#013
In the end, Yeonwoo decided to be a bit childish and stubborn. It was stubbornness born from the idea that he wouldn’t eat the lunch box no matter what.
“I don’t want to eat.”
“What?”
At the sound, Kang Dojun frowned and looked at Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo’s lips were jutting out.
Kang Dojun, half playfully and half wanting to scold him, pulled on his protruding lips.
Yeonwoo glared at him as if he found it unpleasant. Kang Dojun narrowed his eyes gently and coaxed him.
“Let’s eat.”
Yeonwoo looked at Kang Dojun’s face once, then grabbed the hand that was holding his lips and asked,
“The meal I cooked?”
“Whatever.”
Although Yeonwoo usually didn’t act stubborn, this time was different.
Perhaps it wasn’t the answer he had expected, so he stuck his lips out again. At this clearly expressed dislike, Kang Dojun’s face also showed a moment of difficulty.
Shin Gihyeon blinked and stared at them blankly.
‘Sunbae-nim… makes that kind of expression too.’
It was an expression he had never shown him before.
It was one-sided fan affection from the start, as they weren’t particularly close privately.
But even when he had looked up news about Kang Dojun on various social media, he had never made such an affectionate expression. If there was one, it was only when he was acting.
Kang Dojun with that expression was cheating. In the end, Shin Gihyeon decided to step back for the sake of the cameras and image management.
“…Come to think of it, since this is rural life, it seems right to eat rural food. My thinking was shallow.”
“Shall we do that?”
Shin Gihyeon felt a strange sense of humiliation at Kang Dojun’s response, as if he had been waiting for it. It seemed like he had been planning to listen to Yeonwoo’s opinion from the beginning, not his own.
“Then I’ll set the table today.”
Only then did Yeonwoo’s eyes light up with joy as he slipped into the kitchen.
Kang Dojun stood by the front door and spoke to Shin Gihyeon, who still hadn’t even taken off his shoes.
“Please come in.”
Shin Gihyeon, who had been standing quietly lost in thought, came to his senses with a start and answered.
“Ah, yes!”
Yeonwoo reached for the prepared side dishes and chattered away.
“Grandma Kyeong-i may have bad habits, but she’s good with her hands.”
“Mm.”
Kang Dojun agreed with his words and observed the atmosphere. Yeonwoo seemed fine, and Shin Gihyeon was quiet, whether from shyness or fatigue.
He glanced at the camera lens glowing with red light.
‘Will this be broadcastable?’
Well, this was ultimately an area the PD had to handle, and it wasn’t something he needed to worry about.
Yeonwoo, who seemed unbothered, actually understood the situation completely. He just didn’t feel the need to do anything about it.
However, he could see that Kang Dojun was worried about the filming, and Shin Gihyeon had come all the way here to film a variety show but wasn’t saying anything.
‘I was this guy’s substitute?’
He had never been a celebrity, but he was confident he could do variety shows better than Shin Gihyeon.
He seemed deflated… was he nervous about the variety show?
For the first time in a long while, Yeonwoo felt considerate enough to try to understand someone else’s feelings.
Come to think of it, Shin Gihyeon probably never dreamed he had a substitute, and all of this was probably a scheme by Han Taegu, the axis of evil.
Both he and Shin Gihyeon were probably victims of Han Taegu.
Suddenly, Yeonwoo’s hatred for Shin Gihyeon disappeared and sympathy began to rise.
‘Yeah, as an actor, this must be your first variety show too, so you’re probably suffering because of Han Taegu.’
His simple personality, which couldn’t hold grudges against someone for long, kicked in as meddlesomeness.
“Please eat this. It’s made by Grandma Kyeong-i from the house in front, and it’s delicious.”
Shin Gihyeon looked at the meat side dish placed on his white rice with a slightly surprised expression. Had he been making such a pitiful face that he was receiving sympathy from this immature child…
“Thank you.”
There were cameras, so it was his mistake. He corrected his gloomy mood, managed his expression, and tried to instill a sense of being okay.
He could become closer to Kang Dojun. He was someone who worked in the same industry, and he would meet him more often than Yeonwoo, who was just a civilian.
Having instilled hope, Shin Gihyeon felt better and glanced at Kang Dojun while eating.
For some reason, he was looking at Yeonwoo with an expression of fondness. He wondered if he saw him as a younger brother. On one hand, he envied Yeonwoo for receiving his affection.
‘Someday I too will be like hyung and dongsaeng…’
Just then, a commotion was heard from outside and someone entered the room.
“Oh, Uncle Cheolsu. What brings you here?”
Yeonwoo greeted the person who had entered while eating.
“Oh my, I’m sorry for interrupting your filming, Seoul folks.”
Uncle Cheolsu apologized and strode in, grabbing Yeonwoo’s ear.
“What do you mean what brings me here? You rascal! If you can’t come, you should call to say you can’t come! Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Agh, I’m sorry. But please let go of this first.”
Kang Dojun observed the situation and, seeing Yeonwoo’s ear turn bright red, decided to intervene first and grabbed his strong arm.
“Hello. Did Yeonwoo do something wrong?”
“Oh my! Our actor-nim. It’s nothing at all. Please continue your meal. You, get up quickly!”
“Uncle! I’m still eating too, you know?”
Kang Dojun rubbed Yeonwoo’s hot, red ear with his hand. What kind of trouble had this cute younger brother gotten into now, he looked up at the very angry uncle.
“Why didn’t you come out at dawn today? Are you standing me up because you think you’re all grown up? This kid is going through puberty!”
“I’m sorry. What can I do about forgetting to contact you?”
“What do you mean what can you do! You need to get a good scolding.”
It seemed like there had been an appointment with the uncle this dawn. No, since he said “at dawn today,” he had come to the conclusion that they had been taking daily morning walks together with the uncle.
Uncle Cheolsu saw Yeonwoo’s empty rice bowl and shouted.
“You’ve finished eating too. Get up quickly! Let’s go now!”
“Ah, wait, wait a minute!”
Yeonwoo shook off the hand pulling him and approached Kang Dojun, speaking as if making a vow.
“Hyung, I’ll definitely do the dishes today, so just leave them.”
“Mm, okay.”
Kang Dojun nodded to Yeonwoo, who was making a promise he couldn’t keep.
And Yeonwoo also said something to Shin Gihyeon, who had been just blinking at the suddenly chaotic situation. The ill feelings he had initially harbored toward him had long since disappeared.
“Well, you fighting too.”
“…Yes.”
Shin Gihyeon answered reluctantly. He thought he was disliked, but wasn’t he? Confusion washed over him at Yeonwoo’s simple personality, which was simpler than anyone else’s.
“You rascal! Come out quickly!”
“I’m coming now. Then I’ll get up first.”
Kang Dojun called out to Yeonwoo, who was trying to leave hurriedly following Uncle Cheolsu.
“Yeonwoo.”
“Yes?”
“It’s chilly today, so take a jacket.”
“Got it. Then I’ll be going.”
Yeonwoo roughly grabbed a piece of clothing hanging on the coat rack and followed the uncle out the door.
The chaotic situation passed in the blink of an eye, leaving only Kang Dojun and Shin Gihyeon.
Shin Gihyeon’s eyes widened at a thought that flashed through his mind.
‘Alone with sunbae-nim…!’
He looked at Kang Dojun with trembling eyes. Without saying anything, he finished his meal and then tried to clean up the dishes.
Shin Gihyeon stuffed rice into his mouth in one bite and began helping too. He couldn’t just sit still while his admired sunbae was moving around.
“Please eat slowly.”
“No, I’ve finished eating.”
After finishing the cleanup, Kang Dojun even did the dishes perfectly. It was about time to head to Grandpa Beom’s store, so he prepared to go out.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
His jacket that had been hanging on the coat rack was gone. He could guess that Yeonwoo had probably grabbed anything in his hurry.
‘At least it’s good that he took something…’
In the end, he decided to give up on the jacket and set off. Shin Gihyeon walked alongside Kang Dojun, chattering away.
“I never dreamed that sunbae-nim would do variety shows.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And rural life at that, it wasn’t the kind of variety show sunbae-nim would do, so I was even more surprised.”
“I see.”
Kang Dojun roughly brushed off the chatter from beside him. He didn’t notice when Yeonwoo did it, but he thought his ears were getting a bit sore.
Today, as always, he headed to the store, but the person was different. He was walking side by side with Shin Gihyeon on the paths he had walked with Yeonwoo.
Rather than Shin Gihyeon’s words, his attention was focused on Yeonwoo’s bright red ear from before they left.
“Sunbae-nim, is this the place?”
Shin Gihyeon pointed to the old corner store with a clear voice.
“That’s right.”
Kang Dojun answered briefly and opened the store door.
The store door was open, but Grandpa Beom wasn’t there. Yesterday he had left in a hurry, and today he wasn’t at his post at all. The only thing there was a memo on the counter.
Please take care of things today too!
It was written in slightly incorrect spelling, pressed down firmly. Shin Gihyeon checked the memo and then looked at the camera with a somewhat reluctant expression before asking Kang Dojun.
“Um…, sunbae-nim, we’re starting to watch the store from now on, right?”
Kang Dojun, who had become accustomed to watching the store on his second day, calmly opened the freezer door and answered.
“Yes, when customers come, you just need to calculate for them. There’s nothing particularly difficult.”
“Is that so?”
“Most items have prices written under the products, so you can just look at those and take the money.”
While explaining, as the situation became similar to yesterday, Kang Dojun naturally thought of Yeonwoo.
“Yes, I understand. But sunbae-nim…, what are you doing?”
At Shin Gihyeon’s question, Kang Dojun paused while mindlessly tearing open an ice cream wrapper.
What was Yeonwoo doing around now? Putting aside the thought that suddenly came to mind, he unconsciously let the words slip out.
“…Part-time job pay.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
