Chapter 136
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: The Undercover Staff Member
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After all the Working Men had entered their offices, the staff began to clean up the lobby of the Galaxy Center where the opening had been filmed.
Only designated staff could handle equipment like lighting, so there wasn't much for others to do, but simple errands and tidying up were tasks anyone could handle.
Everyone began to pack up the things that had been laid out in preparation for the opening. Seojun, his black hat pulled down low, also lent a hand.
An Daho couldn't help but smile at the sight of Seojun moving alongside the other staff members, blending in perfectly.
He could feel Seojun's genuine enjoyment. As a brilliant actor, Seojun could hide and fabricate emotions better than anyone in his daily life, but surprisingly, his heart was easy to read.
Whenever he was doing something he loved, Seojun's whole aura would become warm and cozy. His eyes would sparkle, and his face would light up.
It was the same now. To hide among the adults, he wore a bulky padded jacket to conceal his frame and even put insoles in his shoes to make himself taller. With his black hat pulled down, a quick glance would make you think he was just one of the crew.
Yet, even bundled up like that, the air around Seojun seemed to shimmer with delight.
‘The production crew doesn't seem to have noticed…’
An Daho glanced around. It seemed only he, who was used to Seojun, the Team 2 staff who were focused solely on him, and his dedicated cameraman were aware of his presence.
‘He probably needs to show his presence for the variety show, but since he’s playing the role of a staff member, he wants to act well, so he's likely toning down his performance just enough…’
The problem was that "just enough" was by Seojun's standards. If you knew it was him and kept watching, he just looked like Lee Seojun. But if you lost sight of him or didn't consciously register him, he was just another staff member passing by.
‘I’ll have to tell him to tone it down even more.’
Seojun looked too excited to be interrupted right now, so An Daho decided to wait until the cleanup was finished.
Just as An Daho thought, Seojun was finding the staff work fun. He chuckled to himself as he gathered the sketchbooks and stacked them neatly.
Seojun had been thrilled ever since the Working Man meeting. When the production team told him to go undercover as a staff member to fool the cast, his heart began to pound as he was reminded of his first life.
‘A staff member…’
In his first life, he had been an extra. It was hard to make a living with just extra roles, so the book from his first life mentioned that he also worked as a staff member on the productions he appeared in. He had probably spent as much time doing crew work as he did acting.
The distant memories and a sense of familiarity made Seojun feel giddy.
When he entered the Working Man set, he felt a different kind of familiarity than when he came as an actor.
He felt as though he could handle the lights, the jib, and the cameras with ease. He wanted to touch the lighting equipment, organize the tangled web of cables, and reposition the cameras for better angles.
‘That’s not how you’re supposed to do that…’
His hands were itching to fix things.
But Seojun didn't forget that he was here as a guest.
‘And Daho Hyung would never let me touch anything dangerous.’
Seojun quietly helped with small tasks, pretending to be a staff member. He didn’t forget to occasionally glance at Daho Hyung and his own camera.
‘Everyone’s getting used to me quickly, huh?’
When a writer asked for a black permanent marker, Seojun pulled one from his pocket and handed it over, tilting his head in thought.
This was different from the production team at the meeting a few days ago. Back then, every single one of them had jumped in surprise whenever their eyes met his.
He thought it might be the same today, which would blow his cover as a spy, but everyone was treating him casually. As if he were a real staff member.
‘Perfect. This will make it easier to fool them.’
Seojun grinned, not realizing that it was his "staff member acting" that was making the crew treat him like one of their own.
Once the cleanup in the Galaxy Center lobby was complete, An Daho called out to Seojun.
“Seojun.”
“Yes?”
Seojun, who had just moved some equipment and was expertly dusting off his hands, blinked at An Daho’s call.
“You’re here as a guest. You’re disguised as a staff member, you haven’t actually become one.”
“Huh? Yes. I know. That’s why I looked at the camera a lot…”
Unlike in dramas or movies where you had to avoid eye contact with the camera, in variety shows, you were supposed to look at it constantly.
It felt awkward at first, but he soon got used to it. He had made sure to look at the camera from time to time while helping out.
An Daho chuckled at Seojun’s puzzled expression.
“Your acting was too good.”
“Too good?”
Seojun blinked his eyes.
As Seojun and An Daho were talking, the cameraman assigned to Lee Seojun reported the actor's strangely natural assimilation to PD Jeon Minjae.
Hearing the story of what had happened during filming, PD Jeon and the staff snapped their heads up to look at Seojun. His distinctly black hat stood out.
The black hat!
The staff members who had given tasks to the staff member in the black hat gasped. Right, he wasn't one of our crew, he was Lee Seojun?!
They knew it was Lee Seojun when he was showing the trophy to the members earlier, but now they had just thought of him as Staff Member #1.
As if waking from a trance, everyone stared at Seojun and An Daho with shocked expressions.
The Hollywood actor Lee Seojun’s manager continued.
“Your acting was better than you thought. Everyone thought you were a real staff member.”
Acting…?
PD Jeon, the writers, and the staff stared with wide eyes. That natural demeanor, like someone who had worked in this industry for years, was an act?
“Oh, I see. I guess I need to tone it down. I thought this level was okay… but I guess not.”
Hearing Seojun’s response, the production team was at a loss for words. They had thought his ability to switch his acting on and off was incredible, but experiencing it firsthand, they now understood why no one had recognized him during the busking performance.
And hadn’t the production team already known he would be disguised as a staff member? Of course, unlike the busking where they were just observing, the crew had been busy preparing for the shoot.
‘Still, he was right next to us…’
The production team stared in amazement at the actor, Lee Seojun, who was now talking with his manager.
“And it’s good that you’re helping, but while moving light props is fine, don’t touch any of the machinery. It’s dangerous. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Judging by their conversation alone, Lee Seojun seemed his age.
‘To have this level of acting skill…’
Lee Seojun’s title as the youngest Oscar winner suddenly felt very heavy to the production team.
While everyone was marveling, something occurred to PD Jeon Minjae. The color drained from his face.
“The camera!”
“What?”
“No one recognized Lee Seojun during the busking!”
“...!”
Startled, the production team reviewed the footage.
Thankfully, the camera assigned to Seojun had captured ‘Lee Seojun’ clearly. His smiling face as he occasionally looked at the camera was adorable.
But Seojun’s appearance in the other cameras was ambiguous. Among the staff members moving around where the crew was gathered, a staff member in a black hat could be seen.
“This is Seojun, right?”
“Now that I know it’s Lee Seojun, it looks like him… but if I didn’t know, I’d just think he was a staff member.”
“I agree. Viewers don’t usually pay close attention to the staff’s faces.”
“Looks like we’ll have to use only the footage from his dedicated camera for the beginning part.”
Leaving the assistant director in charge of the first game, PD Jeon and the writers put their heads together.
“At this rate, isn’t there a high chance the members won’t recognize him at all?”
“I think so. Unless they look him right in the face, they probably won’t recognize him no matter what mission we give him.”
The plan of the [Working Man?!] production team was this: Disguise Lee Seojun as a staff member and trick the members. Give Lee Seojun missions that would easily get him caught (talking to members, handing them things, etc.). Lee Seojun gets caught by the members. Lee Seojun and the members play games together.
“We thought it would be great to capture the members' reactions when they find Lee Seojun after he’s been hiding in plain sight, and the scenes of them playing games together would be good too…”
“But he has to be discovered for us to film reactions or play games. Our plan never accounted for the possibility of Lee Seojun not being caught.”
“We didn't know he'd be this good.”
PD Jeon Minjae and the writers, who had given errands to their guest without realizing it, sighed. The head writer, who had been rewatching the footage in thought, spoke up.
“But, this could be good in its own way.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Let’s fool the viewers, too.”
“?”
“A Lee Seojun edition of Where’s Waldo. Of course, we have enough footage for that already. It would be a disaster if Lee Seojun appeared and even the viewers couldn’t recognize him. We should ask him to tone down his acting from the next shoot.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at the head writer’s words. Where’s Waldo. It was a fitting title.
“I’ve been thinking, let’s adjust the mission difficulty.”
“Adjust… you mean make them harder?”
“Exactly. With the current missions, I feel like he’ll never get caught.”
“That’s a good idea, but if they’re all difficult, the viewers might complain.”
“We’ll just add three more to the current missions. Drawing a mission is up to luck. Surely, he won't pick one of the three difficult ones with so many easy missions available.”
“That seems reasonable.”
The production team’s meeting was brief. PD Jeon Minjae called over Seojun and An Daho.
“We’re thinking of changing it to this. Would that be okay?”
An Daho’s gaze turned to Seojun. Seojun nodded.
“It’s fine! I think it’ll be fun.”
“Just fool the members. The viewers need to be able to see you clearly, Seojun.”
“Okay. I’ll tone it down.”
Seojun replied cheerfully to PD Jeon’s words.
Fool the members, but be visible to the viewers.
‘Controlling the intensity. This is going to be hard!’
Still, a new challenge was always exciting and nerve-wracking. Seojun’s cheeks flushed red with excitement.
“PD-nim. They’ve started hiding the trophy after the first game.”
At the staff member’s report, PD Jeon Minjae laid out 10 mission cards, hastily made by the writers, in front of Seojun.
Among them, 7 were the pre-made missions, and 3 were the newly created high-difficulty ones. Seojun had to succeed in 3 missions during today’s filming.
“If you fail a mission, a hint about you will be given to the members.”
“Okay!”
Seojun’s eyes sparkled as he chose one of the 10 mission cards and flipped it over.
[Get filmed by one of the members’ dedicated cameras.]
‘I didn’t expect to get a high-difficulty mission right from the start.’
It seemed superstar Lee Seojun wasn’t as lucky as one might think.
“You have to get your face on one of the members’ dedicated cameras without revealing your identity. Of course, the member’s face must also be in the shot. Your face and the member’s face have to be in the same frame.”
“Wow. That’s going to be hard.”
“Uh, do you want to draw another mission card?”
Since it’s the first one, maybe it’s okay? The production staff nodded in agreement with PD Jeon Minjae’s suggestion. But Seojun shook his head.
“No! I think I can do it! I’ll try my best!”
Just as his friends had said, this was going to be a lot of fun. Seojun’s eyes glittered as he focused on his target.
* * *
After the first game ended, the 8 members each went into their own offices.
Park Youngjin, the winner of the first game, had earned 15 minutes. He sighed as he came out of his office.
Cradled in his arms was a light yet heavy black bag. For the next 15 minutes, Park Youngjin had to hide this bag.
“I can’t believe I’m the culprit!”
With a look of dejection bordering on despair, Park Youngjin held the bag as if it were precious. Inside was only a trophy, some padding, and a box, but it felt heavier than anything else.
Clutching the bag carefully, Park Youngjin began to walk. His dedicated cameraman walked backward, filling the screen with Park Youngjin’s image.
“The safest place. Let’s hide it in the safest place.”
As he was diligently searching for a place to hide the trophy, Park Youngjin suddenly spun around. There was no one behind him.
“Huh? I thought I saw something.”
Blinking a few times, Park Youngjin tilted his head and hid the bag under a seat in the auditorium.
“C14. C14.”
He memorized the seat number so he could find it later and hurried back to his office.
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