#046
Lee Yeonwoo hadn’t been in a good mood lately. The reason was Kang Dojun, who had been subtly avoiding him these days.
When he came home, Dojun would slip into his room to avoid him, or when Yeonwoo tried to talk to him, he would startle in surprise. And previously, as soon as his filming schedule ended, he would come straight home to spend leisurely time together, but now he was even coming home late.
The feelings of a dog waiting for its owner would be exactly the same as his. Then a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Maybe he got tired of me being too clingy. Yeonwoo pouted his lips. It would make sense after staying for several weeks. That’s why he had offered to pay for his stay… but it was none other than Kang Dojun himself who had refused.
Did he want money now, or was he uncomfortable living with him? Yeonwoo had come to Seoul for various reasons, but Kang Dojun was one of them. He occupied the largest portion.
“…Should I just go to the countryside?”
“You’re on your way there. Did you take your medicine?”
At Yeonwoo’s lamenting words, Shin Gihyeon grumbled while fanning himself. Currently, they were waiting for the bus to briefly go to the countryside for the weekend.
Shin Gihyeon, who had nothing to do, was also tagging along to hang out with Yeonwoo. Despite being a celebrity, all he had done was put on a black beanie and sunglasses.
Rather, Yeonwoo next to him had his cap pulled down low and his mask pulled up to his nose tip. Afraid that people might recognize his face, he asked Shin Gihyeon.
“Aren’t you wearing a mask?”
“Why would I wear a stuffy mask in this heat?”
It was midsummer weather where sweat dripped down even when staying still under the blazing sun.
“What if people recognize you?”
The currently airing variety show “Rural Conquest” was a hit among the younger generation, and although Yeonwoo was an ordinary person, he had caught the public’s attention.
Even he was scared that people might recognize him, but Shin Gihyeon, an actor and a famous one at that, was showing his entire face except for his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, which made Yeonwoo scared for him.
Shin Gihyeon said confidently.
“People aren’t as interested in their surroundings as you think. Everyone’s busy playing with their phones or hanging out with their own groups. Even if I took the subway like this, no one would recognize me.”
Yeonwoo glared at him with suspicious eyes. Kang Dojun had explained it the same way before, but he was still uncertain. Shin Gihyeon added more conviction to his words to persuade him.
“Really. I sometimes take the subway too. Even if a few people recognize me, there are rarely people who actually approach to talk.”
Even if they noticed, they would just quietly approach and ask “Are you Shin Gihyeon by any chance…” and quietly take a photo or get an autograph before leaving. He could count on his fingers the times there had been a big commotion while using public facilities.
After these various explanations, Yeonwoo was quickly convinced and his eyes sparkled.
“So they’re all cut from the same cloth.”
“Cut from… what? Is that the right word to use in this context?”
He even brought up sophisticated vocabulary and immediately tried to take off the white mask he was wearing. Shin Gihyeon hurriedly stopped him.
“Why are you suddenly! Why are you taking it off…”
In his panic, he unconsciously raised his voice, then looked around and lowered it to an ant-crawling tone.
“You said people all look the same to others.”
“Still, you need to cover at least one place. Don’t you know about minimal equipment?”
At those words, Yeonwoo stared intently at Shin Gihyeon. More precisely, at the sunglasses he was wearing.
“…Want to trade with me? I’ll give you my mask.”
“No? Absolutely not?”
“Give me the royal jelly back.”
“That was ages ago.”
Yeonwoo even brought up the royal jelly he had given for free months ago, struggling desperately to acquire the sunglasses.
I shouldn’t have accepted it if I knew this would happen. Shin Gihyeon muttered quietly. Nevertheless, he firmly gripped the two temple pieces hanging on his ears to avoid having his sunglasses stolen.
“Oh, the bus is here.”
“That’s a different bus. Can’t you see well because it’s dark in front? Want to trade for the mask?”
“…Just take your medicine.”
Shin Gihyeon, embarrassed that he had also been wrong, glanced at his wristwatch and changed the subject about the bus that wasn’t coming.
“I don’t have water.”
This guy doesn’t even bring water when taking a long bus ride… Shin Gihyeon, who was thoroughly prepared, clicked his tongue at Yeonwoo’s carefree attitude and handed him the water bottle he had brought.
“Thanks.”
Yeonwoo took the water bottle, rummaged through his pocket to pull out a crumpled medicine packet, briefly lowered his mask, and swallowed it. With his mask back up, he looked ahead and said.
“The bus is here.”
Yeonwoo, who had boarded the bus, started nodding off not long after departure. His mask had long since slipped down to below his chin as his head moved up and down.
Fortunately, he was sitting by the window, and the seats blocked his face so no one could recognize him.
‘Good grief.’
Shin Gihyeon looked at him sleeping deeply while banging his head against the window with a ridiculous expression. Was the medicine he took strong? It was rather fortunate.
Sunbae-nim had vaguely explained through text that sometimes when symptoms worsened, he would hate even being in a car. He also said to make sure to get off at rest stops to get some fresh air as he might get car sick.
It was quite severe. Shin Gihyeon connected his wireless earphones and played the latest episode of “Rural Conquest” that aired yesterday.
He had watched the episode where he appeared as a guest so many times that he had memorized what lines he said at what minute and second.
Yesterday’s episode was the 7th day episode, wasn’t it? Despite “Rural Conquest” being a successful variety show, he heard it would end with a short number of episodes.
Was it leaving while receiving applause, or was it a mistake by the production team who didn’t expect such success and had planned the number of episodes in advance? Either way, it wasn’t his concern.
The video flowed on his phone screen and sound came through Shin Gihyeon’s earphones.
Yeonwoo and Kang Dojun were working at Uncle Cheolsu’s side dish shop. The mission given by the production team was for them to make pajeon and sell it to customers.
The process wasn’t smooth from the start. They had to get scallions with dirt on them, wash them by hand, and trim the roots. While Kang Dojun made the batter, Yeonwoo trimmed the scallions, but the scallions were spicy so he sniffled.
“Should I do it?”
“It’s okay. But I, achoo, some tissue please.”
“Here.”
Kang Dojun turned on the gas stove next to them to make the spiciness subside a bit.
“I turned on the fire, so be careful.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Thanks to that, he fortunately didn’t shed tears. After cutting all the scallions and mixing them into the flour batter Kang Dojun had made, they heated oil in a frying pan.
“Hyung, I’ll flip it for you.”
“It’s not time to flip it yet…”
“I can do it. Just trust me.”
Impatient Yeonwoo couldn’t wait for the bottom to cook and sneakily approached to peek. Without using a spatula, he lifted the frying pan and shook it as if checking the seasoning.
Only then confirming that the bottom wasn’t cooked, he turned up the heat high and sizzled it.
“You need to use low heat.”
“High heat makes it crispy and delicious.”
A subtitle in bold font read ‘That’s burnt!’ Kang Dojun just talked from the side but didn’t actively stop Yeonwoo’s actions.
To Shin Gihyeon, it seemed like the psychology of ‘Sure, since you’re doing it. It’s okay if you mess up, so try it, there there.’
“…Here I go!”
For some reason, it felt unnecessarily dramatic.
“Be careful not to get burned.”
Kang Dojun seemed to prioritize Yeonwoo’s safety over the success of the food.
Soon the frying pan shook and the pajeon flew through the air and landed. Not in the frying pan, but on the gas stove.
Yeonwoo confirmed the pajeon’s demise, flinched slightly, made eye contact with the camera once, and tilted his head as nonchalantly as possible.
“That’s strange. It’s not working today. It usually works well. Must be because the equipment is different.”
Along with those words, the screen showed Yeonwoo’s kitchen that had become a complete mess. A subtitle read ‘No different from usual ^v^’
Shin Gihyeon burst into laughter without realizing it. Listening to Yeonwoo, PD Han Taegu might be worse than a dog, but the editing was brilliantly done.
It was the same when they had a brief conversation the other dawn, and he seemed diligent in his assigned work. Shin Gihyeon, who was watching the video on his phone, eventually couldn’t bear the oncoming motion sickness and closed his eyes for a moment.
How long had he been like that when he heard voices near his ear.
“Rest stop?”
“Oh, you startled me. When did you wake up?”
“Just now.”
Yeonwoo drew back the curtain by the window and looked outside. Confirming that the bus had entered the rest stop parking lot, he prepared to get off. Then he glanced at Shin Gihyeon and asked.
“Aren’t you getting off?”
“I was going to.”
At that answer, he made a disappointed expression. He was definitely eyeing the sunglasses with keen interest.
Yeonwoo, who got off the bus, stretched vigorously and headed toward where food was sold. Shin Gihyeon caught him.
“We leave in 15 minutes, let’s just quickly go to the bathroom and come back.”
“I can eat plenty in 15 minutes. Can’t you?”
Yeonwoo looked at him with a pitying expression. The corner of Shin Gihyeon’s mouth rose crookedly. There’s the phrase ‘just in case,’ isn’t there?
Looking closely, Yeonwoo seemed not to know words about the future like ‘what if, maybe, later.’ All his actions pointed to ‘now, right away, hurry.’
Should this be called living faithfully in the present, or having no thoughts at all? It was quite perplexing.
“I don’t know, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Okay, should I buy yours too?”
“…I want a hot dog.”
One way or another, he ended up being dragged along by Yeonwoo.
“Two hot dogs please. The ones with cheese.”
The food came out immediately. After paying, Yeonwoo took the food and sat on a bench, waiting for Shin Gihyeon who had gone to the bathroom.
‘Only 10 minutes left.’
At first he was going to wait, but since he didn’t know when Shin Gihyeon would come out and there wasn’t much time left, he decided to eat first. He couldn’t resist the tempting aroma.
He lowered his mask slightly and was about to take a bite while holding hot dogs in both hands when he heard a click sound.
When he turned his head toward the source of the sound, two women were standing there. Seeing that the phone lens was pointed at him, it didn’t seem like a selfie.
“Oh, look here! That’s Lee Yeonwoo, right? I think it’s him?”
“Uh… yeah. It seems like it.”
Yeonwoo looked at them while chewing his hot dog. It wasn’t that he was calm, but because he couldn’t react in any way. Then as the two gradually approached him, he froze instantly.
“Um… we really enjoy watching the variety show. If it’s okay with you, could we possibly… take just one photo with us?”
He stiffened while holding hot dogs upright in both hands. His thoughts froze so he couldn’t think to pull up his mask or run away.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
