Project: Cupid!

Chapter 13: The Courage Test

The filming of Project: Cupid! that day would surely prove to be hard –that was something that Im Yoona had predicted. She prepared herself and even went to the extent of practicing what kind of conversation she would be having with Donghae. After countless chants to herself (“Act normal, Yoona. He’s just Donghae. He’s just a good friend…”), Yoona’s resolve was affirmed. Ensured that she could do it, she came to set with strengthened mind and an actress determination.

The van was strolling in the night, heading from Seoul to Gapyeon –where the Roksu Valley was located. It was actually a camping ground, but for that night’s shooting, the staff had prepared additional equipments to temporarily turn what was once a camping ground into the perfect site for a courage test. Sunny was the most excited one when the staffs told them about that night’s Project Cupid’s concept.

“I’ve always wanted to do this kind of things,” Sunny told Yoona once they got off the van. “I was sick when my school held this kind of courage test, so I’m really giddy about this tonight.”

“Eunhyuk Oppa… is he afraid of ghost and all?” inquired Yoona.

“I don’t know. But I’m more concerned with Donghae Oppa, actually,” replied Sunny as they followed the staffs to the already built up big tent. “I heard that he doesn’t really like this kind of thing. Can’t blame him. With his Mystery 6’s experience and stuff. Perhaps you’ll be the man of the team this time, Yoong.”

Yoona chuckled at her friend’s comment. A female staff then approached them to give two warm drinks –since it was a pretty chilly November night. They still had to wait for the two main male stars to arrive. Super Junior also had a music performance that night and the two men could only join after their performance ended.

It was not until almost an hour later that the awaited car arrived. Donghae and Eunhyuk came out and greeted all the staffs. Cameras and lightings (the minimal amount of them, for the sake of that day’s special concept) were already prepared by then. Not wanting to waste the precious minutes, Jae Won immediately commenced the briefing.

“Donghae and Yoona will take the first courage test, while Eunhyuk and Sunny could hide first and plan…well, whatever you had in mind to scare them.”

“Be prepared,” said Hyukjae as he pointed his finger to his best friend smugly.

“Oh, and you guys must be careful too,” reminded Jae Won. “It took us a while to get the permission to film here at night. The villagers said something about a mystical urban legend.”

“Urban legend?” repeated Eunhyuk. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not entirely,” teased the PD to Eunhyuk. “Just don’t stray away too far from the staffs,” he added. He then returned his attention back to the whole team and resumed his briefing. Jae Won explained that the mission for each team was to hike up the hill to reach the designated finish line. It sounded simple enough, although of course, with the hundred millions of Won SM had invested for the project, the courage test would be conducted seriously. This meant that the teams were expected to face fake ghosts with incredible make-up, shrilling ghostly sounds from high-tech audio devices, believable properties and all.

Truth to be told, Yoona had always been rather skeptical with courage test and any attempts to scare people on screen. No matter how good the make-up and properties were, Yoona thought that they would be good for a good, stress-reliever scream, but that was all. Donghae did not seem to share the same thought, though. The guy was considerably quieter that night. Yoona would like to think that it was caused by his nervousness for the courage test rather than his awkwardness (or his anger) to her.

Anger.

To imagine that Donghae was mad at her already made her feel like she wanted to bang her head to the wall. Donghae didn’t look like he was angry, but his lack of expression was what actually making her more nervous, guilty, confused, and agitated. Yoona had never thought that a guy could make her feel so many emotions in one single instance.

Yoona sipped her warm tea again. Sunny and Eunhyuk had left with some of the staffs to hide in the hill, but Yoona was pretty glad that Jae Won and some other staffs remained in the big, open tent. It gave her reasons not to start conversation with Donghae. She did not avoid him physically (as that would remain a futile attempt), but she clearly was not in the state to engage with him more at the moment. Donghae seemed to share the same thought.

After almost half an hour passed by, Jae Won finally received the information from his staff that the courage test could be properly begun. With the cue from the PD, Yoona and Donghae stood up and walked outside the open tent in silence to start their challenge of the night.

One cameraman followed them on their track. Flashlights were not given and the only lighting they could manage was only the small light from the camera that followed them. Putting both her hands inside her jacket’s pockets, Yoona walked straight up to the slope of the hill with Donghae beside her.

As expected, their moments were passed in silence. Silent was not how she would describe the situation inside her mind though. On one hand, she was very tempted to ask Donghae how his meeting with Jessica Saturday prior had gone. But on the other hand, Yoona did not really have the courage to ask. First, though it was at minimum, the camera was still recording them. Secondly, she was not sure that she was ready to find out.

She supposed the second reason was more dominating. Lately, she thought she had become more of a coward.

“Are you two fighting or what?” huskily commented the cameraman behind. Yoona gave a slow turn to face the lens and she presented her usual smile.

“Ah, no.”

“Then… why don’t you two talk more?” the cameraman suggested.

She took the advice. Taking a deep, inaudible sigh, Yoona then turned her head to her right and asked Donghae. “You’ve been in similar courage test before, right, Oppa?”

To her relief, Donghae also seemed to agree that they had to hide their problems and performed professionally in front of the camera. “Ah, yes. After we debuted, we had this variety show with the similar courage test as the challenge. I was in charge to terrify Shindong Hyung and Sungmin Hyung though that time. So… to actually be the one tested…it’s kind of the first time.”

“Are you scared now?”

Donghae chuckled. “Well… couldn’t say that I’m really brave at the moment, that’s for sure.”

She laughed good-naturedly.

He stole a glance of her from the corner of his eyes. “You don’t really look that paranoid,” he said. “Do you actually like this kind of thing, Yoona-sshi?”

“Not really, but I don’t really oppose the idea either. Although perhaps, I’m not even close to be thrilled by the idea, like Sunny. She really likes this kind of thing. Do you watch horror movies often?”

Yoona was glad that the conversation flowed rather smoothly. It was stopped here and there by the attempts of the staffs to frighten them. She would not pretend that their attempts did not surprise her. There was one time when a fake, cold wrist-cut hand was put on her shoulders (and she gasped rather loudly), or another time when the no-face man or the “Mung Dai Jeong Shin” ran after them, and some other instances that made their dialogues cut by terrorized scream. The best part, she assumed, was when a white-dressed woman with long, black hair acting as “Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin” suddenly fell from the tree in front of them and crawled towards the Yoonhae team’s direction. Donghae shouted loudly while Yoona only laughed (she was looking at another direction when the supposedly ghost fell, so she was not as shocked as Donghae was in that scene). The awkwardness slowly melted and Yoona found herself more relaxed.

Eunhyuk and Sunny’s attempt on scaring them did not even come close to the standard of courage test. Probably it was because Eunhyuk’s blond-dyed hair just could not match well the green leaves (and the sheer light from the camera behind him made his strand of hair distinguishable), so when they finally walked out in their outfits (Sunny as the Cheo Nyeon Jeong Shin Version 2; Eunhyuk as a murdered person), the Yoonhaeteam was not that surprised.

“Aish, you two, really!” complained Sunny when she heard the laughter erupted from Yoona and Donghae.

Since Sunny and Eunhyuk were placed as the last obstacle, the finish line was reached not long after the Yoonhaeteam encountered the Eunsunteam. After the short briefing from the assistant PD and short breaks, Yoona and Donghae walked down the hill again to find their hiding spot. Although the other staffs’ hiding locations were still unknown to the Eunsunteam, the Yoonhaeteam did not have many options, as they were assigned to hide the closest from the finish line (although not necessarily at the same spot).

The Im girl tried to make herself as comfortable as she could behind the bushes. Donghae was next to her and the same cameraman that had followed them earlier was also present behind them.

“Here’s your outfit and your wig,” said the cameraman as he handed her a long, white gown and a long, straight, black wig.

Yoona eyed the costume and the wheel in her brain was turning again. She then glanced to the cameraman and asked him. “Can the staff performing as the Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin who falls from the tree be assigned here instead? There’s a tree here too, so he can hide there.”

“I suppose it’s possible. But what for?” questioned the cameraman. His hand was ready on his cell phone.

Her eyes twinkled just like the way they used to when something mischievous was on her mind. “I have a plan.”

Hiding in silence apparently proved to be more difficult than walking in silence. Conversations must be kept at a minimum level. And without the exchange of lengthy dialogues between her and Donghae, Yoona’s mind was forced to wonder to thing she did not really want to remember at the moment.

“You’re okay up there?” the cameraman behind her spoke, referring to the other staff who was already on stand-by position up in the tree above them.

The man in white gown groaned a little and fixed the position of his safety rope. “This tree is not as comfortable as the last one.”

“Sorry about that…” spoke Yoona slowly.

“Ah, it’s okay, Yoona-sshi,” he replied with a wide grin. He had been a fan of the SNSD’s Yoona for a while.

Yoona smiled back before she then returned her attention back to peep from behind the bushes. There was still no sign of the Eunsun team coming. Minutes trickled by. Other than the occasional yawn from the cameraman, they had all been in a silent situation again. Yoona was glad that she was not forced to talk to him, but on the other hand, the awkwardness was attacking her again. It had been alright moments prior when Donghae and her were the object of the courage test (because the situations around them had made it easier for them to let loose), but she supposed that the dread she had been having for the past few days was back again.

Her neck felt cramped from staying in the same position for too long. She looked to her right and left, and that was when she realized Donghae was staring at her.

She blinked.

It was only two seconds later that Donghae realized he had been caught staring at her. Averting his sight awkwardly, he then murmured, “Sorry, Yoona.”

Yoona was also momentarily stunned. She found it hard to move her tongue and to prevent the blush from spreading on her face (thank goodness it was dark). In the end, she just nodded and returned her attention back to spying behind the bushes.

A guy’s scream suddenly broke the stillness of the air. Yoona readied herself. This meant that the Eunsun team was coming closer, judging from the distance of the latest scream. She looked above to see the staff up in the tree, gave him the cue to get ready, and turned back to her own teammate. The excitement of giving pranks to Sunny and Eunhyuk made Yoona momentarily forgot of her previous awkwardness. “You’re ready?”

Donghae sighed and whispered back, “Do I really have to do this? What if she screams when we execute the plan?”

“I’ll put my hand on Sunny’s mouth and help you.”

“Alright.”

Their focuses were returned to the path in front of the bushes. Around five minutes later, the targets that they had been waiting for finally showed their first appearance. Eunhyuk and Sunny were chatting casually, discussing on the courage test itself. Yoona worriedly glanced up at the staff up in the tree one more time, but he already knew what to do.

The rope that held the Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin staff was being lowered down in one quick instance. Eunhyuk’s scream broke the stillness of the night. The drama evolved as the staff began to crawl towards the Super Junior’s Dance Machine’s direction. As Eunhyuk’s attention was clearly focused on the fake Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin (and as he frantically tried to avoid the crawling creature), Yoona and Donghae stealthily sneaked out of the bushes. Yoona clamped her hand on Sunny’s mouth, while Donghae encircled his arms around Sunny’s arms and knees to lift the girl off the ground.

The Aegyeo Queen wrestled a lot (even a guy like Donghae had difficulties restraining her), but all happened in the count of seconds. Whilst Sunny was carried back behind the bushes, Eunhyuk was still too busy running away from the Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin to even notice the sudden disappearance of his companion. Once Sunny was safely hid behind the bushes, Donghae let go of his hold around her and Yoona pulled back her hand. Sunny’s glare was immediately calmed by her dongsaeng’s words.

“This is our challenge to you. We want you to keep silent and see how worried Eunhyuk Oppa would be once he realizes that you’re missing.”

Sunny pouted and playfully hit Yoona’s shoulders. Donghae only flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Sunny-sshi,” he said as he stood up. His role was not finished. Behind the bushes, he took a shortcut up towards the hill. Pretending to come from the finish line direction, Donghae ran down the hill again until he met Eunhyuk. The blond-haired Eunhyuk was still lying flat on the ground, the Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin staff was sprawled up on him.

“Oh, Hae…” Eunhyuk murmured with labored breathing. It had been quite a struggle to avoid the fake Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin. “Help me…” he said as he extended his hand to his best friend.

The staff dressed in the white gown and long, black hair moved aside. Donghae grabbed Eunhyuk’s hand and pulled him up. “The PD thought that you two took too long and it looks like it’s going to rain soon, so he told me to fetch you two,” Donghae lied. There were too many holes in his lie, but Eunhyuk had been too tired to even think straight.

“Why didn’t you attempt on scaring me?” he asked naturally, without any suspicion going on his head.

“I was supposed to play the role of the falling Cheo Nyeo Jeong Shin, but Manager Hyung said he did not want me to fall off from the tree.”

“Yoona?”

“She played the role of the no-face Mung Dai Jeong Shin downhill.  You didn’t see her?”

Eunhyuk massaged his shoulders in a groan. “I don’t know. There were too many attempts to scare us. I must not have noticed.”

“Oh. Hey, where’s Sunny-sshi?”

“Ah, Sunny. She’s…” Eunhyuk turned around, expecting to find the petite girl behind him, but what was there was only the cameraman who had been following him all along. He frowned and asked the man behind the lens. “Sunny?”

The cameraman shrugged. “I don’t know. I was busy recording you being attacked and –“

“Sunny?!” Eunhyuk called out to the silence of the night.

Donghae pretended to look around for the sight of his female opponent. In fake worry, he shouted, “Sunny-sshi?!”

“Hae, I swear she was just behind me! She was there…” Eunhyuk’s next words were only series of mumbles. He explored the area around and anxiously called out for her name again and again. “Sunny?! Sunny, this is not funny!”

Behind the bushes, Yoona smiled triumphantly and she nudged at her unnie. “Eunhyuk Oppais seriously worried about you…”

Sunny pinched Yoona hard, but her own attention was focused on the scene out of the bushes.

Eunhyuk demanded the staff to stop the filming and to give him a flashlight. In the next second, shouting of ‘Sunny’ were heard again. The called-out girl could only lower her head in embarrassment. She heard that her teammate was telling one of the staff to call the PD and the other staffs to help him find her. Beneath her humiliation, there was something warm seeped inside Sunny’s heart. It never occurred to her that a guy (other than her families) would show that kind of genuine care for her.

The frenzied shouting continued. Eunhyuk ran towards the bushes in the opposite direction and began to call out Sunny’s name again. After ten minutes almost passed by, Sunny shook her head. “Yoong, you’re a sadist.”

The alligator-mouthed girl gave a weak smile and decided to agree with her unnie. “Yeah, probably we should stop now,” she said as she stood up and pulled Sunny up with her. They walked out of the bushes just right before Eunhyuk parted the bushes where they had been hiding. Eunhyuk’s eyes went wide as he saw the figure of his teammate. A second of confusion was present, but once he noticed Yoona, the queerness of it all dissipated. He had been bullied too often to even get angry. Relieving a long sigh, Eunhyuk did what instinct told him so and he pulled Sunny into an embrace.

Sunny was shocked. Even Yoona could not believe that it would progress to that extent.

Realizing what he was doing only few seconds after that, Eunhyuk then awkwardly let go of his embrace and muttered, “Ah, sorry, Sunny-sshi. I-I was just –“

Red colored Sunny’s face and her lips let out incoherent mutters.

Yoona stepped back from the scene. It was not her place to intervene anymore. Her eyes then landed at the smiling Donghae feets away from her. She returned the smile back. She thought that there would be pride when she found out her plan had succeeded. But looking at their awkward opponents… Yoona realized that it was not a gladness of winning a war she was feeling. It was a simple contentment – a sensation that could not be compared to the sensation of winning a competition, but a sensation that she preferred to feel more at the moment.

To be Continued

A/N:

I know you guys must have been disappointed with this chapter. Not only that I delay the Yoon-Hae-Sica's conflict, but I also focus more on EunSun. But can't help it. I start to ship EunSun in real life (especially with their similar hair now, hahaha). Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter