Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 209: NEEDED TO SEE HIM
HANEUL was almost at his cabin when he saw a familiar figure standing by his door. Haru was looking down at the floor, gently kicking at it with the toe of his shoe. He looked like he had been waiting there for a while and did not really know what to do with himself.
"Haru-yah!" Haneul called out when he got closer. He picked up his pace to reach the other faster.
Haru raised his head. A look of clear relief spread across his face when he saw Haneul. He stepped forward to meet him halfway, but Haneul was faster and reached him first.
"How are you, hyung?" Haru asked first, his voice full of concern. "I’m really sorry I couldn’t get to you earlier. I was standing pretty far away, and by the time everything started happening, I couldn’t get any closer because of the Omega pheromones in the air. I’m-- I’m still not very good at controlling my reaction to pheromones, so I had to stay where I was. And then Robin hyung pulled you out of the hall. I didn’t know where you two went, so I decided to just wait for you here instead."
"It’s fine, Haru. Really, I’m perfectly fine," Haneul said with a reassuring chuckle. "Don’t worry about it. Robin hyung took me to the infirmary, and the doctor checked me over. He said I was completely okay."
Haru let out a sigh of relief when he heard that. Then, an angry expression settled on his face. "That Choi Yujin, just what the heck was he thinking, doing something like that? No, he probably wasn’t thinking at all. That’s the only reason he could do it. It’s a good thing he’s already eliminated. Because if he’d made it through this round, I would’ve really fought to get the production team to kick him out."
"Then it’s a good thing he’s eliminated," Haneul said, looking at Haru’s determined expression with a bit of amusement. "Let’s not waste any more time talking about him. What’s done is done, and it’s over now."
Haru nodded.
"By the way, have you packed your things yet?" Haneul asked, deciding to steer the conversation to a different topic.
"Yeah, I already did. I couldn’t really sleep last night because I was so nervous, so I packed all my clothes instead," Haru said, scratching the back of his head a little sheepishly.
Haneul chuckled. "You and me both."
***
Taeyang carried his luggage into the cabin for the contestant ranked second and closed the door behind him. He looked around. The inside of the room was exactly the same as his old one, which just proved that cabins one through five were the best on the ship. Well, probably not counting the PD’s room, of course. It was like a silent message to everyone that only the top five ranks really mattered in the end.
In his opinion, it was unnecessary. If the production team was using it as some kind of incentive to make the contestants work harder, then it was pointless. Because no matter how hard someone tried, if the public just didn’t like them, it wouldn’t matter. Just look at Han Seojun. The guy could barely sing and dance, and yet he ranked first in this elimination.
Okay. That sounded extremely bitter, like something someone who’d just been outranked would say. And maybe a bit of jealousy colored that opinion too. He sighed. Yes, he could admit that Han Seojun had what people called ’star power’. It made up for his lacking singing and dancing skills. In fact, he had it in droves. That was probably why the public instantly liked him. He could admit that Han Seojun’s ’charm’, or whatever you wanted to call it, made up for what he was missing in other areas.
Still, his point stood. No matter how hard they worked, if the public did not like them, they would still be eliminated. In fact, it would probably be more effective to do things specifically to appeal to the viewers. Just like that annoying Park Mirae was doing. The other being ranked fifth in this elimination was obvious proof of how well that strategy could work.
He shook his head. When he first joined this program, he really thought that pure talent was all it would take to debut. But this elimination round proved how wrong that idea was. And it wasn’t just because of Han Seojun. There were some eliminated contestants who honestly deserved to still be here. But because they lacked presence, they could no longer continue to the next round.
Taeyang just hoped that the public could see through the contestants, eventually. He hoped they’d figure out who was being fake, who was being real, who was actually working hard, and who really had the talent. So that by the very end of this show, only the ones who truly deserved it would be in those final five spots to debut. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
He walked inside and put his luggage down. He would arrange his clothes later. For now, he really wanted to check on Haneul. He had waited long enough to see the other. Okay, maybe it hadn’t been that long. But he wanted to see him now. So, he turned around, walked back out of his new room, and headed down the hall toward cabin number six.
Since the cabin was very close by, it only took him a moment to arrive at the door. He raised his hand and knocked. But after waiting a few seconds, there was no answer. Maybe Haneul hadn’t moved to his new room yet? If that was the case, then he was probably still in his old cabin.
Before he could think better of it, Taeyang was already hurrying toward the hall where Haneul’s old room was located. He picked up his pace. Han Seojun and Park Mirae’s new rooms were in this same hallway. If either of them was in their rooms, and they stepped out, they would see him immediately. He didn’t want to run into Han Seojun and have the other decide to follow him to Haneul’s door. He definitely didn’t want to bump into Park Mirae either.
He needed to reach Haneul before either of them could spot him.
