CRANK 17

“Are you going to cook like that? Don’t you have anything else to change into?”

“Something to change into?”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

Woo Dobin was wearing loose-fitting trousers and a shirt. It wasn’t exactly an inconvenient outfit for moving around, but it wasn’t the kind of clothing one would wear to feel comfortable at home, either.

“I’m going to be here all day.”

“…All day?”

“Huh?”

What’s this? The corners of Woo Dobin’s mouth began to creep upward. Once again, anticipation and playfulness brimmed in his eyes. Woo Dobin, who had strode toward the island counter before I knew it, leaned his head down to meet my gaze.

“Were you planning on being with me all day?”

“What? Hey, that’s…”

“Because it’s the end of the year?”

“You were the one who said to spend the end of the year together, and eat cake….”

I clamped my mouth shut. Come to think of it, Woo Dobin had never asked to welcome the new year together. He’d only said to spend the end of the year together. It could have just meant meeting today, a literal request to ‘be together’ on the very last day of the year.

It might have been a delusion of mine to assume he’d come in the evening, too. Now that I thought about it, he’d never once asked to eat dinner together. I was the one who jumped to conclusions because he mentioned alcohol.

Thinking back to how I’d checked the guest room this morning and even worried about winter bedding, my face turned bright red. This makes it look like… I was expecting him to stay the night.

“So you were planning on welcoming the new year with me.”

Woo Dobin twitched the corners of his mouth.

“No, shit….”

“Oh, oh. Should I tell Mr. Youngjun that you cursed, Sunbae-nim?”

Why does every interaction with this bastard turn into this kind of situation? As I stiffened my cheeks, Woo Dobin straightened his back and put some distance between us.

“I didn’t think you’d let me stay the night.”

“…I never said you could stay the night.”

“Staying here all day is the same thing as staying the night.”

The words ‘all day’ were particularly stuck in my ears.

“…Just drink a bit and go home.”

“Are you sulking?”

“No.”

“Your face says otherwise.”

It must be a grumpy-looking face, whoever saw it. I felt it myself. Beyond just being embarrassed, why am I so annoyed?

“Are you going to get me drunk and send me home?”

“Who’s getting you drunk? You were the one who said let’s drink.”

“Either way. It hasn’t been that long since things happened with Lim Han sunbae….”

“Who told him to drink and drive? He could have just called a designated driver.”

“Hey, still, the rumors are a bit… tricky. A replacement for someone who left due to drunk driving, getting wasted and calling a designated driver.”

“Call your manager.”

“Wow, on the night of December 31st? Are you serious?”

Woo Dobin looked at me as if I were almost a scoundrel. I had nothing to say, so I avoided his gaze instead.

“Can’t be helped. To keep you from becoming a malicious employer, I have no choice but to stay the night.”

Woo Dobin shook his head with an exaggerated expression. He only had acting skills to spare; he looked quite forlorn.

“How about it? Aren’t you grateful?”

“…Let’s drop the subject.”

“And I didn’t bring clothes to change into….”

Did he really have no intention of staying the night? For someone who kept mentioning kisses and s-… it was an unexpected action. If I were him, I would have been trying to make skinship at every possible opportunity.

“Sunbae-nim’s clothes would be too small and uncomfortable.”

“Hey.”

Hahaha, Woo Dobin laughed brightly at me as I flared up.

“So I’ll go down to the car after we eat. I should have some tracksuits.”

This time, Woo Dobin didn’t add an apology or say he was joking. What a frustrating bastard.

After eating the shrimp fried rice with whole, large shrimp—he had peeled them quite deftly for me, by the way—Woo Dobin really did go down to his car.

“I’m going to go change my clothes.”

“Oh, there’s a guest room.”

I led Woo Dobin to the guest room next to the entrance.

“Bring your stuff, too.”

“I don’t have any.”

“You must have a wallet or car keys. Put them here.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because you’re sleeping here.”

Woo Dobin didn’t answer, then suddenly pushed me out of the room.

“What the…”

“I’m changing.”

It was my house, anyway, yet Woo Dobin chased me out like an uninvited guest and slammed the door shut. I didn’t know the reason, but I knew Woo Dobin had changed the subject. Does he have a reason for not wanting to put his luggage in the guest room? Is he worried someone might steal it? Wasn’t he the one who said he’d give me all his money?

Pouting, I stood in front of the door with my arms crossed, and before long, the door swung open again. Woo Dobin looked slightly surprised to see me standing squarely in front of him.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“…Just because?”

“I like that.”

With a charming smile, Woo Dobin draped his arm over my shoulder. It was the posture I hated most, as it felt like a confirmation that I was shorter than him.

“Are you not taking this off?”

“Why? Just until the living room.”

His tone was such that anyone listening would have mistaken my living room for something massive. The living room was only a few steps down the hallway. And as soon as we arrived in the living room, Woo Dobin took his arm off as promised.

“So, what shall we do now?”

Checking the time out of habit, it wasn’t even one o’clock yet. If we wanted to reach the countdown, we had to stay awake until midnight, which meant I had to spend at least eleven more hours like this with him.

And it was only because Woo Dobin acted so familiarly with me; if you really counted, we’d only known each other for a few days. Once at the awards ceremony, once at my house, once at the script reading, and once more at my house. That was all four meetings.

I have to be in a confined space for eleven hours with a guy who confessed he liked me…. Was I insane to accept this proposal? Reality was just about to crash down on me.

“Shall we watch a movie?”

Woo Dobin grabbed the shopping bag he’d brought over. Then, he sat down skillfully in front of the sofa and laid out the Blu-rays on the table. Even at a glance, there were quite a few. About two hours per movie. If we watched five, that’s ten hours….

I went and sat down next to Woo Dobin immediately.

“Would you like to start with [The Nearest Present]?”

I hesitated for a moment. Could I really immerse myself from the first movie? No, it’s the first movie, so it would be the easiest to immerse myself in. But wouldn’t it be easier to immerse ourselves if we watched it while drinking? As far as I knew, there was a scene in the movie where the protagonist drinks whiskey on the rocks. Watching the movie would probably make me want to drink, too….

I hesitated, feeling embarrassed to suggest drinking in broad daylight. Woo Dobin was busy sorting the Blu-rays beside me. He finally found [The Nearest Present], opened the case, and looked at the insert printed with a still cut.

On the sleeve that was peeking out, I saw an on-the-rocks glass. Amber-colored whiskey shimmering over a round-cut ice cube. I couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“The Blu-ray player is under the TV stand, right?”

Woo Dobin looked like he was about to jump up and play the movie at any second. I grabbed his sleeve urgently. He looked back at me with a puzzled expression.

“Hey, this is… we’re analyzing the movie, right?”

Woo Dobin blinked quickly, as if gauging the implication behind my words.

“We’re… studying, right?”

It seems my voice had sounded a bit like I was pouting. Woo Dobin wore a face that was barely holding back a laugh.

“Of course. Two lead actors analyzing a movie to benefit the project. It’s a study session, so to speak.”

Then, he jumped up and pulled the curtains over the glass that filled one side of the living room. He turned off the living room lights and switched on the mood lamp. What is he doing? His movements were too fast for me to even stop him.

In the living room, which was instantly filled with warm light, Woo Dobin approached quickly, crouched down, and met my gaze.

“But does a study session have to be stiff?”

The corners of Woo Dobin’s eyes curved into half-moons. At the same time, a terrifyingly seductive voice echoed in my ears.

“Would you like a drink?”

Like a child who had just been handed a candy, I nodded submissively.

The media, which often described his voice as something that would bewitch the hearts of women, needed to rethink their descriptions. It wasn’t just the hearts of women that were being bewitched.

Clearly, it must be midday outside, but with the curtains drawn and the mood lamps lit, it felt as if it had become evening. The feeling of being cut off from the outside world. It was that same feeling I always felt whenever I watched a movie, whenever I went to the theater.