#103
“Dojun, you need to go into filming now.”
Kang Dojun stopped Park Daeho who was urging him on, held up his fingers, and mouthed the words.
‘Just 5 minutes.’
Then he brought his phone back up and spoke to Yeonwoo.
“It is my fault. You don’t have to pretend you’re okay. Get angry at me.”
He could hear Yeonwoo’s mumbling voice.
– How could I get angry at hyung? Just… please tell me first next time.
“Sorry. I was late because I was thinking about how to tell you.”
– Whether it’s bad news or good news, just tell me. I’ll judge for myself.
A hollow laugh escaped at his words.
“I will.”
Kang Dojun answered with a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
He could see Park Daeho asking the director to wait just 5 minutes because an important call had come in.
“Sorry, I’m filming so I can’t talk long.”
– Yes. Please call me when you’re done. I’m not okay… but I’ll wait well anyway.
Haha. How long had it been since he said that, and yet Yeonwoo had brazenly taken it to heart and faithfully said he wasn’t okay. Kang Dojun’s eyes curved prettily.
“Yeah.”
– Hyung, you hang up first.
Kang Dojun moved his lips. It felt regrettable to hang up already after talking for just a few minutes. It hadn’t even been 5 minutes yet, so wouldn’t it be okay to talk a little longer? He glanced at Park Daeho and continued the call.
“What are you doing today? Is there anything you want to do or want to have? I’ll buy it when I go down to the countryside later.”
– Mmm…
Yeonwoo hesitated for a long time. Although a minute had already passed because of that, Kang Dojun didn’t particularly rush him or anything. It was Yeonwoo, after all. There was nothing more important than him.
“Yeah. Tell me.”
At his patience, Yeonwoo gathered courage and spoke.
– I want to drink alcohol.
“……”
– I think I’ll sleep well if I drink that… I looked it up on the internet and it says small amounts of drinking actually help relieve stress and improve health!
It seemed he had even searched the internet because he wanted to drink. But saying he’d sleep well? Has he not been sleeping lately? Why?
– So just one sip. I’ll just drink exactly one sip.
Just like regular people, those addicted to alcohol easily lost more self-control once alcohol entered their system.
Just one sip, just two sips, then three sips, later one bottle, two bottles – it happened in an instant.
“That won’t do.”
Kang Dojun said firmly. Even if he drank just one sip, he needed to be there watching over him.
He couldn’t sleep without drinking alcohol? But it was impossible from the start for that condition to be resolved with just one sip.
“Let’s endure just a little more.”
– …Yes.
Yeonwoo’s voice sank gloomily.
“If we endure just two more days, I’ll be there, so let’s endure until then.”
– I will.
Park Daeho poked Kang Dojun’s arm repeatedly and gestured toward the director with his eyes.
“…Yeonwoo, I’ll call you again later.”
– Yes.
Kang Dojun hung up and handed his phone to Park Daeho. Park Daeho took the phone, put it in his bag, and patted Kang Dojun’s shoulder.
“Hey, sorry. I thought you had already told Yeonwoo-ssi.”
“I was going to tell him today. After filming ended.”
“…I see.”
Kang Dojun looked intently at Park Daeho, who was scratching his cheek awkwardly as he spoke. He understood that Daeho had answered Yeonwoo’s call while he was working. It was Kang Dojun himself who had told him not to ignore it but to answer it and say he was filming. However,
“I never told you to make small talk.”
Crazy psycho bastard. Park Daeho quietly recited in his mind and changed the conversation with the mindset of ‘you don’t avoid shit because you’re scared of it, but because it’s dirty.’
“I get it, so go to the director. Do well.”
“…Yeah. I’m sorry too.”
Still, he was his only friend – maybe he’d been too sensitive. After Kang Dojun gave a small apology, he bowed his head to the director as an apology for making him wait.
And so filming began.
“So what’s your name? No, do you have a job? Without any proper job, you’re now telling me… telling me… I’m sorry.”
“Cut!”
A subtle anger seeped into Kang Dojun’s face.
It wasn’t even professional words like medical or legal terms, just short sentences, but the time delayed in one scene grew exponentially due to the other actor’s continued mistakes.
They had been stuck on a scene that shouldn’t have taken even 30 minutes to film for a whole hour. The actor who made the mistake must have felt sorry too, as he kept bowing with apologies.
“…Should we take a 10-minute break?”
The director asked, reading Kang Dojun’s mood. They had already taken a 10-minute break earlier due to the other actor’s mistake, but there was no sign of improvement.
This was Kang Dojun, after all. When he was personally doing a special appearance, there was no way the director would look kindly on an actor who kept making mistakes and wasting time.
Seeing how the actor became discouraged after being scolded a bit during the previous break and made dialogue mistakes again, the director clicked his tongue quietly at the mistake-prone actor, thinking he should let him practice for 10 minutes.
Should they resort to editing if it really didn’t work out… But thinking of the work’s completeness, that wouldn’t do either.
To lift Kang Dojun’s mood as well, the director had staff buy drinks from a nearby cafe, then approached Kang Dojun with a smile.
“You must be thirsty? I had them buy drinks, so please rest while drinking. You came out specially for us, but you’re going through all this trouble. Please hang in there a little longer.”
“Yes.”
Kang Dojun answered while bending his knees to make it easier for the stylist to fix his hair. Seeing this, the director was startled and quickly brought over a simple chair.
“Please sit here and rest.”
“Thank you.”
The director walked behind him to avoid disturbing his rest time and scolded the staff who hadn’t even brought a chair.
Meanwhile, the other actor approached Kang Dojun with a lost expression.
“I’m sorry. Sunbae-nim, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
If you’re sorry, don’t make mistakes. Kang Dojun forcibly pushed down the sentence that had risen to his throat. After that, as a sign not to disturb his rest any further, he closed his eyes that were throbbing from the lighting.
He could hear the footsteps of the actor returning and new footsteps approaching him.
Even so, he didn’t open his eyes and quietly let the stylist work on his hair. The owner of the footsteps was familiar.
“Send a text saying filming will end late.”
Even without Park Daeho specifying who to send it to, Kang Dojun easily understood and nodded. It was obviously Yeonwoo.
Kang Dojun reached out his hand to Park Daeho. He familiarly handed over the phone he had brought.
While he was contacting Yeonwoo like that, Shin Gihyeon, who was waiting to film the next scene, quietly approached. It wasn’t just Kang Dojun who was delayed due to the actor’s mistakes.
“Sunbae-nim, are you okay? You look tired – should I buy you some coffee?”
“Someone else is already buying it. Gihyeon-ssi, you’re also having a hard time waiting. I’ll finish early.”
“It’s not sunbae-nim’s fault!”
At Shin Gihyeon’s vigorous answer, Kang Dojun awkwardly replied, “Ah… yes. Thank you.”
Even so, Shin Gihyeon seemed to have something to say as he hesitated and opened his mouth.
“Um… have you ever heard of the Kang Dojun fam?”
“Kang Dojun fam?”
Kang Dojun turned his gaze to Shin Gihyeon. Fam? Not fan, but fam?
As if noticing his question, Shin Gihyeon explained somewhat shyly.
“They call close relationships a family, or ‘fam’ for short.”
“…Yes.”
“I saw comments before that said me, Yeonwoo, and Grace together are called the Kang Dojun fam. I guess the public grouped us together after seeing me appear on Grace’s live broadcast. They also call us… the Rural Fam.”
Unlike his playful laughter as he spoke, Shin Gihyeon’s face was extremely tense as he watched Kang Dojun’s expression.
Meanwhile, Kang Dojun was just sipping the drink the staff had bought and left.
“Ah… I just mentioned it because there’s something like that. It’s funny, right?”
“No.”
When the dispirited Shin Gihyeon hurriedly added more words at Kang Dojun’s lack of response, Kang Dojun showed the opposite reaction.
“I guess it’s not that great… what?”
“It’s fine though?”
Kang Dojun put his hand on his chin and seriously agreed. Fam, family, and Yeonwoo was included too?
At perfect timing, a camera filming the making-of video captured both of them. Kang Dojun sitting with his legs crossed in the chair and Shin Gihyeon standing next to him – when Park Daeho tactfully stepped away after seeing the camera, it made a good picture.
“Is there a particular reason you decided to make a special appearance?”
A writer hurriedly approached and asked. He had heard this question several times. It seemed they wanted to use the best answer among them.
Kang Dojun glanced at Shin Gihyeon and opened his mouth.
“Because I’m friends with Gihyeon-ssi. I just learned that we’re called the Kang Dojun fam.”
“Kang Dojun fam?”
The writer asked excitedly at the unexpected answer.
Kang Dojun pointed to Shin Gihyeon as he answered.
“Yes. I heard it includes Gihyeon-ssi here, the Grace members, and Yeonwoo too.”
“Yeonwoo… you mean the cast member from ‘Rural Conquest’?”
“Yes.”
After that, he received various questions asking about Yeonwoo’s recent status, how the atmosphere on set was, what his thoughts were since tomorrow was the last day of filming, and if he could give a word of support for the drama. Before he knew it, 10 minutes had passed.
When filming resumed, Kang Dojun asked for understanding and left his seat. The camera filming the making-of video turned toward Shin Gihyeon.
Kang Dojun, who glanced at that scene, stood in front of the other actor. Come to think of it, drama filming would end tomorrow, and the day after was the CF… Once he filmed that, he could see Yeonwoo.
Two more days… how to wait.
His heart became needlessly impatient.
Kang Dojun steeled his mind not to be a burden to the actor in front of him who had a determined look in his eyes, absolutely not wanting to make mistakes.
The day after tomorrow. Two days. 48 hours. 2880 minutes.
It would pass quickly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
