#77
When I put my hand on his shoulder, Jin Woohyeon hugged me and carefully helped me down.
“Heave-ho.”
Despite making the sound, he didn’t look like he was struggling at all.
“Need anything? Just call and ask for it.”
“Yeonwoo called for me, so I thought I’d walk with him for a bit. Why did you come?”
“This.”
Something cold touched my cheek. It was water so cool that droplets had formed on the surface of the plastic bottle.
“The production team happened to have some ice water bottles prepared, and I thought this would be better than vending machine water.”
“Thanks.”
I didn’t think I was particularly thirsty, but when I couldn’t resist his sparkling eyes and took a sip, I changed my mind. As the liquid, cold enough to make my head tingle, flowed down my throat, the stuffiness that had been sitting heavily like indigestion melted away.
“Your expression looks better now.”
How did you know about the thirst I didn’t even realize I had? Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked.
“How did you know?”
“You tend to feel stuffy after motion sickness. I thought you might want something to cool your insides like getting fresh air, and water seemed best for that.”
“I only get motion sick on planes…”
“You probably get it from other things too. It’s just not severe.”
And with a calm face, he said I should only wet my throat since drinking too much might make me nauseous instead.
“Do you know this because your sister is like me too?”
“Hm?”
There was a time like that before. When he put new sneakers on me, saying a fifteen-year-old girl who became permanently disabled in an accident was just like me. I wondered if seeing me reminded him of that young, pitiful child, and that’s why he couldn’t leave me alone.
So I asked if what went down my throat was fragments of your pity.
“No.”
Jin Woohyeon said with a clear, open voice.
“This is just because I want to be good to you, hyung, so I noticed by watching.”
Having no words to respond, I pretended to drink a few more sips of water. I thought cooling my insides with something cold might make my cheeks and ears feel less hot.
Just then, Hwang Yeonwoo, whose patience had run out, approached. He was telling us to put on microphones if we were going to walk together, holding out what he’d gotten from the production team, and I was thinking about it for a moment.
“What? You were all here?”
I made eye contact with Lee Chan who had suddenly approached. It was just as Hwang Yeonwoo had said about someone coming to get something.
I was about to quietly slip away since it would probably get awkward if we stayed together, but Lee Chan’s sarcasm about seeing Jin Woohyeon stuck right next to me came first.
“Ha. Anyone looking would think you two are actually dating. You said this was your first overseas trip, but you’re passing up all the sightseeing.”
His tone was as sharp as his gaze. It was full of petty spite, wanting to return as much hurt as his own feelings had been damaged.
“Isn’t it?”
Lee Chan smiled crookedly while looking at me hesitating. As if asking whether I had rejected his suggestion for this. As if reproaching me, asking if I really believed this one month could be more significant than our 10 years, and the 10 years before that.
“You met a few times outside and developed feelings since then? I never knew Yoo Sanho had a tendency to fall fast.”
Deliberately speaking nastily was one of Lee Chan’s bad habits. It was a kind of tantrum, trying to keep the other person’s attention on him by scratching their nerves in such a way.
It was so predictable that I wasn’t bothered at all. In the past, I would have been anxious wondering if he might actually get angry at me, desperately trying to improve his mood.
‘Is there any need for that?’
Even if I wanted to, I had to hold back now. Fortunately, I didn’t even feel motivated, so I thought I could just brush it off appropriately.
But this was only my thinking.
“Haha.”
My head whipped around at the sudden cold laughter.
“Chan hyung sometimes says really funny things, doesn’t he?”
Jin Woohyeon asked with a voice full of laughter.
“What?”
“I said it’s funny.”
The face of the person saying this was far from someone who was enjoying themselves. Though the corners of his mouth were nicely raised, it was somehow crooked, and above all, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
No matter how actors are known for having a thousand faces, I didn’t know Jin Woohyeon had this side to him. I felt a strange chill at his cold expression.
“Stop beating around the bush and say what you want to say.”
“Should I?”
The hand that had been gently wrapped around my shoulder fell away.
“I don’t understand.”
“…”
“Why do you get so sharp whenever you see Sanho hyung? What did hyung do wrong? Did you break up so badly that just seeing him doing well makes you angry? I know that’s not your personality, and even if it were, hyung should have to put up with it. Who was it that suggested coming here?”
Jin Woohyeon continued without giving Lee Chan a chance to answer.
“I’m the one who wants to say that. Stop beating around the bush and say what you want to say. Are you jealous of Sanho hyung? Or do you not like me hovering around Sanho hyung?”
“…”
“Why are you like this? You said you have no intention of getting back together. Weren’t you exchanging signals with Lei hyung?”
“Jin Woohyeon.”
“Then let’s focus on where our hearts are going, shall we? Even if some unpleasant feelings remain, aren’t we old enough to resolve them maturely?”
“You’re the one talking funny.”
Lee Chan snapped back, true to his quick-tempered nature.
“You seem to be mistaken, but this is between me and Yoo Sanho. Whatever I talk about with him, how our relationship ended and what kind of relationship we became afterwards has nothing to do with you. It’s not a matter of whether you understand or not.”
Suddenly he reached out toward Jin Woohyeon. His hand, full of rings, cut through the air as if to grab something. I was startled, wondering if he was going to throw a punch, but fortunately Lee Chan didn’t forget about the cameras.
It was the opposite actually. Perhaps because he was aware of the cameras, he nervously grabbed and pulled off Jin Woohyeon’s microphone.
“Enough with the act, let’s be honest. What are you two? What did you know about each other that you’ve been like this since you came in?”
“…”
“I’m the one who doesn’t understand. Yoo Sanho, who’s so obvious, is only doing things he’s never done before, and every time he acts unlike himself, you’re involved. Are you colluding to reinvent his image?”
“Mm.”
“You call yourself an actor. If the actor himself creates dating rumors like this, won’t fans hate it when you’re in productions… Ah, is this a preview before doing romance work and I didn’t know?”
Jin Woohyeon didn’t answer right away, but it didn’t seem like he intended to back down. The quiet but coldly sharpened atmosphere was overwhelming even for me, who wasn’t a party to the fight.
‘Even if he pulled off the microphone…’
The camera director who had followed Jin Woohyeon backed away as soon as the microphone was removed, but that wasn’t the only camera around. Since anyone could be watching the two of them from anywhere, I needed to intervene soon.
But just as I was about to step forward, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me.
“Sanho hyung.”
Hwang Yeonwoo, completely stripped of his usual cheerfulness, slowly shook his head.
“Let’s not get involved?”
“How can we not get involved? If this goes on air, both of them will get bad images.”
“Then it just won’t air. I’ll talk nicely to the others.”
Even while we were whispering, the war of words continued. Jin Woohyeon said in a leisurely voice.
“Whatever relationship Sanho hyung and I have has nothing to do with you, hyung. So it’s not a matter of whether you understand or not either. That’s why I don’t care either, right? No matter how much you and my ex mess around.”
“That’s not right.”
Lee Chan shrugged and replied with a leisurely attitude.
“You and Lei will be strangers after you break up, but Sanho and I aren’t. The unit of time itself is different, so how can you and he have nothing to do with me?”
“…”
“What. Does it seem strange that I keep interfering in a past relationship? Are you annoyed because it seems like I can’t be good to Yoo Sanho? Don’t you act superior just because you’re nice to him when you feel like it. Is that affection? It’s competitiveness.”
Jin Woohyeon crossed his arms as if daring him to try more. His head was also tilted crookedly.
“Lei said that about you. That you can’t stand losing? Whatever it is, once you start, you have to see it through to the very end to be satisfied.”
Jin Woohyeon didn’t deny it. I suddenly remembered what he had said when we went to the arcade together.
‘Next time, I hope I can clear it to the end.’
“Let’s be honest about our messily entangled relationship.”
It was clearly words directed at Jin Woohyeon, but I didn’t know why a corner of my chest ached sharply hearing those words.
“Can you be confident it’s not because you like it since it’s a mountain you haven’t conquered yet?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
Jin Woohyeon the alpha you are. Get him!!