The Probability of Meeting Your Ex on a Straight Dating Show Chapter 11

Being with a pervert who could turn into a man too made me feel like I was becoming strange myself. Cha Yoon clicked his tongue but still glanced at Ki Seojeong.

At that moment, Cha Yoon’s eyes caught the ring glinting on Ki Seojeong’s neck. The ring he had supposedly given him before he lost his memory.

“…Huh.”

Seeing the ring hanging there so brazenly revived feelings he had forgotten. Cha Yoon was the only one who had believed that story outright, a story even the speaker himself had dismissed as nonsense. He felt his temperature rising again. What? It means nothing? Ki Seojeong, who had spoken so carelessly, was detestable.

Cha Yoon rubbed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Resting his chin on his hand, he stared at Ki Seojeong as if trying to tear him apart, then grinned.

Song Jua was closely observing the change in Cha Yoon’s expression. What kind of trouble is he going to cause now? If he’s going to start something, I wish he’d do it properly. Song Jua, harboring her own expectations, waited for the nasty remark Cha Yoon would spit out.

“But….”

Taking advantage of the silence, Cha Yoon let out a low voice. Song Jua’s lips curved into a parabola. Everyone focused on Cha Yoon, except Ki Seojeong, who was staring fixedly at the empty floor.

“What do you think about someone who keeps stubbornly using couple items they matched with their ex, even after breaking up?”

Cha Yoon stressed the word ‘stubbornly’. Ki Seojeong’s drooping body flinched and stiffened. Slowly raising his eyes, Ki Seojeong’s gaze met Cha Yoon’s in mid-air.

Cha Yoon once again signaled the prelude to war.

‘How to deal with couple items matched with an ex-lover’ was a perfect topic for the cast to discuss together. Especially since they had all opened the X parcels together just thirty minutes ago.

Oh, that person has finally come to his senses. Although Cha Yoon had no other intention besides provoking Ki Seojeong, the cast members gave relieved smiles. The interpretation was better than the dream.

The cast murmured in contemplation, organizing their own thoughts. The only one who couldn’t manage his expression in the midst of it was Ki Seojeong.

So he finally brings that up. Ki Seojeong pressed the inside of his cheek hard with his tongue and stared at Cha Yoon. Their eyes met. Seeing that smirking face made Ki Seojeong’s jaw muscles tense. His mentality was already shattered and difficult to manage, and now the other side was fanning the flames—it was maddening.

“I… think that you shouldn’t do that.”

The voice that suddenly rang out, thick with moisture, belonged to Jeong Suho. At his eyes that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment, Cha Yoon smirked. It was good from the start.

“Hm, I agree. Keeping it is strange enough, but still using it? I can’t understand that. Anyway, once you’ve broken up, you should cleanly sort it out.”

Gong Minwook furrowed his brows slightly and added his opinion. Yet, since he himself had come on ‘Please Take Care of My X’ because he couldn’t do that, there was a certain contradiction.

“That’s right. It’s not just anything, it’s a couple item…. I think that’s also disrespectful to the new person you’ll meet.”

Minha nodded her head vigorously. Looking at Minha, Cha Yoon gave her a generous smile for the first time.

It’s not like they’re splitting into teams. Ki Seojeong was dumbfounded by the unfolding situation.

Yeo Jiyoon, who had been lost in thought, also threw her weight behind the ‘should be thrown away’ side. The only ones who hadn’t spoken their opinions now were Ki Seojeong and Song Jua.

Seojeong blinked slowly. Turning his head, he saw Cha Yoon holding the hilt of the knife. Naturally, the blade was directed at him. Seojeong knew that all of this was a stage designed by Cha Yoon to condemn him. Therefore, he couldn’t just maturely ignore it and avoid it.

Having composed his expression, Seojeong opened his mouth, which had been firmly shut until now.

“I think that objects aren’t guilty of anything.”

At the smooth voice, Cha Yoon’s expression instantly crumpled. It was a face that said, I knew you’d say that. Regardless, Ki Seojeong continued to voice his opinion.

“Just because a relationship is over, is there a need to throw away innocent objects?”

Ki Seojeong shrugged his shoulders, feigning nonchalance. As if what he had said in front of the sink was truly the fact, as if there was no lie mixed in—just like that.

Cha Yoon felt the displeasure that had been chasing him all through the evening come alive again. The emotion was so explosive that even the back of his neck ached.

He didn’t bother to think about where the displeasure originated. For Cha Yoon, the result was more important than the cause. Unable to hold back any longer, he smiled a twisted smile.

“Isn’t that just mental gymnastics to make yourself feel better?”

“…”

“If you have no feelings, why keep using something you matched with your ex? Unless, of course, you still have lingering feelings for that ex.”

You’re not a beggar, so why so shabbily. At the sarcastic tone, something in Ki Seojeong’s forehead twitched with a snap.

“Couldn’t it be that the one thinking that way is the one with lingering feelings? It seems like you want to attach meaning to every little action of your ex.”

The atmosphere felt like it was getting increasingly heated. It was a problem that could be resolved right now if he just laughed and said, ‘Is that so?’. But Ki Seojeong didn’t want to back down here. If he didn’t drive the point home now, he would be plagued endlessly. Knowing Cha Yoon’s persistent personality better than anyone, he had to put an end to this conversation.

Cha Yoon, who would try to check every moment whether he had given up on his feelings. The mere thought was dreadful.

“Well… there are all kinds of people, this way and that!”

Minha, who had been glancing around nervously in the middle, purposefully made her voice bright. It was her own effort to ease the atmosphere. However, despite her efforts, sparks flew between Cha Yoon and Ki Seojeong. Though, of course, it was mostly one-sided sparks from Cha Yoon.

He really is doing all the childish things by himself. Song Jua, who had been observing the situation the whole time, shook her head from side to side. It seemed like she should step in about now.

“Mr. Seojeong thinks similarly to me.”

Setting down her empty glass, Song Jua directed her gaze toward Seojeong. Seojeong wore a slightly surprised expression. He apparently hadn’t expected her to take his side.

“I agree with what Mr. Seojeong said. Objects are just objects.”

It was a tone that could be heard as cynical in some ways. Beside her, Jeong Suho let out an involuntary ‘Oh.’ of admiration. Cha Yoon’s head tilted crookedly toward Song Jua.

He was already irritated by Ki Seojeong’s answer, and now that Song Jua sided with Ki Seojeong, his mood became doubly foul.

He must be mad that his ex-girlfriend is taking my side. Ki Seojeong watched Cha Yoon’s face change moment by moment and swept his hair back. Realizing that, on top of his already troubled state, his patience reached its limit.

“That’s right. Someone who dwells on meanings alone and adds comments about it being shabby seems more pathetic.”

Everyone looked surprised at Ki Seojeong’s words. Yet, they understood him. For him to finally burst now, he was practically a saint. He kept turning people’s insides, and enduring it was more impressive.

Ki Seojeong thought back to seven years ago. It was a memory of Cha Yoon. The two of them had been similar to how they were now.

Ki Seojeong tried to be kind to everyone and took his own sacrifices for granted. It was an attitude born from a deficiency he had held since realizing his own situation—that he didn’t want to be hated, that he didn’t want to be abandoned by anyone ever again.

Cha Yoon found that Seojeong disagreeable.

‘Stop pretending to be so nice.’

‘…What?’

‘You were actually fucking pissed, so why are you grinning like that?’

Cha Yoon was always like that. He would stand him at the edge of a cliff without giving him a parachute and push him. So that Ki Seojeong, driven to his limit, would have no choice but to bring out his true nature. And then, Ki Seojeong would lose his reason too.

‘Instead of pointing out others, fix that weird personality of yours.’

That day was like that. Cha Yoon, his face scrunched up in a deep frown, got on his nerves. Seojeong, who had always consistently ignored him, couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke harshly to someone else for the first time. Only after he poured out everything inside him did his head begin to work properly.

As reason returned, worry flooded in. He was afraid of bad rumors spreading. He thought he had failed to endure just that little bit and had ultimately ruined everything. His mind was just about to go blank at the thought that all that was left was for everyone to leave his side.

‘Now you finally seem like a real person.’

Contrary to concerns, Cha Yoon smiled. And very brightly, at that. It didn’t look like the face of someone who had just been thoroughly cursed out.