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“Yes. I love you. Me too. I’ll come back as soon as things are sorted out. Yes. Please say hi.”
As Inseop said he loved her a few more times and hung up the phone, Lee Wooyeon asked,
“Aren’t you tired of it?”
“Yes? What?”
“You say the same thing everytime.”
Choi Inseop’s private phone calls were only with his family in the United States. As a condition of working in Korea, Inseop was asked to call them once every three days. Lee Wooyeon gave permission saying that’s fine. However, it was not very pleasant to watch Inseop hold onto his phone every time and say something so affectionate that it made him shiver.
“Do you talk to your family like that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s definitely different from how you’re speaking now.”
Inseop thought that he had to start the car quickly before Lee Wooyeon started another fight, and turned on the engine.
As soon as they entered the road, it started to rain. Inseop turned on the wiper and informed Lee Wooyeon that it was raining.
“I know.”
“There must be only one umbrella in the car.”
When he checked the weather forecast yesterday, there was no indication that it would rain. Inseop muttered with a worried face and moved the steering wheel.
“I think we can use it together.”
:Lee Wooyeon came up with a simple solution. Inseop answered with a confused face.
“It’s not possible. You have to start filming right away, but if you get wet in the rain, it’ll be a problem.”
Lee Wooyeon burst into laughter at his serious voice.
“Hahaha, I’m really going crazy.”
“… … .”
“What would you do if you weren’t my manager? Why are you trying to quit when you’re working so well?”
“… … .”
Inseop had nothing to say. He also found it absurd that he was working hard after signing the contract, while also trying not to die. In fact, he also had a shallow expectation that if he did well, it would be more likely that Lee Wooyeon would release him in three weeks.
“It’s nice that you’re doing a good job, but you know that that is different from trusting your words, right?”
“… I will keep that in mind.”
Inseop answered weakly to Lee Wooyeon’s sharp words, which dug deep into his heart. From that day on, Lee Wooyeon didn’t ask for anything special, but he sometimes made Inseop uncomfortable with his mischievous words.
“But do you really like me?”
Just like now.
“…Yes. I like you.”
The hand holding the steering wheel clenched.
“Why are you so cruel to the person you like, who you chased after from America to Korea but often show great affection towards your family?”
“I like Mr. Lee Wooyeon… ”
When Inseop confessed with a small voice that was drowned by the sound of the rain hitting the windows, Lee Wooyeon snorted.
“Do you like reading books?”
“…I like…”
“Is there anything other than that? It’s really boring.”
Inseop was so tense that his tongue was paralyzed, but to Lee Wooyeon, he didn’t seem to feel those things at all. Inseop did not know what to do to satisfy that person’s heart, so he chewed on his pitiful lips.
“Mr. Inseop.”
“Yes.”
Choi Inseop answered without looking back.
“I love you.”
Inseop was startled by the words that were said in a serious voice, and he stepped on the brake. Along with a squeak, horns began to blare from behind.
“Fuck! Crazy!”
“Hey, you fucking asshole!”
Inseop, who barely came to his senses from the swearing from behind, opened the window, bowed his head, and quickly started the car again. Lee Wooyeon asked with a sly smile.
“How was it? Is your heart fluttering a little?”
“… ”
“It should be like this. Make me excited Choi Inseop.”
Right. That’s how an actor is. Doing such things
Inseop muttered bitterly inwardly and looked at the glass of the car with raindrops pouring down.
When they got to the studio and stopped the car, it was raining more heavily than before. As he recalled, there was no underground parking lot here. As soon as Inseop turned off the engine, he grabbed an umbrella and ran out and put the umbrella on Lee Wooyeon.
“Hurry in.”
Seeing Inseop say that with a very serious face even though he was working as a manager after being threatened, Lee Wooyeon burst into laughter. He grabbed Inseop’s shoulder and started running towards the entrance of the studio.
Today was the day of a photo shoot in the studio, so he saw a few diehard fans waiting for Lee Wooyeon. Inseop did his best to secure a space so that Lee Wooyeon could pass through the gap between the squeaking women.
As soon as he went inside, Inseop breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the rain off his clothes. Lee Wooyeon went inside to check his clothes.
“Are you here?”
Photographer Yoo Ohjin, who recognized Lee Wooyeon’s manager, greeted him.
“Hello.”
“It’s raining a lot. It’s pouring all of a sudden.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“There’s a coffee machine over there, so have a cup of coffee.”
“Thank you.”
A smile was drawn on Yoo Ohjin’s lips as Inseop bowed his head politely to thank him. After a while, Lee Wooyeon came out wearing the prepared clothes and finished makeup.
Choi Inseop sat in a corner and watched him film. If anyone around him needed a hand while filming, he ran to help without hesitation. When the filming was finished in two hours and the director said, “You did a great job,” Lee Wooyeon thanked them with a smile first.
“Thank you.”
“I am grateful. I think this photo will be great. I’m going to sell some magazines.”
“It’s because photographer Yoo took good pictures.”
“It’s because I like the model.”
While Lee Wooyeon was removing his makeup, Choi Inseop was walking around, handing drinks to the staff one by one and saying goodbye. Yoo Ohjin, who saw it, hinted a smile and looked at Inseop.
“Why are you looking?”
Lee Wooyeon asked the meaning of the gaze.
“He’s cute. He looks like he’s not very fussy, but if you look closely, he’s working really hard.”
“He’s sincere.”
He was so sincere that he started his work again with threats, but somehow it seemed like he was working harder than before.
“Does Inseop perhaps play for my team?”
Yoo Ohjin secretly winked. He was a gay man and everyone on the floor knew.
Lee Wooyeon smiled and said he probably was not.
“Why?”
“No, I just wanted to stand out. Because that kind of thing makes me a little hot. He looks normal, but if you look closely, you’ll notice it. He must have been the type of person who would have been bullied by bad guys when he was in school. Hahaha.”
Choi Inseop, who finished his drink, was approaching them.
“Thank you for your hard work”
Inseop greeted Yoo Ohjin by handing him a drink.
“Thank you. Inseop, aren’t you interested in things like photography?”
“Photogrphy?”
“Aren’t you thinking of modeling? I think it will turn out well.”
“No. No, I would never do that.”
Choi Inseop frowned and shook his head. However, Yoo Ohjin encouraged him to try modeling again.
“I think it will come out well because you have a small face and long limbs. The freckled on your face are cute too.”
“No. I am not interested.”
“Really? I;m sorry. If you are interested in the future, please come to the studio anytime. I’ll take a picture for you for free.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Choi Inseop did not know that photographers take pictures of people they like when they flirt with them. A bastard who has never experienced dating and never masturbated would not be able to recognize such a nuance. And Lee Wooyeon knew that fact better than anyone.
Still, he felt displeased and annoyed by the situation itself.
“We’re late.”
“Yes? Ah yes. Okay.”
He knew there wasn’t anything left on the schedule, but Inseop answered that way.
“I will prepare an umbrella.”
Yoo Ohjin looked at Inseop’s back as he ran to get an umbrella. Lee Wooyeon said goodbye and left the studio. At the entrance, fans still waiting for Lee Wooyeon had gathered in groups of three or five.
“Oppa, can you take a picture with me?”
“Wooyeon oppa. Please look here.”
“It’s raining, so hurry up and go in. You’ll catch a cold..”
When Lee Wooyeon said that in a friendly voice, screams erupted from among the waiting women. Inseop was waiting for Lee Wooyeon with an umbrella open at the entrance.
The moment Lee Wooyeon’s eyes met Inseop, who was staring at him with big, frightened eyes, one shoulder wet, Lee Wooyeon’s anger, that had barely been suppressed, soared.
“What are you doing?”
He grabbed Inseop’s arm. Then he took the umbrella that was in Inseop’s hand.
“Uh, I’m holdi…”
“Shut up and go.”
Lee Wooyeon whispered softly and grabbed Inseop’s shoulder. Fans flocked to see Lee Wooyeon around him and blocked the road.
“Oppa! Say anything, your movie name, please say something just once.”
“Wooyeon brother. Please take this.”
“Oppa, look here for a second!”
The demands were also varied. Lee Wooyeon and Inseop took an umbrella and started running towards the van. Fans in raincoats also ran after them. A fan, anxious to catch Lee Wooyeon, who was striding along, reached out and grabbed Inseop’s hem. As Inseop shuddered and fell backwards, Lee Wooyeon reflexively hugged Inseop’s waist. The scent of a body soaked in rain suddenly wafted from Inseop’s body.
From the barely touched face, Lee Wooyeon noticed that Inseop was scared of him, not the woman who pulled him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Choi Inseop straightened his body and moved away from Lee Wooyeon. Even though his shoulders outside the umbrella were all wet in the rain, he didn’t think of approaching Lee Wooyeon.
Early spring rain poured down on the umbrella. Lee Wooyeon, who looked down at Choi Inseop for a moment, went into the van. Inseop covered himself with his hand and quickly got into the driver’s seat.
All the way home, Lee Wooyeon didn’t say a word to Inseop.