The next second, all three of them took off at once.
As expected, Liu Junxia was the fastest.
He bolted down the path on the left almost immediately. The cameraman following him nearly failed to keep up, shouting as he ran.
“Slow down! Junxia! Slow down!”
“Isn’t there a time limit?!”
Liu Junxia didn’t even look back. His pace never faltered.
I stood in front of the monitor and couldn’t help pressing a hand to my forehead.
“I knew it.”
Bai Shijun wasn’t much better.
He was fairly calm at first, but the moment he spotted a piece of paper hanging from a branch ahead that looked suspiciously like a mission card, he immediately picked up the pace.
“I found one!”
He reached up and took down the card. The staff member following him immediately reminded him, “You have to complete the mission before it counts for points.”
Bai Shijun lowered his head and glanced at it.
The next second, his expression turned complicated.
“…What is this?”
The camera immediately zoomed in. The card read—
Please dance to the chorus of your debut song right here, then shout NOVER’s slogan at the top of your lungs.
I burst out laughing behind the monitor.
Minsu had come up with this one.
At the time, she’d said with complete seriousness, “Idols hate being suddenly asked to dance to their debut song. Especially seniors who debuted a long time ago.”
Judging by the results, it really did work.
Bai Shijun stood where he was and looked up at the camera.
“Do I really have to?”
The staff nodded.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
He was probably trying his best to accept reality.
The next second, without any music at all, he sang the beat himself and started dancing to the chorus of their debut song.
He didn’t forget a single move.
He even performed the ending pose from back then perfectly.
I stared at the screen for a moment.
As expected of the main dancer.
After all these years, his muscle memory was still terrifying.
When he finished dancing, he actually made the group hand gesture with both hands.
“NOV! FOREVER! We are NOVER!”
As soon as he finished shouting, he lowered his head and started laughing.
“This has to be edited out.”
I picked up the walkie-talkie.
“Not a chance.”
Bai Shijun immediately looked up.
“Yin PD!”
“It’s great variety-show material.”
“This is my embarrassing past.”
“What part of your debut song is embarrassing?”
He paused.
“…The hairstyle.”
I instantly remembered the heavy bangs he’d had when he debuted at nineteen.
I couldn’t help laughing.
“That part, I’ll give you.”
Bai Shijun narrowed his eyes.
“How do you know that too?”
Crap.
“Research.”
I kept a perfectly straight face.
“Anyone can look up your debut stage.”
He stared in the direction of the camera.
Maybe it was because there was some distance between us, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that his expression was saying—
I’ll catch you eventually.
I immediately looked away.
Not my problem.
Go find your cards.
Meanwhile, Li Zhihao’s approach was completely different from the other two.
He didn’t run at all.
He strolled slowly along the forest path, studying tree trunks, rocks, and low shrubs as he went.
And yet, after only five minutes, he’d already found two cards.
The first mission was to make three different expressions at the camera.
He completed it very quickly.
Cute.
Handsome.
An ugly face.
If Liu Junxia had been there, he definitely would have pointed out that Zhihao’s ugly face wasn’t all that different from his usual one.
The second one said—
Please find a member and straighten their clothes for them.
Li Zhihao held the card and looked around.
Then he spotted Bai Shijun in the distance.
“Hyung!”
Bai Shijun stopped.
“What?”
“Come here for a second.”
“Did you find a card?”
“Yeah.”
The moment Bai Shijun heard there was a mission, he walked over.
“What do we have to do?”
Zhihao showed him the card.
After reading it, Bai Shijun naturally stood in front of him.
“Go ahead.”
Li Zhihao reached out and tugged his jacket collar into place.
Then he smoothed out the hood at the back of his hoodie.
“There. Done.”
Bai Shijun looked down at himself.
“That’s it?”
“Want me to change your clothes for you too?”
“That works.”
“No.”
Zhihao let out a laugh.
Bai Shijun laughed along with him.
The atmosphere between them looked much more natural than it had that morning.
I stared at the monitor.
That strange sense of distance really did seem to have faded a little.
Maybe I was just being overly sensitive.
I couldn’t help relaxing with a small sigh of relief.
But the next second, Bai Shijun suddenly grabbed Li Zhihao by the sleeve.
“Wait.”
Zhihao turned around.
“What?”
Bai Shijun pointed at the rocks behind him.
“Is there one over there?”
Li Zhihao followed his gaze.
There really was.
He blinked.
“You saw it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why didn’t you take it?”
Bai Shijun shrugged.
“You saw this section first.”
“That counts?”
“I guess.”
Zhihao looked at him.
His gaze lingered for two seconds.
Then he smiled.
“Then I’ll take it.”
“Go ahead.”
Watching the screen, I suddenly felt something I couldn’t quite put into words.
They didn’t really care that much about winning or losing.
At least, they weren’t the kind of people who would truly treat each other as opponents just to win.
Bai Shijun had a strong competitive streak.
But when it was time to give way, he still did.
He always had.
Whenever a game on a show could genuinely embarrass one of the younger members, he’d act like the biggest troublemaker on the surface, only to take over and smooth things over himself in the end.
I used to think it was just a leader’s instinct.
But seeing it from the staff’s side now, it was even more obvious.
About twenty minutes later, the score was temporarily—
Li Zhihao: four points.
Liu Junxia: three points.
Bai Shijun: three points.
Liu Junxia had just found a mission card.
He tore it open excitedly.
After reading it, his face fell instantly.
Even the cameraman following him couldn’t help moving closer.
The card read:
Please find a member within two minutes and use your bodies together to form NOVER’s group symbol.
Liu Junxia stood where he was.
“How are we supposed to do that?”
The staff, of course, weren’t going to help him.
He had no choice but to turn around and yell.
“Hyung—!”
His voice instantly echoed through the mountains.
“Shijun hyung—!”
Bai Shijun’s response came from the distance.
“What—?!”
“Come here—!”
“You come here yourself!”
“I have a mission!”
The moment Bai Shijun heard the word “mission,” he finally ran over.
Once the two of them met up, they lowered their heads and studied the card.
“Use our bodies?”
Shijun frowned.
“Isn’t the group symbol made with three people?”
“But it only asks for two.”
“Whatever.”
“What do you mean, ‘whatever’?”
“As long as it shows up on camera, it counts.”
After crouching on the ground and studying it for ages, the two of them finally made something that looked absolutely nothing like the group symbol.
The staff stared at them.
Silence.
Liu Junxia looked up.
“Does it not work?”
The staff shook their heads.
Bai Shijun immediately stood up.
“I told you it didn’t look right.”
“You literally said it would work!”
“I’ve decided it doesn’t.”
“Hey!”
The two of them started arguing again.
Then Li Zhihao happened to walk by.
He glanced at them.
“What are you two doing?”
Junxia immediately rushed over.
“Hyung! Help!”
“Aren’t there supposed to be two people?”
“You can stand to the side and direct us.”
Zhihao glanced at the mission card.
Then, with remarkable calm, he adjusted their poses.
“Shijun hyung, raise your hand a little higher.”
“Like this?”
“Junxia, crouch lower.”
“Why do I have to crouch?”
“You’re the shortest.”
“I am not!”
“Just do it.”
In less than ten seconds—success.
The staff held up an OK sign.
Liu Junxia instantly jumped for joy.
“We did it!”
Bai Shijun pointed at Li Zhihao.
“Shouldn’t he get a share of these points?”
The staff shook their heads.
“Junxia found the mission card.”
“Then can he at least get half a point?”
“No.”
Li Zhihao laughed and waved his hands.
“It’s fine.”
I stood behind the monitor.
Watching the three of them split up again, I realized how much I liked this part.
Rather than a competition where everyone went completely feral trying to win, this felt much more like them.
They could search for cards all they wanted.
But whenever someone needed help, they still stopped to lend a hand.
With five minutes left, the scores were already incredibly close.
Li Zhihao: six points.
Bai Shijun: five points.
Liu Junxia: four points.
“Only three cards left!” the staff reminded them.
Bai Shijun instantly shifted into serious mode.
He ran much faster than before, his gaze sweeping over practically the entire path.
I watched him.
There it was.
His competitive streak had kicked in.
He quickly found a card behind a tree.
“Found one!”
It was the fifth card.
The mission wasn’t difficult. He only had to sing three seconds of his solo part.
He completed it almost instantly.
Six points.
He was tied with Li Zhihao.
There were two cards left.
The moment Liu Junxia heard the score, he grew anxious and started muttering to himself.
“I don’t want to come in last.”
He kept searching beside the rocks as he muttered.
“I really don’t want to come in last.”
Bai Shijun happened to pass by.
“What happens if you come in last?”
Junxia looked up.
“It’s embarrassing.”
“You already embarrassed yourself washing dishes earlier.”
“Hyung!”
“I’m kidding.”
Bai Shijun smiled.
The next second, his gaze suddenly stopped beside the roots of a tree ahead.
I followed his line of sight.
A corner of recycled paper was sticking out there.
It was obviously a mission card.
Bai Shijun had seen it.
I was certain.
He even took a step forward.
But the next second, he suddenly stopped.
He glanced back at Junxia, who was still searching beside him, sweating buckets.
“Liu Junxia.”
“What?”
“Come here.”
“I’m busy right now.”
“There seems to be something here.”
Junxia instantly looked up.
“Where?”
Bai Shijun pointed casually.
“Over there, I think.”
Liu Junxia rushed over at once.
He crouched down.
The next second—
“Found it!”
He jumped straight up.
“Ahhh! Five points!”
Bai Shijun stood beside him, smiling.
He didn’t say a word.
But I had seen everything clearly.
That card had obviously been spotted by him first.
Li Zhihao found the final card.
The competition was over.
The final results were—
First place: Li Zhihao, seven points.
Second place: Liu Junxia, five points.
Third place—
Bai Shijun, six…
Wait.
I looked down at the record sheet.
“That’s not right.”
Minsu came over too.
“What’s wrong?”
I recalculated everything.
Bai Shijun had completed one of the mission cards three seconds past the time limit, so those points didn’t count.
That left him with five points.
He and Liu Junxia were tied.
The staff were discussing whether they should have a tiebreaker.
But Bai Shijun waved it off first.
“No need.”
He pointed at Junxia.
“He’s second.”
Liu Junxia blinked.
“Why?”
“You finished the last card first.”
“But we have the same score.”
“Then you’re second.”
“Really?”
Bai Shijun nodded.
“Yeah.”
The corners of Junxia’s mouth immediately turned up.
“Then you’re last, hyung.”
Bai Shijun: “…”
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
Liu Junxia doubled over laughing.
“Hyung came in last!”
“Why did I let you have it?”
Bai Shijun looked full of regret.
Junxia kept twisting the knife.
“Because you love me.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You obviously saw the card first and called me over.”
Bai Shijun instantly fell silent.
“…You noticed?”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Then why did you take it?”
“Because you let me.”
Junxia answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Bai Shijun stared at him speechlessly.
Finally, he reached out and messed up Junxia’s hair.
“You’re so annoying.”
His mouth complained, but his touch was incredibly gentle.
I watched from a short distance away.
For some reason, warmth suddenly spread through my chest.
Back when I watched them through a screen, I always felt that Bai Shijun was good at taking care of the younger members.
But it wasn’t until I stood beside him at work that I realized it wasn’t just for the cameras.
He really was like that.
And most of the time, he did it so naturally that he didn’t even seem to realize he was taking care of anyone.
“Time to announce the prize!”
Minsu pulled everyone’s attention back.
The three of them immediately returned to the gathering area.
Li Zhihao stood in the middle.
“So what’s the prize?”
The staff deliberately paused.
The next second—
“Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!”
Every staff member on-site suddenly began applauding.
Li Zhihao: “…”
The applause continued.
“Congratulations to Li Zhihao for winning first place!”
Liu Junxia stared for two seconds.
Then he burst out laughing.
“That’s it?”
Bai Shijun couldn’t help laughing either.
“That’s the prize?”
Trying my best not to laugh, I took out the item I’d prepared in advance.
“There’s more.”
I walked over and handed Li Zhihao a handwritten certificate.
In extremely official lettering, it read:
NOVER’s First Mountain Forest Treasure-Hunt Champion—Li Zhihao.
There was even a red stamp at the bottom that Hyeonu had found somewhere.
Li Zhihao looked down at it for three seconds.
Then he looked up.
“I’ll treasure it.”
His tone was utterly soulless.
Everyone on-site burst out laughing.
“And one last thing.”
I pulled a small card from behind the certificate.
“A wish ticket.”
Li Zhihao finally reacted.
“What?”
“You can make one wish to our production team.”
I waved the card.
“As long as it’s within reason, within our capabilities, legal, safe, and doesn’t interfere with filming, we’ll do our best to make it happen.”
Zhihao slowly accepted it.
This time, he really studied it for several seconds.
“…I’ll think carefully about it.”
Then he looked up.
“Thanks.”
There was something oddly meaningful about that “thanks.”
It was as if he still hadn’t decided whether this counted as a prize.
Bai Shijun and Junxia were already laughing themselves sick.
“Isn’t this the best prize ever?”
Junxia slapped him on the shoulder.
“You can ask PD to buy you a hundred cups of coffee.”
I cut him off immediately.
“No.”
“Then ninety-nine?”
“No.”
Bai Shijun added with a laugh, “You could ask the head PD to wash dishes for you.”
I glared at him.
“Keep dreaming.”
“It’s not like I’m the one making the wish.”
Li Zhihao carefully slipped the card into his pocket.
“I’ll come up with a good one.”
I didn’t know why.
But when he said that, I suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Hopefully it wouldn’t be some huge headache.
Time gradually crept toward evening.
The sky grew dark much faster in the mountains than in the city.
After the afternoon treasure hunt ended, everyone took a short break, and the staff began preparing the evening campfire.
They stacked the firewood.
Set up the lights.
And checked the audio again.
The three NOVER members changed into warmer jackets.
After the stylists fixed their hair, all three of them once again looked ready to shoot a magazine spread.
I stood beside the monitor and watched as they sat around the barbecue grill.
The moment the fire was lit, the atmosphere changed completely.
Junxia was the first to put pork belly on the grill.
Sizzle—
The fat hit the hot plate, and the aroma immediately spread through the air.
“Ah…”
He already looked blissful just from hearing the sound.
“This has to be good.”
Bai Shijun sat beside him.
“Didn’t you eat a lot at lunch?”
“That doesn’t count.”
“Why not?”
“Because we made it.”
Zhihao couldn’t help laughing.
“Food you make yourself doesn’t count as a meal?”
Junxia looked completely serious.
“That was a challenge.”
I nearly laughed out loud from behind the camera.
Bai Shijun flipped the meat with a pair of tongs.
“We’re grilling it normally this time.”
“Don’t try adding chunks of butter again, hyung.”
“I’m not doing that today.”
Zhihao added from beside him, “And no chili oil.”
“I never said I was going to.”
The three of them grilled the meat and divided the cooked pieces onto plates.
Junxia picked up a slice.
He blew on it twice before putting it in his mouth.
“Ah.”
His eyes widened instantly.
“It’s really good.”
Bai Shijun took a bite too.
“Mm.”
Zhihao nodded slowly.
“As expected, the simpler the ingredients, the safer it is.”
“Are you talking about lunch?”
“When did I imply anything? I said it outright.”
The three of them dissolved into laughter.
As they ate, the conversation gradually shifted from food to the show itself.
Junxia held his chopsticks.
“It’s actually been a long time since the three of us went out to play like this.”
Bai Shijun paused.
“What about the tour?”
“The tour is work.”
“Today is work too.”
“It’s different.”
Junxia looked around.
“Today we’re setting up tents, finding things, and grilling meat.”
He thought for a moment.
“Even though we’re filming, it feels more like playing.”
Zhihao nodded.
“I was really looking forward to this show too.”
I instinctively looked up from behind them.
Zhihao ate another piece of meat while watching the fire.
“For a whole year.”
“We have to film in spring, summer, fall, and winter.”
Shijun picked up the thread.
“And follow along with the tour.”
“That’s great.”
Junxia smiled.
“At least we can play a little after work each time.”
“You’re already mixing work and play together.”
“Weren’t you looking forward to it, hyung?”
Bai Shijun placed the grilled meat onto a plate.
“I was.”
He answered immediately.
“Why else would I have accepted?”
Li Zhihao looked up at him.
Their eyes met.
It was brief.
But neither of them looked away right away.
My hand holding the production schedule paused slightly.
There it was again.
That look.
It didn’t look like they were fighting.
It didn’t look like simple awkwardness either.
It was more like there was something between them that they both knew about, but neither of them would say out loud.
In the end, Bai Shijun smiled first.
“What?”
Zhihao shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Then he lowered his head and continued eating.
Junxia hadn’t noticed a thing.
He was still excitedly talking about the afternoon treasure hunt.
“I was definitely going to come in last today.”
“You did come in last.”
Bai Shijun immediately corrected him.
“Hyung did.”
“I tied with you.”
“But you said I was second.”
Junxia flashed a smug smile.
“That’s the official record.”
Bai Shijun picked up the tongs.
“Do you want to come over here?”
“No.”
“Come here.”
“No.”
Here they went again.
Zhihao sat between them and naturally reached out to block Bai Shijun.
“Eat your food.”
Bai Shijun actually stopped.
“He’s so asking to get hit.”
“You say that every day.”
“Because he asks for it every day.”
Junxia laughed gleefully beside them.
Watching this scene, the uneasiness I’d felt earlier faded a little more.
At least right now,
they really were happy.