Do you really need to ask?

“You sure you don’t mind if I smoke?”

Eloy shook his head. “My parents did it for years, so I’m used to it.”

King nodded and lit a cigarette. The former idol had led them to the smoking area, a few meters away from the bathrooms, and there they were now, with Eloy feeling rather confused about what they were doing there.

“Okay, so cards on the table,” King said after taking a drag, looking at Eloy with his head slightly tilted. “In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m really attracted to you. And if the feeling is mutual, tonight I’m staying in room 407 of the Pearl Star Hotel. You're welcome to visit after we're done here."

Eloy's mouth opened and closed a few times. He was half-way expecting that King suddenly said it was a prank. However, King’s gaze was intense and serious, showing that he wasn’t joking.

“Huh?” he cleverly said, causing King to smirk with amusement.

“So this is the first time that a smoking hot ex-idol has made a move on you?”

Eloy let out a nervous laugh and adjusted his glasses. “Yes, it is.” He admitted, finding it rather flattering. However, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, King, but there’s already someone I’m interested in. And even if there weren’t, I don’t think it’d be professional.”

King nodded. “I had a feeling that would be your answer, but I had to try. And yes, it’s far from being professional, but I can assure you that an affair wouldn’t stop me from being fair with the next challenge. I’ve got a lot of experience in being impartial.”

Eloy detected a hint of bitterness in King’s last statement. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The question escaped Eloy’s lips naturally, causing King to look at him with surprise before exhaling an incredulous chuckle.

“Screw it, why not. There was a member in my former band, ‘PSLoveU’, I was quite fond of. We were already close before joining the band, and got even closer, so to speak.” King took another drag and slowly let out the smoke. “No one ever knew. Not even the girlfriend he started to date at that time, who eventually became his wife while we were still involved.

Eloy’s eyes widened. “That’s the reason why you left the band?”

King snorted and shook his head. “Please, I’m not that cliché. I just reached a point where I realized I wasn’t made to be second tier. That I wanted all the attention on me when I was on stage. So, being my friend's secret lover wasn't enough anymore.”

Eloy nodded, offering King a sympathetic smile. “Well, I think that you’re doing it pretty well on your own.”

“Yes, I’d say that too.” He then clicked his tongue. “Damn, I’m losing my touch. Here I was with the intention of seducing you, and I ended up pouring out my feelings.” King smiled jokingly. “If you get tired of music at some point, you’d be a pretty good psychologist.”

Eloy chuckled in response, but before he could reply, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Ah, there you are. The others were wondering where you were so I came to check on you–”

Apparently, Eloy had been inadvertently blocking King from view during their conversation, because Genta didn't notice the idol's presence until he was right beside Eloy.

Genta looked at them alternatively, and after a few seconds, he finally spoke.

“Okay, I see you’re busy. See you later then.”

This time, Eloy detected that Genta’s casual tone sounded forced. He was still looking in Genta’s direction, trying to stop his hopes from resurfacing, when King’s voice broke through.

“Go after him.” Eloy looked at King, who now wore a knowing smile. “He’s the ‘someone’ you liked, right? Why are you still here?”

Eloy took a deep breath. King was right. He couldn’t let Genta leave like that.

“Thank you, King.”

The former idol winked at him. “That should be my line.”

Eloy smiled, nodded as a goodbye, and finally turned around to chase after Genta.

He had to pick up his pace to catch up, but putting himself on Genta’s level proved to be difficult, since Genta was walking briskly.

“Hey! Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Genta’s cut, monosyllabic answer confirmed to Eloy that he was lying.

“Are you sure? Because you looked kinda down right now.”

Genta stopped so suddenly that Eloy was about to bump into him.

“You could make this a bit easier, you know?” Genta said, half-turning to give Eloy a sharp look.

Eloy’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

Genta seemed to regret his words because he swallowed and shook his head. “Never mind. Weren’t you and King chatting? You should probably go back to him–”

“Do you think there’s something between King and me?”

Genta stopped again after taking a couple of steps, and Eloy observed Genta's hands clench briefly before he turned around.

Eloy’s heart began to race then. Because unlike when they were on the stage, Genta’s expression was anything but calm. In fact, it seemed that Genta was struggling not to snap at him.

“Look, I may not have a PhD, but I can connect the dots.” A hint of sarcasm slipped in Genta’s words, and also a disappointment that Genta didn’t manage to hide. “He hasn’t stopped flirting with you, and you had zero problems doing the ‘maybe-we’ll-end-up-kissing’ challenge with him. And I mean, I might not be a fan of the guy, but if you like him, I’ll live with it as long as he treats you right–”

“He just asked me to spend the night with him, but I turned him down. I told him there was someone else I like.”

Several emotions passed through Genta’s eyes as he assimilated what Eloy had just said: surprise, anger, relief, confusion. Until eventually, only one remained: hope.

“Someone else you like,” Genta repeated before swallowing. “Who?”

A surprised chuckle escaped Eloy when Genta made that last question seriously. He smiled fondly as he closed the distance between them.

He was clearly breaking into Genta’s personal space now, but Genta didn’t pull away. He just kept looking at Eloy, holding his breath and with his eyes shining in a hopeful way that erased Eloy’s remaining doubts.

“Do you really need to ask?” Eloy said softly, leaning in even closer.

They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, in silence, with the sound of waves and distant music mingling with the people having fun on the beach.

Honestly, Eloy wasn’t sure about who leaned in first.

But as Genta’s lips finally met his own, he couldn’t care less about it. All that mattered was that, finally, he was kissing Genta. And that it had been a while since a kiss made him feel butterflies in his stomach. Eloy realized, surprised, that maybe it was the first time he had felt this way.

Without breaking the kiss, Eloy cupped Genta’s face, gently angling it to be able to intensify the kiss. He was relieved when Genta’s reaction was to set his hands on his hips before eagerly parting his mouth, allowing him deeper access before kissing back with fervor.

After a few moments, Eloy finally released Genta’s mouth. Their gazes met, and mutual relieved laughter escaped their lips before they hugged tightly.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” Eloy confessed, still feeling his heart racing widely in his chest.

“Same,” Genta said, his hands finding their way back to Eloy's hips before they broke apart. “But are you 100% sure that you prefer dating me over King? For sure he’s more interesting than me–”

Eloy silenced Genta with another intense kiss, causing Genta to let out a new soft grunt.

“Does that answer your stupid question?” Eloy retorted, and when seeing the satisfied smirk Genta had in his face, he realized that Genta had said that just to make him react.

“Yeah, it does,” Genta sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Damn Mako. I’ll have to pay her again.”

Eloy’s eyes opened wide. “Hold on, did she bet that–”

“—we’d finally sort things out today? Yep. I really should stop betting against her if I wanna pay off that debt.”

Eloy burst into laughter. “Yes, you definitely should.” He exhaled a resigned sigh. “Dang, Elia and Cara are going to tease me to no end.”

Genta snorted softly. “Mako, Narumi and my mother won’t hold back either. So I think it’s better if we don’t tell them anything until the third challenge is over. If we just have a week to learn a flipping choreography, we should stay focused on that.”

“Good idea,” Eloy smiled happily and hugged Genta again. “I’m really happy that you lost that bet.”

Genta chuckled. “Me too,” he said, and the same happiness could be heard in his voice.