TAEYANG wondered where the staff would take him. Initially, he thought it might be related to the activity they had just completed. However, if that were the case, why was he the only one being called? Maybe he had broken some rule without realizing it. He thought about it for a second and then quickly dismissed the idea. He had not done anything that would get him into trouble. So that left him even more confused.

The staff finally stopped in front of a door and knocked it twice. "I’ve brought Jung Taeyang-ssi with me."

A familiar voice answered from within. "Come in."

Taeyang recognized the voice right away. It was the PD. The staff pushed the door open, stepped aside, and held it for him. Taeyang walked in despite the confusion in his head. Behind him, the door clicked shut, leaving him there.

He looked around at what he now realized was the PD’s office. It was a modest space with a large wooden desk holding a laptop and a few stacks of papers, a couple of chairs facing the desk, and a window looking out at the sea. A shelf against the wall held binders and small awards. PD Song sat behind the desk, his expression unreadable.

The PD usually had a serious face, but this time, there was something else in his expression. Something that made Taeyang uneasy. The fact that he had been called here probably meant that this had something to do with him. But what? He honestly could not think of a single thing he had done that could get him into trouble.

PD Song looked at him and motioned toward the chair across from his desk. "Please, have a seat."

Taeyang walked over to the chair and sat down slowly, the seat creaking slightly beneath his weight. He kept his eyes on the PD. "Why did you call me here, PD-nim?"

Kyungho stared at Jung Taeyang and sighed in frustration. He couldn’t believe he was about to ask what he was about to say. He shouldn’t have let Baek Eunwoo talk him into this. But that kid had been so convincing that somehow, he ended up agreeing to something this absurd.

=====

Kyungho stared at Eunwoo, trying to process what he had just heard. "You want me to ask one of the contestants to put a temporary mark on another contestant?" His voice came out sharper than he intended. "That’s not something we can just do. It does not matter whether the Alpha agrees. I’d be an irresponsible adult if I even considered it."

"Not just any contestant, sir," Eunwoo said. "I’m talking about Jung Taeyang. He and Haneul have been close since the show began. I’ve watched them together. Taeyang is always looking out for Haneul, not in a pushy way, but in a way that shows he genuinely cares. And Haneul is comfortable around him. More comfortable than I’ve seen him with anyone else."

Kyungho wanted to dismiss it, but his mind flickered back to the footage he’d edited. The way Taeyang’s eyes followed Haneul in group shots. The way Haneul smiled when Taeyang was near. He shook his head. "That didn’t mean the two of them would be compatible."

"Then have them tested," Eunwoo said, his tone still even. "The hospital can run a compatibility check. It won’t take long. And if the results come back low, then this conversation ends. No harm done. But if they come back high, then at least you’ll know it’s a real option. You do not have to make any decisions at this time. Just let Taeyang hear the situation and let him choose whether he wants to take the test. That’s all I’m asking."

Kyungho pressed his fingers against his temples. The kid made it sound so simple. And annoyingly logical. "You’re asking me to put an Omega in a position where an Alpha might end up marking him. Do you understand how that sounds?"

"I’m asking you to give Haneul a choice," Eunwoo said. "Right now, his only options are isolation and dropping out or a random Alpha giving him a bite. At least this way, it’s someone Haneul already trusts. Someone who wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. And if Taeyang says no, then nothing changes. You lose nothing by asking."

Kyungho was quiet for a long time. He hated that the argument made sense to him. He hated even more that a part of him was already considering it. "I’ll think about it." he said finally. "But I’m not promising anything."

Eunwoo nodded. "That’s all I’m asking, sir."

=====

So after turning it over in his head for a while, this was the decision Kyungho had landed on. He would ask Jung Taeyang if he’d be willing to give Haneul a temporary mark. And now here they were, sitting across from each other, with Kyungho having no idea how to even start the conversation.

"Let’s begin this conversation," a woman’s voice said from his laptop screen. "Remember that we don’t have all the time in the world."

Kyungho glanced at his laptop screen and saw Choi Jiyeon’s face looking back at him. Given everything that had happened, he reached out to her because he knew he could not handle it alone. He really didn’t want to contact Vnet, so he went with what he saw as the lesser of two evils: Choi Jiyeon, the CEO of JH Entertainment, the agency partnered with Vnet for this show. He figured she could overrule whatever decision Vnet might try to make if they found out about the situation.

"Is that... Representative Choi?" Taeyang asked, his confusion deepening further. Why was the CEO of JH Entertainment involved in this?

Kyungho turned his laptop around so that the screen faced Jung Taeyang.

Seeing the familiar face of Choi Jiyeon on the screen, Taeyang frowned. "What’s going on? What is this about?"

"There’s a... situation," Choi Jiyeon said, her expression slightly awkward. "Please hear out PD Song first. Don’t interrupt until he’s finished explaining everything."

Taeyang turned to the PD, his expression must have said "Well? Tell me," because the PD let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"Something happened to Kang Haneul-ssi."