TV Talent

Chapter Twelve: Key Me In

Snow coated the park railings and dripped down into icicles glinting in the sunlight. Linda pulled her jacket closer around herself and checked the time. 1:30.
They were at a park ten minutes away from the studio. The teams were dropped off at different entrance points and given jackets with their team colors, blue for BTS and red for BLACKPINK, then they were briefed on the game rules by the director. 

'There are two golden keys split into ten pieces and hidden on statues throughout the park. Each key is made up of three parts. Your mission is to find as many key pieces as possible, and the team with enough pieces to complete a key wins the treasure. Should both teams have enough to make one key each, they would immediately proceed into a bonus round.' 

'Got it!' 

At the end of the briefing, the girls set off through the frostbitten park. There were two tiger statues near the entrance, and upon further investigation, they quickly found a glittering gold key piece tucked between one of their paws. Jisoo proudly held up the shiny gold piece. 

'Easy! I wonder how the other team is doing.' 

'I don't hear them here, so maybe they're still looking for statues on their side,' Linda said, glancing around the park. 'Where's our next target?'

Jennie pulled out their map of the park, where the statues locations were circled in red. It wasn't a big park, but they still had a lot of ground to cover.

'The nearest one is just ahead.'

Lisa looked at the map. 'You mean that one?' she pointed out a red circle on a stretch of green.

'Yup.'

'Why isn't it on a path?'

'What do you mean?' Jennie checked the map. 'Oh no, it's off-road.'

'How about this one over here? It isn't as close, but it's on the path.'

They glanced at each other.

'The more pieces we get the better,' Lisa said with a shrug.

'Okay girls, lets split up. Meet on the path once you get the piece.'

'And stay sharp, the others could be near,' Linda added. 'Remember, this is the last round.'

'Yes ma'am,' Rosé took the map and left with Linda and Jisoo, two cameramen tagging along. 

They soon found the statue in a small clearing with benches circling it. It was a stone frog fountain, with two shiny gold key pieces sitting on its broad back.

'Jackpot!' Rosé stepped onto the rim of the fountain and scooped the pieces up.

'Nice,' Linda said. Suddenly, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Three blue-jacketed figures emerged across the clearing and caught sight of them. She locked eyes with Jisoo and Rosé. 

'Run!' 

Rosé jumped down from the fountain and followed them, racing across the clearing. Suddenly she stopped and cried out. Linda skidded to a halt beside her.

'What is it?'

'I dropped one!'

Linda glanced back. The blue team were already at the fountain. Jimin hopped onto the rim and searched the statue. Jungkook and J-Hope were bearing down on them. She caught sight of something gold glinting in the snow a few feet away.

'Keep going, I'll get it,' she called, then turned and sprinted back. Twisting to avoid colliding with Jungkook, she lunged onto the ground and reached out to grab the key, too late. J-Hope snatched it away and turned back, yelling, 'I got it!' Linda pushed herself up, shaking snow from her jacket, her gloveless hands numb. Without second thought, she took off after J-Hope. She closed the gap between them in a few long strides. She grabbed at him, but he ducked away and made a sharp turn. Her grip slipped and he disappeared through the trees in a different direction. Linda weighed her options, then muttering under her breath, continued after him.