#042
Kang Dojun rolled his black pupils. Despite there being a pillow, he looked down slightly at Yeonwoo who was sleeping soundly with his face resting on his shoulder.
Fair and youthful white skin with long, dark eyelashes, large and clear eyes without double eyelids that were now closed, a straight nose, and cute pink lips that were firmly closed even while sleeping as if showing his stubborn personality.
He had kept saying he was cute, but he really did look cute. Even when seeing celebrities with pretty, handsome, cute, or charming appearances, he had never felt this way.
The trending fan… what was it called… something like that?
He had once seen a hypothesis that cuteness was one of the survival methods of newborns. The content was that they survive in the wild by triggering protective instincts through cuteness.
Even when Yeonwoo caused trouble here and there, he didn’t find it bothersome or annoying at all. When he looked up at him with those big, gentle eyes as if asking what was wrong, it felt like he should take care of him even more.
…Was it a survival strategy?
It was a ridiculous thought. If cuteness was really a survival strategy, this kid’s mind would have been fine too. For Yeonwoo, his cute appearance was rather poison. It bought the public’s attention.
Kang Dojun raised his hand and arbitrarily pulled and stretched Yeonwoo’s face. However, Yeonwoo, who was sleeping deeply for the first time in a while, only frowned slightly and showed no signs of waking up.
If his eyes had been a little sharper, if his skin had been darker with blemishes, if his nose had been a little lower, if the corners of his mouth had drooped a little more, he wouldn’t have become this famous.
Then he wouldn’t have to suffer like this now.
Soon he let out a deflated laugh. Even if Yeonwoo hadn’t looked like this, everyone would have fallen for his unrestrained personality anyway.
From their first meeting, a storm had swept through, then he was swept away, and now he had surrendered his body to it.
Like waves sweeping away, getting soaked was a matter of moments.
Then, Yeonwoo moved his body and instead of moving away, came even closer.
The area around Kang Dojun’s neck became warm. Yeonwoo’s shallow breaths tickled him. He gently pushed his face to the side, but only briefly – he came back toward him again, leaning against him and mumbling like sleep talking.
He seemed to like physical contact. Even when in the countryside, he often clung to him. Does he get lonely easily?
If so, he must have been very lonely when he left a few months ago. Thinking about that, he could no longer push away Yeonwoo who clung to him in his sleep.
He pulled up the blanket that Yeonwoo had kicked down halfway and lay properly in the correct position. He just blinked quietly for a few minutes, but no matter what, sleep wouldn’t come.
Yeonwoo’s steady breathing was still tickling his nape. His Adam’s apple moved with a gulp.
If he couldn’t sleep, he could just get up and go to the living room. However, he didn’t want to do that.
He slightly twisted his body to find his phone placed on the bedside table. He decided to watch the variety show he hadn’t thought to watch because he was busy or with family.
He clicked on a title called ‘Blockhead Compilation zip.1’. It was a video compilation of only Yeonwoo’s parts. Since Yeonwoo was sleeping, he turned off the sound, but thanks to all current broadcasts having subtitles, he could watch comfortably without sound.
Among them were videos of Yeonwoo almost tripping over his own feet, and scenes where he was farming and his face must have been itchy, so he raised his hand to scratch it, then belatedly realized his hand was covered in dirt and struggled to wipe his face on his clothes.
‘…He really is a blockhead.’
Now that he looked, it was a video compilation of particularly blockheaded parts among Yeonwoo’s scenes.
And at that time, Yeonwoo had come to him asking to wipe his face. While wiping it for him, he had rubbed his face and added the dirt from his own hands, making Yeonwoo’s face even dirtier. In his panic, he had to wipe his hands on his pants and clean Yeonwoo’s face again.
‘I didn’t know this was filmed too.’
He had heard that you had to be careful with your actions on variety shows because they film every little thing, but experiencing it firsthand felt strange.
And in the blockhead compilation zip video, there was also a scene of him getting all his groceries taken by Grandma Kyeong-i the night before.
…The blockhead compilation zip wasn’t just about Yeonwoo, but a compilation of anyone acting like a blockhead.
Looking at the title ‘Blockhead Compilation zip.1’, there seemed to be episodes 2 and 3 as well. Scrolling down, indeed several episodes appeared. He ignored them and read the comments.
â—‹ [Hah our puppy still can’t walk properly. I really want to put him in my mouth and go waralaral]
â—‹ [Isn’t Ureong Dojun’s pants luxury brand? How dare dirt? As expected, nobles are different]
â—‹ [Look how he just stays still while getting dirt smeared on his face. Master’s touch is everything, is that it.]
â—‹ [He went there for a photoshoot. Light Dojun is shining down instead of the sun in the field.]
â—‹ [Fucking why do they get robbed after finally buying groceries lololol these blockheads lol]
â—‹ [It’s academic consensus that puppies are twice as cute when they get a little dirty.]
â—‹ [There’s a myth from Greece and Rome about gods creating something because they wanted to eat rice cakes, and that’s Yeonwoo’s birth myth. His species is soft rice cake.]
â—‹ [Don’t curse Grandma Kyeong-i just from watching this video. Later she brought a whole bunch of side dishes made from the ingredients she took(?). Those blockheads really should pay grandma for seasoning and cooking costs. lol lol lol]
â—‹ [Yeonwoo, it’s grandma. I lost my phone. If you’re watching this, contact me.]
Reading the comments, he realized Yeonwoo’s popularity. Half the comments were about him. The treatment was practically no different from a celebrity, making Kang Dojun frown.
‘No wonder the kid’s condition is…’
He worried whether it would be okay to go out today. Of course, he knew people weren’t as interested in others as you’d think. Even he himself, when wearing a hat and mask, few people recognized him.
However, Yeonwoo just disliked and was scared of people’s gazes. The psychological difference between “they won’t recognize me” and “they might recognize me” was quite significant.
He should get better soon and return to the countryside… but he worried that going outside would make him cautious of his surroundings and react sensitively to even small things, increasing his stress.
On the other hand, the period he could stay here was limited, which was very regrettable. Still, it was a problem that could be solved by meeting frequently.
Now Yeonwoo rode cars and elevators well and had no special abnormal symptoms. Still, he remained anxious like watching a kitten that had climbed up a tree.
While thinking about this and that, his shoulder that Yeonwoo was using as a pillow began to ache. He pushed him to the side, but as expected, he clung back.
Since he had been touching his phone with only one hand because of this, his arm had stiffened. To fix his posture, he slipped his arm under Yeonwoo’s head and pulled it out.
His shoulder ached, but both arms were free. When he raised his arms to touch his phone with both hands while lying down, it became a position where he was holding Yeonwoo.
…Now that he realized it, the position was strange.
But he had already moved once, and since it was almost time to wake up, he didn’t want to make a fuss and wake him unnecessarily.
Kang Dojun decided to fix it later and checked his phone again. It was definitely twice as comfortable using both hands.
Suddenly, he remembered what Yeonwoo had said.
‘Absolutely don’t watch it. Episodes 3 and 7.’
When told not to watch something, it was human psychology to want to watch it more.
Kang Dojun entered the video streaming app that his family had subscribed to at his father’s request. Fortunately, the broadcasting station’s programs including “Rural Conquest” were available, so he could watch immediately.
He roughly knew episode 7’s plot from hearing it from his parents, but since it was the latest episode, it appeared at the top. To listen without sound, episode 7, which he roughly knew the content of, would be easier to understand. When he clicked on episode 7, the video played.
The first scene was Grace appearing to introduce themselves and Cheolsu appearing while making coffee.
Han Taegu didn’t want his career tarnished either, so he didn’t do particularly malicious editing. Though his personality was nasty, his editing skills and abilities as a PD were excellent. That’s how he became a star PD, and “Rural Conquest” seemed to have been a hit too.
‘It would have been fine if it hadn’t been a hit.’
As he continued watching the video, his conscience pricked him. It was because he was blatantly watching the episode Yeonwoo had told him absolutely not to watch, right in front of him.
Glancing at Yeonwoo, he still showed no signs of waking, and to fix the strange position as well, Kang Dojun turned over on his back.
He felt Yeonwoo put his head on his back and place his leg over his body, but he couldn’t refuse. It was hard to keep pushing away someone who kept approaching, and thinking of how lonely he must get, even the desire to push him away disappeared.
However, he watched the video while covering the phone screen with his back as much as possible.
The foot volleyball scene was edited focusing on Yeonwoo’s missed kicks.
The blockhead compilation zip had also included scenes of him playing foot volleyball. It contained Yeonwoo making a blank expression after extending his foot toward the ball but missing it.
A smile began to form on Kang Dojun’s face as he watched the video. Then he hardened his expression at seeing himself hitting a refreshing home run for Yeonwoo, leading the team to defeat.
‘Why did I do that?’
If he had to give a reason, it was just that he didn’t like seeing Yeonwoo being gloomy.
Even after that, he felt unfamiliar seeing himself taking care of Yeonwoo during dinner. Getting water for Yeonwoo who was shoving food into his mouth, personally tying his shoelaces, and even initiating playfulness in the car after the courage test.
Something that suddenly occurred to him – he had seen himself like this before. Quite often, in fact. Even without sound from the video, he could recognize it very simply and easily through eyes, gestures, and actions.
Before, when he was about to go to the countryside to pick up Yeonwoo after late-night filming ended, Park Daeho had confronted him:
‘You’re going at this hour? Don’t you think you’re being strange? Normally people don’t go that far.’
Right, normally you don’t go this far. It was definitely strange. Kang Dojun slowly observed his appearance in the video once more, as if engraving it in his eyes.
He turned on the sound quietly and observed it several times, memorizing his appearance, tone, actions, and gaze until he could recall them even with his eyes closed. After that, he couldn’t deny it.
Having acted, monitored, and studied hundreds of times, this was an answer that couldn’t be wrong. At least he couldn’t be wrong about himself. This was definitely how he looked when acting out love.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
