ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬-𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥
─◌✰್ 𝗍𝗈
❝𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴?❞

"Now, for the next game, you will be participating in a treasure hunt!" Yeonjun stood at the head of the breakfast table as everyone finished eating. "But this game will not be one-on-one. You will all be paired up with someone else. And the winning team will go on a date together."

"How will the teams be chosen?" Robin asked as she pushed her empty plate away.

Yeonjun nodded to the countess, before revealing a bowl, seemingly from nowhere. "In this bowl are eight different-colored sticks. Those with matching sticks are partners. Please wait until everyone has chosen theirs to share which one you got."

He handed the bowl to Chris, who was sitting at the head of the table.

"Now," Yeonjun continued as everyone chose their stick, "during this game you will begin to discover if you are compatible with the person you are paired up with. If you realize you are not compatible, you do not have to try and win the treasure hunt. If the two of you come to an agreement before the end of the game that you would not like to go on a date, you can find me, and forfeit. If there are no couples who would like to go on a date together, I will choose a random couple to go instead."

Minho stifled a yawn. He'd gotten all of three hours of sleep last night. His head had continued reeling long after his encounter with you.

Had the two of you really almost kissed? Or, at the very least, had a moment? Back in school, even a week ago, he ever thought in his wildest dreams he would see you as anything but a (slightly annoying) friend. But now, he couldn't fathom anything else. He wasn't sure what it was, but this mansion was changing the both of you, changing him.

"Now, you may all share which sticks you chose, and then sit next to your partner." Yeonjun's voice interrupted Minho's sleep-deprived thoughts, and he opened his hand to see which color stick he'd drawn.

Purple.

He glanced around at the others who sat near him.

"There are white, black, orange, green, blue, purple, pink, and brown." Yeonjun circled the table, checking to see what everyone got. The cameras followed him as they zoomed in on each person.

"I got blue!" Jisung announced, holding up his stick.

"Hey, me too," Robin raised her eyebrows.

Jisung stared at her, his cheeks pink, eyes widening in shock. Minho frowned at his friend. He clearly wasn't great at hiding his feelings. "Oh! Great!" the earl said awkwardly.

Robin pursed her lips, bobbing her head up and down a few times. Clearly, she was just as uncomfortable as he was. Did she have even an inkling about what Jisung was planning?

"I got pink!" Mya squealed, waving the stick around in the air.

"This is an ugly color." Hyunjin raised his eyebrows at the hot pink shade.

"Hey, don't be rude! It's my favorite color!" Mya pouted, and Hyunjin sighed loudly.

Lanhua and Felix both pulled white, causing Changbin to glare at his friend like he wanted to rip his head off. Riley and Chris pulled black, making both of them to turn red and stare at the table. JJ and Jeongin pulled brown, and Jeongin's scowl could be seen around the world. Clearly, he still hadn't forgiven JJ for stealing Mya during the ball. Renee and Seungmin both pulled orange, and obviously, one of them was much more excited than the other. You and Changbin each pulled green, and Changbin laughed as you smacked his arm, hard. Minho wasn't sure why, but he wanted to punch the muscular guard.

What with you and Changbin being a pair, that only left...

"Ooh, purple! My favorite color!" Alaska gasped, showing everyone like this was a game of show-and-tell.

"Me too," Minho forced a smile at the beaming duchess. "Looks like we're partners."

"Sounds like fun," she said sincerely.

"Okay, now that everyone's found their partner, please switch seats so you are sitting next to them," Yeonjun reiterated as he pulled the hood of his black cloak higher over his head. He was looking extra tired today, the hints of wrinkles pulling at his eyes. Minho wondered what could be keeping him up, if he slept at all. He looked like a vampire on the best of days.

Pushing those outlandish thoughts from his mind, he got up from his seat and moved next to Alaska.

He supposed there could be a silver lining to not being paired up with you this time, even though he found himself wanting more and more to go on a date with you. This could be his chance to figure out once and for all what his feelings were for Alaska, if any. And if there were feelings, he would figure out how to get rid of them, naturally.

"So, how good are you at these kinds of things?" He found himself asking.

Alaska turned around in her seat to face him, those bright brown eyes that used to entrance him practically glowing. But he didn't feel so much as a stir in his chest as he stared at the beautiful girl before him.

"Yeah, I'm good at riddles and stuff!" she said enthusiastically. "I like exploring and solving puzzles! How bout you? Will I be pulling deadweight the entire time?"

Minho rolled his eyes, smirking. "No, of course not. I'm definitely better than you."

Alaska laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think so. Once, when Hyunjin and I were little, I was so focused on finding all the clues for my birthday treasure hunt, that I tripped and fell into a five-foot hole in our yard. He and my dad had to get me out."

Minho raised his eyebrows skeptically. "So you're not actually that good, just clumsy. Good to know."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what Hyunjin said too," Alaska sighed. "But I still won, even after all that. So you better feel grateful that you have me."

"I guess we'll see," Minho chuckled.

"Alright everyone, here's the first clue!" Yeonjun called, pulling out a piece of paper from his cloak. "This treasure hunt will take you all over the mansion, so get ready to move! Each of the ten clues will lead to the grand prize, and the winner will get this, in addition to the date."

He handed out the first clue to each group, before standing to the side of the room, letting the camera crew film.

Alaska snatched the piece of paper out of Yeonjun's hand, and read it aloud: "The room that has the most stories."

"Oh, that's an easy one," Minho commented quietly, so as not to tip off the other teams.

Chris and Riley were whispering to each other in the seats next to them, but it wasn't about the treasure hunt. Minho tried to strain his ears to listen, but with Alaska babbling away next to him about the clue, and what great escapades she'd even on throughout her life, he couldn't pick much up.

"Why won't you just talk to me?" Chris hissed. "Ever since the ball... I just want to talk."

"I know you want to talk to me," Riley snapped back. "But you know how my parents... we can't talk about this right now. Let's just go to the library, that's what the clue means right?"

"Fine." Chris stood up, shoving his chair back with more vehemence than was necessary before whispering, "But I won't let anything, not even my parents and that stupid fucking fire get in the way of us."

"There is no us!" Riley shot back, standing up too. "And stop saying the word 'fire', it's gonna make me sick."

Minho watched the pair exit the dining room, brows knitted in confusion. Fire? When had there been a fire? During the secrets game, Chris had said that he was deathly afraid of fire. Were these two things connected? And did this have to do with what Chris told him the day before in the lounge?

"Minho? Hello? Earth to Minho?" Alaska waved the paper in front of his face impatiently.

"Ah, sorry," he mumbled, turning back to face his partner.

"Geez, maybe I was right. You really are deadweight," she smirked before pointing at the door. "You ready to go to the library? I assume you already figured it out, but you left me to connect the dots by myself."

"Got distracted," Minho sighed, evading Alaska's searching gaze, standing up and marching out the door.

For the inside portion of the treasure hunt, they found Catcher in the Rye, chandelier, and karaoke machine. For the outside portion, it was a garden hose, the flower bed, and a specially-marked pine tree.

"So that's seven items, right?" Alaska asked, as they took a break sitting against the trunk of a tree near the marked pine.

Minho nodded. "Yeah, not sure if it's ten clues and then the treasure, or ten including the treasure, but we're pretty close."

"Do you think we're in the lead?" she asked eagerly, peeking over his shoulder at the clue.

He shrugged. "Well, we haven't seen anyone come by the tree, so either we're in the lead, or we're dead last."

"And that's impossible, because we did so well," she declared, before scooting over and snagging a handful of berries from the nearby bush. She shoved them into her mouth without hesitation.

"Laska, what the hell??" Minho yelled, slapping her hand away from her mouth. "Those could be poisonous! And they're dirty!!"

She shrugged, chewing and swallowing before he could force her to spit them out. "Nah, I'll be fine. They were blueberries, chill out. I'm not gonna die. Geez, you sound like my brother." She smiled at him, teeth covered with purple juice.

Minho rolled his eyes, heart thudding. How stupid could someone be? He thought she was a smart girl, but maybe he needed to reassess.

"Okay, rude," Alaska pouted, but it was evident from the flush on her cheeks that he had actually hurt her feelings.

Did he actually call her stupid out loud? He was really making a mess of things today.

"I'm sorry," he said for the umpteenth time that day. Why did he feel like he had to keep apologizing to her?

She shrugged, staring down at her hands. "It's fine, I shouldn't have done that. So... do you wanna go on to the next clue?"

Minho sighed inwardly. While this day had been fun for the most part, and Alaska was a fun, sharp, and yes, smart girl, he felt like something was constantly missing from their conversations. A certain... give and take, a repartee that only two people who were truly comfortable with one another could have.

A feeling that he'd only ever had with you.

"If you realize you are not compatible, you do not have to try and win the treasure hunt."

Yeonjun's words echoed in his mind, but he hesitated to bring it up right away.

They could still win, he told himself. Alaska was very good at puzzles and riddles, and they had breezed through each clue. They had been sitting under this tree for ten minutes, and no one had showed up.

But did he want to win? Did he actually want to go on this date with Alaska, just because he'd had a crush on her forever?

Used to have a crush on her. His brain chided immediately, and he stiffened at the thought. Was that really true?

"If the two of you come to an agreement before the end of the game that you would not like to go on a date, you can find me, and forfeit."

"I'm getting a little tired of this whole treasure hunt thing." Minho heard himself saying. "If you're okay with it, I wouldn't mind forfeiting and taking a break instead." He turned to face Alaska with what he hoped was an earnest look.

Alaska met his eyes with incredulity. "You mean... you don't want to finish the game?!" she asked, brows furrowed. "We were having a lot of fun!"

"Nah, I don't mind stopping," he said, trying to stay polite and honest at the same time. There was no way that she actually wanted to go on this date with him, not the night after she was set to have a date with Felix. Would she get the hint?

A look of realization dawned on her face, and her eyes widened. "O-oh! Yes, I would be okay with telling Yeonjun that we forfeit the treasure hunt, Minho." She smiled, clearly trying to hide her relief, before hastily adding, "If you're sure you're okay with it too, of course."

Minho nodded too aggressively. "Yes, I'm 100% sure. I had a great time today, Laska."

She smiled and nodded, before jumping up. "Me too, Minho. I'm sorry if there was any moment I seemed... unavailable, or like I wasn't listening. You really are a great friend."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I never felt like that. You're an amazing friend. And hey, now we can say that we could have won the treasure hunt, if we wanted to."

She laughed, nudging him hard in the shoulder. "We did kick their asses, didn't we?"

Minho winced as he stood up with her. She really was strong for her size.

He hoped he was doing the right thing in following his gut instinct. But he supposed that was the best he could do at the moment.

They headed back into the dining room, and told a shocked Yeonjun that they were forfeiting, before getting themselves some cold water and a snack. JJ and Jeongin and Mya and Hyunjin were already sitting at the table, clearly having forfeited as well.

As Minho opened his mouth to ask both couples what happened, Robin and Jisung burst through the door, cheering so loud it left Minho's ears ringing.

"WE WON!" Robin shouted, wielding a family-size set of raw meat made for barbecuing over her head.

"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BARBECUE OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW!" Jisung cried, trying to snatch the meat away from his partner.

"Hey stop it!" Robin exclaimed, darting out of his grasp.

"No, gimme! I want it!" Jisung whined, chasing her around the dining room.

And as the two continued to engage in an informal version of tag, squabbling all the while, Minho's heart began to feel lighter and lighter in his chest.

The way those two were looking at each other was exactly how he felt about you. And while romantic feelings were a concerning problem for the two of them, it made Minho realize something about himself.

He had made the right decision in forfeiting the date with Alaska. And the next step was to tell you why he decided to do it.

laska's note —
well, minlaska has officially become a friendship, not a relationship. they really are cute friends, but that's it! hopefully minho will work up the courage to actually tell tessa how he feels towards her, no more sneaking around the point! and what about riley and chan? what's up with them, and the mystery fire? and congrats to robin and jisung we can't wait to see their date! there's so much drama to come, but the next chapter is a cute one, maybe the start of something you've been looking forward to! 🤭 give me your predictions in the comments!

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟮𝟱 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲
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