Yonha University (2)
"Alright, that concludes the tour. Thank you all for your hard work."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you."
As the guide wrapped up the tour, he handed out gift exchange vouchers and explained that they could pick up their freebies at the university headquarters.
Kim Jun-su's entire reason for coming today had been those freebies, so he was ready to head straight for the main building—but Woo Seong-sik's curiosity snagged on the noisy scene at the bottom of the hill.
"Hey, Jun-su. Let's go down there and check it out too. Maybe there's a famous celebrity?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Kim Jun-su and Woo Seong-sik headed down the slope.
The closer they got, the denser the crowd felt—far more packed than it had looked from above.
The east entrance of the College of Humanities was jammed with staff and professional camera equipment. An FD walked the perimeter holding a sign that read, Please do not shout or look at the camera, keeping the onlookers in check.
"Standby, ready, cue!"
It seemed they had just started rolling on this scene; the director called the cue.
The lighting team and sound team backed out of the building, and Han So-hyun followed the camera as she walked out.
"Ugh, seriously. What's Kang Seo-jun's problem lately? Why's he taking it out on me?"
Summer walked out, then paused for a moment, lost in thought.
"Did I mess something up? Ah, whatever. Forget it."
She shook her head side to side and kept walking.
"Forget what?"
At that moment Cha Woo-ju, who had been hiding behind a pillar by the entrance, stepped into view.
"You scared me! Cha Woo-ju? Hey. Why would you jump out at someone like that."
"You're free, right? Come somewhere with me today."
Summer wasn't the only one startled.
"Holy—mmph…!"
Seong-sik, watching from outside the set, spotted Yeon-woo's sudden appearance and nearly shouted. When nearby crew members turned to look, Jun-su hurriedly clamped a hand over Seong-sik's mouth.
"Hey, keep it down. The sign says no shouting."
Jun-su let go and whispered.
"You're not shocked? That's Yeon-woo. Right there."
"I know. I saw him too. I noticed the second Han So-hyun walked out. He's shooting with her."
Seong-sik looked at Jun-su.
"Oh… yeah? That's impressive. I was just standing here thinking how pretty she is."
"I know. You were standing there with your mouth hanging open. I thought you were about to drool."
"Hey, it wasn't that bad!"
Seong-sik bristled at Jun-su's jab.
Meanwhile the set was rolling on the scene where Cha Woo-ju, out of nowhere, grabbed Summer's hand and dragged her off to go blow off steam.
"Cut! Let's pick it up from the last part only. Yes-seul, check the blocking, please."
"Woo-ju and Summer, when you come out, head this way and exit like this."
"Got it."
Following the staff member's adjusted path for the camera frame, Yeon-woo and Summer walked out again.
"Okay. Cut! Prep the props and we'll go straight into the next scene."
The next scene had Woo-ju putting Summer on the back of his bike and riding out of campus.
"Actors, take a short break. Yes-seul, bring them some hot packs and blankets."
Yeon-woo and So-hyun were shooting a scene that was supposed to be late spring tipping into summer—except they were filming it in the dead of winter, and they were freezing to death.
"You're cold, right, noona?"
"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to freeze solid."
A staff member came running over, draped a padded jacket covered in hot packs over their shoulders, and wrapped them in blankets.
"Yeon-woo!"
At the familiar voice cutting through the crew, Yeon-woo turned around.
"…Huh?"
He scrambled up and headed back.
"Young-jun hyung, just a second. Those are my friends."
"Ah, Yeon-woo's friends?"
The staff controlling the perimeter opened a path, and Jun-su and Seong-sik ran straight to Yeon-woo.
Delighted by the unexpected reunion, Yeon-woo pulled them into a hug.
"You guys! What are you doing here?"
"We came for a university tour today, saw some kind of shoot going on, and wandered over to check it out."
"Insane. I never once imagined you'd be here."
Seeing the friends he only ever met at school in a completely unexpected place—on location, no less—felt genuinely good.
Then So-hyun walked up from behind and spoke.
"These are Yeon-woo's friends?"
"Whoa. Holy crap. It's Han So-hyun. I'm losing it."
So-hyun laughed at the pure high-school-boy reaction.
"Hey, call her Actress Han So-hyun. She's not your buddy."
Jun-su scolded Seong-sik.
So-hyun waved it off and ushered the friends over.
"Actress, please. Just call me noona. Come this way, kids."
Yeon-woo led his still-dazed friends over to the corner of the set where he and So-hyun had been resting.
"Noona, I'm a real fan! I've watched every single making-of for Flowers Falling on Hanyang! It's my all-time favorite!"
Seong-sik poured the words out in a rush.
So-hyun smiled at him. "Really? Thank you."
"Ah, my heart. Jun-su."
Seong-sik clutched his chest theatrically at the sight of Han So-hyun smiling right at him.
Jun-su gave him a look of pure exhaustion and needled him.
"A minute ago you said you weren't drooling. What was that about 'not that bad'?"
"Hey! When did I— I was totally about to drool. Wait, no. I mean I wasn't actually drooling, noona."
The two of them looked like they were doing a comedy sketch; So-hyun laughed out loud.
"Hahaha. You two are adorable."
"He's being completely serious right now, by the way."
Jun-su smacked Seong-sik on the back as he said it.
Then the assistant director's voice carried over from a distance.
"We're set. Going back into the shot."
Yeon-woo and So-hyun stood up.
"You guys stay right here for a bit. This is the last scene, so I'll be back as soon as we wrap."
"Ohhh, got it. Fighting!"
Yeon-woo sat his friends in his spot, peeled off the padded jacket again, and stepped back into frame.
"Ready, cue!"
Woo-ju led Summer out and handed her the mint-colored helmet hanging on the parked bike.
Summer took it with a look that said, Fine, whatever. Might as well blow off some steam.
"Okay, cut! Bike-mounting scene. Let's get a tight and a bust shot."
After adjusting the blocking with the staff, they ran a few rehearsals.
"Ready, cue!"
Woo-ju handed Summer the mint helmet, then pulled his own black one on and swung onto the bike.
Watching the monitor, Director Kim Han-su tilted his head slightly and gave Yeon-woo an extra note.
"Cut. Hmm, Yeon-woo. Could you mount a little more dynamically? The shot feels a bit vague."
"Ah, yes. I can do that."
Yeon-woo nodded. The cue came again, and this time he swung onto the bike with a lighter, more energetic motion.
"Ohh. Yeon-woo looks insanely cool."
Seong-sik and Jun-su, watching from the corner, whispered to each other.
Seeing Yeon-woo actually shoot a scene filled them with a swelling sense of awe.
Once Woo-ju was on the bike, he looked back at Summer, who was still hovering awkwardly.
"What are you doing? Get on the back."
Summer put on the helmet and carefully sat behind him.
"If you sit like that you'll fall right off the second we take off."
As he spoke, he grabbed the hand she had timidly rested on his waist and yanked it forward around him.
"Wh-what. I thought this was some old drama. So cheesy."
Summer deflected out of pure shyness while Woo-ju kicked the bike to life.
Watching the two of them on the field monitor, Director Kim Han-su smiled with quiet satisfaction.
When the visuals are this strong, just getting on a bike already makes a picture.
"Cut! Nice! That was perfect."
Applause broke out across the warm, lively set.
"Alright, then we'll just shoot the stuntman and Summer's scene and wrap. No sound on this one, so if you're scared you can scream all you want."
Of course Yeon-woo, a former special agent who could handle any vehicle as well as a stuntman, was still a high-schooler without even a license in this life.
He couldn't shoot the driving scene himself, so he walked back to his friends while a stuntman in identical clothes climbed onto the bike and they captured the departure in a full shot.
"Kyaaaah! It's so cold!"
So-hyun screamed for an entirely different reason.
"Okay, that wraps So-hyun's shooting for today."
With that, So-hyun finished and hurried off the set for the awards ceremony.
In that short window she even managed to take selfies with Seong-sik and Jun-su.
Then a stir rose from the cluster of onlookers.
Son Jin-uk pushed through the crowd and spoke to Yeon-woo.
"You done shooting?"
"Yes, hyung. We just wrapped."
"Hooooly— Son Jin-uk! Ah… Actor."
Seong-sik gasped at the sight of Son Jin-uk; Jun-su quietly jabbed him in the side, and he hastily tacked on "Actor."
Jin-uk looked at Seong-sik and Jun-su, then mouthed to Yeon-woo, Who?
"My closest friends from school. They came for a university tour today and we ran into each other by chance."
"Oh, really? Yeon-woo's friends. Nice to meet you, kids."
Seong-sik and Jun-su hurriedly shook the hand Jin-uk offered.
"It's an honor, hyung-nim. My favorite drama is Your Name!"
"A minute ago it was Flowers Falling on Hanyang."
The second Seong-sik started buttering him up, Jun-su cut in with a tackle.
"Shh! Stay quiet, comrade!"
Seong-sik glared at Jun-su and launched into an impression of the scene-stealing North Korean spy from Jin-uk's hit drama Your Name.
Thanks to Woo Seong-sik's shameless charm, both Jin-uk and Yeon-woo laughed.
"So-hyun noona left right away."
"Mm. Yeah. Even starting now she'd be cutting it close—she's an actress."
Jin-uk nodded.
"Our Hwang Jae-il has a photoshoot that runs late into the night."
"He can't make it, then."
Jin-uk had messaged An Jun-ho, who played Hwang Jae-il, that morning and gotten the unfortunate reply that he already had a schedule.
Jin-uk nodded quietly at Yeon-woo's answer, then suddenly went "Ah!" and looked at Yeon-woo's friends.
"You guys want to come over to my place? With Yeon-woo."
"Whaaat?!"
The unexpected invitation left the friends stunned.
"Is that really okay?"
Woo Seong-sik asked, eyes sparkling with pure anticipation.
"Why not? So-hyun's nominated at the awards tonight—want to watch together and cheer her on?"
Just like that, Seong-sik and Jun-su called their families and got permission in record time.
"What? You're sleeping over at whose house? What kind of nonsense is that."
"Noona, I'm serious!"
"Stop talking crap. You're not sneaking off to some PC bang that lets minors stay overnight to game all night, are you?"
Watching the phone argument, Son Jin-uk saw how badly Jun-su wanted to go and spoke up.
"Hmm. Then try a video call with your noona."
Hearing that, Jun-su told his sister to wait a second and hung up.
Ring—
"Why a video call? Kim Jun-su, I don't want to see your face in the middle of the day. And where even are you? Why are there so many people."
"Noona, just wait."
Jun-su handed the smartphone to Jin-uk beside him.
"Hello. This is Son Jin-uk."
"……"
Kyaaaaaah!
There was a one-beat delay as she processed the situation—then the scream exploded.