Chapter 74: Sweet and Bitter

“Are you a kid?”

Wooju clicked his tongue and scolded him, but still obediently carried the tray over.

Jitae was already holding the tongs.

“Let’s each pick what we want to eat.”

Wooju said while picking up a pair of tongs as well.

“Okay.”

Soon the tray began to pile up with bread.

At first Wooju had looked at Jitae with disbelief, but before long even he was captivated by the desserts that looked extremely delicious.

They were carefully choosing when the cameraman suddenly zoomed in on the tray Wooju was holding.

When he looked to see why, it turned out the types of bread the two had chosen were complete opposites—extreme opposites, in fact.

The ones Wooju chose were soboro bread, red bean bread, and potato bread.

The ones Jitae chose were chocolate cream horn bread, sausage bread, and a croissant covered with a thick layer of chocolate cream.

Even the drinks they ordered were the same.

Wooju ordered an iced Americano, while Jitae ordered a condensed milk latte.

“Our tastes really don’t match.”

When Jitae muttered quietly, Wooju nodded in agreement.

The two of them took their food and went out to a seat on the outdoor terrace.

The weather wasn’t that hot today, so being outside actually felt nicer.

“If you eat that much sugar you’ll get diabetes.”

“Wooju, if you nag that much you won’t be popular.”

By now Jitae had become very used to calling him without the surname.

People really were creatures of habit.

Wooju had apparently gotten a little used to it too, because unlike earlier at home he didn’t look visibly flustered anymore.

“How can your taste buds be that childish?”

“Still better than having a grandma’s taste.”

Jitae slightly frowned while looking at the dry-looking breads Wooju had chosen.

“I told you. That’s disrespecting grandmothers all over the world.”

“You just disrespected elementary school kids all over the world.”

Since Jitae hadn’t eaten properly before coming out, he seemed quite hungry and began cutting and eating the bread enthusiastically.

Still, it wasn’t bad seeing him eat something well.

In Wooju’s eyes they were still lumps of unhealthy sugar, but Jitae was already in his late twenties.

Wooju didn’t really have the right to nag him excessively.

At that moment Wooju noticed a little chocolate cream smeared at the corner of Jitae’s mouth.

Seeing how delicious it must have been for him to eat like that made Wooju laugh without realizing it.

And yet strangely, instead of looking ridiculous, the scene almost looked like a moment from a commercial.

“You really are like a kid.”

Wooju was about to hand him a napkin but instead reached out directly and gently wiped the cream from the corner of Jitae’s mouth with his thumb.

Jitae’s eyes widened in an instant.

The hand that had been happily grabbing bread froze mid-air.

“Is it that good?”

Wooju chuckled and licked the cream off his finger.

Jitae’s mouth fell open.

“Y-you could’ve just given me a napkin…”

“You wiped mine like this before too.”

“Did I?”

“You called me a goldfish for having a bad memory.”

He definitely had.

The last time they went to a snack bar together, hadn’t Jitae wiped the sauce off Wooju’s mouth just like that?

Jitae pressed his lips together and glanced sideways at Wooju.

At that moment, a loud bark echoed from somewhere in the distance.

Both of them turned their heads at the same time.

A golden retriever with shiny fur was running excitedly around the café’s front yard.

Thinking about it now, Wooju remembered the notice posted on the door earlier.

It said that Molly, the café owner’s retriever, might occasionally appear in the yard, so visitors should be aware.

“Cute.”

Wooju stood up as if hypnotized and walked outside the terrace.

Sensing movement, Molly ran toward him like crazy and immediately flopped onto her back in front of him.

“Won Jitae, she’s really cute.”

While petting Molly, Wooju turned his head quickly to look at Jitae.

“What are you talking about… you’re cuter.”

Jitae muttered quietly like the buzz of a mosquito.

At the same time he captured Wooju’s excited 모습 in front of the dog in his eyes without missing a single detail.

The strong pale hands gently stroking the soft golden fur.

The small excited laughter.

And the affectionate smile melting into his expression.

Almost reflexively, Jitae pulled out his phone.

He opened the camera app and framed Wooju together with the dog in the lens.

Seeing the picturesque scene filling the screen made something indescribable swell inside him.

Careful not to get caught taking photos without saying anything, Jitae rapidly pressed the shutter button repeatedly.

No matter how he took them the pictures would come out well, and the purpose was simply “photos of Wooju,” so it didn’t really matter how he took them.

While Wooju played with Molly to his heart’s content, Jitae happily looked through the photos he had taken.

Seeing a cute dog and a cute person together doubled the happiness of watching them.

Of course, Kang Wooju was much prettier than Molly.

Just then his phone vibrated.

A message popped up over Wooju’s photo.

The sender was his mother.

The smile that had spread across Jitae’s face while watching Wooju slowly began to disappear.

“She definitely sheds a lot since she’s a big dog.”

Wooju brushed the golden fur off his clothes and returned to the table.

“Yeah.”

“You should go pet her too. She’s really gentle.”

“I’m okay.”

Jitae waved his hand.

As if she had quickly lost interest in Wooju, Molly had now gone over to the writers and was showing off tricks.

“I’m going to the restroom for a bit.”

“Alright.”

Jitae slowly stood up and went inside the café building.

Left alone, Wooju stared blankly at the scenery outside the café.

Come to think of it, filming ended this week.

It was hard to believe that four full weeks had already passed.

Suddenly he felt a strange emptiness.

Wooju absentmindedly turned his head and saw the croissant Jitae had left half-eaten.

Just moments ago he had been happily saying it was delicious, but it seemed he had already gotten tired of it.

How could he fix Won Jitae’s tiny appetite?

While Wooju was thinking deeply about it, the table suddenly vibrated.

Instinctively checking his pocket, Wooju realized the phone wasn’t his.

The source was Jitae’s phone.

While Jitae had gone to the restroom, a call was coming in.

The screen displayed “Mom.”

Wooju waited until the call ended.

Jitae would be back soon anyway, so he could just tell him he had a missed call.

Just as Wooju expected, the phone went quiet after a few seconds.

But soon after, it began vibrating again several times in quick succession.

It was impossible not to look.

Jitae apparently hadn’t put any lock on his phone, and the incoming messages appeared clearly on the screen.

Wooju knew he shouldn’t look, but human curiosity was not so easy to resist.

[You’re not answering your phone again.]

[Did you forget the promise you made to keep in touch when you went to Korea? Why have you been like this lately?]

[Do you know how lonely your mother is living here alone? It’s really hard, Jitae.]

Wooju’s face slowly stiffened as he read the screen.

Inside Baekyoung Construction’s gymnasium, the sound of volleyball shoes scraping across the floor echoed steadily.

On one side, the middle blockers—including Lee Yuseok—were practicing blocking with the coach, while Wooju had just taken his position in front of the net.

Today was a day for full training on the court with the ball.

The coach standing behind tossed the ball toward Wooju.

At the same time the waiting spiker jumped powerfully into the air.

Wooju accurately set the ball in front of him, and a heavy explosive sound rang through the gym.

Coach Kim watched each team member’s posture carefully from the side with sharp eyes.

“Hyungkwon, the timing seems a little off. Let’s try that again.”

“Yes!”

More than half of a spiker’s attacking power depended on how accurate the set was.

So accurate sets played a key role in the team’s offense.

And it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the setter controlling that role could influence the entire flow of the match.

If the ball came up exactly how attackers wanted, their scoring ability improved, which boosted the team’s morale.

But if the sets weren’t good, the spikers’ efficiency would inevitably drop.

“Hyung, do you think you could raise your contact point a little higher?”

“Really? Let’s try it.”

With a completely expressionless face, Wooju carefully observed every attacker hitting the balls he set.

Coach Kim didn’t interfere too much in the process of the players syncing their teamwork.

He preferred to let them think and figure things out themselves.

Besides, Coach Kim trusted Wooju’s insight quite a lot.

Wooju had an exceptional ability to observe each spiker’s posture and characteristics with his keen eyes.

Volleyball was a team sport.

Just inserting one outstanding player could completely change the team’s atmosphere and performance.

Of course, whether that change was positive or negative was another matter.

But at least bringing Kang Wooju into Baekyoung Construction had clearly produced the former effect.