Summer's Time Loop (4)
"Lost?"
"Did the sun set?"
"Mise-en-scène?"
The moment everyone had been waiting for: sunset.
"Alright. Sun's down, so let's start shooting right away."
Under the dimming summer night sky, the first shoot began.
The location this time was, surprisingly, the rooftop of Hanseong Arts High School.
"Our school has a rooftop?" Kang Saero asked, and Baek Yul grinned slyly in response.
"Only I could pull this off."
There was a reason Baek Yul reigned supreme in the film department. Budgets. Location permits. Even actor cameos. Just dropping the name Baek Yul was practically a free pass.
Who am I? Baek Yul, the genius director with two awards from the off-campus film festival. Something like that.
Having secured special permission from the teachers' lounge, we reached the rooftop, where a lukewarm summer breeze greeted us. Distant voices of people in the night streets and the hum of traffic below. It all felt like a scene straight out of a youth film.
"Let me recap the setup. This is the middle of the loop. Kang Saero's already gone through some repetitions and is now fully savoring this moment with Kim Seryeon. So, her mindset is like, It's a loop anyway—might as well get bold. That's how she lured him up here. First, let's position ourselves by the railing."
I took my spot by the railing, and Kang Saero sidled up beside me, teasing playfully.
"Think you can handle it?"
"I just have to stand here. You're the problem."
Suddenly, a soft touch on my arm. Kang Saero linked her arm through mine without warning.
"Huh?"
"Hold still. Let me get into the mood first."
Coming from an ex-nerd, this closeness felt a bit awkward. But it was for the shoot, so no choice.
"Got it."
"Okay! Great framing. Let's add some lighting like this."
At Baek Yul's signal, lights flooded the quiet rooftop. Pure night sky isn't ideal for filming. The staff raised boom stands high, laden with lights. Cool blue tones to mimic moonlight. Warm tungsten to soften the two central figures. They poured down from just the right heights and angles.
"Ready... action!"
I leaned against the rooftop railing, gazing at the distant night sky. No brooding melancholy here. Utter detachment. Letting my mind wander to nonsense.
Was Tyrannosaurus really the king of the dinosaurs?
Sizzle—
Kang Saero entered the scene holding a sparkler. The burning sparks traced golden trails through the darkness.
As scripted, I kept staring at the sky instead of looking at her. My character was a boy lost in solitary contemplation.
Herbivores are bigger than carnivores. Even back in the dinosaur age.
Sizzzz—
So lions probably ignore rhinos, let alone elephants. Did T-Rex do the same?
But I couldn't ignore the flickering light at the edge of my vision or Kang Saero's presence. She circled me, the sparks painting afterimages on the night canvas.
I want to look.
Instinct screamed to turn, but I held back. Reacting meant NG. I let the sparks, scattered by the night breeze, linger only at the periphery.
Then—a camera lens on my shoulder. And into my view popped Kang Saero's face.
"......"
Kang Saero gazed up at me across the crackling sparkler. Her eyes, lit by the fierce glow, brimmed with mischief... and something deeper, an inexplicable tenderness. Exactly the look Baek Yul had called for.
The memories and emotions built over endless summer loops—known only to her.
My heart dropped. I knew it was acting. Still, my breath caught. My pulse thundered louder than the sparkler's pops.
Kang Saero said nothing, just smiled with her eyes as she slowly waved the fading sparkler before mine. The motion seemed designed to etch this moment forever on my retinas. Terrified that the sharp end of those hot emotions was aimed at me, I avoided her gaze, sucking in the cold night sky instead.
Sizzle. Pop.
Until the sparkler's end burned out into unseen ash, I could barely breathe. Her eyes held me captive.
"Cut!"
Baek Yul's call echoed across the rooftop.
"That eye contact was perfect. Framing's killer."
The director was thrilled. But Kang Saero's gaze lingered. Meanwhile, I lacked confidence. Couldn't meet her eyes straight-on, so I kept staring at the sky.
Only after seconds passed did she exhale a held breath and burst into laughter.
"Whoa, that was intense. Thought I'd melt."
"Oh. The sparkler?"
"Yeah! But seriously, Kim Seryeon, you didn't flinch at all? Ice cold."
"Uh? Yeah."
Kang Saero playfully smacked my arm, but I couldn't respond right away. That lingering gaze burned in my ears.
I distracted myself with chit-chat from the gathering seniors.
"Why does that senior only say 'mise-en-scène'?"
"Ah, it's a penalty."
"Mise-en-scène."
"Baek Yul swore he'd tank any romance film he made."
Baek Yul, listening quietly, smirked.
"But you won awards, right?"
"Mise-en-scène!"
The shoot continued into the next morning. Weekend, but with special permission, filming stayed at Hanseong Arts High School.
I sat by the window, staring down at the book on my lap.
I know nothing. I'm an NPC.
Baek Yul's direction was straightforward. Kim Seryeon is a blank slate. Unaware of the repeating time. Just shows up at the same hour, same seat, same book every day. No acting needed. Just exist there with a handsome face—that was his philosophy.
Kang Saero beside me was different. The sole aware soul in this eternal loop, the music video's true protagonist.
"Kim Seryeon doesn't know the loop, so every day feels tedious and monotonous. No difference between today and tomorrow. He just wishes time would hurry by."
"But Kang Saero knows, yet lives each day fully. Savors the given hours. Even with infinite time, she cherishes the flow."
"That irony's what makes it fun."
[Loop 1]
A calendar hung by a clubroom door. Quick cuts showed Kang Saero marking it each loop.
Pop! Red marker cap off, then a bold number scrawled across.
Now to the classroom for the next scene.
Kang Saero shuffled past me hesitantly. Early in the loop, she was confused, glancing my way.
As I turned a page indifferently and looked up, she startled and fled out the back door.
"Cut! Good. Fresh and innocent."
Baek Yul nodded approvingly.
[Loop 10]
The calendar number slashed thick with red pen. Kang Saero, now adapted, grew bolder. No more fleeing. Like she'd seen it all.
She spun the chair right in front of my desk, propped her chin, and stared openly at my face.
"Heh~."
Intense.
Cameras rolling, so manage expression. I feigned indifference, focusing on the page. But her finger poked into view.
Poke. On my cheek.
No reaction. I'm an NPC. She giggled delightedly, then plopped onto my desk.
Flip flip. Her hand blocked the book. Obvious prank. Acting or not, her pretty delinquent vibe fit perfectly. I barely suppressed a smile.
"Cut. Hold up."
Baek Yul halted.
Something off?
"Keep this take. Got an idea— for this loop's calendar mark, no pen. Something else."
"Huh? Like what?"
"Lipstick."
Baek Yul beckoned props.
"Early loops: student-like red pen. But past 10 loops? Relationship progresses. Bolder, bit more sexual tension."
Sexual? Sexual tension?
I shot a puzzled look, but Kang Saero paused, then nodded resolutely.
Next take. Schk, swish. Lipstick from pocket, drawn across the date. Thick red line on paper.
She bit her lip lightly, gazing at me. That subtle look heated my nape...
"Okay! Cut!"
Baek Yul, ecstatic. Crew cheered.
"Yes! That's it!"
"Art. Pure cinema."
"Mise-en-scène!!!"
[Loop 20]
Shooting pressed on. Kang Saero's acting evolved beyond familiarity into fresh content creation. Per Baek Yul: "Like hardcore gamers saying, Game's fun, but new content? Wanna hit vet routes. That's her now."
Kang Saero sat beside me, casually plucking one earbud from my ear.
"......?"
Before my scripted surprise, she plugged it into her ear and leaned on my shoulder. Effortlessly natural, like hundreds of times before.
Melody through the cord, warmth on my shoulder. Eyes closed, she hummed, tapping rhythm on her hand.
Suddenly, I rummaged pockets like searching.
She sighed knowingly, fished my wallet from deep in the desk drawer.
"Here."
Handed it naturally, as if saying so. I took it blankly.
Inside: a sticker photo of us, somehow taken. Props team composite, but the detail chilled me.
"Cut! Great! Kang Saero's expression slayed."
"Kim Seryeon wasn't bad."
"Seryeon's got the chops, so chemistry works. Solid."
"Saero hard-carrying."
Crew raved. True. I just sat; she laughed, teased, leaned, reminisced—filling the scene solo. One-woman show, yet seamless. The loop made her one-sided intimacy heartbreakingly tender.
I'd thought this before. Someone come love me while I just sit. But what could I give back? The dilemma dragged on. Still no answer. Maybe why I can't act.
"Whew."
During break, Kang Saero cooled off under the fan. Heart pounding.
Acting, sure—but half real.
Fun.
This thrilled her. In reality, she fidgeted around Kim Seryeon, second-guessed, fretted rejection. Hid it well, but inevitable. She liked him.
But filming? He was a helpless NPC. Recall loop 20: Leaning on his shoulder, sharing earbuds. His lashes trembled up close.
Flustered.
No calm maturity—just cute panic.
Adorable.
Each advance: his pupils quaked, lost. Couldn't dodge director's orders, nor push away—had to take it meekly. Any girl's dream; smile inevitable.
Hate it? Awkward? What can you do?
Then it hit: Wish shooting never ends.
MV world perfect. Pretty school, radiant summer sun, Kim Seryeon always waiting. No real headaches. Home chill. Silent parents. Friends dismiss woes as full-belly gripes. Always fake bright, carefree for friends. Heavy duty to succeed for struggling mom—self-imposed burden.
None here. Trapped in time loop forever? Yeah. 'Cause Kim Seryeon hot.
Then, familiar voice from behind.
"Saero."
"Ah, eek?!"
Like caught mid-embarrassing thought.
"Kim Seryeon...?"
Whirling, there he stood.