SDM 46

Despite taking antipyretics, the fever hadn’t fully subsided by morning. His temperature only returned to normal after lunchtime, but his body, which had suffered all night, was accompanied by slight chills and muscle pain.

Seeing the weakened Seong-woon, Lee Hyeong-seok suggested canceling the filming and going to the hospital instead, but Seong-woon shook his head firmly. Missing a scheduled filming was absolutely out of the question.

“We’ll need to change the car.”

This was what Lee Hyeong-seok said as he parked the car in the basement of Baek Sang-hyun’s house. Until now, Seong-woon had been riding in a sedan, but from now on, they would need a large van to carry the stylist and makeup artist, as well as the costumes.

“Won’t Aunt buy it for us?”

Of course, Seong-woon had a black card in his name, but he hardly ever used it.

“Yes, of course. I’ll prepare it.”

“Oh, right. I heard I got a fan cafe?”

“I forgot to mention it to you. I’ve already created an ID, so you can use it… But please get approval before posting or commenting.”

As they got out of the car, the stylist who had followed in another car quickly did his makeup. For the hair, they just sprayed it lightly and fixed the bangs.

The PD and writer, who had been rolling around in the editing room for dozens of hours, approached. Seong-woon, who had been frowning because of the fixer sprayed on his face, bowed slightly to greet them. The PD and writer looked a bit surprised as they received the greeting.

“Uh… Ryu Chae-yoon-ssi…?”

“Hello.”

“Wow, wow…!”

The writer approached with sparkling eyes and extended her hand. After naturally shaking hands and letting go, she shouted “Hooray!” and spun around twice on the spot.

“This is amazing! We’re Ryu Chae-yoon-ssi’s first variety show, right?”

“Yes, although I’m not the main star.”

“Wow, we’ll make sure to film you beautifully. Our PD is famous for showcasing the actors like that.”

Wasn’t this the PD who was rumored to be unsuitable for variety shows? I heard he got criticized for adding slow motion at ridiculous times…

“We should thank Baek Sang-hyun. Wow, to think we’d see the famous Ryu Chae-yoon in person. You really look like a painting.”

“Th…thank you.”

When Seong-woon responded with a bright smile, the two even clapped their hands. It’s not like this is a seven-year-old’s kindergarten talent show, yet they applauded with every word he spoke. Barely hiding his exasperated expression, Seong-woon smiled once more at the dazed PD.

After reading the brief script, Seong-woon finally received instructions from the PD who had regained his senses. There wasn’t much, just to act as naturally as possible… But if that’s the case, there won’t be any content suitable for broadcast, right? If Baek Sang-hyun doesn’t do or say anything strange, we’ll just be studying.

“We’ll do our best to make it work in editing.”

The PD gave a thumbs up. He’s seems a bit unusual. Seong-woon noted this simple observation and stood at the entrance to Baek Sang-hyun’s house, pressing the call button. The door opened, taking a bit longer than last time.

He went up to the 4th floor and rang the doorbell again when Baek Sang-hyun opened the door with a towel draped over his head.

“You’re here early.”

“Hello.”

“Yeah. Come in.”

The kitchen and living room area was filled with staff members. Even though there were fewer people than a regular variety show since it was an observational one, it still felt a little overwhelming. Seong-woon felt quite awkward as it was clearly different from drama or movie shoots, but he didn’t show it outwardly.

“Sit in the living room for a bit. I’ll be out after drying my hair.”

Baek Sang-hyun must have been running around since morning for the content. His back in just a white t-shirt looked quite stylish. Seong-woon briefly gazed at him before turning his attention to the large TV screen. He was reminded of Baek Sang-hyun’s words about how he looked at him as if licking him.

Still not fully recovered from last night’s fever, Seong-woon sat quietly sprawled on the sofa. He couldn’t understand why Baek Sang-hyun’s house felt so comfortable. The person was uncomfortable, but… hmm… if he didn’t say weird things, it wasn’t that uncomfortable…

“Want some tea?”

“Yes, if you’re offering…”

“I have chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, rooibos, and barley tea.”

“…You have that many?”

“You said you don’t drink caffeine.”

This should be okay to broadcast, right? Baek Sang-hyun left it in the realm of preference by saying he ‘doesn’t’ drink caffeine rather than ‘can’t’.

“Then barley tea, please.”

Something warm and nutty would be nice. Why hadn’t he thought of barley tea until now? When he was younger, he always drank barley tea because he disliked the smell of bottled water.

“I’ll help…”

“Stay seated. You’re a guest.”

As for being a guest… Aren’t I just a student getting free tutoring? Seong-woon accurately pinpointed his position and clutched his head tightly before letting go. He was conscious of every move being filmed.

“If you’re uncomfortable, take off your coat and wear this.”

Baek Sang-hyun brought a large mug of barley tea and handed over a thick cardigan. Seong-woon, who had been feeling uncomfortable in his trench coat, quickly took it off and put on what Baek Sang-hyun gave him. The house was cool, so he hadn’t dared to take off his clothes.

Baek Sang-hyun took a few sips of his iced coffee and asked with a grin, like an evil teacher:

“Did you study a bit?”

“Yes, a little I guess…?”

“How far did you get?”

Accounting Principles was a three-times-a-week lecture, and honestly, Seong-woon had barely understood Monday’s progress. That’s because he had skipped Monday’s lecture and spent all his time trying to understand that part.

Fortunately, he didn’t meet Baek Sang-hyun on Wednesday and Friday, so he attended those lectures, but since he missed Monday’s, it was difficult to follow, and he couldn’t bring himself to study more.

“Looks like we’ll need to study tomorrow too.”

“You must be busy, sunbae…”

As if it were true, Baek Sang-hyun smiled prettily again, lifting his lips. An actor sows seeds with their works and reaps a huge harvest with advertisements.

<Human Justice> had topped the charts in dozens of countries on Webflix and broke the record for longest viewing time, so Baek Sang-hyun’s harvest must be bountiful.

“Don’t worry, I have enough time for that.”

He’s in full ‘kind senior’ mode. But what’s so interesting about this? Seong-woon moved to the dining table, opened his books, and really started studying with Baek Sang-hyun.

“Question 32 has the same structure as example 30.”

“…You’re right.”

“How do we evaluate tangible assets…”

They’ll probably fast-forward this 100 times in the broadcast, right? Seong-woon really studied with Baek Sang-hyun for almost three hours straight. He lost count of how many times the warm barley tea was refilled. Oh, but doesn’t barley tea need to be boiled in advance…?

“Looks like you understand it all now.”

“Do I really…?”

“That’s enough. If you can solve all the examples, you’ll do pretty well on the test. There are only a few killer questions anyway.”

“…”

“Good job. Let’s have dinner.”

Is it already time to eat? Seong-woon jerked his head up and looked around. Only then did he notice the cameras and variety show staff he had forgotten about. He had been so focused on studying that he lost track of everything else.

Baek Sang-hyun opened the refrigerator and took out some meat and vegetables, asking:

“Anything you can’t eat?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Then go over there and relax.”

“Pardon?”

There’s no need to make the junior look bad by having him play while the senior works. Seong-woon packed up the books and notes spread on the table, shoving them into his bag, and stood up, pulling the chair back with a scraping sound. He put the teacup in the sink and tried to peek over Baek Sang-hyun’s shoulder to see what he was doing.

“I told you to go over there.”

“I can help too.”

“It’s fine. The kitchen is my space.”

Baek Sang-hyun waved his hand as if shooing away flies, and when Seong-woon still didn’t leave, he pushed him all the way to the living room sofa. Only after confirming that Seong-woon’s knees hit the sofa and he sat down did he return to the kitchen.

“We’ll do a quick interview now.”

“…Okay.”

Taking advantage of this moment, the production team split in half, with one group filming Baek Sang-hyun’s cooking and the other gathering around Seong-woon. The writer, who had been staring at Seong-woon with sparkling eyes, started asking questions while referring to a paper filled with scribbles.

“He seemed to teach in a very Spartan way. Was that okay?”

“Spartan…? He wasn’t that forceful.”

“You studied for 3 hours without a break.”

“That’s because I’m lacking… Sunbae helped me a lot. Thanks to that, I managed to do well on the midterms. I plan to prepare hard for the finals too.”

“Do you think Baek Sang-hyun is a good teacher?”

Is this a trick question? Seong-woon barely managed to smooth out the wrinkle that almost formed on his forehead and answered that, of course, he was. He had tried to think of it as acting when he first opened his mouth, but to the question “Is Baek Sang-hyun a good teacher?”, there was no answer but yes.

No matter how slow Seong-woon’s understanding was, Baek Sang-hyun never raised his voice, and even when he had to repeat explanations like a parrot, he didn’t show any signs of impatience.

“We joined a study group at the beginning of the semester, but after the midterms, a few people took time off and the group fell apart, so…”

He answered questions about the study group,

“Since sunbae is so busy on weekdays, he usually spends one day on the weekend helping me.”

There were also questions about whether they did this every weekend.

“Baek Sang-hyun mentioned that he’s been keeping an eye on Chae-yoon as a close junior lately. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t…”

Seong-woon glanced at Baek Sang-hyun’s back, still focused on cooking. The filming crew surrounded him, so it was hard to see inside, but because he was so tall, at least his head was visible.

“If he said that, I’m grateful.”

This should make me look like a kind and young junior, right? Seong-woon had doubts about his recent acting – he really didn’t think he had done a good job with the amnesia act – but this was all he could rely on.

As he smiled brightly, trying to look as harmless as possible, the writer made an okay sign with her fingers and nodded. It seemed the scene had turned out quite pretty.

“Aren’t you bored?”

Baek Sang-hyun, who had approached without notice, suddenly asked. Seong-woon flinched like a guilty person, and Baek Sang-hyun narrowed his eyes and looked down at him for a moment.

“No, I’m fine…”

“If there’s something you want to watch, turn it on.”

Baek Sang-hyun took out a remote control from the drawer of the side table next to the sofa. How could he turn on the TV while they were filming? Seong-woon fiddled with it for a while, then put it down and sat blankly, unknowingly starting to doze off.

Maybe because he had used too much mental energy worrying about Baek Sang-hyun and Ryu Chae-yoon since yesterday, he felt sleepy no matter how much he slept. Ah, I really shouldn’t fall asleep. He tried to force his eyes open, but was this what they called an irresistible force?

For the first time in his life, Seong-woon dozed off in front of cameras. Eventually, he fell completely asleep, curled up with his face buried in the armrest.

* * *

“…Hey?”

He was curled up, looking pitiable. Wondering if he was cold, Baek Sang-hyun briefly touched the back of Ryu Chae-yoon’s hand before pulling away. His body was cold. Occasionally, the heart rate would display on the smartwatch that lit up. Just now, a red ’67’ flashed and disappeared.

Did he have something like a blanket? Baek Sang-hyun rarely felt cold, he didn’t even wear knits much in winter, just a jacket over a shirt was enough, so the cardigan he had already given to Ryu Chae-yoon was the thickest winter clothing he had.

Remembering something fans had made when a drama ended, he searched his room for a while before finally finding a thick blanket.

“Um, Baek Sang-hyun-ssi. Can we film in here, too?”

“…Here?”

The room Baek Sang-hyun had just come out of was what he called his archive. He was confident he had collected everything about ‘Jin Seong-woon’ there. But most people wouldn’t recognize it as a comprehensive collection of actor Jin Seong-woon’s career. He hadn’t taken many lead roles since becoming an adult.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Thank you!”

Leaving half the filming crew to shoot inside, Baek Sang-hyun spread the blanket over Ryu Chae-yoon’s body. As if he had been cold, Ryu Chae-yoon immediately pulled the blanket around his entire body as soon as he felt the warmth.