Minji couldn't find the words and kept glancing at Yoonhyuk as she picked up her phone.
Haeyoung also tried not to notice Yoonhyuk and started typing a message.
As usual, the recipient was none other than Seongjun.
Since the participants' ages had been revealed, Seongjun noticeably changed his attitude. Instead of Gaeun, he showed active interest in Taeri.
Gaeun, being cautious by nature, wouldn't send messages unless she was confident the other person was interested.
She wouldn't send a vote to Seongjun either, and Taeri's vote probably wouldn't go to him.
That morning, Taeri had come by to talk, confessing that Seongjun was making her uncomfortable.
Seongjun, then, you'll probably get one vote from me, huh? From three votes, it drops to two, then one.
She was already looking forward to seeing his reaction when he ended up with zero votes.
Each contestant agonized as they sent their messages. Soon, the texts would start arriving.
A different kind of tension filled the room compared to before.
Minji seemed pleased, she was probably already expecting votes from Yoonhyuk.
Unfortunately for her, Minji would not get zero votes today. She was about to receive one vote each from Jaeyoung and Yoonhyuk.
Haeyoung fiddled with her phone. While she could somewhat guess where the other votes would go, the votes she would receive were completely unpredictable.
No, it would be more accurate to say she wasn't very interested.
Dziiing—
["I feel most comfortable and have the most fun when I'm talking with noona (ʃƪ＾3＾）]
Noona?
The only person who called her "noona" was Dojin. Well, that made sense.
Dojin's heart was wandering right now. Eventually, he'd go straight to his friend Taeri, but until then, he'd stay like this.
She thought to herself that she'd have to give him some dating advice later.
Dziiing—
Another notification buzzed.
Huh? Who is it? Is it Chanwoo from today's date?
["I don't want to eat alone. Will you have breakfast with me tomorrow?"]
Huh? This is… Jaeyoung.
Last time, she had casually said to call her when he didn't want to eat alone.
But Jaeyoung sent a message to me? Why? I had thought he had definitely chosen Minji's side.
Could it be because Minji had blatantly pushed Jaeyoung away?
But Jaeyoung wasn't the kind of person to be influenced by that. Once he set his heart on Minji, no matter what she chose, he kept his eyes only on her. And that unwavering devotion made him quite popular.
That was one of the big reasons Minji became popular—the guy who admired her with such pure love. Woo Minji.
But… was Minji not really the one in his heart?
She recalled how Minji and Jaeyoung had been getting along so well. The atmosphere during the day had definitely been good.
"Jaeyoung-nim! Which one of these dresses is better? Please choose."
"Well, I like the one on the right. Haeyoung-nim, what do you think?"
Jaeyoung had also asked Haeyoung, who was sitting a bit away at the kitchen table.
"I like the one on the right too."
"You and I have the same taste. But I think that color would really suit you too, Haeyoung-nim."
"Really? I think that would suit someone small and cute like Minji-nim more…"
"Haeyoung-nim, you're cute too."
Me? She remembered brushing it off as just a polite comment.
When Minji had brought over the dresses asking which suited her better, she was clearly fishing for a compliment.
But now that I think about it, that compliment had gone to me instead of her. Not just the compliment—could her true feelings really be directed this way?
It was hard to believe.
Haeyoung lifted her head. Her eyes naturally met Jaeyoung's, as if he had been watching her all along.
Jaeyoung smiled gently.
In Haeyoung's mind, the expression Jaeyoung had shown on the broadcast flashed by. Every time he finished the text voting, he always smiled kindly, even at Minji, who never gave him a single vote.
He used to do that.
Viewers were heartbroken because of Jaeyoung, and they praised him for being so admirable.
But now, that smile was directed at Haeyoung, not Minji. Even seeing it, it was hard to believe.
Just then, a new message arrived on Haeyoung's phone screen.
[Today was fun. Please make kimchi stew tomorrow. I'll eat it the best.]
[Boring.]
What's this now?
Before she could react, the results appeared on the monitor.
Minji — 0 votes
Haeyoung — 4 vote
Gaeun — 0 votes
Taeri — 1 vote
"What… what is this?"
The room fell silent at the shocking results. The most stunned was Haeyoung.
Why?
The votes from Chanwoo and Dojin, who didn't really have feelings for her, and even the votes that should have gone to Minji from Yunhyuk and Jaeyoung, all came to her.
"If this is how it goes, then anonymous voting loses its meaning."
"Wow, Haeyoung unnie, you're amazing. Total domination."
The plan had gone off track.
Chanwoo was one thing, but even Yunhyuk didn't listen to her. Instead of sending his vote to Minji, he sent it to Haeyoung.
[Not fun.]
The message Yunhyuk must have sent kept ringing in her mind.
Why isn't he listening? She should be worried, but a small smile escaped her lips.
Minji — 0 votes
Five days passed, and after three rounds of text voting, Minji hadn't received a single vote.
In the midst of all this chaos, Seongjun busily moved his head and eyes, trying to catch Haeyoung's attention.
When their eyes finally met, he sent a meaningful look, furrowed brows and a hint of displeasure.
An expression that didn't try to hide anything.
He covered his mouth just enough so only Haeyoung could see, then smirked.
"Are you crazy? Act properly."
Does he think I'm flirting around like him?
Haeyoung pretended not to understand and tilted her head, then looked away.
Seongjun tried to get her attention again by clearing his throat and stretching his arms, but Haeyoung didn't even glance in his direction.
Chanwoo — 0 votes
Seongjun — 1 vote
Dojin — 1 vote
Jaeyoung — 0 votes
Yunhyuk — 2 votes
The male votes were also revealed.
Seongjun's expression was something to see.
It was entertaining to watch his face as he saw the votes drop one by one before his eyes, but the person who couldn't hide their expression the most was Minji.
"Yunhyuk oppa, talk to me for a moment."
As soon as the official schedule ended, Minji called out to Yunhyuk.
"Why?"
Yunhyuk looked up at Minji coldly.
At the same time, he naturally leaned his body toward Haeyoung sitting beside him. Minji's gaze lingered on the shoulders of Haeyoung and Yunhyuk, who were close together.
"Hurry up!"
"Minji seems like she has something to say, let's step outside."
"Shall we?"
When Haeyoung agreed, Yunhyuk stood up abruptly.
Minji glanced between Haeyoung and Yunhyuk, looking like she was about to burst into tears.
Their conversation lasted a long time. This time, the window was closed, so no one could hear what they were saying.
Instead, their figures were visible through the glass , mostly Minji talking, while Yunhyuk stared blankly into the distance with unfocused eyes.
As the cast's drinking gathering was winding down, the two came back inside. Everyone returned to their rooms, and Haeyoung, as always, did the dishes while organizing her thoughts.
Minji not getting a single vote was, for now, satisfying. But what came after was worrying. If they didn't want to send votes to Minji, it would have been better to send them to another woman rather than to her.
From the start, viewers didn't favor contestants who already had feelings for their friends. They would complain, saying, "If you like each other, why even appear on Friendship Dating?"
It didn't bother her if she took the criticism, but she didn't want Yunhyuk to be unfairly blamed.
Suddenly, a hand shot out from beside her.
"Ah!"
"What's got you so startled?"
"When did you get here?"
"I've been here all along."
Yunhyuk naturally took the cup Haeyoung was holding and rinsed it with water. She stared at him blankly for a moment.
"Why?"
Startled by the sudden eye contact, Haeyoung quickly grabbed a towel and began wiping vigorously. She wondered if even a chaebol would have to wash dishes, but the thought was too embarrassing to say out loud.
"What did you talk about with Minji?"
"She was asking why I didn't vote for her."
"Yeah..."
I told him to pick Minji.
Haeyoung swallowed the rest of her words, mindful of the cameras.
"So you're not decided yet? That's why you sent your vote to me, your friend?"
Haeyoung deliberately explained kindly. At this point, the situation was manageable. As long as Yunhyuk's interest wasn't in her, it was fine.
"Yeah."
Fortunately, Yunhyuk seemed to understand Haeyoung's intention well.
"I'm not sure about Minji yet, but she's already acting like she's my girlfriend… Yeah, that kind of behavior is really overwhelming."
When Haeyoung gave him a subtle signal to watch his words, Yunhyuk toned down his language a bit—though it didn't really make much of a difference.