An Jun-ho
"You said I was the last spark that would help you save this body. Then there must be a clear reason you brought me here as well, right?"
"I can send Jeong Do-jin back to his original world for a short while."
When the episode ended on that note, the related communities and group chats were instantly flooded with speculation about what would come next.
What's the white jewel supposed to be? And they haven't even shown the narrator's appearance yet—what about Ella and the others who were told to wait at that hard-to-pronounce place, Artery or whatever?
While the internet burned with predictions for next week's episode, Yeon-woo was riding in Son Jin-uk's car.
"This is the first time the three of us are going on a trip just by ourselves! Right?"
At Han So-hyun's voice from the back seat, Yeon-woo nodded.
"True. Summer's Table was work no matter how you look at it, and the reward vacation we went with the staff too."
"If a dating rumor comes out of this, it'd be hilarious."
At Han So-hyun's words, Son Jin-uk, who was driving, let out a short laugh.
"That's why the three of us are going. If a dating rumor pops up, it'd be between So-hyun and me. Ten-year age gap with Yeon-woo…"
"Ack! Stop with the ten-year difference talk! I've been ridiculously sensitive ever since I hit my thirties, okay?"
Han So-hyun muttered that even by full age she was thirty now.
It wasn't truly a trip for just the three of them. When Han So-hyun and Son Jin-uk had visited the last filming set to cheer them on, the conversation that day had led them to gather for a day trip to Chuncheon.
Well, calling it a day trip wasn't entirely wrong either.
In any case, the main goal was to see An Jun-ho after a long time.
Han So-hyun and Son Jin-uk were simply good people who felt for him and wanted to visit, but Yeon-woo had one additional purpose.
There has to be someone who hooked An Jun-ho into that problematic party.
According to what he had heard from Son Jin-uk last time, An Jun-ho said he had gone after receiving an "invitation."
And judging from his own speculation that the champagne he drank at the party had been laced with drugs, it was certain someone had deliberately set a trap to use him as an issue and bury something else in the public eye.
Afterward Yeon-woo had thrown manpower from Han Hae-un and Baek No-ya's side into digging as deep as possible, but it still wasn't enough.
Too many people to suspect.
In the entertainment industry there wasn't just one or two social butterflies who regularly attended those kinds of parties. To pin down the culprit, he had no choice but to ask the man himself.
Son Jin-uk's car, which had left Seoul, rolled into Chuncheon after about two hours on the road.
"If we came all the way to Chuncheon, we have to eat potato bread!"
"Potato bread? I thought Chuncheon was famous for dakgalbi."
At Yeon-woo's question, Han So-hyun nodded.
"Of course dakgalbi is famous too. But potato bread is just bread shaped like a potato, and it's delicious!"
Son Jin-uk, still driving, pulled over onto the shoulder and started tapping at the navigation.
"Really? Since we're here, we should eat some."
After punching in the destination, Son Jin-uk drove them to a café that doubled as a bakery. Once they parked in front, a problem presented itself.
"…But which of us is going to go buy it?"
All three people in the car were fairly famous actors.
At Son Jin-uk's troubled expression, Yeon-woo raised a hand.
"I'll go get them!"
"Hey, hey—if you step out right now it's a disaster. Even with a mask on, these days even the neighborhood mutt would recognize your face."
Sending the actress Han So-hyun out alone without a manager didn't sit right either.
Pulling on a mask, Son Jin-uk said, "I'll just go. How many does everyone want?"
"One for me!"
"Hmm, one is enough for me too."
"Okay. Three total, then."
They were small, yet it was still one bread per person.
If Manager Kim Min-su had witnessed the scene, he would have shaken his head at the mouse-dropping-sized meal portions.
Son Jin-uk, mask on, stepped out and returned not long after with the bread in hand.
Click—.
The moment he got back into the car he pulled the mask off and said, "But how can no one recognize me? There were quite a few young couples in the café. Ha, I really need to work harder."
"Really? Wearing a mask wouldn't erase Jin-uk hyung's aura."
It was the same thing Kim Ju-hyeong had once said to Yeon-woo after spotting him at a glance—mask and all—in front of Hankuk University's business building and walking straight up to him.
"You brat. Thanks for the words, at least."
Son Jin-uk chuckled at Yeon-woo's reply and handed out the bread he had bought.
They had driven straight from Seoul without even stopping at a rest area, so they ate just enough to take the edge off their hunger and set off again.
The house where An Jun-ho lived was a genuine backwater; even within Chuncheon you had to push deeper into the countryside to reach it.
"It reminds me of Jun-ho hyung heading out to the vegetable garden when we filmed the Summer's Table variety show."
"Right. Back then Jun-ho said he was from the countryside so he could tell all the vegetables apart."
They drove down a side road that didn't even have a center line and arrived at an old house with red brick walls that somehow felt cozy.
"Jun-ho said we'd be able to tell it apart the moment we got close, and he was right."
Because it was a rural village the houses stood quite far apart. While every other place had similar gray cement walls, only this one was built of red brick, so it stood out clearly.
Son Jin-uk parked in front of the house and cut the engine.
"Alright, let's get out."
"Hyung, open the trunk please."
When Son Jin-uk popped the trunk, Yeon-woo hurried over and lifted out the gift sets packed with various things.
"I wasn't thinking anything, but you're more like the older brother than I am."
"Right? Why didn't I even think of buying gifts either."
Han So-hyun nodded in agreement with Son Jin-uk's words.
When they had gone to pick Yeon-woo up that morning, only after seeing him loaded down with gift sets had they both thought, Oh.
Yeon-woo had figured stopping at a mart on the way would be awkward, so the day before he had asked Kim Min-su to buy several gift sets in advance.
"Nah, coming empty-handed just feels wrong. Anyone could have bought them."
"That's right, Yeon-woo hyung."
Nodding and playfully calling Yeon-woo "hyung," Son Jin-uk divided the gift sets among them to carry.
When Han So-hyun pressed the doorbell, a presence stirred inside and the door opened.
"Who is this? You must have had a hard time coming all the way from Seoul. Come in, come in."
A woman who looked older than expected greeted them warmly. Since they already knew each other, Son Jin-uk smiled and bowed.
"Hello, Mother. Nothing particular happened in the meantime?"
"Aigoo, living out in the countryside—what particular thing would there be? I heard precious guests were coming, so I prepared a meal. Hurry inside."
On the drive they had already heard that An Jun-ho was a late-born son and lived alone with his elderly mother.
Han So-hyun and Yeon-woo followed with their own greetings and stepped into the house. A small, well-tended garden came into view.
No—rather than a garden, it was closer to a vegetable patch.
"Mother, where did Jun-ho go?"
"He just stepped out, but he'll be back soon. Sit here on the floor and rest a bit."
After laying out cushions on the wooden floor, An Jun-ho's mother hurried back into the kitchen.
While the three of them sat on the floor looking out at the yard, the mother who had gone into the kitchen reappeared carrying a low table.
"I mixed everything with only the vegetables I grew myself, so this is completely organic. You must be hungry after the long trip—everyone eat."
On the table she set down were wooden bowls holding bright green spinach, pretty orange carrots, various seasoned namul, and fried eggs.
"Wow. It looks so delicious."
"Really!"
Looking at the namul bibimbap, none of them even remembered having eaten bread on the way.
All three were normally not big eaters, but the sight of the five-colored, neatly arranged namul made their mouths water with an audible gulp.
"Thank you for the meal!"
When Yeon-woo greeted her with a bright smile, An Jun-ho's mother smiled kindly in return.
"So you're the young master of the chairman's house that my son used to serve."
"Yes, Mother. I've always been indebted to Jun-ho hyung."
"Aigoo, indebted for what. Eat quickly."
Actor Ryu Yeon-woo's filmography had grown splendid through many works after his debut in Summer's Closet, and even now it was still expanding as he gradually conquered Netflix—but for An Jun-ho's mother, time had stopped back then.
As Yeon-woo ate the bibimbap and looked around carefully, he noticed there was no television visible in the main room beyond the door.
He was an actor just about to take off, but his son got unfairly framed as a drug offender and came back to the countryside house… she must be heartbroken…
That her son wasn't that kind of person—the mother would know better than anyone.
While they were still eating the bibimbap, the main gate creaked open and An Jun-ho stepped into the yard.
"Jun-ho!"
Han So-hyun stood up first.
"I saw a car parked out front and ran over right away. You must have had a hard time coming."
An Jun-ho smiled brightly—exactly the same way he had three years ago at the Summer's Closet audition, when he had spotted Yeon-woo standing alone and walked over first, telling him to relax.
Stuffing her feet roughly into her shoes, Han So-hyun ran over, threw her arms around An Jun-ho, and patted his back hard.
"How long has it been! I'm so glad to see you!"
Even though An Jun-ho had usually been the one to tease first and they had bickered playfully on set, the person he had hung out and played with the most was Han So-hyun.
Because she was soft-hearted by nature, she had always felt for him—and that was exactly why she hadn't been able to contact him more often.
"Jun-ho hyung."
When Yeon-woo called him casually with a smile, as if they had met only yesterday, An Jun-ho grinned right back.
"Our cute little world star. Doing really well these days, huh? Hehe. You've grown a lot."
"Aw, what world star."
After the incident, An Jun-ho had stopped using a cell phone entirely, returned to his hometown house, and vanished. Including Son Jin-uk, who had occasionally checked on him through the home phone, it was the first time any of them had seen him in three years.
After that they sat together on the wooden floor with An Jun-ho and quietly caught up on the past three years.
Compared to what they had worried about, An Jun-ho looked far more cheerful, and everyone felt a little more at ease.
"So I'm going into the military soon."
An Jun-ho wasn't doing any entertainment work now, and he could no longer delay enlistment, so he planned to report on the date written on the enlistment notice he had received.
He hadn't been that famous an actor to begin with, and after three years the public had mostly forgotten the incident, so he judged there wouldn't be any particular problems even if he enlisted.
"You'll suffer going to the military."
"Aw, I already live in the mountains—what's going to be different?"
"You can't even shoot a gun."
At Son Jin-uk's words, Yeon-woo and So-hyun both laughed.
When they had done the shooting range in Hawaii, An Jun-ho had ranked dead last—including the staff.
Han So-hyun had heard about it from the staff after returning to the hotel and had teased him all the way home.
After laughing and talking for a long while, it was finally time to head back.
"You should go back to Seoul now. It takes quite a while to get there."
"Yeah."
Yeon-woo and the others said goodbye to An Jun-ho's mother and stepped out through the main gate.
An Jun-ho, who had come out to see them off, hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"…If by any chance 'Jeong Tae-seon' invites you to something like a party, refuse him flat out. All of you."
All three already knew exactly how An Jun-ho had been framed as a drug offender, so they didn't ask anything more and simply nodded.
They hadn't found the right moment to bring it up and had planned to ask separately once everyone was in the car, so it was fortunate An Jun-ho had spoken first.
"Got it. Take care of yourself in the military."
"Right! More than anything, take care of your body!"
At Han So-hyun and Son Jin-uk's farewells, An Jun-ho smiled gently.
Looking at that smile and thinking of An Jun-ho's mother, who must have cried holding her breath over and over beyond the gate, Yeon-woo opened his mouth.
"Jun-ho hyung."
"Yeah, Yeon-woo."
"I'll come again later."
Veteran actor Jeong Tae-seon.
After he had firmly caught that bastard—and the higher-ups above him—as well.