Cameo
"Eeeek! You're so cuuuute!"
Younghee had Namcat crushed to her chest, petting and nuzzling him in a frantic, mindless squirm. The attention was starting to grate, of course, and the moment the Churu ran out, he began to fight back.
"Let go!"
"Ah! Don't gooo!"
She might have been a celebrity who had mastered every workout there was for the sake of her figure, but she still didn't have the strength to hold out against Namcat. He slipped free of her arms in a flash, and Younghee watched him go with a pitiful look. She didn't just stand there, though. She sprinted for the treat vending machine, bought his snack, and came charging straight back at him.
"What a pain!"
"...If it's such a pain, then run. Why are you letting her hold you?"
I stared at him in disbelief. He had the nerve to call her a nuisance while looking Younghee in the face, then melted right back into her arms the second a single treat appeared. The least he could do was make his words match his actions.
"Tch. Annoying human!"
And yet he didn't budge an inch, licking away at the Churu that very human was squeezing out for him. Honestly, it was hard to know what to say. I shook my head and headed back toward the counter with Noona.
"You're not going to keep watching? I thought you were interested in her."
"What are you talking about. I've only got eyes for you, Noona."
A celebrity named Younghee showing up was surprising enough on its own, but there was no reason to keep dwelling on it. I called myself a fan, sure—just not the kind who wanted to stand around and stare.
"Still, she really is gorgeous. I suppose that's what being a celebrity does."
"I think you're prettier, Noona."
"Our Suhwan knows just what to say."
Noona broke into a soft smile at the flattery and gently brushed my cheek. I drew her into a light embrace and rested a hand on her lower belly. It was still early in the pregnancy, so there wasn't much to feel, and yet I could have sworn some faint sensation was there all the same.
"Could you maybe save the romance for home? Brother-in-law Boss? Madam Unnie? You're rubbing salt in a single person's wounds."
Someone was grumbling at the sight of us. Yeongji had come out for a look the moment she heard a celebrity was here, then lost the nerve to push through the crowd and ended up loafing at the counter instead.
"So what. A married couple's allowed to flirt a little."
"That's right. Yeongji, you could just get yourself a boyfriend."
At that, Yeongji pushed her lips out and let out a long boo. The childish pout pulled a laugh out of me, and I finally let go of Noona.
But while the three of us were chatting about this and that, the murmur of the crowd drew close again. Younghee, who had been cradling Namcat off in a corner, was coming our way.
"Boss."
"Yes. Is there something you need?"
"Ah, well, you see..."
Her expression turned a little awkward at the question. I watched her, wondering what this was about, and after a brief hesitation she spoke.
"Would it be all right if I borrowed Namcat for a little while?"
"...Sorry? What? Borrow what?"
I stared at her, dumbfounded. Asking out of nowhere to borrow Namcat—of course I was thrown. Younghee waved both hands in a hurry. As if she could already tell what I was thinking, she insisted I had the wrong idea and started to explain.
"You know I've got a shoot right now, right? I mentioned it earlier."
"Right."
"The thing is, it's been delayed for a bit. We were supposed to go straight into the next scene, but one of the cats in it ran into trouble. He's essential to the shoot, and he got hurt all of a sudden."
That told me why she wanted Namcat. The cat they absolutely needed couldn't film, and she figured he could stand in just fine.
"We'll make it worth your while, of course! It was our director who asked me to borrow him. He must have seen me playing with Namcat here while he was looking at my Outstar. He just called and said I absolutely had to bring him."
Ah. So it wasn't her idea. It was the director in charge of the shoot.
"A shoot..."
I had to think it over. Movie, drama, or just some ordinary TV program—either way, footage of Namcat could end up spreading across the whole country. Honestly, sitting around uploading videos and waiting for my Mutube channel to grow seemed less useful than going out and promoting myself through something like this.
"Boss. Please! I'm begging you. I want this shoot to wrap up quickly, too..."
"Hmm... Then could you put me in touch with this director?"
Her urging settled it easily enough. Whether the thing ended up in theaters or on televisions nationwide, there was nothing to lose in promoting myself or my channel.
"Of course! Should I just read you the number?"
"Just type it in here."
I held out my phone, and Younghee quickly punched in the eleven digits.
"If you call now, the director will pick up. He told me to ask once and let him know right away."
She looked ready to hit the call button herself if I so much as nodded, so I went ahead and dialed. Maybe he really had been waiting, just as she'd said—the line connected the instant it rang once.
DIRECTOR GO AKSON
"Yes, this is Director Go Akson. Who's calling?"
SUHWAN
"Hello. I heard about you from Miss Younghee. You want to film my cat?"
DIRECTOR GO AKSON
"Ah...! Yes, that's right. The cat we'd arranged to film suddenly couldn't make the shoot—a no-show—so filming became impossible. Then I happened to see Miss Younghee's social media, and there she was, holding a cat that looked exactly like him. He wasn't putting up a shred of resistance, even in her arms. I thought, that's the one, and called."
"And what's the compensation for this shoot? There must have been a fee for the cat you were already filming."
He must have been desperate. The moment I finished, he burst out with a loud "That's right!"
"The original cat was an animal that took well to people. On that alone, we'd promised a fee of several thousand dollars. Truthfully, it was less a payment for the cat itself than a bit of travel money for the owner. But I looked into you a little, sir, and you're quite an impressive person. So here's what I thought. If you'll only agree to help us with this shoot, I'll see that you're treated better than anyone in the industry."
He went on and on, like a man who would take my help however he could get it. It was a long speech, but it boiled down to a single line. Help me, and I'll pay you well.
"Then could you tell me what kind of shoot this is? What it actually involves? I've got an image to think about, and so does Namcat, in his own way."
At that, the director immediately rattled off the details of Namcat's scenes. I listened without a word, and it didn't sound bad.
"Sounds good. I'll help with the shoot."
I listened to him whoop at my yes, then called Namcat over.
"Do what I tell you, and it's five Churu."
"Ten."
"Don't make me laugh. Six."
"Look who's talking. Nine."
"This is a pain, so let's split the difference. Seven."
"...Fine."
And with that, the deal with Namcat was done. A light touch between my fist and his forepaw, and a contract between human and animal was sealed.
"Whoooooa! He looks exactly the same!"
Just as we'd arranged, I brought Namcat to the set, and Director Akson came out to meet us. Calling it a welcome was a stretch, but he greeted the two of us with fierce enthusiasm all the same.
"Director."
"Ah—ah! Right. Sorry about that, sir. If it wouldn't be rude, could we start filming right away? We've fallen pretty far behind, you see, and the production company won't stop breathing down my neck..."
A man who seemed to be with the shoot came over and called for him, and Director Akson turned a pleading look on me. I gave a light nod. I'd already gone over everything Namcat had to act, and I'd drilled it into him besides, so starting immediately wasn't a problem. The script had come ahead of us. We were nowhere near perfect, but we'd rehearsed plenty.
"You can do it exactly the way I told you, right?"
"Obviously."
"Hm. I like the confidence."
"Just don't forget the Churu."
He reminded me of the treats with such swagger that I quietly flashed the bag I'd brought, packed full of Churu. For a moment Namcat looked like a hunter sizing up prey—but I hid the bag just as fast, and all he could do was smack his lips.
"Go on. They're all set and waiting just for you."
Dozens of staff had already finished preparing and were staring straight at him. I took them in, then gave Namcat a push. He walked slowly in the direction I nudged him, and was promptly seized in the hands of Younghee, who might as well have been the star of this movie.
"Damn it. I wasn't supposed to fold for Churu."
His belated regret seemed to drift over, and I cheerfully ignored it.
"We're rolling—!"
The moment Director Akson called for the cameras, Younghee—still nuzzling the cat in her arms—slipped into the scene.
"Nabi. Why did Grandma leave you to me as an inheritance?"
"Mraow."
"I wish I had a superpower that let me talk to animals. Then I wouldn't be sitting here worrying like this, would I?"
Younghee lifted Namcat in both hands until their eyes met.
"Grandma, honestly... She loved riddles so much while she was alive, and now she's even left her inheritance as a riddle for her granddaughter. Isn't that a little much? Hm? Nabi."
As if airing a grievance, she kept babbling on with him held up in the air. Namcat listened for a moment, then planted a front paw squarely on her face—more precisely, over the mouth that refused to stop chattering.
"Ptoo—ptoo! Nabi, what are you doing sticking your paw in there!"
"Mraaow."
"Nnngh..."
Playing out a conversation with a Namcat she couldn't understand a word of, Younghee put on a thoroughly troubled face. In the meantime he slipped from her arms and immediately started walking the way the staff were coaxing him from outside the camera frame.
"Hey—where are you going! Nabi, no!"
Younghee hurried after him, and the instant she too stepped out of the frame, someone called cut.
"Bwahahahaha! Not a single NG! Hahaha—hack! Khak! Kek!"
They'd shot a scene that was half animal and pulled off exactly the picture he'd imagined, without a single NG. Maybe that was why Director Akson burst into crazed laughter—hard enough to choke and thrash around on the floor. He pounded his own chest, calmed down in no time, and moved straight on to the next scene.
Younghee followed Namcat as he moved like he was leading her somewhere, and the scene was about finding the real inheritance left by the riddle-loving grandmother. Namcat would guide her through obstacle after obstacle and fork after fork, and Younghee, trailing after him, would find it in the end.
"Thank you! You really worked hard!"
Having filmed every one of those scenes without a single NG, Director Akson grabbed my hand with a wildly excited face and shook it up and down. An ordinary cat would have meant endless NGs and no end of stress. Thanks to me and Namcat, he'd been spared all of it, and no director alive could have failed to be pleased. We'd cut the shoot time, the cost, the physical strain and the mental strain—everything. Anyone who wasn't grateful after that wouldn't have been human.
"We'll be heading out, then. If you need any additional filming later, give me a call."
"Yes! Get home safe!"
My part—Namcat's, more precisely—was finished. I left the director, who saw us off with tremendous energy, and headed for home.
"Hand over the Churu you promised!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll give them to you, so quit nagging."
Soothing Namcat as he pestered me for his treats, I made it back home.