CRANK 29

“Are you going to the set this evening?”

“Uh…”

As soon as I finished the meal, I threw the dishes into the sink and lay down on the sofa. Woo Dobin wiped the table with his left hand and brought over some strawberries he had stored in a sealed container.

“You even washed the fruit and prepared it for me. Wow, you even plucked the stems. You must’ve known I wouldn’t eat them otherwise.”

Woo Dobin fed me strawberries one by one while leaning his back against the sofa. He had been asking me to feed him earlier, but now he was doing it for me… I was about to tell him to stop using his shoulder, but I closed my mouth as the sweet aroma spread throughout my mouth.

“There’s still plenty of time, would you like to sleep until Mr. Youngjun arrives?”

“I don’t know…”

A nap was originally supposed to be taken without a plan. I crumpled my body into the sofa. Thinking that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this kind of leisure for a few months, my body went limp on its own. As soon as I closed my eyes languidly, sleepiness rushed over me. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep—I was a total slacker… I was just starting to drift into a light nap when:

“Um, by the way, Sunbae…”

“…What.”

Woo Dobin spoke in a somewhat subtle tone.

“The… guest room is a bit cold.”

Naturally, Woo Dobin had slept in the guest room last night. He had made all sorts of excuses—saying he wanted to sleep in my room, that he just wanted to watch me sleep before leaving, that his arm hurt too much to sleep—but for once, I hadn’t gotten dragged into it.

“Don’t lie. The heater was running just fine.”

“No, it’s just… the guest room is on the hallway side, you see. I think that’s why there’s a draft.”

“Good grief. Hey, my younger brother slept there just fine even in shorts.”

“Well… they say this year is the coldest cold snap in 30 years.”

“I’ll buy you an electric blanket.”

“…I’m allergic to those blankets.”

“Stop it.”

“Okay…”

Woo Dobin lowered his head, looking sullen. Allergic, my foot. No matter how much he acted pitiful, no matter how handsome he was, this much was something I would never yield on. Because it felt like an irreversible event would occur the moment he crawled into my bed.

I had been tossing and turning last night because of that kiss. The sensation was so vivid. Woo Dobin’s expression, his hot breath, his low voice—I couldn’t easily forget a single thing.

Given my age, of course, it wasn’t my first kiss. Before I debuted, back when I was in high school, the innocent kiss I shared with my girlfriend in an after-school classroom was my first… and last.

So, it was indeed my first kiss in nearly 10 years. Moreover, the kisses from those days were incredibly clumsy and light. It was my first time having a kiss as erotic and sticky as the one Woo Dobin gave me.

Yeah, that’s why I couldn’t give Woo Dobin any openings. Woo Dobin had a knack for squeezing into even the smallest gap and turning it into a gaping hole. Isn’t that exactly what the ‘Happy New Year’ kiss on January 1st was? Letting my guard down was strictly forbidden.

Woo Dobin reached for another strawberry and held it out. I shook my head, feeling like a sigh would escape me naturally at the touch of his hand against my lips.

“Are you done eating?”

“…Yeah.”

I answered in a muffled voice and turned my back to Woo Dobin.

…This wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. In a few hours, the crank-in begins. Replacing a lead actor, an injury… it wasn’t a scene that could be called ‘normal’ by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, let’s think about the movie. The first shoot, the first scene, the first line.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop Woo Dobin’s face from popping up. In the end, I even dreamed of Woo Dobin during my short nap.

Youngjun arrived thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled time. While I washed up and got ready, Youngjun chatted away comfortably with Woo Dobin in the living room. It was to the point where one might think they were friends of ten years. Youngjun had a naturally good personality, and it didn’t seem like Woo Dobin was the type to stand on ceremony, so it was to be expected.

Since I had to redo my hair and makeup from scratch anyway, all I had to do was flatten my hair and apply some toner. I was about to wear my usual oversized sweatshirt, but I put on a shirt for no reason, remembering that Woo Dobin was watching. It was an oversized shirt, so the sleeves covered my hands entirely, but still.

“Let’s go, Youngjun-ah.”

When I came out to the living room, Youngjun grabbed his bags and trotted after me. Woo Dobin did the same.

“Will Actor Dobin be staying home?”

Youngjun asked, suddenly remembering, as he was putting on his shoes in the entryway. Woo Dobin just smiled without answering.

“He’ll figure it out. Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

“Yes, Hyung. Actor, uh… it’s a bit strange, but goodbye.”

Youngjun bowed and left the house. Should I do the same?… It was a bit strange, just as Youngjun said. I’m the house owner, yet I felt weird saying goodbye to Woo Dobin. It was ambiguous to tell him to stay well, and ambiguous to say goodbye.

“Uh, well… I’ll… be back.”

In the end, I had no choice but to say something like a head of household heading to work. Woo Dobin waved his left hand, fluttering it back and forth.

“Come back safely.”

“Stay still. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Of course.”

Even though I’d said something I’d usually say to a house-guarding dog, Woo Dobin smiled brightly without a hint of being offended. Leaving him alone in my house made me genuinely uneasy. Not that I was worried about him stealing something… but even though he wasn’t a real dog, why did I feel like he was going to cause trouble?

Forget it, I’m the one who gave him permission to come over. I shook my head and left the house.

The first shoot for [Pale Death] took place at a park on the outskirts of Seoul. In a way, it was proof of a lack of production budget, but the fact that we didn’t have to travel to the provinces or abroad was something to be welcomed. Because it only took a little over an hour by car.

While making a fuss about being so nervous because it was the first shoot, Youngjun didn’t forget to stop at a convenience store and buy vitamin drinks.

“What are you buying all that for?”

“It’s a group scene today, isn’t it? I have to pass these out at least.”

Youngjun drove the car smoothly.

“We’ll arrive in ten minutes.”

“Right.”

I cleared my throat for no reason. I had scolded Youngjun for making a fuss, but the truth was my own situation wasn’t much different. It was my first time on a set in a while, and a movie set at that. With no close actor friends or a senior to lean on, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say I had to lead everything on my own.

“It was originally a scene with Actor Dobin, too. It would have been great if you had come together.”

Youngjun said with a tone of regret. True, if I had done the first shoot with Woo Dobin alone as originally planned, I probably would have been less nervous than this. Since he was, at least, a familiar face.

“Well… it can’t be helped.”

“That’s true. By the way, Actor Dobin is really…”

“Really what?”

“Please treat him well, Hyung.”

“What are you talking about?”

I asked back, baffled by his words, which sounded like he was Woo Dobin’s guardian, and Youngjun shook his head.

“You didn’t know either, Hyung. Actually, after we parted ways yesterday, I looked into him a bit.”

“Looked into what?”

“About Actor Dobin. You told me to find out about things. It turns out that from a very young age, his parents were abroad, and he grew up almost alone under his grandmother. And that grandmother passed away a few years ago, too.”

“…”

Had he said he was used to being alone? I thought of Woo Dobin’s eyes, which had sparkled as if he were welling up with tears. Is that why he lives alone? Is that why he talked about his experience living on his own?

“He didn’t say it explicitly, but his parents being abroad might be a lie, too. It’s a bit strange. Usually, parents take their children with them, don’t they?… Even more so if they’re going to be doing model work.”

“…Why would he lie? Stop talking nonsense and just drive.”

“But…”

“And I told you to look into a manager, did I tell you to look into Woo Dobin?”

I snapped, and Youngjun, feeling deflated, slumped his shoulders and operated the steering wheel.

I said that, but even I thought it was strange. Abandoning a young Woo Dobin to his grandmother just so both parents could go abroad?

No matter how hard it is to adapt abroad, isn’t it better to take the child with you? Not just for modeling work, but it would be better for their early education as well.

Add to that everything Woo Dobin had said to me so far—that he had worked at an izakaya, that he had years of experience living on his own…

‘Living alone is… something I’m used to, anyway.’

Could it be that, despite appearances, Woo Dobin had a rather unfortunate childhood? Like Youngjun said, what if his parents were actually dead and he lied about it to maintain his image…