun, with the marker clenched in his teeth, slithered across the floor.

Next target: the youngest, Do Seohan, peacefully sleeping next to Kang Siwoo.

Seohan had his arm raised above his head, completely deep in dreamland.

Jin Sehyun whispered softly to the camera.

“Our Seohan… even if someone carried him off while he was asleep, he’d just keep sleeping….”

From working alongside him, Sehyun had concluded that Seohan ranked at the bottom in mission difficulty.

He could probably draw a whole map on the guy’s face and he’d still sleep soundly.

Feeling more at ease than before, Jin Sehyun picked up the marker.

“What should I draw?”

Nothing came to mind.

Do Seohan, you idiot….

Already out of ideas by the second target, Jin Sehyun resorted to a cliché classic doodle.

Sketch. Swipe.

Just as he was confidently crossing the line and about to draw a “ㅂ” shape—

Jolt—

Do Seohan, who had been sleeping soundly, sprang up like a spring.

And let out a booming shout along with it.

“Ah!”

Jin Sehyun panicked and buried his face in the pillow, desperately pretending to be asleep.

‘Did I get caught?’

His heart began to race like crazy. Clamping his mouth shut, Sehyun glanced at Seohan.

But then—

“Sleepyyy….”

Thump—

Seohan flopped back down slowly like a deflating balloon.

“Huh?”

It was sleep-talking.

Jin Sehyun held his head in his hands and muttered quietly.

“Ah… Do Seohan….”

Originally, he was just going to draw the “idiot” part on his face, but for startling his hyung, an extra doodle was added.

Jin Sehyun drew a fine mustache on Seohan’s face before backing away.

He could’ve easily woken up midway….

“……”

But he had fallen back into a blissful sleep.

Having completed the second target smoothly as well, Jin Sehyun gained confidence.

‘I can definitely finish this tonight.’

Thankfully, none of the members were light sleepers.

After schedules, they’d all pass out like rocks in the van anyway.

So hopefully, the third target would be a success too.

Holding his breath, Jin Sehyun crept toward Seo Ian’s bedside. He’d already developed the technique of crawling as quietly as possible.

Click—

Holding the marker, Jin Sehyun brought it close to Seo Ian’s cheek.

He was just about to draw a line on the sleeping Seo Ian’s face.

Grab—

“…!”

Seo Ian grabbed Jin Sehyun’s arm.

“Ahh!”

Jin Sehyun flailed, trying to free his arm from Seo Ian’s grasp. But Ian gripped tighter, not letting go easily.

“Hyung… you… you weren’t sleeping?”

Nod—

Instead of answering, Seo Ian gave a sly smile and nodded.

“Ha….”

Jin Sehyun muttered, teary-eyed.

“Hyung, please just let this one slide.”

At those words, Seo Ian’s eyes sparkled.

“No way.”

“Nooo…!”

In the end, the marker was confiscated.

The next morning.

I stumbled out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face. Barely even had my eyes open when I caught sight of my wrecked face in the mirror.

I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

“What is this….”

Written in crooked letters…

“Idiot?”

What are we, elementary schoolers?

Is this for real?

And whatever was messily scribbled under my nose made it even more absurd.

I had no idea what had happened overnight.

Just then, Jin Sehyun, who also had some meaningless scribbles on his cheek, casually approached me.

“Guess it was someone’s mission. I got drawn on too.”

Watching from a distance with a knowing look, Seo Ian burst out laughing.

“Jin Sehyun… smart.”

“Huh?”

What was that supposed to mean?

As I tilted my head, Jin Sehyun quickly ran over and started massaging Seo Ian’s shoulders.

What followed was a rare, gentle voice from Sehyun.

“Hyung, what do you want for breakfast?”

“I’m… fine.”

“Come on, don’t be like that….”

So it was Jin Sehyun.

What am I supposed to do about this doodle?

“Ugh. I look like a mess….”

I sighed while scrubbing my face with soap.

After washing until the doodles faded, I went down to the first floor—where Kang Siwoo, who had given up on cleaning his face, was already eating salad.

Did someone build a stone tower overnight?

His expression was noticeably brighter than yesterday.

I carefully tested the waters while watching the other hyungs’ reactions.

“Hyung, about yesterday’s mission….”

It was at that very moment.

Jin Sehyun, who was following me down the stairs, casually spoke up.

“I saw someone stacking a tower in the front yard earlier.”

“…Cough.”

Kang Siwoo, who had been munching on salad, raised his head with a cough.

Ha Junseo, whose complexion had brightened following his mission failure, asked,

“A tower?”

“A stone tower. Was that originally there?”

“It must’ve been part of the… the pension.”

Kang Siwoo added with a reluctant expression. But Jin Sehyun’s following words buried any attempt to change the subject.

Smiling slyly, Jin Sehyun shrugged.

“Nah, I figured it was someone’s mission, so I smashed it.”

Jin Sehyun doesn’t hold back.

“As expected of Sehyun.”

“So wholesome, really.”

Praises poured in from third parties who had nothing to do with the stone tower.

I heard Kang Siwoo mutter softly, “Ah, Jin Sehyun….”

Yikes.

Even if I hadn’t caught him, it seemed he was destined to fail the mission.

Honestly, the stones were ridiculously oversized—it was too obvious.

Clicking my tongue, I glanced toward Kang Siwoo.

He shook his head and let out a sigh.

“Feels like not a single person’s going to succeed at this rate….”

“There are just too many hyenas.”

“Sehyun, you’re one of those hyenas.”

“Exactly. I got chewed up by a hyena last night, too.”

“What happened?”

“I was supposed to draw on hyungs’ faces, but I lost my marker, so I can’t do it anymore….”

“…That was you?”

While the two were exchanging grumbles, the self-content production crew approached me.

“Seo Haim, Do Seohan?”

“Yes?”

“You two will be going on a one-on-one friendship date. It’s time to head out.”

Final choice day—a one-on-one friendship date to find your true match.

The first partner was…

“Ugh, it’s especially cold today. The weather report said no snow, but doesn’t it look like it’s about to? On snowy days, we should build a snowman. You didn’t bring gloves, right? So anyway. Seohan, who are you going to choose for your final pick? If this hyung can make a wish….”

Seo Haim was especially noisy today.

.

.

.

[A conversation between someone who wants to be chosen and someone who absolutely doesn’t]

Featuring Stardust’s Do Seohan and Seo Haim

Of all pairings, these two ended up as one-on-one friendship mates—just listen to their conversation.

Haim: Seohan, wanna watch a movie together?

Seohan: I don’t like movies.

Haim: Wanna watch Guardians of the GalXy?

Seohan: I already saw it.

Haim: But it hasn’t even been released yet?

What even is this conversation?

It’s hilarious lolololololol

Did Do Seohan take private classes at Iron Wall Academy?

– An unstoppable spear vs. an impenetrable shield

└lololol this is it

└Do Hamjji’s iron wall skills are maxed out… Truly raised our youngest right as a male chick-type

└Our youngest was trained too well, I’m so proud

└Yes, Seohan, please keep doing that

└All male idols should learn from him

└222222222

└Make this into a textbook on putting up walls

[Clumsy Stardust Self-content Mission Status]

Ha Junseo: Eliminated for being force-fed Americano by the members

Cha Seongbin: Eliminated after enjoying that too much

Jin Sehyun: Marker pen confiscated by Seo Ian

Kang Siwoo: Mireuksaji 12-story stone tower collapsed twice (feat. member invasion)

Seo Haim: Desperately wants to be chosen (feat. Do Seohan’s iron wall)

Do Seohan: Desperately does not want to be chosen

Seo Ian: Maintaining inner peace amidst the chaos (lowest mission difficulty)

– Cha Seongbin got eliminated for liking it too much lololol I couldn’t believe it

└He failed the mission with a bright smile! Sir, you got eliminated too, you know

└lololololol ah Seongbin….

– The Mireuksaji 12-story stone tower is insane lololol member invasion lolol Dusties’ gags are too good 😭

└It’s the 21st century, so we endured colonial invasion, but not Do Seohan and Jin Sehyun….

└The look on Kang Siwoo’s face when he heard the tower collapsed was priceless. Like, “I’ve failed as a father…” lol who are you even

└Punished for having such great younger brothers lololololol

– That soft Sundubu snatched the marker from Jin Sehyun, that was so funny. Even Ian takes missions seriously…

└Where’d he hide the marker?

└Under Kang Siwoo’s stone tower

└Crazy lololol why there of all places

└Jin Sehyun went to destroy the tower but missed that one ㅠㅠ

└The base of a stone tower is always dark

– Watching other teams’ friendship self-contents is so wholesome… why are our kids destroying each other’s missions?

└Because they’re survival show idols

└Crazy survival idols….

└Survival idol bs lololol are they insane lololol

└This was it

└Is competition instinct encoded in their DNA lololol did it all go wrong during Starf era?

└TVN seriously wronged these kids

└The survival idol self-content saga continues….

Exactly.

[Can one find true friendship in this harsh world? <I Am Alone>]

Continued in Part 3

In the warm atmosphere, the final choice time still remained.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep