Soeun in Wonderland (1)
"Suhwan, did you pack the kids' snacks?"
"Yeah. Oh—I forgot Pe-eng's food."
I rushed to the fridge and grabbed a few sardines I'd vacuum-sealed ahead of time. I checked once more for anything I might have missed, nodded to myself, and loaded a big box into the trunk. It was full of treats for the animals.
All this bustling was because, for the first time in a while, we had a Pet-Drama shoot on the schedule. Not the usual quick filming at the café, either. This one meant renting out an entire studio, and for a Pet-Drama the scale was nothing modest.
Once the basics were handled, I walked over to Soeun, who was standing beside the car.
"Soeun, you ready?"
"Mm! Ready!"
At that she planted her feet about shoulder-width apart and lifted her tiny clenched fists to her chest. She was so adorable I couldn't help myself—the shutter clicked and clicked as I took her picture—and then I settled her straight into the car seat.
"Noona, you're ready too, right?"
"Ready for what? All we really have to do is sleep."
"Fair enough."
The Pet-Drama script did include scenes for the two of us. Of course, those scenes were nothing but us being asleep.
"Daddy, let's go! Let's go!"
"All right, let's go."
I let out a soft laugh at Soeun bouncing her feet in the car seat and demanding we leave. Once every animal was loaded up, I pulled out and headed straight for Haeundae.
Today's destination was the filming studio tucked right beside the Haeundae Yacht Stadium. We'd left early in the morning, so luckily the roads weren't jammed, and we arrived before long to find the crew huddled together in the parking lot.
"Ah, am I late?"
"No, you're early. We just got here even earlier. Unloading the gear takes a while."
I nodded at the hand trucks on the pavement, already piled high with equipment, then got out, unloaded our bags and the animals, and set Soeun down as well.
"Soeun, hi!"
"Hewwo!"
The moment her feet touched the ground, Soeun waved both hands wildly at the crew she'd already grown used to after only a few meetings. I smiled at the sight and headed straight into the studio. We'd reserved it in advance, so getting in was no trouble at all.
"Oh……. A giant chroma key."
Inside the enormous studio, the first thing that met my eyes was the wall used for chroma key—one entire side of the room covered in green panels. The third floor of the café, the little studio we used now and then for videos and broadcasts, had chroma-key panels too, but they couldn't begin to compare. This wall was tall enough to stand five or six people on one another's shoulders, and it was green from top to bottom. Side to side, it was long enough for dozens of people to lie down with room to spare.
Soon, though, something even more eye-catching came into view. Sets had been built ahead of time for this shoot, and they sat clustered together in one corner of the studio.
"They turned out well. These folks really are set-building professionals."
We'd commissioned all the sets out, and I nodded in deep satisfaction as I looked them over. Once I was sure every last preparation for filming was finished, we started shooting right away.
We began with a shot of the three of us asleep. Noona and I, with Soeun between us, put on the pajamas we usually wore and lay down on the bed that had been prepared, pretending to sleep. A few of the crew giggled at the sight of Noona sleeping so peacefully, and of the two of us beside her out cold in the exact same pose.
"Mmm."
Partway through, Soeun squirmed in the middle and sat up. Through half-lidded eyes she looked at me and Noona.
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Seeing us not moving so much as a muscle—fully committed to the sleeping act—she started to lie back down. It lasted only a moment. Just as she was tipping backward, she caught sight of a rabbit moving beyond the door, which stood a little ajar, and climbed down off the bed. She crawled off the soft mattress and followed the way the rabbit had gone.
"Where'd you go?"
She lost the rabbit for a second, but after a little looking around she spotted it a short distance off.
"There!"
The instant she found it, she toddled over at a run and snatched the rabbit up. And at that very same moment, the lights snapped off.
The moment they died, a clatter rose and people rushed about swapping the set. The bedroom became a wide open field in an instant—aside from the walls, which were still green for the chroma key.
"Wooow!"
The lights had gone out, there'd been a brief clatter, and now everything around her had changed. Soeun looked thoroughly astonished. But in that gap, O-gito, who'd been cradled in her arms, scrabbled free and bolted.
"Where'd you go!"
Soeun chased right after. The moment she rounded a corner of the set, a scene that had been waiting in advance was there to greet her.
What she found was animals. Not ordinary animals, either—animals dressed like people, carrying themselves like people.
"Dang, how's this so tasty?"
"'Cause I gave it a lick, that's why."
"Ptooey! What the heck!"
The raccoons, dressed in pitch-black clothes like little suits, held tiny teacups in the front paws they used as hands and sipped their tea.
"Ungh, this year's carrot crop is a total bust-gosha!"
"That's why I said we oughta grow cabbage instead of carrots-gosha!"
"Quit fightin' and just eat the carrots-sha!"
"I like lettuce better than carrots or cabbage-gosha!"
"Haaah. Thought I was a goner-sha."
"O-gito, what were you doin' that you're only showin' up now-gosha?"
Behind the raccoons, more rabbits were hard at work in a little flower bed built for the set. Each of them wore a straw hat, as if determined to look every bit the farmer—though of course the hats were the kind with ears popping straight out the top.
Soeun's eyes lit up at the sight, and she hurried over.
"Wow! You guys!"
She came up to where the raccoons and rabbits were and threw both arms wide, calling out to them.
"Aaaah?!"
"Wh-what the—!"
"Kyuuek! The baby's here-sha!"
"How'd she get here-gosha! O-gito, was it you-sha?!"
"I-I don't know nothin'-gosha!"
"What do you mean you don't know-gosha! You got here last-sha!"
The animals who spotted Soeun flew into a panic all at once, milling about as if they had no idea what to do. Soeun hardly seemed to notice. She went straight to the Tokkiz and snatched O-gito up tight. Catching the one who'd run from her had been her goal from the start.
"Gotcha!"
"Kyuek!"
O-gito rolled their eyes as if trying to wriggle free of her hand, but Soeun had no intention of letting go, and her grip was so firm there was no escaping it. Holding O-gito fast, she looked around with a thoroughly satisfied face.
"Whatcha doin' here?"
The raccoons and rabbits were staring at her, frozen in awkward uncertainty, and Soeun tilted her head.
"How'd the baby get here-gosha……?"
"Whoa! Bunny, you talked!"
The moment she could understand what Il-gito was saying, Soeun threw a hand up high, as if she were astonished. Of course, I was the one translating for her through the tiny earphone in her ear—but our clever Soeun already understood the very idea of acting, and she stayed faithfully in her part.
"Amazing! Bunny, say it again!"
She gave O-gito a little shake in her hand. Thanks to that, O-gito alone got to savor the full sensation of a roller coaster.
In the end O-gito flapped their ears, like raising a white flag of surrender.
"Kyu, kyuuek! S-spare me-sha!"
"You talked!"
The instant O-gito begged for mercy, the shaking stopped dead.
Soeun let out a hee-hee of a laugh and called the animals over. She plopped down on the floor and patted the spot beside her with her palm.
The raccoons and the Tokkiz, who'd been fretting over whether to run or what else they ought to do, slowly came closer.
"Where is this?"
With the animals gathered around her, Soeun pointed at their surroundings and asked. At that, Sopodong—one of the two raccoons in the black suit-like clothes—eased a step forward.
"Ahem! This right here is the animals' hidden world! The Breath of the Animals, I tell ya!"
"Huh?"
"You, get on outta here! What kinda bum explanation is that! The Breath of the Animals? What's that supposed to be? Now listen good. This here is Wonderland! It's the private room where us animals show the sides we don't show humans. You're different at the café than you are at home too, ain't ya? You follow?"
"Dunno!"
She shook her head with a bright, innocent smile, and Daepodong smacked his own forehead.
"Dang it……. What am I supposed to do? Ah, forget it. Talkin' ain't gonna get us anywhere. Just have a look around. Follow me!"
Daepodong stuck a front paw into the pocket of his suit-like clothes and drew out a string. Look closely and you could tell it was a cord fastened to the back of the outfit. He pressed it into Soeun's hand.
"Keep up, now!"
Once he was sure she had hold of the end, Daepodong took the lead and shuffled off.
"Let's go together!"
Soeun watched him start ahead for a moment, then trotted eagerly after him, still clutching O-gito in one hand.
Weaving through the sets built in advance and the ones being added on to match their movement, the first place Daepodong came to was a space the dogs and the cats had split clean down the middle, each side holding half the ground.