CRANK 45

“I did it while you were sleeping, Sunbae-nim.”

Woo Dobin also pulled a large thermos out of his bag. It looked like it could hold at least 2L.

“I thought you might need some broth since the weather is so cold.”

When he opened the lid, I saw a milky, white broth with drops of oil floating on the surface. An appetizing aroma quickly filled the inside of the car.

“Samgyetang…?”

Woo Dobin pulled another thermos out of his bag. No, are you crazy. Why is there so much…. When he opened the lid, it was filled with chicken meat, all deboned.

“Sunbae-nim, things like ginseng or jujubes, Neungi mushrooms, those are…”

“I don’t eat them.”

“Yes, that’s why I only brought the meat.”

Woo Dobin picked out the meat, even specifically selecting only the chicken leg meat, and put it into the lid containing the broth.

“…Am I taking a college entrance exam?”

“Yes?”

Woo Dobin blinked with a bewildered look on his face.

“If not that, then where… did you break a bone or something?”

“Why bones? Are you hurting somewhere?”

“That’s not it, I’m asking what all this is….”

“You’re having a hard time filming, so I just wanted you to have some restorative food…. Do you dislike Samgyetang?”

“That’s not it, but….”

“That’s a relief.”

Woo Dobin beamed and opened the remaining lunchbox lids one by one. There was one compartment full of white rice, and another full of various side dishes. Yeah, at least the side dishes are simple…. I was feeling relieved when Woo Dobin rummaged through his bag again.

“I almost forgot.”

What Woo Dobin took out were airtight containers filled with kimchi and cubed radish kimchi. There was even some toasted sesame salt in a small Ziploc bag.

“Are you Doraemon?”

Despite my stinging tone, Woo Dobin smiled without seeming offended.

“Eat quickly, it’s going to get cold.”

It was steaming hot, so it felt like it would burn my mouth rather than get cold, but I nodded and took a sip of the broth. Meanwhile, Woo Dobin poured the sesame salt into the lunchbox lid.

“Dip the meat in this.”

“Alright, you eat too.”

I picked up a piece of meat soaked in the broth, dipped it into the salt, and held it out to Woo Dobin.

“Here.”

“…”

“…Ah.”

Shit…. How many times has he fed me that I’ve already developed a habit? Realizing that I had subconsciously brought the chopsticks to Woo Dobin’s mouth, I hurriedly tried to pull them back, but Woo Dobin was faster.

Woo Dobin grabbed my hand firmly, and with a suggestive look on his face, he took the meat into his mouth and continued to chew on the chopsticks.

“I should have been hurt a bit more. I liked it when you fed me.”

“…Don’t say things like that.”

“Okayyy.”

I felt pointlessly uncomfortable looking down at the chopsticks that Woo Dobin’s mouth had touched, but thinking, we’ve already done more than this anyway, so what does it matter?, I picked up a piece of chicken and put it in my mouth.

Knock, knock— I heard the sound of someone tapping on the window right by my ear. Is it Director Bae? Because of that bromance thing or whatever? I decided I would definitely refuse him this time and turned my head, but standing there was none other than Kang Leehyun.

“…Leehyun-hyung?”

I was staring blankly at Kang Leehyun’s face, visible through the tinted window, when Kang Leehyun knocked on the window once more and mouthed something. I could see his breath puffing out, so I hurried to open the door.

“Haa….”

I heard Woo Dobin let out a heavy sigh. I think I heard a small swear word along with it… but that must have been my imagination. I’d never heard harsh words come out of Woo Dobin’s mouth.

“Hoyoon-ah!”

Kang Leehyun poked his head in through the gap in the open door.

“Leehyun-hyung.”

“What brings you here?”

Woo Dobin, whose cheeks were stiff, asked. Kang Leehyun’s gaze rested on Woo Dobin for a moment before descending back to me.

“I came to see you, Hoyoon-ah.”

I tilted my head slightly and gave an awkward smile. We were certainly close in the past, but the situation was different now. However, as if unfazed by my attitude, Kang Leehyun continued with a sly face.

“Oh, Hoyoon-ah, don’t you hate chicken skin?”

“Huh?”

Kang Leehyun stared intently at the thermos lid placed on my lap. The one full of deboned chicken meat mixed with chicken skin.

“…Uh-huh.”

Thinking, he remembers the strangest things, I gave a rough nod and felt Woo Dobin pause.

“…You should have told me. I’m sorry.”

“Huh? No, why are you sorry? It’s not that I can’t eat it, just that I don’t like it….”

“Even so. Give it here, I’ll pick it out for you.”

“No, I’m really fine….”

No matter what, I couldn’t complain about the chicken skin to the person who had prepared all this since dawn for me to eat. I tried to refuse repeatedly, but Woo Dobin’s hand reached out quickly and took the lid.

“Yeah, back in the day, you were the kid who would pick off even the skin on fried chicken because you wouldn’t eat it.”

Whether he was clueless or doing it on purpose, Kang Leehyun kept cutting in as if to provoke Woo Dobin. Woo Dobin, who had been silently picking out the chicken skin—he was so good with chopsticks—slowly raised his head.

“Excuse me, Mr. Blue Antenna.”

Pfft, shit…. I barely managed to hold back a burst of laughter. Kang Leehyun’s expression went stiff. Woo Dobin wasn’t acting like he had forgotten the name to tease Kang Leehyun, but rather as if he truly couldn’t remember it.

“It’s cold, so I’d appreciate it if you could close the door. We’re in the middle of a meal.”

Kang Leehyun was standing by the open door, and since the sedan acting as our dining table wasn’t meant to accommodate three people, telling him to close the door was effectively a signal for him to leave. Kang Leehyun relaxed his stiff expression and smiled again, then asked me.

“Hoyoon-ah, are you cold?”

“Huh?”

Woo Dobin’s gaze also turned toward me. Stuck ambiguously between the two of them, I just rolled my eyes back and forth.

If I said I was cold, it would be taking Woo Dobin’s side, and if I said I wasn’t, it would be taking Kang Leehyun’s. I thought it was pathetic how these grown men were acting, but if I had to say…

“It’s winter, so I’d be cold, wouldn’t I?”

Because I was still feeling quite uneasy about what happened a few days ago regarding Kang Leehyun, I decided to take Woo Dobin’s side in this childish dispute.

“…Is that so?”

Kang Leehyun forced the corners of his mouth up. It was time for him to leave after doing this much, but for some reason, Kang Leehyun didn’t move his feet.

“Hey, Hyung, so really, why did you come today? Do you have a shoot?”

Of course he wouldn’t. I said it to mean stop it and leave, but Kang Leehyun’s face brightened.

“Yeah, I do.”

What?

“I landed one. I’m a convenience store clerk in the night shoot later. I guess the director liked me.”

“…Oh, really?”

“Why are you so surprised? I told you. I was coming here to try to land at least one role. Now that I’ve landed one like this, I have to keep making a good impression.”

Kang Leehyun looked proud. Was it true that he was coming to land a role? I thought that maybe the discomfort I felt last time might have just been in my head. At the same time, I felt a little sorry for having taken Woo Dobin’s side just now. After all, Kang Leehyun and I had been together for years….

“Finish your meal, see you at the night shoot.”

“Yeah, yeah….”

As if to add to my guilt, Kang Leehyun finally moved his feet, which hadn’t budged until now. Just as he was about to close the door and disappear,

“Wait a second.”

Without thinking, I grabbed the closing door and stopped Kang Leehyun.

“Why?”

“Hyung, by any chance… are you wearing perfume?”

“What?”

I don’t know why I felt the need to stop a man who was leaving just to ask such a question, but I had a gut feeling that I had to ask it now. Kang Leehyun’s face stiffened again.

“Why do you ask? Do I smell like something?”

Kang Leehyun roughly brushed off his sleeve that I had been holding and sniffed his own body here and there.

“No, just… it smells good.”

“…Why, am I not allowed to wear perfume?”

“That’s not it, it’s just that I don’t think you used to wear it in the past….”

When I added that to make an excuse for his sharp reaction, Kang Leehyun cleared his throat a few times and relaxed his expression again. With a smile similar to the one he had at first, Kang Leehyun ruffled my hair.

“Did I? It’s been so long, after all.”

“…That’s true.”

“I’ll get going then. Enjoy your meal.”

The door finally closed, and through the window, I saw Kang Leehyun hurrying away. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off him, so I stared blankly at Kang Leehyun’s back. Kang Leehyun, who had made a gesture of lifting his arms to smell himself several times, even went as far as taking something out of his pocket and spraying it all over his body.

“What are you looking at?”

“Huh?”

Woo Dobin asked as he handed me the Samgyetang with the chicken skin all picked out.