Chapter 42: The Distance Between Them

“So from now on, let’s try to fight less.”

“I agree.”

Woo-joo glanced sideways.

Ji-tae smoothly turned the steering wheel with one hand, skillfully guiding the car around the curve.

Thinking about it, Ji-tae was actually quite good at driving.

It was oddly fascinating how someone who couldn’t cook at all had neat handwriting and drove so well.

Whenever Ji-tae focused, his expression tended to turn a little cold.

Strangely, today Woo-joo kept finding himself staring at his profile.

His gaze drifted downward, noticing the muscles lining the arm gripping the wheel.

Maybe it was because he was wearing a thin shirt, but the contours were clearly visible.

At first, Woo-joo had thought Ji-tae hadn’t changed much since their school days.

But that wasn’t true at all.

Realizing he had been staring blankly, Woo-joo cleared his throat and looked away.

“By the way, PD said we should fight more since it makes good scenes.”

“…PD really is unusual.”

No matter how entertaining it was, it was rare for a producer to tell the cast to fight more.

“I told you. That’s just how he is.”

“You said that before too. Are you close with PD?”

Woo-joo asked casually, sipping his Americano.

“Huh? No, not really… He’s just famous in the industry.”

Ji-tae cleared his throat and kept his eyes firmly ahead.

As the traffic light turned red, he braked a little abruptly.

The unexpected question had momentarily shaken him.

“Ah.”

Because of that, coffee dribbled from the corner of Woo-joo’s mouth as he had been sipping through a straw.

He glared at Ji-tae with full force.

The expression clearly said, Why did you brake so suddenly?

“You said we should fight less. Relax your eyes. You’re scary when you look like that….”

Ji-tae hurriedly pulled out a tissue and pressed it into Woo-joo’s hand.

Woo-joo sighed and set his own coffee aside, then grabbed Ji-tae’s instead.

“Hey.”

“What?”

Ji-tae, tapping the steering wheel while waiting for the light to change, turned his head.

Woo-joo was holding the coffee in one hand and the straw in the other, offering it to him.

“Drink. I’ll drive on the way back.”

Ji-tae pressed his lips together once before leaning forward slightly.

As he drew on the straw, the cool latte washed down his throat.

Woo-joo didn’t take his eyes off him while he drank.

Soon, the light turned green.

Although the drive was framed as Ji-tae’s hobby, camping was no one’s hobby.

The staff had simply suggested an outdoor activity that would look good on camera.

Woo-joo had been vaguely worried whether they would manage well.

But once they arrived, that worry vanished.

A wide-open view stretched before them.

A gentle May breeze swept across the grass.

“Wow… this place is really nice.”

Ji-tae parked the car and walked over to Woo-joo.

Watching him look around like a curious squirrel, Ji-tae instinctively covered his mouth.

“Writer-nim, this place is amazing.”

Woo-joo chatted cheerfully with the staff setting up.

“Right? It was the best out of the locations we scouted. It’s fairly new, so there aren’t many people yet, but the grounds are wide and the facilities are great.”

Maybe the previous dinner had helped.

Woo-joo was noticeably more comfortable with the staff now.

“Kang Woo-joo.”

Ji-tae, who had been watching him laugh with the writers, called out.

“Are you just going to hang out there? We need to unload the gear.”

“Ah, right. I wasn’t just playing.”

Woo-joo helped him unload the trunk.

Before long, the filming setup was complete.

As always, the crew kept a reasonable distance to capture natural moments.

“Hey, grab that side.”

Without even realizing the cameras were rolling, the two were fully focused on setting up the tent.

“Like this?”

Ji-tae grabbed the wrong part.

Woo-joo let out a long sigh.

For someone who looked capable of anything, Ji-tae occasionally had moments like this.

“Forget it. Just rest there. I’ll do it.”

An internal alarm rang loudly inside Woo-joo.

It was a special alarm that went off whenever a fight with Won Ji-tae seemed imminent.

If they argued here, the tent would probably never be finished before sunset.

Since it wasn’t a complicated structure anyway, it would be faster if Woo-joo handled it alone.

Ji-tae dropped the rope without hesitation and stood up.

Woo-joo almost scolded him for not even pretending to refuse, but the alarm blared again, so he held back.

Ji-tae at least moved to the other side and started organizing the rest of the luggage.

Ten minutes later, just as Woo-joo proudly admired the nearly completed tent—

Crash.

A chaotic noise came from beside him.

It was both familiar and exasperating.

Turning his head, he saw Ji-tae causing a commotion with the gear.

Woo-joo no longer had the energy to comment.

“Give it here.”

With a sigh, he crouched beside him and helped.

“You handle a volleyball perfectly fine. Why can’t you manage this? It’s amazing.”

“Is this a volleyball?”

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

The staff in the distance could be seen suppressing laughter.

“You can’t organize. You can’t cook.”

Woo-joo muttered while unfolding the camping table with ease.

“Weren’t you the one who said we should fight less?”

“You’d be a terrible husband.”

Woo-joo teased with a grin.

Ji-tae paused mid-reach for the utensils.

“You’d better learn some things if you don’t want to be hated later. What kind of man makes his spouse do all the housework?”

Woo-joo waved a pair of tongs in front of him.

“Kang Woo-joo, you keep talking like I’m definitely going to get married.”

“Huh?”

Ji-tae lowered his head and reached for the remaining items.

“So you won’t? What, are you anti-marriage or something?”

Ji-tae shook his head.

For some reason, his movements looked less energetic.

“What is it.”

Woo-joo chuckled lightly.

He stood to arrange the meat for grilling when a shadow suddenly fell over him.

Ji-tae had stepped closer and set the meat down in front of him.

“Uh… thanks.”

Moments like this reminded Woo-joo of Ji-tae’s natural build.

Woo-joo wasn’t short by any means, but when someone born with that kind of physique approached, the difference was undeniable.

“Then you can just marry someone like you.”

Ji-tae crouched beside him, meeting his eyes.

“You cook well and you’re good at organizing.”

For some reason, Woo-joo couldn’t look away from those eyes.

Had they ever held eye contact this long since filming started?

It felt unfamiliar.

Strange.

“If I marry someone like you, at least I won’t have to get my hands wet. Right?”

“Well… I guess….”

Almost hypnotized, Woo-joo nodded along.

“…Wait. No.”

He snapped out of it and frowned deeply.

“Hey, what kind of nonsense is that? You think you’ll never lift a finger?”

He immediately launched into a lecture about how Ji-tae would never get married with that attitude.

Ji-tae ignored him lightly and stood up, almost escaping.

From afar, Seon-hyeok watched the scene and shook his head.

“Yes, please check the connection once more in advance. Ah, just a moment.”

While giving instructions about filming, his phone vibrated for a long time.

He pulled it out and checked the caller.

[Noona]

“…Yeah, noona.”

After excusing himself briefly, he stepped aside.

“Sorry, I’m filming, so I can’t talk long.”

A weak voice came from the other end.

“Ji-tae’s busy filming too these days. You know that. I’ll talk to him again later.”

After ending the short call, Seon-hyeok returned.

His gaze, watching Ji-tae run away from Woo-joo while covering his ears to avoid more nagging, had grown slightly heavier.

Setting up camp had been chaotic, but dinner went relatively smoothly.

Well, aside from Ji-tae nearly burning all the meat before Woo-joo took over.

After eating, they mixed instant coffee and sat in folding chairs in front of the tent.

Ji-tae approached and handed Woo-joo a blanket.

The air had turned cooler as the sun began to set.

“I’m not cold. You use two. Don’t catch a cold tomorrow.”

It had been a while since they simply sat side by side, enjoying the quiet.

Then Woo-joo’s eyes met the main writer’s.

She smiled slightly.

For some reason, that smile carried a very ominous feeling.