Chapter 12: Cool for Only Three Seconds

……

……

“NO!!!!”

Deng Chao opened the eighth suitcase, only to find it empty once again. He collapsed in front of the camera, “Is there actually a real password in any of these?!”

He didn’t even know where to put his hands anymore.

Regarding this,

The cameraman following him very cheekily pointed at the lens, indicating that there was indeed a real password.

This made Deng Chao laugh out of sheer frustration.

While panting heavily as he climbed the stairs, he called out the names of his teammates, “Qingqing, Baby, where are you guys?”

“Chao-ge? Is that you, Chao-ge?”

A soft voice came from the next room.

“Baby!!”

Deng Chao was ecstatic. He scrambled up the stairs and, upon turning the corner, saw Yang Ying emerging from a classroom.

“Baby, have you seen Qingqing?” Deng Chao asked.

“No. I thought I heard Qingqing’s voice down below earlier, but when I came up to check, there was nothing there,” Yang Ying shook her head.

Deng Chao sighed. Having climbed so many flights of stairs, he was drenched in sweat and felt parched, “Is there any water here?”

“I haven’t seen any. I’ve been looking for water too,” Yang Ying said, biting her lip.

“Isn’t that it?” Deng Chao pointed excitedly at a blue water tank sitting on the floor ahead.

At this point, he couldn't care about hygiene. Deng Chao cupped the water in his hands and brought it to his mouth.

“Chao-ge, is it drinkable?” Yang Ying crouched down as well.

“It’s alright,” Deng Chao smacked his lips and said, “It’s just a bit salty. It tastes like salted soda water.”

“As long as it’s not poisonous.” Keeping her ‘tough girl’ persona in mind, Yang Ying used her small hands to scoop up some water and drank it too.

Meanwhile, above their heads,

“Jingle-ling~ Jingle-ling~”

The bells rang incessantly. A hulking, broad-shouldered black figure was hunting for his prey.

“It’s him!!”

Hidden in advance under a desk in a classroom, Gu Qing lifted a corner of the tablecloth. Once he saw the figure, his pupils constricted. He lowered his voice and said, word by word: “Kim—Jong—Kook!”

The person who had arrived was none other than the permanent member of the Korean version of *Running Man*, known as ‘The Tiger,’ Kim Jong-kook!

His muscular physique surpassed even many professional fitness trainers; he was the strongest ‘Ability User’ on the Korean *Running Man*!

“I have to avoid him.”

Gu Qing knew his own build well; the man could probably flick his arm and send him flying.

He’d shatter at the slightest touch!

Just as he was praying not to be discovered by Kim Jong-kook,

“Waaaah!!!”

A loud scream rang out.

Kim Jong-kook had found his prey. His small eyes glinted with a cold light as he lunged forward, moving with lightning speed.

“Help me!!”

Wang Zhulan was scared out of his wits.

He tried to struggle and run at first, but as Kim Jong-kook closed in, a fierce aura washed over him.

Wang Zhulan leaned back and simply lay on the ground, pleading in English, “Hello, hello, we are friends. Let me go once, please let me go once, okay?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Remembering his duty for this episode, Kim Jong-kook quickly bowed and apologized several times.

He reached out with his thick right arm, hoisted Wang Zhulan up like a little chick, and mercilessly ripped off his name tag.

“Wang Zhulan out! Wang Zhulan out! Wang Zhulan out!”

The moment the name tag fell, the broadcast echoed throughout the entire floor.

“What? Zhulan has been eliminated?!”

“Is it that ‘Bell Man’?”

Downstairs, Deng Chao and Yang Ying, as well as Li Chen and Ma Su who were wandering aimlessly, all turned pale.

“Baby, let’s split up. We need to find the password as soon as possible!”

A sense of urgent crisis made Deng Chao desperate to complete the mission.

“Okay, Chao-ge. I’ll go upstairs then.”

Yang Ying headed up the stairs.

The two parted ways to search for the password suitcases.

However, just as Yang Ying reached a new floor and hadn't taken two steps, a tightly closed classroom door suddenly swung open.

Kim Jong-kook: “……”

Yang Ying: “……”

“Yaaaaahhhhh!!!!”

The terrifying sight made a piercing scream erupt from Yang Ying’s throat, so loud it seemed capable of shattering the cobwebs in the corner.

“What a pleasant surprise.”

Having searched the room and found nothing, Kim Jong-kook hadn't expected to run into prey the moment he turned around.

Just as he prepared to rip the tag,

“Oppa~”

Yang Ying suddenly switched to an overly sweet expression, pressing her hands together under her chin, her eyelashes fluttering like a small whirlwind, “Please~ let me go, won’t you?”

She used every trick in the book to act cute.

Kim Jong-kook scratched his bronze-colored neck in embarrassment.

Even on the Korean *Running Man*, he rarely ripped off female guests' name tags.

But he had no choice; the director had given him orders not to go easy on anyone until the very end.

So…

“Sorry, sorry.”

Kim Jong-kook slowly closed in. Yang Ying, like a frail little lamb, was backed into a corner, screaming in terror.

The ‘ding’ of the elevator sounded like music from heaven.

Yang Ying caught a glimpse of the opening metal doors and saw a head poke out.

“Zheng Kai, save me!”

Hope for survival shone in Yang Ying’s eyes, her pretty face filled with surprise.

“Holy crap!”

Before the words were even out, Zheng Kai’s eyes met Kim Jong-kook’s. In a moment of sheer panic, he frantically mashed the ‘close door’ button.

“Zheng Kai, you—”

As the elevator doors closed, Yang Ying’s beautiful eyes widened as if her contact lenses were about to shatter. Her face was a mask of shock, and she stomped her foot in anger.

“Sorry.”

Kim Jong-kook was also suppressing a laugh. His fan-like hand grabbed Yang Ying’s collar with precision and speed, and just as he was about to rip the name tag,

He suddenly heard an exclamation from the VJ following behind him.

“Watch out!!”

This scene reminded Kim Jong-kook of his partner back home who loved to ambush him from time to time.

He quickly turned to the side,

A pair of bony, distinct hands grabbed his collar.

“So close!!”

Gu Qing was annoyed that he couldn't get a better grip.

But Kim Jong-kook had already reacted, swinging his body forcefully to keep his name tag out of reach.

“Qingqing!!”

Seeing who it was, Yang Ying’s eyes lit up with surprise, rising from hell back to heaven once again.

“I’ll help you rip his!”

Baby’s reaction wasn't slow either; she wanted to take the opportunity to rip the tag.

But with a low grunt, Kim Jong-kook broke free with brute force.

“Rip~”

The black short-sleeved shirt on his body was torn in two, revealing his massive pectoral muscles.

“Ew…”

This exaggerated physique made a flash of disdain cross Yang Ying’s eyes.

“……”

Kim Jong-kook, who had just been planning to go all out, blushed and hurriedly covered his chest with the fabric to avoid an indecent exposure on camera.

The tense atmosphere of battle vanished instantly.

“Hyung, here’s your shirt.”

Gu Qing took the torn shirt and handed it to the ‘Golden Tiger’ in fluent Korean.

He was actually admiring Kim Jong-kook’s physique with envy.

This was the dream body for most men!

It was simply incredibly cool!

It was just a pity,

With his own face, no matter how hard he trained, he’d at most end up looking like a ‘cold-joke version of Nezha.’

After changing clothes and preparing to fight again,

“Hyung, let’s go one by one. Can we let the lady leave first?” Gu Qing proposed.

“OK, no problem.”

Kim Jong-kook was naturally willing; he also wanted to leave a gentlemanly impression on the Chinese audience.

“Qingqing, I’m not leaving. Let’s fight together!” Yang Ying didn't want to abandon Gu Qing.

“Baby-jie, victory is what matters. You should go.” Gu Qing persuaded her patiently, suppressing his inner helplessness.

If it weren't for the constraints of his persona, he would have already pulled a ‘Zheng Kai’ and run away.

But there was no other way right now.

The camera was on him, and it had already captured Zheng Kai running away—it was a god-given opportunity, and he had no choice but to crawl out from under the table to play the ‘hero saving the beauty.’

But as for the result…

“Rip—”

As Yang Ying left, Gu Qing’s name tag was easily ripped off by Kim Jong-kook.

“Gu Qing out! Gu Qing out!”

Cool for less than three seconds!

……

……

(End of chapter)