Chapter 33: The Secret Rooms Open

It was an unwritten rule that the person who suggested something was the one who ended up doing it.

Since I had played the exact same hand as that person, there was no way I could avoid the loss.

Ma Won-ho and Woo Sori high-fived. Beside them, Joo Jae-hyun wore a subtle smile.

Lee Dohwa, who had also played scissors, stared down at his hand with a wistful expression. He then resignedly walked to the sink and put on the rubber gloves.

The space was too cramped for two people to wash dishes together, and only one pair of rubber gloves was available.

As he began washing dishes with practiced movements, he sensed a presence beside him.

“Dohwa, I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine.”

If only he had been caught alone, it would have been bearable. Instead, he could feel Joo Jae-hyun hovering nervously nearby.

He stubbornly ignored him and finished the dishes. After removing the rubber gloves, he glanced around and found Jae-hyun watching him from about two steps away.

“I’ll wash these.”

“…Okay.”

There was a reason why he had finished so quickly.

Joo Jae-hyun had already separated the bulky pots and pans—items Dohwa had been too distracted to notice.

He instinctively reached for the rubber gloves he had just taken off, but then, met with Jae-hyun’s resolute gaze, he slowly stepped aside.

Instead, he helped by taking the washed items one by one and arranging them neatly nearby.

“Good work, hyung.”

Looking at the sparkling clean kitchen, a sense of pride radiated from his entire face.

“You did all the work. If it happens again next time, I’ll take care of it.”

‘Next time again?’

Hearing Joo Jae-hyun’s reply, Dohwa wore a subtle expression for a moment but then let it pass.

After finishing the cleanup, he returned to the living room, where people were gathered snugly around a puzzle.

‘Have they put much together since then?’

As soon as he arrived, he peered over their shoulders to check the puzzle’s progress. He felt a slight disappointment, however, as it looked no different from when he had left.

“You must have had a lot of dishes today. Good job!”

“Sit here.”

Receiving their warm welcome, he collapsed onto the sofa, feeling all the strength drain from his body.

“When will we ever finish this?”

“Still, there was nothing here before, so this is quite a lot of progress.”

Chaeyeon-woo, with a bored expression, made it abundantly clear with his entire body that he wanted nothing to do with it.

‘But earlier, he said he wanted to try it.’

Kang Hae-il was completely detached from the puzzle, while Woo Sori and Ma Won-ho were playfully messing with the pieces. It was easy to grasp the general situation.

‘We should be doing the puzzle.’

*Ring-a-ling—*

He leaned back against the sofa, intending to rest for a bit before continuing, but a bell chimed through the living room as if to deny him even that brief respite, extinguishing any remaining will he had.

‘Around this time, a new directive always seems to arrive.’

While Woo Sori and Chaeyeon-woo had eagerly rushed out when the first directive came, they now sat still. It was Ma Won-ho, who had been playing with puzzle pieces, who got up to retrieve the directive.

Everyone had grown accustomed to receiving directives, so there was no particular reaction.

However, once they actually read the contents, it immediately piqued everyone’s interest.

[The Secret…]

[The rooms on the first floor have opened]

“The locked rooms have opened?”

The rooms on the first floor, all of which had been locked when they first entered the house.

As their daily activities were confined entirely to the second floor, Dohwa rarely ventured downstairs.

The stairs were bothersome, and there was nothing to do down there anyway.

“Let’s go check it out!”

At the news that these rooms had opened, a few couldn’t contain their curiosity and sprang to their feet. Soon, everyone rose and surged towards the rooms.

The puzzle, long ignored, was now completely forgotten.

‘…I can’t see.’

Dohwa, who had somehow ended up joining at the very back, stood on his tiptoes and craned his neck, but he was too obscured to see anything.

“Should we open them at the same time?”

“I already opened it.”

Unlike Ma Won-ho, who held a doorknob with a mischievous expression, Kang Hae-il had already opened the door on the opposite side.

As Chaeyeon-woo and Woo Sori disappeared into that room, Ma Won-ho, with a bewildered look, opened his door, allowing Dohwa to enter the room.

The first things to catch his eye upon entering were the bright wallpaper and two single-seater sofas positioned in the center.

‘What kind of place is this?’

Though basic furnishings like a table and drawers were present, a strong premonition that they would be asked to do something here raised his guard.

“There are snacks too.”

In contrast, Ma Won-ho casually sat on a sofa, checked a drawer, and immediately tore open a bag of snacks, taking a bite.

“Want some?”

“No, thanks.”

“I’m good too.”

Dohwa shook his head, and Joo Jae-hyun, who had been looking around the room with him, also declined.

Instead, seeing how comfortable Ma Won-ho looked on the sofa, Dohwa decided to sit down as well.

‘It’s so soft.’

He pulled the microfiber blanket draped over the backrest over himself, and the added comfort made it impossible to get up again.

“What’s this?”

Just then, Ma Won-ho, opening the last drawer, discovered something and leaned in. Dohwa, who had been shifting to find a more comfortable position, paused, and Joo Jae-hyun, seeing this, chuckled and asked.

“Enjoying it?”

“Absolutely.”

“You look incredibly comfortable right now.”

“Look at this.”

Dohwa, comfortably seated, had his gaze drawn to the rustling paper Ma Won-ho held out.

It seemed to have a lot written on it, but before he could properly check,

“Did you check the drawers here?”

People from the other room streamed in, filling the space.

At Woo Sori’s lively voice, Dohwa turned to look behind him and saw Kang Hae-il leaning against the wall.

‘How long has he been there?’

He readjusted his body, which had been turned awkwardly, back to its original comfortable position. Woo Sori, having approached quickly, held out another piece of paper next to Ma Won-ho.

“I just found this.”

“Is it the same as ours?”

He looked at both papers alternately, then nodded, confirming they contained the same information.

In front of them, Chaeyeon-woo, his cheeks flushed, hummed a tune as he silently explored various parts of the room.

“Take a look.”

The quiet room instantly became chaotic, and the paper was pressed into Dohwa’s hand as he sat there.

[The Secret…]

[Name the doll!]

[Free entry is permitted, with a maximum of 2 people.]

[Within the designated time, one Omega may enter at a time and answer questions freely.]

[Times will be announced via personal cell phones]

After reading, he looked up, and his gaze was immediately captivated by a large rabbit doll placed on the table directly in front of him.

“What about the other room?”

“Only the color is different from this one. From the text, it seems that’s the Alpha room, and this is the Omega room.”

“We have a rabbit doll, but they have a bear doll!”

“Ah.”

Woo Sori was stroking the rabbit doll with his hand, while Dohwa merely listened to the conversation with one ear.

“Can I go in first?”

“Ah! …What?”

Chaeyeon-woo’s face suddenly appeared right in front of Dohwa’s, making him jump in surprise.

“Why are you screaming? My ears hurt~”

Chaeyeon-woo, who had pulled away with a slight frown, now leaned his face close again, looking at Dohwa with sparkling eyes.

“I got a text. Today’s access time for the Secret Room is from 9 PM to 11 PM.”

“The Secret Room?”

“Yeah, it means this place.”

He tried to lean back as much as possible to avoid the intense gaze, but being seated on the sofa limited his movement.

“You go first.”

“Thanks~”

Only after getting the answer he wanted did Chaeyeon-woo move away, grinning widely, and asked Woo Sori the same question.

‘I must have left my phone in the living room.’

Feeling nothing in his pockets, Dohwa slumped back, completely relaxed.

“Let’s not set an order; we’ll just go in when we want.”

“If we overlap, we’ll coordinate then.”

“Hmm, I’m curious and want to go in quickly. I’ll go in right at 9 o’clock.”

While the Alphas beside them quickly decided their plan, Chaeyeon-woo and Woo Sori bickered with the rabbit doll between them.

“If you say it’s too much trouble later and want to go last, I’m not switching with you.”

“I won’t!”

Dohwa let out a wry chuckle.

Every time Woo Sori playfully teased him, Chaeyeon-woo’s eyes would narrow like this, glaring at him.

Their negotiation seemingly concluded, the next topic was the name of the rabbit doll between them.

“Tosoonie? Toto?”

“Aren’t those too cliché? How about Torang?”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s a combination of ‘tokki’ (rabbit) and ‘sarang’ (love), making Torang.”

Unlike Woo Sori, who seemed to have made up his mind and kept pushing for one name, Chaeyeon-woo was throwing out various suggestions.

“Dohwa, you decide.”

“…They all sound good to me.”

“Isn’t Torang better?”

After a fierce battle between the two, Woo Sori handed the final decision to Dohwa, and Chaeyeon-woo’s fiery gaze could be felt.

Dohwa tried to look elsewhere as he spoke, but Ma Won-ho, who was sitting next to him, chimed in, ultimately leading to ‘Torang’ being chosen.

He pointedly ignored Chaeyeon-woo, who was huffing and stroking the rabbit doll.

As a side note, the name for the bear doll in the adjacent room, Gommie, proposed by Ma Won-ho, was decided upon instantly.