Jungsu walked forward as everyone gathered around the couch, feeling eyes on him as he stood behind Yuri. Yuri, upon noticing him behind her, blushed quietly and straightened her back.

"I'm going to be the host for this show, though you won't see much of me, my name is Shin Bo-mi. You can call me when you have any questions."

Looking to her sides, she nodded her head and looked back at them.

"We're gonna start by filming introductions, so when we call your name, please follow our staff to the backyard."

"Yoo-jin, you're up!"

Jungsu stood in place as he waited for his name to be called. Turning around, Yuri glanced up at him and smiled slightly. Jungsu tilted his head in greeting, not knowing what to say or do.

"Funny seeing you here." Yuri laughed awkwardly.

"Yes. I didn't know I would get to see you here." Jungsu moved towards her, sitting down beside her on the sofa.

"Oh, my name is Yuri, by the way, please call me comfortably. I used to be an actor when I was younger, but I decided to focus on my studies. And now I'm here." Yuri said quietly, pressing her lips together as she looked at Jungsu.

"I'm sorry I didn't text you back. I was going to, but I was so busy with work that I forgot."

"That's alright. I was also busy." Jungsu replied.

"How did you get to be here...?" Yuri asked, despite already knowing his name.

"My name is Jungsu, you can also call me freely. I don't know what I am doing here, but I was told I would receive money after."

Yuri glanced at him in surprise, looking around the room to see if anyone had heard.

"Jungsu, y-you have to be more careful about what you say here!" Yuri leaned in and whispered.

"So do you Yuri. You are making us look suspicious by glancing around like that. You realize that there are cameras as well right?"

Yuri flinched away from him, and Jungsu smelled roses in the air around him.

"Well, they're not filming yet so it's fine right?"

Jungsu pointed at the wall at the other end of the room.

"They're recording right now."

"W-what?" Yuri whispered.

Jungsu nodded his head, not offering an explanation. Yuri simply accepted what he said and stood up straighter.

"Yuri! It's your turn now."

"Wish me luck!" Yuri said, smiling nervously back at him as she stood up.

"Good luck." Jungsu said quietly after she'd already left.

Glancing around the room, Jungsu saw that most of the male and female contestants had formed groups, with a majority of them sticking to the same gender. Jungsu wondered why more contestants were not interacting with the opposite gender.

As Jungsu sat alone, he noticed an oddly placed box of tissues on the table. Given that this was a reality show, he didn't understand why such a drab box of tissues would be placed right in the middle of the table. Picking up the tissue box, he pulled out a piece of tissue, placing the box back on the table, and started folding the tissue into a rose. Glancing down at his hands as he worked, he thought of the small gleam he had noticed on the outside of the box. There were many small cameras like it placed around the villa. What Jungsu didn't know was whether or not this was legal, as he hadn't read the contract, and this was a reality show. He would have to search the villa more thoroughly when there was time.

"Jungsu, you are up!"

Jungsu stood up, dropping the rose onto the couch and following the staff member.

As he entered the room, they indicated for him to sit down on a chair right in front of the camera.

Sitting down, he looked up at the people behind the camera, looking for what he was to do next.

"Relax Jungsu. We're simply going to be asking some questions, and you respond to them as authentically as possible. Just be yourself."

Jungsu nodded his head. He could do that. He could even be someone else.

Clearing her throat Bo-mi asked, "So Jungsu, can you introduce yourself to the viewers and tell us what you hope to gain from this show?"

Looking into the camera, Jungsu said, "Hello, my name is Song Jungsu, 21 years old, six feet one inch tall, blood type is O positive, and I'm told I have big hands. I suppose I'm here to earn money." Jungsu sat back in his chair, feeling content with his response.

Meanwhile, Bo-mi stared at him in silence.

"O-okay. Tell me about your hobbies Jungsu. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?"

Jungsu placed his hand on his chin in thought. What do I enjoy doing?

"Reading, and eating." Jungsu nodded.

"Oh, I enjoy reading as well! Do you read webnovels or mangas? Or perhaps mystery books?"

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"I've recently re-read The Prince by Machiavelli. Though I don't agree with everything written, it's fascinating read. Especially the argument of how the state-"

"Okay, that's enough about books!" Bo-mi laughed robotically, flipping the pages of her question sheet in panic.

"Oh! How did you feel when you reconnected with the children you had saved? How did it feel to be thanked by their mother?"

Jungsu thought for a moment before responding.

"It felt nice."

"R-right. Of course it felt nice. Haha!" Bo-mi narrowed her eyes in irritation.

"What about Yuri?" Bo-mi asked cunningly, having spotted the two talking on the sofa.

Bo-mi watched as Jungsu's eyes sparked at the mention of Yuri.

"What about her?" Jungsu asked.

"Tell me, how do you know her?" Bomi smiled.

____

After everyone had gathered back outside, Bo-mi gathered them around the sofa.

"Okay, we have officially started recording. So, welcome to our variety show, Double Shift! Though you are all here to have fun and get to know more stars, don't think that you can catch a break on this show because," she motioned for the filming crew to join in. "you will be working a Double shift!"

"The idea of the show is that you will be required to complete games and challenges while also trying to rise in favourability among one another as that too will unlock some perks that I'm sure you will like. These perks include things such as, but are not limited to, a larger room with a luxurious bathtub, a private diner with the person of your choice, and a day outside the villa!"

Jungsu perked up after hearing that, but he wasn't the only one interested in a day out.

"The first game will now be starting, if everyone could head outside now, that would be great!"

As they all started to move towards the backyard, they walked past a large pool and made their way towards the chairs that were seated near the edge of the property, right in front of a forest of trees whose leaves had slowly begun to turn orange.

Jungsu sat down at the last chair to the left, letting the other eleven contestants fill in the other spaces. Jungsu glanced over to see Im Na-yeon, the voluptuous actress sitting next to him, and he bowed his head.

She smiled back at him, crossing her legs over one another as she asked,

"You're Jungsu right?"

"Yes, Ms. Im Na-yeon." Jungsu nodded.

"Oh please, call me nuna." She grinned.

"Yes, nuna." Jungsu nodded once more, causing Na-yeon to chuckle at his uptight demeanor.

As he turned back to look at the host, Na-yeon smiled curiously as she glanced at his forearms.

"Our first game will be an icebreaker, the whisper challenge! We will now split you guys up into groups of three. So starting from Jungsu, Na-yeon and Ae-ri, you three will be a group. Then Jae-ho, Yoo-jin, Dong-ha. Seung-gyu, Min-ji, Yeong-cheol. And finally the last group, Tae-joon, Yuri, and Hye-sung."

"Remember that the group that wins this challenge will be gifted a hamper with various snacks."

Standing up, Jungsu formed a circle with his group as they decided on who would start off by wearing headphones.

"Are you good at the whisper game, Jungsu?" Ae-ri asked, pulling her silver hair into a bun.

"No, nuna. I've never played the game before, so I would like to observe a bit before my turn."

"Okay, then I will wear the headphones. Ae-ri, you were an idol so your pronunciation must be good, you can start by reading the words." Na-yeon said.

Ae-ri nodded her head as they went to the front, being the first group to start the game.

As Na-yeon placed the headphones on her head and gave a thumbs up, Jungsu picked up the large cards on the table as instructed by Bo-mi, and stood behind Na-yeon. Glancing down at the first card he read, "Yesterday is history."

Ae-ri started saying the words slowly while pronouncing every syllable.

Na-yeon shook her head once in confusion, and Ae-ri shouted this time, pronouncing the words exaggeratedly, causing the contestants to laugh.

Na-yeon's eyes then lit up in recognition. "Yesterday is history!" She shouted clapping her hands, and Ae-ri jumped up in excitement.

After that, it was Jungsu's turn to pronounce the words as Na-yeon took hold of the cards and Ae-ri wore the headphones.

Reading the card that Na-yeon held, he calmly mouthed the words, "My cat uses my toilet frequently."

The contestants laughed at the bizarre statement and Jungsu's monotone voice as he read it. Ae-ri scrunched up her face in confusion so Jungsu pointed at himself then at her to help her understand the words. After a few more tries, Ae-ri finally understood the sentence and nodded her head saying, "My cat uses my toilet frequently."

Switching places, Jungsu finally placed the headphones over his ears, impressed by how much outside noise it was able to block out.

Na-yeon now stood in front of him and started laughing once she saw the card, as did the other contestants.

Pointing at herself she mouthed "I'm sexy and I know it."

Jungsu, having immediately read her lips, was baffled and said in surprise, "Sorry?"

The contestants laughed harder at his shocked face.

"I'm sexy, and I know it." Na-yeon mouthed, urging him to repeat.

Jungsu struggled to bring himself to say the words but eventually said, "I'm sexy and I know it." causing laughter to surge even among the staff.

"Jungsu, we couldn't hear you! Could you say that again?" Bo-mi said with her microphone.

Jungsu looked in her direction as she stood right behind the camera and said louder, "I'm sexy, and I know it."

Ae-ri fell down on the ground in laughter and Jungsu glanced down at her in question. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears as she looked at his serious face while he had said the words. Reaching out her hand for Jungsu to lift her up, Jungsu grabbed a hold and pulled. Ae-ri sighed, letting out a final laugh from her system.

"Jungsu, why are you so serious?" Ae-ri smiled shakily, trying to hold back her laugh.

"I'm sorry nuna. I was born this way." Jungsu replied plainly.

"It's okay, Jungsu. You're new to this world so you must not know how to act in front of the camera." Na-yeon said as she patted his shoulder.

"Ah...yes" Jungsu said simply, not knowing how he should react.

"Resume the game now, we're going to unpause the timer!" Bo-mi said through the speaker.

Quickly switching places, they continued the game, and with Jungsu's help, though he had held back quite a bit, they managed to get ten right in under three minutes.

Jungsu watched intently as the contestants laughed around and shouted unnecessarily loud upon their turn. He watched them with a blank look on his face, wondering if he could laugh like they did on camera. He saw Yuri as she smiled and laughed among her group happily.

After the other groups had also gone, they determined Seung-gyu, Min-ji, and Yeong-cheol's group the winners. As everyone else cheered for them, Bo-mi presented them with the three hampers that had a multitude of snacks. As Min-ji grabbed hold of a strawberry flavoured one, Jungsu felt his eyes widen. He hadn't known that there would be strawberry treats, otherwise he would have genuinely tried to win the game.

Min-ji, upon seeing Jungsu's sad eyes on her basket, headed towards him with a smirk. As her eyes widened upon taking in his clean and beautiful appearance, Min-ji thought to herself that she wouldn't mind adding him to her collection. Min-ji being a beloved idol and actress, had quite the attitude problem, however, only around those she deemed unworthy.

"Here, you can have one of the snacks if you want, Jungsu." She smiled up at him, batting her lashes.

Jungsu, conflicted on the inside, decided that he didn't want to say no as he looked at the strawberry flavoured snacks.

"Really, Ms. Min-ji?"

"Yes! And please call me Min-ji, we are the same age so there's no need for formalities." She smiled cheekily.

Ae-ri muttered something incomprehensible in the back, rolling her eyes at Min-ji's tactics.

Bowing deeply, Jungsu accepted a box of strawberry mochi. As others gathered around to try and haggle snacks out of Min-ji, she strictly refused and hugged her hamper to her chest.

"No fair! Just because he's handsome! Hey Jungsu, won't you share some of your mochi?" Yeong-Cheol grinned at him, as he flicked his blonde hair out of his face.

They were almost at eye level, so Jungsu looked directly into Yeong-cheol's eyes as he said, "I'm sorry, Hyung. I don't think I can."

"You sneaky-!" Yeong-cheol was cut off by Bo-mi's announcement.

"Great game everyone! We will pause the games and head to eat some breakfast! However, we cannot simply give you your breakfast. You are working a Double Shift, so you will have to work for your breakfast!"

Jungsu frowned as he'd thought that he would be able to eat good food easily. Disappointed, Jungsu entered the villa and was handed a blindfold by Bo-mi.

Grinning at him as she saw his confused face, she said,

"You're going to be cooking with that on."

Jungsu's face turned into despair, the camera catching the moment all hope left his eyes.