Chapter 87: The Unexpected Impact

“Dongha-ssi, since the shoot is delayed anyway, just sit down next to me and take a break.”

“Yes? But…….”

Wooju tapped the empty spot on the waiting room sofa, asking what the problem was.

Feeling awkward but thinking he shouldn’t refuse the favor, Dongha hesitantly approached Wooju’s side.

“I’m not a celebrity anyway, so there’s no need to take such excessive care of me.”

“Still, all the other athletes have us do this for them…….”

The agency Wooju was contracted with naturally represented other athletes as well.

Since there were quite a few people among them who were reasonably famous in their specific fields like Wooju, it seemed Park Dongha had been to plenty of such sets while working for the management department.

“Then at least take a break when you’re in charge of me.”

Wooju smiled brightly and leaned back against the sofa.

Park Dongha’s mouth fell slightly open as he faced that expression.

He wore a curious expression for a moment, then soon lowered his head deeply, saying thank you.

“Um… Athlete-nim.”

“Yes?”

“You can drop the formalities with me. I’m three years younger than you.”

Usually, Wooju didn’t prefer people dropping formalities because it didn’t sound very comfortable, and he worried that accepting it too quickly might make him look like a total snob.

But seeing as Dongha, who had been impeccably polite the whole time he was stuck by his side, was making a request for the first time, Wooju readily replied with, “Shall I?”

“Then you call me ‘hyung’ too.”

“Whaaat?”

Dongha’s eyes widened.

To Dongha, who was waving his hands saying that was out of the question, Wooju jokingly threatened to fine him every time he didn’t call him ‘hyung,’ then naturally reached out toward the table.

Wooju picked up his phone, tapped the screen a couple of times, and then let out a deep sigh.

“Are you waiting for a call from someone?”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s just… every time you’re resting, you’re only looking at your phone…….”

Dongha had witnessed quite a few scenes where Wooju would check something and then sigh.

“Not really. It’s nothing like that.”

Wooju shook his head and set his phone back down.

Dongha secretly thought that the smile on his face looked a bit more awkward than usual.

After successfully finishing the commercial shoot schedule, Wooju returned home.

“The second pictorial shoot tomorrow starts at 10, so I’ll be here an hour before.”

“Yeah. Get home safely.”

Wooju waved at Dongha and slammed the passenger door shut.

He was just about to head toward the elevator when the passenger window rolled down slowly.

“…Hyung!”

Wooju turned his head at Dongha’s awkward call.

At that moment, something flew over from the open window.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Wooju caught the cylindrical object perfectly.

“Y-you’ve seemed a bit low on energy lately.”

It was nothing other than chocolate.

Wooju stared blankly at the object in his hand, then smiled faintly at Dongha.

“Thanks.”

The reason he didn’t feel entirely comfortable despite receiving the favor might be because that chocolate was exactly the kind Won Jitae enjoyed eating.

The image of Jitae always keeping them stocked in his car and pressing them into his hand whenever they had a moment during filming—telling him to eat because his blood sugar must have dropped—rose up in his mind like soft mist.

Wooju headed home with his shoulders slumped.

As the episodes aired sequentially, the so-called Two Men Living Together craze began among the public.

A joint fan cafe for Kang Wooju and Won Jitae had been created, and the clamor of voices demanding a director’s cut version grew by the day.

On SNS, clips made from short segments of the broadcast were everywhere, recording incredible view counts and likes.

One article even explained that Won Jitae and Kang Wooju had emerged as the new blue chips of the advertising industry, with advertisers desperate to get their hands on the two.

It was highly unusual for a variety show to have such a massive follow-up effect.

Usually, whether it was a drama or a variety show, as seasons went on, expectations significantly decreased, and the reality was that it was hard for them to succeed.

But this variety show had achieved its highest performance on its fourth season, of all things.

And in this success, the relationship between the two cast members undeniably acted as a major factor.

They had a history of playing volleyball together as students, and after losing contact, they met after a whopping 7 years and showed the same chemistry as they did in the past.

This was the very aspect that most captivated the public.

Today, too, reactions were continuously being posted on Two Men Living Together videos: saying the two were so fun, they were real-life friends, and that they would probably act like that in private too.

But among the two protagonists of all that heated interest, a cold wind was still blowing fiercely.

This was already their second photoshoot together for this project, but they stayed far apart from each other unless they were working.

Some staff members watching them expressed slight doubts—asking why they weren’t fighting like on the show, or if they weren’t actually very close—but they soon concluded that the shoot was just moving too busily for them to even have a chance to talk.

Because the chemistry the two showed on broadcast was simply too extraordinary for anyone to believe they weren’t actually close.

Wooju was busy glancing toward one place far away while chatting with Dongha about this and that.

There stood Won Jitae, alone, looking at his phone after getting a touch-up on his makeup.

‘Why the hell does that bastard’s face look like that?’

He hadn’t been wrong last time.

His cheeks were sunken, as if he had lost a significant amount of weight in a short period.

He wondered if he was managing his weight for work, but it certainly didn’t look like he was dieting healthily.

Because his complexion looked so terrible.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even touched the sandwich that came for lunch earlier.

“Dongha-ya, hold on a second.”

Wooju slowly walked toward Jitae.

Jitae, who had been staring only at his phone, lifted his head.

It was the first time they had made eye contact all day.

For a moment, Wooju felt a sharp, aching sensation tighten in his heart.

“Why?”

However, what draped over Won Jitae’s face was the fake smile Wooju knew all too well.

The moment he saw it, his mind went blank, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

“Nothing.”

Wooju finally turned his body away.

As he walked back the way he came, scratching his forehead for no reason.

“Oh my, Jitae-ssi!”

“Jitae-ya!”

“Actor-nim!”

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the surrounding staff started screaming.

Wooju slowly turned his body around.

During that split second, his heart began to throb irregularly, and all his senses became unstable.

“…….”

What entered Wooju’s field of vision was Won Jitae collapsed on the floor.

The eyes he had been making contact with just a moment ago were firmly shut.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Wooju’s breathing became rough in an instant.

At the very moment everyone around him was running toward Jitae, he saw a stack of prop boxes piled up right next to where he had collapsed.

As Jitae fell, it seemed he had hit them with his arm, and the boxes, having received the impact, were swaying as if about to collapse.

Right toward Jitae, who had lost consciousness and fallen.

“Jitae-ya!”

At that moment, Wooju moved faster than anyone else.

His logic failed to function.

His mind was simply filled with the thought that he couldn’t let Jitae get hurt any further.

Thud—.

Another loud noise rang out, and the studio fell into a state of total panic.

“A-Athlete-nim!”

Dongha covered his mouth.

A few drops of blood splattered beside where Jitae had fallen.

***

What appeared in his field of vision was a gym that felt strangely familiar yet unfamiliar.

Under the bright lights, he could see the characteristic wooden floor, the cart filled with balls, and the high net in the center.

“Don’t get cocky just because you won the final match. My match isn’t over yet.”

Kang Wooju, who had spat that out as if chewing on the words, turned around and walked out of the gym with heavy footsteps.

Whether it was because his purposely provocative words had worked, the back of him as he quickly regained his energy was, just to look at, full and reliable.

He had wanted to spend his whole life chasing that back, looking at it.

He hadn’t doubted for a second that they would be able to stand on the same stage together, side by side.

Yeah. He thought that way exactly until that moment.

“…….”

“Jitae-ya! Are you regaining consciousness?”

The shattering light was quite different from the one he had seen in his dream.

Suhan’s familiar face appeared in his vision.

He was looking down at Jitae with his brows deeply furrowed.

“…What happened?”

An uncomfortable hospital bed, and doctors and nurses scurrying about busily, could be seen through the gap in the drawn curtains.

It didn’t take long for him to realize this was a hospital emergency room.

“You collapsed on set. I knew this would happen to you, seriously.”

While Suhan grumbled, he exhaled a sigh of relief with all his might.

“I’ll go call the doctor, so wait.”

Soon after, a doctor appeared and explained this and that.

He pointed out that the biggest problem was nutritional imbalance caused by a buildup of fatigue and not eating properly.

Even without him saying it, the doctor knew at once that Jitae had been suffering from severe insomnia.

“You might have hit your head hard when you collapsed. You should be hospitalized for a day or so and have a thorough examination.”

Jitae nodded without a word.

The filming would have definitely been canceled and postponed to another day anyway.

Leaving behind the message that a nurse would come soon to guide him through the admission procedure, the doctor left the spot abruptly.

“What have you been doing until your body reached this point! You didn’t even tell me.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jitae muttered powerlessly.

Suhan had a lecture he wanted to give rising all the way to his throat, but he kept his mouth tightly shut.

Because the person who had just collapsed was likely the most exhausted and tired of them all.

“Anyway, you almost got into serious trouble. There were prop boxes right next to you when you collapsed. They almost buried you… Ugh, seriously, if it weren’t for Kang Wooju-ssi……”

“…What?”

Jitae snapped his head up.

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