ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗢𝗡𝗘
─◌✰್ 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒
❝𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻, 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿.❞

"Okay, what the hell does that mean?" Lanhua demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Her perfect ponytail whipped over her shoulder as she shot Yeonjun a sassy look.

"I hate to agree with the countess, but we won the game, we all deserve dates." Changbin glared at Yeonjun too.

The dark-haired man just smirked. "Oh, you did win. That part of the game."

"I might not be a soccer pro, but I don't think there are any other parts to the game!" Mya piped up.

"You would be right about that, Miss Wang." He nodded in response. "But I didn't explain the rules of this challenge for a reason. Because there are two... challenges before the winner is decided. Now, the victors of the initial soccer game will compete against one another."

"There's a whole extra step??" you gasped. "That's so uncool!"

"Yeah, and we don't get anything extra for winning twice?" Hyunjin raised a brow. "I won that game for everyone! I should be allowed to have the date because of all the goals I scored!"

"Oh shut up, Hyunjin." You rolled your eyes.

"What do we have to do for this next step?" Felix asked curiously.

"You will be facing off against each other, trying to score goals. You each get a turn at being goalie, and the one who lets the least goals through will win." Yeonjun pointed at the net closest to them.

"Hey, and what about us?" Jisung complained from his spot with the rest of Team Prince. "Do we just have to sit here and watch?"

Yeonjun nodded. "Basically, yes. You lost the first game, so you don't get a chance at the second."

"Oh boo, I bet I would do really well!" Riley whined.

"I would love to try and kick someone in the face!" Seungmin agreed.

"If you had played better, maybe you would have gotten the chance," Yeonjun said bluntly. "Now, Team Princess, please line up in front of the goal. All except Princess Lee, who will be our first goalie!"

"Hey, no!" you yelped. "I don't wanna go first, you're all gonna make fun of me!"

"You got this, Tessa!" Alaska cheered, flopping down in the grass on the sidelines. Seungmin, JJ, and Christopher followed suit, crossing their legs and watching expectantly.

"Oh fine..." you sighed, glancing back at the rest of your former team, who were now apparently your opponents. "I'll give you guys such low expectations, you won't be worried about getting last place."

"Be quiet, Tessa!" Robin tsked at you. "You're more athletic than some of us, you just pretend like you're not."

You went to stand in front of the net, as Yeonjun placed the soccer ball in a machine. It sent the ball shooting across the field at the first person in line, Hyunjin.

Hyunjin pulled his leg back, and kicked as hard as he could. His eyes didn't betray which way he was planning on aiming, so you had no idea which way he was coming from. He was a much better soccer player than you ever would be, but that didn't mean you weren't going to try!

You lunged towards the ball as you saw it veering left, but it was going much too fast for you to reach it. Missing by a few inches, you skidded to a stop on the ground, arms outstretched.

"Wow, you were so close Tess!" Lanhua clapped for you anyway.

"That was amazing, I didn't know you could move so fast!" Renee exclaimed. She sat next to Seungmin, her face close to his ear, as if she had been talking to him.

"Thanks guys." You you smiled at them. At least the best player had already gone, and you'd been very close to getting the ball. Maybe you would do better with the others.

Next up was Jeongin. He looked quite nervous. You knew that even though he was exceptionally fit and athletic-looking, he was a bit... challenged when it came to hand-eye coordination in a sports setting.

Yeonjun replaced the ball in the machine, before it went shooting across the field towards Jeongin. He wound up, and kicked the ball towards you.

Thankfully, he was so focused on getting his foot to actually hit the ball that you were able to tell exactly which way he would send it. You ran to the right, snatching the ball up with relative ease.

"That's one save, one goal!" Yeonjun announced. "Next up is Miss Guo."

"Woo, good job Tessa!" Riley clapped.

"You're doing awesome!" Christopher nodded. He sat with Jisung and Minho. You tried to conceal a smile, as Minho just gave you a thumbs-up and a grin.

"Keep it up girlie!" Alaska waved her hands around in the air crazily. "Hey Yeonjun, can we get some popcorn up in this joint?"

"No, you can't." Yeonjun narrowed his eyes at her.

"God, what a party pooper!" Seungmin gave the man a thumbs-down.

You shot them an exasperated look. "Okay, I'm ready for the next one!" you called, pointing at Changbin. "You're up, muscle man."

"You can beat him, Tess! He's got short legs!" Lanhua cracked up at her own joke. Hyunjin snickered too.

"You, be quiet!" Changbin snapped at his client. "You've been acting up even more than usual, what's that about? Is it because you've been sneaking out of your room every night?"

That quieted Lanhua. She sulked in her spot in line, slim shoulders slumped.

"Hurry up, Mr. Seo, or you'll lose your place, and have to go last!" Yeonjun barked.

Changbin pulled back, and kicked the ball at a blinding pace down the center of the net. The speed astounded you, but the actual direction of the ball was very easy to follow. If you could just get the timing right...

Now! You lunged forward, catching the ball straight in the chest. It hit you with so much power, it knocked the air out of your lungs.

"Uff!" you gasped unattractively, but managed to keep ahold of it as you straightened.

"Are you okay??" Changbin hurried over to you, taking the ball from your arms. "I meant to kick it to the left, but I accidentally kicked it extra hard, sorry."

You rolled your eyes at the usually gruff guard. "Are you saying you actually care about me?" You grinned at him playfully. "Who knew grumpy-pants could worry about anyone!"

Changbin scowled at you, before chucking the ball over your head at Yeonjun. "Who ever said I didn't care?" he grumbled, before heading to the end of the line.

"You're on a roll, Tess!" Robin grinned at you. It looked like she was next, and then Mya.

She was right, you really were on a roll! You had never considered yourself to be very athletic, Lanhua always filled that role in your friend group. But you supposed you did take rides on Minnie, and liked to run in the woods by yourself. So maybe you weren't entirely hopeless.

"You guys can't let her win again, she's already getting her date tonight!" Seungmin called, shaking his head. "We want our date!"

"Oh hush, Seungmin!" JJ slapped his arm.

"Yeah, for real, you're so annoying." Renee glowered at him. "I thought you were annoying back home, but you're extra irritating in front of the cameras."

"Don't say that!" Seungmin placed a hand over his heart dramatically. "Your words wound me so."

"Okay, let's speed this game up a bit!" Yeonjun pierced the group with a glare. "Miss Choi, you're next."

You managed to stop five of the seven goals, with Lanhua and Hyunjin sneaking past you. Jeongin went next, stopping two. Felix and Changbin also stopped five. Robin and Mya stopped two as well, and Lanhua stopped six. Of course, Hyunjin was the only one who snuck by her.

"Dammit Hyunjin, can anyone beat you??" Lanhua complained, swiping a hand across her damp forehead with a smile.

He shrugged, grinning at her. "Probably not, why?"

She made a face at him. "Because I just want to have my date! A countess deserves to be wined and dined, you know?"

Hyunjin raised a brow. "Yeah, I understand. Must be a hard life, having to wait till dinner for some rosé."

"God, you're so annoying." Lanhua pouted. "You better not ask me on the date you're obviously winning, because I'll say no."

"I wouldn't ask you anyway, because you're mean!" Hyunjin whined.

"Hey, she's not the mean one!" You jumped to your friend's defense. "That's me, thank you very much."

"She is mean," Minho agreed, laughing when you whipped around to stare at him with a betrayed look on your face.

"Okay, let's see if Mr. Hwang has what it takes to win this!" Yeonjun called, shaking his head a minuscule amount at you all.

"C'mon, we all already know the answer to that!" Alaska yelled back. "As much as I wanna boo and jeer, I know he's good. It's grossly unfair that you even had us play soccer to begin with."

"That's how we felt when you were just gobbling up pepper after pepper a few days ago," Hyunjin shot back. "Now let me focus!"

"Does he even have anyone to ask on a date?" Robin asked you, as Team Princess stood watching while Hyunjin took aim.

You shrugged. "I dunno, he's not completely unfortunate looking, so he'll probably get one of us to say yes, right?"

Robin shrugged. "I guess he's not hideous. Kind of annoying, though."

"Right, and Jisung isn't?" You raised your eyebrows. "From what I know, he's as annoying as they come."

"He really is." Mya approached you both, hands jammed in her pink soccer shorts. "We decided during the treasure hunt that we would not be a good match. I guess we already knew that, though. I've known him since Laska and I became friends, which was years ago. He's basically my brother."

"He's also best friends with Jeongin," Robin pointed out. "So you can't hate him that much."

Mya sighed. "It makes it more complicated, if that's what you mean."

Hyunjin blocked Felix, Jeongin, and Lanhua's shots with ease.

"Should we just give up now?" Robin piped up. "I don't want to pull a muscle for nothing!"

"Yeah, if I'm gonna do more physical activity, I want it to be in bed, not on a fucking soccer field wearing this ugly jersey!" you added.

"No, we're going to continue." Yeonjun nodded to Mya, who was next in line. "Please kick, Miss Wang."

"Oh poo," Mya sighed, waited patiently for the ball to come whizzing towards her. She kicked at Hyunjin, and he easily caught it. "Look at that, Hyunjin caught it. Yay."

"Damn, even Mya's down in the dumps??" Alaska shook her head.

"That's a sad sight," Riley nodded. "Maybe she needs some comforting. Cough cough, Jeongin, cough cough."

"Wow, subtle." Mya grimaced at her friends.

Hyunjin caught Robin and Changbin's attempts at a kick, and it was down to you.

"C'mon, Tessa you got this!" JJ cheered you on from the sidelines.

"Beat Hyunjin so I can win a date!" Lanhua encouraged.

"You got this Princess, I know you do."

You glanced back to see Minho, still next to Jisung and Christopher. His arms were crossed over his chest as he watched you with an encouraging gaze.

You beamed at him, before turning around, steeling yourself to try your best. You already knew you wouldn't win, but that was okay. Because you were already going on a date with the only guy you liked here at the mansion.

You kicked, and Hyunjin dove to catch it. His fingers wrapped around the ball, and he stood up, cheering and whooping obnoxiously.

"I win, I win!" he hollered, holding the ball above his head.

"Geez, make him stop!" Mya covered her ears.

"I'm a winner! I'm a winner!" Hyunjin began running up and down the field, past his team, to the opposing team, and back.

You were so overcome with a mix of amusement and secondhand embarrassment, you almost turned away, just to look at something - anything - else.

But thank god you hadn't. Because you might have missed something important.

The glint of silver at the waistband of Hyunjin's soccer shorts.

Holy crap. You looked closer, squinting your eyes against the afternoon sun.

Was that a knife?

Yes, it definitely was. But why would Hyunjin be carrying a knife? Furthermore, why would he be carrying it during a soccer game? Did that mean he was always carrying one?

"Hyunjin!" Yeonjun called jovially, motioning for the man to come closer. "As the lucky winner of this soccer match, who would you like to take on your date tomorrow night?"

But you could barely focus on Yeonjun and Hyunjin, because you were drowning in confusion, and trepidation. What was that man planning? Was he more dangerous than you thought? Should you be afraid of him? Ha he tricked you? All of you?

"Alaska!" you hissed to your friend, as you hurried over to her.

She must have seen the panic in your eyes, because she scrambled to her feet. "What's up, Tess?" She watched you with concern.

"I-I know you're gonna think I'm crazy - crazier than usual - but you have to listen to me." You tried to calm your thudding heart.

"Girl, you can tell me anything." She placed a hand on your arm.

"I just saw... your brother, he has a knife." you whispered urgently.

Her eyes widened with confusion, her breath hitching. "He what?"

"Do you know why he would have that??" you murmured. She seemed just as surprised as you felt.

"No... no idea." Alaska frowned, thinking. "But I will ask him about it the first chance I get."

"I think I would like to take Duchess Jang on a date," Hyunjin announced, glancing over in your direction.

"What? Me?" JJ pointed at herself, wrinkling her nose. "I'm... honored."

No, JJ, you thought, remembering all the bad things your friend had said about him. You mentally tried to urge your friend in the right direction. Don't go with him!

"What do you say, Jang? You wanna go out with me?" Hyunjin grinned smugly at her.

JJ pursed her lips, pretending to think. "Hmm. You're lucky you're hot. I guess I'll go."

"We have to tell JJ about what we saw," you whispered to Alaska.

"I got this, Tess. You go on ahead, get ready for your date," she urged.

You smiled, hugging her, before following the rest of the group back inside.

Alaska lingered on the now-empty field, before snagging  JJ's wrist.

"JJ!" she exclaimed, and the countess turned to stare, a question in her gaze.

"What's up, Laska?" she asked. "I wanna go in and rinse off, I'm still sweaty."

"I have to tell you something. It's about my brother." She tried to sound firm, but she didn't want to scare the duchess. Although JJ seemed quite tough.

JJ frowned. "Okay, what is it?"

"My brother, he's got a knife," Alaska said all in a rush. "I don't know what he's gonna do with it, but you need to be careful. Please."

JJ raised her eyebrows at Alaska, studying her face. Then, she broke out into a hearty laugh, throwing her head back carelessly. "Laska, babes, your brother might have been a bully, but he isn't going to hurt me. Unlike the rest of the girls, I actually want to go on this date. And you being his... what? Overprotective sister? Won't change anything. I love you girl, but you're overreacting. Now c'mon, let's go inside."

laska's note —
omgg... hyunjin, with a knife?? what the hell is he up to? why would he be carrying it with him, even while they're playing sports? do you think alaska is right, that he is out to hurt someone? or do you think he's just a former bully, trying to protect people? and now that jj is going on a date with him, will she be safe? and omg, next chapter is tessho date! it's been such a long time coming, but amidst all the fun and games, our babies are finally getting some alone time! their first date since they got married.... no pressure lol. what do you think they're gonna get up to on the date! i wanna hear what you're looking forward to in the comments 🤭

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟯𝟮 - 𝗮𝗿𝗲
┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊