Three hours had soon passed. The results were 3:1 with our team being the winner. I caught two giant blue fish while Byung-hoon caught one. On the other hand, Areum had only caught one for his team. He was not happy with our obvious win, but he couldn’t do anything about it. What could he do? Hit us? If he did, I’d just hit him back. Anyways, we were now preparing our fish. It was going to a grand feast. We were all drooling already. Aside from the fish, we also had seasoning and ramyun. And of course, we couldn’t forget the cold cola. Cola!
“I think even just one would be a lot for us,” Byung-hoon said, looking down at the flayed fish. I quickly stomped on those pointless worries.
“It won’t be too much.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. This isn’t much at all,” I said, sincerely confused. Seriously, what’s too much about this? I could eat two of these by myself.
“Sian has a big stomach. So cook two more,” Miyeon added it. As my number one fan, she would know better than anyone.
“I guess. Anyways, are you two dating? You’ve been inseparable these past few days,” Byung-hoon said, laughing. I couldn’t blame him for being suspicious. I’d be suspicious as well. We really have been inseparable. Even at night, Miyeon always sleeps next to me. I bet all the men are jealous of me right now. Or maybe they’re jealous of Miyeon since she gets to hold me close.
“Does it look like we’re dating?” Miyeon asked, looking mighty happy. Seeing the smile on her face made me actually want to date her, but that wasn’t possible. Let it go, Sian.
“It does. You guys are always together.”
“Pffft,” Miyeon giggled at those words. Then, she hugged me again. This chick is seriously going to drive me crazy.
Anyways, we cooked two and cleaned them off, but everyone else had really small stomachs. They were full after only one. So the other one was eaten mostly by me. I’ve never tasted anything so good before. I wish I could take some back with me.
***
After dinner.
“I want to go to sleep.”
“Then go ahead,” Miyeon said to me with an adoring smile. We were both sitting on the river bank, looking up at the night sky. I would’ve liked to be left alone with my thoughts, but Miyeon had followed me here so I had no choice.
“Aren’t we doing something later?”
“Yeah. We’re going to play a game, then we’re going to write letters.”
“A letter? Why?”
“It’s just for fun.”
“Oh…”
Stuff like that is just annoying.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yeah?”
“When we go back to Korea, we have to keep in touch, okay?” Miyeon said, sticking her pinky out.
“Okay.”
I took her pinky finger and made a pinky promise, complete with a seal.
“You can’t ghost me, okay?”
“Like that would ever happen.”
How could I ever ghost a sexy, beautiful girl like Miyeon?
“Let’s see each other when we’re back in Korea.”
“Really?!”
I could tell Miyeon was taking that seriously, so I quickly backtracked.
“I’m not saying let’s date. I’m just saying we should hang out sometime. Like shopping and stuff.”
“Hmph. And here I thought you were asking me out.”
“….”
This girl is dangerous. I’d have to watch what I say around her.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yes?”
“Then after we’re done filming tomorrow morning, do you want to go to the town square and do some shopping?”
“There’s a town square?”
“Yeah. Near the airport.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t think there’d be one in Africa.
“There’s a department store too.”
“Really?”
That surprised me a little.
“Yeah. A lot of tourists come around here, so that’s why they built it. Let’s go. Please?”
“Okay. Let’s go. But shouldn’t we ask the producers?”
“Okay. It’s only for a little while, so I’m sure they’ll say yes.”
“Okay.”
And so, our date was set. If only I had known just what sort of date it would turn out to be.
***
Cock-a-doodle-doo~ Cock-a-doodle-doo~
The rooster sounded rather happy today. Just listen to those notes. I woke up to the rooster’s happy crows.
“Ugh.”
I was hungry immediately.
Rrrr…
Really hungry.
“Hey…Sian…”
Miyeon’s voice. I turned and looked down at Miyeon. She was still sleeping. Whatever she was dreaming was making her pucker her lips and make kissing faces. Wait, she just said my name. Don’t tell me she’s kissing me in her dream.
“Ugh.”
I couldn’t help but be jealous of Dream Sian.
I climbed out of my futon and began to stretch. That’s when I spotted Byung-hoon in the distance doing the same. He really is an early riser. He’s always the first to be up and about.
“Good morning,” I said, walking up to him.
“Hey, Sian. Just getting some fresh air. Since we’re leaving today, I want to get as much in as possible. You never know when you’ll be able to breathe in air as clean as this.”
“Yeah.”
I had to admit, the man had a point. The air back in Korea is nothing like the air here. The air here cleared your hair and made you feel like you’re cleaning out your lungs every time you breathe. The idea of going back to Korea and its poor air quality kind of sucked. Sometimes, it even gave me a headache.
“Hey, Chief.”
“Yeah?”
“When we get to the airport, can we go and visit the town square? It’s right next to the airport.”
“Oh, uh, sure. Let’s go together. I want to buy some souvenirs.”
“Okay, then, let’s go.”
If Byung-hoon says he’s going, then that must mean it’s okay. But just then, the main producer came up to us.
“You guys are up early,” Mr. Lee said with a big grin. Or should I say, he was looking at me. It was because I’m so beautiful, isn’t it? You think I’m being arrogant. There’s no denying that I’m pretty. You couldn’t even imagine how much.
“Good morning, Mr. Lee.”
“Hello. But, Sian, is it just me, or have you gained weight?”
“Me?”
“Yes,” Mr. Lee said, still smiling.
“I ate a lot.”
I really did. I always gain weight every time I come on this show.
“You really did. I almost wanted to stop you.”
Byung-hoon laughed and added, “Now that I think about it, we did eat a lot more than we usually do.”
“Exactly. That’s why we’re thinking of taking you guys to the desert next.”
At those words, Byung-hoon’s jaws dropped. I didn’t really care. Those words had nothing to do with me. But for some reason, the producer was looking right at me.
“I hope you come with us as well, Sian.”
“What?”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“You will, right?”
“No.”
I most certainly will not. I firmly shook my head. Is he crazy? Why would I come back here? The long plane rides were bad enough as it was. You think the food is enough to make up for it? Guess again. I can get as much food as I want in Korea as well. And the air? I can survive with the air in Korea, thanks.
“Oh, but it’s almost a done deal…”
“What?”
What the hell did that mean? Mr. Lee continued.
“Didn’t you see the latest forum on our website? A lot of people want you to join our main cast…I’m sure Mr. Park is already thinking about it. Didn’t he tell you?”
“What?”
This producer just kept getting funnier and funnier.
“I guess you haven’t heard anything. I’m sure you’ll hear about it when you go back. You know how high our ratings are, right? It’ll be good for you to join our cast. I’m sure that’s how it will end up anyway.”
“….”
I had a sudden desire to throttle somebody. I had a feeling the producer was right. Okay, fine. The show did have high ratings. Joining its cast permanently would cement my status as a top star. There’s no way Jinwoo would let this opportunity go.
‘Shit,’ I thought. Anyways, we closed our camp and prepared to leave. Just then, Areum came up to us. He stood in front of Byung-hoon.
“Hey, you.”
“Yes?” Byung-hoon said coolly. He was still not on the best terms with Areum. He holds a grudge longer than I thought.
“I’m sorry for everything I said about you.”
An abrupt apology. Byung-hoon seemed surprised, but he quickly composed himself.
“Yeah, well. That’s fine.”
“I really had no choice. The producers told me to act that way,” Areum said, looking at Mr. Lee.
“What?” Byung-hoon said, turning to stare at the producer himself. Then he and Areum looked at each other again.
“Lee told you to act that way?” Byung-hoon asked.
No more titles now. You know that feeling you get before a time bomb is about to go off? Yeah, it was that feeling.
“Yes, he did. He said that creating some conflict helped with ratings. So I had no choice but to try and pick a fight with you,” Areum said with a smile. Byung-hoon’s face, on the other hand, hardened more and more. I couldn’t blame him.
I remember him even asking the producer whether or not they had told Areum to act that way. Mr. Lee had told him straight up that he hadn’t. He lied without blinking an eye. Even I was getting angry at the thought. But it was nothing compared to how Byung-hoon thought.
“This fucking piece of shit.”
Byung-hoon started for Mr. Lee, but I blocked him. Junho, appearing out of nowhere, blocked him as well. But of course, Mr. Lee himself had no idea how much trouble he was in and was just giggling and chatting with one of the female writers.
“Come on, let it go,” Junho said.
“Let it go? Let go of me. You know very well how this makes me feel.”
“Still! Think about it! This is our livelihood! He controls our salary!”
“Bullshit! Forget that!”
Byung-hoon shoved Junho aside, but this time, I got in the way.
“Come on, Chief. I’m sure he didn’t have a choice, either. It was for the ratings.”
It had to be done to increase ratings. I’m sure Mr. Lee had seen it that way as well. Of course, had I been in Byung-hoon’s place, Mr. Lee would’ve been dead by now. I’m only being neutral because it’s someone else’s problem.
“Sian, you know more than anyone how angry that bastard made me feel,” Byung-hoon said, pointing at Areum. “But it turns out that it was all Mr. Lee. And he lied to me too. If he had been honest from the start, do you think I’d be this mad?
“If he’d told you earlier, it wouldn’t have had the desired effect. The reason it was so effective was that it truly did make you mad.”
“Ugh.”
Byung-hoon didn’t argue with me since he knew I was right. I went on.
“And just as Junho said, this is your livelihood. Just let it go this once, okay? Once the show ends its run, then you can really let him have it.”
“Ugh…”
Byung-hoon let out a deep breath at my words. I could see the light going off in his eyes.
“Alright. If you say so. You’re about to join our cast anyway. I should listen to you.”
“What?”
Who’s joining what cast? I still haven’t decided anything.
“Okay, for you, Sian. Because you’re almost our cast member,” Byung-hoon added with a smile. I just stared at him.
“Okay, everyone, let’s head to the airport!” the clueless and ignorant Mr. Lee said. We all agreed and followed after.
