Martial Arts
Yeon-woo hadn't pushed the horse faster simply to show off his riding.
When he'd circled the set once on horseback and seen the amount of dust kicked up behind him, he'd decided that for a truly impressive shot he needed to get the horse as excited as possible—make it dig its hind legs in hard and send up plenty of sand.
In the end, the sequence was exactly as he'd designed: he'd deliberately driven the horse to its top speed.
He returned to where the staff were waiting, gave the hardworking horse water and sugar cubes, then handed the reins over to the handler.
"Good work."
After stroking the horse's forehead, Yeon-woo headed over to Director Lee.
"Director."
"Ah, Yeon-woo. The shot came out absolutely stunning. Come take a look at this."
Grinning at Director Lee Sang-hun's words, Yeon-woo stepped up to the field monitor.
"Did I kick up a lot of sand? I tried to get as much as possible."
"It was a full-on sandstorm. Watch."
When the director worked the controller, the galloping sequence they'd just filmed appeared on screen.
It had turned out even more magnificent than Yeon-woo had pictured in his head—a single-take shot that approached the racing Yeon-woo, then pulled back again to reveal the full landscape.
"Wow, it really came out great."
"Just thinking about handing this scene to the CG team and editing it makes me grin from ear to ear."
At that moment, Min-su approached from behind.
"Um, Director, I'm sorry, but is filming done for today? It's gotten really hot…"
Director Lee looked over at Yeon-woo, who was dripping with sweat.
"Oh my, look at me. Go change right away."
"Haha. Got it."
Smiling, Yeon-woo headed into the trailer to change clothes.
The moment he peeled off the official robes inside the air-conditioned trailer, steam rose from his body.
"Whew."
"Are you all right, Actor Ryu?"
Min-su opened the trailer door and came in carrying water.
"Ah, thanks, Min-su hyung."
Yeon-woo took the water Min-su offered and quenched his thirst.
Wearing non-breathable official robes with a court hat on his head, riding at full gallop for nearly several kilometers under the blazing sun that reflected off the sand—even Yeon-woo, with all his stamina, was exhausted.
He sat on the edge of the cot inside the trailer and rested a while before coming out, greeting the film crew, and climbing into Min-su's car to head to the lodging.
In the car on the way there, he checked his smartphone and found a message from Han Hae-un through the app.
Just came in.
Looking out at the coastal dunes that reminded him of the Middle Eastern desert, Yeon-woo had been wondering how Han Hae-un was doing—and now he opened the message.
Already getting results, it seemed.
Yeon-woo relayed a few points of caution and put his phone down.
Min-su's car sped toward Seoul, and Yeon-woo closed his eyes from fatigue.
A few days later, he heard that the first day of filming for Star Beyond the River had begun.
They were shooting the parts about Seo Hui's father, Seo Pil, and Seo Hui's childhood first, so Yeon-woo wouldn't join for another two weeks.
He was practicing the script as usual when his phone vibrated.
"Yes, Team Leader Jeong."
"Yeon-woo. How have you been?"
"We've started the first day of filming for Star Beyond the River."
"Ah, already begun. Then I'll need to coordinate with them a bit as well."
If he was talking about coordination, a schedule must have been set. And if a schedule was being set now, it could only be one thing.
"Has the release plan for Master Plan already been locked in?"
"It seems Director Park Chan-hong's production company edited while they were still shooting. They're in post-production now, so it should hit screens in two or three months."
"Then the production presentation and premiere dates will be set soon."
Having already gone through the Spring's Lover schedule, he knew how these things worked and felt at ease.
The difference was that back then he'd been a child cameo; now he was a lead.
"Yeon-woo. You're going to be busy without a moment to breathe—starting a drama while also handling movie schedules. Ah, but don't worry about scheduling. That was already pre-agreed during casting."
"With how thoroughly you handle everything, Team Leader Jeong, I have zero worries."
"Haha. Hearing you say that gives me strength. I'll coordinate and let you know the dates."
After exchanging farewells, he ended the call with Team Leader Jeong.
But it wasn't empty flattery—Team Leader Jeong had never once disappointed Yeon-woo so far.
Whether adjusting schedules or negotiating appearance fees, he always brought back the absolute best results.
"Come to think of it, I've saved up quite a bit."
Once this drama's appearance fee was settled, he'd have enough to buy a place of his own in Seoul.
The officetel the agency had provided was already spacious enough for one person, so if he was going to move, it would be better to save more and go for a luxury villa like the one Son Jin-uk lived in.
Considering privacy and security issues, that would be better.
He could feel his recognition climbing steadily these days, but it was still mostly among younger audiences.
Once Master Plan, set to release soon, and Star Beyond the River, currently filming, began airing, his recognition would climb even higher.
Of course, how well either would perform was still unknown—but Yeon-woo trusted the eye that had chosen the scenarios himself.
Once principal photography began in earnest, a making-of film of the script reading was uploaded to YouTube to keep viewers' expectations high.
It was only after Seong-sik sent him a KakaoTalk message around afternoon that Yeon-woo learned it had been uploaded. When he went to watch, the view count had already surpassed twenty thousand in just four hours since release.
Jin Yu-han's influence had probably been huge.
There were a lot of fans who'd flowed in from the drama Beyond, which had wrapped in the second half of the previous year.
The comment reactions, too, were largely about Jin Yu-han.
Since he hadn't shown much as a lead yet, the comment section was more focused on Jin Yu-han than Ryu Yeon-woo.
"Hmm. Good thing Jin Yu-han joined."
The next day, Yeon-woo rode in Min-su's car to a gymnasium.
Jingle—
He opened the door to the sound of a bell, and the distinctive smell of sweat unique to gyms washed over him.
It's been a while, this smell.
In his past life, he'd smelled it every day during training, but in this new life he usually worked out alone with bodyweight exercises, so he'd had no reason to visit a gym.
Jin Yu-han, who'd been warming up in a corner, spotted Yeon-woo coming in and approached.
"Oh, you're here?"
"Yu-han, you were already here?"
Yeon-woo had arrived about thirty minutes early, but Jin Yu-han had gotten there even earlier and was already warming up.
"Haven't been here long. Just got here and was loosening up. Looking at the script made me itch to move."
As expected, when it came to acting he was more sincere and diligent than anyone.
It was peculiar that he seemed to have zero interest in anything else, though.
Leaving Yu-han's words behind, Yeon-woo looked deeper into the gym and saw a large number of people coordinating their moves.
It was the special effects team that mainly handled action scenes.
Then the martial arts director who'd been instructing the team members from a distance approached the two of them.
"Hello. I'm Do Gwang-uk."
Martial arts director Do Gwang-uk held out his hand while looking at Yeon-woo. He was someone Yeon-woo had seen a few times in the media.
He remembered him as one of the top people in this field as a martial arts director.
"Looking forward to working with you. I'm Ryu Yeon-woo."
Yeon-woo clasped his hand with both hands in greeting.
Do Gwang-uk and Jin Yu-han seemed to know each other; he gave Yu-han's shoulder a friendly pat.
Yu-han had seen him on sets since childhood, and because his previous work Beyond was a time-slip investigation drama with quite a few action scenes, he'd received continuous coaching throughout the shoot.
"Well, since you came early, let's get started right away. Yu-han doesn't need to learn the basics separately, and Actor Ryu—have you done any training on your own?"
At martial arts director Do Gwang-uk's question, Yeon-woo pondered how to answer.
As far as exercise in Yeon-woo's body went, it was limited to ball sports or bodyweight work—just an ordinary young man. But if you counted his past life, he could fairly be called a master of practical martial arts and every kind of weapon technique.
"Yes, I've learned a bit of weapon techniques and combat arts."
It wasn't that he wanted to brag—the prep period for filming wasn't long, so it seemed necessary to skip some unnecessary basic stages. That was why he'd answered vaguely.
Do Gwang-uk's expression turned intrigued, as if the answer was unexpected.
Combat arts? Not boxing or taekwondo?
Whether it was just a young man's bravado or how much "I've learned a bit" actually meant, he couldn't tell—so he felt the need to test him.
"Since I can't tell what level you're at, let's do a simple test."
"Yes, understood."
At the martial arts director's instruction, one of the members brought over two short styrofoam sticks and two mitts of the kind used when learning boxing.
"First, want to try hitting the mitts? Think of it as boxing."
"Understood."
Yeon-woo looked at the martial arts director holding the mitts, relaxed his body, and threw a light jab.
Stepping forward and back, loosening his shoulders, he extended his left hand lightly.
Thuk thuk—
Watching Yeon-woo's jabs come in with light footwork and precise form, the martial arts director called for a straight.
"Okay, one-two."
A one-two meant showing the jab and straight as a continuous combination.
He relaxed the power in his pivot foot, snapped out a jab, and at the same moment he recovered it, twisted his body and threw his right hand as if hurling it, planting the straight.
Thuk, thwack—
Yeon-woo's right hand sank into the mitt with a rather heavy sound.
Whoa, that's solid. And the form is proper.
At the impact that seemed to wrap around the mitt, the martial arts director's eyes widened slightly.
Continuing to call for jabs and straights, the martial arts director opened his mouth.
"How long did you train boxing?"
"I never learned it separately. I just did comprehensive combat training."
Yeon-woo hadn't learned boxing—he'd learned a comprehensive combat system developed solely for killing, designed for field agents, and then honed it in real combat. If the martial arts director asked detailed questions about boxing, he wouldn't be able to answer.
That was why he'd confessed honestly that he hadn't learned boxing—but the martial arts director tilted his head at Yeon-woo's words instead.
He's never learned boxing, yet he has this kind of speed and form…? What kind of training did he do?
Curiosity piqued, the martial arts director raised the intensity, partly to warm up as well.
"I'll raise the tempo a bit and throw some simple attacks, so think of it as real combat. There's no headgear, but the mitts are soft, so you won't get hurt."
Hearing that, Yeon-woo didn't show it outwardly, but inwardly he gave a bitter smile.
If I think of it as real combat, that would be a problem. I'll have to hold back appropriately.