A couple for show chapter 34

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“Cut! Joyoung, that was great! Let’s do it one more time with the same tone, just from a different angle.”

“Okay,” Kim Joyoung replied weakly, revealing her fatigue.

She had assumed that because it was a pre-produced drama, the filming schedule would be more relaxed, but she was wrong.

The schedule was tighter than she had expected, making it difficult to get enough sleep.

The idea that the drama was being filmed entirely on location in Taean was also a lie.

Frequent trips back to Seoul had left her exhausted, and dark circles were starting to form under her eyes.

She was fed up with the director’s constant demands to adjust the camera angles without any breaks in between.

The director was well-known for asking for multiple angles and was praised for his direction, so she had no choice but to comply without complaint.

As she prepared for the next scene, Kim Joyoung noticed Cha Joobin muttering his lines behind the camera.

They were both working without rest, but his face was full of energy.

At the beginning of filming, he didn’t look so great, and she had been worried, but now he seemed to be in perfect condition, leaving her as the only one struggling.

“If he’s not doing well, we should both be struggling. If he’s doing well, we should both be doing well.”

When she glared at him disapprovingly, Cha Joobin, who had been focused on the script, raised an eyebrow as if asking, “What?”

He really was something.

“Joyoung, we’re ready to start!”

“Yes,” she responded, loosening her lips and shaking her shoulders to relax.

With a bright smile, as if she had never been tired, she stepped into the camera frame.

Maintaining the same tone as before, she put on the brightest smile she could muster and began acting as soon as she heard the cue.

Cha Joobin, watching her performance, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

She had been complaining about being exhausted earlier, but the moment she stood in front of the camera, she transformed into a completely different person—like a true acting monster.

Then his phone screen suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly grabbed it.

There was a camera from the reality show pointed right at him, and it looked like the message could be caught on camera.

The sender’s name, which flashed briefly, was “Hyung♥.”

He knew that the sender would be aware that he was filming, so there wouldn’t be any harsh messages, but he couldn’t help but worry.

Holding his breath in anticipation, Cha Joobin opened the message with a deliberately calm expression.

Luckily, the preview wasn’t bad either.

[Hyung♥: When are you done? ㅠㅠ]

Ah, if he had known it was such a cute message, he would’ve read it with a smile.

It couldn’t be helped that he got nervous whenever it was something related to Gong Yoochan.

Lately, Gong Yoochan had been treating him kindly and warmly, but Cha Joobin still couldn’t shake the unease.

Every time Gong Yoochan was overly kind, Cha Joobin found himself trying to figure out the motive behind it, which only made him feel worse.

He should just focus on the kindness, but he couldn’t.

He had an inexplicable need to understand why this was happening, and he felt that only by knowing could he be at peace.

He knew, deep down, it was a defense mechanism to avoid being hurt by someone he loved.

So, even though it was hard, he tried to consciously focus only on the positive side and trust him.

Cha Joobin bit his lip lightly, lost in thought.

The words “Yoochan cried a lot” that Kim Woosun had said lingered in his mind and wouldn’t go away.

He sighed deeply, fiddling with his phone.

“I’ll be done soon, not much longer. We’re filming Kim Joyoung’s scene now, and we’ll be wrapping up after the next one.”

The filming was taking longer than expected.

What was originally planned as a three-hour studio shoot had already stretched over five hours.

Cha Joobin had been thinking about suggesting they have a nice dinner together after filming, but when he glanced at the time at the top of his phone screen, it was already past seven, and having dinner together seemed unlikely.

[Hyung♥: Don’t rush, just finish well. I’m watching this.]

The message was accompanied by a photo, and Cha Joobin curiously opened it.

The photo showed a stack of scripts piled high, and Gong Yoochan had mentioned wanting to look through some scripts earlier.

Even though Gong Yoochan had said he wanted to rest, it seemed like he couldn’t help but work again.

Cha Joobin had suspected he would get bored quickly, so seeing that his prediction was correct made him chuckle.

[Anything you like?] he replied.

[Hyung♥: Not sure yet, haha.]

A lie.

Gong Yoochan, with his sharp eye for scripts, had probably already picked out a few good ones.

Cha Joobin often relied on him when choosing scripts, so there was no fooling him.

Still feeling good, Cha Joobin sent a message saying, “Let’s look at them together,” before closing his phone.

At that moment, the director called “Cut!” and everyone cheered, “Okay!”

Cha Joobin tossed aside the blanket he had been covering himself with, revealing his bare torso.

The next scene required him to be shirtless.

Even though it was for work, it was still embarrassing to strip in front of an old friend.

But as soon as he got rid of the blanket, he felt the cool air and sighed in relief.

As soon as he smiled, feeling refreshed, Kim Joyoung grimaced.

But her reaction didn’t bother him in the slightest.

Deliberately puffing out his chest, he heard someone shout, “You idiot, cover up your chest!”

If Gong Yoochan had been there, he probably would have blushed and said nothing, but Kim Joyoung was different.

“Do you think I’m showing off for you? My Hyung likes it just fine.”

Cha Joobin confidently strutted onto the set, his body covered in realistic-looking wound makeup drawn with red paint.

The next scene was where Kim Joyoung would bandage these wounds…

“Ew, gross,” she said, cringing.

Her disgusted reaction made it even funnier.

Cha Joobin didn’t bother hiding his satisfaction.

It wasn’t just because of the heart-filled message he had received from Gong Yoochan before closing his phone… well, actually, it was.

A faint smile crept across Cha Joobin’s lips.

“Okay, Joobin, take a seat in the chair behind you.”

“Here?”

“Yes. Joyoung, hold the bandage. This is an emotional scene, so do your best.”

“Got it.”

The director’s cue rang loudly throughout the studio.

In an instant, the mischievous looks they had been exchanging disappeared as both actors focused on their emotions.

The director couldn’t help but smile at the sight, proud of the perfect casting.

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“Am I just sitting around too much?”

Gong Yoochan finally realized how long he had been sitting in one place, reading scripts.

Even though it was a variety show, just sitting still didn’t seem entertaining.

But with Joobin off filming, there wasn’t much else to do.

Yoochan quickly became absorbed in his reading again.

Maybe it was his true calling as an actor, but he couldn’t ignore the thrill he felt when diving into a script.

He kept glancing at his phone between pages.

Joobin hadn’t texted since he mentioned the final scene, so he must have been deep into filming.

Yoochan couldn’t help but smile, thinking about how well Joobin must be performing right now.

After reflecting on everything, Yoochan had decided not to suppress his emotions anymore.

Instead, he would give himself time to truly understand Joobin, who he had once thought he knew inside and out.

That realization came the day he understood just how anxious and unhappy Joobin must have been throughout their relationship, especially with all the issues surrounding Kim Woo-sun and other matters.

“From now on, do as you like, hyung. I’m really at a loss too.”

With a trembling voice, he conveyed something that meant nothing had ever gone according to Cha Joobin’s will.

It was a confession that he’d been holding it all in, and even if something displeased him, he had chosen to overlook it. In other words, Cha Joobin had been enduring the relationship, in every sense of the word.

If that was the case, Gong Yoochan believed that rebuilding trust in their relationship had to come first. He clenched his quivering lips, trying to steady his complicated emotions.

The one bit of relief came from confirming through the calendar that Cha Joobin’s heart still belonged to him. Now all that was left was for him to adjust his own behavior.

At that moment, his phone chimed with a notification. He picked it up.

[Joobin:
Hyung, I’m done now.
I’ll head over soon.]

Seeing the message, Gong Yoochan responded with a quick “Okay,” then tapped on Cha Joobin’s profile.

[Why don’t you ever put a heart by my name, hyung?]

[Huh? Do you like having a heart there? Should I add one?]

[..Forget it.[

A conversation they once had briefly crossed his mind.

There was no need to hesitate.

Gong Yoochan immediately changed the contact name saved simply as “Joobin” to “Joobin♥,” marking the beginning of the change.

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