Along Along (2)
Kwak Dohyun, Managing Director at Astra Entertainment, was staring down at his phone. The ratings for Along Along kept climbing steadily without a single dip, and the people who had once worried about casting a rookie were now praising Yoon Jay's acting as if they'd never doubted him for a second.
The industry, too, had caught wind that something unusual was brewing — offers for endorsement deals and photo shoots were already pouring in for Yoon Jay in droves.
Well, I'll be. How does a man draw this kind of response from his very first project?
Even landing straight into a supporting role instead of some slow, step-by-step climb — knowing how to make the most of an opportunity was a talent in itself. He'd felt this same thing once before, back when he managed an actor who was just on the verge of breaking out as a rising star.
"Dohyun."
"Huh? Shim Jae-wook."
The man calling out to him was the agency director of Kim Hyun-jun, the male lead of Along Along. Shim Jae-wook's complexion didn't look particularly good.
"Another meeting you had to rush back from?"
"I'm dying. Seriously, why does he keep dawdling and showing up late?"
Filming was already on a razor-thin schedule, and with Kim Hyun-jun's repeated tardiness, the director was the one getting dragged into damage-control meetings. Word had it that there was even talk of compressing all of Kim Hyun-jun's scenes into a single block of consecutive shoot days.
"But why is he so late, anyway? Is his condition off or something?"
"No idea. Heard from his manager that he's obsessed with shooting his MyTube videos these days."
"Ha. Surely that's not the reason."
"He has no passion for acting. I'm starting to wonder if his real goal is to be a celebrity rather than an actor. He's gotten the wrong idea about how this business works, and lately..."
Kwak Dohyun had heard of a few actors like that — triple-booking their schedules, strolling in late to call time because of MyTube or SNS, and making a nuisance of themselves on set.
He was about to say that's the kind of behavior you'd expect from a bit player, not your lead, but held his tongue. Poor guy. At least my actor would never pull this.
"How's your actor doing? I hear he can really act."
"How is he — he's only just getting started."
Kwak Dohyun deflected with practiced ease.
"Not demanding at all, which is nice. Diligent, clean habits, no baggage."
"Wow, you found yourself a unicorn. But if that drama takes off, you know things change, right? The buzz around him is already great."
"Well..."
He thought of Yoon Jay. The man hardly seemed like the type to change his attitude just because he got famous.
He rose at dawn and worked out without fail. He posted only a handful of photos on SNS, and just for his fans, then spent the rest of his time at home watching dramas and films for the sake of his craft. The only acquaintances he ever seemed to see were a few of his old bodyguard colleagues from his previous job; otherwise, all his time went to his family. Even staying in the production lodging out in the provinces, his daily routine never wavered.
"Ah, Jin-woo. What's going on? Filming stopped? Why?"
After parting ways with Shim Jae-wook and getting into his car, Kwak Dohyun picked up Han Jin-woo's call.
"He's in the hospital?!"
"Why hasn't filming started?"
"Kim Hyun-jun's late. Again."
"Ugh, there goes my early day."
"And we were already drowning in work."
The staff grumbled around Kim Hyun-jun's latest tardy call time, cigarette in hand.
"Let's head back in."
And then, a cigarette butt tossed carelessly by one of them began to smolder, dangerously.
"Where are you going?"
Im Su-ah, the supporting actress who played Ga-hyeon, Jung Yeon-hwa's maid in Along Along, had grown uneasy and followed Yoon Jay. A smell like something's burning... it's a period-drama set, so there's nothing but wooden structures around here — and nothing but mountain for miles.
Is it this way?
When Yoon Jay pushed open the door that led outside, a wave of heat rolled over him like a lit furnace. Reflexively, he pulled Im Su-ah behind him and stepped back.
"...Gah!"
"Get far away from here. And please, call 119."
"Y-yes, sir!"
For a moment, Yoon Jay went still, then calmly studied the flames. Im Su-ah burst outside, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Fire!"
"Get out!"
"Evacuate!"
Meanwhile, Yoon Jay had already located the source of the blaze. Dumping water on it blindly could easily turn a bad situation into a catastrophe.
Doesn't look electrical, and it's not gas either...
Amid the chaos, Han Jin-woo spotted Yoon Jay and immediately grabbed his shoulder. Everyone else is evacuating, and this man is standing right in the danger zone!
"Jay! What are you doing here!"
"Jin-woo. I have a job for you."
"Sorry?"
"There are fire extinguishers in my car. Bring them, then ask around — if anyone else has one, collect those too."
"Yes, sir! But hyung—!"
The question what are you planning to do? never made it out. There was something in that voice he'd never heard before, and somehow he felt he had no choice but to obey. He sprinted off to do as he was told.
When on earth had these been stashed in the car — and two of them, no less? Han Jin-woo wheezed as he handed them over, and Yoon Jay's hand landed on his shoulder again.
"Hyung, here!"
"Get everyone evacuated. Make sure someone does a headcount, every single person."
"Y-you want me to—"
"I'll handle it!"
Park Seo-ah had appeared out of nowhere and cut in. A lead actress's word would carry far more weight than a lone manager's. Yoon Jay gave a quick nod, then grabbed an extinguisher and waded straight into the fire.
The wind isn't doing us any favors.
Because Along Along was a fantasy drama, the set had been dressed with all sorts of extra installations — metal props, standalone wooden structures. That meant plenty of combustible scrap lying around, and of all things, that was what had caught fire.
The real problem was the direction and strength of the wind, which were anything but normal. Left alone, this could spread across the entire area.
"Any more extinguishers?"
"Here! Over here!"
A staff member who'd spotted Han Jin-woo ran one over and passed it along.
Yoon Jay took it and moved to re-enter the fire scene. The cast and crew had gathered in their teams for the headcount — and someone was missing.
"Wait a second — wasn't there one more person with us? My makeup artist, she was—"
"I'm sorry?"
"Oh no — hey! Where's Park Min-ji?!"
"I-I don't know!"
The instant those words hit the air, Yoon Jay bolted inside.
Park Min-ji of the makeup team had been using the brief break to listen to music somewhere out of the way. Filming had been starting later than scheduled lately, so she'd found herself a spot in advance.
"What do I do... what do I do...!"
She'd dozed off with her music on, and when the smell of smoke woke her, she opened her eyes to flames on every side and let out a scream.
"Cough... is anyone out there?! Please, somebody help me!"
She tried the door, but it was scalding hot from the fire and only burned her hand in return. She pounded on the wall and screamed and screamed, and her consciousness was beginning to fade when—
"Park Min-ji!"
"H-here! I'm here!"
CRASH!
Yoon Jay drove a kick into the spot where the sound came from, and the door tore clean off its frame. He caught Park Min-ji as she crumpled toward the floor.
"Put your arm around my shoulder."
"Th-thank you."
As they made their way out, Park Min-ji's senses gradually returned — and realizing that the man holding her up was Yoon Jay, she stared at him in shock.
"Any more extinguishers?!"
"W-water, at least!"
He sent Park Min-ji outside and pushed ahead, spraying the extinguisher. The crew wasn't standing idle either — they dashed this way and that, hunting down every extinguisher on set.
He fought the fire in a daze, running on pure instinct, until water began raining down from all around and a hand pressed against his shoulder. The firefighters, dispatched after Im Su-ah's call, were dousing the blaze.
"Sir, we'll take it from here."
"Whew..."
"Hyung! Hyung!"
The tension drained out of Yoon Jay all at once, and he sank to the ground. Han Jin-woo rushed over and caught him by the arm.
With the mountain nearby, the fire department had turned out in force — which was why the blaze that had seemed like it would never die was finally all but extinguished.
That could have been a disaster if we'd been a minute slower.
The fire captain glanced sideways at Yoon Jay, who — even with the fire mostly out — remained crouched on the ground, still gripping his extinguisher.
If it hadn't been for that man...
He frowned at what a fellow firefighter brought back to him.
"Who's in charge here?"
"Over here."
Staff from the production company stepped forward — the director, the production manager, the lot. The fire captain held out something blackened beyond recognition.
"Who exactly threw away a cigarette butt without a second thought?"
"Oh... no."
"What kind of thoughtless—"
The words died in every throat around him. This was unmistakably the production's fault. How on earth were they supposed to clean this mess up?
The fire captain pointed at Yoon Jay, sitting in the ambulance with a blanket draped over his shoulders.
"It's only thanks to that man's quick initial response that we didn't have a wildfire on our hands. It very nearly spread to the mountain."
"Wow..."
Even before this, he'd ordered people back away from the flames because of the wind, and taken charge with such composure — the impression he left was striking. A few of the admiring staff members even broke into applause.
The director and the production manager hurried over to Yoon Jay.
"You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Just to be safe, let's get you to the hospital first."
"I'm fine, sir."
"Jay, go. There's no filming today anyway. We'll be along to the hospital soon, too."
Reluctantly, Yoon Jay climbed into the ambulance — and the fire captain climbed in after him. There was something he wanted to ask.
"Drink some water."
"Thank you."
"That was a flawless response. If all goes well, you'll probably get a commendation."
"I could do without one..."
"You did a good thing, so you should take it. By the way — have you had formal training in this? Your handling was very practiced."
"Back then..."
Yoon Jay's brow furrowed for a brief instant. His ears rang, and it was as if he could hear someone screaming.
"I used to work as a firefighter."
"Oh, really?"
"In LA..."
The sentence never found its ending. His hand was trembling, ever so slightly. On the outside, he didn't appear to be hurt at all...
Come to think of it, he wouldn't let go of that extinguisher earlier, either.
The fire captain was certain of it now: it was a psychological thing. He'd been through the same himself. He gave Yoon Jay's shoulder a light pat.
"Fire takes an awful lot from people."
"...It really does."
"Director, over here."
"How is he? Is he okay?"
"They say there's nothing wrong at all. They didn't even inhale that much smoke, apparently..."
Only then did Kwak Dohyun let out a long, deep breath, the tension finally leaving him.
He'd been startled enough by the sudden hospital call — and to make matters worse, articles were already popping up online: A fire broke out on the set of 'Along Along' — someone rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
"The article says it was a staff member in critical condition. How is she? Will she be all right?"
"I'm still not sure myself, but she looked fine when hyung carried her out."
"Wow... so that really happened?"
"Yes, yes. He was basically Superman. It was incredible."
Han Jin-woo thrust his thumb into the air.
"I did see that clip of him tackling the fire. Even I could tell, and I know nothing about firefighting — it was no joke."
"It's already on SNS?"
Instead of answering, Kwak Dohyun simply turned his screen toward him. Presumably some staff member who'd evacuated early had filmed it.
Han Jin-woo, who had lived through the desperation of that scene firsthand, twisted his mouth. Honestly — someone got hurt, and this is what you upload? Still... it does show off our hyung in action, so I suppose I can't complain.
Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, Yoon Jay looked down at his own hands — which no longer trembled. He'd been a mess earlier, but now that some time had passed, he was fine.
"I mean, seriously — what are you? How are you this good at everything?"
"I worked as a firefighter before coming to Korea."
"Wait, really? Then why on earth did you never mention it?"
"It's not exactly something worth bragging about."
It was true that it was a respectable profession — but he had no desire to become famous for anything other than acting when his career hadn't even properly begun.
Kwak Dohyun roughly read the intent behind those words and gave a nod. He, too, had no intention of pushing premature publicity.
"What do you mean, not worth bragging about? Anyway — you really are okay? Physically?"
"Yes."
"Phew, thank goodness. Will you at least stay admitted for a day?"
"No. Hospitals make me feel stifled. What happens to filming?"
"Well..."
Kwak Dohyun looked out toward the production team, locked in grim discussion in the hallway. The drama was riding such a good wave right now — please tell me this isn't about to bring everything to a screeching halt.