Hidden Match: An Alpha-Omega Dating Reality Show - Chapter 3.2
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READ ONLY AT VANISHINTOFICTION.COM
‘Know your place, Seo Sian. If I hadn’t stepped in, you’d still be spending your life washing dishes in some kitchen.’
Kang Juho’s voice clung stickily to him in the darkness.
‘Sian-ah. When I introduce you to my parents, wouldn’t it look better if I could say you run a restaurant rather than that you’re merely a YouTuber with two hundred thousand subscribers? Your cooking skills are already being recognized, so why don’t you expand into this field? Leave all the difficult things, like the paperwork, to me.’
‘You don’t have any money? Then take out a loan. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.’
[Finally launched! I’m unveiling ‘The Chef,’ my first independent brand, which I spent an entire year preparing in secret.]
A fanfare rang out along with Kang Juho’s confident voice.
As if mocking Sian, dazzling petals of every color scattered through the air. Then the petals flying around him lost their shape and melted, letting out horrifying screams.
Step, step.
From the end of the pitch-black corridor came the heavy sound of footsteps soaked with water. The sound of something sharp and massive made of metal scraping along the floor pursued him from behind at steady intervals. Sian began to run. His instincts told him that he had to escape.
His breath rose to his throat and his heart pounded violently, but he didn’t look back. No, he didn’t even have the time to do so.
The black shadow gradually closed the distance. A cold shiver ran across the back of his neck. He ran endlessly through the darkness, but it was clear that escaping would be difficult. At some point, the ground beneath his feet began to sink.
When he looked down, he saw hundreds of loan repayment notices scattered across the floor like spiderwebs.
Stacks of paper stamped in red wrapped firmly around Sian’s ankles like shackles and refused to let go. It felt as though he had fallen into a swamp.
As his steps slowed, the black shadow instantly drew close behind him. The moment he felt its chilling breath against the back of his neck, the ground suddenly vanished beneath him.
Before he could even scream, Sian tumbled into endless darkness.
Then, at some point, it was no longer darkness surrounding him, but water.
Ice-cold water mercilessly flooded his nose and mouth.
‘Save me. I don’t want to die like this!’
Far above him, on the surface that had grown impossibly distant, the unidentified pursuer watched Sian sink with its neck twisted into a grotesque shape. The repayment notices for hundreds of millions of won that bound his ankles became a heavy anchor, dragging his body endlessly downward, deeper into the darkness. As pain crushed his lungs, his consciousness gradually scattered.
Just as he was about to give up on everything and close his eyes—
Whoosh!
A cool forest scent pierced through the nauseating stench of seawater and seeped deep into his lungs. It was a rich, intense scent that could only have come from a forest at dawn after the rain.
Someone seized Sian by the wrist.
The warmth of the other person’s body against the cold water was hot enough to burn him.
Ah. It’s you.
Strangely, at that moment, a fresh fragrance brushed past the tip of his nose.
The instant he sensed it, Sian’s eyes flew open.
“Haah, haah.”
Breaths that sounded like air leaking out escaped his mouth.
His hands trembled along with each breath, and both his entire body and his clothes were drenched in sweat.
Only after remaining that way for a long while did Sian remember where he was.
The quiet sound of waves, the scent of flowers, and the cool breeze.
“……Hidden Match.”
He had only intended to lie down and rest for a while because he was tired, but he had ended up having an even more terrible nightmare.
Then again, considering he had fallen into the sea and encountered Kang Juho today, it wasn’t surprising that he had a nightmare.
Sian steadied his breathing.
He had absolutely no intention of showing any weakness in a place where that bastard Kang Juho was present.
“……Get a grip. This is my last chance.”
After his disastrous breakup with Kang Juho, Sian had been unable to pull himself together for some time and hadn’t even uploaded anything to YouTube. Because of that, he had now lost a large number of subscribers as well.
Hidden Match was the only lifeline that could make up for all of it.
“Sian-ssi! Please come downstairs now! They said everyone has to gather on the first floor.”
“Yes, I’ll be down in a bit.”
Sian hurriedly rose from his seat.
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