Proofreader: cesse
"Oh god, oh god, oh god, I can't believe this is happening, oh god, it feels like a dream, oh god!"
Jia Hyson weakly glares at his overly energetic and hyper excited sister. His gentle brotherly act shattered an hour ago, leaving a very grumpy silent man in its place. They had been specially picked up by a pre-arranged chauffeur from the airport, and as nice as the car is, just an hour and a half of forced sitting in an enclosed area was enough to make his carsickness act up. His muscles feel too stiff, his head hurts, his nausea makes him want to vomit... and they still had two more hours of driving to go.
Jia Hyson: 'Bebe, how many p for headache pills, motion sickness pills and muscle relaxants?'
Bebe: 'Basic medication is 30p each.'
Jia Hyson: 'You mean per box?'
Bebe: 'Per pill.'
Jia Hyson: '...' This BeBay shop is really too blackhearted!
With gritted teeth, he asks for two paracetamol pills and something to knock him out for an hour. Unfortunately, he was the type of person who couldn't sleep on a moving vehicle even if he wanted to and drowsy medication had never worked well on him so he was forced to take sleeping medicine from a more advanced world.
Bebe: 'That will be 160 p.'
Jia Hyson: Is there an item to improve body condition?
Bebe: Lowest grade items related to this cost 1050 p.
Jia Hyson: ಥ_ಥ
Even after swallowing the pills and experiencing the sweet release of unconsciousness, Jia Hyson still woke up after twenty minutes, feeling on the edge of death. He looks over to Maddy, who was playing happily on her phone, and somehow feels even worse as he compares her current constitution with his own.
Jia Hyson: 'Bebe, tell me the truth, your pills are fake right? These pills are as cheap as you, aren't they? Come closer, I promise I won't hit you too hard~'
Bebe: 'BeBay has nothing but high quality goods. However, as a token of goodwill, Bebay will provide a 50% refund for the intermediate sleeping pill.'
Despite feeling sick to the bones, once they pulled up to their destination, Jia Hyson managed to gather the strength to wipe off his sweat and put on a faint but gentle smile. Opening the car door, he steps out and quietly inhales the fresh air of the more rural area where the Miracle competition is being held. Resisting the urge to stretch his muscles, Jia Hyson keeps the door open so his sister can shuffle out, looking around with the expected shock and awe.
The building was large and held a magnificent outdoor garden, filled with herbs and edible vegetation, making the place less like an over glorified kitchen and more like a fancy mansion. Above the entrance was the logo for Home-cooked Miracle, a bright star with two clashing cooking knives and five smaller stars at the bottom. While their actual living arrangements were in a nearby separate building, this was the place where the main meat of the competition was held and therefore, dropping them off here for introductions, even before putting their bags away, was understandable.
There was also another reason. One that will be revealed once the judges appear.
For now, Jia Hyson focuses on trying not to empty the contents of his stomach on camera. Letting Maddy walk ahead of him, she exuberantly skips around, exclaiming about every little thing and looking like the very definition of youth. Many of the cameramen placed around the entrance, focused on the show's youngest contestant's lively actions, but there was no small amount of attention on Jia Hyson as well.
As they filmed Adrian, the men and women behind the camera felt almost blinded by his beauty. Such long and well proportioned limbs, slim waist, delicate yet defined features and that soft looking smiling expression, framed by even softer looking blonde curls! As his gaze moves from the young girl toward the building, they could see his pale pink lower lip being slightly bitten as his already beautiful jade skin whitens even more, making him look vulnerable and pitiful. Everyone watching felt moved and wanted to go over there to reassure him. Clearly, this gorgeous young man is merely putting on a strong front for the other contestant's sake and is actually even more nervous than the young girl seemed to be. Who knows what he must be thinking right now?
Jia Hyson: 'Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke, f*cking cars, don't puke, just take in the fresh air and, and, ugh, want to puke.'
Noticing how the cameras were all pointed at his face, Jia Hyson fearfully imagines how horribly pale and apathetic he must look right now when compared to Maddy who was... delightedly gawking at an apple tree. Helplessly, his smile returns as he watches this silly girl and walks toward her. Because of his soft knees and stiff muscles, unknowingly, his walking gait compensated with lazy, swaying movements that pulled attention to his lithe body and pert ass, turning his elegant allure into something more seductive and sexy. Even the people with cameras waiting for the next pair of participants couldn't help but drift toward Adrian's swaying hips, completely missing the oncoming car.
To add more drama in the first episode, other than the 'randomly assigned' pairings in each vehicle, the other contestants will not be able to meet anybody else before entering the building. Knowing this, Jia Hyson quickly catches sight of a few network employees gesturing for them to leave as the other car approaches, and gently prods Maddy to take a step back and follow him. A little embarrassed by her childishness being revealed on camera, she quickly agrees, boldly holding his hand and racing toward the entrance.
Of course, because it wasn't exactly subtle, everyone caught sight of the almost natural hand holding, and speculations filled their gossip loving hearts. Despite leaving the garden in an abrupt manner, they weren't fast enough, and a pair of piercing dark eyes from the inside of the car, stared expressionlessly at where the two people joined by the hands had gone.
....
Once they entered the building, they saw the familiar large open space room that they had often seen on television. Two columns of ten stainless steel kitchen benches equipped with stoves and ovens were evenly placed, with a table on a podium at the very front of the room and on the left and right sides, there were sliding doors that’s connected to two pantries with the amount of food stored inside, comparable to a small grocery store. However, unlike the usual scene on Home-cooked Miracle, there was a large wall sitting between the two columns of benches.
"Adrian, look! There's a sign!" Maddy squeals.
Jia Hyson rolls his eyes and ruffles her head fondly, making her pout. He reads aloud, "A pair of lovers, tied by fate, separated by a wall, if one falls down the other must also kneel on the dirt and share their pain."
"What does that mean?" Maddy says puzzled.
"Well, tied by fate is most likely how we were put into pairs when riding in the car. I suppose now we have to go our separate ways?" Jia Hyson theorizes, pretending to be just as surprised as well. Of course, with the knowledge of the world's plot, how could he not know about this all important first round?
First, the contestants will be paired up in interesting combinations and forced to endure a three hour and a half car ride together. With hidden cameras, the interaction between the two will be recorded, and whether they get along well or fight like cats and dogs, they will separate once they enter the building. Once the two groups are established, they will fight amongst each other to avoid being the bottom eight- who will go straight into an elimination round.
However, the twist is, if a person from one side fails, the other half of the pair on the other side will automatically fail too. No exceptions. Even if they won first place, if their partner is incompetent, they will inevitably be dragged down into elimination hell. It was a ruthless first round made to cull the numbers down and sprout the seeds for drama within the group. Really, if the author hadn't caught sperm in their brain three rounds into the competition, this would have been an amazing story.
Originally, Maddy was paired with her one friend in the show. While she had gotten third place, her rather meek friend ruined her dish due to nervousness, getting flustered by the time limit, the cameras and the atmosphere, causing them both to go into elimination. Jia Hyson, while strongly wanting to follow this part of the story well, was deeply unwilling to sabotage and let down his dear sister leaving him in a dilemma.
Bebe: (◞‸ლ)
Bidding each other a goodbye and good luck, Maddy went to the right and Jia Hyson to the left. An arrow pointing toward the food storage area prompted him to enter. That way, they really wouldn't be able to catch sight of their rivals on the opposite side. Inside, other than an assortment of ingredients, was about nine people smiling awkwardly together. Since there are supposed to be about thirty six contestants, there are at least seven more left after him before it starts.
With a shy smile, Jia Hyson awkwardly waves at the group, "Hello, I am Adrian Marshall," he greets politely. "It's very nice to meet all of you."
The group, as well as the two cameramen, all stared at him with stunned expressions. Suddenly, a male god has descended! Even if the face wasn't familiar, the name was. Wasn't this the popular young model and actor- Adrian Marshall? Didn't he just play a supporting lead role in a big blockbuster movie? Wasn't he in that popular daytime drama a while back? Didn't they see him in a magazine? So handsome ah! How is he better looking in person?! No wait, what is he even doing here?! ⊙▃⊙
Seeing that no one replied back to him, after a minute Jia Hyson puts on a sad and very pitiable hurt expression before wandering off to familiarize himself with the storage space while snickering in his heart. Of course, with his beautiful face and inherently gentle demeanor, this look of sadness immediately pierced everyone's hearts making them feel very guilty, especially the mothers and fathers. What celebrity? All they can see is a sweet, polite but lonely child who had tried to reach out only to be slapped away by his own fame.
With such nonsense in mind, many took the initiative to go over to speak with Jia Hyson. Even the ones who were not moved followed, attracted by his fame and looks as well as being unwilling to look unsympathetic so early on in the show. After all, this show was so popular, it was watched globally, there were few people thick skinned enough to endure the world's hate. Of course, there were many that were stupid enough to provoke it.
And how could this dog blooded smut story not have two or three of those? Eddie Walker was one of them. Instead of crowding Adrian, he stayed put and sneered at the cameraman that had stayed back to film the loner. "Tch, getting teary eyed just because no one will say hello back. Who cares if he's famous? Such a sissy won't last a day in this kitchen."
There was also Shirley Pattinson and Harley Malone in his group. These two, as well as four other girls, can be summed up into one of the two groups- Poisonous White Lotus and Bullying Backstabbing B*tches. These two were in the latter group. Jia Hyson couldn't hide how uncomfortable he was by the shameless bold flirting the pair were doing as they forcefully clung onto his arms, mashing their breasts against them while fluttering their eyelashes and asking about his job. They were almost comically shameless. His helpless look was very adorable and a few of the more sensible participants tried to help him dislodge the poisonous parasites. However, they could only back away with red faces as the women spat terribly rude and disgusting insults at them.
Really, it was like they couldn't have been written to be anymore hateful and annoying.
Once their true selves were quickly revealed, Jia Hyson made a face of disgust. Finally getting the excuse to throw them roughly off without looking abusive, he goes to comfort a particularly hurt older woman while the rest of the group follows, not wanting to associate with these venomous people. The pair of girls immediately try to wash away their blackened selves by blaming the other, causing them to fight and separate into different corners of the room.
This is what the next contestant was greeted with- three people standing with ugly faces in the corner of the room while a small lively group were chatting warmly in the last corner. In the middle of the small group was a very handsome man. What fool would not go over there? This pattern continued on until everyone who was supposed to be there was there.
Jia Hyson looked at his group with some satisfaction. While some of the people in this group had changed a little, the important ones still stayed in the same groups. On his side, he has the bullies, Shirley and Harley, the chauvinist pigs, Eddie Walker and James Cartwell, the womanizing scum, Daniel Green, a white lotus named Charlotte Stevens, and the meek friend, Anne Brooks. This meant that Maddy had the male lead Drake, two white lotus called Milly Trainor and Susan Bee and another bully, the friendly joker, Eric Jones and the love rivals, Lex Grey and Ryan Powers.
...Wasn't his group a little too terrible?
Luckily, it also seems that he's gotten some sensible mob characters as well, and by the time the last person had entered the room with the message to come back out, Jia Hyson had successfully charmed the majority of these minor characters with his witty storytelling, beauty and the occasional name dropping. The white lotus and the womanizer especially, were taken with him while the shy Anne hovered around with a blush, dusting her cheeks every time she glanced at Jia Hyson. Even the crew were entranced, the ones assigned to look over the sulking cannon fodder couldn't help but look longingly at the cheerful corner of the pantry as they hated their blocks of iron that refused to turn to steel.
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