Chapter 110: The One Who Made Me Dream

[At this point, I’m curious— is that ‘kid your age’ someone we’re thinking of?]

• That’s right (laughs). That person is Kang Wooju.

With that question, the chapter ended.

Wooju closed the magazine without reading further.

There was no need to read more.

“……”

Leaning back in his chair, Wooju stared into the empty air.

Jitae had said that volleyball, which he shared with Wooju, was what gave him a great realization in life.

Then what about himself?

‘Winning aside, you were just purely enjoying volleyball. I’ve watched you for a long time, but that was the first time I saw you like that.’

When Coach Kim had said that, Wooju didn’t understand.

He had played as usual, yet he wondered if just the presence of Won Jitae alone could really make such a difference.

But that wasn’t it.

It was precisely because Jitae was there that it created the biggest difference of all.

Perhaps Wooju had already known the answer.

‘Because I thought you’d be the happiest to congratulate me. Because I believed you would truly acknowledge how much effort I’ve put in.’

Because he had already spoken that answer himself once before.

Since the time he started volleyball, Wooju had never received wholehearted support from his parents.

Because of that, an obsession and desire to be acknowledged had always taken root inside him.

No matter how much people around him called him a genius or cheered him on, that desire was never easily satisfied.

It began to extend beyond volleyball—into a mindset where he couldn’t afford to make mistakes or inconvenience others.

Perhaps that was the reason behind the “timidity” Coach Kim mentioned.

He still liked volleyball.

But at some point, he might have started treating what he loved as merely a means to fulfill his need for recognition and prove himself.

And there had been exactly one moment—

A moment when he wasn’t bound by any of that, when playing volleyball was simply fun and enjoyable.

“……”

Wooju slowly picked up his phone.

The person he needed to call was already decided.

“The casting article will probably come out sometime this week. We’re also coordinating the script reading schedule, so I’ll let you know once it’s confirmed.”

At his manager’s words, Jitae nodded weakly.

“It’s going to wear out. Stop looking at it so much.”

The manager clicked his tongue at Jitae, who was lying sprawled on the sofa reading the magazine.

These days, Jitae never let go of that magazine.

He looked at it as if he was about to memorize not just the contents but even its layout.

“Anyway, I’ll come back later. At least pack your things roughly. If you go for the out-of-town shoot, you won’t get much sleep, so get some rest.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Jitae get up to see him off.

Afterward, he lay back down on the sofa and stared again at the photoshoot pictures of Wooju.

“You really don’t photograph well.”

His complaint drifted weakly through the air.

Jitae picked up his phone from the coffee table and opened his contacts.

[Wooju]

Looking at that name, which he had stared at as much as the magazine, he hesitated again and again.

Whether to contact him or not.

But the ending was always the same.

Jitae turned off the screen and rubbed his face dryly.

It was over.

When Wooju said he didn’t know how to face him, it might as well have meant everything had collapsed.

‘In the end, you must have only seen me as that kind of person.’

It made sense to think that way.

Even if he said otherwise, there was a high chance Wooju wouldn’t believe him anymore.

At the same time, he remembered Wooju once saying that he himself was the one most entangled in that past.

In the end, that was true.

The one who had clung to the past and made himself the most miserable and pitiful was none other than himself.

That’s why, just as Sunhyeok had said, he decided to show everything to Wooju.

As part of that process, he had personally proposed the interview questions.

And yet, this was the result.

“Damn… figures.”

As Jitae muttered bitterly, his phone suddenly rang loudly.

Thinking it might be another insurance spam call, he glanced at the screen—

But instead, the name he had been thinking about appeared right there.

“……”

Jitae stared at Wooju’s name in disbelief.

His mouth slowly fell open, and a breath escaped him.

His heart pounded wildly, shaking the fragile thread of composure he was barely holding onto.

Calm down. Stay calm. Just answer the call.

As he cleared his throat and reached for the screen—

The call ended.

“Ah.”

He was doomed.

As he frantically tried to unlock his phone, the cheerful ringtone rang again, completely at odds with his state of mind.

“H-hello?”

This time, Jitae successfully answered Wooju’s call.

He tapped the screen almost at the speed of light, afraid it might disconnect again.

• What? You picked up immediately. Then did you ignore the first call on purpose?

“No, no!”

Jitae shouted and sprang up from the sofa.

He awkwardly explained, rambling, that he had tried to answer but it had disconnected.

• …But why haven’t you contacted me even once?

“Kang Wooju, I… thought you might be angry.”

• You always make me be the one to reach out first.

“Sorry.”

Guilt surged up uncontrollably.

He should have contacted him somehow, but he felt like he had made another mistake.

Jitae sank back onto the sofa weakly.

• Come to think of it, you’re always like this. You make me hear about you from others, and then I end up coming to find you.

Even if he had ten mouths, he had nothing to say.

All Jitae could do was stay silent.

• So this time, you come.

“…What?”

• You come. To me.

The call ended abruptly.

As Jitae blinked slowly in confusion, a message from Wooju arrived.

There were no words.

Just one thing—his home address.

After that, Jitae barely remembered how he moved.

He had been lazing around at home all day, and wanted to at least shower before going, but even that felt like a waste of time.

In the end, he just washed his face quickly, pulled a cap down low, and drove like crazy.

The estimated time on the navigation kept dropping rapidly.

It was late at night, and he wasn’t in any state to drive calmly.

After arriving at Wooju’s apartment, he entered the shared entrance password he had been given.

Thanks to the resident granting access, the door opened easily.

With other residents in the elevator, Jitae pulled his cap down lower.

The ride up to the 10th floor felt unusually long.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally stood in front of Wooju’s door.

His mind was complicated.

He still didn’t understand what Wooju meant by telling him to come this time.

And this meeting didn’t necessarily mean something positive.

Wooju might say they should go back to being strangers.

Even so, Jitae’s heart pounded uncontrollably.

It had been nearly a month since he last saw Wooju.

And now he stood in front of the most private space of the person he liked.

Taking a deep breath, Jitae pressed the doorbell.

The cheerful chime echoed inside, but strangely, there was no sign of the door opening.

He checked the address again and rang the bell once more.

“…What?”

Just as he grew anxious and raised his hand to knock—

The door suddenly swung open.

“Ah, Wooju—”

“Why did you come so fast?”

The first thing he saw was a white towel.

Wooju stood there with a towel wrapped around his head, glaring as if scolding him.

Water droplets still dripped from his hair, and a fresh, clean scent lingered around him.

“Come in first.”

So he was showering.

Jitae unconsciously bit his lip and stepped slowly into Wooju’s space.

“Even at minimum, it should take more than 10 minutes to drive here from your place, right?”

Wooju asked while drying his hair with the towel.

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Jitae nodded obediently as he looked around the apartment.

The size wasn’t much different from his own officetel.

But unlike Jitae, who filled his place with clutter as a maximalist, Wooju’s home was clean and organized.

Only necessary furniture was placed, and the interior had a unified, calming feel.

It was exactly like Kang Wooju himself.

“But it hasn’t been that long since I called.”

“I came quickly.”

“You didn’t… run red lights or anything, right? Or speed?”

At that question, Jitae fell silent.

Wooju’s face twisted in irritation.

“Hey, you’re a public figure. You can’t do that.”

“No, I didn’t… probably?”

He honestly couldn’t remember.

He had just driven through the empty roads, thinking he was lucky there weren’t many cars.

If anything, it was a miracle he didn’t get into an accident.

“Sigh… you really have no middle ground.”

“I missed you……”

Wooju’s hand, holding the towel, paused slightly.

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