By Zephyria 
Yoon Joo-ho stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed tightly in front of his bare chest to concentrate on the call.
[You could say your plan worked, Joo-ho. When I subtly mentioned that Yoon Joo-ho was looking for it… they immediately changed their attitude. It seems that person is a fan of Joo-ho. They’re willing to concede at the price you proposed.]
Yoon Joo-ho pushed back his falling hair, a faint smile and a sigh of relief escaping his lips.
“That’s great. Please tell them I will visit them personally to express my gratitude.”
[Your client will be very pleased! They are also a VIP client, so if Joo-ho does this, we will be very grateful.]
The person on the other end of the phone took a moment to calm their excited voice, then added cautiously in a more subdued tone.
[Since both your client and the other party are VIPs, the manufacturer has exceptionally approved this time… but you know, in principle, this is a very rare case.]
“I know. That’s why I asked you directly, Representative. I’m grateful. You remember the color I mentioned, right?”
[Of course. 911, Turbo S, Cabriolet, shark blue.]
Yoon Joo-ho’s lips curved into another faint smile as he confirmed the desired model name and color.
[You will receive it within a month.]
“Please expedite it as much as possible. I need it urgently.”
He knew that what Song Hyun-soo wanted wasn’t a Swiss-made wristwatch with diamonds or a luxury imported car. Such things couldn’t play a decisive role in changing his mind.
But for Yoon Joo-ho, he had to try anything he could get his hands on. As Director Bang had said, it was better than doing nothing, whether it succeeded or failed.
He met his trainer and they moved together to the downstairs fitness center. There were few guests at the quiet provincial tourist hotel’s fitness center who deliberately came to exercise. Only one middle-aged man was running on the treadmill.
《I’m going to start working out. Eat lunch if you’re awake.》
Yoon Joo-ho didn’t forget to send Song Hyun-soo a message in advance. Despite having the ringer volume turned up to maximum, Yoon Joo-ho’s unusual behavior of constantly checking his phone between sets led the trainer to joke, ‘Are you starting a relationship?’
After completing five sets of 20 reps of the power leg press, Yoon Joo-ho, drenched in sweat, wiped the sweat smudges off his phone with a towel and sneered.
“A relationship?”
“I’m saying it because you’re the type who usually concentrates when you work out, but you keep looking at your phone between sets.”
The trainer, who had been with Yoon Joo-ho for a long time, handed him a tumbler and said.
The situation, being asked if he started dating only after he himself had ruined relationships, was laughable. Yoon Joo-ho, after confirming Song Hyun-soo had read his message, adjusted the height of the Smith machine bar higher to match his own height and replied.
“Not yet. I’m working hard to woo them.”
“You?”
As if he couldn’t believe it, the trainer raised his eyebrows and added.
“Is it someone you have to try this hard to woo? They must be quite a person.”
“They are. Far from ordinary.”
“You say that?”
“They drive a person absolutely crazy.”
The trainer laughed, as if intrigued.
“The upper hand is with them? Not with Yoon Joo-ho?”
Yoon Joo-ho, who was adjusting the weight and inserting the selector pin, let out a bitter laugh. Then, as if remembering something, he turned to the trainer.
“You said when you met Hyung-nim for the third time? That she was the one you’d marry.”
“I did. I felt like electricity was coursing through my body! Even now, just thinking about that moment makes me tremble just looking at my wife… Why? Don’t tell me… you’re currently feeling that about that person…”
“Yeah, it feels like that.”
Yoon Joo-ho nodded and picked up a towel, wiping the sweat from his face once more. Then, looking down at his silent phone placed on the bench beside him, he said.
“If I lose this person, my life is screwed.”
“Whoa… A day like this comes even for Yoon Joo-ho.”
Unaware of the gravity of the situation, the trainer seemed to think it was just a stage of push-and-pull in a casual fling. Yoon Joo-ho, who had only ever had relationships based on sex, or casual flings that didn’t last more than a month or two, was clearly intrigued by the trainer’s interest in his current pursuit of a relationship.
“I heard you followed the junior actor you’re filming with this time.”
Yoon Joo-ho, taking another sip from his tumbler, flinched slightly at the mention of following. He put the tumbler down on the bench and replied briefly.
“I did.”
“And that person doesn’t say anything about it?”
“About what?”
“You’re the only person Yoon Joo-ho follows. It’s such an unusual thing that it even made headlines. Aren’t they jealous?”
At the word “jealous,” Yoon Joo-ho let out a wry smile this time.
“They told me to cancel the follow.”
As articles started appearing everywhere, Song Hyun-soo had contacted Director Bang.
‘There’s no benefit in creating such an issue. Wouldn’t it be better to cancel it now, as if it were a mistake?’
Song Hyun-soo seemed concerned not about himself, but about the potential harm to Yoon Joo-ho, Director Bang had relayed. It would be like that. If it were Song Hyun-soo. If it were the Song Hyun-soo Yoon Joo-ho knew.
Director Bang had also tried to persuade Yoon Joo-ho. To cancel it now.
‘It’s just an SNS follow. It’s strange for people to read too much into it. I don’t care about articles like that.’
‘You were quiet for five years and suddenly followed just one person. How can that be ‘just’ anything? You followed Hyun-soo-ssi because it meant something to you, right?’
‘……’
‘If you don’t want to cancel following Hyun-soo-ssi, then add other people too. Hyojin-ssi or Juyeong-ssi, Director Hwang Soo-young, the editor-in-chief of
‘I don’t want to.’
‘You don’t want to? Why are you really like this? Did something break? You, who would never do anything that could jeopardize your career, why are you being so stubborn about this?’
‘Damn it, can’t I do whatever I want on SNS? I wanted to do it, and I’ll only follow the people I want to. That’s it. Don’t bring it up again.’
As of today, Song Hyun-soo’s followers had surpassed 120,000. According to Director Bang, interview requests from various places had been pouring in for Song Hyun-soo since then. In any case, these were things that couldn’t be handled until
The trainer’s eyes lit up, and he nudged Yoon Joo-ho’s shoulder.
“Oh, it is jealousy. It seems they’re not indifferent to you?”
“They’re not indifferent to me, but…”
“But?”
“They’re afraid to start something with me. Because I can’t give them trust.”
“Ah… If I were you, I wouldn’t trust Yoon Joo-ho either.”
“……”
Sensing Yoon Joo-ho’s sharp gaze, the trainer, after a playful smile, offered a rather plausible story.
“You have to be consistent. That’s the only way to build trust. A meticulously built tower crumbles in an instant. You can do a hundred things right, but the moment you make one mistake, it all collapses. Right?”
The words fit the current situation too perfectly, and a hollow laugh escaped him.
As Yoon Joo-ho placed the bar on his shoulders and assumed a squatting position, the trainer asked from behind him with a face full of laughter.
“Do you like them that much? More than acting?”
In the mirror opposite, Yoon Joo-ho got into position. Just before starting his workout, he looked straight into his reflection and answered.
“What’s certain is, without them, I can’t even act.”
A sound, like a whistle or a sigh of relief, escaped the trainer’s lips.
“Yoon Joo-ho can’t act?”
The trainer shook his head in the mirror.
“You’ve met your match.”
After the workout, he returned to his room and showered. In the meantime, his manager had brought in food from outside and set it on the table before leaving. He knew Yoon Joo-ho didn’t have much of an appetite, and it seemed Director Bang in Seoul was personally taking care of things, but even with his favorite raw fish and marinated crabs in front of him, he had no appetite.
Sitting at the table in his robe, Yoon Joo-ho sent a message before even picking up his spoon.
《I showered after coming up. My hyung scolded me for losing weight and muscle mass.》
《He asked why.》
《I’m going to eat now and head to the set. What about you? Did you eat anything?》
He forced down a few spoonfuls of food for the sake of filming. But he felt like if he pushed any more, he’d get sick, just like last time.
Director Bang had asked several times what he wanted to eat, offering to prepare anything… but there was only one thing he wanted. And it was a precious food that even Director Bang couldn’t procure.
Without even looking at the food on the table, Yoon Joo-ho turned sideways and fiddled with his phone. Then, he typed out his 124th message, which remained unanswered.
《I want kimchi pot rice.》
《Not anything else. What you made.》