Chapter 9
"Matthew, are you alright?" Alice stopped Matthew from walking when she noticed that his feet had turned red
"I'm fine, this is nothing, Ms. Don," said Matthew while enduring the pain. He didn't want to hold Alice back, especially on their first day
'The hell! If I'm just an alpha, a simple fall won't cause me pain! I'm a guy, yet more fragile than a girl! I hate it!'
Alice saw him frowning and knew that he didn't want to stop, but she was worried it might get worse if they didn't take a break.
"Let's stop here. There's a bag nearby, and I'll go there to get some medicine," Alice decided on her own, knowing that Matthew wouldn't agree with her.
"Why? I can go with you. My feet are just swollen; they'll be fine later," Matthew tried to convince her.
"No, just wait here. It's better to wait for me, or it might get worse. I know you don't want to hold me back, but if you listen to me, it will help," Alice said, carefully choosing her words so Matthew wouldn't get hurt.
Matthew opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, he understood that Alice would be faster without him, so he nodded after thinking it through.
When Alice was out of his sight, he clenched his fist in anger at his weakness. He felt jealous of Alice because, despite her sweet and fragile appearance like an omega, he knew she was a strong alpha. It felt unfair, but he also knew he couldn't blame Alice; he was just jealous, and he acknowledged it within himself.
After 15 minutes, Alice came back with two bags on her shoulder. She was sweating, yet she had a big smile on her face when she saw Matthew. She couldn't contain her excitement.
"Matthew! Look! We're lucky! Aren't I great?" Alice said excitedly.
Matthew looked at her immediately upon hearing her shout. He saw her panting and sweating while carrying two bags. He immediately walked towards her
"Why are you being careless? Although you're strong, you're still a girl. Give me the other one," he said, taking the other bag from Alice without waiting for her reaction.
Alice felt disappointed, and it was written all over her face. Matthew looked at her and realized what he had done. He was jealous, but that was all. To him, Alice was still a girl, and he was angry with her for seemingly no reason.
He didn't understand why he got mad when he saw her like that, smiling despite everything. He sighed and put the bag on the ground, looked inside, and took out a bottle of water and a towel.
"Thank you for your hard work. Take a moment to drink some water and rest. You might be tired and uncomfortable," he said, then retrieved the other bag from Alice.
He placed the bottled water and towel in her hand and gently asked, "Let's name our team Lucky. What do you think, Ms. Alice?"
Alice didn't react immediately, but after a minute of reflection on Matthew's actions and words, she understood that he must have been worried about her earlier.
She felt anger rise within her, realizing that he was wrong, yet he didn't apologize. Instead, he apologized for his actions by taking care of her now. It seemed he appreciated her by naming their team Lucky.
'Being a writer helps in times like this, especially when dealing with someone like him, someone who is like a tsundere. Wait, tsundere? Maybe I should observe him more for my next story,'
Alice smiled.
"Alright, if you're fine with it," she said, initiating self-care while Matthew felt a chill down his back. He looked back, but there was nothing unusual, only Alice with an unusual smile.
Matthew thought she simply liked their team name and didn't think too much about it. He shook his head and turned to look inside the two bags they had acquired.
"We have 1 knife, inhibitors and suppression stickers, clothes, 2 sleeping bags, 2 tents, a lighter, rope, 8 bottled water, 3 canned foods, 2 mugs, and a total of 80 and 70 points for each bag," Matthew recited while examining their belongings.
"There's no medicine? Let's exchange our points," Alice suggested, still worried about Matthew's feet.
"No need, look... it looks better now and doesn't hurt. Let's just keep our points. Maybe we can use them later," Matthew reassured Alice.
Alice looked at him, and it seemed to be true, so she agreed and started setting up the tent.
'It's good that we have two tents, but I'm disappointed. How can I observe a tsundere in real life if he's in another tent? Wait... hehe, I've got an idea.'
"Matthew, do you think the others have already settled? We have two bags after all. What if the others didn't get any?" Alice began, making an effort to appear worried.
Matthew didn't doubt her concerned look since he wasn't good at observation, but the viewers watching them live could see from earlier that Alice had negative thoughts about Matthew.
They were more attentive when Alice started to speak and act, eagerly awaiting her next words.
"That's right, Team Red will be fine. Sir Kai has the experience and knows what to do. I'm sure they will be fine," Matthew expressed trust in Kai.
Alice, on the other hand, didn't like it when she heard him praise another Alpha. She felt uncomfortable and frowned for a while, but Matthew seemed oblivious to what was happening and continued, "Ms. Go will be fine with him."
"I also have experience and am very reliable when it comes to survival in the forest," Alice interjected, unable to continue listening to him.
She changed the subject after commenting,
"What I'm worried about is Team Blue. I don't want to judge Ms. Rivera, but we can't be too sure about her reliability with those rumors circulating."
"That's true. Although Ms. Rodriguez is smart and strong, if her partner isn't reliable, that's a problem," Matthew frowned.
Alice noticed it and began acting again. ' I'm sorry, Yanna. know you're not so unreliable, but right now, this is my only way. I'll apologize later '
"We should go and try to give or exchange something with them. What do you think?" Alice smoothly suggested.
Matthew nodded and then paused. "What can we exchange with them?" he asked.
"I've already finished setting up the other tent, so we can leave some of our belongings here. Then we can bring the other bag with a tent. You can also leave the other sleeping bag. Our priority is Ms. Rodriguez since she's an omega. Ms. Rivera is an Alpha with a thick skin, so she'll be fine," Alice suggested, feeling bad for Yanna.
But she knew that Matthew was a fan of Vanessa, so he would agree.
As expected, Matthew accepted her suggestion without considering that they would have only one tent and sleeping bag for themselves.