TO LUNCH

"AH, I just thought of something," Robin said while they were walking in the direction of where Haneul's mom parked the car. "If they had already assigned numbers to us beforehand, why couldn't they just tell us who will be performing in the morning and in the afternoon? Since they allowed those who had already finished their audition to go home, it means that we're not required to be there for the whole day. They're already being so overly efficient with the time and all of that. So, what's stopping them from being more efficient?"

This was something that crossed Haneul's mind as well. He could only think of one reason why the production team did that.

"Sorry for the long tirade," Robin continued. "I just thought about it and realized how ironic the whole situation is."

Haneul nodded, showing his understanding. "I think the production team did that because they needed a shot where all the auditionee were present. It would probably be aired during the first episode. Or Vnet's official SNS accounts might post it later."

The same would probably be done for tomorrow's audition. It's just a way to show people who were watching, or even the general public, that there's a lot of interest in this upcoming survival program.

"Oh right. That's certainly possible. Why didn't I think of that?" Robin responded, looking very amaze by the explanation he gave. "You're so smart, Haneul."

Haneul could only laugh awkwardly because of the sudden compliment.

After a while, they finally reached the parking space where his mother parked the car. He had already sent a message to his mother, telling her that there would be a one hour lunch break.

There was actually a cafe in the Olympic Hall. But both Haneul and Robin agreed that they wouldn't be satisfied with just a sandwich or a pasta. So, both of them wanted to go to a real restaurant. Besides, they noticed that most of the remaining audition participants chose to eat there. Having too many people eating in one place was certainly not good because it meant that it would also take a while for them to get their orders.

His mother was already standing beside the car, so Haneul immediately saw her. And since he had 20/20 vision, he also quickly noticed how her expression faltered when she saw Robin walking next to him.

He purposely did not mention Robin when he sent a message earlier. Because he was sure that his mother would advise him against inviting the other to join them for lunch. Although his mother's concern was reasonable, he didn't feel like Robin would try to do anything bad to him.

This was not him being biased because he had a good impression of the other from watching Boys Odyssey in his original world. Haneul just simply didn't feel any 'bad vibes' from the other.

Yes, that reason was probably nonsensical. But the life he had lived for 10 years after his family's accident kind of made him quite good at reading people. Or rather, he was forced to. If he didn't, he would be easily taken advantage of. Which actually happened a number of times at the start.

The naïve and stupid him, who didn't know anything about life, learned everything in the hard way. Those were memories he wished he could erase from his mind. But then again, those things made him stronger. He wouldn't be the person he was today if not for all those negative experiences.

Haneul shook his head. This was not the time to reminisce about those things. He put a smile on his face and led Robin to where his mother was.

"Mom, sorry for making you wait," he said when he arrived in front of his mother.

"This kid, what are you apologizing for?" his mother said in that tone that all mothers used whenever they pretend that they're angry. She then turned to Robin. "And this young man is?"

"This is Robin hyung. He's also participating in the audition like me," he said, giving a simple introduction.

Robin immediately came forward and smiled brightly at Haneul's mom. "Hello, Auntie! I'm Robin Leroux. I apologize for intruding. Haneul kindly invited me for lunch and since I'm alone right now and didn't really know anyone here, I selfishly agreed. That's why I'm sorry, because Auntie has to put up with a stranger like me."

At first, Park Eunji was just surprised that the obviously foreign young man was speaking fluent Korean. But after hearing what he said, she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. Because she did think that bringing this young man here, whom he just met, was a poor judgment on Haneul's part. Especially since the other looked very much like an Alpha.

But after hearing the young man apologized like this, she suddenly felt ashamed of her own thoughts.