#100
‘Since you’re suddenly filling in for an actor who dropped out, the script reading already finished without you. But you can do well, right?’
Recalling the director’s words, Kang Dojun covered his face with the script. Then his facial muscles moved with the laughter he burst out, and the script fell down.
‘He said he gave up flesh to take the bone.’
Didn’t he give up so much flesh that the bone is visible?
Every single thing Lee Yeonwoo said induced laughter. He wanted to see him quickly, but filming would take a whole week. …Let me just memorize the script.
***
“Hello.”
“Sunbae-nim, hello!”
“Yes, hello.”
“Please take care of me today! Have you eaten?”
To Shin Gihyeon, who greeted him energetically even in the morning, Kang Dojun responded in kind.
“Not yet.”
Agreeing to Shin Gihyeon’s suggestion to eat together, he followed behind him to get their meals. On the other side, Park Daeho and the PD were exchanging greetings.
“Dojun readily agreed to participate in filming because he’s acquainted with Gihyeon-ssi.”
“Of course he would. Please take care of him.”
“I should be asking you to take care of Dojun. It’s great that there are many scenes overlapping with Gihyeon-ssi.”
Park Daeho emphasized his friendship with Shin Gihyeon and exchanged greetings several times. If Shin Gihyeon felt both burden and gratitude seeing this, that would be successful too.
Once he started something, it was easier to finish it properly. In this aspect, Park Daeho resembled Kang Dojun. Having been close since childhood, there was no way he hadn’t been influenced.
Somehow, they ended up eating together with DH Entertainment’s rookie actress Lee Haejeong as well.
After finishing the meal, Kang Dojun made sure to always walk with Shin Gihyeon between them. He didn’t want strange articles to come out from being seen with Lee Haejeong.
Rather than an article like ‘Kang Dojun! Special appearance for Lee Haejeong!?’, an article like ‘Kang Dojun! Special appearance for loyalty to Shin Gihyeon! Supporting the drama’s firepower!’ would be a hundred times better.
So wherever they went, he only followed Shin Gihyeon around. Then when Shin Gihyeon had to go into a shoot, he went to Park Daeho’s side to read his script.
When he was reading his script, hardly anyone bothered him.
“Hey, Yeonwoo-ssi called.”
Park Daeho called Kang Dojun in a whispering voice. Instead of turning off his phone during filming, he had entrusted his cell phone to Park Daeho and asked him to let him know whenever Lee Yeonwoo contacted him.
Kang Dojun took the phone as it was and holed up in his sedan, a personal space no one touched, to answer the call.
– Kim Haseon just went up to Seoul.
“Really?”
It was welcome news to hear.
– Are you working right now?
“Yeah. But I can talk.”
– Yes. But, hyung.
“Yeah.”
Yeonwoo hesitated a bit before speaking.
– Don’t lend your car to anyone from now on.
Ah… Kang Dojun let out a short exclamation. Only then did he realize his mistake.
He had impulsively lent his car just hoping the carrier would go more carefully and comfortably, but thinking about it, even he himself disliked having someone stay at Yeonwoo’s house.
That would be the same for him too. He was deeply displeased that someone other than himself was riding in Kang Dojun’s car.
“Yeah, I will. Sorry.”
He immediately offered an apology. When you’ve done something wrong, the sooner the apology, the better.
– But.
Yeonwoo hesitated again as if he had something else to say. Kang Dojun didn’t rush him and waited calmly. There was still some time before filming, so they could talk for about 20 more minutes…
– Hyung, why do you like me?
“…What?”
Kang Dojun’s expectation that he would at most say he missed him or loved him was completely off the mark. Why does he like him? What did he hear from Kim Haseon?
Kang Dojun rubbed his forehead. He forcibly smoothed out the wrinkles that were about to form. He couldn’t understand with his common sense why he was asking such a foolish question.
“Why do you like me?”
– Because you’re my hyung.
It was an answer that would come out immediately without any thought for himself, but couldn’t he think that it was the same for him too? If so, he had to let him know.
“Me too.”
I like you because you’re you too.
After a moment of silence, he felt like he could sense Yeonwoo’s vigorous nodding through the speaker.
– …I see!
If he was going to accept it so easily, what on earth had he been worrying about?
Mindlessly flipping through the script papers he had brought, he asked.
“What did Seungseon-ssi say?”
– Ah, Kim Haseon?
“Yeah. Haseon-ssi.”
That’s right. His name was Haseon. Whether it was Haseon or Seungseon, he wasn’t particularly interested.
– Just… it’s nothing.
What’s he hiding again after not seeing each other for just a few days? Did he get something to hide after his friend came and went?
Should he have told him not to go after all?
“How’s your body?”
It was a routine question.
– I’m all better now. I took exactly three days’ worth of medicine and got better in three days.
“Really? That’s good. Still, be careful for a while, and don’t get too much air conditioner wind…”
Excited by Yeonwoo’s answer that he was all better, he unknowingly rambled on with nagging-like words.
When he came to his senses, Park Daeho was knocking on the window. When he slightly opened the door, he gestured that they had to go into filming.
“Yeonwoo, I’m going into recording now, so I’ll call you again later.”
– Yes, hyung.
Kang Dojun handed his cell phone to Park Daeho and came out with his script.
“What call did you talk so long?”
“Just. The usual talk.”
And now it was even a short conversation… He didn’t bother to bring up the rest.
“The first scene is with Gihyeon-ssi. You couldn’t even go to the script reading, so let’s sync up together now. I just saw he was resting.”
“Got it. Since it’s not filming yet, let me know again if Yeonwoo contacts me.”
Park Daeho didn’t answer and put his cell phone in his bag.
“If you put it in the bag, I can’t hear the alarm…”
“Sunbae-nim! Is it okay if we practice together?”
“…Yes.”
Well, it doesn’t matter. He had already told him to contact Shin Gihyeon if he couldn’t be reached.
Kang Dojun followed behind Shin Gihyeon. He was well-prepared in many ways.
***
I see!
From his call with Kang Dojun, Yeonwoo realized a very simple fact. There are no high or low jobs. He had forgotten that.
He knew better than anyone that Kang Dojun didn’t earn money easily just because he was a celebrity.
As Yeonwoo had briefly entered the ranks of semi-celebrities and tasted the life of a celebrity, he could fully understand Kang Dojun’s hardships.
The higher you positioned yourself, even if you made money, the more eyes watching you increased too.
Moreover, if he felt an inferiority complex about the profession of beekeeping, it would be like Yeonwoo denying his grandmother who had raised, fed, and sheltered him since childhood.
Grandmother was from the sea, he was from the mountains. He had never once thought his profession was lowly. He never would in the future either.
What am I anyway? He decided to retract such thoughts.
Hyung just likes me for being me.
It was the same for Yeonwoo. It wasn’t because Kang Dojun was an actor or made good money that he liked him, but just because he was him.
Kim Haseon had said unnecessary things and left, making him unnecessarily agitated. Maybe because his body was weak, his mind had also weakened temporarily.
Shaking his head vigorously, he decided to go out to the apiary that he had rested from for a day due to his illness.
Kim Seungseon, that bastard. I heard he caught a few hornets, but he didn’t catch the queen bee, right? Nah, no way.
Since the queen bee had died once recently, he had warned him several times to be careful. He couldn’t have killed her. Queen bees don’t even go outside the hive much…
This won’t do. Since “what if” kills people, Yeonwoo, who couldn’t shake off his anxiety, decided to check the queen bees in the hives first as soon as he got to the apiary.
Arriving at the apiary, he rummaged through the hives one by one to check for the presence of queen bees.
“They’re all here! Good girls.”
You survived well from Kim Haseon’s grasp. Praising them with all his might, he finished the remaining work.
September was especially a season when swarming occurred frequently, so he had to be more careful. He also had to apply mite medicine and prepare winter food for the bees to prepare for winter.
He poured water and sugar stored in the warehouse into the filter in turn and mixed them. Stirring until the sugar dissolved was also work.
“My arms are going to fall off.”
How long has it been since his cold got better, and he was about to collapse again. For the last part, he used the machine’s power to mix. This way, sugar water would enter the internal feeders placed in each hive through the filter.
Finally, after installing hornet sticky traps and rat poison for the occasionally appearing mice, today’s work would be done.
Even though it wasn’t hot weather, sweat had formed.
‘At times like this, I want beer…’
Putting the thought behind him, he came down from the mountain and headed to Grandpa Beom’s store as always.
Cola instead of beer, ion drinks instead of soju.
Today, for a change, he grabbed chocolate milk and headed to the cashier.
Grandpa Beom, who had been watching the old TV in the store, looked at the chocolate milk on the counter and said.
“Ten thousand won.”
“For chocolate milk?”
“It’s up to the owner!”
At Grandpa Beom’s confident shout, Yeonwoo’s eyes drooped. As far as he knew, chocolate milk was 1,000 won.
He must have thought of the money he lent to Seoirae last time and called out ten thousand won. That’s why he gave her allowance. He should have given it in front of grandpa…
“And you’re not even giving me a straw.”
In the end, Yeonwoo took out a crumpled ten thousand won bill from his pocket and held it out.
“The remaining 9,000 won is credit. Write it down in the ledger.”
“There’s no such thing as a ledger.”
At those words, he moved inside the counter himself and pulled out the ledger that grandpa had hidden. The one he had glimpsed during the filming of “Rural Conquest” was still there.
Grandpa Beom coughed and slipped the ledger back in.
“My eyes are good, so…”
“If you don’t want to write it down, play with me.”
“It’s cramped! Come in quickly!”
Yeonwoo stubbornly entered the counter area and sat next to Grandpa Beom to watch TV. Now that he had nothing to do, he decided on Grandpa Beom as today’s conversation partner.
“Grandpa. Aren’t you turning on the air conditioner? I’m hot because I came from work.”
“If you stay still, you’ll get cool!”
“Is that fan wind all there is?”
“Stay still, will you!?”
Yet he didn’t tell him to leave, so Yeonwoo asked Grandpa Beom when he planned to eat dinner, thinking he might as well eat together. Although it was still 5 PM, for an elderly person who woke up early and slept early, it was already dinner time.
“When do you eat dinner? Eat with me.”
“I’m going to the community center now.”
“Let’s go together.”
I’ll eat early too, why not.
At Yeonwoo’s words, Grandpa Beom slowly began preparing to close the store. Then he started gathering some soju to take to the village community center.
“Hey you. If you’re going together, carry some.”
Yeonwoo couldn’t even take the green bottle held out in front of him and just stared blankly at it. Saliva automatically swallowed down his throat.
…Just one sip would be okay, wouldn’t it?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
