Standing By
It wasn't as if we'd made plans in advance, and there was no reason for me to run over just because Noh Bihyeok said he was coming to my place.
That was what I'd told myself, at least.
“Then I'll come by by seven. Let's have dinner together.”
One slightly sulky voice was all it took for the words to slip out of me before I knew it.
―Okay. I'll be waiting.
After hanging up, I couldn't shake an oddly unsettled feeling.
“Who was that? Noh Bihyeok?”
“Yeah.”
“He always clings when things are going well for you. Every single time.”
Baek Seojin launched into her usual tirade against Noh Bihyeok. By this point, it practically qualified as a habit.
Give it a little more time and she'll be criticizing him for breathing.
“He's not clinging. He's at my place right now, actually.”
“That's exactly what clinging is, Yeonjae... Sigh. I should've gotten close to you before he did.”
Baek Seojin smacked her forehead with genuine regret, and all I could do was laugh.
Seo Jio, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, cut in.
“Who's this Noh Bihyeok friend of yours? Someone from your middle school?”
“Yeah. He wants to be a singer, so we're only half the same.”
“Hmm. You two must be pretty close.”
Close, sure. As long as I kept up my fame, I figured things would stay fine between us.
“He's like you. Similar vibe.”
“Me? I'm like this Bihyeok friend of yours?”
“Yeah.”
If Seo Jio had a loose, unhurried air to him, Noh Bihyeok came across as the more ingratiating type.
But the way their eyes crinkled when they laughed, the rhythm tucked into the way they talked—it was remarkably similar.
“Then I guess that friend must be handsome too.”
“......”
Yeah. Even down to this part of him.
When I gave him a distinctly unimpressed look, Seo Jio just smiled and stirred his straw. Even in that sluggish motion, a faint trace of native sharpness drifted off him.
He's got a sharp streak too.
Noh Bihyeok always came across as nothing but laughter, but just watching how quickly his eyes scanned an unfamiliar space the moment he arrived told me he was no ordinary kid.
Seo Jio was the same. When we'd first met earlier today, I could feel his eyes darting as they took me apart and analyzed me.
Well, I'm no different.
It was a funny thought to have, really. Sizing up a kid I'd only met today—someone I barely knew—and pretending I'd figured something out wasn't exactly admirable behavior.
Let's stop thinking there.
Whatever kind of person Seo Jio was, it had nothing to do with me.
With that settled, I turned my attention back to the conversation. But the quiet little phone kept nagging at me, and before six o'clock even arrived, I found myself getting up.
“Actor-nim, you're here?”
“Yeah. Where's Bihyeok?”
“He's waiting in your room.”
I washed my hands in the bathroom and went to the room. The moment I opened the door, there was Noh Bihyeok, jutting out his puffed-up, swollen lips.
“Looks like you had a good time.”
For all my effort in rushing over early, the reply I got was a curt grunt.
Huh. That's the first time I've seen him sulk like a little kid.
“Yeah. It was fun.”
“......”
He clamped his mouth shut like a clam, and for a moment he reminded me of An-gae.
An-gae had done all sorts of things with Noh Bihyeok's face before, so the sight wasn't unfamiliar—and yet it still felt strange. What's gotten into him?
“Bihyeok, are you mad?”
“Huh? Why would I be? That's ridiculous. What would I even be mad about.”
Only after he'd finished his little snort-and-huff routine and I simply stared at him in silence did he finally look embarrassed.
“Sorry, that was... kind of childish.”
“Yeah. A little.”
He grew even more sheepish. I chuckled and sat down beside him.
“Next time, text me before you come over. Not after you've already shown up.”
“I did text you. You're the one who didn't check.”
“Then call. Call me.”
“Why are you so obsessed with phone calls?”
“Too lazy to move my fingers.”
“......And talking isn't work?”
I caught the hand that kept poking my cheek and stood up.
“Dinner first. I'm starving.”
“'kay~.”
By then he was back to his usual self, and I checked to confirm it before leaving the room.
Raising a kid really isn't easy. Honestly.
“Actor-nim.”
Knock, knock.
The knock landed and I flung the door open in the same breath.
“...I was going to ask if you were ready, but I see that's no longer necessary.”
I gave Jinbae, who was staring at me wide-eyed, an awkward smile.
“Yes. I'm ready.”
Today was the day I finally returned to an actual set after far too long. A day of real acting. It had been so long that my body practically itched for it.
“Shall we grab breakfast first? We've still got plenty of time.”
“Sure.”
Truthfully, I wanted to skip breakfast altogether, but I sat obediently at the table anyway. I couldn't taste a thing. Jinbae told me to eat slowly, and I let it wash past me, finished breakfast in a hurry, and got in the car.
My phone rang the moment I did. It was Seong Ijun.
We were about to meet anyway—why call?
“Hello?”
―Yeonjae! Did you sleep well?
“Yeah. I'm on my way to the set right now.”
―Already? It's only nine... Weren't you filming at three?
My shoot was in the afternoon, but I'd arranged to arrive in the morning to prepare in advance. And I wanted to spend more time on set anyway.
“Just felt like it. I want to watch you act. Something wrong?”
―No, nothing like that... I just wanted to ask if you slept well!
A genuinely pointless reason. Still, a call did beat a text.
What was meant to be a quick chat stretched longer and longer, and by the time the set building came into view through the windshield, I'd only just managed to hang up.
Not that it mattered. The second the car door opened, Seong Ijun came bounding out.
“Yeonjae! Hi—!”
“Hey. The hair suits you, hyung.”
“Thank you...”
“When did you dye it?”
“Oh, it's not dyed—it's a wig. Getting this color means bleaching it over and over, and that would wreck your hair, so...”
I see. Didn't know that.
I ran a light hand over the yellow-dyed hair that matched his character, Han Seungmin. It showed no trace of being a wig, which was honestly impressive.
“Let me introduce you to our director and the staff first.”
“Right. Thanks.”
Today was the day I'd be joining as an extra on Dogs' Leash, the new drama Seong Ijun was filming. It was also the drama I'd told Team Leader Woo I wanted to be on.
If I'd pushed a little harder back then, maybe the person under that wig could have been me.
But that's water under the bridge.
Watching Seong Ijun play Han Seungmin, I'd expected complicated feelings. Surprisingly, I felt nothing of the sort.
If anything, I was fascinated. He was nothing like the character I had built.
I didn't know you could deliver that line with that much lift in it.
What was written in a script was, in the end, nothing but printed text. A writer might emphasize gestures, glances, hand movements, and actions through stage directions, but how to bring all of that to life was left entirely to the actor.
Depending on who takes a role, an entirely different person can be born.
For the first time, I felt like I was slowly beginning to understand what acting was. If acting was the work of completing a character made of nothing but words, then there was no such thing as a correct answer.
Seong Ijun's performance—an answer written differently from mine—was genuinely excellent.
I kept to a corner, watching quietly so as not to get in the way, when I felt someone settle in beside me.
“Our Ijun really can act, can't he?”
It was the main PD of Dogs' Leash.
“Yes. He's really good.”
“Ahh. It warms my heart every time I watch him. I was the one who first suggested he try acting, you know.”
“You must have known Ijun-hyung for a long time.”
“That's right. It's been years since I took him under my wing as his sworn uncle. Honestly, when I look at Ijun, he's just like a son to me.”
So that was it. It was odd of him to walk up out of nowhere and say all this, but it wasn't hard to understand.
You'd have to be a fool not to read that look in his eyes.
Since I had no interest in picking a fight, I gave him what he wanted to hear.
“I want to act as well as Ijun-hyung someday.”
“Haha! You'll get there. Learn a lot today.”
The eyes that had been sizing me up since the introductions softened at last.
He was a man who didn't warrant any nerves. Easy to handle. A hassle, but easy.
“When Ijun asked if he could bring you on as an extra, I'll admit I had my doubts. But looking at you now—that's a fine pair of eyes you've got!”
“Thank you.”
The main PD rattled on for a good while after that before finally leaving. My ears hurt.
Just as I thought I might finally get a moment's rest, Seong Ijun came over.
“Yeonjae, are you bored?”
“No. You really are great, hyung. I enjoyed watching.”
“Thank you...! What we talked about last time helped a lot, actually.”
I gave absent answers to Seong Ijun chattering away beside me while I ran the drama's overall plot back through my head.
The main characters of Dogs' Leash were Han Seungmin, a teenager, and Lee Janhyeok, a man in his forties.
Han Seungmin had run away from home as a child and lived on the streets—one of the ordinary street punks you could find anywhere. Then, through some twist of chance, he gained a psychic power, but unable to properly grasp its worth, he drifted and floundered.
It was Lee Janhyeok who found him and took him in.
After clashing at first, the two joined forces to fight other psychic factions—that was the story in broad strokes.
Psychic powers... the directing will have to be good.
It was a hero genre, the kind that turned childish the moment it overstepped by even a little.
Even though it was far from my taste, the reason I'd been greedy for it was purely the character. Han Seungmin was a compelling figure unlike anything I'd seen in other dramas.
I still regret it a little... but hey, an extra's still a shoot.
The role I was playing today was Student 1—a kid getting his lunch money squeezed out of him by Street Thugs 1, 2, and 3.
Not long after gaining his power, Han Seungmin saves Student 1 from the thugs. And when Student 1 thanks him, Han Seungmin—shameless as ever—says, “You owe me for the rescue,” and takes the money right back.
Truly a one-of-a-kind character. Tsk. Guess I still had regrets after all.
Just as I was about to sink into these stray thoughts, Seong Ijun glanced over at me.
“Do you remember what I said when we first met? The Butterfly Flower on the Zelkova Tree was my first drama.”
“Yeah.”
“This is my second. And I get to film it with you again... I'm really glad.”
His shy face was brimming with sincerity.
I guess he really did need a friend.
At this point, honestly, he'd be better off going back to school himself.
“I'm glad I get to film with you too, hyung. Let's do a great job today.”
“Yeah...!”
Seong Ijun beamed.
Knowing that the face in front of me was about to become Han Seungmin sent a flutter through me for no reason at all.
I want to act. Now.
Han Seungmin's power was Submission. Lock eyes with a target, issue a command, and the target's body moves as you will it.
When Student 1 panics at having the money snatched back by the very person who saved him, Han Seungmin—annoyed—uses his power.
Since this was the scene where Han Seungmin's power was properly showcased for the first time, Student 1's expression of surrender was crucial to selling it.
From the moment Seong Ijun had contacted me in a rush three days ago, I'd practiced with exactly that in mind.
The thought of standing in front of a camera again made me feel like I was floating off the ground.
“Actor-nim. They say it's time for you to get changed now.”
Following Jinbae, I changed into the school uniform. It was far drabber and heavier in color than the one at my own school.
Once a scar had been drawn around my lips and the makeup done to dull my skin tone, the real shoot was right there at my doorstep.
“Looking forward to working with you today.”
“...Ah—yes! Us as well.”
When I greeted the men playing the thugs who'd be taking my money, the whole group flinched in unison.
They'd been sneaking glances at me for a while now, but what could I say to that?
Their reactions were their business. I took my mark. Don't get swept up. Stay calm.
Slowly, I closed my eyes. And then, for the first time in far too long, the words drifted to my ear.
“Standby—, and cue!”