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“Hyemi, you’re so cute!” Nadine exclaims. Even though it’s clear she’s nervous, her personality comes off bright and cheerful.
Then it’s my introduction.My name is Min Sori.I cringe. I refused to listen to the recording of the radio show; watching myself is a new kind of torment.
After commercials, the TV splits into eight screens showing all the players. The next part is the game portion of the show, which I’m genuinely interested in if only to see what everyone else was up to while we were separated.
The camera pans to Hyemi first, who starts off the game in the gymnasium.
She’s clearly someone who talks when she’s nervous, speaking so quickly that the editor jokingly added subtitles.“I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared. What if I run into someone on the other team? Should I run? What if I’m caught first? Not that whoever is caught first should feel ashamed or anything. The first to lose is actually quite brave. Though still, please don’t let me be the first.”The subtitles eventually become gibberish themselves as she continues to speak at a rapid rate. The text edit reads:Is she rapping?
The episode cuts to different clips of Youngmin speeding through the school, rifling through storage closets and ending up in very odd places—one time in an air vent in the boy’s locker room.
“Youngmin-ah, what are you doing?” Jaewoo is laughing so hard he slides off the sofa to the floor.
The text beneath reads:Choi Youngmin finds hiding places that even the producers couldn’t find.
Jaewoo, Nathaniel, and Sun are all much calmer than their youngest member, though Jaewoo shares a bit of that energy, mostly running or jogging the whole time, and clearly searching for tokens.
I don’t think Sun runs even once, leisurely walking outside the school. At one point he stops to admire the flowers and explains to viewers how he had the responsibility of watering them when he was a student.Does he think he’s on a gardening show?the editor adds.
As for Nathaniel, though he keeps a fast pace, he only glances into every room he passes, covering the most territory out of everyone, but not actively searching for tokens. The text reads:Is Nathaniel on the hunt? But for what... orwhom?
“Were you going straight to tagging people out?” Jaewoo asks. “I respect your strategy.”
Nathaniel doesn’t answer, though I can feel his body tense at the question. Then the screen switches to me and I’m completely distracted.
The cafeteria. I remember the musical tune of the bell as the game started, the nervousness and excitement that raced through my veins. When the Sori on screen finds the first token, even I feel a sense of satisfaction.
“Damn, Sori,” Jaewoo says, impressed.
I wait for the camera to cut to the next person, but it remains on me.He can’t breathe if it’s zipped all the way,I say, holding the first plushie.
My cheeks go up in flames. I thought they might edit that out.A tough girl exterior but a soft interior?the text reads.Who are you, Min Sori?
“It is a cute mascot,” Jaewoo acknowledges.
Nathaniel’s gaze remains riveted to the screen.
The episodecontinuesto follow me. I check the time. I’ve officially had more screen time than everyone else in the episode. A nervous feeling flutters in my belly—will XOXO fans resent that I’ve had more screen time than the members?
The screen splits, showing my point of view as I go up the stairs and, at the same time, Nathaniel’s POV hiding from Sun in a classroom.
The camera shows Sun turning, making it appear as if he’s about to catch me down the hall.
Then a hand reaches out, grabbing my wrist. The episode cuts to commercial.
“That’s where they end it?” Nadine shouts. “I’m so mad. Whoever edited this is a genius.”
After a commercial for a popular instant coffee brand and the grand opening of a new Ferris wheel by the Han River, the Seoul Eye, the episode returns. There’s a short scuffle as I’m dragged into an empty classroom. The camera pans the room in a haywire movement before focusing on Nathaniel and me crouched closetogether on the floor.Two delinquents meeting after school,the text reads.
The camera angle switches from me to Nathaniel, focusing on his face. “Can you turn off your light?” Nathaniel asks, and then the screen goes dark.
The videofinallycuts to someone else, and it’s Jaewoo who’s already with Hyemi, the editor having removed their meeting.
“Jaewoo-seonbae found me hiding in the teachers’ office,” Hyemi says. I sneak a glance at Hyemi to see if she’s upset that she hasn’t had as much screen time, but she’s absorbed in the episode, laughing at the students who ignore Nathaniel’s dancing.
I feel embarrassed when I’m shown finding the second token. “They clearly gave me the ace edit.”
“Don’t question it, Sori,” Nadine says. “Embrace your inner variety show goddess.”
