#054
He bought red paint from Grandpa Beom’s store and applied it to the wall. He wrote new text to cover over the red graffiti in the guestbook.
[24-Hour CCTV Surveillance]
“Done.”
Yeonwoo wiped his face with the back of his hand, feeling satisfied. Then the ink from the paint brush he was holding dripped onto his shoe.
“Ah, shit.”
He went inside the house to find tissues and scrubbed hard, but instead of coming off, it smeared and made him look upset.
Shin Gihyeon looked at him incredulously. He didn’t care about the paint on his white shirt but got annoyed over just one drop of ink on his shoe.
“Pay attention to your clothes.”
“I matched this with Dojun hyung.”
At his mumbling, Shin Gihyeon’s eyes widened. He then looked down to check Kang Dojun’s shoes.
“Ahem.”
Kang Dojun coughed awkwardly and slightly showed his shoes. They were the shoes they had bought together when they went to the department store last time.
“…Did sunbae-nim buy them for you?”
“Yeonwoo bought them for me.”
His tone was as proud as if talking about his child buying something with their first paycheck at work.
‘Yeonwoo bought them?’
Of course, contrary to how he looked, he often gave generously to those around him. Even he had received honey and royal jelly last time. But still, they were obviously brand-name shoes, and he gave them to sunbae-nim?
Yeonwoo didn’t really have material desires. He couldn’t understand why such a person would treasure matching shoes with someone else.
Shin Gihyeon had a slightly excessive imagination.
‘Does he really like sunbae-nim too?’
No way, he decided to just give up thinking about it.
“If you’re done, let’s go quickly.”
They had also briefly visited the apiary and finished what they needed to do.
Yeonwoo hurriedly cleaned up the paint container and prepared to get in the car.
“Change your clothes before getting in. You’ll get ink on the car.”
At Shin Gihyeon’s nagging, Yeonwoo, who would normally have retorted “I know that much too” and gone to change clothes, silently went into the house and came out wearing different clothes.
‘…What did he eat wrong?’
Yeonwoo was hard to understand. Shin Gihyeon got in the driver’s seat. Everyone got in and they drove toward Seoul.
“Let’s switch at the rest stop. Tell me if you get tired before then.”
“It’s fine.”
“Should I learn to drive again? They say highway driving is good practice for beginner drivers. Should I drive?”
Yeonwoo peered over from the back seat and asked.
Kang Dojun quietly imagined Yeonwoo behind the wheel.
‘Look…! Hyung, did you see that car just now? Did you see them cut in without signaling? Wow, what if there’s an accident! This won’t do. I need to roll down the window and give them a piece of my mind.’
…It was obvious without even seeing it. He absolutely couldn’t let him drive.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work. See you next time.”
“Take care. Dream of me.”
“Sunbae-nim, thank you for driving too! …Why would I have nightmares?”
After driving for a long time to arrive in Seoul, they dropped Shin Gihyeon off at his house.
He had the desire to be alone with Yeonwoo, but when they were finally alone, he couldn’t figure out what to say.
Actually, thinking about it, it was ridiculous. How long had it been since he resolved to give up, yet he was still anxiously worrying without any real progress?
He had even held onto Yeonwoo, who said he would stay in the countryside, using the excuse of luggage in Seoul. At this point, he should consider it almost giving up.
So he set up a new comparison. Was his career as an actor important, or was Yeonwoo important?
Both were important. He didn’t want to lose either. This also didn’t lead to an easy conclusion.
Yeonwoo was always difficult. There wasn’t a single easy aspect about him.
It was harder than memorizing scripts, harder than understanding the personalities and emotional lines of written characters. Of course it would be, since he didn’t exist in any script.
Earlier too, he had expected that the symptoms he was treating would worsen. But he overcame it.
He was diverse and charming. He was as free as a ball that could bounce anywhere. No, even a ball was predictable if you knew its trajectory.
If anyone asked about Yeonwoo, he was confident he could always respond with a question mark.
He didn’t even know what this person thought of him. It would be nice if he could just indicate what the acceptable boundaries were, where their current relationship stood, but he didn’t even do that.
Because of the anticipation and despair that came from that vagueness, he couldn’t rest his thoughts for even a single day. His head was filled with the name Yeonwoo.
He liked Yeonwoo. He could probably guess that he had gone beyond even that word. Just having someone else around made him irritated.
Unrequited love? Giving up? Now it was all ridiculous talk. He didn’t know how to make impossible things possible.
His emotions had concluded with ‘cannot give up,’ so then what about Yeonwoo’s emotions? He decided to analyze them carefully.
Even if they couldn’t communicate, there were ways to analyze somehow. Some dog trainers match dogs’ thoughts by observing their eyes, attitude, tail, and various other things.
It was a matter of observing closely.
So Kang Dojun decided to observe Yeonwoo.
* * *
D-1
Seeing the candy, chocolate, jelly, and snacks he bought while drunk, Yeonwoo’s cheeks turned red. Eating was fine, but he decided to hide them to set limits.
The corners of his mouth trembled slightly. He doesn’t like it.
D-2
When he opened the front door after finishing filming, Yeonwoo opened his room door and came running out to greet him. Thinking that he had been waiting for him made his accumulated fatigue seem to disappear.
He blinks his eyes frequently. It’s not dry eyes, but seems to be a habit when he’s happy? When he’s glad? More than that, his pupils are black and pretty.
D-3
He bought lettuce seedlings for Yeonwoo, who couldn’t bring them due to the chaos. These days, even seedlings come by delivery through internet shopping – he was newly amazed by technological advancement. Yeonwoo was noticeably pleased.
Holding packages in both hands, he pushed open the terrace glass door with his foot. It would leave footprints. It didn’t matter at all. When he followed him out, Yeonwoo was humming while touching the soil.
He couldn’t tell what song it was, but it seemed he sang when he was in a very good mood.
D-4
Yeonwoo suddenly said he was going to visit Grace’s dorm. He was surprised by the sudden news. When did they become so close? It turned out he had been in constant contact with Jaihan, who was the same age.
They only met for one day during filming, yet they were in constant contact and he was even going to visit their dorm? People never stopped being around him.
Yeonwoo moved his body up and down while sitting on the sofa. Was he looking forward to it? He was a bit angry.
D-5
He finished night filming and came home during the day, but the house was quiet. Not seeing Yeonwoo greeting him, he opened the room door. He wasn’t in the room either.
The house was large, so after searching for a while, he remembered his phone and immediately called. He heard another ringtone from his room. He immediately hung up and entered the room.
Yeonwoo was sleeping soundly in his bed.
…What?
He pinched his cheek and stretched it out. Cute. His name is Lee Yeonwoo too, Lee Yeonwoo. The softness could be felt from the letters that contained three circles.
Did he pinch too hard? Yeonwoo sleepily opened his eyes. Then he suddenly sat up and opened and closed his lips. Was he flustered? He immediately hugged him tightly. He knew this from experiencing it often. It was a sign of joy.
But why was Yeonwoo sleeping in his bed instead of his own room? It seemed like more observation was needed.
D-6
Seeing what he was doing alone in the bathroom, he was hand-washing the shoes that had gotten paint on them last time. Paint had also gotten on his white shirt, but he was happy that Yeonwoo treasured the shoes they had matched.
Or maybe he had given up on the shirt because it was already beyond help?
Showing him the cleaned shoes, he smiled prettily, saying he had found a way to remove paint online and washed them cleanly.
He dried the shoes in the sunny spot on the terrace, turning them this way and that. He was a child starved for affection. Did he like matching things with someone? …Or with me? That was going too far.
D-7
On the way back from filming, he bought a t-shirt to give to Yeonwoo. Paint had gotten all over it, and he wanted to test something too.
He took out the newly bought white t-shirt from the paper bag. Yeonwoo showed signs of liking it. He wouldn’t have noticed before, but now it was starting to catch his eye.
His eyes became firmer than usual and he blinked more frequently. His nose bridge also twitched and he pressed his lips together as if putting strength into them.
It was a gesture of trying hard to hold back laughter that was about to burst out. He could just show that he liked it.
“There’s one more.”
Yeonwoo, who was holding the t-shirt and turning it around to check the size, tilted his head at Kang Dojun’s words.
“One is enough for me though?”
Same brand, same design, different size.
“Mine.”
Kang Dojun keenly observed him. Actions, gestures, tone, expressions, pitch. He observed and analyzed Yeonwoo using everything used when studying acting.
It was a determination to match everything, whatever thoughts he had and whatever reactions he showed.
“Then it’s a couple outfit!”
At those words, he felt deflated. Wrong again. His thoughts and reactions were clearly visible. He could guess them even with his eyes closed, just from the tone of voice.
It was like studying hard to solve a high-level math problem, only to have addition and subtraction come up as the questions.
His eyes curved like crescents and the corners of his mouth curled up. Rarely, dimples even appeared. In that state, he hummed excitedly and went to look in the mirror.
Before going, he didn’t forget to hug him once and express his thanks.
So he smiles like that too. It was the first time seeing dimples.
Cute and pretty and lovable, he did it all alone. His heart beat crazily fast to the point of breathlessness. Heat rushed to his face. It might have turned red. It was emotional overload.
There was one more test left, but he couldn’t think of anything.
He just sat quietly, trying to calm his racing heart.
Yeonwoo, who had come out after changing his shirt, paused while organizing the paper bag. There was one more item inside. It was the same clothes he was wearing.
‘One for me, one for hyung, …who?’
“What’s this?”
Only then did Kang Dojun remember the last test.
“…Ah, that’s for Gihyeon-ssi.”
“Shin Gihyeon?”
“Yeah.”
“Aha.”
Yeonwoo put the clothes back in the paper bag without any particular reaction.
The problem had returned. What if it wasn’t just the two of them, but the three of them matching clothes? Kang Dojun calmed his mind and observed Yeonwoo closely. This time was a bit difficult. But he was confident he could guess.
The eyebrows that were usually hidden by his hair came down to show themselves, and the space between his eyes and eyebrows narrowed. His eyes were slightly stiff. It seemed like he was putting strength into his forehead and between his brows.
His nose… had no reaction, and the corners of his mouth, which had been constantly raised, trembled slightly. That was a reaction he knew well. It meant dislike.
Yeonwoo was currently not in a good mood. That was Kang Dojun’s judgment.
Why? For what reason? Just a moment ago he was happy, calling it couple clothes? Did he like matching only with me? But why?
If that’s the case…
“Do you like me?”
It’s as if you like me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
