#012
Shin Gihyeon. Age 26. His first work was as a supporting actor in a movie starring Kang Dojun, and he’s a genuine fan of his. Shin Gihyeon’s love for Kang Dojun is famous even among his own fans.
Rumor has it that he knows all the script candidates for upcoming projects that Kang Dojun is considering, earning him the nickname of a “successful fanboy.”
For Han Taegu, there was no reason not to use such a hot topic figure as a guest. What’s more, it was Shin Gihyeon who had requested to appear as a guest first.
However, he was supposed to come the next day, but the drama he’s currently filming got postponed, so he ended up coming today, which is the 4th day.
That’s how Han Taegu came up with his brilliant plan. The first half of the episodes would be a bromance with Lee Yeonwoo, and the second half with Shin Gihyeon. He was naturally excited about a show that seemed destined to be a hit.
Shin Gihyeon finished all his early morning drama filming and visited Lee Yeonwoo’s house at the address Han Taegu had sent him.
It was dawn, just as the sun was beginning to rise, but the filming crew and staff who needed to prepare for shooting, along with Han Taegu who had come out to greet him, welcomed Shin Gihyeon.
“Thank you for coming such a long way.”
“Not at all. I’m the one who should be sorry for my schedule getting pushed back.”
“Life doesn’t always go according to plan! We’re just grateful that you’re appearing on the show.”
And here was another person whose life wasn’t going according to plan. Lee Yeonwoo, who had been peeking at the courtyard situation through the gap in his room’s window, bit his lower lip hard.
“Shit.”
Anyone could tell he was dressed like a celebrity. It wasn’t hard to guess that he’d come to appear on this show.
His replacement had actually arrived. No, maybe he himself had been this guy’s replacement from the beginning.
Every morning, he would head to the apiary for his walk, but instead he’d been watching the noisy courtyard from early on, and sure enough, something had happened.
So this is why Han Taegu said he could rest today. Does Kang Dojun know about this situation? Yeonwoo slightly opened his door to check the other room facing his.
From how tightly it was locked, it seemed like he was still sleeping.
He checked the situation through the window gap again and frowned.
He carefully observed the man who was grinning cheerfully in the courtyard. He was an attractive, gentle-looking handsome man.
After meeting Kang Dojun, Yeonwoo had thought he was weak to beautiful people. But he quickly decided to retract that thought.
If he had been weak to beautiful people, he wouldn’t have felt such unpleasant emotions.
It was probably less than Kang Dojun’s visual impact, and the fact that his usefulness was as this man’s replacement also played a part. It was a vastly different reaction from when he first met Kang Dojun.
Yeonwoo became like a guard dog protecting the house, glaring fiercely at him through the window gap.
Then he saw him approaching his direction along with Han Taegu.
‘Fuck, what the hell.’
Finally, the two standing in front of the window knocked on the glass and greeted him.
“As expected, you’re awake. Yeonwoo-ssi, this is guest actor Shin Gihyeon-nim who will be filming with us until tomorrow evening.”
“Hello. I’m Shin Gihyeon.”
“Could you open the front door so we can come in?”
Han Taegu had received a spare house key from Kang Dojun with Yeonwoo’s permission, but out of courtesy, he asked Yeonwoo to open the door first.
‘Hyung locked the door.’
Yeonwoo, who had always wondered why they bothered locking the door, could now understand Kang Dojun’s greater wisdom.
When Yeonwoo didn’t move from his spot and just stared blankly, Han Taegu, thinking his voice might not have been heard clearly through the window, requested more loudly.
“The door! Please open the front door!”
At those words, Yeonwoo instead clicked the window’s locking mechanism shut.
It was revenge, or not quite revenge, against Han Taegu who had used him for everything he could and then reminded him that he was actually this person’s replacement.
“…The door is locked?”
Shin Gihyeon said in bewilderment, seeing the window’s locking mechanism go up. Yeonwoo looked up at the two of them through the window with brazen defiance.
Han Taegu made an expression of incomprehension. Yeonwoo often acted impulsively and unexpectedly.
They tried pushing the tightly closed window and made gestures asking him to open it, but Yeonwoo stubbornly kept his mouth shut and absolutely refused to open the door.
It was a bit absurd, but figuring out Yeonwoo’s thoughts was still too high a hurdle for Han Taegu. Eventually, he sighed and searched for the spare key in his bag to open the front door.
“Please go in first.”
“Yes.”
Shin Gihyeon entered the house thinking the homeowner was a bit peculiar. He hadn’t even finished taking off his shoes when the homeowner came out of his room and stared at him intently.
At a glance, it seemed like he was trying to be threatening. But the combination of bangs that looked like they’d been chewed by mice and gentle, droopy eyes was just funny and not threatening at all.
“…Hello.”
The homeowner showed no reaction to his greeting. Those black eyes were just staring at him intently. Shin Gihyeon eventually offered another formal greeting.
“I’m Shin Gihyeon. Nice to meet you.”
Yeonwoo stared at the hand Shin Gihyeon extended, then grasped it.
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Lee Yeonwoo.”
How dare you make me your replacement? Yeonwoo put strength into their clasped hands while boiling with anger inside.
Shin Gihyeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Even though this was their first meeting today, he could feel that the man was reluctant about him. And despite having a smaller build than himself, his grip strength was fierce.
Yeonwoo had built his strength on deep-sea fishing vessels and laid the foundation in the military. Though he wasn’t the type to build muscle easily so his lines were thin, he was confident that his inherent strength was stronger than others.
While they were having this invisible power struggle, Kang Dojun’s door opened.
“Hyung! You’re awake?”
“Yeah, didn’t go for a walk today?”
Yeonwoo spoke to Kang Dojun with sparkling eyes while not loosening his grip on Shin Gihyeon’s hand.
“No. I wasn’t in the mood for a walk.”
Since he expressed his feelings so freely, Kang Dojun wondered what was bothering him again and was about to laugh it off when he noticed their clasped hands and paused.
Shin Gihyeon smiled brightly at his appearance and said.
“Hello, sunbae-nim! I ended up coming as a guest. Please take care of me!”
Kang Dojun looked at PD Han Taegu, who had already brought in a camera and positioned himself at a distance behind them.
So that’s why he only asked him to help until yesterday – because a guest was coming.
Moreover, the guest’s face was familiar too. Due to their works coincidentally overlapping frequently, it would have been harder not to recognize him.
“Nice to meet you, Shin Gihyeon-ssi. Please take care of me.”
Shin Gihyeon, who had been a longtime fan of Kang Dojun, couldn’t hide his excitement at him offering a handshake. He let go of Yeonwoo’s hand and grasped his with trembling heart.
It had been worth insisting on being included as a guest despite his agency advising against variety show appearances.
He had deliberately overlapped with various projects to make himself easily memorable to Kang Dojun. Whenever Kang Dojun appeared in something, he was always a supporting actor in that project. That was fine with him.
But there was an invisible line he couldn’t cross, making it always difficult to approach him readily. This was actually their first handshake.
“Yes, sunbae-nim! We meet again. Please take care of me.”
Yeonwoo tugged at Kang Dojun’s collar.
“Hyung, what should we have for breakfast? I cooked instead of going for a walk.”
“Really? Good job.”
Kang Dojun praised Yeonwoo and ruffled his hair as he spoke proudly about cooking.
At that sight, bewilderment bloomed in Shin Gihyeon’s heart.
‘What? Haven’t they known each other for less than a week?’
Even though they might be awkward with each other, he had spent more time with him through many projects, yet somehow he seemed much closer to Yeonwoo than to himself. And so naturally too.
‘Why?’
The Kang Dojun he’d been a fan of all this time wasn’t the type to become close to people so quickly. That’s why his relationship with him had been stagnant too.
Though Shin Gihyeon felt puzzled, he resolutely decided to use this opportunity to become closer, even changing his form of address to hyung.
Shin Gihyeon smiled pleasantly and said.
“If it’s breakfast, I packed lunch boxes from a shop on my way here. Would you like to have those?”
Yeonwoo glared at him with a sullen look. He had just said he put effort into cooking, so what was this nonsense?
Though Shin Gihyeon probably didn’t mean it that way, after already making him a replacement, now he was dismissing his sincerity too. Shin Gihyeon’s image plummeted further in Yeonwoo’s mind.
“Hyung.”
Yeonwoo called Kang Dojun curtly. His gaze demanded a choice.
Shin Gihyeon was quick-witted. He immediately picked up on the fact that Yeonwoo disliked him for some reason.
Yeonwoo had a youthful appearance. He seemed young and immature, and in such cases, it was important to establish dominance early with an initial show of force.
He also stared at Kang Dojun to voice his opinion.
“Sunbae-nim, wouldn’t it be troublesome to set the table from morning? Wouldn’t eating lunch boxes be more convenient?”
Caught between the two, Kang Dojun pondered briefly and suggested an opinion. It was a very wise solution: to take out just the side dishes from the lunch boxes and eat them with the rice Yeonwoo had cooked.
However, no matter how good a solution, there were always opposition parties.
“Wouldn’t that be troublesome?”
Yeonwoo’s argument was to give the lunch boxes to staff who hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and for them to eat the side dishes they’d received from Grandma Kyeong-i yesterday.
Shin Gihyeon, who would never back down, countered.
“Ah, I thought that might happen so I bought lunch boxes for the staff too, according to the headcount.”
Yeonwoo glared at him with a sullen gaze.
From the very first day the guest arrived, Kang Dojun’s peaceful rural life began to creak and strain in various ways.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
