Chapter 11: Too Close, Too Early

Wooju bent his waist slightly and leaned his face in close.

Won Jitae, who had been stepping back a pace, eventually froze right there on the spot.

“Have you been working out continuously?

Do you manage it?

How do you manage it?”

The ridged muscles, the well-built abs smoothly arranged like a sculpture, looked almost like a painting.

For Kang Wooju, an athlete, it was something that naturally caught his eye.

They were, quite literally, perfectly made abdominal muscles.

Without realizing it, Wooju stretched out his fingers as if to touch the muscles.

Curiosity sparkled in his eyes.

At the same time, Jitae’s eyes widened, and he slapped Wooju’s hand away.

“I, I have to go do an interview, so c-could you move?”

“Ah, right.”

Only then did Wooju come back to his senses and clap his hands once.

“Yeah, your writer’s been waiting for a while.

Hurry and go.”

As Wooju stepped back again, Jitae quickly pulled his T-shirt over his head.

Then he hurried past him.

“Hey, hey, Won Jitae.”

“What, why.”

“But hey, when you shower, don’t you use water that’s way too hot?”

“What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden.”

“No, your face.

It’s crazy red.”

“……”

Jitae clenched his lips tightly.

“It’s hot out too, so finish with cold water.

You’ll collapse.”

“Mind your own business.”

After replying coldly, Jitae shot out the door like an arrow.

He could hear Wooju muttering something about his temper behind him, but he didn’t have the luxury to care right now.

“What the hell was that… ah, this is annoying.”

Once outside, Jitae roughly ruffled his hair in irritation.

When he was alone at home, he usually didn’t put clothes on right after showering.

Because of that habit, he’d been unknowingly defenseless.

He never imagined Wooju would come that close so casually.

Even now, it felt like Wooju’s gaze was still lingering around his stomach.

Shaking his head, Jitae headed toward the production staff’s lodging.

The writer who had been waiting smiled and began guiding him, then flinched after noticing something.

“Ac- actor.”

“Yes?”

Then she whispered quietly to Jitae.

“Um… you’re wearing your shirt inside out.”

“Ah.”

Jitae lowered his gaze.

Just as she said, the tag was sticking completely out.

His face was once again dyed with embarrassment.

Just like he’d confidently said in the interview, on the first day of moving in, Wooju fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

He was the type who could sleep anywhere as long as he could lay his head down, so the change in sleeping environment didn’t bother him much.

After waking up, Wooju blankly looked around.

Just as Producer Kwon had said, the natural atmosphere still filled the place.

At least when he was inside the house, it didn’t really feel like filming.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, he wasn’t sure.

Scratching his head roughly, Wooju went outside.

The time was 9 a.m.

During the off-season, he didn’t need to strictly manage his daily routine, but habits ingrained in the body weren’t easy to ignore.

Waking up early was part of that.

After washing his face in the first-floor bathroom, Wooju stood still and looked around the house.

Then he lifted his head and glanced up at the second floor.

Won Jitae’s door was still firmly shut.

It seemed he hadn’t woken up yet.

“Well, he’ll wake up on his own.”

Wooju went into the kitchen and put a capsule into the coffee machine.

The rich aroma of coffee spread through the air.

Thinking he’d drink it iced, he took out the ice he had frozen the day before and put it into a cup.

“The weather’s nice.”

Staring blankly out the living room window, Wooju eventually took his cup and stepped outside.

Cameras were installed all over the wide garden as well.

Passing leisurely between them, Wooju went to the table placed under the shade and sat down.

He’d made a huge fuss to Lee Gicheol about not wanting to film, but honestly, this wasn’t that bad.

A pretty countryside house with such a wide open yard attached.

Even so, there was one thing that bothered him.

The tightly drawn curtains on the second-floor terrace.

The reason he couldn’t say he liked everything one hundred percent was right in there.

Wooju looked away again and drank his coffee.

Enjoying the slightly warm breeze, by the time he had nearly emptied the cup, he stood up and went back inside.

Feeling a bit hungry, he thought about making something to eat, but Won Jitae, who was still sleeping soundly, bothered him.

With a sulky expression, Wooju went to the living room and turned on the TV.

Since they were living together, it didn’t feel right to cook and eat alone.

So he was willing to wait a little longer.

Then 10 o’clock passed.

Then 10:30.

By the time it was already past 11.

“No, how long is he planning to sleep?”

Finally fed up with waiting, Wooju turned off the TV and stomped up to the second floor.

Had he woken up and was just staying in his room?

Otherwise, how could someone sleep past 11?

It was completely incomprehensible.

Knock, knock.

Wooju knocked on the door, putting as much politeness as he could into it.

“Won Jitae.

Are you up?”

“……”

There was no answer.

The absurd hypothesis that he was still asleep began to gain strength.

“Won Jitae, wake up.

It’s past 11.”

He knocked again, deliberately raising his voice.

At this point, he must have heard it, right?

Thinking that, Wooju went back down to the kitchen and started planning breakfast slash lunch.

While pondering what to make, there was still no sign of movement from the room upstairs.

“Ah, seriously.”

Wooju went back up to the second floor.

“Wake up.

If not, I’m opening the door.”

“……”

Wooju’s eyebrows twitched like earthworms.

Unable to endure it anymore, he flung the door open.

“…Well, would you look at that.”

Won Jitae was lying neatly on the bed, wearing an eye mask and even earplugs, diligently sleeping.

No wonder he couldn’t hear the knocking or shouting.

“Hm, Won Jitae.”

Wooju slowly approached and shook the blanket with his hand.

“Ah……”

A slightly irritated sound slipped from Jitae’s mouth.

As he stirred, he turned his body completely toward the wall.

Damn bastard Won Jitae.

Wooju decided that to wake this guy, he’d have to use a more forceful method.

Eventually, he perched himself near Jitae’s head, yanked out the left earplug, and bent down.

“Won Jitae, wake up.”

Wooju whispered softly into his ear.

There were quite a few team members at Baekyoung Construction who were hard to wake up.

This was a method Wooju often used in those cases.

The so-called ear tickling technique.

Sure enough, the method seemed to work, and Jitae’s body flinched.

“Wake up.”

“Ah, what is it!”

Jitae tore off his eye mask and turned his head.

Then his eyes met Kang Wooju’s, whose face was extremely close.

“…Agh!”

Whether startled or something else, Jitae suddenly screamed and started flailing with all his strength.

Waking up was fine, but there was a much bigger problem.

Thud!

Thud?

At the dull sound, Jitae stopped struggling.

Right next to him, he saw Wooju burying his face in his palm.

“…Kang Wooju?”

Wooju lowered his hand and slowly lifted his face.

Jitae had no choice but to clamp his mouth shut.

The area around Wooju’s nose was red.

Anyone could tell it was from the punch Jitae had just thrown.

“Do you want to die?”

The moment he finished saying that, something wet and red flowed down from Wooju’s nose.

It was the start of a noisy day that didn’t suit such a fine and peaceful morning.

The breakfast duty was Won Jitae’s.

It wasn’t something they’d decided beforehand.

Jitae had volunteered on his own.

The reason wasn’t anything special.

“You really have a strong hand, huh?”

Kang Wooju, sitting at the dining table with a tissue stuffed into one nostril, glared daggers at Jitae’s back.

No matter what, you couldn’t make someone in that state prepare breakfast, so naturally, Jitae ended up standing in the kitchen.

“A-are you okay?”

“Well, it doesn’t really hurt.

When you play games, getting hit in the face by the ball happens all the time.”

Back when he was a rookie, he’d often misjudged the distance and taken balls straight to the face.

So nosebleeds were familiar to him.

“But this one’s a bit… it really ruins the mood.”

Jitae’s shoulders twitched.

At some point, microphones had once again been clipped onto both of their clothes.

“No, I mean, why did you have to wake me up like that and scare me so badly?”

“I went to wake up a guy who wouldn’t get up until 11, and this is what I get……”

“On days I don’t have a morning schedule, I don’t set an alarm.

I also don’t sleep deeply, so I use an eye mask and earplugs.”

Jitae placed the golden-brown toasted bread onto a plate and slid it in front of Wooju.

“Then you should’ve told me beforehand.

And even so, did you really have to scare me that much?”

“Of course I’d be scared.

When I woke up and your face was……”

Wooju’s hand, pouring milk into a cup, paused.

“My face what.”

“I mean… your face is why I got startled.”

Ha, was he bragging now because he thought he was good-looking?

Sure, Won Jitae was pretty handsome, but it wasn’t like Wooju had never been told he looked good either.

“Anyway, I’m sorry.

Eat.”