Chapter 10

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Jung Ki-shi was absolutely certain that he had never given Yoon Hee-yoo any “special treatment” as those online fans had maliciously speculated. Perhaps she was a bit special, but that was only because their connection was a twist of fate, a serendipitous coincidence. Besides, she was undeniably a very likable girl, so was it really wrong for him to watch out for her a little?

Of course not, Jung Ki-shi thought with righteous confidence.

Yet, as he stared at the comments of fans shipping the couple on his phone screen, his mood soured—not out of jealousy, but because, after some thought, he was convinced the remarks were clearly meant to undermine him!

His expression was unreadable, giving off a vibe that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Frowning, he typed “Kim Ro-yoon” into the Naver search bar. Born in ’96? Height 189 cm? So impressive, huh?

A notification pinged from the chatroom.

Gray: “He is pretty impressive :) Honestly, I’m a bit envious.”

Loco: “Bro... let’s not look at things that don’t exist.”

President Park: “Who? Our company has standards; we don’t want anyone that tall.”

Jung Ki-shi felt a wave of frustration. A little punk in his early twenties—what charm could he possibly have?

Loco: “Well, it’s not like that. That Cha Eun-woo has been really popular lately, right? Girls probably like those young, handsome types.”

Kwon Hyuk-woo held his phone, muttering to himself, wanting to keep chatting, but suddenly the message popped up: “You have been removed from the chatroom by the admin.” He was stunned, paused a moment, then went to find Lee Seong-hwa.

“Bro, you got kicked out too?”

The reply came quickly.

“No, did you get kicked out?”

Kwon Hyuk-woo scratched his head, beginning to wonder exactly how he had offended Ki-shi.

Though Lee Seong-hwa hadn’t seen Jung Ki-shi chatting with Yoon Hee-yoo like Kwon Hyuk-woo had, since they were all usually together, it was impossible to miss how Ki-shi would smile faintly, glued to his phone all day.

He smirked with a hint of schadenfreude. “Loco, you really brought this on yourself.”

Jung Ki-shi tossed and turned in bed for a long time, unable to sleep. In the end, he couldn’t resist sending Yoon Hee-yoo a message.

“Are the cast members on the new drama easy to get along with? Should I come visit the set?”

It was late at night, so naturally, there was no reply. But for some reason, after sending the message, his restless mood eased a bit—and soon after, he fell asleep.

The next morning, Yoon Hee-yoo saw Jung Ki-shi’s message and cheerfully replied without much thought.

“They’re really easy to get along with! Ro-yoon and the others are all younger than me—it’s so strange, I’m the big sister now, haha.”

“Oh, and if you come visit, I want a hot dog bun!!!”

After a night filled with bizarre dreams, Jung Ki-shi woke up and instinctively reached for his phone. The hazy sleepiness vanished as soon as he saw Yoon Hee-yoo’s message. He pressed his tongue against his cheek, his brows lowering slightly in irritation, and replied bluntly:

“Eat, eat, eat—hope you choke on it.”

Yoon Hee-yoo caught the message during a break in filming and, furious, sent him a dozen angry emojis, as if trying to knock him out.

The filming of “One Day” was intense. It was already September; autumn was approaching. As a pure romance drama set in a school, most of the cast’s costumes were casual, sunny school uniforms. They had to finish filming before November at the latest.

Lim Hye-jin had cleared two whole months in Yoon Hee-yoo’s schedule. Aside from weekly recordings for “Transfer 2,” she had nothing but time devoted to filming.

The teaser was released amidst this frantic schedule.

“This world we live in is actually a comic book.”

“My mission is to play Cupid in the love game between the male and female leads.”

A beautiful girl in a school uniform sat on the ground, having fallen, her eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at the pair facing each other.

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“To act as the god of love, shooting arrows at them.”

Yoon Hee-yoo, exasperated, lay face down on the desk, muttering, “No way.”

The scene shifted: she stumbled into unfamiliar warm arms, drowsily turning her head to see the handsome youth’s face bathed in sunlight, almost godlike.

“Is saving me part of his character’s design?”

A girl stood on a stool, tiptoeing to grab a book from the cabinet. Her white shirt fluttered in the air, the stool wobbled dangerously. She panicked, turning swiftly, her hands landing straight on the boy’s shoulders. Her dark hair gently swayed beside their faces. Their eyes met with a faint, hidden flutter.

“I will never act according to the author’s intentions!”

[kkkkk Why does it feel like Hee-yoo’s character this time is kind of funny?]

[Her little expressions are so cute.]

[The teaser feels a bit cheesy but also kind of good?]

[Not to mention, this drama has such a high level of attractiveness…]

[Beautiful, adorable Dragon Boat Festival princess—such a perfect fit.]

[Totally different from her last role; this one’s really cute!]

[Fast forward, please TT]

The day before the new episode of “Transfer 2” was recorded, Jung Ki-shi’s support food truck arrived, albeit late.

There were two trucks in total, each adorned with a cute close-up photo of Yoon Hee-yoo. The pink food truck offered fragrant hot dog buns, while the blue one carried juice and ice cream. As soon as the trucks pulled up to the set, Jung Ki-shi immediately arrived in Loco’s car.

He hadn’t paid attention on the way over, but when he got out of the car, he noticed that today the other guy was dressed quite “formally.” Usually, he just threw on a hat casually when going out, but today he wore a khaki-colored windbreaker jacket, his short black hair neat and fresh. He was tall to begin with, and this outfit gave off a clean, sunny, big-brother vibe, not to mention the carefully matched rings and small accessories.

The more Jung Ki-shi looked, the tighter his brows knit, and his steps involuntarily slowed.

Kwon Hyuk-woo cheerfully walked several steps ahead before noticing Ki-shi wasn’t keeping up. He turned with a puzzled look. “Come on, bro.”

Ki-shi followed slowly, instinctively keeping some distance, glancing down at himself. He’d just thrown on a denim jacket and hadn’t washed his hair today, so he wore a baseball cap.

Was he being too careless?

Squinting, Ki-shi called out to Loco: “Co, maybe you should just head back first.”

For a moment, Kwon Hyuk-woo thought he misheard. He looked ridiculous. “Weren’t you the one who asked me to come with you, bro?”

Ki-shi cleared his throat; his Busan accent slipped out unconsciously: “Uh... I can go in by myself.”

“Are you messing with me, Ki-shi bro?”

“Look at what you’re saying... I...”

Before Ki-shi could finish his insincere excuse, he was interrupted.

“Oppa!!”

Yoon Hee-yoo, wearing her school uniform, ran up with bright eyes. Her chestnut hair was tied in a ponytail, with wispy bangs framing her youthful, pure face. Her round almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile. From afar, her figure sprinting toward them looked just like a heroine in a romantic drama; even the camera seemed to slow down.

Yoon Hee-yoo had no idea that in Ki-shi’s head, a whole idol drama had just played out. She came running up, only to find him standing stiffly like a wooden statue, not even blinking. She glanced curiously at a somewhat unfamiliar man standing nearby.

“Who are you...?”

Kwon Hyuk-woo stiffened, straightened his back, nervously licked his lips, and shyly extended his hand. “Hi, Hee-yoo. I’m Loco. I’m your fan and I really like Seo Dan!”

Yoon Hee-yoo smiled and gently shook his hand. After all, he was her fan, and she knew how to do fan service, hehe.

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Feeling her small hand lightly clasp his, Kwon Hyuk-woo’s ears flushed red. After letting go, he couldn’t help but hide his hands behind his back, excitedly opening and tightly clenching them again.

Jung Ki-shi snapped back to reality and saw Loco chatting with Yoon Hee-yoo with a look full of admiration. Instinctively, Ki-shi pulled her closer to his side, a reflexive move that stunned the two others present.

Realizing the slender, fair arm he was holding, Ki-shi was momentarily stunned too. But he quickly recovered, clearing his throat with a slight edge in his voice: “The hot dog buns you mentioned—I brought them.”

“Shouldn’t you say thank you first?”

Yoon Hee-yoo didn’t comment on his odd behavior and smiled brightly, praising him, “Of course we have to thank Ki-shi bro~”

When speaking around familiar people, she habitually softened her voice and always smiled sweetly, giving off a playful, coquettish impression. Jung Ki-shi suddenly felt inexplicably curious—did she act like this in front of others as well?

The thought made him feel a bit suffocated.

“I knew you cared about me the most, hehe~”

Though he was used to her straightforwardness, hearing those words still made him a little uncomfortable. He scratched his nose, changing the subject: “Alright, want to take some photos for proof?”

“Loco, you come too.”

Kwon Hyuk-woo hid his subtle expression, playing it cool for his big brother’s sake, and obediently joined them. Maybe he wasn’t the smartest, but he wasn’t blind. Last time he thought he was imagining things, but this time he was sure.

Big bro Ki-shi really liked Hee-yoo, huh?

The photos were uploaded by Yoon Hee-yoo to Instagram, tagging Jung Ki-shi and Loco, sparking some discussion online.

“Sei Mengdi came to visit the set!??”

“Only 3D went, Yura didn’t, Ryongjin didn’t either. Everyone who knows, knows.”

“Could it be true?”

“It’s just the support food truck. Loco was there too. Don’t overthink it.”

“Actually, I think Sei Mengdi’s feelings show quite clearly in Transfer. The way he looks at Hee-yoo is obviously different.”

“But no matter what, it feels like Hee-yoo would lose out if she ended up with Sei Mengdi…”

“I’m still rooting for Hee-yoo and Ro-yoon, TT young and fresh~”

“Have you seen the behind-the-scenes of the costume poster shoot? Kim Ro-yoon calls Hee-yoo ‘angry’ haha, I love the younger guy trope!”

Jung Ki-shi and Loco didn’t stay long at the set. Instinctively, Ki-shi didn’t want to see the guy he had searched online earlier, so they left quickly.

On the way back, Kwon Hyuk-woo kept stealing glances at him, obviously scrutinizing, though he thought he was being subtle.

After being glanced at multiple times already, Jung Ki-shi couldn’t help but turn around with an exasperated look. “What’s up?”

“Ah!” Kwon Hyuk-woo immediately straightened up, driving seriously. “Nothing, really...”

Jung Ki-shi rolled his eyes, his tone threatening: “Last chance—say what you want, or else...”

Before he could finish, Loco quickly cut in: “Bro, you like Hee-yoo, don’t you?”

It was a statement, not a question.

Jung Ki-shi’s heart skipped a beat, and he fell silent immediately.