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Seungmin hates it. Actually, he despises it. He should have never gotten into this situation in the first place, but his drunk friends just had to be the reason for this. Mostly Jisung.
The fact that Jisung is still walking on his two legs in broad daylight just shows how great of a friend Seungmin is.
And I wish I could say Seungmin was being dramatic and that the situation isn't as bad as it seems, but it really is that bad.
He currently is on an island filming a survival TV show.
Now, Seungmin would have declined the participation in the show when Jisung's application somehow got chosen, but the money prize seemed too good. And really how hard can it be surviving in a jungle?
Apparently, really fucking hard. Only a week had passed and the lack of shower and normal food was making him go nuts. He used to brush his teeth at least three times a day, now he wasn't even allowed to take a toothbrush or a toothpaste. He was on a brink of losing his sanity if it weren't for the cute boy who kept smiling at him every time he looked at him. Gave him a little bit of hope that he could survive a month there.
The rules of the game are fairly easy to understand. Each day there would be a quest, and after every ques,t at the end of the day, a member would be voted off. The person who stays last wins 1 billion kwon.
The quests weren't easy. Seungmin already managed to get multiple scratches around his body, eat bugs for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and almost get set on fire. With each quest, his need to jump in the ocean, which was oh so near, became bigger and bigger.
It was when the universe decided to be a matchmaker, that Seungmin for once enjoyed this stupid game.
"Alright survivors, today's challenge is to get paired up and survive the night in the jungle while having absolutely nothing to help you," said the charismatic host who Seungmin wanted to push down a cliff, lovingly.
Staying the night in the jungle was worse than doing that on the beach, there were a lot of animals and snakes and spiders and all of them could kill Seungmin in barely 10 seconds, so understandably, he was shitting his pants at the thought.
"The pairs have already been decided by the crew, so you don't have to waste your energy on that."
Of course they would do that. Seungmin didn't really mind as he didn't have any friends on the island, but he still would do anything to shit on the show.
He prayed for someone strong and with a good skill set, everything Seungmin lacked.
Of course, that quite didn't happen and instead, Seungmin got a cute boy of his dreams. Seungmin thinks his name was Felix, but he isn't quite sure.
"Hi!" Said the boy with a bright smile.
"Hey, Felix, right? You're ready to go? The sooner we get into the jungle and make a place to sleep, the better," Seungmin said already using his brain for strategy.
"Yeah, I'm Felix! And yes good thinking, let's go!" Said the boy cheerfully and it confused Seungmin a bit. How could anyone in these conditions be so happy?
"I'm Seungmin by the way," he said as they started their way to the jungle, he also had a camera in his hand. It was hard getting used to cameras at first, but he soon didn't even notice them.
"Yeah, I know! I'm pretty good with names."
"How old are you?" Seungmin asked to know if he needed to use honorifics.
"I was born in 2000!"
"Oh, we're friends then, I was also born in 2000."
There was a bit of silence and none of the boys knew what to say.
"So how did you join this show?" Seungmin asked, he was genuinely curious because Felix did not seem like a guy who would join a survival TV show, he seemed soft and gentle and sweet, not someone who willingly would eat crunchy bugs and pee in the wild.
"I kind of accidentally did it?" Seungmin cocked an eyebrow at that.
"My friend tricked me saying it was a videogame championship for a new game and well when I wanted to back off it was too late..." Felix said scratching the back of his neck as a blush crept on his cheeks.
That, made a lot of sense to Seungmin actually and made him adore the guy, except the reality had to be faced and they will not survive the night.
"Yeah, we're doomed then," Seungmin sighed, if they won't be dead by the morning, Seungmin will consider it as an amazing achievement.
"What, why?" Felix asked a bit nervously.
"I joined the show because of a very bad outing in which my drunk friend sent my application, so basically none of us have any survivor skills," Seungmin explained, maneuvering his way through the jungle.
"Oh, that's not good," Felix said, almost getting hit by a branch Seungmin was holding to get through.
"Yeah not really."
"The fact that we're still here then is already an achievement," Felix joked, trying to make the situation seem better. It didn't seem better, but it didn't stop Seungmin from laughing too.
"The rest are too busy forming alliances which is helpful, yes, but you never know when you're going to be backstabbed."
"Is that why you're more of a loner and don't talk to anyone?" Seungmin would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit hurt by Felix's words. But yeah he was a loner.
"I'm not exactly a loner," he is, "I'm just not very outgoing, I like keeping a close circle of friends."
"So a loner?"
A sigh escaped Seungmin's lips as he replied: "yes, a loner."
"Okay, what do you think we should do for our sleeping situation," after a bit more walking through the jungle, Felix asked.
"I'm thinking we put big leaves under a tree, while sleeping on the roots might be uncomfortable, at least if it starts raining, we're somewhat safe from the rain. We can also get dirt on the roots to make it flatter."
"You know, for a guy with no survival skills you have great strategic thinking!"
"Oh, uh thanks!" Seungmin was taken aback by the compliment, he forgot what those were after stepping a foot on this island, everyone fighting for themselves only to get that one billion.
They soon found a spot and started making their sleeping spot which was not easy, in fact, it was very hard. No surprises as the two boys could barely lift a stick. But contrary to popular belief, they did make it.
"Hey, that's not too bad!" Said Felix at their sleeping spot.
"Yeah, it could have been worse," Seungmin said with a proud smile.
"So, uh, dinner?" Felix asked when looking at their sleeping spot became boring.
"I saw some bananas while searching for leaves, we can get those and maybe also find something else," Seungmin said in thought.
"Sounds good to me!" Of course, it did, bananas were so much better than bugs.
They ended up eating just bananas for dinner and soon after went to sleep as it already had become late.
While they were eating they also made a bonfire to keep them warm.
Turns out the night was the most eventful part of the day.
It was loud. The crickets seemed to be everywhere and the thought of a deadly bug or an animal did not let the two sleep.
"Seungmin?" Felix whispered after two hours of them trying to sleep.
"Mhm?" Seungmin hummed.
"Can I hug you? It's quite scary and it's a bit cold too..."
At first, Seungmin was a bit dumbfounded. He himself wasn't the touchiest person, sure he was friends with Jisung whose love language was physical touch, but he still wasn't used to it.
And maybe Seungmin would have said no if it was a usual situation, but it wasn't. They were in a jungle for fucks sake!
"Yeah, sure," that's why these were the words he said. Seungmin was turned on his back so he couldn't see how a smile appeared on Felix's features, but he did feel three arms around his body and Felix's body being pressed against his back.
Wait.
Three arms?
It didn't take Seungmin long to realise what was the third arm and he soon shot up screaming and throwing a snake off his body, seeing that Felix also started screaming.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD I HATE THIS PLACE SO FUCKING MUCH," Seungmin yelled as Felix just screamed, tears rolling down his cheeks. The camera crew that was with them tried to get rid of the snake.
After the snake was nowhere to be seen, Seungmin started to calm down a bit.
"Okay, okay it's alright the snake is gone, we're alive, no one was hurt," Seungmin said mostly to himself, while Felix was still sobbing. Noticing how much it affected him, Seungmin came up to Felix and tried to calm him down instead.
"Hey, it's gone, it's alright," he said in a whisper as he wiped Felix's tears. Hearing Seungmin's soothing voice helped Felix as he started breathing more calmly.
"Let's sit near the fire, there shouldn't be any snakes sneaking up on us."
"Will you back hug me?" Felix asked with a sniff.
And he looked so soft, so scared that Seungmin's dictionary lost the word no.
"Yeah, of course, I will," He said with a sweet smile and Felix mirrored him with a similar smile.
They sat down near the fire and as Felix wanted, Seungmin back hugged him.
"You know, I'm from Australia, we have a lot of snakes there, but I'm still not used to them," Felix said after a comfortable silence engulfed them.
"I don't think snakes are something you can get used to," Seungmin said with a laugh.
"I think I was more scared of you getting hurt rather than being scared of the snake," Felix said truthfully and something in Seungmin screamed. Because no way a stranger was so nice and caring.
"That's really sweet of you."
"Me not wanting you to be dead?" Felix snorted.
"I mean you don't even know me, why would you care about me?"
Felix shrugged. "I don't know, you have been nice to me and you're funny too, I like you."
Seungmin knows it's a stupid thing to be happy about, but he can't help his cheeks getting warmer.
"Oh, thank you, I like you too," he said in a quiet voice, not used to expressing his emotions.
Since that night the two bonded, they were always seen together and Seungmin grew to really like Felix, a bit too much for his feelings to be considered platonic.
"You and Felix seem really close," said the interviewer one day as Seungmin was filming his daily interview.
"Well Felix is my only friend here, I feel like I can really trust him and he's easy to love," Seungmin replied, he didn't have to think long to answer.
"Do you love him?"
Seungmin knows his answer can be misinterpreted and that's exactly what the interviewer wants to get out of him, but he decided to be honest.
"Yes, I do love him." Because he really did, maybe not romantically yet, but Felix was the one reason Seungmin kept fighting for his place on the island. He didn't care about money anymore, he just wanted to spend time with Felix. The guy who always knew just the right way to brighten up Seungmin's mood, who always knew just the right words to make Seungmin's stomach erupt in butterflies, who could win sun in "the brightest star" competition. Felix was just so easy to love for Seungmin, he couldn't imagine it being any other way, he just wanted to always make Felix happy.
"If you won the competition, would you share your prize with him?"
Seungmin laughed at the silly question. "I would give him the whole prize if that's what he wanted."
Sadly every love story has its end.
"And the person leaving us tonight..." said the host with suspense.
There were only two people unannounced, Felix and a guy named Jeff, Seungmin didn't really like him, Jeff was a very alpha male type of guy.
Seungmin was safe and could only pray for Felix to also be safe, but sadly he knew the possibility of him staying was not big.
Today's challenge was in teams. Each team had to make a swim platform and swim around the island. He and Felix were on different teams, but he saw Felix struggling more than his other teammates.
"Is happy pill Felix, you have made this horrible island a better place, but sadly your skills failed you, you have an hour ‘til a ship will come and get you."
And there they were, the words, that Seungmin was dreading to hear, piercing his heart with an arrow. Making the heart fall apart into a million pieces and to the bottom of Seungmin's stomach. It was a heavy feeling that traveled through all of his body.
Seungmin was the first one to come up to Felix and give him a hug. He felt heartbroken, the only person he cared about on this show was leaving. He knew they could always contact after the show was over, but it still hurt. They promised each other that they would do this together, carrying on without Felix felt wrong. Seungmin's only ray of sunshine leaving felt wrong.
"I'll miss you," Felix said, returning the hug and Seungmin could hear that he was holding his tears in.
"I'll miss you too," said Seungmin with a voice crack.
"Don't cry or I'll start crying too," Felix said but it was no use as he had already started crying.
"You do know that you're the only one who made this place nice, right?"
"Yeah, you never failed to remind me that," he said with a laugh, he pulled away to look at Seungmin before continuing, "but hey, you are only five left now, you have to win!"
"Alright, I will."
There were only five more days left of the show and Seungmin knew he could do it and Felix saying that he needed to win, made him hungry for victory. He set himself a goal, if he wins then he confesses to Felix.
The last days were obviously the hardest, Felix not being there just made matters worse, but they have gone through so much already, he couldn't just give up.
Seungmin got in the finals, he and a girl named Hwayoung were the finalists. On the day of finals, every participant since the beginning of the show was on the bleachers supporting the two finalists. Which meant Felix was also in the crowd and it didn't take long for Seungmin to find him.
When their eyes met, Felix smiled brightly and gave Seungmin big thumbs up. Seungmin mirrored the smile and suddenly felt like he could do anything.
"Alright our finalists, first of all, congratulations for getting so far!" Says the host and the crowd cheers loudly.
"This is the last challenge to determine the winner and owner of one billion kwon!"
"The last challenge is an obstacle course! First, you'll need to walk through 7 meters of burning coal, then you'll have to climb a tree to retrieve your flag, Seungmin you have an orange flag, and Hwayoung you have a green one, after you have retrieved your flags, you have to run through the jungle, find the poles for the flags and put your flag on it, after the flag is put on a pole you may return, the first one to return wins, that's it!" The host says very cheerfully as if explaining a monopoly game.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes!" The finalists replied.
"Alright on three, one, two, and three!"
As the whistle was heard the two contestants ran. Running through burning coal was harder than Seungmin expected, his feet hurt so much he was basically jumping, Hwayoung didn't seem to have a different reaction, but because of how much it hurt, the two were soon done with it.
After being done with burning coal, Seungmin understood why it was there, see, climbing up a tree with burned feet was quite challenging.
His feet hurt and his whole body was getting new scratches from the tree climbing, the trees being so tall did not help. There were tears in his eyes, but as he got closer to the top, the cheers got louder and motivation filled his body.
Hwayoung seemed to be quicker than Seungmin and grabbed the flag just a bit faster than him and got the upper hand. He didn’t allow that to stop him though. As soon as he climbed down the tree with the flag in his hands, he started running as fast as he could.
Again with burning feet, running through the jungle felt like absolute hell, it took everything in his body to keep going, to remind himself that soon he will be done with this and get his one billion kwon.
It took a while for him to find the pole and with every minute that he couldn't find it, he was slowly losing his mind, but he did find the damn pole and he could almost cry out of happiness when he saw that the other pole did not have a flag on it.
He quickly put the flag on and ran out of the jungle. After running for a while he heard someone behind him, he turned his head to see that Hwayoung was a bit behind him, he was glad because that meant he was in the right direction, but he was also scared to lose, so with the last strength in his body, he quickened his pace and was soon out of the jungle.
Hwayoung was really close to him, but he still crossed the finish line first. The cheers erupted and he was engulfed in a hug before he knew what was happening, his legs were about to give up but the hug didn't allow them to.
"Congratulations Seungmin, you are the champion of “Survivor” and have won one billion kwon!"
His mind was blurry, he was so tired he couldn't grasp what was happening. But then he saw Felix and he suddenly knew what to do. He was out of the hug quickly as they had to film the ending, but he had to do something before that.
He walked up to Felix, gently cupping his cheeks, and with a tired whisper asked: "can I?"
"Yes," Felix replied with a nod and Seungmin connected their lips, feeling as if this was the best reward he could get.
"Wait what do you mean you all were staying in a fancy resort and still got a million kwon while I stayed on that horrible island??" Seungmin asked in disbelief when Felix told him how he spent the five days after being eliminated.
"Well, that is exactly what I mean..." Felix said carefully, not sure of Seungmin's reaction.
They just got at the resort the others were living in during the show filming, all of them got another week to stay there before going home.
"I can't believe this," Seungmin said as he just stood there completely bamboozled.
"C'mon let's go have some fun after the hell we went through!" Said Felix with a laugh as he dragged Seungmin inside.
"Well Felix is my only friend here..." said the TV in Seungmin's living room.
"Aaaand that is my cue to leave," he said and stood up from the sofa, but was quickly put in place by Felix who sat beside him.
"No way! You watched my confession while I was here so it's your turn!"
"I do love him." Seungmin cringed at himself, hiding his face in the crook of Felix's neck.
"Hey, Seungmin, look at me," Felix said, gently taking Seungmin's jaw in his hand.
Seungmin slowly came out of hiding with a red face, unable to look his boyfriend in the eye.
"I love you too," Felix said and leaned to seal their lips together. And Seungmin couldn't believe himself, but there was no regret joining the survival show, because he got to meet someone who filled him with so much happiness every day, he didn't think it was possible.
Seungmin put his reward money in savings, not wanting to spend it immediately. He came to spend it two years later when the two of them decided to buy a house together.