Filming (2)
Filming (2)
"Noona, the Director says she wants to do a photoshoot. What do you think?"
"A photoshoot?"
I lifted the side plate, which now held nothing but fish bones,
emptied it into a plastic bag, and began consulting A-ra — who was ladling a large mackerel fillet and radish onto my plate — about the call I'd had with the Director earlier.
"Surely it's not something like a swimsuit photoshoot or an underwear photoshoot, right?"
"Come on, would the Director make you do something like that? She said it's a fashion photoshoot."
"That's how it is, right? If it weren't, I would've started a war with the CEO unnie."
The agency's majority shareholder declaring war on the CEO.
I let A-ra's words, which were terrifying beyond belief, slide by with a 'haha...' laugh,
picked the mackerel off my side plate, and placed it on top of A-ra's rice bowl.
The sight of A-ra eating the mackerel I'd given her like a child, saying how delicious it was,
was truly cute and lovely.
"A fashion photoshoot should be fine, don't you think? I'll come to watch too, Noona. There have been some strange rumors in the photoshoot world lately, you know."
"Then it'll be safe."
It wasn't something the companies intended,
but among the directors shooting photobooks, some had been making outrageously excessive demands for high-level explicit photos from male models,
and it was becoming a major problem.
By the way, apparently, something absurd had happened where those explicit photos weren't even published in the photobooks
but were being shared in the director and staff's group chats.
"Of course, the CEO unnie probably wouldn't outsource to another company."
"Since things have turned out this way, how about A-ra Noona takes the photos?"
"Me?"
A-ra thought it over carefully, then shook her head.
"No matter how much you praise me for taking good pictures, comparing me to professionals would be disrespectful to them."
"Hmm... I don't think so."
"Seong-hwan, you post things calling them selfies, but every single one is the same face from the same angle."
A-ra laughed softly, then scooped up a big bite of the mackerel and rice I'd given her and popped it into her mouth.
I almost sulked for a moment, but seeing that expression on A-ra's face as she ate so happily,
the feeling subsided in an instant.
"And the skill gap is enormous. Things like retouching skills, too."
"If Noona says so, then that's how it is."
I nodded vaguely and spooned a bite of rice into my mouth.
After all, just listening to A-ra's words was sweet as honey.
Speaking of which, the mention of asking A-ra to take photos for me
brought to mind the bet we'd made yesterday.
"Noona, you remember our bet, right?"
"Cough..."
She remembered. A-ra set down the spoon she was holding onto the table
and covered her face. She seemed very embarrassed.
No, thinking about what was going to be embarrassing, her face had turned so red she couldn't even look at me.
"There's no way you wouldn't remember. Still, saying the SNS server would crash —
I think that might have been an overstatement."
"Well, about that... Right! Even if the SNS server didn't crash, the community site did!"
When I listened closely, it turned out the photos had spread to community sites,
and people had swarmed to see them, crashing the site.
A-ra had apparently finished retouching, handed them over to the PDs, and posted them on SNS and a major community site
with a no-repost restriction checked.
People who considered SNS a waste of life and didn't touch it at all
all flocked to that community site, and in the end, the server couldn't withstand the traffic and went down,
apparently only coming back online hours later.
Even so, it kept crashing again and again,
so the PDs apparently uploaded the photos on other sites to distribute the load.
What on earth was my photo?
"Hey, still, SNS and community sites are different."
"Ugh..."
"You're almost done eating, so get ready to take the photos. I'll clear this up."
"Al...already? It's broad daylight?!"
"Which makes it even better."
She was the one who set the terms as five photos with no level restrictions,
so I hoped she'd accept the outcome.
While doing the dishes, I began to think carefully about what poses would be good.
Because I was really looking forward to it.
***
I drew all the black blackout curtains over every window so absolutely no one could peer inside from outside.
Then, I brought all the lighting equipment used for video shoots into the living room and set it up,
grabbed the video camera, and held it out in front of A-ra.
A-ra, as promised, wore not a single stitch of clothing,
her face flushed with embarrassment, covering herself here and there with her hands.
"Noona, if you cover that, there's no point in taking the photo."
"S...still..."
"If it had been me having my photo taken, you would've pried my hands away by force."
Because A-ra, embarrassed, kept covering parts of her body and wouldn't show them,
I set the camera down and approached her.
Normally, touching a model is a breach of etiquette,
but A-ra is my wife, so touching her as much as I wanted wasn't a breach of manners at all.
"And with your hands... you know, right?"
"I...I know...!"
What kind of pose I guided her into is a secret,
but it was a magical pose where certain secret parts became clearly visible even through the camera.
"Se...Seong-hwan-ah... Noona is embarrassed!"
"Hoo... hoo..."
The more A-ra struck her poses, the more excited I began to feel.
It was truly regrettable and unfortunate that I couldn't find a way to express this feeling in words.
"And turn the other way, once... you know, right?"
"Ugh... that's one shot, right? Four left, right?"
I approached A-ra, who was spreading something wide with her hands,
and took a shot from very close range.
Of course, I can't tell you what it was.
"D...don't touch there!"
"It's fine, it's fine. I'm your husband, aren't I?"
"I said... it's dirty..."
"Noona, you wash me every single time we shower together."
"That's! That's in the bathroom!"
I wasn't sure what the difference was, but I chuckled and pulled back slightly from A-ra.
No, I tried to pull back.
Suddenly, a clear, clean drop of liquid fell from that place on A-ra.
It had been hanging there by surface tension, so I gave it a little stimulation,
but I didn't think it would actually fall.
"Noona, stay just like that."
"O...okay..... Haah!!!"
I gave a light lick to the faucet from which droplets were dripping.
Since the droplets were clearer and cleaner than usual, I'd thought they might taste a little different,
but I couldn't notice any particular difference, which left me feeling a bit disappointed.
"Seong-hwan, you...!"
"Noona, three shots left now. Fighting."
"Ugh... Next time, I'm definitely going to win."
A-ra, blushing so furiously that tears were trickling down her face,
I began directing her poses again.
Sorry, Noona.
Even if you propose a bet with the same terms next time, I don't exactly plan on accepting it.
Oh, and for the record,
the body part being covered was the belly button, and the secret area was the armpit.
The place where the water was flowing from was the mouth, so I hope there are no misunderstandings.
Imagination is free, though.
***
"Hello. I'm Kang Hye-won, today's photoshoot director."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Yoo Seong-hwan."
"Wow, you look even prettier in person."
"Thank you."
It was a compliment I heard almost every time,
so by now my face didn't even turn red anymore.
And besides, with A-ra standing perfectly fine right next to me, if I blushed even a little,
I had no idea what she'd do to me at night.
"A-ra-ssi came along too? Look at you looking after your husband."
"It's been a while, Director-nim. You'll take a few shots of me too, right?"
"Of course. Even though it's Seong-hwan-ssi's photobook, if a few shots of A-ra-ssi are included, the fans will love it."
The Director nodded as if it were obvious,
then began introducing me to the staff.
"First, follow the wardrobe staff and go change your clothes."
"Understood."
I followed the male staff member and found myself in a room that was larger than I expected.
Inside, it was set up like one of those private rooms where actors do their makeup,
and in the corner, there was a curtain drawn shut.
"You can go in there and change. I'll step out, then."
I nodded vaguely, picked up the clothes, and went inside.
How did they know my clothing size again...
Had A-ra mentioned it to them?
*
"Next, let's do a shot of you loosening your tie like you're feeling stuffy?"
"Like this?"
After that, I took several shots according to the requests of the staff and directors,
took a few in free pose, and then took several together with A-ra.
What we were shooting now were backup shots in case of any unforeseen gaps,
and it was safe to say that most of the work was finished.
"Hoo... I'm looking forward to seeing how well it sells."
"Will it even sell..."
"Seong-hwan-ssi, you don't know how much your card is trading for right now, do you?
The photobook will probably cause a frenzy too if it's released with limited stock."
As far as I knew, only one of those cards remained in Korea, with the rest all in the United States.
The one I had was stored in a screw-down case and kept inside A-ra's temperature- and humidity-controlled storage box,
and I'd heard the other three had been sent to PSA for grading.
I'd wondered if they even graded cards like that,
but apparently, both PSA and BGS already officially grade them.
Well, that story's irrelevant right now, so I'll skip it.
"How about treating us to a meal once you get paid later?"
"Should I? Well, I don't know how many it'll sell."
"Seong-hwan-ah, don't worry. Anything this Director shoots generally sells well and even trades at a premium,
at high prices."
My photobook, trading at a premium?
It was a little hard to imagine.