Chapter 171: Office Remodeling
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 171: Office Remodeling
The first day of filming for In My Office finally dawned.
My scheduled call time was 9:00 AM, but I didn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic, and I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere on set. I left early and ended up arriving two hours ahead of schedule.
"I-wol, we have plenty of time. Do you want to wait in the van?"
"No, it's okay. There's still so much I don't know, so I should get there and start learning. I'll head straight to the set!"
And so, I found myself loitering around the perimeter of the set, making sure not to get in anyone's way.
It was my first time seeing a drama being filmed. It was quite interesting to see how different the vibe was compared to a music video shoot.
They did a great job with the set.
I heard they’d rented an empty office from an actual company and just filled it with props, but the items actually looked lived-in. The prop team must have worked themselves to the bone.
As I stood by the wall, peeking at the scene, the Director’s expression began to sour.
He kept pointing back and forth between the papers in his hand and the partitions, his demeanor suggesting that something had gone horribly wrong.
"Unbelievable! Did the installation team just pack up and leave after setting it up like this?!"
The Director’s roar echoed through the set. Every eye turned toward him.
"Did they even look at the layout? God, these guys are unbelievable."
The Director ran his hands roughly through his hair. No one dared to step forward and ask what was wrong.
The Assistant Director, who was looking at the paper—presumably the floor plan—beside him, also took on a grim expression.
"How long will it take for the installation team to get back here if they leave now?"
"Even if they leave immediately, with the morning rush... they might arrive on time, but there’s no way they’ll finish the work by the start of filming."
"Everyone’s arriving at nine. Does this make any sense? These guys aren't rookies; why would they make a mistake like this?"
The conversation eventually turned toward the desperate measure of calling the departed installation team back.
I watched the situation unfold for a moment before cautiously approaching a staff member who had just stepped away from the Director’s group.
"Excuse me, did something happen?"
The staff member glanced around and whispered in my ear.
"You know the male lead's desk? Apparently, the position is completely wrong."
"The desk?"
"The Team Leader's desk was supposed to go in a specific spot, but it looks like the installation team just copied the layout of the office next door. They didn't even look at the floor plan."
On a set where the camera has to move back and forth dozens of times in a single space, this was a significant problem.
Still, couldn't they just move the desk to the intended spot? It didn't seem like that big of a deal.
"Can't we just move the desk now?"
Coincidentally, someone over there was suggesting the same thing—rearranging the tables.
There were plenty of able-bodied men here. Moving a few tables and rearranging props would be a grueling two hours, but it was doable.
However, the Director didn't give the green light.
"You think moving the desks is enough? What about the LAN cables! They’ve already installed the molding over them. Are we going to rip it all out right before filming? Or are we going to show the protagonist's computer without an internet connection every single time? Don't you know viewers zoom in on everything these days?"
The crux of the issue was that they couldn't touch the internet cables installed on the floor. Usually, that’s the case. Unlike furniture companies, you have to call a separate contractor for the wiring.
But there were only a few computers, and if it was just a matter of plugging LAN cables into ports...
"Hello, Director. I'm very sorry for interrupting."
"I-wol? Why are you here so early?"
"I didn't want to be late since I'm the youngest, so I hurried a bit. But... would the problem be solved if we just moved Team Leader Ji's desk?"
The Director gave me a strange look.
"Well, yes, but... it's not that simple right now. We need to have a meeting first..."
"Um, I think I can handle it... I'll be careful, so would it be alright if I tried to fix it?"
A flash of doubt crossed the Director's eyes.
It was understandable. Time was running out, and the person stepping forward was, in their eyes, a twenty-one-year-old greenhorn.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but everything is tangled up. We did the wiring in advance so the cables wouldn't get caught under the cameras or the actors' feet. Ripping it up now would be a problem."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind while I work."
"Wait, what?"
I only had two lines to deliver in the first episode.
I had gone to the salon at the crack of dawn for those two lines. After filming, I had to go brainstorm ideas for the fan meeting. My time was already stretched thin.
I couldn't stand the thought of filming being delayed just because we had to wait for an installation team to rearrange some tables.
I went to the van, grabbed the backpack I’d been carrying since Do Yeong-hwan’s audition, and set it on the floor.
Then, I pulled out a handful of cable ties.
After donning the cotton work gloves I’d been carrying since the charcoal drum incident, I set to work prying up the floor molding. Only the necessary sections.
If this were a real office, I would have had to match the cable numbers to avoid IP conflicts.
But for a small-scale set like this, it was a different story.
A few PCs wouldn't cause a conflict, and since no one was actually doing real work, they just needed to be connected.
This meant I didn't need to rearrange all the tables; I could just swap the cables in a makeshift fashion.
As I held a few cable ties in my mouth and busily bundled the wires, old memories resurfaced.
Memories of buying electrical tape to wrap exposed wires and being drafted for molding work every time the office moved.
Looking back, I must have been crazy to do all that.
Thanks to the original neat wiring, the problem was solved by moving only two or three desks. I crawled under the desks again to bundle the protruding wires and taped the molding back down.
Finally, I gave the molding a few firm kicks to make sure it wouldn't budge.
"Director, I'm finished. If you could check the placement, I'll start moving the props!"
The Director, who had been staring blankly, nodded.
See? I told you it wasn't a difficult problem.
I gave a bright smile and began moving the props to the new positions. In the process, I first heard a staff member say, "I-wol, stop working and go wait over there!" and then my manager told me, "I-wol, stay seated until someone calls you!"
*
"So? You went there and ended up working again?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon said, looking exasperated.
"What else was I supposed to do? Filming was going to be delayed."
"I heard acting takes up a lot of time, and I guess it's true."
"Tell me about it."
For once, I agreed with Lee Cheong-hyeon. After all, despite being on set all day, my only contributions were: "Assistant Manager, here is the data you requested," and "Well, for the time being, I think going home on time is out of the question."
By the way, Ha Seo-myeong used the same ad-lib from the script reading on set. My heart nearly stopped.
"You said your role was... a salaryman? A securities guy?"
"Yeah. Why? Doesn't it suit me?"
"No, it suits you so well it's weird."
"What is that even supposed to mean...?"
I shook my head and pulled out my diary, but Lee Cheong-hyeon continued from behind me.
"But it really is strange."
"What is?"
"You, Hyung. Why does looking like an office worker feel so natural on you?"
My heart skipped a beat.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, however, remained perfectly nonchalant.
"It's not like you're the type who's obsessed with acting like a seasoned professional. It just feels like you were actually an office worker to begin with."
"Did you forget I've been a trainee with you guys since I was twenty?"
"That's why it's weird."
I wanted to lighten the mood, but Lee Cheong-hyeon was being unusually serious.
"Is it like a longing for the salaryman life? Or was it your dream job?"
"Not a chance."
It was my dream in high school, but I don't have a shred of longing for it now. Forget the office; I just want to live as a single-person household, free even from the benefits of the 4 Major Insurances.
"Come to think of it, for someone who knows so much about us, you really don't talk about yourself."
That stung. From their perspective, there must have been moments where they felt like I was reading them like a book.
"Is there something you're curious about?"
"Plenty."
"But you're not asking?"
I opened my diary to a bookmarked page. I had jotted down some fan meeting ideas around here...
"Because I don't think you'd answer."
...My hand stopped.
I looked at Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was lying on Choi Je-ho’s bed using a laptop. He didn't look away.
Even so, I couldn't bring myself to say, "Ask me if you're curious."
"See? You can't even tell me to ask."
Lee Cheong-hyeon knew exactly what I was thinking.
"But Hyung, if things get tough while you're working, talk to us."
"...Suddenly?"
"I mean, you're always looking out for us anyway."
Lee Cheong-hyeon shrugged.
"So, talk to the members about your own work. That’s how you keep things balanced."
With that, Lee Cheong-hyeon turned his attention back to his laptop screen. He looked a bit awkward, maybe even a little embarrassed.
Pretending not to notice, I grabbed my diary and pen and left the room.
*
In the past, I had attended a Spark fan meeting exactly once.
At the time, UA was excessively obsessed with identity verification, and because I refused to use Department Head Nam's daughter's account for proxy ticketing on the principle that personal information is precious... that's how it ended up.
That day, I received more attention than I ever had in my life. Perhaps worried that I would feel left out, many people even kindly gave me free stickers.
So, how was the actual Spark fan meeting itself?
Need I even say it? It was boring as hell.
Choi Je-ho was staring into space, Park Ju-woo had his eyes glued to the floor, Kang Gi-yeon was talking nonsense, and Lee Cheong-hyeon was running wild like a horse off its leash.
If I had been Jeong Seong-bin, I would have called them all to the waiting room after the fan meeting and told them to pack their bags and leave if they hated being idols that much. Seong-bin, you're the only one who must never leave this team.
At least now, everyone is trying to do something...
How could I provide the Sparklers with the best fan meeting possible?
A massive meeting for this very purpose was held today, in the dreaded underground practice room.