Chapter 166: Is Minami Yuji's Charm Really That Great? (8.1k word goal achieved!) (Patreon)

A dating reality show is a fairly free-form program.

You can choose to do nothing at all and simply fade into the background.

Or, just as easily, you can choose to stand front and center, putting the "couple" image you've crafted for yourself on full display for the audience.

Both are valid choices.

But who could have guessed? Minami Yuji went and carved out a third path entirely.

Not fading into the background. Not locking himself to some actress to form a couple pairing. Instead, he built himself a straight-up Playboy persona.

That way, he could float outside the show's central drama while still being fully part of it. Convenient, to say the least. The problem was...

"This isn't looking good, Kengo," Kumano Nobuyuki, the professional dancer, finally blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer.

It really wasn't looking good. As agency rookies, they were undoubtedly meant to get their faces on screen with this show, using it as a springboard for their industry debut. But the trouble was, Minami Yuji's shine was simply too dazzling.

A whole half-day had gone by, and the cameramen, the director, practically the entire crew, were revolving around him alone.

That was bad news for the two of them. At this rate, they were shaping up to become the first- and second-fastest contestants ever eliminated from a dating reality show.

Because... standing in the roofless corridor connecting one school building to the second floor of another, Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo's eyes were fixed on one particular spot.

There, a girl with pale blond hair and a girl with black-purple hair sat together in the school courtyard. Between them sat Minami Yuji, listening and occasionally offering a word or two in response.

This dating reality show was different from any that had come before. With Minami Yuji added into the mix as a variable, the original balance of three men and three women had instantly broken down into four men and three women.

This scenario was, without question, a textbook case of too many hands reaching for too little.

And even setting aside the numbers problem entirely, Minami Yuji's arrival had produced another consequence that was anything but good news for them.

Namely — Minami Yuji had cranked up the show's whole pace way too fast!

That's right. By the usual playbook for this kind of dating variety show, the very first episode was supposed to be all about the cast easing into acquaintance with each other.

But Minami Yuji's pace was, frankly, way too fast. On day one, he'd come out swinging, skipping clean past the getting-to-know-you stages entirely.

In a manner so domineering it hadn't even occurred to them as a possibility, he'd taken total command of the entire shoot — the audience would never notice it, but the two of them could feel it plain as day.

Because the cameras were basically orbiting Minami Yuji and nothing else. By their rough count, their own combined screen time hadn't even hit three or four minutes.

Not to mention that two of the three girls were already getting cozy with him. The already lopsided odds had grown even tighter.

They did have one option, of course: simply go with the flow Minami Yuji had set, and cast themselves as comic-relief "loser dog" types — hapless guys who chase girls and never land them.

But then again—

"Wouldn't that be way too humiliating?" His mouth twitching, Kumano Nobuyuki — a blunt, straightforward guy by nature — said exactly what Morimoto Kengo beside him was thinking.

Yeah. It really would be way too humiliating.

As entertainers, sure, getting screen time and building name recognition should come first, with everything else weighed against that. But the problem was, that plan was just too humiliating.

Both of them were, in their own fields, considered promising up-and-comers — the type their backers were actively grooming for stardom. Otherwise they'd never have been picked, out of so many candidates, to appear on this show.

And yet? Once they got here, were they just supposed to concede without even putting up a fight?

Forget about being entertainers for a second. Even just as men — men with a shred of dignity — there was no way they could simply throw in the towel like that.

And they were entertainers on top of it. By their own reckoning, they weren't bad-looking at all.

Kumano Nobuyuki was a professional dancer, blunt and unaffected by nature, with an innocent, easygoing charm that already had a solid fanbase among female viewers.

As for Morimoto Kengo... well, no question there. He was his band's lead guitarist and composer.

Naturally fine-featured, he'd already won over plenty of female listeners, and the fact that he'd been picked to appear on this show was proof enough of his appeal as a man.

So yes, Minami Yuji really was formidable, seizing control of the whole situation in an instant. But they weren't exactly slouches either!

There was no reason they should just stand by and watch Minami Yuji do all the romancing while they gave up and played the comic-relief clown.

Exactly! Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo exchanged a look. Their minds were made up.

Since Minami Yuji had already cranked the show's pace up this fast, there was nothing left for them to hold back for! They'd just get out there and turn on the charm for the girls themselves!

They believed in themselves. With everything they knew about women, even up against Minami Yuji, they figured they could hold their own.

After all, this wasn't some drama or film shoot — Minami Yuji's home turf. This was a variety show! There was no reason a dancer and a professional musician couldn't read a woman's heart better than he could.

Ideas in place, the two of them headed downstairs without hesitation, ready to put their plan into action.

But before they took their first step, Kumano Nobuyuki turned back, a bright grin spreading across his face.

"What's Ritsu going to do? Come with us, why don't you?"

Right — the two of them weren't the only ones there. Another cast member, Uehara Ritsu, whom Minami Yuji had pulled aside earlier, was also there, eating lunch alone.

Being fellow rookies gave the three young men plenty to talk about, and after just a few exchanges they'd already grown close.

His lunch was simple enough — a seaweed rice ball and a pouch of energy jelly.

Right then, hearing Kumano Nobuyuki's voice, Uehara Ritsu, mid-sip on his energy jelly, glanced over at the two of them, paused, and spoke.

"I'll pass."

That made Morimoto Kengo raise an eyebrow, and he tried to talk him into it.

"Do you know what you're saying, Ritsu?" He paused. "I know you and Senior Minami might be pretty close, but if things keep going like this, he's going to steal the spotlight from all of us."

It was true — if things kept following Minami Yuji's script, forget appearing as leads on LoveforReal; it was doubtful their screen time would even break three or four minutes this episode.

That wasn't exaggeration. It was simple fact. A reality show, after all, had to keep its cameras trained on whoever generated the best material to hold the audience's attention.

In the original storyline, Akane Kurokawa's early screen time hadn't even reached ten minutes.

Given the sheer ability Minami Yuji was already showing, if they didn't put themselves forward soon, getting any camera time after this episode was going to be genuinely difficult.

Odds were they'd fade into the background entirely — the kind of contestants the editors wouldn't even bother cutting footage of.

So they really couldn't understand why Uehara Ritsu wasn't making any effort to put himself forward. To their confusion, he unexpectedly shook his head.

"That's not why I'm not going. It's not because I get along with Senior Minami."

"Uh?" Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo exchanged a glance.

If that wasn't the reason, then why wasn't he willing to go put himself out there?

Perhaps sensing their confusion, Uehara Ritsu tucked the empty energy-jelly pouch into the convenience bag beside him and spoke again.

"...This is the first time you two have met Senior Minami, isn't it?"

"Yeah." This time the two of them admitted it readily enough.

Minami Yuji's standing in the industry went all the way back to his days as a child actor — he'd always been among the very brightest stars in the business.

The two of them, meanwhile, were newcomers who'd only recently entered the industry, backed by their agencies. People like them had never had a chance to work alongside Minami Yuji — of course this was their first meeting.

"Is that so?" Hearing their answer, a look of relief settled over Uehara Ritsu's face. A faint smile touched his quietly handsome features.

"Then you'll understand soon enough why I'm not going down there to show off with you."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted downward, toward the black-haired young man at the very center of the show, and he went on, quietly, with a trace of envy in his voice.

"Senior Minami, in this industry... he's a true star among stars."

Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo left anyway. A star among stars? Please.

It was just chatting up girls, wasn't it? There was no way they'd fall short of Minami Yuji!

As far as they were concerned, Minami Yuji was nothing more than a senior who'd been in the industry a long time, racked up a lot of awards, and earned a lofty, respectable status — that was all.

So if it came down to real experience with women, guys like them still stood a good chance.

Maybe even the heavens couldn't stand watching Minami Yuji sit there alone, flanked by two girls, hogging the spotlight.

Just as Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo were coming down from upstairs, they happened to run into Akane Kurokawa and MEM, chatting and laughing together on their way to rinse their lunchboxes in the shade of the school building.

What a golden opportunity!!! Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo's eyes lit up.

It really was a golden opportunity. Their biggest rival, Minami Yuji, apparently hadn't brought his own lunch, so he wasn't around. Wasn't this a heaven-sent chance to make their move?

Ducking behind a nearby pillar, Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo traded a look first. Then they each took a deep breath, checking a mirror to smooth down their hair a little.

Once they'd confirmed they'd hit peak condition, they nodded to themselves in satisfaction. Good! Absolutely perfect!

So then — they adjusted their stride slightly, pretending they'd just casually come down from upstairs.

The two of them stepped out from behind the pillar, lifting their heads at the same moment to sell the whole "chance encounter" act.

"Oh, hey — is that... MEM-chan and Akane-chan?"

The two young men feigned surprise, calling out a greeting to MEM and Akane Kurokawa as they approached. As they greeted the girls, matching bright, youthful smiles bloomed across both their faces, practically without a beat of hesitation — exactly the kind of energetic charm young men were supposed to have.

It had to be said — Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo really were good-looking. Both stood noticeably taller than the average Japanese man.

One had the delicate, faintly made-up face of a professional dancer. The other had the rugged, masculine look distinctive of a high school senior in a band.

From any angle, their smiles were nothing short of flawless. The cameraman had even set up his camera and started filming.

Oh? They're rolling, they're rolling! Smiles already in place, Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo grinned even brighter in that moment.

Exactly! This was exactly how the show was supposed to go! Star among stars, yeah right!

See? When it came to chatting up girls, the two of them clearly had the edge!

Perfect! Ride this momentum, keep the two girls close, and rack up as much screen time as possible!

With that in mind, Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo tilted their heads down toward the two girls in front of them, ready to keep talking.

But before another word left their mouths, the smiles on their faces had already frozen solid.

Because the two girls in front of them wore only thin, purely polite smiles, their delicate brows knitting slightly, looking somehow... troubled? The naturally earnest Akane Kurokawa even took an unconscious half-step back.

And it was that one small gesture that left both Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo's expressions completely frozen.

Mainly because... what on earth was going on here?!

Both of them, who'd relied on their good looks and never once struck out with women, were stunned speechless. Genuinely stunned.

Their smiles just now should have been flawless, right? And there'd been nothing remotely harassing about it. Just a plain, simple greeting.

So what was with that look on MEM and Akane Kurokawa's faces? Troubled? Taking a step back, even?

They'd never imagined such a small gesture could hit them this hard. Without a doubt, in that moment, a sliver of doubt crept into their confidence in their own masculine charm.

"So, um... you two are headed to wash your lunchboxes, right? What a coincidence — Kengo and I were actually planning to go play basketball over that way. If you don't mind, want to walk together and chat?"

Reluctant to give up, Kumano Nobuyuki forced a smile onto his face and made one more attempt.

"Y-yeah, that's right." Morimoto Kengo caught on and chimed in.

Right. There was no way they were just going to concede like that. No matter what, they had to make a real appearance on this show!

And yet—

"Um, sorry — Kumano-kun, Morimoto-kun — MEM and I already have plans with Senior Minami. We really don't want to waste any more time, so... we're really sorry about this..."

"..." Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo watched Akane Kurokawa in front of them, hands pressed together, bowing halfway in apology.

Kumano Nobuyuki and Morimoto Kengo froze. Completely froze.

Because no matter how they looked at it, they never expected... that they... had actually just been turned down?

And turned down because of Minami Yuji, no less?

Wait, what? Hold on a second?

Was Minami Yuji's charm really that overwhelming? Did the two of them combined not even weigh as much as him alone?