The Jacket He Ran For
Seokjun and Munyeol were nowhere to be seen; she couldn't tell when they had left.
She'd assumed, vaguely, that Seokjun would be watching from somewhere behind her — but the moment she registered the empty space where he'd been, half the pleasant buzz of the wine drained away.
He wasn't paying her any attention at all, and yet she alone had been conscious of him the whole time. Futility and embarrassment came crashing in together.
"Minju, I'll walk you back to the lodge."
Sangho spoke as though he hated to see their pleasant conversation come to an end. Minju brushed the hair from her face and gave a small nod. Just then, a staff member approached and requested an interview with her.
"I'll wait. Take your time."
"No, don't. Who knows how long it'll take — go on ahead."
A single interview could run thirty minutes at best, and all too often stretched well past an hour. She didn't want to leave him standing out in the muggy night air indefinitely.
Sangho, though he couldn't hide his disappointment, seemed worried that his waiting might become a burden to her; he bowed politely and headed for the lodge alone.
A short while later, standing before the interview room, Minju drew a slow, trembling breath. She was the type to freeze up during interviews at the best of times, and now she was more nervous than usual, terrified the alcohol might loosen her tongue.
Don't slip up, Seo Minju.
She stepped inside with a deep breath, and the Love Coach greeted her with a gentle smile.
"Minju, how was your date today?"
"...It was nice."
Seated across from her, Minju answered with a faint smile. The Love Coach didn't miss that expression and pressed on with a sharp question.
"I can tell just from your face. You've looked more alive tonight than at any point since you arrived at Love Camp."
"Oh — do I?"
Minju gave an awkward laugh, sweeping a cool hand across the cheek still warm from the wine.
"Of the three men you spent today with, whose time together left the deepest impression?"
Minju hesitated. For a fleeting instant, the cold glint of Seokjun's eyes flashed through her mind — but it was quickly covered by the face of Sangho, who had let her laugh freely all night.
"Sangho."
"Then would it be fair to say that Sangho currently holds the largest place in your heart?"
In that moment, a taut tension filled the small interview room. The camera lens chased hungrily after her wavering eyes. Minju tugged at the wine-colored cardigan Sangho had wrapped around her shoulders, then spoke in a low but deliberate voice.
"...Yes."
"And what about Munyeol and Seokjun? I'd love to hear how you found your dates with them."
At the Love Coach's question, Minju's fingers fidgeted restlessly in her lap.
"With Munyeol, honestly, the spilled wine had me so flustered. I was too busy dealing with the mess to even manage a proper conversation."
"And Seokjun?"
"...Seokjun and I just don't seem to click."
At her firm answer, the Love Coach's eyes narrowed.
"Wasn't today your first date with him?"
"Yes, it was."
"That seems a little hasty, judging from a single date. Is there some other reason I'm not aware of?"
Minju's heart lurched. Pale, she wondered if the Love Coach had already sensed the strange current between the two of them and was probing for it.
"Another reason...?"
"It's still early days, so there's a lot you don't know yet — that could be why you feel that way. You have plenty of time left. Why not take it slowly and get to know him? You might discover a side of him you never expected."
Minju wanted to flatly insist that would never happen. But she didn't want the conversation to drag on, nor did she want her true feelings exposed under the relentless questioning.
In the end, Minju gave a noncommittal nod and wrapped up the interview with a brief acknowledgment.
The wine she'd so happily drained with Sangho the night before was the culprit. When she opened her eyes, frowning against a splitting headache, the clock read barely seven in the morning.
She wanted to sleep more, but her mouth was parched dry and her stomach churned as if it might turn over at any moment.
I should have paced myself.
Reproaching herself for last night's recklessness, she managed to sit up. She hadn't noticed it while drinking, but the moment she tidied her spot and stood, her head spun. It was a small mercy that Sangho hadn't seen her staggering. One look at her disheveled face in the mirror and a sigh escaped her of its own accord.
Pathetic, Seo Minju.
A glass of lukewarm water barely settled her stomach, and she headed for the bathroom. After washing up, her foggy mind was somewhat clearer, but the ache in her chest refused to be soothed.
Minju hurriedly dried her hair and changed into comfortable clothes, then slipped out of the lodge, thinking she needed to eat something.
A thick dawn fog, heavy with the night's moisture, lay low around the lodge, blurring the edges of the forest.
The cool, damp air touched her cheeks, and Minju pulled her collar close as she made her way toward the main house.
Inside, filming preparations were already in full swing despite the early hour. As she passed through the lobby toward the common lounge, the staff's voices drifted softly from beyond the corridor.
"Whose jacket is this? One look and you can tell it's expensive."
"Oh, that's Kwon Seokjun's."
At the sound of Seokjun's name, Minju stopped without meaning to.
"Then why is it here?"
"Yesterday on the rooftop, Munyeol spilled wine all over Minju's clothes, remember? Seokjun saw it and went to get this from his car."
"Kwon Seokjun himself?"
"Yes. He asked the writer if there was anything she could use to cover up with, and when she said no, he hurried all the way to the parking lot and back."
Feeling as though the breath had been knocked out of her, Minju listened as the staff's voices pierced sharply into her ears.
"Then why didn't he give it to her? Why is it just sitting here?"
"He'd just gotten back from the car, and apparently Minju was already wearing the cardigan Sangho had given her. He saw that, and just left it here and walked away."
"Kwon Seokjun must have felt so deflated. He runs all that way to fetch it, and she's wearing another man's clothes."
"Right?"
Minju pressed a hand over her mouth and braced herself against the wall. The nausea from her hangover tangled with some unnameable feeling, churning her insides all the more violently.
He ran to the parking lot? That Kwon Seokjun?
It wasn't some dire emergency. All that had happened was a little wine spilled on her clothes — and yet that blunt, cold-hearted man had run until he was out of breath. She couldn't believe it.
Just as an unpleasant confusion welled up in her — a favor she'd never asked for, now on everyone's lips — the conversation continued on the other side of the wall.
"By the way, do you think Kwon Seokjun has feelings for Minju? I thought things were going well with him and Seonyoung."
"So did I. But come to think of it, something was off."
"Like what?"
"The kayak shoot, last time. When Minju fell into the lake, Seokjun got there way faster than the rescue crew on standby, remember?"
At that, another staff member clapped their hands together as if only now remembering.
"Oh, right! That's exactly what happened. I was too frazzled to notice then, but — no one dives into the water without a second's hesitation to save someone they don't care about."
"That's my point. The way I see it, Kwon Seokjun definitely has feelings for Seo Minju."
Minju bit her lip hard. If she listened any longer, she felt her heart would burst.
She didn't even have the strength to walk over and confront them. No — more than that, she was angry at Kwon Seokjun, the man who had made her the subject of all this gossip, and the anger was unbearable.
Minju turned on her heel and walked straight out of the main house. Swallowing down the fury that pressed against her chest, she pushed through the thick fog — and in the distance, a silhouette came running at a steady rhythm.
It was Kwon Seokjun.
He'd turned everyone's insides upside down, and here he was, serenely enjoying his morning run. The last thread of her reason snapped.
Minju planted herself directly in his path, breathing hard.
Startled by her sudden appearance, Seokjun stopped short and pushed his goggles up onto his head.
"What's this about, all of a sudden?"
He asked between ragged breaths. Whether from the heat of the run or from Minju's abrupt appearance, his eyes wavered almost imperceptibly.
Seeing the sweat beading on his forehead, his damp hair, Minju was seized by a feeling she could no longer contain.
"Is that the kind of man you are, Kwon Seokjun?"
At her voice, sharp and cutting, his expression hardened. Looking as though he couldn't follow her at all, he wiped the gathered sweat from his face and looked down at her.
"Make yourself clear."
"Yesterday, on the rooftop, when Munyeol spilled wine on my clothes — you ran all the way to the parking lot to fetch your jacket. Isn't that right?"
She flung the words at him like stones and took another step closer. The heat radiating from his body mingled with the fog-chilled air and touched her cheek.