Two Birds with One Stone (3)
To cut straight to the point, Kim Taesung had readily given his blessing for me to visit the music video shoot.
"Static— Lighting team, lighting team! When's the backlight for Set A going to be ready? The main pin light is half a beat late!"
The main director stood dead center in the studio and barked into his walkie-talkie. A staff member dangling from the ceiling catwalk scrambled to answer.
"Static— Fixing the lights right now! One minute!"
"Art team! There's fog juice on the floor—it's slippery! The dancers have to move through here, wipe it up now!"
"Yes, art team's coming in with mops!"
Walkie-talkie chatter and shouted orders rained down from every direction, turning the studio into something that looked and felt like a war zone.
"Jimmy jib camera coming in! Everyone clear off the rails! You're in the way!"
"SFX team! We're popping the confetti on this chorus cut, so stand by for the timing! Check the wind direction!"
"SFX standing by, ready!"
Equipment whirred and clattered without pause while dozens of people meshed together like perfectly timed gears, each locked into their own position. In the middle of that chaos, a staffer who looked like the assistant director strained his neck veins and yelled.
"Naeun's hair and makeup touch-up—how much longer?! Don't you hear the camera rental clock ticking down by the second? Get her in here!"
"The manager's bringing her right now! Thirty seconds! We roll in thirty!"
First time I've ever set foot on a music video set.
I quietly claimed a blind spot in one corner of the studio, well clear of the staff traffic lanes. Neon signs blazed across the elaborately dressed set while smoke machines pumped out a constant haze. Neither in my past life nor this one had I ever imagined I would end up somewhere like this.
What seized my attention first were the massive camera rigs sweeping through the air and across the very center of the set. Suddenly I remembered what Naeun had been bragging about in the practice room just a few days ago.
Unnie! Did you know the quality of a music video is basically the price of the camera? The main camera we're using this time costs two to three hundred million won just to rent! The CEO really went all out with the budget!
Back then she had been bouncing around so hard I had just nodded along, but seeing the real thing with my own eyes made me wonder if she had been talking nonsense after all.
Two to three hundred million just to rent it. That doesn't even make rational sense.
No matter how bottomless a major agency's pockets were, dumping hundreds of millions of won on a camera rental—not even a purchase—just to polish the look of a three-minute video felt absurd.
"All right, stand by! Take three! Music cue!"
At the director's shout the entire studio snapped into order in an instant. Every light in the place locked onto Naeun standing in the middle of the set.
Oh…
I folded my arms and watched carefully from behind the monitors.
"Okay, cut! Naeun, that expression just now was fantastic!"
The moment the director called cut, the sharp idol glare Naeun had been wearing dropped away and she sucked in ragged breaths. She waved off the coordinators who rushed over with towels and instead started scanning every corner of the studio. Her eyes found me almost immediately, tucked into the dark corner.
"Unnieeeee—!!"
Even in her heavy stage costume, Naeun shot toward me like a bullet. I felt every staffer's gaze swing our way at once and hurriedly pressed a finger to the fabric of my mask.
"Shh. Keep it down. I snuck in without anyone knowing, remember?"
"Hehe! You actually came! I know you're busy, but you really came!"
Naeun ignored my warning completely, beaming as she latched onto my arm.
"How was it? Did I look like an idol just now? Cool, right?!"
She wore the face of a puppy waiting for praise.
"Totally different from how you look in the practice room. You looked cool."
At my honest compliment her face flushed tomato red.
"Hearing you say that… I'm really glad…"
Naeun gave a shy little smile. From across the floor a staffer who looked like her manager waved frantically at her.
"Naeun! Change into the next outfit and head straight to set!"
"Ah, yes! Coming!"
She looked back at me with clear reluctance and waved.
"Unnie, I'll finish shooting quick! Promise you'll come see me one more time before you leave, okay?"
"Got it, so don't trip and just go."
Watching her hurl her whole body toward her dream filled me with envy and, at the same time, a fresh jolt of motivation.
Everyone's fighting tooth and nail in their own place.
Naeun had taken her first step as an idol. That meant it was time for me to prove my own worth on the battlefield that had been handed to me.
The semi-finals.
The stage with Producer Seo Geonwoo where only one person would get to hold the mic. Kang Minhyuk's face floated in front of my eyes.
"This really wasn't the time to be taking it easy."
"Cut! Okay, good work! We'll reset the lights, so take a short ten-minute break!"
The director's rest call dropped and the tightly wound air in the studio went slack all at once. Staff members drank water or rolled stiff necks, snatching whatever rest they could. In the middle of that noisy floor, one man still refused to leave the monitors.
He was Cha Suhyeok, the industry's top-class visual director whom CEO Kim Taesung had paid a fortune to hire for Naeun's solo debut project.
Not bad. Bright, energetic. But…
Cha Suhyeok flipped through the close-up cuts of Naeun on the monitor and furrowed his brow. He had spent several nearly sleepless nights asking himself only one question: how do I frame her so she looks her absolute best? Naeun was pretty, and she matched the concept of the song. Yet to a top-tier director's eye, something was still two percent short.
There's no killing shot that grabs the eye and refuses to let go. It just ends at pretty and cute. It's missing that one fatal punch that makes the audience on the other side of the lens fall hard.
He clicked his tongue in mild disappointment and turned his head—just in time to catch Naeun, on her break, waving off the water bottle her manager offered and darting straight toward the darkest blind spot in the studio.
Naeun? Who is she talking to over there?
Curiosity drew his gaze, and Cha Suhyeok's eyes narrowed. A woman stood facing Naeun. Even in that dark corner her silhouette held a strangely magnetic pull.
What is that proportion?
A tall, clean frame that easily cleared 170 centimeters, square shoulders and a long neckline visible even under the baggy hoodie she had thrown on. Most of all, even with a ball cap pulled low and a mask covering more than half her face, Cha Suhyeok felt it immediately.
If that kind of aura is pouring off her while she's covered up, her face has to be the type that eats the camera alive without even trying.
She was no ordinary staffer or coordinator. Even the casual way she stood with her weight on one leg looked like a still from a fashion editorial. Almost without realizing it, Cha Suhyeok found himself walking toward the two of them as if drawn.
"Naeun, why aren't you resting? What are you doing over here?"
When he approached with a gentle voice, Naeun—mid-chatter—jumped and spun around.
"Ah! Director! Um, well…"
Cha Suhyeok's gaze locked onto Jiyoung. His eyes traced the slim line of her eyes just visible under the brim of her cap, and he swallowed a short sound of admiration.
Look at those eyes. That's it. The magnetic pull I wanted from Naeun is sitting right there in that gaze.
"Hello. I'm Cha Suhyeok. I'm the visual director for this project."
He offered his business card with polite formality. Jiyoung took it on reflex and answered shortly.
"Ah, yes. Hello."
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Naeun… Ah. I recognize the voice."
An intrigued smile spread across Cha Suhyeok's lips.
"You're Han Jiyoung, aren't you? The star of the reverse trend."
The moment her identity was outed, Naeun clamped onto Jiyoung's arm and checked her expression. Jiyoung let out a short sigh of resignation and tugged her mask down just enough.
"Hello. I'm Han Jiyoung."
As the mask came away and her full face appeared, Cha Suhyeok's eyes widened a fraction.
"Wow… You're even more impressive than the rumors. Ever thought about doing a camera test? This is the kind of subject that absolutely has to be captured on film."
"No. I haven't."
Her firm refusal made him click his tongue in regret, but his gaze stayed fixed on her. Then he turned his head toward Naeun.
"Naeun, you've been stressing over the expressions you should make in front of the camera, right? You don't have to look far. That look Jiyoung just had when she pulled her mask down—the one that says she's completely done with everything. Copy that."
"Huh? Unnie's eyes?"
"Exactly. You keep approaching the lens too kindly, like you're saying, 'Aren't I pretty? Aren't I doing great?' But what really drives people crazy is the kind of ease that almost comes closer and then casually pushes the lens away, just like that."
Jiyoung's brow tightened for a second. She was floored by how bluntly this man was dissecting someone else's eyes, yet the words that followed cooled her mind like a splash of ice water.
"Jiyoung. I've watched your stages on Voice of Legend. Your singing is overwhelmingly good, but there's one thing that felt lacking."
"Something lacking?"
"You know how to dominate the space on stage, but you don't know how to dominate the camera lens."
The remark struck dead center. Cha Suhyeok looked straight into her eyes and continued.
"Don't try to radiate energy toward the lens. Do the opposite—draw the energy in."
The explanation was abstract, yet it slammed into Jiyoung's mind like lightning and unlocked something.
Draw it in.
She thought of the melody of track seventeen.
"…That's an incredible tip. I'm not sure I'm allowed to hear it for free."
At her words Cha Suhyeok grinned and held out another card.
"It's not free. The condition is that when you shoot the music video for your solo track later, you let me come on as the director."
"So I have to cast you, is that it?"
"Yes. I can guarantee that the only person in Korea who can perfectly capture your aura on camera is me."
His confidence was sky-high. Yet somehow it wasn't the least bit unpleasant.
"I'll think about it."
Jiyoung stuffed the card into her pocket and let the corner of her mouth lift. She had come hoping to gain something, and it seemed she had walked away with far more than she expected.