The woman who appeared to be Lee Youngjun’s daughter was the same woman who had asked Euiju for his number yesterday. Just like when they met yesterday, she conversed with the director and surrounding staff with a confident and assertive attitude.
“Oh my, is that someone you know?”
When the coordinator casually asked, Euiju shook his head. It would be hard to call her an acquaintance when they’d only briefly shared a flight yesterday.
After finishing her reunion with her father, the woman turned and began walking confidently and steadily toward where Euiju was.
She wasn’t captivated by the dazzling presence that was Jin Haeseong. Indifferently, like someone who had encountered many celebrities before, she instead fixed her gaze on Euiju behind him and approached aggressively.
Grin. The woman came right up close and extended her hand as if to shake. Haeseong’s expression, which had been full of displeasure, instantly hardened. Euiju awkwardly clasped that hand.
“We meet again.”
“…So we do.”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
Haeseong raised only his eyes and glared at the woman as if annoyed, but Euiju blocked his way. Only the coordinator sensed the strange atmosphere and quickly organized her tools. The woman, not noticing the cold atmosphere, smiled brazenly and spoke to Euiju.
“You’re Jin Haeseong-ssi’s manager, right? Director Lee Youngjun is my father. Don’t you think fate is quite amazing?”
So when she said on the plane yesterday that she was going to meet her father, it was Director Lee Youngjun. Euiju answered in a daze.
“Is that so.”
“At this point, I think I should get what I didn’t receive yesterday—what do you think?”
At the woman’s confident words, not only Euiju but even the coordinator froze in place. Even though her father was right behind her, the woman boldly expressed her feelings.
Only Haeseong, failing to grasp the situation, asked oddly, “What? Ahjussi, do you owe this person something?”
Flustered, Euiju quickly stepped out from under the parasol and said, “Let’s go over there and talk. Haeseong-ah, stay here. I’ll be right back.”
When Euiju sent him a firm look, Haeseong, who had been about to get up and follow, stopped in place. Muttering a small curse, he sat back down heavily. Haeseong felt strangely irritated.
The coordinator, who was somewhat older, personally felt the audacious atmosphere between the young people and smiled slightly. Looking at the backs of the two men and women boasting warm visuals, she spoke casually.
“That woman seems interested in Euiju-ssi. Well, it is about time for Euiju-ssi to date.”
Haeseong doubted his ears at the coordinator’s words and whipped his head around. The coordinator, suddenly faced with Haeseong’s fierce, demon-like glare, stepped back.
“Did, did I say something wrong?”
“…Just now. Did you say date?”
Like someone who had never once imagined the word “date” and Lee Euiju being linked together, Haeseong looked at her with a face that said it made no sense. The coordinator, watching his reaction, carefully continued.
“The, the woman seems interested in Euiju-ssi, doesn’t she? If they both feel the same way, I think they could easily do it.”
“……”
After a long silence, Haeseong finally let out a low, hollow laugh. That laugh was full of subtle emotions that were hard to identify.
All this time, he had so naturally thought that the person called Lee Euiju would live with only his family, and furthermore, only himself within his boundaries. No, that was right. That’s why he thought family and work, and everything else besides that, didn’t occupy a large part of Lee Euiju’s life.
It would be more accurate to say that he didn’t think Euiju wouldn’t date, but rather that he simply couldn’t connect the word “date” itself with him. Because he hadn’t even thought of it at all.
Like how a child attending kindergarten thinks of their teacher as a game NPC.
Thinking about it, Euiju was also a man, just an ordinary young man. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
“Date…you said.”
Haeseong muttered softly. His expression gradually darkened. He nervously bit his lower lip.
Certainly, Seo Jiyul had also looked at Euiju with those kinds of feelings, but Seo Jiyul was a minor. Not only would Euiju never give her his heart, but he had thought she was incomparably young compared to Euiju, so he hadn’t given it much thought. He had simply been jealous that she liked his manager.
But now the situation was different. Both were adults with nothing to hold them back, and without asking, Euiju was single, and the woman must be as well, which is why she approached so confidently. If their hearts aligned, they could start loving at any time, and since the woman had essentially made the first move, it was only a matter of time before they developed into lovers if only Euiju made up his mind.
Haeseong, who had been blankly staring at where Euiju had disappeared, bit his innocent fingernails. As if anxious, he couldn’t keep his legs still and shook them nervously.
His manager dating? No way. He’s someone who takes care of his family like that—where would he have time to date? Instead of doing that kind of thing, shouldn’t he look after and take care of himself one more time? That’s what Haeseong thought. He pulled out a bottle of water from the icebox beside him and gulped it down.
“Fuck!”
The empty bottle flew from Haeseong’s hand and was discarded on the sun-drenched sandy beach. The coordinator picked it back up, muttering, “Here we go again.”
“We’ll resume filming in 10 minutes!”
One of the staff clapped their hands and spoke loudly.
The two men and women quickly appeared. However, neither Euiju nor the woman looked gloomy; rather, they returned to their spots while having a light conversation. The atmosphere between them seemed neither good nor bad. There was no sense at all of which way the conversation had been resolved.
“Then, Euiju-ssi. See you next time.”
After greeting him, the woman gracefully turned and returned to her father. Euiju approached Haeseong as if nothing had happened and spoke casually.
“Is it very hot?”
“Did you decide to date?”
“…What?”
“I’m asking if you decided to meet because you like each other.”
At the abrupt question, Euiju just blinked, as if he didn’t quite understand. Soon he smiled and shook his head.
“You know best that I don’t have time for that, Haeseong-ah. Why are you like this when you know?”
“…What. Does that mean if you had time, you’d do it right away?”
At Haeseong’s displeased question, Euiju let out a laugh as if finding it cute. He playfully nodded.
“Wouldn’t I? If I just had time, I’d like to try it at least once.”
“…What?”
At Euiju’s words, Haeseong’s face, which had become agitated, began to flush more and more. Just then, the staff’s announcement that filming would begin was heard.
“We’re starting filming!”
Haeseong, who had been glaring at Euiju with everything he had, jumped up from his seat when the staff approached. Even while being guided into the scorching sunlight, he occasionally turned back and glared at Euiju with displeasure.
Watching such a Haeseong, Euiju raised the corners of his mouth fully and waved slightly in greeting.
Filming started again.
“Cut, cut! Let’s go again.”
Even though they were filming a simple scene, Euiju could see that Haeseong’s concentration kept breaking. Despite it being a scene where he only needed to walk while looking at the horizon, Haeseong’s brow wouldn’t smooth out at all.
To say it was because of the sunlight was problematic since he had done well earlier under even hotter sun. Wrinkles also gradually deepened on the director’s brow, and they could only finish after dragging out the simple scene for over an hour.
Due to the delayed filming, the day eventually ended, and Euiju, leaving behind Haeseong who had a meeting remaining with the director, returned to the lodging first. He naturally expected to sleep with Haeseong again today, but for some reason, Team Leader Kim Jaeho firmly warned Euiju over the phone.
“Euiju-ssi. I’m saying this out of concern, but don’t share the same bed with Haeseong. Perhaps that kid’s orientation is… Ah, no. Just do as I say for now!”
If he was going to give such instructions, he thought it would be right to book separate rooms. This place, like the hotel in Jecheon, had one room but two bedrooms. It was the same situation as before.
Actually, since what Haeseong wanted was to sleep together, he wondered if he should disobey Team Leader Kim’s words. However, because he had persuaded him with unprecedented firmness until hanging up the phone, Euiju had no choice but to answer that he understood in a daze.
“Huuu……”
After finishing his shower and coming out with only a towel wrapped around his waist, Euiju took out lotion from his bag and roughly spread it on his face. When he told his noona that his face seemed to be getting dry lately, she had specially prepared this for him. The scent was very nice.
Thinking he might purchase it again next time, he was checking the back of the lotion bottle when suddenly a bang was heard from behind. Startled by the loud noise, Euiju only turned his head to look back.
“Team Leader Kim told you to do that? How dare he tell you to sleep alone here……”
Haeseong’s body, which had roughly opened the door in rage, faltered. It was because he encountered an unexpected feast of skin color. Euiju also quickly covered his chest. It was a reflexive action.
“……”
“……”
Since he had been standing with his back to Haeseong, Euiju had only turned his head toward Haeseong.
At that moment, what kind of trick of the gods was this—the towel wrapped around Euiju’s waist smoothly came undone and fell to the floor. Haeseong’s eyelids instantly opened to their maximum.
It was quiet. A breathless silence enveloped the interior of the room.
