* * *

“I’ll take a short break! The actors can go ahead and eat now!”

At the assistant director’s shout, Cha Joobin sluggishly stood up and left the studio.

Recently, filming had taken place in Seoul, allowing him to comfortably manage his schedule, but now he was back in Taean.

He understood that the filming schedule had tightened due to the broadcast being pushed up.

The overlapping interests and circumstances were far from simple.

However, there was one thing that bothered him: he couldn’t see Gong Yoochan.

Since Gong Yoochan had work in Seoul, it wasn’t reasonable to ask him to come down to Taean, and Joobin himself couldn’t go up to Seoul, leaving him feeling frustrated.

“Hyung, I’m going to eat now. Don’t forget to eat too.”

After leaving this message, Joobin slowly walked into the cafeteria.

The meal prepared for the staff and cast was a traditional Korean set menu.

As he thought about indulging in japchae today, the phone he was tightly holding buzzed.

Expecting it to be a message from Gong Yoochan, Joobin looked at the screen.

[Hyung ♥: Joobin, look in front of you.]

It was a sudden and confusing message.

In front of me?

Where?

Tilting his head, he raised his eyes, and in that moment, a warm glow spread across Joobin’s face, a smile curving on his lips.

“Hyung?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“What the—?”

Right in front of him was Gong Yoochan.

Strangely enough, he was blending in naturally, eating with the others, as if he were part of the staff or cast.

Joobin was so shocked he could hardly speak.

As he blinked and stared, Yoochan waved him over with a playful hand, his cheeks puffed out with food like a squirrel.

Stifling a laugh at how cute he looked, Joobin watched as Yoochan swallowed his food and spoke.

“I was bored, so I came. They told me to eat, so I’m eating.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve eaten together.”

I mean, who travels from Seoul to Taean just because they’re bored…

Joobin was so happy that his feet tingled.

Without realizing it, he bounced in place, expressing his joy.

Although Yoochan had visited the set before, it had been a while since he came without any warning, making the visit even more delightful.

Joobin wanted to run over and smother his soft cheeks with kisses, but bit his lips to hold back. Yoochan raised an eyebrow, as if asking what he was doing.

“Hurry up and get your food so we can eat together.”

“Okay, hyung. Should I get you more food?”

“The pork bulgogi is good.”

“Got it.”

As Joobin smiled and lined up for food, Yoochan let out a low chuckle, taking another big bite.

The staff sitting nearby began to chat among themselves.

“I’ve never seen Joobin smile like that before.”

“Really? He’s pretty open with his emotions, like a baby.”

“A baby…?”

“Just look at him, he’s like a kid.”

Yoochan burst out laughing, pointing at Joobin.

Despite being taller and more noticeable than most, the way Joobin chatted and laughed with the food truck lady made him seem like a high school student.

Watching him smile while asking for more of his favorite side dish was enough to make Yoochan’s heart tingle.

Resting his chin on his hand, Yoochan stared at Joobin, who soon turned to catch him looking, and flashed him an even wider smile.

“Hyung, how much pork bulgogi do you want?”

“A lot.”

“More than this?”

“Uh, no, no, that’s enough.”

Joobin turned to show his plate piled high with pork bulgogi.

The food truck always prepared plenty of side dishes, so there was no worry of running out, but Yoochan still held up his hand to signal that it was enough.

“It feels like Joobin turns into a kid when he’s around you, Yoochan.”

Hearing the comment from the side, Yoochan just smiled.

A memory from a movie they had watched together recently popped into his head.

It was said to be realistic, and indeed, it wasn’t so different from their relationship.

They bickered over things that seemed trivial, kept secrets that led to misunderstandings, and then acted childishly affectionate again.

Both of them could act like responsible adults in public, but when it was just the two of them, they became like kids.

After enduring some fatigue and speaking less, they almost broke up, only to tearfully reconcile after a few days because they couldn’t be without each other.

The movie felt like a reflection of their own lives.

Maybe everyone loves like this, Yoochan thought. It reassured him that their relationship wasn’t flawed.

In fact, the movie felt like a form of mirror therapy, leaving him with mixed feelings.

Maybe this is how we look to the director too. That would be a bit embarrassing.

Lost in these thoughts, Yoochan rubbed his cheek with a small laugh.

Meanwhile, Joobin, now done with his meal, approached with a bright, genuine smile that made Yoochan feel just as happy.

“Hyung, when did you get here?”

“About an hour ago. Not too long.”

“Why didn’t you say anything…?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t have seen that smile of yours.”

Joobin laughed.

After sitting beside Yoochan, he moved his mountain of pork bulgogi onto Yoochan’s plate, grinning the whole time.

The filming wasn’t particularly exhausting.

It was something Joobin had to do anyway, and since he preferred to tackle hard tasks head-on, he believed it was better to get the difficult scenes out of the way quickly.

But he had been a bit worn out because he knew he wouldn’t see Yoochan for a week.

Unless it was for a shoot, Joobin couldn’t just ask for Yoochan’s help, so he was stuck waiting for the next entertainment shoot.

It was funny.

Half of the contracted scenes were already shot, and while he had initially resisted doing them, now he was eagerly looking forward to the next opportunity.

“Hyung, are you leaving right away?”

“No? Why would I just eat and leave? I came all the way to Taean.”

“Don’t you have work? Didn’t you say you had a meeting?”

“I took care of that this morning. Do you want me to go? Would that make you happy?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

He could have just said, “Stay with me,” but the words wouldn’t come out.

Joobin knew Yoochan was teasing him on purpose, but he still felt flustered.

Instead, Joobin quietly began eating.

He decided it would be better to eat quickly and spend the rest of the break enjoying his time with Yoochan.

As Joobin ate, Yoochan suddenly called his name.

Then, he showed him his phone.

“Huh?”

“Look at this.”

“What is it?”

Joobin glanced at the screen. It was just their usual conversation.

Was there something he didn’t remember?

Had Yoochan mentioned something about leaving in a few days?

Joobin carefully scrolled through their messages, trying to find anything out of the ordinary, but there was nothing.

He placed a piece of pork on some lettuce and wrapped it up, looking back at Yoochan.

He pushed the large wrap into Yoochan’s mouth and shrugged, as if to say he really didn’t know.

Yoochan made a playful sound.

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

“Huh?”

Yoochan shook his head, slightly irritated.

He pointed to the very top of their chat.

At that moment, Joobin’s eyes slowly widened as he finally noticed it.

There it was. A heart.

A solid black heart right next to his name.

“Oh, come on…”

Joobin scratched his nose, unable to hide the smile tugging at his lips.

It was just a heart.

He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

But the heart meant something different when it came from Yoochan.

When they first started dating, Joobin had quickly added a heart next to Yoochan’s name, but Yoochan had acted indifferent, like it didn’t matter.

Yet now, that little heart next to his name made Joobin’s heart flutter.

Because his pride was hurt, Cha Joobin couldn’t bring himself to ask for more attention.

Yet deep down, he still hoped someone would give it to him.

When he subtly nudged Gong Yoochan, Yoochan had responded with a casual attitude, like, “If you ask for it, I’ll give it.”

That made Joobin stubborn.

Since then, he purposely avoided asking for any more attention.

“Joobin, your face is so red.”

Gong Yoochan chuckled softly, poking Joobin’s cheek with his finger.

As if that poke triggered something, Cha Joobin’s pale face instantly turned bright red, contradicting Yoochan’s playful comment.

Naturally, people nearby gave them curious looks.

Joobin had no energy to answer when they asked what was going on.

His heart was pounding so fast that it felt like all his strength was draining away.

Cha Joobin finally set down his spoon and buried his face in Yoochan’s shoulder, as if collapsing into him.

Breathing shakily, he let out a small sigh, and Yoochan responded with a hearty laugh, patting Joobin’s back roughly.

“This was so worth it, totally worth it.”

“I don’t think I can film. My heart is racing too fast. Look.”

Joobin grabbed Yoochan’s hand and placed it on his chest.

Yoochan could feel his heart pounding hard under his firm muscles.

With exaggerated surprise, Yoochan widened his eyes, rubbing Joobin’s chest dramatically, and joked in a playful voice.

“What’s this? You got an arrhythmia? I think you need to go to the hospital.”

“Yeah, maybe…”

“First, let’s eat. You’ll feel better after you eat.”

“Okay.”

Joobin acted like nothing happened and resumed eating.

His heart was still pounding uncontrollably, but as Yoochan said, it was time to eat.

While Joobin ate, Yoochan sat next to him, not bothering to clear his tray.

He kept playfully pestering Joobin, tugging at his earlobe, leaning his head on Joobin’s shoulder while scrolling through his phone, and occasionally massaging his thigh or squeezing the back of his neck.

Even though Yoochan’s teasing could’ve been annoying, Joobin didn’t mind.

He was used to Yoochan’s touchiness and didn’t exactly dislike it.

“Joobin, you’re needed on standby now.”

“Oh. I’ll go brush my teeth first.”

“Okay!”

After eating, Joobin wanted to spend more time with Yoochan, but the assistant director’s voice called him away.

Joobin couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“I wanted to spend more time with you.”

He muttered, feeling like Yoochan wouldn’t be around after the shoot ended.

But Yoochan smiled and patted his butt.

Then Yoochan fished something out of his pocket.

Curious, Joobin widened his eyes as Yoochan placed a card into his hand.

“Guess what this is.”

“A room key?”

“Yeah, your room key. I’ll be in my room, so do your best in the shoot.”

“You’re not going up?”

More surprising than how Yoochan got his hands on Joobin’s room key was the way Yoochan made it sound like he’d stick around.

Joobin couldn’t help but silently plead, “Don’t leave.”

If he could stay with Yoochan, nothing else about this week stuck in Taean mattered.

Did Yoochan read his mind?

With a smile, Yoochan shrugged.

“Who knows? I’ll leave when I feel like it.”

It didn’t really matter. Joobin nodded in approval, pointing to a group of men gathered nearby.

“That’s the smoking area. If you want to smoke later, head over there.”

Joobin said it knowing Yoochan always looked for a cigarette after meals.

But unexpectedly, Yoochan tilted his head and looked at Joobin.

“I haven’t smoked in a while.”

* * *