Chapter 222: Got Caught

A short conversation with Mac Fred.

As soon as I returned to the waiting room, the older members came running up to me.

“What did you two talk about?”

Seo Haim asked first with eyes full of curiosity.

Though he was the one voicing the question, the other members were clearly just as curious.

It wasn’t just anyone—Mac Fred himself, the famous one, had called only me over to talk…

It’s not like I had any personal connection with a New York MC, and I didn’t particularly stand out during the broadcast either.

And yet—

He set aside everything else to come see me?

Even without thinking too deeply, the situation was just odd.

I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“He seemed really interested in K-culture, so I just taught him a good proverb.”

“…A proverb?”

“I really can’t figure out what kind of conversation you had~.”

Cha Seongbin tilted his head, muttering suspiciously. Jin Sehyun, too, was giving me a doubtful look.

With other members, maybe not—but that hyung was sharp as a tack.

Sssup.

Jin Sehyun swallowed and spoke.

“Do Seohan is lying again.”

“No, it’s the truth.”

“…You threatened him, didn’t you.”

His intuition is way too sharp…!

At Jin Sehyun’s blunt and heavy statement, Kang Siwoo frowned. As always, Kang Siwoo was firmly on my side.

“Seohan isn’t the type to do that.”

“Hyung, think carefully. This isn’t the first time.”

“Wow, so you’re going global with your threats now? That’s insane…! You really are the next-generation global idol!”

Cha Seongbin clapped softly in admiration.

“This hyung is clearly mocking me.”

“I’m not! I’m genuinely curious! What was it all about?”

“…Hmm.”

With everyone reacting like this, I didn’t know how to answer. I just swallowed dryly, lost for words.

In the end, I gave a dodging answer.

“I don’t know anything.”

“Seohan is still young…!”

Taking advantage of Seo Ian’s defense, I added as innocently as possible. This is the moment for that classic line.

“I’m nineteen years old….”

Too much?

“I can’t with this, seriously.”

Jin Sehyun slapped his forehead and clicked his tongue. It seemed my excuse hadn’t worked.

“The truth is…”

At this point, hiding it any longer felt pointless, so I just came clean.

There were rumors swirling about Mac Fred’s complicated dating history… and I’d brought it up in the waiting room earlier just to feel him out.

I didn’t forget to explain the difference between “married” and “like married,” either.

“Wow.”

Only after hearing all that did Cha Seongbin let out a quiet sigh.

“No wonder… he was acting all gentlemanly.”

“Gentlemanly?”

“Back in the waiting room, he was being weirdly passive-aggressive. I was wondering why a guy like that would act so refined on broadcast~. Turns out it was guilt.”

“This proves it—people should live righteously!”

Seems even Cha Seongbin had been irked ever since that whole Chinese-style greeting talk.

Jin Sehyun, too, nodded in satisfaction after hearing the full story.

“If it was for that… then yeah, it was worth roasting him.”

Anyway, I guess it was a threat after all.

I scratched my head awkwardly with a sheepish smile…

Then Seo Ian, who had been standing quietly, blinked and spoke up.

A solid beat too late.

“Wait, that was a power play?”

“Huh?”

“Oh my god. That’s adorable…”

“In what world?”

…His brain moved at a speed I just couldn’t follow.

The schedule in New York was nearly over.

The overseas cuts for the music video were all finished, we’d wrapped up our broadcast appearances, and the original goal—recording—was complete all the way through final producing.

The only thing left was to shoot our self-content.

“Wow! This place is huge.”

For the final day, we booked a separate pension just for the self-content shoot.

Staying at the hotel was convenient, sure, but the sheer size of the pension left my eyes wide.

It had five rooms.

Seo Haim gasped repeatedly in awe, mouth hanging open.

“I love it!”

Then he bounced off like an excited puppy to explore the place.

You’d think he’d be tired of life abroad by now, but as always, he was bursting with energy… It was honestly impressive. Youth really is something else.

“I personally like this room.”

“I call this one!”

“Seohan, wanna share the living room with me?”

“Sure, sounds good.”

Just as we were all busy checking the place out, Jin Sehyun spotted something behind a door and froze.

“Huh? What’s this?”

A mysterious sign tucked behind the door.

It looked like it hadn’t been set up yet—awkwardly hidden.

“Seems like it’s for the shoot.”

“Ah. Put it back in.”

When I turned my head, I saw a familiar staff member from the self-content team standing off in the distance, grinning sheepishly.

No need to even ask what the sign was—our self-content shoot was about to start.

Leader Kang Siwoo called out in a loud, booming voice.

“Guys, if you’ve finished looking around, let’s gather up!”

“Okaaay—!”

And with that, everyone gathered in the living room.

.

.

.

There are a total of five rooms prepared inside the pension.

At first, I thought it was just Doubles being considerate so we could sleep comfortably, but it turned out to be part of the self-content shoot.

Just as proof of that, one of the nameplates we had seen earlier was attached to each room door.

[Rabbit Room]

[Chick Room]

[Hamster Room]

It felt a bit… like a kindergarten.

Jin Sehyun frowned and poked me in the side.

“What the heck is that?”

“If you peel off the paper, I think a mission will come out.”

“Whoa… sharp.”

It looked like we’d have to complete a mission in each room. The self-content team loved that kind of thing.

Three years with Doubles— even a hamster picks up some things.

“They’ll probably make us do missions for food, right?”

Correct.

Not long after, two staff members came in, groaning as they carried a large table.

The additional food they brought looked mouthwatering just at a glance.

Tteokbokki, chicken, ramyeon, gimbap, ice cream….

They were all foods you’re bound to miss during a long stay abroad.

I gulped and tried to suppress the hunger gnawing at my stomach.

At that moment, the PD from the self-content team spoke up, eyes gleaming. The red light on the camera turned on.

“Everyone see the signs attached to the doors behind you?”

“Yeeep!”

“Just as you guessed, each room has a set mission.”

The signs showed animal names, but if you peeled them off, the mission details would appear.

The PD continued calmly with the explanation.

“You’ll be taking on all five rooms one by one, and the winner of each mission will receive a food tasting ticket for the table.”

Until all the missions were complete, the food would remain out of reach. To eat early, you had to place first in a mission.

For members who were already starving, it was a challenge that could only ignite their fighting spirit.

“Let’s start quickly!”

“I’m already so hungry….”

I knew it too.

Our members… get dead serious when food is on the line.

Jin Sehyun turned his head and asked seriously.

“Which room should we go to first?”

“Would rabbit taste better, or hamster?”

“…Huh?”

“I think Do Seohan would taste better.”

Excuse me?

“Let’s go with the Hamster Room.”

And just like that, our first mission room was decided with a strange rationale and lightning speed.

I, now a delicious hamster for some reason I didn’t understand, just rolled my eyes.

Seo Haim suddenly sprang up from his seat and headed for the sign.

Skkrt—.

He ripped off the thin paper stuck to the sign without hesitation.

[Zombie Game Room]

“Wow.”

“They really are gonna devour someone…”

The first mission in the Hamster Room was a zombie game.

The mission followed the usual format of a typical zombie game.

There was one human; the rest of the members turned into zombies.

With blackout curtains covering their eyes, they had to find the human.

The winner would be the one who held out the longest, not until they were caught, but until they surrendered.

Whether by tickling, biting… there were many ways to force surrender.

That was the basic rule.

“Don’t get hurt, so please don’t go all out.”

“Okay!”

“And don’t bite too hard.”

“Okay!”

The self-content team staff repeated their warnings several times before stepping back.

To anyone listening, it sounded like they were training puppies with a chewing problem.

But knowing how serious our members got when food was involved… it was a necessary warning.

Even I had no intention of holding back.

As the first player, I declared with a determined face.

“I’ll hold out no matter what.”

“Really?”

“Ah, I’m already drooling…”

Scary!

I trembled at the sight of Cha Seongbin drooling with madness in his eyes.

Watching this, Seo Ian muttered quietly.

“The fennec fox rips apart the hamster…”

He really will rip me apart!

Piiiip—.

The writer blew the whistle.

It was a fairly spacious room, enough to run around.

But with quite a few staff members packed inside, my movement options were limited.

And then—

These zombies were unnecessarily intelligent and had already formed a plan to exterminate the human.

Leader Kang Siwoo gathered the members.

“Everyone hold hands! We’re catching him in one sweep.”

“I can’t see! Who… who are you?”

“This is Seo Haim~.”

“You holding on tight?”

“Wait a sec. I’m confused about where I’m facing right now? What’s in front of me…?”

“That’s my hair. Please stop pulling…”

It started out chaotic, but it didn’t take long for them to reorganize.

Watching six people form a chain, my throat dried up.

And then.

Cha Seongbin shouted in a booming voice.

“Let’s gooo forward!”

“One, two, three! One, two, three!”

“This is insane…”

The encirclement was closing in.

Did they really need to be this organized on the first try?

It was like they’d practiced it beforehand—the spacing was perfect.

There weren’t many paths I could take, so I aimed for the only gap I could find between Kang Siwoo and Cha Seongbin.

And—

“It’s the human… it’s the human! Bite!”

“Argh!”

Got caught.

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