Chapter 67: A Different Level of Presence
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 67: A Different Level of Presence
Clunk—
I opened my eyes to the sensation of the bus coming to a stop. The view outside the window had completely changed from the heart of the city.
We were halfway up a mountain somewhere in the suburbs.
It seemed we had arrived at the drama set.
Rolling my stiff shoulders, I looked around to see that the others were already bustling to get off.
Since I’d come empty-handed, I had nothing to prepare. While everyone else was scrambling, I was the first one off the bus.
"Hoo—"
A refreshing breeze, impossible to feel in downtown Tokyo, filled my lungs.
It was a world apart from the stuffy air inside the bus.
"Excuse me... young man? We need to get off, too."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
I quickly moved aside at the voice behind me.
The middle-aged woman standing at the bus steps gave me a slight nod before scurrying toward a temporary building.
The others did the same, rushing to the drama set without even meeting my eyes as I stood by the door.
Eventually, I was left alone and cautiously followed them toward the set.
*
~The Blue~ School Youth Apocalypse!
That was the name of the drama I was appearing in as an extra today.
After Rika told me it was based on an original work, I looked it up when I got home and found out it had been a massive hit about ten years ago.
Of course, that was only within the world of Scramble Love, so it was natural that I’d never heard of it.
It had also been adapted into an anime, so I’d watched a few episodes online and memorized only the most basic information.
Not that it would be of much use, since I was told I’d be lucky to get even a single line.
As I hesitantly followed the people from the bus toward a waiting room in a corner of the set, I heard a familiar voice from a distance.
"Ah! Senpai! Over here!"
Minato Nao, the one who had scouted me for this part-time job, was waving her hands enthusiastically with a welcoming expression.
Thanks to her, the attention of everyone nearby was instantly drawn to me.
After all, how many people on a film set would an actress known as "the nation's little sister" call ‘Senpai’?
The extras walking ahead of me turned to stare as if seeing me for the first time, but I just felt like finding a hole to crawl into.
In any case, I couldn't just ignore her greeting. I strode over to her side.
"Ah, is this the school senior you mentioned, Minato-chan?"
"Yes! This is Kim Yoo-Sung Sunbae! Director!"
As Minato said this, she suddenly wrapped her arms around my left arm.
Startled by her sudden action, I tried to subtly pull back, but a beat faster, the man called the director let out a hearty laugh and clapped me on the shoulder.
"Hahaha! The pictures don't do you justice! I love it! This is why I trust Minato-chan! She really knows how to scratch an itch!"
Wondering what was going on, I glanced down at Minato beside me. She stuck her tongue out slightly and explained.
"There was originally another actor cast for your role today, Senpai, but it seems he didn't quite fit the atmosphere the director had in mind. I happened to think of you, so I showed him your picture, and he insisted on casting you."
…I had no idea that was the story behind it.
With a bewildered expression, I looked back and forth between Minato and the director's faces, then decided to ask something that had just occurred to me.
"Does the role I'm playing today have any lines? I've never acted before."
The director confidently assured me not to worry.
"All you have to do is sit down and say one line. In fact, it'll be better if it sounds a little awkward. It will create a more tense atmosphere."
"Ah, I see."
Well, if he was this confident, I figured it would work out somehow.
I decided not to overthink it.
Just as I was about to head to the actors' waiting room after greeting them, the director suddenly called out.
"Wait a moment."
"...?"
I turned back, wondering what it was. The director looked me up and down with a thoughtful "Hmm."
"That hat suits you better than I thought. The original character doesn't wear one, but I think it would be fine for you."
He then called over a passing staff member, pointed at me, and instructed them to bring me a gakuran.
"It'll be a while before we shoot your scene, so feel free to look around the set if you'd like. Just tell the other staff you have my permission, and they'll understand."
"Ah, thank you."
I offered my sincere thanks for the director's unexpected consideration.
I had heard that for minor roles in drama shoots, there was often a lot of waiting around for long periods.
Allowing me to spend that waiting time productively was the best thing I could have asked for.
Honestly, how often does an ordinary person get to visit a drama set?
On top of a 50,000 yen daily wage, getting to tour the set was a deal that was clearly in my favor.
"But you know that photography is forbidden, right? I trust you since you're Minato-chan's senior, but please be mindful of set security."
"Yes, sir."
"Well then, Senpai, I'll see you in a bit~"
With the two of them seeing me off, I headed toward the waiting room where the other extras had gone.
*
The extras' waiting room was a large container.
Perhaps because, unlike the main actors, many of them worked as individuals, everyone was busy applying makeup for their respective roles.
A place with this many people would normally be noisy, but the inside of the container was dead silent.
This made it awkward to talk to anyone, so I sat alone in a corner, fiddling with my smartphone. Just then, the container door opened and someone came in.
"Who is Kim Yoo-Sung, the one playing the delinquent leader today?"
"That's me."
Screech!
As I stood up and answered, the eyes of everyone in the container turned to me.
I wondered if my chair had made that loud of a noise, but I put on a brave face and walked over to the staff member standing at the door.
The drama staff member looked up at me with a dazed expression, then held out the clothes and hat in his hands.
"You'll be wearing this costume today. ...But are you really a high school student?"
I nodded and took the costume from him.
"Should I show you my student ID?"
"Ah, no. It's fine."
The staff member shook his head vigorously and told me to change into the costume in advance and be on standby, as they didn't know when I'd be called.
I said I understood and went to change in a small dressing room inside the container.
I had expected a standard gakuran, but it turned out to be a modified, long-coat version, the kind you'd only see in an 80s manga.
With the student cap, I would look like I had just stepped out of a comic book.
It felt more like a cosplay outfit than a drama costume, and I wondered if it was really okay. But then I remembered this was a Japanese drama based on a manga, and it all made sense.
Japanese live-action adaptations often have characters dress up in a way that looks awkward to anyone watching, all under the pretext of being faithful to the original work.
I guess I should be glad I didn't have to wear a wig.
Looking at my reflection in a full-length mirror that only showed me from the neck down, I adjusted the fit of the modified gakuran I was wearing for the first time, then carefully opened the dressing room door and stepped out.
The container was still dead silent.
I thought I’d heard some chatter while I was inside the dressing room, but now it was quiet again.
It seemed I was the cause, so I decided to make myself scarce.
Besides, since the director had given me permission to tour the set, just sitting around and waiting would be boring.
*
Yamada, an extra in his third year, had his own pride and dreams as an actor.
Though he was just a nameless rookie for now, he held a bold ambition in his heart to one day stand at the pinnacle of the entertainment industry!
With that dream, he spent his days working hard, going from one broadcast station to another.
But then, a friend of his who was also working as an extra was suddenly cut from his role.
Shocked, Yamada called him and found out that the director had unilaterally fired him, saying he’d found a better actor.
It was a blatant abuse of power. Yamada wanted to protest, but in the face of cold reality, there was nothing he could do.
One wrong move and he could lose his own role.
So, he decided he would wait and see just how great this rookie who had pushed out the original actor and parachuted in really was.
If he turned out to be a nobody, Yamada vowed to give him a taste of the bitter reality as his senior.
But on the day of the shoot, what greeted Yamada as he steeled his resolve and boarded the bus was a giant "something."
The commuter bus, which would normally be buzzing with the chatter of familiar faces, was dead silent.
It was all because of a single man sitting in the very front seat, his eyes quietly closed.
His presence was truly overwhelming.
As if he were of a different "species" altogether, a man exuding the dignity of a king was trying to sleep, a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes.
The moment he saw him, Yamada understood.
His friend hadn't been unfairly pushed out.
The role had simply been passed on to someone more fitting.
"Hey! Yamada! Hurry up and sit down! You're going to wake him!"
"Ah! Yes!"
His grim determination from when he first got on the bus forgotten, he became a meek sheep and entered the fold.