#072
When he stretched the neckline of the shirt, Lee Yeonwoo’s pale shoulder line was revealed. Kang Dojun gritted his teeth and bit down hard on his shoulder.
Teeth marks appeared and the skin reddened. Now it was even harder to find a white spot.
“Right. When is the filming day?”
“Next week.”
Kang Dojun was lying on top of Lee Yeonwoo, who was lying face down. The small writhing movements were satisfying.
Lee Yeonwoo squirmed as if he was suffocating under the weight. Even so, Kang Dojun had no intention of moving aside and buried his face in his hair. Then he grabbed and pulled Lee Yeonwoo’s black hair.
“It’s grown a lot.”
“Should I cut it for you?”
“…Wouldn’t it be better to leave hair to a professional?”
He remembered the terrible results his own hands had produced.
Lee Yeonwoo barely lifted his chin and spoke while intermittently gasping for the breath that was being pressed out of him.
“I like it when hyung touches my hair.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Maybe because it’s comfortable, I sleep well too.”
“But rather than ruining it…”
“Who’s going to die from ruined hair? Just cut it for me, hyung.”
It’s not like anyone would die from having their hair cut a bit messily, and he himself, the person involved, was fine with it. However, the other party who would be doing the cutting seemed reluctant.
“Are you worried that if you cut my hair, I’ll become ugly and you won’t like me?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then that’s settled. I just need to look good in hyung’s eyes.”
Kang Dojun silently stroked Lee Yeonwoo’s hair without answering.
‘Just look good in my eyes?’
Even if Lee Yeonwoo had a buzz cut, he would probably still look adorable. The shape of his head that he could feel through his fingers was also round and pretty.
“Since it’s summer too…”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing.”
A buzz cut would be too extreme though. They say even dogs feel shame when their fur is shaved short.
Lee Yeonwoo kept struggling to change his position as if being underneath was uncomfortable.
“Uncomfortable? Should I get off?”
“Do whatever’s comfortable for hyung.”
“Then I’ll stay a bit longer.”
Contrary to his words, Kang Dojun put strength in his arms and lifted his body slightly to give Lee Yeonwoo room to breathe.
“If next week is when the filming team comes, I can cut it then to match the timing.”
Kang Dojun looked down at Lee Yeonwoo with pleased eyes. Taking care of broadcast screen time and knowing variety shows better after filming just once.
“Won’t I get criticized?”
“Hyung? Why? Who would criticize hyung?”
Lee Yeonwoo raised his eyes vigorously. His expression was one of ‘who dares to criticize Kang Dojun.’
At that, Kang Dojun smiled ambiguously.
He had heard that in 〈Rural Conquest〉 too, viewers had complained loudly that Kang Dojun had ruined the kid’s hair. If he cut hair in this variety show too… Well, it was obvious without watching.
“I’m fine with it though. If I’m going to ruin my own hair, what does it matter to anyone else?”
‘So he does think it’ll get ruined.’
“I’ll try to cut it well this time.”
Kang Dojun resolved that he must learn hairstyling when he had time. He couldn’t ruin his precious lover’s hair.
“And if there are things that shouldn’t be discovered, it’s better to hide them in advance.”
“Like condoms?”
At Lee Yeonwoo’s direct words, Kang Dojun was struck speechless. Lee Yeonwoo had brought up the topic, but it was Kang Dojun who was embarrassed.
Lee Yeonwoo giggled as if he found his reaction amusing.
“Then isn’t hyung’s room the biggest problem?”
These days, Lee Yeonwoo’s room was practically nonexistent, and they lived together in Kang Dojun’s room. At most, he would go in briefly to pack things and come out.
Therefore, most of the items needed for their relationship were also stored in Kang Dojun’s room.
Kang Dojun lifted his head to look at Lee Yeonwoo. With that innocent-looking face, he was the wildest in the world when they were intimate.
When Lee Yeonwoo uttered embarrassing words without hesitation, his lower area would throb and make its presence known.
‘I wish he’d restrain himself with such words in front of others…’
Lee Yeonwoo was an adult, so he would surely know better, but Kang Dojun had come to treat him like a bomb that could explode at any moment. It seemed like only he was getting worked up over nothing.
***
Time passed, and before long, the variety show filming day approached.
The filming team had been visiting their house since early dawn.
“The cameras go here and there…, and…”
The PD held a paper with the house’s floor plan and pointed out the camera positions to Kang Dojun. Red pen check marks made it easy to understand.
When sitting in the living room, face this direction; when cooking in the kitchen, face right; don’t turn your back to the cameras, etc. He explained the directions in detail.
And he didn’t forget to recite the additional content that Kang Dojun’s side had added.
“I heard you’ll be cutting Yeonwoo-ssi’s hair. If you’re cutting it in the living room bathroom, we plan to install one camera facing front and one camera showing the mirror from behind.”
“Yes, please do that.”
“And since we didn’t install cameras in Yeonwoo-ssi’s room, we ask that Dojun-ssi try not to enter that room as much as possible.”
“Yes.”
The bathroom connected to Kang Dojun’s room and Lee Yeonwoo’s room were the only places without cameras. The spare medicines stored in the cabinet had also been moved to Lee Yeonwoo’s room where no cameras were installed.
While the filming crew was busily moving around inside Kang Dojun’s house, Lee Yeonwoo sat at the kitchen table leisurely drinking coffee. Park Daeho approached him.
“You’re really going to let Dojun cut your hair? If you’re trying to help Dojun get screen time for the variety show…”
“It’s not that. It’s time to cut it anyway, and going to a salon is bothersome.”
Lee Yeonwoo said while pulling on his grown-out bangs.
Park Daeho clicked his tongue at his attitude of leaving everything to Kang Dojun.
He was also worried that if this scene aired on the variety show, comments would appear saying Kang Dojun had ruined the kid again. The first time, people laughed it off, but the second time, some people might react sensitively.
Of course, he knew well that Lee Yeonwoo had no intention of letting his lover get criticized, but both Lee Yeonwoo and Kang Dojun still seemed ignorant about variety shows. Even if the two found it fun and okay, if viewers found it uncomfortable from their perspective, they would tear apart even trivial things on variety shows.
It would be best not to air it, but the two had already said they would do it, and the PD was happy about it, so it was too late to stop them now…
Kang Dojun’s image wasn’t bad enough to get criticized over something like this, and he thought it might be unnecessary worry, but it was right to avoid potential controversy as much as possible. Park Daeho resolved to earnestly ask the PD to include a scene showing that Lee Yeonwoo had wanted the haircut.
“Daeho, the PD-nim says he has something to tell you.”
“Ah, okay.”
Kang Dojun, who had finished talking with the PD, approached them and said this. Park Daeho went to the PD, and Kang Dojun placed his hand on Lee Yeonwoo’s forehead.
He seemed worried that Lee Yeonwoo might even have a fever from nervousness about the cameras.
Lee Yeonwoo looked up at him with an incredulous expression.
Who was it that said to be careful with words spoken in front of cameras, yet he himself was being unrestrained in his actions toward him?
‘Will we be able to finish filming well?’
“PD-nim, did you call for me?”
“Me? I did?”
At Park Daeho’s question, the PD made a puzzled expression.
“I explained everything during the pre-meeting, so there’s nothing much…”
He trailed off vaguely, but the point was that he had nothing to say.
Park Daeho’s expression crumpled. He glared fiercely at Kang Dojun, who was having a cozy conversation with Lee Yeonwoo at the kitchen table.
‘That guy really…’
The symptoms are getting worse by the day. At this point, he should be developing new interests in other things, but does he really love him or something?
Park Daeho secretly sighed.
“Manager-nim, do you have something to tell me?”
At the PD’s words, Park Daeho decided to take this opportunity to say what he had resolved earlier.
“For the scene where you cut Yeonwoo-ssi’s hair, please make sure to include additional footage showing that Yeonwoo-ssi wanted the haircut first, and also…”
Park Daeho spoke to the PD in detail. Although he was Kang Dojun’s friend, he had come here as a manager. He decided to fulfill his duties as a manager first.
***
Filming began.
The clock hands pointed to 9 AM. The day already felt long.
The script the PD wanted was to show their life at home, then go on a picnic with Lee Yeonwoo. The sight of two men going on a picnic was amusing, but he was also looking forward to it.
And there was one thing he couldn’t understand.
Lee Yeonwoo’s screen time was specified as 10 minutes in the contract, but if they did all the schedules together, how would the editing work…
Kang Dojun sat alone in his room and carefully examined the contract his agency had sent once more.
[Within the program’s TV broadcast time, the screen time of cast member ‘Lee Yeonwoo’ is limited to 1/6.]
Since his own appearance was only for one episode, there would be no problem.
However, there was a contradiction in this statement. If the variety show was 1 hour and 10 minutes, Lee Yeonwoo’s screen time would be 11-12 minutes, not 10 minutes.
This was an idea he had insisted on when drafting the contract for a variety show program that was about an hour long.
‘Why does Yeonwoo need to appear when I’m already on it?’
Kang Dojun knew he had no talent for being funny, but as Park Daeho said, he was somewhat aware that he had name recognition.
The current variety show PD’s thoughts were obvious without watching.
It meant he wanted to achieve higher ratings by bringing the buzz from the recently ended 〈Rural Conquest〉 to his own program, using the already guaranteed viewership from Kang Dojun’s appearance.
Considering Lee Yeonwoo’s screen time as a maximum of 12 minutes, generously 13 minutes, Kang Dojun had first sought Lee Yeonwoo’s opinion before signing the contract.
‘I don’t care if it’s 20 or 30 minutes.’
Reassured by those words, he had completed the contract.
First, the opening scene started with each of them greeting the morning in their respective rooms, as the PD insisted.
He got up from the bed where he had lain artificially, trying to arrange his intentionally tousled hair, and awkwardly opened the curtains. It would have been better to think of it as acting, but thinking of it as a variety show made his body stiffen even with such trivial movements.
Despite having 7-8 years of celebrity experience, his variety show experience was only twice, including today.
Still, in 〈Rural Conquest〉, he just had to act according to the missions the PD gave, but this variety show wanted him to film an unnatural scene of suddenly waking up in the morning from the first scene, which was awkward.
He had already finished showering before greeting the filming crew, so would he need to shower again? Despite variety shows having editing, he found himself seriously thinking about everything from start to finish.
Since they said they had installed cameras in the living room bathroom, rather than entering the bathroom attached to his room, he thought he should go to the living room side to at least brush his teeth and wash his face again, so he opened his room door and came out.
Kang Dojun tried not to be conscious of the cameras and opened the living room bathroom door.
“Good morning.”
He made eye contact with Lee Yeonwoo, who was brushing his teeth.
Lee Yeonwoo calmly found Kang Dojun’s toothbrush, put toothpaste on it, and handed it to him.
“Here.”
“……”
As a celebrity, Kang Dojun had more years of experience than Lee Yeonwoo, but in variety shows, he was on the same level as him.
What Kang Dojun had planned to do – pretending to wash up – Lee Yeonwoo was already demonstrating as if to show off. From that perspective, it wouldn’t be wrong to treat Lee Yeonwoo as a variety show senior.
Their first meeting when filming 〈Rural Conquest〉 flashed by like a distant past, and the starting bell of their second variety show filming rang in his ears.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
