“Hey. What are you doing here?”
At that moment, a man passing in front of me stopped and pointed directly at me. I’d tried to stay quietly in a corner, but even that seemed to be a bother. I hesitated and looked around cautiously.
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t slack off, and put that panel over there since we’re going to film the swimming later.”
“Yes.”
The man seemed to have mistaken me for a staff member. I briefly considered explaining that I wasn’t, but then changed my mind.
It was actually fortunate. Nodding my head, thinking it was better to move equipment than to be kicked out of the swimming pool like this.
I picked up the equipment in front of me as he instructed and moved it to the designated spot. Since I was wearing both a cap and mask, no one paid attention or thought it strange even as I walked around the pool area.
“Excuse me, could you move this toolbox further inside?”
Someone gave me another instruction. Without complaining, I lifted the toolbox as told this time too.
It was quite heavy. It seemed to be used for repairing or installing filming equipment. The composition was similar to the toolbox I carried to construction sites, so I could roughly guess the contents.
“Ah.”
While moving the box, at the same time I took a step, my center of gravity suddenly tilted to one side. I’d forgotten that the floor was slippery because of water.
I tried to correct my posture belatedly, but it was already too late. With a thud!, I fell to the swimming pool floor while holding the box.
“Oh my! What do we do?”
“Are you okay?”
Thanks to that, the contents inside the box came spilling out. Naturally, attention turned toward me at the loud noise.
“Geez, be more careful when moving things.”
I heard the director clicking his tongue. I hurriedly got up and first checked whether my cap and mask were intact. Then I cleaned up the spilled contents.
I could feel dozens of eyes watching me. Of course, including Kwon Yujin who was inside the pool.
I was so embarrassed that my hands kept fumbling as I picked up the tools. Seeing this, the director let out a sigh.
“Jeongyeon-ah, you go clean that up.”
“Yes.”
“And you, the guy who fell—come here. Which team are you from? Let me see your face.”
I panicked when the director suddenly called me. I stopped what I was tidying up and pointed to myself as I asked back.
“Are you talking about me?”
“Then who else is here besides you?”
At those words, tremendous tension gripped my entire body. My legs didn’t budge as if they were tied.
It was a completely different atmosphere from the construction sites I usually worked at, so I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid I’d end up having to take off my mask in front of all these people.
I hesitated, wondering what to explain to the director. Even though I knew he was waiting for me, I couldn’t readily take a step forward.
“I said come here, why are you dawdl—”
“Ah, Director-nim!”
At that moment, someone rushed out toward where the director was. When I turned my head, Kwon Yujin’s agent was standing there.
“This person here isn’t staff but someone from our agency side. They were on standby just in case, but it seems there was some kind of mix-up. Haha.”
The agent explained the situation with an awkward laugh. Only then did the director’s gaze, which had been staring at me as if to devour me, drop. So did the dozens of eyes from everywhere.
“…Is that so? Then you should have said something sooner.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll take responsibility and clean up and move what was spilled.”
“Ah, no need for that. We can do it on our side. I thought you were staff from somewhere.”
The director said while sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Soon after, the filming set that had stopped began to busily move again.
Only then could I, who had been frozen, move my body properly. With a flushed face, I quickly picked up and put the spilled contents back into the box.
“Uh, Taeyoung-ssi. I’ll do it.”
“Since I’m the one who spilled it, I’ll clean it up myself.”
“You don’t have to…”
While I was putting the toolbox in the designated place, filming resumed.
Now that I looked, they were using the changing room as storage. Perhaps because they were planning to clean everything up after filming ended anyway, miscellaneous items were placed here and there in a disorderly state.
I deliberately never turned my eyes toward where Kwon Yujin was, so I couldn’t tell whether he’d recognized me earlier. He probably didn’t. It wasn’t like I’d raised my voice, and people covering their faces like me were common here.
I took off my cap for a moment and wiped away the cold sweat beading on my forehead. When the director said he wanted to see my face earlier, I’d even felt dizzy in a way unlike me. Because in that instant, a chilling scene of me showing my face in front of countless people had been floating around in my head.
I leaned against the changing room wall and caught my breath. Then I waited for a while to hear what sounds came from outside. I was timing it to leave inconspicuously in that gap if the atmosphere became unsettled.
I shouldn’t have come saying I’d watch the filming for no reason….
“What are you doing here?”
However, I flinched in surprise at a familiar voice that suddenly echoed through the changing room.
“Uh. Kwon Yujin.”
When I turned around, Kwon Yujin was standing there. When did he come in? I didn’t hear any sound at all.
He wasn’t even wearing an outer garment and had his upper body exposed, wearing only swimming trunks. Even though it was a body I’d already seen with my own eyes and even touched yesterday, embarrassment washed over me because it was wet.
“The filming?”
I gaped my lips and barely managed to get out a voice. I rolled my eyes and looked around, but no one else was visible. The bustling sounds from outside were coming over through the damp air.
“It’s break time for a moment.”
“Ah.”
“So, why are you here?”
It was a hostile attitude, as if dealing with an unwelcome guest. Looking at his wet body kept reminding me of yesterday’s events, so I turned my gaze away.
But it seemed I was the only one bothered by that incident, as Kwon Yujin appeared completely unfazed.
“To watch you filming.”
I honestly confessed my intention for coming here.
“Your agent said it was okay…. Is it not allowed?”
“Go up to the room.”
“The room? What about you?”
“I’ll come back up after I finish work later. Don’t go home and wait, hyung.”
Kwon Yujin said in a slightly softer tone. Since he kept calling me hyung from last night, it was hard to refuse. Kwon Yujin probably knew I was weak to that form of address and was doing this on purpose.
So I was about to ask exactly until when and why I needed to wait, when he leaned his body toward me without warning.
“You have time, right?”
As his upper body drew closer, I froze without realizing it. I barely managed to nod my head.
“Let’s do it one more time before checkout.”
Do what more? Just as I was about to ask that, I realized the meaning.
I couldn’t help but be flustered since I hadn’t expected this kind of talk to come up.
“Yesterday… we did it enough, though.”
“Why are you the one deciding that, hyung?”
Kwon Yujin spoke decisively as if I had no say in the matter.
“I’m not deciding, but still. That much was….”
Normally, wouldn’t that much be considered more than enough? Because he’d driven me to the point of passing out in the middle.
I wasn’t even frail, and my endurance and stamina were quite good. If someone like me collapsed, it wasn’t just sufficient—it was excessive.
“Don’t you want to?”
“…No.”
“Then don’t irritatingly hover around here and go back to the room obediently.”
“Okay.”
I kept my gaze lowered and frozen as I nodded my head roughly. As I stirred my body to quickly get away from here, Kwon Yujin grabbed my chin without warning.
For a moment I was startled, thinking he was going to take off my mask. I widened my eyes and looked up at him as if asking what he was doing. Then my eyes met his jet-black pupils. Those eyes I’d seen worn out yesterday.
“When you’re talking to me, don’t disgustingly avoid my eyes—look at my face properly and answer.”
“……”
“Got it?”
“Yeah.”
I wanted to nod my head, but I couldn’t move at all since he was gripping it so firmly. I barely managed to give an answer.
Only then did Kwon Yujin loosen the strength in his hand as if satisfied.
“Take off your clothes.”
Then he tapped the jersey of his that I was wearing. I stood there blankly for a moment, then belatedly understood the meaning and took off the jersey to hand it to Kwon Yujin.
“Go to the room and take out my other clothes to wear.”
Kwon Yujin, who’d put on the jersey, left those words and exited the changing room. It meant he needed clothes with my pheromones on them, so I should wear the clothes in the room in advance.
