Chapter 368: Choose (11)

As soon as I saw Isaac's face, my ears started ringing. The surrounding noise became muffled, almost like I was underwater. It felt like only Isaac and I existed in this place, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

Isaac smirked at me, almost as if he could see my expression through the mask. He stood there on stage after the intro ended, not singing but just staring at me. He ignored the song and the audience, and he began to walk slowly toward me.

Panic rose within me.

‘...What? Why? What is he doing?’

A sense of fear crept over me, like a giant tidal wave slowly approaching and threatening to engulf me.

When Isaac stepped off the stage and walked up to me at the panel, I glanced around, feeling a strange sense of unease. People were still watching the stage, laughing and clapping as if nothing was amiss. Despite Isaac being right in front of me, they reacted as if he were still performing up there.

It was as if Isaac, the creator god, existed in a different realm from ours.

His casualness felt out of place. "Long time no see."

"You... you... could this be...?" I stammered, my mind racing.

Could it be that the nightmare from that day hadn’t ended? Was I still trapped in that world, being toyed with by creator god?

"Oh, no." Isaac waved his hand dismissively to deny my thoughts. "This is reality, and I came here because I wanted to see you."

"...Wasn’t our connection supposed to end that day?" Frustration and desperation laced my words.

I wished he’d stop suddenly appearing and turning my life into a fantasy movie. Haven’t I suffered enough for him to lose interest in me? But creator god shook his head, looking almost amused by my plea. "Even if you die, our connection doesn’t end. I created you, remember? Anyway, is it fun to sing and dance here? You went through all this trouble, and even regressed for something so trivial."

"What do you mean by synchronization—" I started, but he cut me off.

"Hey, time’s up. We will talk again soon."

Snap!

Creator god snapped his fingers, and the scene changed instantly.

"Wow, today’s performances are insane! I am so curious about the rankings!"

"It feels like only the best of the best are here. I was so absorbed in the songs that I couldn’t react properly."

Isaac was back on stage in the blink of an eye. He bowed to the audience like someone who just finished a perfect performance. The cast showered him with praise for his supposedly flawless stage, while the audience talked about Isaac as a new strong contender for the win. The complaints about his lack of manners were forgotten as quickly as they had arisen.

The meaningful look Isaac sent me before heading backstage confirmed that what I had just experienced wasn’t a hallucination.

***

"Today we had many exceptional performers. We saw many strong contenders for the win. What are your thoughts?" Seo Han asked as he turned to the cast. The celebrities who brought their "My Pick Singer" naturally named their own picks, while most of the other cast members named Oh Yoo-Wol, Eden, and Isaac.

Not having seen Isaac’s performance, I couldn’t understand why he was considered a top contender. If Isaac being a strong candidate was creator god’s doing, it was just another one of his tricks.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Let’s bring all the My Pick Singers to the stage!" Seo Han announced.

All the performers who competed today took the stage and lined up. Isaac stood next to me, coughing playfully. "Ahem!"

Though I couldn’t see well because of my mask, he turned his head obviously and stared at me annoyingly.

"Wow, Isaac keeps looking at Eden. He seems very interested in you, Eden," Seo Han commented with a chuckle.

Isaac had a friendly smile and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, it's my first time seeing Eden in person, so I keep looking at him. I’m a huge fan of his!"

"Haha! Really? You seem very much like a fan."

"Yes, I was so nervous about coming here because I was excited to see him!" Isaac added with an over-the-top enthusiasm that made my skin crawl.

‘

Bullshit.’

I was glad I had the mask on to hide my annoyed expression.

Seo Han smoothly moved the conversation forward. "So, can Yoo-Wol continue his winning streak this time? Or will Eden finally dethrone him? Or perhaps a new winner will emerge? Let’s find out!"

With dramatic music and lights, the atmosphere grew tense. There were eight performers on stage, but the focus was on Oh Yoo-Wol, Isaac, and me.

"Let’s reveal the rankings from fourth to eighth place!" Seo Han announced.

The screen showed the rankings up to fourth place. The spotlight dimmed on those who didn’t make it to the top. The ones still standing in the light were Oh Yoo-Wol, Isaac, and me.

"Now, let’s reveal the third place. Please, show us the result!" Seo Han’s voice boomed.

The screen displayed the third place, and it was Isaac. He turned to me with a wide grin as if sharing his joy.

‘What are you looking at? You rigged the rankings,

’ I thought bitterly.

He didn’t even sing. Someone among the contestants must have lost their chance to reappear because of him. It was absolutely disgraceful.

Then, the first and second places were announced. Despite my high expectations, I couldn’t surpass Oh Yoo-Wol. He took first place, and I was second. Although I secured a spot for the next episode, the rankings didn’t change from the previous episode.

"Congratulations to our winner, Oh Yoo-Wol! He has maintained his winning streak once again! Congratulations to Eden for second place and Isaac for third!" Seo Han cheered.

Fireworks went off from the sides of the stage to celebrate Oh Yoo-Wol's win.

Oh Yoo-Wol held a bouquet and enjoyed his victory speech. "Thank you... truly, thank you. Oh, now I can finally breathe."

Meanwhile, Isaac stealthily approached me. "We will see each other again next week, right?" He whispered.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"Why? No one can hear us with the mic off."

"Stop messing with the rankings," I warned, my voice low and dangerous.

"Messing?" he retorted.

I clamped my mouth shut. I didn't want to act chummy with him on stage. When I didn’t respond, Isaac began to poke me in the ribs, then pouted before returning to his spot.

One by one, the top three gave their speeches, and the filming wrapped up. I hurriedly bowed to the audience and dashed backstage, hoping to avoid any more interactions with Isaac.

"Eden, Eden? Wait a minute." Isaac quickly caught up with me, trying to strike up a conversation. I completely ignored him and kept walking until I reached the bathroom and finally stopped.

"What do you want? What’s your deal this time?" I snapped.

"Hey, that's a bit rude, don’t you think? But fine, I’m in a bad mood too, so I won't tell you," Isaac said and stuck his hands in his pockets before spitting at my feet and heading into a toilet stall.

I sighed, locked the bathroom door behind me, and then kicked the stall door Isaac had entered.

Bang!

"Come out. What did you mean by synchronization starting? I thought this was all over."

"I said I’m not telling you."

Something was definitely about to start again. That day’s events hadn’t been just a dream. I was getting angrier. "I said come out!"

He hadn’t run off, and he was just hiding in the stall, probably wanting me to coax him out. But there was no way I was going to do that. I kept kicking the stall door until I finally climbed up to look over.

"...Gosh, seriously. What the hell."

Inside the stall was nothing but an empty toilet. I swallowed a string of curses and left the bathroom only to find Isaac strolling past with his manager, casting me a mocking glance before disappearing.

On the way back to the dorm, I turned to the manager Reina had assigned me for my Eden activities.

"What did you think of Isaac, Manager?"

"Isaac? He is just like what you saw. Tall, handsome, with half-and-half hair."

"And really annoying!" the stylist from the back seat chimed in.

Based on their descriptions, Isaac didn’t look like creator god just to me. He looked like that to everyone. If Isaac looked exactly like the creator god, then he had to be the creator god, who had taken on a human form to come and meet me.

***

"We’ve scheduled the broadcast with Oh Yoo-Wol. They will make sure you won’t have to talk much, so don’t worry. If they ask anything too pressing, the MN team will cut it out," Tae-Seong explained.

"Got it."

"I will be monitoring from behind the scenes too," he reassured me.

A joint broadcast with Oh Yoo-Wol’s

UTube

channel had been arranged. Tae-Seong was trying to ease my worries, but I had already resigned myself to the situation. Everyone knew I was Suh Hyun-Woo, so I had promised Reina I would just respond with "No" or "I don’t know" if questions about my identity came up.

"This collaboration between the first and second place winners is sure to become a hot topic."

"Yeah, I’m sure it will be. I will be careful."

"Oh Yoo-Wol’s team is handling everything, so just prepare a greeting and look over the question sheet."

"Hey, Tae-Seong hyung, it doesn’t seem like Suh Hyun-Woo is too worried. Let’s just watch TV. It’s about to start," Goh Yoo-Joon interrupted, shoving a pot lid filled with ramen in my face. "Special treat. Have a bite."

"Just one bite? Forget it, that’s stingy. I’m not eating." I pushed away the lid and pulled the entire pot in front of me.

"Hey! That’s for everyone! You cook for yourself then!"

"You cooked six packets, didn’t you? Isn’t it for all of us?"

"Three of those were eaten by Jin-Sung!"

"Then the remaining three can be for you and me."

"Are you crazy? Two packets are mine, and the other is for Yoon-Chan who helped cook."

"But Yoon-Chan already put his chopsticks down. If we run out, I will cook more—"

Smack!

"Ow!" Goh Yoo-Joon yelped as Joo-Han smacked him hard on the back.

"Be quiet! How are you guys still fighting over this at your age? It’s embarrassing," Joo-Han grumbled.

"And how are you still hitting your juniors at your age? It hurts!" Goh Yoo-Joon protested while rubbing his back.

Joo-Han ignored him and kept his focus on the screen. "Let’s see how badly Hyun-Woo messed up the interview, shall we?"

"...."

I rubbed my back and exchanged nervous glances with Joo-Han.

Today was the day Eden’s second appearance on

Introduce My Singer

was airing. Joo-Han was keen to see just how badly I had screwed up the initial interview, which Tae-Seong had warned him about.