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Chapter 27
With camera directors positioned all around filming them, Bom stood awkwardly.
An island vacation romance observation reality healing variety show.
She understood what the PD was aiming for and wanted to capture.
She had been told to live naturally, as if she had come to the island alone with Geon, just the two of them.
“You can live comfortably in this house. You can get the ingredients ‘on your own’ and prepare your meals ‘on your own.’ There are vegetables in the garden, so you can pick and eat those, and if you need one, we’ll also prepare a boat for you.”
Listening to the PD explain once again, Bom turned to look at Geon.
He was simply smiling as he looked at her.
“Give me the bag. The house is the one with the blue roof you can see over there.”
Holding Bom’s travel bag in one hand, he took Bom’s hand with the other.
The PD and the writer smiled contentedly and stepped back a few paces.
They had already come all the way to the island to film a variety show.
They might as well do what they came to do.
She walked toward the village, following his lead.
“When did you arrive?”
“I came in on the first boat this morning.”
“What about lunch?”
“There were potatoes, so I boiled some and ate them.”
“You should’ve made a proper meal.”
“I was waiting to eat with you when you came.”
Since body management was a given, skipping a meal or two wouldn’t be a big deal for him.
Still, Bom took out a small energy bar from her pocket.
“Do you want to eat this at least?”
“Thanks.”
Geon didn’t refuse.
He set the bag down and held out his hand, and suddenly Bom remembered the protest truck that had been parked in front of the company for the past two days.
[They say Geon is very much in love.
Please love our Geon.
— From everyone at Geon’s fan café, Jero]
Right. She had to show love.
Bom tore open the wrapper and brought the finger-sized energy bar to his lips.
Geon’s eyes widened, as if he’d received an unexpected gift.
“Oh—um, are you feeding me?”
“If you don’t like it, then forget it.”
“Ah!”
Joy spread across his face like a baby tasting ice cream for the first time.
When Geon smiled brightly, Bom’s heart started pounding.
She told herself it was guilt.
No—it was because his face was too handsome.
“Let’s go, to our house.”
The house they would live in was a single-story rural home with a blue roof, in a village of about fifteen households.
There was a low stone wall built solidly, and next to it a vegetable garden as large as the house plot, growing all kinds of vegetables.
Under the blue roof, colorful pastel garlands were hanging.
On one garland, the words [WELCOME SWEET HOME] were written in Korean, one letter per flag, in black marker.
When Geon pointed to the decorations he had put up himself and said,
“Welcome. This is the house we’ll live in.”
A strong gust of wind blew, snapping the garland and sending it over the roof.
Being an island, the sea wind was strong.
“Ah, it took me two hours to make that.”
“I saw it, though. Which room should I put the bag in?”
At the time, Bom didn’t know.
The garland that flew away was a preview of island life.
After putting her luggage in the room, Bom came back out to find Geon placing firewood into a metal brazier in the yard.
“Wait. I’ll make aglio e olio for you.”
It wasn’t a camping stove, but a round brazier with a hole large enough to set a Chinese-style frying pan on top.
“……We have to cook with firewood instead of an induction stove?”
“Everything here is self-sufficient. Don’t worry. Just trust me. I even learned how to start a fire by watching YouTube.”
He went into the room and brought out a fire starter.
The PD and filming crew beyond the wall laughed quietly.
“……You can’t even use a lighter?”
“Huh? A lighter?”
Geon blinked his eyes like a character lagging in a game.
Bom found a lighter nearby and handed it to him.
“You said you boiled potatoes to eat. Did you really start a fire without using a lighter?”
Staring intently at the lighter as if it were something extraordinary, Geon spoke seriously again.
“I’ll make the pasta delicious.”
“I’ll look forward to it. What should I do?”
“Go pick some vegetables from the garden to make a salad. I saw lettuce there.”
Up until arriving on the island, she’d been nervous thinking that her time with Geon would be filmed, but the staff were less visible than she expected.
There were fixed cameras set up outdoors here and there, and the camera director filmed from beyond the wall.
She unconsciously scanned around looking for cameras, then came to her senses and headed to the garden.
Until getting off the island ferry, Myeongjo had been there too, but she wasn’t visible now—perhaps she’d gone to the staff lodging.
By the time they somehow finished eating the pasta Geon made, it was 4 p.m. It had taken three hours to make the pasta.
Still, things were going smoothly enough.
Geon went into the shed and came back out with a fish trap, his face full of excitement.
“Let’s go set the trap.”
“We need bait.”
“Oh, is there any earthworm? Do they sell them at a mart?”
“There’s no mart on this island. When anglers come, the guesthouses sell ramen or alcohol.”
The reply came from beyond the wall.
An elderly woman carrying a red basin with two forearm-sized fish and green onions inside told them.
“Oh, hello. We’ll be living in this house.”
“I live next door.”
She pointed to the house behind them, one step higher up.
Just then, three empty fish traps were hanging on top of the back house’s wall.
“Grandma, what do you use as bait for the trap?”
“I have some mackerel heads at home. I’ll bring them for you.”
“I’ll go with you. Please give them to me. I’ll carry them.”
When Geon took the red basin, the grandmother looked up at him with a kindly gaze.
“What a fine young man. Such a fine face.”
A woman was still a woman—weak to handsome men.
“Are you two a married couple?”
“We’re not married yet.”
“You should hurry up and get married.”
“I want to.”
Geon replied with a spotless smile.
As they followed the grandmother toward the back house, Bom hurried back to their house.
“Go on ahead. I’ll be right there.”
When packing, just in case, she had prepared something.
Bom took out a ziplock bag with items inside.
When she reached the back house, the grandmother was handing Geon a black plastic bag and a red onion net.
“Put this in the trap as bait. If you throw it where I told you, you’ll catch enough to eat.”
“Grandma, please use this. I bought a little on the way here.”
The grandmother was delighted by the unexpected gift.
She hadn’t even glanced at Bom, only watching Geon.
“Oh my, how did you know? I’d just run out of pain relief patches.”
Myeongjo had once gone to the countryside to film a variety show, and it was the gift older people welcomed the most.
It wasn’t food or something dependent on taste, and in rural areas far from hospitals, pain relief patches were useful.
“The expiration date is long, so you can keep them and use them. There’s also ointment and bandages, so if you get hurt, don’t hesitate—be sure to put medicine on it.”
“Oh my, how can your heart be so kind?”
There was no sign of anyone else in the house.
“What about your husband?”
“He left me behind and went.”
“Ah……”
“He went alone to our son’s house on the mainland. He makes a big fuss about going to the hospital even if I’m just a little sick.”
The atmosphere, which had been about to turn solemn, ended in laughter.
Leaving the grandmother’s house, Geon and Bom headed for the pier.
The grandmother had told them the rocks nearby were a good spot for traps.
Though it was early June, the sunlight was hot.
‘I should’ve worn a hat.’
At that moment, shade fell over Bom’s face.
Geon, walking beside her, made shade with his hand. He wouldn’t hold her hand, saying it smelled fishy from touching fish.
“Don’t worry. Even if we don’t catch anything with the trap, I’ll go fishing.”
“You fish too?”
“No, I’ve never done it. The village head said he’d teach me. I won’t let you starve.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
She’d been worried about how things would be filmed with the crew surrounding them.
But with his bright smile, Bom didn’t even notice the cameras.
After throwing in the fish trap, Bom went into the room to change clothes, when she heard the writer’s voice from the window at the back.
“We’re filming so that the camera directors don’t show as much as possible. Should we reduce it even more?”
“Doesn’t it seem like she’s still tense?”
The writer was talking with the PD.
“Even if she was an idol once, she’s lived as an ordinary person for a long time, so cameras would feel awkward. We need that sweet, lovey-dovey vibe with Geon, but it feels like they’ve just started flirting.”
“Hey, they’re dating—what flirting?”
“I understand now why fans sent a protest truck after watching the videos on Geon’s channel.”
“A protest truck? Didn’t you say the video reactions were good? Are they still against it?”
“You haven’t seen it. It’s not opposition—they’re asking people to love Geon. Ah, this one.”
She thought of the truck she saw every day when going in and out of the company.
Because of that truck, she’d become a source of teasing among coworkers.
It seemed the writer showed a photo, because the PD let out a long groan.
“Ah.”
“If they haven’t been dating long, this should be the hottest period, but Bom doesn’t show any skinship. Geon’s eyes are sparkling—you can see his feelings clearly. Should we talk to Bom?”
“No.”
Bom instinctively covered her mouth. It was Geon.
The writer and PD were also startled by Geon’s appearance.
“Bom is trying too, so please don’t pressure her.”
