ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬
─◌✰್ 𝗈𝗇𝖾
❝𝗶 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁.❞

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat so many croissants!"

Lanhua gazed at Jisung, impressed, while he puffed out his chest proudly.

"I could've eaten even more too, if the maids hadn't forced me to stop!"

Changbin looked back and forth between Lanhua and Jisung, eyes narrowed. "Hey, I can eat even more than him! I was just pacing myself for the game today."

"Yeah, we know how much you can eat, Bin," Lanhua rolled her eyes at her bodyguard. "I've seen you back at home, there's no competition."

Changbin huffed, visibly deflating at her lack of enthusiasm.

Minho shook his head, taking another bite of his omelet. They were so obvious and oblivious at the same time.

"So..." Alaska grinned, pushing her plate away. "What do you guys think the next game is gonna be? Something as juicy as telling secrets, or something more fun?"

"I hope it's something better than that." Robin munched on a piece of toast. "I want karaoke, or maybe we could take Insta pics or something."

"If we're gonna tell secrets, I have to be drunk," you agreed from across the table, finishing off your apple juice.

"Maybe there will be some kind of competition, like an obstacle course, or swimming?" Lanhua pondered.

"I hope not, I would lose so bad," Mya sighed.

"Same, that sounds bad," JJ nodded. "Can't we just stay inside? Maybe have a drink making contest? I can do that."

Before anyone else could give their two cents, the door opened and Yeonjun walked into the dining room.

Minho swallowed, his appetite immediately gone. The maids had guaranteed everyone got whatever they wanted (aside from Jisung, apparently), and his stomach was regretting the decision to take advantage of that. Something about Yeonjun just gave him the creeps.

"Good morning, Everyone," the pale man said smoothly, nodding to the group. "I hope your breakfast was satisfactory. Now, it is time for the first official game here at the mansion. We will have one game every day, and the winner of that game will decide who gets to go on a date the next day. As you know, after the game today, Mya and Jeongin will be going on their date. Everyone else will stay at the mansion. If anyone has any questions or complaints, please let me know in private. Now, please follow me to the kitchens."

"The kitchens?" Riley piped up. "What kind of game happens in a kitchen?"

"Ooh, I hope it's food related!" Alaska rubbed her hands together.

Yeonjun started walking out of the room, and everyone scrambled to their feet, getting ready to follow him.

When they arrived in the kitchens, plates of food sat at sixteen place mats around a marble island. A glass of water and a glass of milk accompanied the dishes. There were no maids or cooks in sight.

"Wait, we have to eat more food?" Renee stared at the plates. "But we just had breakfast! I might explode."

"It does smell really good," Alaska went to stand at a placemat at the far right of the room, Felix following closely behind, like a lovesick puppy.

"Everyone else, please stand behind a placemat," Yeonjun nodded in approval at the couple.

Everyone jostled and pushed, and you ran headfirst into Minho's back. He wanted to glance behind him, but he didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Great, now he'd have to stand awkwardly next to you for the whole challenge, probably trying desperately to make stilted conversation.

When everyone was settled, Yeonjun stood on the other side of the island, facing the group. "Now, this all might look like normal food. But it very much is not. Inside each of the four dishes is a spicy pepper, each one increasing in spiciness, up to the Carolina Reaper in the fourth dish. We were kind and mixed the pepper with food, rather than making you eat the pepper whole. The person who can make it the longest without drinking water, milk, or any other liquid will win. If you want to tap out, you may, but that means you're eliminated. Again, if you drink milk or water, you're also eliminated."

"So this is a competition to see who can eat the spiciest food?" Christopher frowned. "That's not good."

"Yes, that's exactly what this is," Yeonjun agreed. "Now, we're going to start with the first dish, on your left. It's an enchilada with jalapeños inside. As you may already know, jalapeños are one of the mildest peppers, so we're starting off slow."

"They're spicy to me," Mya groaned. "Is there any way we could make someone else eat it for us? Would we still win?"

"Mya, what kind of question is that?" Renee sighed.

"You wouldn't be so upset if you'd thought of it first," Seungmin snickered, and the girl glared.

"Ooh, I'll eat any plates that people don't want!" Alaska was practically drooling as she stared at the food.

"You can eat mine," Felix assured her with a grin, and Alaska blushed.

"No, everyone will eat their own plate." Yeonjun shook his head. "The rule is, you have to eat at least three bites to move on to the next round. Now, everyone, please dig in."

The group began to take their first bites with varying levels of enthusiasm. Christopher poked at the sauce, taking the smallest bite possible. Jeongin took a huge bite, as always, and his face immediately turned pink. Riley, Renee, and Mya took tiny bites, grimacing at the taste. Felix and Jisung bravely took a normal bite, while Alaska and JJ were busy wolfing down.

"Do we have to eat this? It looks weird," Lanhua frowned at the red mass.

"Are you saying you're too scared, Hua?" Changbin raised his eyebrows challengingly. His plate was also half empty.

"Oh shut up, I was just asking," she grumbled, before taking a bite.

Minho himself didn't mind spicy food. He wouldn't consider himself to have crazy high spice tolerance, but he was confident he could beat at least half the group.

He was about to take his first bite, when you spoke up for the first time.

"I bet you're excited for this challenge, huh?"

He finally chanced a peek in your direction, and found you staring at him expectantly.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I wasn't not excited," he agreed.

"You know you won't be able to beat Laska, right?" You raised her eyebrows. "But I bet you wouldn't want to beat her anyway. Still hoping that she'll take you on that date?"

Minho's jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together. He wanted to send an equally snarky remark back your way, but he couldn't bring himself to. Because honestly, he understood why you were upset. He'd just started acting semi-friendly to you at the ball, before airing all of your dirty laundry two days later. You didn't deserve that. So maybe he deserved this.

"No, of course not," was all he said in response.

"Hmm," you raised your eyebrows, leaning close enough to him and whispering, "Well, in case you forgot, you won't be able to beat me either. And if I win, I most definitely won't be asking you." Then you pulled away, turning around to talk to Renee and JJ instead.

Minho stared at the back of your head, stunned. He was used to your vitriol, he'd been experiencing it for the past ten years. But somehow, this hurt so much more than that. For all those years, he'd numbed himself to the fact you hated him. Now that you were back in his life, he felt every single barb and cut tenfold.

"Alright, round two!" Yeonjun cut into the conversations. "It looks like you've all made it through the first round, so congratulations. The second dish is Thai chicken, with Thai red chili sauce on top. This one is much spicier than the previous dish, so be careful! Now, enjoy," he smirked.

Yeonjun clearly wasn't lying when he said this dish was hotter than the last. Renee, Mya, Christopher, Jisung, and Hyunjin all dropped out.

"I feel like my face is on fire!" Mya panted between gulps of milk.

"I can't feel my lips!" Jisung whined to anyone who would listen.

"Is this some kind of torture?" Felix exclaimed as he choked down his final bite. "I don't think I can make it to the next round."

"I dunno, I think it tastes really good," JJ shrugged as she glanced at Hyunjin, who stood next to her nearly crying, water glass attached to his mouth.

As Minho ate, the spice was definitely starting to kick in, but it was more of a nice burn than anything. But he was nervous for the next round.

The next dish was curry with ghost peppers. Nearly everyone dropped out, including Riley, Lanhua, Robin, Felix, Seungmin, Changbin, Jeongin, and JJ.

That left just Alaska, You, and Minho for the final round.

"I lied!" JJ cried, clutching her empty milk cup in one hand. "I got cocky and that stupid dish bit me in the ass."

"I like spicy food, but not like that," Riley shook her head. "That came out of the devil's asshole."

"Ewe, Riles," Mya groaned.

"Your fault for eating it," Jisung grinned. "Should've dropped out while you had the chance."

"That's what I did," Hyunjin agreed. "Way worth it."

"Okay, how are the two of you related?" Robin demanded, glancing back and forth between Alaska and Hyunjin. "You're so wimpy, and she's gonna win!"

"Hey, we don't know that!" you protested, but a little smile showed anyway.

Minho found himself wishing that you would smile like that again, only at him. He shook that disturbing thought off.

"Not his fault he got the weaker genes," Alaska smirked at her brother, who scowled.

"Well, I'm just excited to see who wins," Renee laughed. "I knew it wouldn't be me."

"Alright you three, please step forward," Yeonjun motioned to Alaska, You, and Minho. "The final dish is Carolina Reaper noodles. There are whole chili pieces on top, and you must eat a slice in each bite. Our winner this round will not be decided by who can eat just three spoonfuls. You will take your three bites, and whoever can last longest without drinking anything, will win. If the competition goes on longer than five minutes, you will have to take three more bites, and so on, until someone wins. Now please, eat."

Minho stared down at the plate before him. It was positively covered with those terrible peppers. He'd never even tried Carolina Reapers before, let alone this many. He wondered how the chefs had gotten their hands on them. Slowly, he raised the fork to his mouth and took a bite, making sure to get a piece of the pepper.

Immediately, he knew he'd made a mistake in eating this godforsaken food. The pain in his mouth felt like he was on fire, his entire face going numb. His forehead started to sweat as he reached for the glass of milk in front of him and lifting it to his lips.

"Oh, look at that, Minho's tapping out already!" Yeonjun exclaimed with a huge grin. "Now that wasn't much of a competition."

Despite Yeonjun's goating words, Minho didn't care. The moment the cold liquid touched his lips, he felt instant relief. Screw the stupid competition, he would never put himself through half that pain ever again.

"Well, good job Minho," Christopher chuckled at him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Maybe you'll still get asked on the date," Changbin wiggled his eyebrows at Minho.

"Not very likely," Minho muttered under his breath.

You was on your second bite, eyes screwed up in pain and cheeks bright red. Alaska had finished her second bite and was making her way onto her third. She was sweating, and her eyes were watering, but it was clear she was determined to win.

When you finished your second bite, you shook your head. "Yeah, I'm giving up, this is too much!" You grabbed your glass of milk and took a long drink.

"And Tessa has tapped out!" Yeonjun called, pointing at the cameras to zoom in on you. "So that means Alaska has won this competition, and she will get her choice of who to take on a date. Congratulations."

Alaska was done with her third bite, and she was going in for another, when she glanced up. "Oh! Did I win? Can I stop now?"

Felix stared at her with a mixture of concern and admiration. "Uh, yeah, you can stop. You don't need to eat more than three bites, Laska. Are you crazy?"

The girl shrugged, setting her fork down and wiping her nose. "I just lost count. My brain feels like it's melted."

"So Alaska, who would you like to take on your date tomorrow night?" Yeonjun asked, as the cameras positively swarmed her.

"I bet that's a hard one," Riley snickered, and Mya giggled.

Alaska cut them a sharp look, before turning around to face Felix. "Felix, would you like to go on a date with me?"

The sweet stable boy grinned at Alaska as if she was his entire world. "Yes, of course! I would love to- I mean, sure, I'll go on a date with you."

"Amazing! Well it's settled. Jeongin, Mya, please make sure to be ready for your date by 5pm. Felix, Alaska, you will be going on your date after tomorrow's challenge. I will see you at dinner." Yeonjun nodded before exiting the kitchen.

As everyone started heading towards the door, he stood at his spot for a few moments, processing the events that had just unfolded. Chris nudged Minho. "You wanna go hang out in the lounge with Jisung and and I?"

Minho shrugged. "Yeah, sure, not like I have anything better to do." But he didn't follow the group out immediately.

So, there it was. Alaska had just asked Felix on a date. Of course she had, who the hell else would she have asked? In what world would she have asked him over the boy she'd been in love with since forever?

And for the first time, Minho felt... nothing. He didn't feel that pang of jealousy or defeat that he usually felt when Alaska ignored him, or chose Felix for the billionth time.

For the first time since he'd started crushing on the beautiful duchess, he didn't care that she didn't like him back.

It was a strange feeling, one that he would have to think on. But for now, he just felt... relieved. Free.

And as he followed Chris and Jisung to the lounge, he smiled for the first time that day...

And thought of you.

Yeah, that was a new feeling.

Now, if only he could work up the nerve to act on it.

laska's note —
eeeeek! is minho finally getting over his crush on alaska? took him long enough, right? now, if only tessa would just forgive him for being an absolute idiot haha. also, alaska and felix are going on their first real date! and tonight, mya and jeongin are going! i wonder how those are going to go! they certainly have a lot to talk about... give me all your thoughts in the comments, i can't wait!

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟮𝟭 - 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹
┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊