CRANK 13

“I am Bae Siwoong, the director of [Pale Death]. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I clapped mechanically while lost in thought.

…What is this? Why do I feel so uneasy?

“Mr. Hoyoon?”

“Ah, yes.”

I stood up and bowed my head.

“I am Park Hoyoon, who will be playing the role of Yeo Hajin. I look forward to working with you.”

Applause poured out, and I sat back down. Woo Dobin, the next in line, also stood up and greeted everyone neatly.

“I am Woo Dobin, who will be playing the role of Seo Taehyeok. I may be lacking, but I will do my best.”

The sound of camera shutters was constant. Once again, I clapped mechanically and stared intently at Woo Dobin. Woo Dobin had sat back down and was focusing on the greetings of the staff and bit players. He clearly must have felt my gaze, but he didn’t give me so much as a glance.

…What is this?

Of course, I knew how to separate professional and personal matters. I wanted to separate them. I didn’t want Woo Dobin to hug me like he did at the awards ceremony or say ridiculous things in front of others.

But having him be so clean about it made me feel uncomfortable somewhere. You could say it’s even more suspicious that the kid who seemed to have completely lost his mind is acting so normal. Perhaps all the confessions he made to me weren’t lies. Did I fall for a cruel prank?

“Mr. Hoyoon?”

“…Yes?”

As I snapped back to reality at Director Bae’s call, everyone was looking at me.

“Shall we begin now?”

“Ah, yes.”

I hurriedly flipped through the script. After clearing my throat once, I opened the bottled water prepared on the table and took a sip.

During that entire process, everyone looked at me. Everyone except for one person—Woo Dobin.

“hyung, what should I bring for your lunch box? They said there are two options. Chicken and tteok-galbi.”

“Tteok-galbi.”

“Okaaay.”

Youngjun opened the van door and stepped out. During the one-hour break caused by the prolonged script reading, I was waiting in the van for a late lunch.

The script reading went smoothly. Aside from the hall becoming momentarily restless when Woo Dobin spoke his first line, and me stumbling over my lines once because I was preoccupied with him, it was no different from a routine script reading.

He’s the one who said he liked me, so why am I the one feeling on edge?

After stumbling over my lines because I was wary of Woo Dobin, I decided to ignore him completely. Thinking about it, it was a good thing. It meant the things I was worried about hadn’t happened. It would have been terrible if he’d said he liked me or engaged in skinship while everyone else was there.

If he kept this attitude, it seemed possible to endure until the crank-up without having to give an answer to his confession. Couldn’t we just end the movie as mere acquaintances, with nothing happening?

Maybe Woo Dobin really was teasing me. Maybe everything from him being a fan was a lie. If not that, then Woo Dobin’s feelings were lighter than I thought. Perhaps his feelings were the kind that could be folded away just by being ignored for three days. Maybe it was just a passing curiosity or a misunderstanding.

I smiled with satisfaction and pulled the jacket I was covering myself with up to my face. I hadn’t been able to sleep properly yesterday because of the thought of meeting Woo Dobin, so I had to get some shut-eye whenever I had a chance.

There was a styling meeting immediately after the script reading. Since Woo Dobin had been brought in to replace Lim Han, the tone of the movie had changed, so the styling had to be overhauled as well. We also had to make sure the sponsorships didn’t overlap since two male actors of similar age were appearing.

By the way, Woo Dobin had come to my house using the excuse of the styling meeting and had returned without resolving a single thing.

As I chewed over these various schedules, sleepiness poured out of me on its own.

How much time had passed? Creak—I heard the sound of the car door opening. It seemed Youngjun had returned with the lunch box.

“You’re back…”

I asked without lowering my jacket, but Youngjun didn’t answer. My body felt as limp as water-soaked cotton.

“I’ll eat later, so just put it aside. I need to sleep a bit.”

“Eat what? Me?”

Whack—I threw off the jacket. I heard a familiar voice I didn’t want to get used to.

“Sunbae.”

Woo Dobin was there, smiling broadly. He was holding shopping bags full in both hands.

“What are you, you.”

Without even asking for permission, Woo Dobin shoved his body into the car. As that large frame entered, the van, which had been fine even when I was lying down, felt cramped.

“Please close the door.”

Woo Dobin even shamelessly made a request of me.

“What are you doing? Get out.”

Unfazed by my cold tone, Woo Dobin was busy taking something out of the shopping bag. I had intended to keep the door open until the end to make him leave, but I couldn’t stand the cold. The wind in the last week of December was too chilling.

Thud—As I closed the van door and turned around, Woo Dobin was already flattening the shopping bag between me and himself. He started setting down the things inside onto it one by one…

“…Do I look like someone who is crazy about sushi?”

It was nothing other than sushi. One pack of salmon, and two packs of assorted sushi that seemed to go by names like “special” or “premium.”

“I thought it would suit your taste better than a lunch box.”

Woo Dobin smiled as he handed me chopsticks. He had an expression that suggested he didn’t doubt for a second that I would kick him out.

I closed my eyes and sighed, then reconsidered my thoughts. Well, it wouldn’t be strange for two lead actors to get a little close. We could at least eat a meal together.

From the start, everyone except for us were bit actors, and they were getting close to each other in groups. There was no law saying we couldn’t get close, right? Judging by his actions just now, Woo Dobin seemed to have a cooler personality than I thought.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Woo Dobin snatched the chopsticks from my hand and swapped them with his.

“What are you doing?”

“They’re divided well.”

Looking down, I saw a wooden chopstick split perfectly in half in my hand.

“Eat with that. I didn’t touch it with my mouth.”

Woo Dobin snapped apart the chopsticks he had taken. One side became noticeably thicker, but Woo Dobin had an indifferent expression.

On the other hand, the wooden chopstick in my hand was perfectly smooth, right down to the wood grain.

It’s not strange for two lead actors to eat together, but this is… isn’t it a bit excessive? It’s not like I’m significantly older than him. Am I just being sensitive because of his confession?

“Sunbae, ten pieces of salmon won’t be enough, right? This is also for you.”

Woo Dobin pushed the assorted sushi in front of me. I was hungry, and there wasn’t much break time left.

“What about Youngjun?”

“Ah, I told the manager. I said we’d eat together because we have things to talk about, so he shouldn’t worry and should just eat.”

“Then my tteok-galbi…”

“Tteok-galbi… did you want to eat that? Should I go buy it?”

Woo Dobin moved as if he were about to jump up any second. His large body moved, causing the van to shake.

“Forget it, sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”

“Okay.”

In the end, it meant if I didn’t eat this sushi, my lunch would be gone. I had no choice but to pick up a piece of salmon and put it in my mouth. I didn’t know when he’d done it, but he had even prepared a small dish of soy sauce mixed with wasabi. I muttered subconsciously.

“I actually prefer eating it with onion and sauce rather than soy sauce.”

“Really? I’ll make sure to buy it like that next time. But what kind of sauce?”

“…I don’t know either. A white sauce.”

“Ah, you must mean horseradish sauce. It’s easy to make, shall I make it for you next time?”

I had the illusion that Woo Dobin’s eyes were sparkling.

“Are you playing tricks again?”

“Yes?”

“Because I said I like people who are good at cooking. Are you calculating everything you do?”

“That’s part of it, and it’s also because I really want to make it for you.”

“Because you like me?”

“Yes.”

Woo Dobin was truly a person without a single hesitation. It was to the point that I found it fascinating how he could be so confident in his feelings. The straight-forward gaze was somehow uncomfortable to look at, so I lowered my eyes.

“Do you usually like onions?”

“Oh? Well… is there anyone who dislikes onions?”

“There are many.”

“I like everything. Onion, green onion, garlic… things like that.”

“I see. And what else?”

“What else?”

“You’ll get sick of it if you only eat salmon sushi every day. Do you like tteok-galbi too?”

“What?”

“I need to know what else you like so I can prepare it.”