> **NEW PARADISE RULE: "Producers' Pick"**
That morning, the announcement came in through a glossy envelope, sealed with the show's gold logo.
The host read it aloud:
> "This time, Paradise isn't chosen by the contestants. It's chosen by the producers. Based on chemistry. Real or potential."
Every head turned.
A new kind of tension filled the room. Not romantic. Not hopeful.
**Strategic.**
Ruoxi leaned back in her chair, crossing one bare leg over the other. "So now we're b rats?"
"You're a doctor," someone muttered. "You should be used to that."
She smiled zily, stirring her tea. "I'm usually the one holding the scalpel, darling. Not the one strapped to the table."
---
**8:00 PM — Announcement Time.**
The host opened the final card.
> "For tonight's Paradise pairing: Shen Ruoxi… and Gu Zeyan."
A low hum of shock.
Ruoxi's shes fluttered once. Just once.
No smile. No gasp.
Then: "Huh. About time."
Gu Zeyan didn't blink.
But something in his jaw shifted.
---
### **Paradise: Oceanfront Gss Suite**
The door shut behind them with a soft click.
Ruoxi strolled in first, her silk slip dress catching the candlelight, champagne in hand like it belonged there.
She didn't wait for him to speak.
"So, Gu Zeyan. Did the producers pick us because of tension… or unresolved curiosity?"
He looked at her. Calm. Distant.
But not cold.
"Maybe they thought we'd stop orbiting each other and finally collide."
She took a step closer, slow and sure.
"You say that like you're not afraid of burning."
He didn't flinch.
"I'm not."
Ruoxi gave him a long, sultry look and circled him like a slow dance—fingertips brushing the back of his hand, just enough to spark.
"Most men would've kissed me by now."
He looked down at her hand but didn't take it.
"I'm not most men."
"God, I hope not," she murmured. "They're boring."
---
**Later, at the private hot tub.**
They didn't get in.
Instead, they sat on the edge—legs hanging in the water, the night thick with something too complex to name.
She leaned her shoulder against his, gaze up at the stars.
"This pce is all performance," she said softly. "And yet with you, I always feel like I'm being undressed."
He turned his head. Slowly.
"Am I?"
"No," she said, pyful. "You'd know if I let you."
She reached up and tapped his chest—just above his heart.
"But I admit, you're not bad at peeling off the mask."
---
**Confessional Booth – Gu Zeyan, voice low, unreadable:**
"She's dangerous because she makes you want to see more—even when you know she's only showing you what she wants."
A pause.
"I don't trust her."
Another beat.
"But I want her."
---
**Confessional Booth – Shen Ruoxi, grinning as she sips from a flute:**
"Gu Zeyan's the first man who doesn't fall for my flirting. And that's exactly why I want to try harder."
She winks.
"I don't seduce because I need to. I seduce because it's *fun.* And if I ever decide to stop…"
A shrug, slow and lethal.
"Well. That would be his problem."
Cut to bck.
