Finding Mr. Right: Episode 2
Here is the third chapter! Enjoy the first group date!
Akira awoke the next day with uneasiness in her chest. Today was the first day that the challenges would start and she had no idea what the show had planned for them. All she knew was that five of the twenty men she met were going to be randomly selected to go on a group date with her. A light knock at the door alerted her, making her roll out of bed to answer it. Her twin stood smiling at her, something clearly hidden behind her back.
“What do you have there?” she asked Noriko before she pushed her way in.
Noriko turned and presented the two piece to her sister as she answered, “I was instructed to tell my lovely sister to wear this darling swim suit under her clothes today. Your first date will take place at the beach, but you’ll be walking there with the five random guys they’ll be choosing today. You have to meet them all in the living room later this afternoon.”
Akira examined the swimsuit, thinking it wasn’t that bad. The top piece was simple being a solid ruby but the bottom piece was a gradient of the ruby color going down the ruffled skirt. It was nicely balanced between sexy and cute which pleased her greatly. The only problem was trying to stuff the bottom into a pair of shorts. After many failed attempts she decided to switch her outfit choice of a tshirt and shorts to a free flowing light pink skirt and white blouse that exposed her shoulders and collarbones.
“Well don’t you just scream womanly charms,” Noriko joked with her sister who was looking at herself carefully in the mirror.
“I feel like they purposely chose that bottom so I couldn’t wear shorts. Well at least now I look the part of a maiden looking for her knight,” Akira responded back before twirling around and then curtseying to her sister who just laughed.
The two exchanged a good laugh together before heading out the door to get some lunch in the dining room. If there was one thing she remembered it was that she would get to eat in peace with only her sister and no cameras around as per her request. She didn’t want the show to come between what little time they’d be allowed to have for sister time.
“So have you thought about which guy is your favorite already?” Noriko asked curiously as they ate their meal.
“Hmm, well I mean they all seemed decent at first glance but I don’t really have a favorite yet, I mean I’m already fond of Yuya-kun and Daichi since I knew them beforehand, but nobody instantly won me over. Though I am curious to get to know many of them better,” Akira admitted to her sister as several faces came to mind.
“I feel bad for those two already,” Noriko uttered under her breath before returning to eat.
Once the two finally finished it was about time to meet the guys in the living room. The two sisters parted ways as Akira was escorted to the living room. All twenty men were gathered together on the two long couches, sitting side by side. They were chatting amongst themselves before the room fell silent at her arrival. The hostess, Saya, arrived with cards in hand as the cameras began to roll.
“Today marks the first group date, only five of you though will attend at a time. Those drew the star shape card will you please stand up,” Saya read before pausing.
Slowly five men stood up the ones chosen being Masaki Aiba, Lee Hong Bin, Choi Jun Hong, Kitayama Hiromitsu, and the last one being Huang Zi Tao. The five moved away from the couch towards Akira, standing beside her as the hostess excused the rest to do whatever they wanted as they waited for the return of the others. Meanwhile Akira and the guys were led out of the house and down to one of the private beaches. Waiting for them was a couple photographers, confusing them all as it looked like a photo-shoot.
“Akira is known for her modeling that eventually led to her successful career as an actress. Being naturally photogenic this task challenges you guys to see if you and her fit well with her career. She’s used to having photos taken of her everywhere and anywhere, but who has what it takes to be ok with having your couple photos taken like her?” Saya announced before pointing to the nervous Hiromitsu, “Kitayama-san you’ll be first to shoot with her.”
He stood with wide eyes as he nervously played with the end of his t-shirt. He wasn’t sure if was allowed to keep it on as his heart raced uncontrollably. Akira made her way towards him and took one of his hands in her own. She smiled sweetly at him at an attempt to help him calm down just a bit.
“Don’t worry about the cameras, just walk with me naturally. You’ll be fine just holding my hand right?” she whispered to him before leading him off down the beach.
The two held hands as they walked together down the beach, the distance between them closing as Akira leaned closer to him. She knew how to act like a couple, but she could feel through his hand that he wasn’t acting. At the same time she felt like her own heart wasn’t exactly opening up since she felt like she was working. Taking a big breathe she knew she needed to force her heart open if she wanted to change her image. As the cameras snapped their pictures she turned Kitayama around and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in close to him.
Everyone was surprised especially the now flushed Kitayama who shakily put his arms around her waist. She smiled seeing the red blush on his face, thinking that this teacher was cute in his shyness. The moment didn’t last long before Akira was pulled away by one of the other men. It was Jun Hyung who playfully took her hand in his and led her towards the water.
“It’s my turn now! Let’s get wet!” he chirped as the two ran into the water.
Akira didn’t mind getting her skirt wet as the two splashed around. All of them were wearing swimming trunks with their various colored shirts, making it seem more like a natural beach date. Akira couldn’t help but laugh and go along with the younger man, feeling herself relax and really enjoy the water. It wasn’t feeling like a job as much and more like a fun outing which was exactly what she wanted. Soon the wet skirt started to feel heavy so she made her way back to the shore and quickly slipped out of the skirt and shirt to reveal the swimsuit. She didn’t notice the many looks she was getting from the other guys as they were in awe.
Before she could go back in the water she was stopped again, but with a towel being suddenly wrapped around her. When she turned around she looked up into the dimpled smile face of Hong Bin. He wasn’t wearing his shirt, showing off his good physique to her. The two were facing each other with the towel wrapped around Akira, trapping her close to him.
“It’s about time I get a chance too I hope you don’t mind the distance. We both know how to pose but I hope we can be natural together,” he whispered shyly to her before chuckling softly unable to meet eyes with her.
Akira couldn’t help but feel shy as well from his own shyness, feeling like she was trapped but in a good way. The two never looked towards the cameras or the others as they were enveloped in their own world. Akira couldn’t help herself as she ran her hands over his abs, feeling his muscles contract at a bit at the sudden touch. Hong Bin took the chance and pulled her closer, tightly wrapping his arms around her body. She looked up into his face and saw that he was no longer smiling, but seemed to be watching her closely with intense eyes. She slipped her hands up to his face, cupping it as she watched him close his eyes and smile as he leaned against her hands. She started to pull him down to her level, wanting to link their foreheads together, but they were interrupted again.
“Let’s show them something even better over here Akira!” Tao interjected as he broke up the couple, pulling Akira away.
She snapped out of the moment as she was led away, wondering to herself how she got so caught up with Hong Bin. Tao led her to the spread out blanket, laying down and pulling her down with him. He rolled onto his back and smirked at her as he patted his chest. She stared at him in confusion before he explained to her.
“You know what kind of shots look good, come here and rest on my chest,” he told her.
It finally clicked and she couldn’t help but want to tease him a bit for being so cocky. She crawled towards him slowly with a smirk of her own on her face. She could see him tense up a bit as he swallowed at the sight of her.
“I do know what looks good it’s my job to capture hearts after all. Now be a good boy and don’t get turned on having me lay on you,” she teased him as she came between his legs and rested on top of him.
“I have some self-control…” he grumbled to her before she looked up to meet eyes with him.
His heart stopped for a moment as she looked at him with a mischievous look. She tilted her head as she smiled at him, knowing how much she was driving him crazy right now. In retaliation he brought his hands onto her back and ran his fingers down her back slowly. He smiled to himself when she saw her scrunch her eyes shut as she shivered beneath his touch. When she shot open her eyes she couldn’t help but shoot him a glare that told him that the touch was unfair. He just chuckled at her pout before he felt her shifting, moving upwards on him.
“I see you like to play games,” she whispered for only his ears to hear as she moved up closer to his face.
Soon she was looming over him giving him quite the sight. Suddenly his heart stopped when she brushed his hair out of his face, exposing his forehead to her. She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on it, smiling against his skin as she lingered thinking that she had won. Then to her surprise she felt his arm wrap around her waist and flip her so that the two now switched positions. She looked up at him with big eyes having not expected him to do something like that. He looked down at her with the fire in his eyes and a slight flush to his cheeks. Before he could do anything further he was pulled off of her by one of the other men.
“Time for me to cut in,” Aiba laughed lightly before helping Akira up off the blanket.
She was still a little out of it because of Tao, but she snapped back when she felt Aiba interlace their fingers together. He smiled widely at her when she turned to look at him causing her heart to melt and calm down. The two walked slowly away from the others along the tide, letting it wet their bare feet as they talked.
“I overheard that you wanted to change your image. Why is that?” he asked.
“I just don’t want to always be the cold beauty to everyone, I want to make a good first impression based on who I really am and not the roles I played. I don’t like to lie and I feel like I am whenever I put up the façade that is ‘The Akira’ if you know what I mean,” she explained.
“I can understand that, I have this carefree idiot reputation, but when people talk about me off camera they say completely different things. My TV persona and how I really am are both me, but I don’t change how I am on TV because that’s how the viewers like me. At the same time they also know that’s different from how I am off screen, maybe you just need to set boundaries saying this is you and on screen is just a different you. Either way I hope it works out the way you want,” he replied before pausing.
Everyone watched as they stopped before everyone’s expressions changed. Aiba leaned in and planted a sweet soft kiss on Akira’s cheek causing surprise from both her and everyone else. He just smiled before bringing her along with him back to the others. Once back the two separated quickly as Akira tried to hide the blush on her face with her hands.
“Well now that the date is over we shall head back to the mansion. Tomorrow Akira will decide the two guys who she will send home. Hopefully you were able to connect with her today otherwise your journey will end tomorrow, good luck guys,” the hostess announced before the cameras turned off.
Everyone started to head back to house where everyone awaited them. Once there Akira was escorted away to another room where she was handed photos from earlier, showing her with the various guys. She looked at them carefully as per her instructions, trying to see and remember who she did and didn’t click with. When she got to the pictures of her and Hong Bin she felt her heart race again. She felt like she was looking at another woman, one who was in complete love with the man in front of her. It looked as though he was trying to protect her from everything and monopolize her attention.
“We’re both great actors…did we play the part just right or was this real?” she mumbled to herself before changing the pictures.
After going through them all she knew who she had to keep and who she needed to let go. Tomorrow was the big day, the day she would start sending people home. She hoped she was making the right decision sending these two home.
Akira awoke the next day with uneasiness in her chest. Today was the first day that the challenges would start and she had no idea what the show had planned for them. All she knew was that five of the twenty men she met were going to be randomly selected to go on a group date with her. A light knock at the door alerted her, making her roll out of bed to answer it. Her twin stood smiling at her, something clearly hidden behind her back.
“What do you have there?” she asked Noriko before she pushed her way in.
Noriko turned and presented the two piece to her sister as she answered, “I was instructed to tell my lovely sister to wear this darling swim suit under her clothes today. Your first date will take place at the beach, but you’ll be walking there with the five random guys they’ll be choosing today. You have to meet them all in the living room later this afternoon.”
Akira examined the swimsuit, thinking it wasn’t that bad. The top piece was simple being a solid ruby but the bottom piece was a gradient of the ruby color going down the ruffled skirt. It was nicely balanced between sexy and cute which pleased her greatly. The only problem was trying to stuff the bottom into a pair of shorts. After many failed attempts she decided to switch her outfit choice of a tshirt and shorts to a free flowing light pink skirt and white blouse that exposed her shoulders and collarbones.
“Well don’t you just scream womanly charms,” Noriko joked with her sister who was looking at herself carefully in the mirror.
“I feel like they purposely chose that bottom so I couldn’t wear shorts. Well at least now I look the part of a maiden looking for her knight,” Akira responded back before twirling around and then curtseying to her sister who just laughed.
The two exchanged a good laugh together before heading out the door to get some lunch in the dining room. If there was one thing she remembered it was that she would get to eat in peace with only her sister and no cameras around as per her request. She didn’t want the show to come between what little time they’d be allowed to have for sister time.
“So have you thought about which guy is your favorite already?” Noriko asked curiously as they ate their meal.
“Hmm, well I mean they all seemed decent at first glance but I don’t really have a favorite yet, I mean I’m already fond of Yuya-kun and Daichi since I knew them beforehand, but nobody instantly won me over. Though I am curious to get to know many of them better,” Akira admitted to her sister as several faces came to mind.
“I feel bad for those two already,” Noriko uttered under her breath before returning to eat.
Once the two finally finished it was about time to meet the guys in the living room. The two sisters parted ways as Akira was escorted to the living room. All twenty men were gathered together on the two long couches, sitting side by side. They were chatting amongst themselves before the room fell silent at her arrival. The hostess, Saya, arrived with cards in hand as the cameras began to roll.
“Today marks the first group date, only five of you though will attend at a time. Those drew the star shape card will you please stand up,” Saya read before pausing.
Slowly five men stood up the ones chosen being Masaki Aiba, Lee Hong Bin, Choi Jun Hong, Kitayama Hiromitsu, and the last one being Huang Zi Tao. The five moved away from the couch towards Akira, standing beside her as the hostess excused the rest to do whatever they wanted as they waited for the return of the others. Meanwhile Akira and the guys were led out of the house and down to one of the private beaches. Waiting for them was a couple photographers, confusing them all as it looked like a photo-shoot.
“Akira is known for her modeling that eventually led to her successful career as an actress. Being naturally photogenic this task challenges you guys to see if you and her fit well with her career. She’s used to having photos taken of her everywhere and anywhere, but who has what it takes to be ok with having your couple photos taken like her?” Saya announced before pointing to the nervous Hiromitsu, “Kitayama-san you’ll be first to shoot with her.”
He stood with wide eyes as he nervously played with the end of his t-shirt. He wasn’t sure if was allowed to keep it on as his heart raced uncontrollably. Akira made her way towards him and took one of his hands in her own. She smiled sweetly at him at an attempt to help him calm down just a bit.
“Don’t worry about the cameras, just walk with me naturally. You’ll be fine just holding my hand right?” she whispered to him before leading him off down the beach.
The two held hands as they walked together down the beach, the distance between them closing as Akira leaned closer to him. She knew how to act like a couple, but she could feel through his hand that he wasn’t acting. At the same time she felt like her own heart wasn’t exactly opening up since she felt like she was working. Taking a big breathe she knew she needed to force her heart open if she wanted to change her image. As the cameras snapped their pictures she turned Kitayama around and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in close to him.
Everyone was surprised especially the now flushed Kitayama who shakily put his arms around her waist. She smiled seeing the red blush on his face, thinking that this teacher was cute in his shyness. The moment didn’t last long before Akira was pulled away by one of the other men. It was Jun Hyung who playfully took her hand in his and led her towards the water.
“It’s my turn now! Let’s get wet!” he chirped as the two ran into the water.
Akira didn’t mind getting her skirt wet as the two splashed around. All of them were wearing swimming trunks with their various colored shirts, making it seem more like a natural beach date. Akira couldn’t help but laugh and go along with the younger man, feeling herself relax and really enjoy the water. It wasn’t feeling like a job as much and more like a fun outing which was exactly what she wanted. Soon the wet skirt started to feel heavy so she made her way back to the shore and quickly slipped out of the skirt and shirt to reveal the swimsuit. She didn’t notice the many looks she was getting from the other guys as they were in awe.
Before she could go back in the water she was stopped again, but with a towel being suddenly wrapped around her. When she turned around she looked up into the dimpled smile face of Hong Bin. He wasn’t wearing his shirt, showing off his good physique to her. The two were facing each other with the towel wrapped around Akira, trapping her close to him.
“It’s about time I get a chance too I hope you don’t mind the distance. We both know how to pose but I hope we can be natural together,” he whispered shyly to her before chuckling softly unable to meet eyes with her.
Akira couldn’t help but feel shy as well from his own shyness, feeling like she was trapped but in a good way. The two never looked towards the cameras or the others as they were enveloped in their own world. Akira couldn’t help herself as she ran her hands over his abs, feeling his muscles contract at a bit at the sudden touch. Hong Bin took the chance and pulled her closer, tightly wrapping his arms around her body. She looked up into his face and saw that he was no longer smiling, but seemed to be watching her closely with intense eyes. She slipped her hands up to his face, cupping it as she watched him close his eyes and smile as he leaned against her hands. She started to pull him down to her level, wanting to link their foreheads together, but they were interrupted again.
“Let’s show them something even better over here Akira!” Tao interjected as he broke up the couple, pulling Akira away.
She snapped out of the moment as she was led away, wondering to herself how she got so caught up with Hong Bin. Tao led her to the spread out blanket, laying down and pulling her down with him. He rolled onto his back and smirked at her as he patted his chest. She stared at him in confusion before he explained to her.
“You know what kind of shots look good, come here and rest on my chest,” he told her.
It finally clicked and she couldn’t help but want to tease him a bit for being so cocky. She crawled towards him slowly with a smirk of her own on her face. She could see him tense up a bit as he swallowed at the sight of her.
“I do know what looks good it’s my job to capture hearts after all. Now be a good boy and don’t get turned on having me lay on you,” she teased him as she came between his legs and rested on top of him.
“I have some self-control…” he grumbled to her before she looked up to meet eyes with him.
His heart stopped for a moment as she looked at him with a mischievous look. She tilted her head as she smiled at him, knowing how much she was driving him crazy right now. In retaliation he brought his hands onto her back and ran his fingers down her back slowly. He smiled to himself when she saw her scrunch her eyes shut as she shivered beneath his touch. When she shot open her eyes she couldn’t help but shoot him a glare that told him that the touch was unfair. He just chuckled at her pout before he felt her shifting, moving upwards on him.
“I see you like to play games,” she whispered for only his ears to hear as she moved up closer to his face.
Soon she was looming over him giving him quite the sight. Suddenly his heart stopped when she brushed his hair out of his face, exposing his forehead to her. She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on it, smiling against his skin as she lingered thinking that she had won. Then to her surprise she felt his arm wrap around her waist and flip her so that the two now switched positions. She looked up at him with big eyes having not expected him to do something like that. He looked down at her with the fire in his eyes and a slight flush to his cheeks. Before he could do anything further he was pulled off of her by one of the other men.
“Time for me to cut in,” Aiba laughed lightly before helping Akira up off the blanket.
She was still a little out of it because of Tao, but she snapped back when she felt Aiba interlace their fingers together. He smiled widely at her when she turned to look at him causing her heart to melt and calm down. The two walked slowly away from the others along the tide, letting it wet their bare feet as they talked.
“I overheard that you wanted to change your image. Why is that?” he asked.
“I just don’t want to always be the cold beauty to everyone, I want to make a good first impression based on who I really am and not the roles I played. I don’t like to lie and I feel like I am whenever I put up the façade that is ‘The Akira’ if you know what I mean,” she explained.
“I can understand that, I have this carefree idiot reputation, but when people talk about me off camera they say completely different things. My TV persona and how I really am are both me, but I don’t change how I am on TV because that’s how the viewers like me. At the same time they also know that’s different from how I am off screen, maybe you just need to set boundaries saying this is you and on screen is just a different you. Either way I hope it works out the way you want,” he replied before pausing.
Everyone watched as they stopped before everyone’s expressions changed. Aiba leaned in and planted a sweet soft kiss on Akira’s cheek causing surprise from both her and everyone else. He just smiled before bringing her along with him back to the others. Once back the two separated quickly as Akira tried to hide the blush on her face with her hands.
“Well now that the date is over we shall head back to the mansion. Tomorrow Akira will decide the two guys who she will send home. Hopefully you were able to connect with her today otherwise your journey will end tomorrow, good luck guys,” the hostess announced before the cameras turned off.
Everyone started to head back to house where everyone awaited them. Once there Akira was escorted away to another room where she was handed photos from earlier, showing her with the various guys. She looked at them carefully as per her instructions, trying to see and remember who she did and didn’t click with. When she got to the pictures of her and Hong Bin she felt her heart race again. She felt like she was looking at another woman, one who was in complete love with the man in front of her. It looked as though he was trying to protect her from everything and monopolize her attention.
“We’re both great actors…did we play the part just right or was this real?” she mumbled to herself before changing the pictures.
After going through them all she knew who she had to keep and who she needed to let go. Tomorrow was the big day, the day she would start sending people home. She hoped she was making the right decision sending these two home.