Chapter 95: Who is the Wingman? (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Who is the Wingman? (2)
Bediruche couldn’t take his eyes off Lee Yu-jin, whose brilliant blonde hair cascaded naturally over her shoulders.
The slightly dazed expression on his face deeply satisfied the director. The "fake direction" tactic had worked perfectly.
The smile playing on Yu-jin’s lips grew more mischievous.
“Should I take you to the police station? But it’s dangerous to just pick up a strange child, so I’ll just tell you where it is. It’s right over there.”
Yu-jin pointed into the empty air, but in the movie, that space would be occupied by the PX.
Barely snapping out of it, Bediruche struggled to maintain a calm facade.
Her looks are really something else…
Suppressing his racing heart, Bediruche desperately forced a smirk and spat roughly onto the ground.
“What are you talking about? You look like the type who’d go looking for a hotel even in the middle of a battlefield.”
“How did you know? I can’t sleep unless it’s a five-star hotel.”
“Typical Air Force.”
“This is it—my five-star hotel. Isn’t it grand?”
Yu-jin giggled, pointing at the Cold fighter jet she was sitting in.
Even though he knew the lines by heart, Bediruche almost lost his focus again. It wasn’t even like she was trying to overpower him with her acting; her beauty was simply a vacuum that kept sucking his composure away.
“That’s your five-star hotel? I’ve never seen that model before.”
“It’s the world’s strongest fighter jet, capable of performances a mere carrier-based aircraft could never dream of.”
Yu-jin looked at the upper exterior of the cockpit with eyes full of adoration, stroking it gently.
“Its name is Cold. It’s my everything.”
Bediruche was so captivated by that enchanting sight that he missed his cue once again.
However, the director didn’t call for a cut. He watched, letting the flow deviate from the script.
Actually, this might make for a better shot.
There was no romance in this movie. Not even a hint of unrequited love. But perhaps implying a one-sided crush from a male Navy colleague she reunites with might give the audience a subtle thrill.
After the director allowed the ad-lib to play out, Bediruche filmed the scene again according to the original script. Which version would make it to the screen would be decided in the final edit.
*
Self.
That’s my callsign in the movie. Naturally, Jang Ji-hye came up with it.
It reminds me of those ‘Water is Self-Service’ signs in restaurants.
Usually, callsigns are based on something trivial, so I let it slide, but…
“Water is self, trenches are self, carrying the team is self! I took it from things you say often, Yu-jin. I heard real callsigns are supposed to be pathetic and trivial.”
“Ji-hye, Ji-hye. Good job.”
“Did you think I’d pick ‘Elf’? Like the Navy did?”
“If I were branded as ‘Elf’ on screens all over the world, I might have retired out of pure shame.”
The retirement part was a joke, of course.
As a capitalist-minded actress who has already tasted the sweetness of money, I plan to churn out projects like a madwoman to fund my endless Envidium mining and my pediatric patient foundation.
I heard my foundation’s funds have surpassed 5 trillion won now.
The only money I personally put into the foundation was the 155.2 billion won I received from the Skinhead King Match VIP ticket revenue share, but donations have been pouring in from all over the world, bringing the total to over 5 trillion.
I’m just glad I can use money to help babies suffering from incurable or rare diseases.
But man, he’s ruggedly handsome. I’m jealous. If I’d been born looking like that, life would’ve been fun.
Bediruche isn’t the flower-boy type; he’s ruggedly handsome. He fits the image of a Navy pilot perfectly. It’s one of the styles I personally envy.
In the early part of the movie, right before a sortie, I meet Bediruche for the first time after he makes an emergency landing at an Air Force base. The setup is that his carrier-based jet’s arresting hook malfunctioned, forcing him to land at the nearest base.
Throughout the movie, I tease him relentlessly about this. I milk it for all it’s worth.
After a short break, filming resumed.
“Since it’s fate, why don’t you just put down roots in the Air Force? How about becoming my wingman?”
“Hey, Self. You should be the wingman. I’m the ace of aces.”
“Oh, so you’re not going back to Mommy? How brave. That’s right, you have to leave your mother’s embrace to become a true ace.”
“Ha. You look like you’re still at the age where you’d miss your mother’s embrace.”
“My mother passed away.”
“…Holy shit. I’m sorry.”
Bediruche paused for a beat, then put on a playful expression again.
“Then I suppose you must have been pampered plenty in your father’s arms.”
“My father is in the sky.”
“Jesus crazy fucking!”
Bediruche cried out, clutching his head.
I let out a little giggle and pointed a finger toward the sky.
Right on cue, a fighter jet roared past high above our heads. Bediruche looked at me with a look of utter disbelief, just as the script dictated.
“I’m his wingman. He’s the greatest pilot in the world.”
*
After today’s filming ended.
Dwayne Jo, who joined this movie as well, helped wash off the temporary gold coating on my hair.
“Black hair is cool and silver hair is elegant, but blonde is quite glamorous as well. There probably isn’t a color in the world that doesn’t suit an actor.”
“Th-thank you…”
Seeing Dwayne Jo deliver such high praise with a deadpan expression and a monotone voice, I was suddenly reminded of the quiet madness of the Air Force.
“Dwayne Jo, I think I heard you served in the US military before. By any chance…?”
“I served in the Air Force. I wasn’t a pilot, though.”
Ah, I knew it.
Now that I’ve hung out with the US Air Force, I can recognize the signs.
It’s like Hermès. Only the people who wear it recognize it on others.
Then is the Navy like Louis Vuitton? Everyone recognizes that monogram the moment they see it.
I almost burst out laughing at the thought, but Jang Ji-hye gave my shoulder a playful smack.
“Hey, I told you to stop being so charming to everyone!”
“What? I can’t even chuckle to myself anymore?”
“Think about how the fans fainted when you were doing fan service at the gallery. You can’t just go around laughing like that.”
“Fans? Didn’t just one person faint?”
“I heard it was six.”
“…”
“You know I’m not being overbearing or controlling just for the sake of it, right? I’m worried about the fans’ heart health.”
“Y-yeah. I get it…”
“I’m saying this because I want you to make lots of money for your stock investments, Yu-jin. The fans need to be healthy so you can become a major shareholder of Envidium one day.”
With my hair in Dwayne Jo’s hands, my calves being massaged by my brother, and my hands being tended to by Jang Ji-hye, I dozed off for a moment.
The reason for the blonde hair was because Tommy Cross plays my father in the movie. We matched hair colors to strengthen the father-child (emphasis!) image.
“We’re finished. Thank you for your hard work today.”
“You too, Mr. Dwayne. I don’t have much I can do for you, but if you ever bring your daughter by, I’ll at least give her some fan service…”
In the mirror, I saw a massive wave of emotion ripple through Dwayne Jo’s eyes.
This man’s expression really shifts drastically whenever it involves his daughter.
“Would that really be alright?”
“Yes. If it’s okay, could I gift her the flight tickets?”
Thanks to Dwayne Jo constantly sending me black coating agent, I’ve been able to pretend to be a foreigner whenever I want to hang out quietly in public.
I’ve received a lot from him, so I should at least be generous to his daughter.
Thanks to him, the actress Lee Yu-jin has been doing a great job pretending to be a black-haired Korean.
“I will take care of the flight tickets myself. My daughter will be so happy. My heart is already swelling with emotion.”
“I was planning to prepare first-class tickets for her. With an autograph included. I wanted to give your daughter a special memory.”
“…”
Dwayne Jo was silent for a moment before speaking. His voice trembled slightly with what sounded like shyness.
“I-if that is the case, then I humbly accept.”
*
Most of the ground scenes were filmed at Osan Air Force Base.
The Navy could bring an aircraft carrier, but they couldn’t bring their academy with them. The production company and the US military respected my wish not to leave Korea.
The excuse that I’m still young and scared to leave my parents’ side works so well.
Before heading home, I saw Jang Ji-hye and the director discussing something with serious faces. Curious, I asked her as soon as she returned.
“Why so serious?”
“I was having a serious discussion with the director about your outfit for the first morning run scene after your character transfers to the Navy.”
“The Navy dress code for running is obviously going shirtless!”
Jang Ji-hye smacked my shoulder.
“Are you crazy? Why would an actress go shirtless! You’ve been flying fighter jets lately and it’s clearly gone to your head.”
“Ah, right. I’m a woman right now.”
“What do you mean ‘right now’! You were always a woman!”
“Right, I boarded a female body in this life. In the next life, I’m definitely going to live with a +999 appearance-enhanced face like Bediruche’s.”
Anyway, I wondered if it was really something to be that serious about. Jang Ji-hye was far more earnest than I expected.
“You ran every day on the carrier in your flight suit, right? Seeing that gave me an idea. I thought we could use the outfit to imply that she still has lingering feelings for the Air Force right after transferring.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“And then as time passes, you switch to the Navy training gear. It’s a symbolic way to show she’s fully embraced her Navy identity.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“They say the standard for a female soldier lead in a military movie is running in a sleeveless crop top, but since you’re still a minor, I shot that down.”
The Peter Pan inside me screamed in agony the moment he heard ‘sleeveless crop top.’
Then, the Yu-jin inside me scolded him, asking if he couldn’t even wear a crop top for the sake of a mega-hit.
At the persuasion of the Yu-jin persona—that the movie had to be a massive hit for her to ride an aircraft carrier again—the carrier-obsessed Peter persona suddenly began to contemplate seriously.
“I, I think…”
“Hmm? Do you have another good idea?”
“…I think the opinion of our beautiful high school girl writer is absolutely, 100% correct.”
What broke the dramatic compromise between the Peter persona and the Yu-jin persona was my sense of shame. Unless it was absolutely necessary, like for an awards ceremony, there was no need to chip away at my dignity if I didn’t have to.
Even without that, if I promote it hard enough, we’ll be able to make a sequel.
That’s why I’ve been busy promoting the movie by turning on vlog lives whenever I have a spare moment. If we can save on marketing costs—which can sometimes exceed 100% of the production budget—the scale of the profits changes completely.
*
Incheon International Airport.
A photo zone had been set up, and countless reporters and fans were waiting. Finally, a blonde, middle-aged (looking) white man wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared, escorted by bodyguards.
“Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!”
“Welcome to Korea!”
“Whoa! Tommy! Tommy Cross!”
“South Korea is now a country that possesses an Elf!”
Hollywood top star Tommy Cross had arrived via private jet to film Ace Down to Sea. Standing in the photo zone, he took off his Ray-Bans and gave a bright smile to the fans and cameras. If it weren’t for the consideration of other airport users, he probably would have held an impromptu autograph session.
“Tommy! One last question, how do you feel about being in Korea?”
The final question before he left. Despite being in his 60s, Tommy Cross, who boasted a sharp, handsome image, replied with a gentle smile.
“I can’t wait to fly the highest skies together with my kid.”
In the movie, Tommy Cross is an Air Force ace pilot. And Lee Yu-jin starts as his daughter and wingman.
*
“Daughter. I think your father got a bit depressed after seeing Tommy Cross’s interview. Could you sneak over to the house and comfort him?”
Oh, Dad. It was just a joke about playing father and child in the movie; I can’t believe he’s sulking over that. How is he going to survive as the father of an actress?
“Okay. I’ll go now.”
“I’ll get things ready.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just take the Cullinan. You stay here and rest, Mom.”
At first, Mom lived with Dad and just came back and forth to my place to take care of me, but lately, it’s been the opposite. She stays here and frequently visits the apartment to check on Dad.
“I think it’s because your father spends so much time alone at home. I wish he’d live here with us, but he’s still upset with your grandfather for opposing the marriage, so he finds this house uncomfortable.”
“I’ll go cheer him up.”
Driving the Cullinan toward the old 24-pyeong apartment, a doubt suddenly crossed my mind.
Is Dad really refusing to move into the house Grandfather bought because he’s still upset about the marriage opposition?
Both Mom and Grandfather thought so. But was that really the truth?
Armed to the teeth with a hat and mask, I hurried up the elevator and punched in the passcode to the front door.
There were a suspiciously large number of men’s shoes in the entryway. And from inside, I heard a loud conversation…
“Gank mid! Mid gank! What is the jungle doing?!”
“Hey! Lee Sung-hyun! At our age, money and kids might come a bit late, but the jungle must never be late! Get up to top lane for a gank, now!”
“Hey, Lee Sung-hyun! If you go top, I’m throwing the bottom lane. Get over here right now. I’m dead serious!”
I knew it.
But Dad… you were a Jungle main? I wonder what his tier is.