Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: A Hard-to-Watch Scene
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That kind of sight was still a bit hard to watch.
Actress Kim So-young was being bullied by a group of female students.
'Even knowing it's acting.'
As someone who had been a victim of school violence myself, just standing by silently...
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
Even in the middle of filming, I wanted to rush down and stop those delinquent students.
Kim So-young fumbled carefully along the ground, searching for her dropped cane.
The female students watched her with slouched postures, snickering.
'What do they even find so amusing...?'
Those vicious extras looked like demons in human skin.
This is acting.
'It's not a real situation, right?'
Only when I widened my view and saw the filming crew did my anger subside.
Right, let's take a broader view now.
About an hour passed as I relaxed my body and watched casually.
The extra girls hid Kim So-young's folding cane in the thick grass and left the scene.
Finally, the shoot was over.
I let out a deep breath.
"Haa... There really aren't kids like that in real life, right? There shouldn't be..."
Soon after, the halted filming resumed, repeating the same scene multiple times before my turn finally came.
Whiiiir!
'They're using a drone this time, huh.'
A filming drone was already soaring freely through the sky.
Two staff members approached me on the rooftop.
"Actor Lee Jun-seo, we're starting right away. You ready?"
"Yes, I can go now."
I closed my eyes gently, took deep breaths to steady my mind, then opened them.
Two gimbal cameras rose up and came to a halt.
'SShould I express the emotion I felt earlier?'
There were no lines here.
'Just subtle facial acting.'
That's all this scene needed.
With that thought, I indifferently looked down.
"......"
Below, Actress Kim So-young was reenacting the scene with the extras from before.
Just a facial expression felt lacking somehow...
Should I say just one line?
"Sometimes, humans look more demonic... than actual demons."
The extra students left the scene.
I closed my eyes gently and let out a small chuckle.
Han Mun-jin flinched.
A bitterness seeped through Lee Jun-seo's voice coming from his headset.
'...Something was missing.'
Lee Jun-seo's single line filled that gap. Had this guy sensed it too?
He chuckled softly, then shot up from his seat.
"Cut! Good take. Tell that actor to come down from the rooftop quick. Moving to the next scene! Everyone, check your equipment first!"
That's when it happened.
Lee Jun-seo stood precariously on the rooftop, staring blankly at the sky. Han Mun-jin was startled.
What the hell was that guy doing?
He urgently grabbed the megaphone beside him and shouted.
"Hey! Are you crazy? What are you doing up there! Get down now!"
"...Ah! Sorry!"
Snapping to attention, Lee Jun-seo hurried down the ladder.
A rooftop only two stories up.
He wouldn't get seriously hurt even if he fell, but he was the lead actor. Any injury would be a big problem.
Lee Jun-seo approached slowly, scratching his nape sheepishly with a small laugh.
"Ahaha... Director, are we jumping straight into the next shoot?"
"Hey, you're the lead actor. Where's your mind at?"
"Well, seeing the drone reminded me of my daughter. And even if I fell from there, it doesn't look like I'd get hurt."
Han Mun-jin sighed deeply.
"No matter how low it is."
"Ahaha. Sorry."
He stared at the silly-smiling Lee Jun-seo, then narrowed his eyes.
Come to think of it, this guy...
Hadn't brought Yu-na to the set for this project?
An inexplicable irritation bubbled up.
It was normal not to bring a kid to a set full of expensive equipment.
Lee Jun-seo bringing Yu-na during the high school series shoot was the abnormal one.
Still, he wouldn't scold him for it.
His family situation was so rough he had no choice but to bring his daughter.
It was understandable.
But maybe because it had gone on for so long?
Even though Yu-na often disrupted filming, he'd strangely grown fond of her.
"Haven't seen Yu-na in a while..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Line up your movements with Actress Kim So-young for the next scene so they don't clash. We'll rough it out. Ahem! But don't take it too casually."
"Got it, Director."
After sending Lee Jun-seo off into the distance.
Han Mun-jin unnecessarily raised his voice at the staff checking equipment.
"You lot! Is this set a playground? Move it!"
After a brief chat with Actress Kim So-young in the center of the small dorm and cafeteria, we started matching movements.
She did something so odd that I burst out laughing without thinking.
Something brown in her hand.
She brought it close to her nose and sniffed... It was so weird and hilarious I couldn't hold it in.
"Ahaha. Noona, why'd you suddenly pick up poop and smell it? You don't have to go that far."
"No, doesn't this feel more real?"
We'd only exchanged a few words, but we clicked so well we got close fast.
Unlike with other seniors, I started calling her "noona" early on.
"It's still poop, even if it's dried."
She shrugged lightly as she pocketed the hardened animal droppings.
"You've got to actively use whatever's around during filming. Right? You can't learn this anywhere else."
I blinked vacantly for a moment, then snapped to and nodded.
I knew that.
It was ad-libbing that only comes with experience and leeway as a veteran actor.
But wasn't it a bit early for her?
Her subtle emotional acting wasn't great...
Still, you support your seniors in moments like this.
I replied coolly.
"Use everything around you to the max... Nice. Learned something good from you, Noona. But why pocket the poop?"
She shrugged confidently.
"Obviously to use in filming."
"...Gonna ad-lib with it again?"
"Was it bad?"
I shook my head.
'Well, that last ad-lib was good.'
It perfectly shifted the heavy mood to laughter.
But...
Why pull out the hardened poop again? As she gently stroked it, she grinned and spoke.
"Hehehe. Pretty poop ball. Sis will bury you in a flowerpot later."
"Pfft!"
I burst into laughter again.
Watching her, I realized.
'Actress Kim So-young is on another level.'
Soon after, the proper shoot began.
In front of the dorm, she sat limply on the ground and pulled the poop from her pocket.
Director Han Mun-jin, puzzled, grabbed his megaphone.
"Kim, what's that?"
"It's for my acting. Thought of a good ad-lib."
"...What?"
The frowning director whipped his head toward me, silently demanding an explanation.
"Sigh, Noona So-young will pick up that hardened poop as an ad-lib while searching for her cane."
"...Fine. Kim, go wild."
"Yep! Got it."
With cameras rolling, Kim So-young, emotions locked in, desperately groped the ground.
Rustle. Rustle.
As I slowly closed the distance toward her.
She grabbed the ad-lib poop and quickly sniffed it.
"Sniff sniff! What's... this?"
"......"
Even as I furrowed my brow, she continued the weird action.
"No smell... Ah! That's not important! I need to find my cane first... Where'd it fall?"
She set the poop down.
And resumed groping the ground.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"...Doesn't it make you angry, after all that?"
"Wh-who's there? I dropped my cane? Could you help me find it? Please?"
The innocent girl looked up, her gaze not quite meeting mine.
Clearly bullied.
Yet she didn't lose her pure smile.
Here, I was to feel rage, so I clenched my fist hard.
Crunch.
Too immersed, my teeth ground with a chilling sound.
"Um, hello?"
"......"
Rustle. Rustle.
Suppressing my anger, I slowly reached into the thick weeds.
The cane hidden by the delinquents.
I pulled it out and tossed it before her. Hearing it, she groped, grabbed it.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"...No need to thank me."
"At least tell me your name..."
Now it was time for me to exit.
I awkwardly slipped out of camera range.
Then checked the director's reaction.
If he didn't like Kim So-young's ad-lib, we'd cut it.
Honestly, I liked it...
But he might not.
'It was okay, right?'
As if reading my mind.
Without taking his eyes off Kim So-young, Director Han Mun-jin gave me a thumbs up.
Filming wrapped earlier than expected, around lunchtime, when I got a call from someone who should be busy shooting.
Finally, time to check the response.
Smiling, I answered.
"Hyung, got it okay?"
-You punk, Lee Jun-seo! Why'd you make that photo the poster! You mad?
"Ahaha! Hyung, don't forget to post your Starry verification shot too."
-Sigh... Jun-seo? Let's see who wins.
"...Hyung?"
-Jun-seo, you know fans are curious about that episode we didn't air on the variety show, right?
A chill ran down my spine.
Wiping the smile, I gripped my phone tighter. I could guess what Kang Su-ho was plotting.
The rural variety shoot.
He was probably going to spill Yu-na's embarrassing episode from then.
He'd definitely snapped a photo, calling it cute.
He had that photo for sure.
Of course, Su-ho hyung wouldn't release it without permission...
But mentioning it was easy.
'If he does that.'
Everyone would recall Yu-na's embarrassing moment upon seeing her. Visualizing that future, I swallowed dryly.
"H-Hyung? You wouldn't release that, right?"
-Why not? It was just cute.
"N-No. But Yu-na did nothing wrong this time..."
-I'll use it well on Starry first. Check the verification shot this afternoon. Talk later, pretty dongsaeng.
Click!
Su-ho hyung ended the call abruptly, like he didn't want to chat.
As a dad, I had to protect Yu-na's embarrassing past. I frantically called him back.
Not even five seconds later, a woman's voice from the phone.
-The subscriber is unavailable. Beep— leaving a voicemail after the tone...
"Ah, we're screwed..."
If he says he'll do it, he does.
That's Kang Su-ho.
Looks like he's really going public with Yu-na's embarrassing episode.