You’re just a normal crew member trying to do your job on a luxury dating show. Then all nine football stars reject the official Lead and hand their roses to you. 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞. ╭─────── 🌹 ───────╮ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃: 𝟎 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔: 𝟗 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 ╰─────── 📺 ───────╯ You’re not even a freaking contestant.
Published
DAY 1 — CAMERAS ROLLING: LIVE
The villa terrace is covered in white roses, gold lighting and enough sponsorship money to bankrupt a small country. The Lead waits center stage in red while nine football stars hold the roses they are supposed to offer her.
speaks through every earpiece Rose ceremony, take one. Kaiser, you're first.
Kaiser walks forward, passes the Lead without looking at her and stops near {y/n} behind camera two.
places his rose beside you, smiling like a man about to cause a national incident This is yours.
The Lead's smile survives. Barely. Isagi stares at Kaiser's rose, then at his own. His surprise lasts one second before competition takes over.
steps out of line Seriously? Mine was for {y/n} too.
walks past both of them and adds his rose Move. You're annoying.
places his beside Rin's, visibly bored Obviously.
What does that mean?
Figure it out.
adds his rose with an easy smile At least we're being honest.
drops his beside Reo's Was gonna give it to you anyway.
places his down neatly Try not to embarrass yourselves.
You're doing the same thing.
I'm doing it better.
Shidou looks between the empty-handed Lead, the stunned crew and the growing pile. He starts laughing.
tosses his rose onto the others Okay, this show might actually be good.
Hiori is left holding the final rose while the director silently begs him to make one professional decision.
adds it with a sigh Well. Keeping this simple is officially over.
The Lead has zero roses. {y/n} has nine. Someone in the control room spits out an energy drink.
shouting through the crew channel DON'T CUT. DO NOT CUT.
Viewer numbers climb. Clips spread before Hiori has returned to his mark. Production can smell money, which is unfortunate because money is the only force capable of making this disaster look intentional. The nine men exchange looks. Whatever each thought happened with {y/n} during pre-production was clearly neither private nor uncontested. The Lead turns toward the main camera, still smiling with enough professionalism to terrify legal counsel.
Lovely. Nine roses and not one apology.
She looks toward {y/n}.
polite as a guillotine Congratulations. Apparently, you're the season now.
The live tally changes: THE LEAD — 0 ROSES 🥀 {Y/N} — 9 ROSES🌹
abandons the script Improvise.
Kaiser reaches for the nearest chair beside {y/n}.
drags it away first You already had your turn.
his smile sharpens And you're still following me, Yoichi.
Isagi doesn't sit. He plants the chair beside {y/n} and stands behind it, jaw set. Kaiser's hand closes on empty air, but he doesn't look embarrassed. He looks like a man who's just decided the first round is over and he intends to win the second.
I'm not following you. I'm making sure you don't trip over your own ego on national television.
steps closer, voice dropping to a lazy drawl Careful, Yoichi. Jealousy's not a good look for you.
The control room is screaming. Not at them. At each other, mostly, about whose fault this was.
doesn't bother looking at either of them Both of you shut up. You're blocking the shot.
He says it like the shot matters more than the two men about to kill each other, then glances at {y/n} for half a second too long before looking away.
already slouched against the terrace railing, scrolling on his phone This is a pain. Can we go inside now?
smooths a strand of hair back We're live, Nagi.
Yeah. That's why it's a pain.
to {y/n}, smile easy and practiced Sorry about all this. They're not usually this... coordinated.
deadpan They're not coordinated now.
grinning, arms crossed Nah, this is better. The Lead's already got her villain arc, Kaiser's losing his mind, and Little Striker over there's about to throw the first punch. This is the best episode they've ever filmed.
flatly You say that about everything.
Only when it's true, Sae-chan.
clasps her hands in front of her, voice carrying over the chaos with terrifying calm Gentlemen. As riveting as this is, we are still live. Unless you'd like to explain to the audience why nine professional footballers have abandoned basic conduct, perhaps we can pretend this was the plan and film the intended ceremony.
The director mouths "thank you" so hard he almost dislocates his jaw.
through earpieces Uh—yes! Yes, we're, uh, rolling with it. Everyone hold positions. Lead, stay center. Contestants, back to your marks. {y/n}, stay where you are. Don't move. You're part of the shot now.
The men return to their marks with varying degrees of reluctance. Kaiser goes last, eyes flicking to the chair Isagi claimed. The Lead turns to the camera with a smile that could cut glass.
Welcome to KICKOFF TO LOVE. Tonight's ceremony has been... unconventional. But I'm told love doesn't follow a script.
She says it like she's already drafting the lawsuit.
The camera pans across the line of nine men. None of them look at the Lead. All of them are looking somewhere just off frame, where {y/n} stands with nine roses.
frantic whisper through the crew channel Someone get me a shot of the roses. A tight one. And someone else find out who gave Kaiser permission to do that. Was anyone watching him?
The tally graphic stays up on the broadcast. The Lead has zero roses. {y/n} has nine. Somewhere in Tokyo, a network executive is either having a heart attack or buying a yacht.
The ceremony continues, sort of. The Lead reads her scripted lines about the journey ahead, about opening hearts and taking chances. Behind her, Isagi and Kaiser are still glaring at each other. Rin stares straight ahead like he's being held at gunpoint. Shidou keeps looking at {y/n} and laughing.
under his breath, just loud enough for the mic pack to catch This is already better than I expected.
to no one in particular That's one word for it.
yawns Can we eat after this? I'm hungry.
quietly I'll order something. Something expensive.
sighs We're in the middle of a live broadcast.
So? They'll edit it.
The Lead pauses. Just for a second. Her smile doesn't waver, but the look she gives the camera is pure, distilled exhaustion.
And now, we'll begin the first challenge of the season—tomorrow morning. I hope you all get some rest. It seems you'll need it.
The director calls cut. The live feed goes to commercial. For exactly three seconds, nobody moves. Then the terrace dissolves into controlled chaos. Crew members swarm to adjust lights and collect equipment. The men step off their marks, and immediately the careful line breaks apart as half of them head in the same direction—toward {y/n}.
reaches you first, still holding the chair Here. If you're going to be stuck behind camera two all night, you might as well sit down.
appears beside him, uninvited How generous, Yoichi. Did you practice that in the mirror?
Did you practice being an asshole, or does it come naturally?
Before Kaiser can answer, the Lead's voice cuts through, addressing the group with the kind of authority that comes from being the only person on set who actually signed up for this.
Gentlemen. The live portion is over. If you'd like to continue embarrassing yourselves, there are cameras everywhere. If not, production has rooms prepared.
already walking, not toward the villa but toward the edge of the terrace I don't need a room.
calls after him That wasn't a suggestion.
doesn't stop I'm going for a walk.
The director signals for someone to follow him. Two camera operators look at each other. Neither moves.
rubbing his temples Let him go. We've got enough footage to fill the whole season.
wanders past, phone out I'm going to find food.
falls into step beside him I'll make sure he doesn't fall asleep in the catering tent.
I don't need a babysitter.
You need a handler.
That leaves Kaiser, Isagi, Sae, Reo, Shidou and Hiori still lingering near {y/n}, none of them pretending to leave.
flat This is going to be exhausting.
slings an arm over Sae's shoulders Don't lie. You're already entertained.
doesn't bother shoving him off I'm not.
checks his phone, then looks at {y/n} If you're free later, I was thinking about setting up dinner somewhere quieter. Away from all this.
snorts Already moving, Mikage?
You've been moving since you walked past the Lead. Pot. Kettle.
rubs the back of his neck It's going to be a long two weeks.
gently It's been twenty minutes.
Exactly.
Somewhere in the control room, a producer is already editing the first promo. It's forty seconds of slow-motion roses, the Lead's frozen smile and a montage of nine footballers staring at the same off-camera point. The hashtag #KICKOFFTOLOVE is already trending.
One of the sound techs taps his headphones and looks over at the cluster of men still standing around {y/n}. He checks the levels. Then he checks them again.
into the crew channel, very quietly Someone's mic is still hot.
immediately Don't say a word.