Chapter 83: Unexpected Attention

“Yes, CEO. I am heading to his house right now. He doesn’t seem to be sick, but I’ll report back after I check.”

Kim Suhan ended the call and drove the car as the signal changed.

Soon after, the car entered a high-end officetel complex.

The boom barrier lifted with a sign indicating it was a registered vehicle, and Suhan familiarly parked the car in the lot.

He entered the communal entrance by pressing the passcode as if it were his own house, but in reality, this place was not Suhan’s home.

Arriving at the 15th floor and stepping out, Suhan first stood in front of the door and called someone.

But as expected, there was no answer from the other end.

As if he knew this would happen, Suhan ended the call and rang the doorbell.

“Jitae, I’m coming in, okay?”

He didn’t press it meaning for the person to open the door.

It was more akin to a notification signal declaring that he was about to enter the house from now on.

As he opened the door lock and went inside, a messy sight welcomed Suhan, just as he expected.

“Looks even worse than usual…….”

Suhan scratched his head as he looked at the state of the living room.

He knew Jitae didn’t particularly care about keeping things neat and tidy, but he still felt like it was more severe today.

On the table he casually glanced at, liquor bottles were rolling around.

Thinking he would have to clean it up later, Suhan looked at the firmly shut door.

He knocked on the bedroom door, but again, no answer was heard.

What welcomed Suhan as he opened the door and went in was a thick blanket bulging out on top of the bed.

“Jitae, I’m here.”

Suhan carefully attempted to strike up a conversation with Jitae, who was presumably inside it.

Seeing the sleep mask and earplugs sitting on top of the drawer, he could tell that he wasn’t asleep.

“Are you really feeling unwell somewhere? If you keep doing this, I’m going to call an ambulance.”

“…Don’t call one.”

Perhaps the half-hearted threat worked; Jitae squirmed inside the blanket before finally revealing himself.

Suhan couldn’t help but be surprised.

On his deeply haggard face, his eyes were quite swollen, as if he had eaten ramen right before sleeping.

Suhan, who had brought up an ambulance just to get Jitae up, fell into a moment of debate wondering if he really should call one.

“Jitae, are you really feeling sick? Should we go to the hospital?”

“I’m not sick.”

“Not sick, my foot… Look at the state of you. And why are your eyes so swollen.”

Suhan approached closer to the bed.

And the moment he saw the wet tissues sitting on top of the blanket, his intuition struck.

“Did you… cry?”

“…….”

“Something really did happen. You’ve been acting a bit weird ever since that variety show filming ended. You know the CEO is worried too, right?”

Jitae let out a deep sigh.

It was a side of him he had never shown before.

Suhan had been working as Jitae’s manager ever since he started modeling.

They maintained a good professional relationship, to the point where he even followed him when Jitae transitioned to acting and changed agencies.

During his time as Jitae’s manager, he had never once seen him show weakness.

Even when rumors circulated that he lacked capability as a model, and when he transitioned into an actor and had to adapt while hearing harsh words from directors, Jitae had remained resolute.

Seeing him neither cry nor fall into despair in this rather harsh industry, Suhan had vaguely thought that Jitae had a strong personality. But right now, the man before his eyes looked so precarious, as if he would snap at the slightest touch.

“Jitae, if you’re struggling with something, tell me about it. Hm?”

“…I miss him.”

“Huh?”

“I miss Wooju.”

After gloomily mumbling, Jitae went right back under the blanket.

Hearing the sound of sniffles, Suhan blankly blinked his eyes.

He had steeled his heart.

Falling into a slump or suffering from depression was almost like destiny for celebrities, so even if Jitae was going through that, Suhan was confident he could support him well by his side.

But the reason that actually came out of his mouth was something utterly incomprehensible.

“Uh… If you miss him, you can just see him. Contact him and meet up. You guys must have gotten close while filming, it’s not like it’s that hard…….”

“I can’t. Wooju probably doesn’t want to see me.”

And then, curled up inside his blanket cave, he continuously mumbled things like how he had made a mistake and said things he shouldn’t have.

“Honestly, I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, but… I think you two are going to meet soon anyway.”

“What?”

At Suhan’s single sentence, Jitae sprang up from the bed like a coiled spring.

***

Wooju arrived in front of the company building a bit early.

In a way, it was his first time visiting in a while, so he went into a nearby cafe, thinking he should buy some coffee.

It was also to make amends for the nuisance he had unintentionally caused last time by creating an accident.

After ordering about ten drinks, he was sitting at a nearby table when he suddenly felt the table next to him getting rowdy.

“Is it him?”

“I think it’s him…….”

By the time Wooju felt the conversation was unusual and turned his head, a woman from the neighboring table—who had already reached a conclusion—cautiously approached him.

“Excuse me… Are you perhaps Athlete Kang Wooju?”

A sense of consideration could be felt in her quiet, whispering voice.

“Ah, yes.”

When Wooju awkwardly nodded, the customer who had spoken to him gasped and covered her mouth, constantly clapping her hands and making a fuss with her acquaintance.

Are they fans? Wooju happened to have far more female fans than male fans.

“We’re really enjoying watching Two Men Living Together!”

Then the woman quickly turned her phone around and showed it to Wooju.

On the screen was a highlight clip from Two Men Living Together.

Only then did Wooju realize that these people weren’t fans of volleyball player Kang Wooju, but rather viewers who enjoyed the broadcast.

“You look even more handsome in person.”

“Thank you.”

Wooju bowed his head awkwardly.

In truth, it was safe to say there were barely any fans who had flowed in through interests outside of volleyball.

So this was quite a novel experience for Wooju as well.

The female fan cautiously brought paper and a pen to ask for an autograph, and Wooju gladly accepted.

Right then, they handed the cookie set they had ordered to Wooju.

He politely declined several times, but he had no choice when they earnestly asked him to accept it, saying they wanted to give it to him out of fan love.

“I became a huge fan after watching that broadcast, so I’m watching all your games now too!”

Seeing the fan’s eyes sparkling as she talked about the broadcast and how fun volleyball is, saying she’d definitely go watch a game in person next time, a sense of pride inexplicably washed over him.

“Please do come watch. Volleyball is really fun.”

Wooju, who had been stiffly pulling up the corners of his mouth like a robot all this time, showed a genuinely soft smile.

“Yes… Even if the world collapses, I’ll definitely go…….”

At that, the fans vigorously shook their heads and vowed, almost as if they were under some kind of hypnosis.

Just in time, the buzzer placed on the table vibrated loudly.

Asking for their understanding, Wooju left his seat first.

Without even hearing the fans continuously talking behind him about how his face was seriously insane, Wooju took the drinks he ordered and stepped out of the cafe.

In both hands, he held the coffees and the cookies given by those customers earlier.

The weather now that it was June definitely felt a bit more hot and humid compared to last month.

Even the blowing breeze, as if announcing that summer was approaching soon, seemed to carry a damp heat.

He hadn’t particularly viewed appearing on a broadcast as an athlete positively.

Because, true to the word, he was an athlete, not an entertainer.

But hearing those people just now say they became interested in volleyball after watching the broadcast, Wooju realized that the thoughts he had held onto until now might have been a little wrong.

Somehow, his footsteps heading toward the office felt a bit lighter.

“Oh my, our superstar. Why did you buy all these things?”

As soon as he entered the building, Lee Gicheol ran out practically barefoot to welcome Wooju.

Every single employee had a bright expression.

It was an entirely different atmosphere from just a month ago when controversy surrounded Wooju.

“But why did you call me here?”

“Oh, right. Let’s go inside first.”

Following Lee Gicheol, he naturally entered the conference room.

An employee from the management department was also with them.

Since he said it was a work-related issue, Wooju wondered if it was going to be quite serious.

“You’ve been getting a lot of calls from all over these days, right?”

“Well…….”

Wooju roughly glossed over it and nodded.

Just as Lee Gicheol said, after the variety show literally became a massive hit, Wooju had received messages from countless acquaintances.

From Park Hyunjin saying sorry for teasing him and telling him not to forget him, to his teammates genuinely congratulating him.

And that wasn’t all.

Let alone contacting him, he even got messages from a few alumni he barely remembered.

It was a moment when Wooju couldn’t help but realize the power of broadcasting once again.

“Our office hasn’t stopped getting calls these days, Wooju.”

As Lee Gicheol grinned, Lee Jingyeong, the employee attending the meeting, also nodded her head excitedly.

“What do you mean.”

“The variety show is a total mega-hit, and calls are pouring in like crazy from everywhere.”

Wooju was a celebrity renowned enough to be called the domestic volleyball league’s superstar.

With overwhelming skills and visuals that rivaled most celebrities, becoming famous was perhaps an inevitable sequence.

A GIF of Wooju furrowing his brows and looking sensitive during a match was still spreading everywhere under the title The Visual Level of South Korean Volleyball Players, and thanks to that, many people said they had vaguely heard of Kang Wooju even if they didn’t know much about volleyball.

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