Chapter 9
After we finished eating, the staff were getting ready to clear the dishes.
But Bai Shijun suddenly raised his hand.
“Wait.”
I looked at him.
“What is it?”
Leaning back in his chair, he swept his eyes over our staff.
“Can we make a suggestion?”
I folded my arms.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Let’s have a competition.”
“Over what?”
“Whoever loses has to wash the dishes and clean up.”
I raised an eyebrow.
It was actually a pretty interesting idea.
If we simply had NOVER wash the dishes, it would be a pretty ordinary scene.
Including the staff would make it more interactive.
“Sure.”
I turned to Minseo and Hyeonu.
“You two, get down here.”
“Huh?”
Hyeonu was eating the last bite of his boxed lunch when he suddenly got called out.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Minseo, on the other hand, was extremely excited.
“I’m in!”
“Okay.”
I started looking for a third person.
“Then one more…”
“Isn’t the head producer joining us?”
Bai Shijun suddenly spoke up.
I turned around.
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
He looked completely matter-of-fact.
“Didn’t you just say it sounded fun?”
“Just because it sounds fun doesn’t mean I want to play.”
Liu Junxia immediately joined in.
“Come on, Producer Yin!”
Li Zhihao also raised a hand with a smile.
“Six people would be perfect.”
I looked at the three of them.
Then I looked at my staff, who had already started wearing hopeful expressions.
Minseo even secretly gave me a pleading gesture.
Great.
A whole bunch of traitors.
“What are we playing?”
I asked.
Bai Shijun immediately sat up straight.
“I Am Ground.”
“…That’s it?”
“Are you scared?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Who’s scared?”
The corners of his lips instantly curled up.
Oh, no.
I’d fallen for it.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
I put down the rundown.
Winning or losing had absolutely nothing to do with washing dishes.
I was just annoyed by the way he’d said, “Are you scared?”
I was usually a very peaceful person, yes.
But the moment someone provoked me—
That was a completely different story.
The six of us formed a circle.
Three from NOVER.
Me, Minseo, and Hyeonu.
The cameras were set up again.
Bai Shijun clapped his hands.
“I Am Ground~ Introduce yourselves!”
Everyone started following the rhythm.
“Shijun, two!”
“Shijun, Shijun!”
“Zhixia, three!”
“Zhixia, Zhixia, Zhixia!”
“Junxia, four!”
“Junxia, Junxia, Junxia, Junxia!”
The first round went smoothly.
Then the second round started speeding up.
Minseo was the first one out.
She messed up the rhythm once and immediately grabbed her head.
“Ah!”
I pointed at her.
“First one out.”
“Don’t celebrate too soon, Zhixia.”
“At least I lasted longer than you.”
Hyeonu was next.
Liu Junxia deliberately called his name twice in a row, and Hyeonu couldn’t react in time.
“Hyeonu, four!”
He was half a beat too slow.
The whole group shouted.
“You’re out!”
Hyeonu quietly stood up.
“I don’t think this game is suitable for the elderly.”
I looked at him.
“You’re only twenty-nine.”
“My heart is already forty.”
That left four people.
Me.
Bai Shijun.
Li Zhihao.
Liu Junxia.
Junxia lasted much longer than I expected.
Until he called his own name.
“Junxia, five!”
Everyone froze.
Bai Shijun raised an eyebrow.
“Five?”
Junxia was stunned too.
“Wasn’t five allowed?”
“Four is the maximum.”
Li Zhihao was already doubled over laughing.
Junxia refused to accept it.
“Who decided that?”
“The rules of the game.”
“Who made those?”
“The entire world.”
“Then I’m redefining them today.”
“Get out.”
Bai Shijun pushed him straight out of the circle.
Three people remained.
I suddenly got serious.
Li Zhihao was perfectly calm.
Until Bai Shijun suddenly sped up.
“Zhihao, four!”
“Zhihao, Zhihao, Zhihao—”
One short.
Li Zhihao stopped.
Bai Shijun immediately stood up.
“You’re out!”
“You deliberately sped up just now, didn’t you?”
“The game allows speeding up.”
Li Zhihao stood up helplessly.
As he passed Bai Shijun, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
“You’d better win.”
“Of course.”
In the end,
only Bai Shijun and I were left.
I had no idea why,
but everyone around us suddenly started making a fuss.
“Ooh~”
I turned around.
“What are you ooh-ing about?”
Minseo had the biggest grin of all.
“Nothing.”
“You’d better not be.”
Bai Shijun sat across from me.
His hands rested on his knees.
“Producer Yin.”
“What?”
“Take this seriously.”
“I’ve been serious the whole time.”
“Don’t cry when you lose.”
I let out a laugh.
“You should worry about yourself first.”
We started again.
The rhythm got faster and faster.
“Shijun, three!”
“Shijun, Shijun, Shijun!”
“Zhixia, four!”
“Zhixia, Zhixia, Zhixia, Zhixia!”
“Shijun, four!”
“Shijun, Shijun, Shijun, Shijun!”
Neither of us stopped.
Five rounds.
Ten rounds.
Fifteen rounds.
At first, everyone around us was still laughing.
Eventually, they just stared in disbelief.
“How long are those two planning to keep going?”
Junxia sat nearby.
“Hyung really hates losing.”
Minseo nodded too.
“So does Zhixia.”
I didn’t have time to listen.
My eyes stayed locked on Bai Shijun.
He was staring at me too.
The rhythm kept getting faster.
But neither of us made a mistake.
Finally, Hyeonu couldn’t take it anymore.
“Stop!”
Bai Shijun and I stopped at the same time.
“What?”
We asked together.
Hyeonu looked helpless.
“If you keep playing like this, we won’t be able to film this afternoon’s activities.”
He had a point.
Bai Shijun rolled his wrists.
“So what do we do?”
Junxia immediately offered a suggestion from the side.
“Rock-paper-scissors.”
I frowned.
“We played for half an hour just to end it with rock-paper-scissors?”
Bai Shijun also looked displeased.
“Wouldn’t that just come down to luck?”
“Otherwise, are you two planning to play until tonight?”
Zhihao glanced at the time.
“That’s probably enough.”
Bai Shijun and I looked at each other.
Two seconds of silence passed.
“Fine.”
“Let’s do it.”
We raised our fists at the same time.
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
I threw scissors.
Bai Shijun threw paper.
I looked down at our hands.
Then I raised my head again.
The corners of my mouth slowly lifted.
“I win.”
Bai Shijun stared at his own hand.
He looked like he couldn’t accept it.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Again.”
“Why?”
“That one doesn’t count.”
“Why not?”
“Rock-paper-scissors isn’t about skill.”
I stood up.
“Luck is a kind of skill too.”
Bai Shijun looked up at me.
I patted his shoulder, extremely satisfied.
“Good game.”
Junxia immediately burst out laughing beside us.
“Hyung lost!”
Zhihao stood up too.
“Come on. Time to wash the dishes.”
Bai Shijun looked deeply unwilling.
“So the final result actually came down to luck…”
I picked up my rundown.
“Don’t make excuses when you lose.”
“Yin Zhixia.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s do this again next time.”
Without turning around, I said,
“No.”
A few minutes later,
the scene had become the three members of NOVER squatting beside the sink and washing dishes.
Junxia was holding a pot.
“Why do I have to wash dishes too?”
Bai Shijun looked at him.
“You lost.”
“I lost the game, not rock-paper-scissors.”
“A loss is a loss.”
Wearing gloves, Li Zhihao washed a soup ladle.
“Stop arguing and wash faster.”
Junxia sighed.
“We’re NOVER, for crying out loud…”
Bai Shijun finished the sentence for him.
“And now we’re washing dishes.”
The three of them laughed together.
I stood farther away, checking the equipment for the afternoon.
Yep.
This was a great shot.
We could keep it.
“Minseo.”
“Yes?”
“Have you confirmed all the locations for the treasure-hunt cards this afternoon?”
“Confirmed.”
“What about the staff?”
“There’s a team in every section.”
I lowered my head and glanced at the map.
“Remind everyone again: under no circumstances can they go beyond the red-line boundary.”
“Okay.”
“If fog rolls in over the mountain, wrap early. Don’t force the shoot.”
“Got it.”
Hyeonu ran over from the other side.
“The camera crew is all ready.”
“Good.”
I closed the rundown.
In the distance,
the three of them finally finished washing the last pot.
Bai Shijun shook the water from his hands.
When he looked up, he happened to meet my eyes.
I immediately raised my walkie-talkie.
“NOVER, get ready!”
Junxia wailed from far away.
“Are we starting again?”
Li Zhihao patted him on the back.
“It’s work.”
Bai Shijun waved at me.
“Producer Yin.”
“What?”
“Are we going to have to wash dishes again this afternoon?”
“That depends on how you perform.”
I held back a laugh.
Then I raised my hand and pointed toward the forest ahead.
“Next activity: treasure hunt.”
The three of them turned toward the forest at the same time.
Junxia blinked.
“We’re really going in there?”
“Only within the designated area.”
Bai Shijun adjusted his hat.
“What are we looking for?”
I deliberately didn’t answer.
“You’ll find out when you go in.”
“More secrets?”
“Of course.”
Zhihao gazed into the distance.
“I suddenly have a bad feeling about this.”
I smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
I picked up my walkie-talkie.
“Cameras, get ready.”
Responses immediately came through my earpiece.
“Camera One, okay.”
“Camera Two, okay.”
“Follow-cam team, okay.”
I raised my hand.
“Then—”
Looking at the three men who had already returned to their places in front of the cameras, I smiled.
“The NOVER mountain treasure hunt officially begins now!”
After the rules were announced, the three of them stood in place and listened to the staff’s explanation.
“The activity area is within the red-line boundary Producer Yin mentioned. There are fifteen NOVER logo cards hidden inside. Each card you find is worth one point.”
Liu Junxia immediately raised his hand.
“Is there a prize?”
The staff member glanced at him.
“There is for first place.”
“What is it?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Another secret?”
He turned to me with an aggrieved look.
“Producer Yin, does your show really love keeping secrets?”
I held my rundown and kept a straight face.
“If you already know the answer, is it still a game?”
“But you have to give us at least a little motivation.”
“Don’t want to play?”
I deliberately raised an eyebrow.
“You can quit right now.”
Junxia immediately stood up straight.
“Who said I wanted to quit?”
Bai Shijun chuckled beside him.
“Weren’t you just complaining that you were tired?”
“I’m not tired if there’s a prize.”
“How practical.”
“Aren’t you practical too, hyung?”
Bai Shijun thought about it.
“I’m more competitive.”
“Isn’t that worse?”
Li Zhihao gave a soft laugh beside them.
“You two are two peas in a pod.”
“Hyung, don’t lose later.”
Junxia immediately turned to him.
Li Zhihao slowly rolled his sleeves up a little.
“Worry about yourself first.”
Seeing that the three of them finally looked ready to take the game seriously, I lowered my head to check the time.
“You have forty minutes.”
I raised my hand.
“Anything found after time runs out won’t count.”
All three of them protested at once.
“Forty minutes is way too short!”
“The area isn’t that big.”
I pointed toward the forest ahead.
“And don’t run recklessly just to win. Stop immediately when you see the red line.”
Bai Shijun suddenly looked up at me.
“Especially who?”
“All of you.”
“You were obviously looking at me just now.”
“Because you were standing in the middle.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He clearly didn’t believe me.
I couldn’t be bothered to explain.
The truth was, I had been looking at him.
Because whenever Bai Shijun got serious about a game in the past, he tended to forget everything else.
Once, while filming a show, he chased after a mission card and ran straight past the area marked off by the staff. The production crew eventually had to drag him back.
I still remembered it to this day.
…Great.
Another useless former-fan database entry.
“Get ready.”
I raised my walkie-talkie.
The three of them immediately took their positions at the starting line.
“Three.”
Liu Junxia was already leaning forward slightly.
“Two.”
Bai Shijun started rolling his shoulders.
Li Zhihao was the calmest of the three. He simply watched the trail ahead.
“One.”
I swung my hand down.
“Go!”
The next second, all three of them sprinted forward.
Liu Junxia was the fastest.
Bai Shijun followed close behind.
Li Zhihao didn’t run after them at all. Instead, he leisurely walked in the opposite direction.
I stood in front of the monitor, watching the footage split into three paths.
“Camera Three, follow Zhihao.”
“Copy.”
“Camera One, follow Shijun. Camera Two, follow Junxia.”
“Okay.”
A few minutes later, Liu Junxia found the first card.
“Found it!”
He held the card high in the air.
“First one!”
The staff member reminded him from the side,
“That’s only one point.”
“One point is still a point!”
He immediately stuffed the card into his little pouch.
Elsewhere, Bai Shijun was rummaging around beside a tree.
“There has to be one here.”
He crouched down.
“I bet Producer Yin would hide one in a place like this.”
I silently watched him from behind the monitor.
Wrong.
There was nothing in that tree.
“Producer Yin!”
He suddenly called out from a distance.
I paused.
He was pretty far away, but I could still hear him.
“What?”
“Give me a hint.”
“No.”
“Just one.”
“Absolutely not.”
Bai Shijun stood up.
“We’re pretty close, aren’t we?”
I widened my eyes.
What was this guy saying in front of the cameras?
“Who said we’re close?”
All the staff around me burst out laughing.
Bai Shijun was grinning happily too.
“How heartless.”
“Go find your cards!”
“Got it, Producer Yin~”
I took a deep breath.
Don’t get mad.
I was at work.
And the cameras were still rolling.
Minseo beside me was already laughing so hard she nearly crouched down.
“Zhixia.”
“Don’t ask.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“Your face already did.”
She covered her mouth, but her shoulders kept shaking.
Why did these people love watching the drama so much?
I turned my attention back to the monitor.
The footage switched to Li Zhihao.
He had already found the second card.
His movements were unhurried and steady,
completely different from the other two.
A staff member asked him,
“Aren’t you worried about losing?”
He just smiled.
“They ran ahead first. They’re bound to miss a lot.”
After saying that, he found the third card behind a rock.
I couldn’t help nodding.
As expected.
Sometimes, the truly scary one in NOVER wasn’t either of the two fastest runners.
It was the quietest one.
Another ten-plus minutes passed.
The scores slowly drew closer.
Liu Junxia: four cards.
Li Zhihao: four cards.
Bai Shijun: three cards.
With only a few minutes left, Bai Shijun was visibly starting to panic.
When he ran back along another trail, he happened to run into Li Zhihao.
They both stopped at the same time.
Li Zhihao had just found another card.
Bai Shijun glanced at it.
“How many do you have?”
“Five.”
Bai Shijun immediately frowned.
“Weren’t you walking really slowly?”
“You find more when you take your time.”
“Damn it.”
Li Zhihao smiled.
Bai Shijun suddenly held out his hand.
“Give me one.”
“In your dreams.”
“We’re teammates.”
“We’re opponents right now.”
“Li Zhihao.”
“What?”
“You weren’t like this before.”
Li Zhihao paused.
It was brief.
But I saw it.
The next second, he smiled again and hid the card behind his back.
“People change.”
Bai Shijun had still been smiling,
but his expression paused for a moment too.
The two of them stared at each other for two seconds.
Then Liu Junxia’s voice suddenly came from the other side.
“Hyung! I found the fifth one!”
The mood instantly broke.
Bai Shijun turned around.
“Liu Junxia, stop right there!”
“What?”
“Let me see your card!”
“No!”
The two of them started chasing each other again.
Li Zhihao remained where he was, watching them run off.
There was still a smile on his lips.
But it didn’t last long.
I stared at the monitor.
That strange feeling that had first appeared this morning slowly rose up again.
That line just now—
“You weren’t like this before.”
Had he really just said it offhandedly because they were playing a game?
Or…
My brows drew together slightly.
Just then, Minseo touched my arm.
“Zhixia.”
“Hmm?”
“Time’s almost up.”
I came back to myself and glanced down at my watch.
Two minutes left.
I immediately picked up my walkie-talkie.
“All teams, prepare to wrap.”
“Copy.”
I looked back at the screen.
Bai Shijun and Liu Junxia were still grappling over something up ahead.
Li Zhihao walked slowly behind them.
The footage of the three of them still looked lively.
Still funny.
Still like the NOVER familiar to fans.
But for some reason,
I felt like what I was seeing today was beginning to look just a little different from what I had seen through a screen before.