“At least it’s better than last week…” JB stated unenthusiastically.

“It could be worse,” Woohyun agreed.

“Not by much though,” Dia muttered.

“This just mean we can do better next time!” Hee-Jin exclaimed. “I mean, it can’t get much worse…”

“At least we’re making progress,” Kimmi mumbled. “But we have to do better.”

“Maybe… we should think of a strategy…” Yerin started.

“Like what?” Hyun Mi asked. “I mean, we should be able to find our perfect match by looking at our hearts, right? I know I did.”

“But you don’t even know if you’re a match yet,” Seulyi retorted.

“We’re perfect alright. The only question is if the producers figured that out,” Woohyun argued.

“But that’s the game. Finding the correct ‘perfect’ match,” Mark commented.

“If it was easy, we would have won in the first week,” Baekhyun said with a nod.

“We should just talk with different people more,” Jaelyn suggested. “You never know who your perfect match might be, so you might as well try them all.”

“Try us all?” Xiumin asked with a frown. He did not really like that way of looking at this game.

“It makes sense right? It’s not like you can win this without getting to know everyone,” the girl replied with a shrug.

“I guess it does make sense,” JB agreed.

“And what we’re doing now isn’t working,” Sunggyu added.

“Even the notes I’ve been making aren’t really working…” Hye said with a sigh.

“In the end, isn’t it just about winning the challenge so you can go on dates with people?” Chanyeol commented. “We just have to make sure we win.”

“It doesn’t have to be a date… You can get to know someone even outside of a date, right? It shouldn’t be that hard,” Sungyeol interjected.

“And that’s the best way to find who you like,” Mark added.

“But who you like is not necessarily your perfect match,” Myungsoo retorted and the red haired boy sighed.

“We all know that. But if it’s a perfect match, we have to at least like them right? Otherwise you can’t even call it perfect.”

“I thought it had to be something you needed, rather than wanted, though,” Hoya stated thoughtfully.

“So we have to look at who would compliment our personality,” Sunggyu reasoned.

“See, it has to be Woohyun for me,” Hyun Mi said with a smile.

“But you’re both cheesy though…” Hee-Jin muttered softly.

“Doesn’t matter! We’re still perfect,” her cousin retorted. She wasn’t quite as sure as she sounded, after all, the perfect matches didn’t seem to actually match the people who liked each other. So what if they weren’t a perfect match? Would Woohyun leave her then? Would everything turn awry? But no. She had to have faith. After all, they had kissed in the ferris wheel. She had to believe in the myth. They would last.

---

“Two matches… It’s not looking good for us, with this already being the fifth week,” JB commented.

“Yeah… Maybe we should start keeping notes, like Sunggyu and Hye,” Hoya agreed.

Both boys laughed, neither of them felt like going that far for this game. Sure, the money would be nice. Meeting someone was not bad either. But keeping notes and trying to figure out who the matches were on paper, rather than in real life wasn’t their style.

“They haven’t even helped us… Why are they even keeping them?” JB sad with a chuckle. Hoya shrugged.

“If they like it, they should do it.”

“They suit each other well then, maybe we should get those two to go on a date,” JB added.

“Like I’d lose so he can win,” Hoya boasted.

“Yeah, me neither actually… And he doesn’t really seem like someone who’d win on his own power. So it’s all up to Hye then.”

“At least Hye seems capable of winning. I’m starting to feel bad we’re pairing her with Sunggyu now.”

“Hey, opposites attract, right?” JB commented.

“So we would fit someone who wouldn’t win a challenge? I doubt that…”

“That you like Hee-Jin also seems to be a case of opposites attract though. She’s super cute, but you’re… definitely not the cute type.”

“Yeah, yeah, scary and all that, I know…” Hoya sighed.

---

Dia and Myungsoo were both sitting in the library, each on the other side of the room, quietly reading a book when Seulyi walked in. She didn’t like seeing them alone in a room together, but at least they weren’t talking. And they definitely didn’t seem close like this. So Seulyi smiled and made her way over to Myungsoo.

“What are you reading?”

Myungsoo just pointed to the cover of his book.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to read that too,” Seulyi whispered. She didn’t want to make too much noise, as it would surely disturb the reading girl.

“You have?” Myungsoo looked up momentarily, just enough to see the girl nod excitedly. She was lying, and had no idea what the book was even about, but her faked enthusiasm was very convincing.

“Let me read with you?” she suggested.

“Read with me?”

The girl nodded, and sat down next to him, moving a bit closer towards him, so that they were now touching.

“Like this. Just hold the book in the middle and we can both read?”

“I guess that’s fine,” he agreed, and moved the book more towards her.

“Please just explain what happened up till now, so you don’t have to wait for me to catch up.”

Myungsoo nodded and in a hushed voice summarized the story for her. On the other side of the room, Dia was looking at the couple from over her book. Seeing them sitting so close together was more than a little distracting to her and she didn’t like it at all. After reading the same sentence for the fourth time, she realized she wasn’t going to get any reading done like this anyway and with a sigh closed her book, got up and left the room. There was no need to torture herself.

Is she not after Myungsoo after all? Seulyi wondered when the girl just left. Had it been her, she would have tried to interrupt any girl getting close to him.

“I didn’t think we were that loud,” she giggled softly.

“Me neither,” Myungsoo agreed.

“We should apologize to her later. But with no one here, let’s quickly continue the summary so we can read?” Seulyi suggested. It wasn’t the reading she liked, but the fact that she got to sit so close to him doing it definitely made it worth it. The boy nodded and continued his story.

---

“What are you even doing?” Hyun Mi exclaimed when she found her cousin on Xiumin’s bed, the boy himself nowhere to be seen.  She had been looking for Woohyun, which was why she had entered the boy’s room in the first place, but she definitely hadn’t expected Hee-Jin there.

“I’m going to watch a movie with Xiumin. He’s getting popcorn…” Hee-Jin explained simply.

“In his bed?” Hyun Mi questioned.

“It’s comfy…”

Hyun Mi shook her head. “You really just shouldn’t go into a boy’s bed that easily.”

“It’s just a movie, Hyun Mi. Besides, Xiumin isn’t like that.”

“Right…”

“Why are you even here then?” Hee-Jin asked the girl with a pout.

“I’m looking for my boyfriend, of course.”

“He’s not here, I didn’t see him when I got in either… I haven’t seen him since breakfast, I think...”

“Thanks, I’ll continue looking for him then!” Hyun Mi replied with a smile and turned around. “Be careful!”

“Careful of Xiumin? He’s not really scary though…” Hee-Jin muttered.

Only a few seconds later, said boy entered the room.

“Has your cousin lost something? She was mumbling about not knowing where something could be…” Xiumin asked.

“Woohyun,” Hee-Jin commented with a giggle.

“She lost her boyfriend?? Wow... “ For a second the boy was quiet, then held up the bowl he was holding. “At least I got popcorn.”

His random comment made Hee-Jin laugh, though she did wonder where Woohyun could be.

“So, let’s start the movie?” Xiumin asked as he sat down on his bed next to Hee-Jin.

“Yes! I love Zootopia, I can’t believe you haven’t seen it yet!” the girl replied happily. “I’m sure you’re going to love it!!”

---

Yerin, Baekhyun, Sunggyu and Sungyeol were in the pool, passing a ball over between the four of them. It was quite hot, even though it was still early in the afternoon, so the cold water was a nice refreshment.

“How do you do it, Baekhyun?” Sungyeol asked suddenly. Baekhyun looked rather confused.

“Do what? Catch a ball? I’ve been doing that since I was a toddler really.”

“A toddler? Sounds unlikely,” Sunggyu mentioned.

“Usually you learn catching at the earliest when you’re 3 or so, right?” Yerin added.

“Is that really the point here?” Baekhyun sighed, and passed the ball on to the girl.

“It’s not. Since that’s not what I was talking about in the first place! I meant the dates of course!” Sungyeol stated. “You’ve been on three, and it’s only been four weeks. I haven’t had one yet…”

“Neither have I,” Sunggyu added. “But going on 75 percent of them is quite a feat.”

“Playing the games to the fullest, using your brain when necessary,” Baekhyun commented with a shrug. “You should be able to do that, right Sunggyu?”

“Not every challenge can be won by being smart, though,” Yerin stated.

“That’s what you say. And for all the others, you have to have luck. So good luck with that, Sungyeol.”

“Thanks, I guess. Though I really feel like I’ve just been inconspicuously insulted,” Sungyeol muttered.

“What are you doing? Let me join too, Yerin!” Chanyeol called out, and jumped into the pool with a big splash.

“Yah! Be careful big guy!” Baekhyun yelled out.

“Don’t be such a , it’s just water anyway,” Sungyeol muttered.

---

“So, were we too loud?” Myungsoo’s voice mad Dia look up from her book. After leaving the library, she had found herself an empty room to continue reading her book.

“I couldn’t focus on my book there,” the girl admitted, though it hadn’t been because he and Seulyi had been loud. Seeing them so close together had made her quite jealous, and she would have just been looking at them instead of her book had she stayed there.

“You could have just ask us to be a bit quieter, instead of leaving?” the boy suggested.

“You seemed to be having fun, I didn’t want to interrupt.” It was a lie and she knew it. She did want to interrupt them. More than anything. But that wouldn’t be fair. She knew Seulyi liked the boy. So forcing herself between them just felt wrong to her.

“It was fun,”Myungsoo agreed. Instead of replying, the girl went back to her book.

“So you don’t mind if I get close with Seulyi?”

“Why would I? I’m sure she’d be happy with that,” as she shrugged, she wanted to slap herself for lying so much. She would mind. In fact, she would mind a lot.  

“Do you realize you always play with your rings when you’re lying?” Myungsoo commented with a smirk.

“I… what?” she looked down at her hands, and like he had said, her thumbs were twirling her rings around her fingers.

“I also do that when I’m nervous, though.”

“So you’re nervous now?”

“How would you even know I did that?” Dia tried to shift the topic as soon as she found a possibility to do so.

“The same way I know you actually like me.” His voice sounded more confident than he himself was feeling at that moment. The girl tried to find words to deny what he had just said, but she could feel herself blushing and knew he wouldn’t believe her now anyway.

“Which is how…?” she ended up mumbling.

“I was sure you were going to deny it again.”

“Guess you don’t know me as well as you think. So how?”

“Maybe I’ve been paying attention to you as well.”

“Why?”

“Are you really this clueless?”

She looked him in the eyes now.

“Just scared of overthinking.”

“I like you too.”

---

“We have an attic too?” Woohyun muttered as he walked up some rather shabby looking stairs. They looked completely out of place in this luxurious villa, but the were there nonetheless.

The attic was large, with a random large bed put into one corner.

“I so know why they put this there. Privacy and all~” He looked around some more, wondering what other surprises this hidden attic would bring.  

“Seriously? I can’t even get some peace and quiet here?”

The sudden outburst startled him, and it was only then he noticed Seong Yeon, sitting on one of the beams of the attic.

“What the heck are you doing there?” Woohyun exclaimed.

“Hiding from the rest of you. Didn’t work apparently,” she commented dryly.

“So, you knew about this attic?”

“No, I just randomly teleported up here this morning.”

“...Maybe next time you can teleport to me.” Her reply had caught him off guard a little, but he managed to roll with it anyway.

“I don’t have to, since you come find me anyway,” she pointed out.

“Have you been coming here a lot?”

“Not that much. I’ve only found this place a few days ago. And since I always get interrupted during alone time in this place, I figured this could be my secret.”

“How about we just make it our secret then?” Woohyun suggested with a cheeky smile.

---

“Shouldn’t you be with Kimmi?” Elea asked Mark when she literally ran into him in the garden.

“It’s not like we’re always together, why do people keep saying that?” the boy commented.

“Maybe because you are?” the girl asked.

“You seem to be with Hoya a lot, shouldn’t you be with him then?” Mark countered.

“That’s not even remotely similar though.”

“To me it is. Besides, we’re still trying to find our perfect matches right? Until I get a confirmed match, I don’t think I want to fall in love. It only brings trouble if we’re not a match.”

“So you’re open to anyone now?”

“That’s the game in the first place, right? Maybe Woohyun was right, and we are all playing it wrong…”

“You wanna go with Jaelyn’s way and try us all?” Elea frowned. “I don’t think that’s the way to go though.”

“But we don’t know, right? We just don’t know how to figure this out.”

---

Hyun Mi had been looking for Woohyun for most of the afternoon now, and she couldn’t imagine where he could be. She had found Hee-Jin and Xiumin watching their movie, Hoya and JB talking about whatever and Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sunggyu, Yerin and Sungyeol in the pool.  She had come across Jaelyn who had started preparing for dinner, with some help from Hye, and had seen Kimmi and Seulyi talk excitedly about something. Elea and Mark were chilling outside together, and Myungsoo and Dia were reading a book in her room. She had been everywhere she could think off. Yet there were two people she hadn’t found yet. Seong Yeon and Woohyun. While she didn’t think it was likely the two of them were somewhere together, since their personalities seem to be total opposites, it still bothered her a bit.

So when she finally spotted Woohyun just as they were called for dinner, she smiled, only to frown when indeed Seong Yeon was walking next to him.

“I’ve been looking for you!” she told him with a pout.

“I was at the attic,” he explained.

“We have an attic?” Hyun Mi exclaimed in surprise and Woohyun put a finger on her lips to silence her. He leaned forward to her ear and whispered: “We do. But it’s a secret, okay?”

---

After dinner, Jaelyn was wandering through the villa, trying to find something to do. How could a reality show be this boring? Weren’t there supposed to be producers stirring up drama? Catfights, and one night stands? This seemed like the PG rated version of a reality show instead, and there was just nothing much to do between the games. Sure, there was a library (who would want to watch people read on tv?) and a pool (but you can only swim so much on a day), and she could probably watch a movie or something, but really all those things weren’t going to help them find the perfect matches. They had to try and liven things up somehow.

“Didn’t we have this huge liquor storage?” she mumbled. What better way to start a party than with cocktails and music?

“Kimmi! Come help me make cocktails!”

“Cocktails? I have no idea how to!” the girl commented, but came over anyway.

“Neither have I,” Jaelyn said with a laugh. “But we can at least try?”

And so the girls spend some time mixing all kind of weird cocktail-like drinks, to the point where even they themselves had no idea what they would be drinking.

They then found a speaker installation, which they managed to drag outside with the help of Mark. Not long after, they had the music blasting, and slowly but surely, more people were heading towards the garden to see what was going on.

“Pool party,” Jaelyn informed them, and added: “No bailing, we did not make all these cocktails for nothing.”

“I’ll stay for the cocktails then,” Seong Yeon mumbled.

“You’re not even going to dance?” JB asked her with a grin. “Or is it like swimming, and can I convince you to join me anyway.”

“Maybe if you try real hard,” the girl countered, although she wouldn’t mind dancing with him all that much.

Hyun Mi was happy she had finally found Woohyun and was now dancing with him. She smiled when she saw her cousin dance with Xiumin as well. I hope they’ll be a perfect match as well.

“This was a seriously good idea of you,” Sungyeol complimented Jaelyn.

“I agree,” the girl nodded. “This show was getting way too dull for my liking.”

“Not much is happening yes… Other than Hyun Mi and Woohyun becoming a couple…”

“I bet they’ll edit Woohyun into a total player in the actual episodes,” Jaelyn said with a chuckle. “I mean, he’s playing the game and all, but they want an interesting show, right?”

“I don’t want to think about how they will make me seem,” Sungyeol whined softly. “That can’t be good.”

“I’m definitely going to be the ‘villain’ character, taking away all the boys,” the girl laughed.

“I think there’s no doubt about that, yes,” Sungyeol agreed.

Mark and Kimmi were also dancing together now.

“I didn’t see you all that much today,” Kimmi commented.

“I was talking with Elea for a bit. She was surprised I wasn’t with you,” he laughed.

“We’re not always together,” the girl countered and Mark nodded.

“That was exactly what I said too. Maybe we should just be together always for a while, so they’ll notice the difference.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Elea herself was now dancing with Hoya, while Seong Yeon had given into JB after all, and they were also dancing now. Seulyi was talking with Hye while drinking cocktails, while Myungsoo was dancing with Dia. Of course, Seulyi was watching the two closely.

“Is it me, or do they seem a lot closer than before,” she muttered.

“They do… Kind of,” Hye agreed. “But maybe it’s because they’re dancing together?”

“Must be it,” Seulyi agreed, thinking back to earlier that day, when she had been reading with Myungsoo. They had probably looked really close at that time as well.

“This is so much fun!” Hee-Jin exclaimed when Xiumin twirled her around, her dress spinning around her nicely.

“You’re the perfect size to do this with,” the boy smiled satisfied.

“Jeez, can’t you say something nice, rather than just comment about my size?” Hee-Jin pouted and Xiumin smiled.

“You’re perfect to dance with.”

Hee-Jin found herself blushing at his words instantly, and had to try very hard not to squeal. So to put the focus off of her (even though no one was really focussing on her) she turned to Dia and Myungsoo next to them.

“You look so cosy! Are you like, a couple now?”

Dia’s face lit up at that, and Myungsoo just nodded with a faint smile.

“I knew it!”

“Does that mean you’re a couple now too?” Dia countered, and again Hee-Jin found herself blushing and she looked to the ground. Her strategy had failed.

“We’re not… yet,” Xiumin mumbled softly next to her.

“You’re a good dancer,” Hoya complimented Elea.

“Liar. You’re just saying that,” the girl mumbled, but Hoya shook his head.

“Maybe I’m a bit better, but you’re still pretty good, you know.”

“I bet it’s just the cocktails talking,” Elea muttered dryly, but she couldn’t help but smile anyway.

The randomly mixed cocktails hit them all a bit harder than expected and soon the first people were going to their rooms. Jaelyn fell asleep on one of the lawn chairs, and Kimmi and Mark were lying in the grass together. Hyun Mi found herself waking up in Woohyun’s bed, while JB was somehow sprawled out on the floor next to them. Myungsoo was lying on the couch with Dia, and luckily, this time they didn’t find any old cucumbers.

---

“Are you ready for the next challenge?” Junmyeon asked, and added, looking at the hungover contestants in front of him: “It doesn’t quite look like you are.”

“Did I say good idea? This was the worst ever Jaelyn!” Sungyeol commented.

“I have a headache,” JB groaned.

“You better hope the challenge isn’t very sporty today!” Jaelyn giggled.

“We should not have done this before the challenge,” Hoya mumbled.

“I’m glad we get to sit,” Hee-Jin muttered, and Hyun Mi nodded.

“I’m sure you all had a lot of fun last night, but today is about the challenge for the boys. Our challenge today is called ‘Slippery as an…’”

“What kind of name is that?” Seong Yeon said.

“It’s not really going to be something with eels, is it?” Dia asked.

“That’s exactly what it is going to be. You’ll have this box with 5 eels in it. You have to get them all to another box, three meters away. The fastest three will win our romantic getaway date,” Junmyeon explained with a smile.

“We’ll be carrying eels?” Xiumin asked.

“Three meters?” Woohyun asked. “Those things are so slippery though.”

“I’d have guessed you’d be good with slippery things,” Mark commented dryly.

“Are the rules clear? Then let’s get in position,” Junmyeon continued.

The boys all lined up in front of their basins, filled with five eels each. They were swimming around the water, occasionally splashing some up.

“They look rather scary,” Elea commented. “I’m glad I’m not the one who will be touching them.”

“I don’t want to touch them either…” Woohyun mumbled.

“Ready? Set! Go!” Junmyeon called out and immediately the boys started moving. Chanyeol was the first to get hold of an eel, and ran off with it. The eels were evasive, and even just getting hold of one was quite difficult.

“What kind of challenge is this even,” Myungsoo complained as again an eel splashed out off his hands.

Xiumin was walking towards the second basin with his second eel, going at a steady pace, when suddenly it slipped from his hands, over the grass, leaving the boy running after it.

“It bit me!” Sunggyu suddenly shouted, and suddenly about half of the boys stopped dead in their tracks.

“These things bite?” Sungyeol asked hesitantly.

“Otherwise I wouldn’t be saying it, would I?” Sunggyu countered.

But while several of the boys had now slowed down their pace quite a bit, afraid of getting bitten by the eels, Hoya and JB seemed to only be speeding up, having gotten the hang of catching the eels now. It was Chanyeol however, who was the first to have moved the five eels, while Sunggyu and Myungsoo had only just managed to get their first eel to the second basin. Hoya finished just seconds before JB and thus, the winners were confirmed. However, the challenge continued, to determine the order at the match up, as well as to enjoy the struggles of the boys with the eels.

“It’s impossible to hold these things,” Woohyun commented.

“And we’ve already lost anyway,” Myungsoo added.

“Don’t give up!” Hee-Jin cheered and soon the other girls joined in, occasionally bursting out in laughter when another fish escaped.

When they were all done, Junmyeon clapped his hands.

“That’s it for today! Our winners are Chanyeol, Hoya and JB! Who will you be picking for your date?”

Chanyeol was up first: “I’ll go with Hee-Jin this time.”

“You never had to pick before though,” Xiumin mumbled.

“Alright, so Chanyeol and Hee-Jin are the first couple to go on a date. Next, Hoya. Who will be your date?”

“I’ll go with Elea,” Hoya stated, the girl’s eyes widening in surprise.

“And lastly, JB, who will you pick?”

“I’ll be going with Seong Yeon.”

“Now that the couples have been decided, this challenge is over. Please do return to the villa, and I’ll see you all again at the end of the week for the match up ceremony.”

---

Author note: Sorry this update took so long, I've been crazy busy.

Also, sorry Winny!

As for the game I totally stole it from a show called Gamushara (the 2015.04.25 episode) because it was hilarious there... I don't think it works quite as well in text though xD