Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Improvised Rock Smash
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We'd moved to a corner of the filming set to run lines with Yoo Seol-hwa for today's scene, but just going through the motions felt boring.
"Hmm..."
Should I try it like a daily drama?
I quickly got into character, locking in the emotion, and slowly delivered the line.
"If you come at me like this, it's a problem."
Yoo Seol-hwa's eyes widened noticeably at my completely changed vibe.
"Problem! It's a problem!"
She snapped out of it at Yu-na's bubbly line and slowly opened her mouth.
"No, don't do this at home..."
I'd tweaked the genre a bit for practice, but she flawlessly nailed the sitcom's unique tone.
Well, it wasn't actual filming.
I kept going with the acting.
"Ha! Is that so? Then why did you approach our cute and precious daughter?"
"Approach her?"
I narrowed my eyes and glared, and she showed a flicker of panic.
"H-Hey! Do I look like a kidnapper, young and pretty as I am?"
"If that's the case, then why did you give candy to our daughter without my permission?"
I glared at her fiercely even while nitpicking something trivial. I wondered how I looked to my senior.
I was inwardly curious.
"Th-That is..."
Her lips parted and closed repeatedly as our eyes met.
And her shoulders started shaking hard.
Ah, did I put too much anger into it?
My guess was spot on.
"Junior. Sorry, but could you ease up on the intensity in your eyes? And... this take didn't feel like a sitcom at all."
I felt unnecessarily sorry seeing her avoid even making eye contact.
I hadn't meant to scare her...
I nodded and replied.
"Maybe I got too deep into the emotion. I'll be careful."
"Sister! Sister! Yu-na ease up too?"
Yu-na hopped down to the floor, raising her hand high and bouncing.
Her sudden interruption made us both burst out laughing.
"Ahaha! Yu-na, just keep being yourself—no need to ease up."
"Senior's right. Yu-na doesn't need to look scary on purpose."
"Really? Yu-na doing good?"
The sweltering heat had drained our energy for practice, so we sat in the shade for a short break.
The makeup room smelled like a flower garden, a mix of all sorts of cosmetics.
I'd changed into my filming outfit and was sitting in front of the large vanity, leaving my face in the hands of the makeup artist.
"Dad, makeup again?"
"Huh? Oh... Yu-na?"
Yu-na emerged from the changing room with the female staff, wearing a white T-shirt and yellow overalls.
One of the straps had slipped down, and she had a lollipop in her mouth like a cigarette, looking quite the delinquent.
Of course, even that looked cute to me.
Still, I had to point it out...
"Ahem, your strap's down."
"Oh! When did that happen?"
I smiled contentedly as she hurriedly fixed the strap.
"Yu-na doesn't need to look like a delinquent dad. Right?"
I teasingly asked the woman still busy helping with makeup.
"Of course. Obviously."
Thud thud thud.
Yu-na dashed to my side in one bound and tugged at my clothes.
"Hehehe. Dad, how's Yu-na?"
"Pretty. It suits you well."
Just then, the woman finished her deft work and wiped her sweat.
"All done."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me. It's our job."
"Then we'll get going..."
I tightly held Yu-na's hand and headed out of the makeup room, ignoring the filming staff pleading with Yu-na not to go.
I wondered if today would end without issues.
I felt needlessly worried.
"Jun-seo!"
A familiar voice called from behind.
Shin Dong-hyun was approaching, waving.
"When did you get here?"
"Two hours ago."
"Oh? Right, the gift certificate Senior Su-ho gave you last time—did you use it?"
We'd been fine when others were around before, but alone, it felt awkward.
He wasn't a bad guy—getting close wouldn't hurt... Was it because he was younger than me in my past life?
'Or is there another reason?'
I didn't even know why I felt this way myself.
"......"
"Why so quiet? You still haven't used that gift certificate?"
As I hesitated, Shin Dong-hyun smirked and looked down.
"Should I just ask Yu-na?"
"Fine. I used it right away the day I got it."
"So when are you sending that promised photo? I've been dying waiting for it."
"...Oh, I forgot."
It suddenly hit me—the promise when Senior gave me the gift certificate.
To send a photo of Yu-na happily playing with the toy, right? I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
I hadn't taken a photo with the toy, but my phone was overflowing with Yu-na pics anyway.
'The cutest one.'
I grinned at the shot of Yu-na grimacing after eating black beans.
This should satisfy him.
I tapped away and uploaded it to the cast group chat.
Lee Jun-seo: (photo)
Lee Jun-seo: Sorry for the delay. Forgot to take the promised one. Hope this works.
I confirmed it sent and pocketed my phone.
"Couldn't take that photo. This one's instead."
"Hey! Wait up!"
As I walked with Yu-na, I glanced back. Shin Dong-hyun was stuck to my heels, grinning.
"By the way, I've got a question. How do you improve your acting skills?"
"......"
"Don't you think it's time to tell me? No matter how much I research, mine won't go up anymore."
I hardened my expression.
Is this why he's trying to get close?
He started overlapping with that trash from my past life.
The scummy friend who'd pestered me to invest in his business.
Ah, now I vaguely got why this guy had felt off from the start.
'Friends.'
I was subconsciously rejecting the idea of making friends. Right now, Shin Dong-hyun and I were the same age.
By my past life's count, he was younger, like a little brother.
But by this body's age, he was a friend.
'I need to be careful...'
This was a fresh chance I'd gained.
Open my heart too easily, and I could relive the betrayal from a friend I trusted in my past life.
No guarantee this guy wouldn't do the same.
"Not asking for it free. If you need a favor, I'll do anything. Okay?"
"......"
I stared straight at Shin Dong-hyun before slowly speaking.
"Get more experience."
I wasn't opening up by giving advice. Just telling him this to shake him off.
"Experience? So no quick boost then. After this drama wraps... maybe a trip nearby? Until then..."
Look at this guy.
He stopped dead, muttering to himself with furrowed brows. Meanwhile, I ditched Shin Dong-hyun and entered the rundown single house that was the set.
'Just do it like we practiced.'
Today, I couldn't let my guard down. Yu-na had a lot of lines, and mistakes would drag out filming.
"Go ahead and enter."
"Got it."
The staff gave the signal.
I had to watch her closely from the side.
I swallowed dryly and opened the rusted iron gate with peeling paint.
Creak!
Yoo Seol-hwa, sweeping the yard in shabby clothes, dropped the broom the moment she saw us.
Her expression perfectly captured the shock of our sudden visit.
"H-How did you get here..."
I kicked at the scattered flowerpots in the yard and shot her a glare.
"If you come at me like this, it's a problem."
"Right! Problem!"
"What the hell was that?"
"Why you do dat?"
Yu-na and I breathed in perfect sync as we strode toward her.
"No, don't do this at home..."
It felt good.
Maybe we'd nail it in one take?
I furrowed my brows hard and let out a deep sigh.
"Why did you approach our cute and precious daughter?"
"Approach her?"
"Were you planning to kidnap our cute and precious daughter and blackmail me?"
"Blackmail?"
"Hey! Do I look like a kidnapper, young and pretty as I am?"
"If that's the case, then why did you give candy to our daughter without my permission."
Yoo Seol-hwa's face twisted in disbelief at the absurdity.
'Dotting dad.'
Overreacting only about things involving his daughter—that was the core of my character.
"If you keep approaching our daughter..."
I planted my foot against a thin, tall rock standing to the right and shoved hard.
But...
The rock didn't budge an inch.
It felt like a real rock.
"Ah..."
Then I realized my mistake.
I'd put my foot on a real rock, trying to push it over.
The fake one was right next to Yu-na.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
'Screwing up right from the start.'
My options here were...
Mix in some ad-lib and keep going.
Or start over from the top.
Nothing else.
'...Try ad-libbing?'
The thought took a split second. I steadied my rattled emotions and glared at Yoo Seol-hwa.
"No matter how sturdy... if I really wanted to..."
I pushed the rock with both hands, making it look like I was a bit off somehow.
Boom!
The fallen real rock split in half, plunging the set into heavy silence.
I wiped sweat from my forehead and shrugged cockily.
"See that?"
"......"
"Wooah! Dad's the best!"
Crash!
Shin Dong-hyun burst out of the house barefoot, stomping into the yard.
"Sis! You okay? Hurt anywhere?"
His hands, gripping her face hard, were covered in squid ink.
The setup was he'd been prepping squid.
Now, stains smeared across Yoo Seol-hwa's fair skin.
Even so, Shin Dong-hyun's lines as the little brother continued.
"I told you to be careful."
Yoo Seol-hwa finally snapped to it and delivered her line slowly.
"I didn't think it'd turn out like this..."
Luckily, they kept rolling with my ad-lib instead of cutting.
"If you approach our daughter again... you'll end up like this rock. Got it?"
That's when it happened.
Something dropped with a clunk, and Yu-na came forward.
"Dad! Yu-na pushed too!"
Yu-na struck a triumphant pose after toppling a pebble barely worthy of being called a rock.
"...Pfft!"
Seeing her so proud over knocking over that tiny thing cracked me up—I burst out laughing despite myself.
"Cut!"
I snapped to at the director's call, realizing my mistake and slapping my forehead.
Yu-na's character in the show was Kim So-ah.
I'd salvaged the positioning flub with ad-lib perfectly. But Yu-na said her real name mid-take.
It was Yu-na's fault too.
But mine as well.
'If I hadn't messed up...'
I bowed to Director Lee Han-sol and the staff around.
"Sorry for the mistake."
"It's fine. We got a great scene. For the name... just dub Yu-na's voice over."
The director grinned.
"This actor's ad-lib was gold this time."
The staff's faces lit up in shock at the director.
'Wait, did he just drop the formal speech?'
Honestly, even I was surprised.
The director going casual meant I'd finally gotten comfortable with him.
"What are you all doing? Move it, don't dawdle."
"Yes, sir!"
The buff, muscle-bound staff sprang into action.
They cleared the sharp rock shards from the ground. The shattered rock I'd toppled stayed in place.
Once sorted, we restarted.
We shot the same scene in single and two-shot before moving on.
Now it was time for Yu-na and me to exit.
I checked my watch, glared at the two sitting in the yard.
"I'm letting it slide today... but no next time. Got it?"
"Got it?"
With Yu-na's lispy line, I turned and walked out of camera frame.
Her cute shadow trailing me added to the shot.
Yu-na chattering would ruin it.
I leaned to her ear and whispered softly.
'Stay quiet now.'
'Okay.'
I relaxed and watched Shin Dong-hyun and Yoo Seol-hwa's scene in the yard.
"Why'd I even come to the countryside... what kinda hardship is this? Getting targeted by weirdos."
Yoo Seol-hwa, face scrunched in misery, whined as she chucked a rock.
"That's just your fate, sis."
"Not your problem, so butt out?"
After a silent beat, both Yoo Seol-hwa and Shin Dong-hyun looked up at the sky.
Director Lee Han-sol's booming voice rang out.
"Cut! Perfect!"
No sooner had he finished than a weird noise came from above.
Whirrr!
What, a drone?
As I looked down...
"Wooah! It's a fairy!"
"Y-Yu-na!"
Before I could grab her,
Yu-na dodged filming gear and staff to chase the drone outside.
Her innocent dash turned the exhausted set into a sea of laughter.