LS Ch 21

After three days, Kang Yiwon returned to the set. With a lot of pending scenes, the filming started with scenes featuring ‘Geonhwon’. Consequently, Jewoo had relatively more breaks in between.

Sitting under a tree watching Yiwon act, Yejun approached.

“Why are you sitting on the ground?”

He asked why Jewoo was sitting on the bare ground when he could ask the staff or his manager for a chair. Jewoo replied nonchalantly that it didn’t matter.

“The ground is cool, isn’t it?”

Yejun said with a laugh, quoting a line ‘Geonhwon’ had said to ‘Haeyul’ in the drama.

“Cool? It’s so hot I feel like I’m going to die.”

The season in the drama was transitioning from winter to spring, but in reality, it was nearing early summer. Feeling the ground cool was something to be thankful for.

“Did you change your fan?”

Yejun asked, pointing at the handheld fan in Yiwon’s hand.

“This? Yiwon gave it to me.”

He showed the fan to Yejun. That morning, as soon as they met at the set, Yiwon had handed it to him.

“Someone recommended it. They said it’s strong and good.”

“Really? Where did you get it? I should buy one too.”

With the heat increasing, Yejun was interested in buying one if it performed well. He looked over Jewoo’s fan, but there was no brand mark on it anywhere. When asked if there wasn’t a box, Jewoo said it was like this from the start and suggested asking Yiwon after filming.

“The next scene, that one, right?”

“That one?”

At the vague expression, Jewoo asked what “that one” was, and Yejun coughed awkwardly, rolling his eyes. After a moment, Jewoo realized with a delayed “Ah,” that he was talking about the scene where ‘Geonhwon’ and ‘Haeyul’ share their first kiss.

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“Nervous about what?”

“Have you done a kissing scene before?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

Yejun’s eyes widened in surprise. Was that so surprising? Even if he wasn’t the lead, he had played many roles, some of which involved romantic subplots among supporting characters. It wasn’t really a kiss per se, more like an accidental brush of lips, but contact was contact.

“Yiwon has done a lot of kissing scenes, right?”

Yejun looked towards Yiwon while asking. Why was he asking him this? But Jewoo nodded, thinking it was probably true. Given that almost all the dramas Yiwon had starred in were romances, he must have had several kissing scenes.

“Yiwon might be the senior when it comes to kissing scenes.”

Yejun said with a laugh. Jewoo hadn’t thought about it until then, but now it made sense.

“Have you ever dated?”

Given Jewoo was twenty-seven, no one would think he had never dated.

“I have.”

Though he could hardly remember when that was now.

“When was the last time?”

He had expected this question. Jewoo counted back the years with his fingers, internally groaning. It had been over five years ago. Back then, transitioning from a child actor to an adult, his image was ambiguous, and he didn’t have work for about a year. He decided to focus on school during that time and naturally ended up dating someone he met at university. However, it didn’t last long.

They had dated for about three months. Then he got a new role, unfortunately, in a historical drama. He was busy day and night with training for horseback riding and sword fighting, and naturally, he grew distant from his girlfriend, leading to their breakup.

After that, he kept getting minor roles, and juggling filming with studies was overwhelming enough that he didn’t have time for romance.

“Never met anyone from the same industry? You must have been popular.”

“Maybe.”

He wasn’t sure about being popular. His personality allowed him to get along with everyone, but there wasn’t anyone special. The female actresses saw him more as a ‘guy friend’ rather than a romantic interest.

“Hyung, aren’t you kind of hard to get? There are quite a few people interested in you around me.”

“That interest isn’t romantic.”

“No way, you can’t know that. Maybe they can’t make a move because you don’t give them an opening.”

He didn’t think he was the type to put up walls, so he couldn’t agree with Yejun’s statement. However, Kang Yiwon was definitely the first to openly say he liked him or wanted to date him.

That was possible because they were both men, and due to their roles. Since they were both men, when Kang Yiwon openly declared his affection, everyone took it as a jest or playful banter. If either he or Yiwon had been a woman, it might have led to a scandal. In that sense, being of the same gender had its conveniences.

“I need to touch up ‘Haeyul’s’ makeup before going in.”

The makeup team came looking for Jewoo as the previous shoot was wrapping up.

“Do you need to fix it?”

“I’m going to touch up the makeup and fix the hairstyle.”

Since the next scene was important, it seemed he was taking extra care.

“Isn’t that a bit too much?”

As soon as he was dragged to sit in the chair, he asked, and the makeup artist laughed, saying it was warranted.

“Kissing scenes are the highlight of a romance drama. Clips will be shared long after it’s broadcast. You need to look beautiful.”

He had never experienced his kissing scene clips being shared, so the makeup artist’s words didn’t feel real. He thought kissing scenes were just kissing scenes, but apparently, they were different for others. He was waiting without much thought, but the constant talk about the kissing scene from those around him was starting to make him nervous.

What if they have to redo it dozens of times because of NGs? The thought made his mouth go dry.

No way.

For any scene, Jewoo hadn’t had more than two NGs unless he wanted to reshoot it himself. So, he thought the kissing scene would work out somehow, at least up to that point.

🎞️✮⋆˙

The production team put in all sorts of efforts to create a beautiful scene. Not only was the location where ‘Haeyul’ and ‘Geonhwon’ would kiss significant, but they also added effects like petals blowing in the wind. While the staff prepared these, Jewoo stood with Yiwon, waiting for the scene to start.

The staff were adjusting the large fans to control the direction of the wind. Thanks to this, even Jewoo, standing still, felt the breeze. He was holding onto his clothes to prevent them from getting messy when he felt someone’s gaze. There was no need to confirm who it was.

“Why?”

Still, because the gaze was more blatant than usual, he asked why Yiwon was looking at him like that.

“Just.”

The answer was predictable.

“Don’t stare so much. You’ll burn a hole in my face.”

When Jewoo looked back at Yiwon and replied, he gave a faint smile.

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

Even though he was told to stop looking, Yiwon was still gazing at Jewoo, murmuring to himself. Since they were standing close, Jewoo could hear it all.

“What?”

He responded because, even if it was a murmur to himself, he heard it.

“You look even prettier than usual.”

The unexpected compliment made him flinch. Unsure how to respond, he was about to just laugh it off when Yiwon reached out. Before Jewoo could react, Yiwon’s finger brushed past his earlobe, then as if nothing happened, he reached up and removed a petal from Jewoo’s hair.

“It must have blown over with the wind.”

Some of the petals prepared by the production team seemed to have been blown by the fan.

“They’ll fall off anyway in a bit, why bother.”

“Still.”

Even after answering, Yiwon kept staring at Jewoo intently. It seemed more intense today. Eventually, Jewoo turned away first. If he kept meeting Yiwon’s gaze, his heart would get restless even before the shoot started.

“We’re starting the shoot!”

The assistant director’s shout was heard.

Jewoo took a deep breath and recalled ‘Haeyul’s’ emotions. He was shaken because ‘Geonhwon’ had confessed his love, yet he hesitated to approach despite his feelings, which made ‘Haeyul’ feel sorry for him. Above all, knowing he was cherished by ‘Geonhwon’, ‘Haeyul’ wavered despite having said it was impossible because they were both men.

Swoosh. He heard the sound of wind. When he opened his eyes, ‘Geonhwon’ was standing right in front of him. He reached out as if to touch him but stopped in mid-air before reaching Jewoo. The longing in those fingertips and the gaze fixed on him was heart-wrenching.

Instead of touching him recklessly, ‘Geonhwon’ took ‘Haeyul’s’ hand and placed it over his heart. Thump, thump, he felt ‘Geonhwon’s’—no, Kang Yiwon’s heartbeat beneath his palm.

“This is my heart.”

He couldn’t tell if it was ‘Geonhwon’ or Kang Yiwon speaking. For some reason, the gentle smile looked only sad.

“Why… does conveying your heart cause you such sorrow?”

At ‘Haeyul’s’ question, ‘Geonhwon’s’ face stiffened for a moment before he forced a smile. That smile made ‘Haeyul’s’ heart ache.

“I said it’s not impossible.”

When ‘Haeyul’ answered, ‘Geonhwon’s’ eyes widened. He could see the tremor in his pupils.

“Do you know what you’re saying?”

As soon as he finished speaking, his arm was pulled strongly. His body tilted forward, and Yiwon embraced Jewoo’s shoulders.

“Push me away. If you don’t, I don’t know what I might do.”

With the low, settled voice, Jewoo’s mouth went dry. He started to confuse whether this tension belonged to ‘Haeyul’ or Han Jewoo himself.