Seungkwan had an excited look on his face as he gathered everyone around in the villa, Doyoung included, who sat with Soonyoung pressed to his side. Contrary to Seungkwan's worries, the ratings were off the rails for the last episode.
Wonwoo and Jun were on the top of the couple charts after the incident last episode, but especially now, barely paying attention to Seungkwan as their hands intertwined with each other and thighs brushed so close together with how they sat. In their own world, laughing or whispering about whatever.
The tension was apparent between some people, though. Minghao sat with half his body on Seokmin, refusing to look at Mingyu. He had stomped off to Seokmin's room, where he spent the night for the first time. It was intimate and romantic, but it was so frustrating for Minghao. His thoughts were being shared between Mingyu and Seokmin.
When Seokmin kissed and hugged him to sleep, he couldn't give him undivided attention, which pained Minghao. His way to not do that was avoiding Mingyu, who sat beside Joshua, both lost in thought. Joshua kept zoning out as he watched Jeonghan carry himself like nothing was wrong.
He was laughing at Chan and Vernon as he sipped his caprisun. Jihoon spoke up from beside Seungcheol on the couch and asked Seungkwan why everyone was called there. "Well, since we are now odd in number, I thought it's time I brought in someone new" Mingyu's eyes lifted as he glanced at Minghao's face, still turned away from him.
"I hope you all welcome him well" Seungkwan's enthusiasm was scary, but Joshua couldn't help but dread this new addition. Finally, Seungkwan signalled for the staff to call the person inside, and everyone held their breath in anticipation.
He was already here. There was a feeling in Joshua's stomach that this wasn't going to go well the moment he saw the long curly black hair resting on the man's shoulders as he walked in. He was tall, handsome, and definitely competition.
Jeonghan's expression was normal when Joshua took a good look at him. He had managed to take Jeonghan back into his room and tuck him in once he fell asleep the night before. Joshua knew Jeonghan would remember close to nothing if he got really drunk, so he knew Jeonghan had no idea what happened.
The man ran a hand through his hair, falling right back onto his shoulders, but Joshua noticed the nails painted black. His outfit too, way too punk rock for Joshua to take him seriously. Jeonghan didn't look interested, so maybe he was safe.
"kon'nichiwa yūtadesu" and Joshua knew he was fucked. Jeonghan's eyes lit up as his attention was suddenly on the man. Joshua remembers Jeonghan's love for the language, and the man had his eyes on Jeonghan as well to his disappointment.
"osewani narimashita" Jeonghan seemed to be the only person who understood as Seungkwan asked him to speak in a language the rest of them would understand. The man chuckled in a low voice, and if Joshua wasn't already intimidated, he was now.
"Hi, I'm Yuta. Thank you for having me here" Jeonghan smiled at the stranger, who returned it as he chose to walk up to Jeonghan and sit beside him when Seungkwan encouraged him to find a seat. "anatawa nihon'jin'desuka?" Jeonghan asked if Yuta was Japanese to make sure, watching as Yuta's smile grew at the words leaving Jeonghan's mouth.
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"hai! so-shite anatawa watashiga imamade mita hitono nakade ichiban' utsukushī hitodesu" Jeonghan blushed red as he thanked Yuta before turning to face Chan again, trying to hide from the newcomer.
"What did he say, Hyung?" Chan asked curiously, and Joshua made sure to eavesdrop. "He...um he just said I was the most beautiful person he's ever seen" Chan gasped quietly as he nudged Jeonghan teasingly. Joshua was going to attack Seungkwan for this soon.
Seungkwan gave time for everyone to introduce themselves to Yuta, but he wasn't done just yet. He cleared his throat as the camera panned, and everyone was looking at Seungkwan with their full attention again.
"Yuta has the opportunity to pick someone to take on his first date here in 'fall' but there is a catch! Of course, there is" Seungkwan knew the viewers wanted drama, so it was drama that he was going to give them.
"You get to take two people on a date. A little like speed dating. Your day and night for two people" there were frowns and whispers from around the room before Seungkwan continued his MCing. "It's based on first impression, knowing nothing about them as individuals. Make your pick" Yuta had an unreadable expression on his face as he scanned the room.
To everyone, his first pick was obvious. Who would it be other than Jeonghan? Someone he could talk to in his language and looked ethereal beyond words. But most of all, it was Yoon Jeonghan.
It racked everyone's mind however, the second choice. Who would he pick? Who caught Yuta's attention? No one other than Jeonghan said anything besides their names, so everyone was too curious when he opened his mouth to answer Seungkwan.
"It may be no surprise that my first pick is Jeonghan san" Jeonghan wanted to keep his expectations low, but he couldn't lie that he was excited to be Yuta's first pick. He was so close to giving up, and here he was with another chance. Jeonghan nodded without hesitation, bringing a smile to Yuta's face.
"And your second pick?" Seungkwan urged, intrigue rising in the room. "I don't know much about him, but I want to. I'll admit my heart fluttered when we made eye contact" Vernon wrapped his arms around Chan to make it clear that he was out of bounds in case Chan was the one on Yuta's mind, only making Chan giggle softly.
"Seungcheol, right? I would like it if you would be my second pick" the draws of breath around the room didn't go unnoticed, but the way Jihoon clenched his fists as he looked over at Seungcheol was unmistakable. Seungkwan himself couldn't believe this wasn't staged.
