Watching her stiffness, Ji Ho extended his arm and lowered Hye Yoon’s shoulder to the floor. He laid her head on his lap and covered her with the school jacket he had brought earlier it all happened in an instant. His large hand covered her eyes even before she could express her surprise.

“Sleep quickly. Time keeps ticking.”

Under normal circumstances, the light from the set’s lighting would have flickered in front of Hye Yoon’s eyes, but the midday night created by his cool hand did not let the light reach. His hand seemed to have swept away the worry she had a few minutes ago, wondering how she could possibly fall asleep.

And five minutes later, just before she fell into deep sleep, a faint light seeped in as if his hand had disappeared or pierced the thin layer of skin over her eyes. It didn’t interfere with her falling asleep, but when she felt a bit regretful, his long fingers gently stroked Hye Yoon’s hair.

Slowly, gently, and very preciously.

Even in such a short sleep, it seemed she would have a very nice dream.

“Get up now. You should eat something.”

With a voice that went straight into her ear, a large hand gently patted Hye Yoon’s back.

“Mmm…”

As she stirred sleepily, she could see Ji Ho slowly lifting his upper body. His voice seemed so close, as if he had really whispered in her ear. Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, Hye Yoon struggled to sit up.

“Just stay here for a while. I’ll bring some coffee and something to eat.”

“No… I want to go with you…”

A hand that held onto his sleeve again, not forgetting Ji Ho’s prank even in her sleepiness.

“Hmm… For an only child, you’re really not used to being alone.”

Looking at him who always returned what she said verbatim, she laughed heartily. Seeing her laugh so freely and relaxed, Ji Ho also laughed similarly.

As Hye Yoon left the set, her steps wavered a bit. The remaining sleepiness seemed to hold onto her eyes and feet.

“But… how long did I sleep?”

“About 30 minutes?”

“Ji Ho, your legs must have been hurting… You should have kicked me.”

“Heh heh. You’re still half asleep.”

Her small voice fluttered on the boundary between dreams and reality. With a lingering regret of how nice it would have been if he could have let her sleep a bit more, Ji Ho looked at her a little fondly. The arm brushing against her with each step seemed to have lost its strength.

Ding

At that time, a cheerful notification sound came from Hye Yoon’s jacket pocket. Her heavy arm slowly lifted the phone. She knew it was from Min Woo, but unlike his usual messages, this one was crammed with text.

Her sleepy eyes tried to read the long sentence, causing her stumbling steps to come to a complete stop. Ji Ho also matched her pace.

[Hye Yoon, if you don’t mind, could you please contact Mr. Cha Do Hyuk? He said he really likes your writing and has been calling every day for over two weeks. It’s tiresome. He pleaded to know your personal contact, I refused, then he asked to at least pass on his number. But it seems like he read the scenario in great detail, so it’s a bit of a waste to ignore him. Anyway, I am delivering his message. The number is 010…]

‘Who is Cha Do Hyuk…?’

Hye Yoon blinked her eyes slowly. In five seconds, an actor’s face and name overlapped in her memory. Seeing that she knew who he was, she thought he must be a famous actor. And around that time, Ji Ho’s cheek was approaching close enough to touch her forehead.

“Cha Do Hyuk is quite popular these days. He’s also having a movie premiere next week with me.”

The phone placed between their closely attached bodies bore the brunt of the two’s concentration.

“Ah… I don’t really know actors.”

“Mm. It would be good if you stay like that.”

Ji Ho slightly smiled at Hye Yoon’s words, but quickly hardened his expression while reading the message.

She might not know, but he had already taken measures through Bong Gi. All attempts to contact her were supposed to be resolved by him. However, he hadn’t expected that someone would break the official channel and persistently bother Min Woo.

“So, there was a hole nearby…”

“Huh?”

Ji Ho muttered a low soliloquy, feeling like he’d been pricked. She, of course, didn’t understand what he meant, and asked back, but he decided to be more faithful to his instincts than explanations.

“So, are you going to contact him?”

Under the unfamiliar pressure of his brief sentence, Hye Yoon looked up at him. His eyes were burning like vibrant flames. She found it truly fascinating. It was remarkable how he always seemed to look at her this way.

So, his emotions were as readable as mere text. Very explicitly.

“Wow… that’s really amazing.”

“What is?”

“Reading your emotions, Ji Ho, is surprisingly easy.”

“Mm, what do I seem like to you?”

“Your eyes are saying you’re really not happy about this.”

She could see it so clearly, even with her sleepfilled eyes. Her face was full of pride as she looked at Ji Ho, like a child presenting a perfect test paper.

“I tried to seem somewhat generous… but you saw through it.”

And with a face that praised a child for getting the answer right, he too didn’t deny it. It seemed like a lie that he had tried to hide his feelings, being this transparent.

“Hey, what effort?”

“Really.”

Hye Yoon shook her head side to side, displaying an expression of disbelief. The lingering tenderness in his long eyes disappeared as if it was a lie itself.

“If you hadn’t tried to hide it… you would’ve been like this from the start, right?”

“Huh?”

In an instant, Ji Ho lightly wrapped Hye Yoon’s right hand that held the phone, and firmly pressed down on Min Woo’s message.

Delete. Confirm.

The message disappeared from sight in a split second.

“Ah…”

Her small mouth opened wide at an action she wouldn’t believe Ji Ho would do. The mouth, which was open for quite a long time just as long as the disappeared message, didn’t know how to close easily.

Hye Yoon slowly raised her gaze. His serene smile and firm eyes. It was Ji Ho, but it seemed like he wasn’t. His affectionate voice and less than affectionate expression too.

“Don’t. I don’t like you contacting another guy.”

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