Chapter 84: Different Agendas

Since he already possessed star power, with the variety show he happened to appear on completely blowing up, there seemed to be a frenzy in the broadcasting industry right now—a so-called “Let’s cast Kang Wooju” craze.

Moreover, considering his level of fame, Wooju hadn’t shown his face on broadcasts much until now, so his image consumption was relatively low.

That meant, from the perspective of broadcast producers, he could very well look like an unscratched lottery ticket.

“There are crazy amounts of calls coming in, especially from the variety show side.”

And it wasn’t just there; it was the same for advertisements as well.

“I’m not doing it.”

Wooju drank from the Americano he had bought himself and spoke firmly.

“The whole reason I agreed to appear on this variety show in the first place was because of my image. But hasn’t that goal already been achieved?”

So there was no reason for Wooju to step foot into full-fledged broadcasts like variety shows anymore.

“I figured you’d say that, so I already rejected them all.”

Wooju’s eyes widened as Lee Gicheol unexpectedly backed down so easily.

He had expected him to stubbornly push forward like last time, so the unexpected response surprised him.

“Hey, punk. Even I possess the awareness that you’re an athlete, you know? I have no intention of encroaching on or interfering with your life as an athlete.”

Lee Gicheol had known Wooju for quite a long time, so naturally, he knew exactly how passionate Wooju was about his career as a volleyball player.

Even though people around him urged him to utilize such a famous player more while he had him, Lee Gicheol didn’t want to do that.

“The CEO is actually really sorry about making you film the variety show too, Athlete-nim.”

Lee Jingyeong whispered softly so only Wooju could hear.

“Instead, could you shoot a few commercials for us? There are too many proposals that are too good to turn down.”

“Got it.”

That wasn’t particularly difficult, and it was something he had been doing all along anyway, so there was no real reason to refuse.

“Ah, then what should we do about this case?”

At that moment, Lee Jingyeong spoke up while tapping on her laptop.

“Which one?”

“The reason this broadcast did so well is because of that. The chemistry between you and Mr. Won Jitae.”

If it had been someone other than Wooju, or equally, someone other than Jitae, this Season 4 wouldn’t have been this successful.

“Because of that, we’ve received quite a lot of casting offers wanting to feature both you and Mr. Won Jitae together.”

Lee Jingyeong added that among the numerous proposals Wooju received for photoshoots, interviews, and the like, a significant number specifically requested him to do it together with Jitae.

“Jingyeong, let’s just reject all of those too.”

“I thought so. Then I’ll just fix the commercial shoots for Athlete-nim and…….”

“I’ll do it.”

The two people conversing slowly turned their heads at the unexpected words.

“I’ll do those. The ones together with Won Jitae.”

***

Standing in an unfamiliar place, Wooju looked up at a building he was seeing for the first time with sharp eyes.

Open on his phone screen was the schedule file Lee Jingyeong had organized and sent to him.

Since the meeting that day, things had progressed smoothly.

Along with the commercial contracts Lee Gicheol mentioned, he accepted a few jobs that cast him jointly with Jitae.

Another week passed after that, and today was the day of their first scheduled activity.

“Um… Athlete-nim, are you not going in?”

Just then, a man who got out of the driver’s seat belatedly approached Wooju’s side.

“Ah, I should go in.”

He was one of the employees from Wooju’s agency—a sort of manager Lee Gicheol attached to him in preparation for the upcoming storm of schedules.

Like Lee Jingyeong, he belonged to the management department.

“You’re going through unnecessary trouble because of me too, Dongha-ssi.”

“Yes? Not at all. This is our department’s job too, so of course I should do it.”

Wooju’s temporary manager, Park Dongha, waved his hands continuously.

“If you have any difficulties while we work together, please make sure to tell me.”

Wooju smiled with an awkward expression.

At that, Park Dongha awkwardly nodded, saying yes.

Soon, the two went inside and headed to the designated location.

A famous domestic magazine expressed their desire to feature Wooju and Jitae’s story as a sort of special edition.

Since their story was quite unique, the intention was to really capture a great picture, and a photoshoot for some of the spreads to be included in that magazine was scheduled for today.

Upon arriving, Wooju exchanged greetings with the filming staff he would be working with today.

All the while, he diligently looked around his surroundings.

“Um… What about Won Jitae?”

“We received word that the Actor-nim will arrive soon… Ah, here he comes.”

Wooju’s head slowly turned toward where a staff member was pointing.

There, Jitae, who had just gotten off the elevator, was smiling and greeting the staff.

Jitae, who had been striding over with his long legs, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and awkwardly exchanged glances with Wooju, who was standing a few steps away.

“…….”

Jitae’s face hardened for a moment, but it was only fleeting.

Equipping a smile on his face once again, he strode over to Wooju.

“Have you been well?”

A greasy voice and a smile that didn’t suit it at all.

‘What the hell is this bastard trying to pull right now?’

Wooju glared at Jitae with his eyes wide open.

Won Jitae, whom he was seeing for the first time in an entire 3 weeks, was nonchalantly pulling up the corners of his mouth.

During the meeting a few days ago, when he heard that many offers had come in to work together with Won Jitae, his mouth had opened before he could even think properly.

Having had to spend every day feeling uncomfortable and frustrated—as if a thorn was stuck in his throat—ever since filming ended, Wooju instinctively thought he needed to escape that sensation no matter what.

To do that, he had to face the culprit behind all these situations directly.

After the filming date was set, Wooju thought about it every night before falling asleep.

When he met Jitae, what kind of expression would the guy make, and how would he react?

Perhaps because the tall guy had sharp and pretty features, the public mostly perceived him as a cold, handsome man.

But Wooju knew.

That Won Jitae had a surprisingly pathetic and timid side to him.

In fact, that was one of the reasons why Two Men Living Together was currently surging in popularity.

Because Won Jitae—who normally exuded a cold and somewhat unapproachable aura—showed a lot of cute and trivial sides of himself exclusively on that variety show, viewers were going crazy over that unexpected charm.

Thanks to that, it seemed Won Jitae had gained quite a formidable number of fans as well.

Since he was that kind of guy, he would definitely act all wishy-washy and timid when they met again.

“Has it been 3 weeks since filming ended?”

But Jitae was acting completely contrary to Wooju’s expectations.

What was this? This relaxation that wasn’t just flowing, but overflowing.

“…Yeah.”

Wooju nodded his head without realizing it.

As he did, the thought suddenly crossed his mind that perhaps he had been the only one agonizing, getting annoyed, and being on edge for those 3 weeks.

It felt as though he was receiving confirmation that for Won Jitae, that one month had truly been purely for the broadcast, and although there was some trouble at the end, it was merely a simple happening not even worth caring about.

“Have you been well too?”

“Huh?”

The more he thought about it, the emotion that reared its head inside Wooju was a sense of unfairness.

When he had suffered internally for an entire 3 weeks.

In his entire life, Wooju had never done anything like that even once.

Just because of that one thing, just because of one Won Jitae, Wooju had accepted this job.

He broke the ironclad rule he had kept as an athlete and told Lee Gicheol he would do it.

It wasn’t for some snobbish reason like wanting to ride the coattails of a popular broadcast or rowing hard to make money while the tide was in.

He had come here purely because he didn’t want to return to a mediocre relationship with Won Jitae that was worse than the past, yet the very culprit behind it all was smiling like that.

“Your face looks a lot better, you.”

Haha, Wooju smiled brightly and tightly gripped Jitae’s shoulder.

From afar, it was a sight that looked quite brotherly and affectionate.

“I’m relieved you seem to have been doing well.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Jitae unconsciously tensed his shoulder, which was beginning to ache stiffly.

Just as one of Jitae’s shoulders was starting to tilt askew, Wooju abruptly let go of his hand.

“Anyway, it looks like we’ll be running into each other a lot for a while, so let’s do well.”

Jitae slowly nodded his head.

Just then, a staff member’s voice calling for them to get ready could be heard from afar.

Wooju walked past Jitae and leisurely headed into the waiting room.

Jitae stared endlessly at Wooju’s gradually retreating back.

“Athlete-nim, I think the waiting room is this way.”

Without even noticing a man with a small build sticking closely to Wooju’s side, Jitae’s gaze was fixed firmly in one direction.

“I can’t tell if he’s angry or not…….”

Jitae muttered quietly while rubbing his shoulder.

Even though Wooju had smiled and accepted his greeting nonchalantly, Jitae’s heart still felt uneasy.

“Still, this is better than nothing.”

Just being able to see Wooju again, just being able to hear his voice and talk to him again, made him feel as if he had been submerged deep under the sea and finally surfaced to breathe freely.

Standing blankly, Jitae recalled the past 3 weeks that had been quite hellish.

***

On the day the filming ended in the worst possible way, Jitae couldn’t even clearly remember what state of mind he was in when he returned home.

His stomach churned, and with pain constricting from his core, he lay sick for three straight days.

He didn’t bother letting his manager hyung know he was sick.

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