CRANK 32

A placard with nothing but text, no decorations at all, fluttered at the top of the truck.

“…A coffee truck?”

“To be precise, it’s coffee, desserts, and even street food. Since I prepared it in a rush, the menu composition is a bit….”

I could see the staff members passing by us holding tteokbokki, churros, cookies, and even salads.

“The group scene filming was pushed up because of me, after all. I felt so sorry that I came to say hello. This is just a bonus.”

Woo Dobin said that and set down the lunchbox he was holding. It was a cute-looking three-tiered lunchbox—I had no idea where he got it—filled with various side dishes. It even included that salmon and tteok-galbi.

“…No, just give it to me and leave. Why is there enough for two people?”

“You can’t eat if I’m not around, Sunbae.”

Woo Dobin handed me wooden chopsticks with a brazen expression. Ah, this crazy guy.

“…You want me to feed you, right here?”

Woo Dobin’s eyes went round, as if to say, “Then do you want me to starve?”

“…No…. Ha….”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Right, I caused his injury, so I can feed him, but…. That’s one thing, but…. Do we really have to do this even on set?

“Hey. Leehyun hyung is right here, how am I supposed to feed you….”

I looked around and whispered. Woo Dobin’s eyebrows twitched upward.

“Leehyun hyung? Who on earth is that guy?”

“What? You don’t know?”

“I know he’s one of the actors. I’m asking why you two were acting like that. Inside that dark car, just the two of you, strangely.”

“What? What’s strange about it? Are you crazy?”

Somehow, Woo Dobin needed to realize that not every man in this world wants to kiss me or… do things worse than that, Hajin.

“It’s strange. Who is he? Do you know each other?”

“Hey, didn’t you say you were our fan?”

“Yes?”

“Sun…. Ha…. You said you were a fan of Sunset Beach Angel. That hyung there was the leader. He was in the same member group.”

“Ah….”

Woo Dobin’s mouth opened slightly.

“You call yourself a fan and you don’t even know his face?”

“When did I say I was a fan?”

“What?”

It went beyond absurd; I was even feeling hurt. What was all that talk about being a fan until now, then? I glared at Woo Dobin with a displeased look.

“You definitely said you were our fan….”

“Not ‘our,’ I said I was a fan of you, Sunbae. I was a ak-gae. I had no interest in anyone but you, Sunbae. You didn’t know, did you?”

Ak, ak-gae? I opened my mouth wide in disbelief, and Woo Dobin, with a calm face, shrugged his shoulders.

“Ak-gae is an abbreviation for ‘vicious individual fan.’ In a word, it means I’m not interested in other members, and only in you, Sunbae….”

“Who said I didn’t know what that meant?”

It’s just that it’s a term that literally means “vicious,” so it was absurd for him to call himself that. I was staring at Woo Dobin when a food tray was set down on the table with a thud.

“You two are really close, aren’t you?”

It was Kang Leehyun, who had gone to get food. I thought he was taking a long time to get food, but he had wiped off all the dirty makeup that had been covering his face.

“Oh, Leehyun hyung. You wiped off your makeup?”

“Yeah, I’m done with filming now. I was just going to eat and head off.”

“Ah! Now that you’ve wiped off the makeup, I recognize you.”

Woo Dobin nodded slightly and smiled brightly. The small dimple on his right cheek made me feel somehow uneasy.

“Blue antennae!”

Blue, antennae…? Both Kang Leehyun’s and my gazes were fixed on Woo Dobin.

“Right? You had your bangs streaked with blue on both sides. It was a huge deal among the fans.”

Ah, memories I had even forgotten were slowly creeping up. When I had tried to go for platinum blonde and failed—the yellow streaks—Kang Leehyun had put in blue streaks. And not just one, but two on both sides of his bangs. So that’s what the fans called them—blue antennae. Well, it was a slightly… funny look, to the point that even I had to swallow a laugh back then.

“…Ah.”

Kang Leehyun’s cheek muscles stiffened, then relaxed again. It was a split second, enough to make me wonder if I had misread it.

“You remember all sorts of things. I was wondering when you two became so close, but were you our fan?”

“To be precise, I’m a fan of Hoyoon Sunbae, but….”

“Hey.”

I glared at him, hoping he wouldn’t dare mention being an ak-gae in front of Kang Leehyun, but Woo Dobin just chuckled silently.

“The 3rd album concept for Sunset Beach Angel was really great. The digital world. I became a fan after watching that.”

“Is that so….”

Fortunately, Woo Dobin had some sense. Right, come to think of it, didn’t he act like this at the script reading? He had been clean-cut, unlike a person who had confessed just a few days ago. Perhaps all the talk about feeding me was just a prank to put me in a difficult position.

“Anyway, it’s an honor to meet you. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier.”

When Woo Dobin spoke with good manners, Kang Leehyun responded with the same attitude.

“The honor is mine. To be having a meal between two such big stars. When would I ever have an occasion like this again?”

“Leehyun hyung.”

“I’m joking, I’m joking.”

Big stars. I frowned at the word that emphasized the distance between us, and Kang Leehyun laughed and ruffled my hair.

“You’re still a kid, a kid.”

“I’m turning thirty soon, what do you mean a kid?”

“In my eyes, you’re still a nineteen-year-old kid.”

I don’t think I was a particularly cute kid back then either, but when Kang Leehyun said that, I felt embarrassed for no reason. It felt like I was trying to act all grown up in front of someone who knew what I was like in high school.

“Anyway, we didn’t get to finish talking earlier, can I get your number?”

Kang Leehyun took his phone out of his padded jacket pocket and held it out.

“Ah…. Sure.”

I quickly took the phone and typed in my number, and Kang Leehyun called me right away.

“This is my number, save it.”

As if to check, Kang Leehyun was staring straight at me, so I tapped the keys and wrote ‘Leehyun hyung.’

“It’ll be tough, but let’s keep in touch from time to time.”

“That’d be great.”

I smiled at Kang Leehyun as we looked at each other. It really felt like I had returned to my idol days. To think I’d meet Kang Leehyun, who had taken care of me since I was young, at a movie set where I thought I wouldn’t have a single person to rely on. Perhaps Lim Han’s drunk driving and Woo Dobin’s shoulder injury were truly warding off bad luck. Maybe only good things would happen from now on.

I was wearing a satisfied expression when, all of a sudden, a sweet, coaxing voice reached my ears.

“Hyung.”

…Huh? Did I hear that wrong? I turned my stiff neck to look at Woo Dobin.

“Hoyoon-i hyuung.”

Woo Dobin called me, calling me hyung.

“Hey, you….”

“I’m hungry.”

As if to block the space between Kang Leehyun and me, Woo Dobin moved the lunchbox to the center of the table and held out the wooden chopsticks he had handed me earlier once again. He really wants me to feed him here, with Kang Leehyun present? I looked back and forth between Woo Dobin, the wooden chopsticks, and Kang Leehyun.

I whispered into Woo Dobin’s ear, making sure Kang Leehyun couldn’t hear.

“Hey, you clearly said we would act as Sunbae and junior in public settings.”

When I brought up what he said while eating sushi at the script reading, Woo Dobin put on a sulky expression.

“I said we weren’t just Sunbae and junior, but close Sunbae and junior.”

“Regardless.”

“I told you I wanted to do as I please when we eat.”

“I never said I’d let you!”

My temper flared, and I started with a whisper but ended up shouting; Kang Leehyun tapped his food tray lightly with his spoon.

“What are you two talking about so intensely? Are you not eating?”

“Ah, hyung…. Well, it’s….”

“I injured my shoulder. Hoyoon-i hyung promised to feed me….”

“Hey.”

I was worried he might misunderstand, so I looked at Kang Leehyun, but unexpectedly, Kang Leehyun wore a bright expression.

“Oh, you injured your right shoulder. I see. It must be uncomfortable to use chopsticks. If Hoyoon-i finds it bothersome, should I do it?”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll feed you, if you want. You said you were hungry.”

As if to ask what the problem was, Kang Leehyun tried to pull Woo Dobin’s lunchbox toward himself. If only Woo Dobin hadn’t snatched his arm up to block him.

“Ugh.”

It seemed he had lifted his right arm without thinking. Woo Dobin clutched his shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Hyuung….”

Why on earth has it been hyung, hyung since earlier…. Even if I wanted to point it out, I couldn’t even do that because of the situation.

“Put your arm down, hurry.”

“But… I’d like it if you fed me, hyung.”

Kang Leehyun’s eyebrows twitched upward.