“Come on.”

I gestured to the two girls who were left, but neither of them moved. So, I approached them. Everyone suddenly began shouting. One of the girls was really muscular, but the other one was rather skinny. Then again, the really skinny one had a biggest chest. Anyways, the skinny girl tried to sneak behind the one with the muscles. Cheater.

“Fine!”

The one on the left shouted and decided to toss caution to wind as she ran towards me. She tried to push me off the tube, but I didn’t budge. That surprised her. The one on the right started to push me, as well, but even with the two of them together, I didn’t budge. Her jaw dropped, and so did everyone else’s. Considering these two are supposed to be pro athletes, it would be surprising that they couldn’t make me budge. Of course, this was just the beginning.

I immediately ducked and planted my shoulders against the both of them, lifting them up at the same time. My hips almost gave out, but in the end, I managed to lift them all the way up. I could hear everyone gasp. Then, with a nice push, I tossed them both into the water.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Splash! Splash!

And that concluded the round.

***

Now it was the second round. Maybe it’s because they lost the first round, but the other team was suddenly rather quiet.

“They’re going to attack as soon as the round starts,” Jun-gyu said, reading their minds.

“I don’t think so,” Dongmin said, shaking his head. Since he didn’t know that Jun-gyu could read minds, he had no reason to believe the guy.

“That’s what they said,” Jun-gyu said, sounding frustrated.

“Who?” Dongmin asked, and it was a good question. Right now, the other team was only staring at us. They weren’t speaking at all, not even to each other.

“I’m just saying,” Jun-gyu said. Dongmin shook his head.

“Well, the way I see it, I doubt they’ll run right at us. They lost the first round, so they’d be more careful this time around,” Dongmin said. But of course, I knew that he would be proven wrong and that Jun-gyu was right. After all, Jun-gyu is the one who can read minds. So, I turned to Dongmin.

“Jun-gyu is right. They’re going to run at us.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

And just like that, Dongmin was agreeing with me. Judging by that shy smile, I could guess why.

“If so, what should we do?” he asked me.

So I answered.

“We should go for them first.”

“Nice! Good idea!” Dongmin said readily. Hyunsoo and Jun-gyu both rolled their eyes. Anyways, that concluded our battle plan and the match started soon after.

We got into position, and the Dream Team attacked first. Dongmin went to the middle and pushed a female team member from the other side towards the water.

“Oh dear.”

He attacked a girl. I’m sure he didn’t mean to do it on purpose. She just happened to be in the way. But not only that, Dongmin had also touched her chest. Again, not on purpose. Anyways, Dongmin shouted from the middle and Hyunsoo and Jun-gyu both came out as they started to fight with the opposing team members. Naturally, they lost. You know, for guys who have big muscles, they’re really weak. They were pushed into the water almost right away. But what were Christine and Ham-sung doing? They were hiding behind me.

“Hmm.”

I shrugged. Suddenly, Soo-jung leaped over to our side and started running towards me. Her face looked determined. As soon as we were within arm’s reach of each other, I grabbed her by the hips, lifted her up, and tossed her into the water.

Splash!

Yet again, it ended far too quickly. Soo-jung definitely looked pissed.

“Sian! You’re amazing!” Christine shouted from behind me. Ham-sung gave me a kiss on the cheek. I’ll admit, my heart fluttered a bit at that.

‘Sian…get a grip…’

I tried to compose myself. Just then, Dongmin was also pushed into the pool. It was three against three again. Only this time, it was a little different. Our team was three girls again, but the other team consisted of two men and one woman.

“We’re not going to go easy on you this time, Sian!” Gi-chun shouted at me. The other two nodded behind him.

“Kyaah!” Both Christine and Ham-sung shouted at the same time. I almost lost my hearing. Gi-chun headed towards me. I lifted my left foot and planted it on his chest, giving it a hard push.

Po~ow!

“Ah!”

The man flew backwards as though he’d been hit with a gust of wind. He knocked the two team members behind him over as he went down. And just like that, all three of them fell into the water. Splash!

And that concluded round 2.

***

Now that the first game was over, it was time for a short break. Si-dong explained the rules of the ‘Of Course’ Game to us. First, the Dream Team.

“Sian. Christine. You two want to go?” Si-dong said.

I said sure. Christine, too. So we stood, facing each other.

“You know how to play, right?” Si-dong asked. Christine and I both nodded.

“Sian, no hard feelings, okay?” Christine said.

“Sure,” I replied. I’m not one to be sensitive anyway.

“Alright. Christine first. Let’s go!” Si-dong shouted.

Christine stared at me and started to speak.

“Hey Sian, you used to be really fat. You got liposuction to get rid of it, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” I replied. Everyone looked at each other in shock. Anyways, now it was my turn.

“So is being a retard your overall concept?”

“Pffft.”

Everyone coughed into their hands, trying to hide their laughter at what I said, but Si-dong stopped me.

“Hey now, Sian. You’re a girl group member. What kind of language is that? A retard? Hey, Mr. Yoo. Make sure to edit that out, okay?” Si-dong snickered.

Christine suddenly answered.

“Of course. But Sian, you love me, right?”

“Of course. Wait what?”

“That’s fine then. I forfeit.”

And suddenly, Christine ran towards me to give me a hug and everyone began to cheer. Of course, they all thought that she was kidding. Only I knew Christine was being dead serious.

“You know this is a game, right?”

“Of course,” Christine said. And to my surprise, she actually let go of me.

Next was Jun-gyu. No one told him to come out. He just decided for himself. So now, it was me against him.

“Jun-gyu! Your turn!” Si-dong shouted.

Jun-gyu immediately went for the kill.

“You like me, right?”

“Of course.”

‘You wish’ I said mentally. That wiped the smile off of Jun-gyu’s face. Now, it was my turn.

“Are you stupid?” I asked with a smile. I’m pretty sure I had made it clear to him to not read my mind. Considering that he wasn’t listening to me, he must be very stupid indeed. Anyways, he glared at me, but he still had to answer.

“Of course.”

‘Lucky you,’ I thought. Jun-gyu’s face hardened even further, but I wasn’t done yet.

‘For someone so big, you’re pretty weak. I bet your penis is tiny as well. What’s even the point of having one? How embarrassing. Why not just cut it off?’

“Fuck this!” Jun-gyu started to shout. Everyone stared at me.

“Jun-gyu, it’s your turn,” Si-dong said, but Jun-gyu was still glaring at me.

“Hang on,” Jun-gyu finally said. “Let me gather myself first.”

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, but I wasn’t letting him down that easy.

‘You think mind-reading is so great? It’s not like you can use it for anything. You said you’ll read my mind to find out my weakness? Yeah, right. There’s nothing for you to find out, you asshole. An ugly one at that.’

Jun-gyu immediately let out a frustrated yell.

“Aaah!”

Everyone stared at him again. I spoke up.

“Jun-gyu, come on. It’s your turn.”

And on the inside, I said, ‘Go on, you sad prick.’

“You little…”

Suddenly, Jun-gyu started to approach me, but Si-dong blocked him.

“Hey, Jun-gyu. What’s the matter?”

“She called me ugly!”

“What?” Si-dong asked, looking confused. So did everyone else. Not me though. I was too busy sending him one last attack.

‘You are ugly. You call that a face? How you used that face to get girls is a mystery to me. I bet the people who made that face were shocked by how ugly it turned out.”

“You!” Jun-gyu shouted at me. Si-dong stood in front of him again. I just smiled, and that just made Jun-gyu angrier.

“You think I’m ugly! Well, I’ll have you know, I’m really popular! I’m considered more handsome than Hyunsoo! There’s no one better looking than me! I’ve had girls lose their shit just from looking at me!”

Well, he was just going for it. Even criticizing his own partner in the process. I looked at him.

‘Shut your mouth. No one cares about your bullshit.’

“You bitch!”

Jun-gyu pushed Si-dong aside and came at me, grabbing me by the head. Thankfully, Si-dong managed to grab him and drag him off the set. He was clearly not happy with the way Jun-gyu was behaving. Filming was put on hold for a moment while Si-dong started to lay it on Jun-gyu.

“Oh well.”

I shrugged, feeling mighty satisfied with how things were turning out. This mind-reading stuff was great.

***

The mood was turning awkward. In the end, Jun-gyu couldn’t get over his anger and left. Si-dong walked towards me.

“Sian, are you okay?” Si-dong asked, looking sincerely worried.

“Yes. I’m fine,” I said with a sweet smile. Si-dong smiled back.

“Still, you must have been shocked. I made sure to give it to him. Young people these days have no manners, and they blame us for lecturing them.”

“Yeah. So did he just leave?”

“Yes. Jun-gyu’s manager went after him, but I don’t think he’ll come back.”

“I see. But you know, your accent is really strong.”

“Oh, sorry. Is it hard to understand?” Si-dong asked, trying to suppress his accent. It sounded rather awkward.

“No, it’s fine,” I answered.

Si-dong continued.

“If Jun-gyu doesn’t come back, we’ll continue filming with me on the Dream Team. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m sorry for suggesting this game.”

“It’s okay,” I said. You know, Si-dong is not as bad as I thought. Sure, he’s loud, but deep down, he has a good heart.

Some time passed but in the end, Jun-gyu didn’t come back. And with that, Si-dong replaced him on the Dream Team.

“Let’s start the second match!!”

I swear his voice just got louder.