Mother-in-Law, Call Me Nuna?
We finished filming all the alleyway scenes and took a short break. Shooting had started at ten, and after running through several scenes, it was already time for lunch.
“Didn’t you say earlier that Yongtae doesn’t have any dietary restrictions?”
“That’s right. But because of my size, I tend to eat quite a lot.”
“Eating a lot is good~! It’ll probably be a lunchbox. I’ll tell them to bring plenty, so eat as much as you want.”
“Thank you.”
It felt awkward to ask for a lot since I was in an unfamiliar place, but I was relieved when Ha Juyun offered to handle it. She had her manager, Hwang Yoon-gi, bring four lunchboxes, and he soon arrived carrying them.
Four boxes? One for Ha Juyun and three for me?
When I received them, I saw they were from a specialized lunchbox franchise—the most expensive 30,000 to 40,000 won line. They were substantial, packed with numerous side dishes and two premium main courses each.
We set the lunchboxes on a simple table prepared in the waiting room and ate together.
“By the way, Yongtae, your acting is pretty good?”
“Really? Thank you.”
It didn’t feel like there were any particularly difficult scenes, but… still, getting praised felt nice.
“Yongtae, have you ever thought about becoming an entertainer?”
“Pardon?”
An entertainer? So that’s why she complimented my acting—she was trying to recruit me. But I had zero intention of continuing with acting. This music video was something I’d agreed to on a whim, just to try it out once. Becoming a celebrity would only draw unwanted attention and become a hassle. Besides, it would make it harder to casually meet women, beat up bad guys, and all that. The money probably wouldn’t be that much better than what I could earn now, either. It seemed far better to stay under the radar like this, build up my strength, and wait for the right moment to seize the throne of the Tyra Group—just as I’d originally planned.
“Honestly, I don’t really want to become an entertainer. I’m satisfied with my current life.”
“Really? That’s a shame. You have a great face, a good body, and your acting isn’t bad at all.”
Ha Juyun didn’t seem too disappointed. It looked like she’d only asked casually, not seriously. We set the topic of entertainment aside and chatted about other things as we finished lunch.
While I demolished three full lunchboxes, Ha Juyun only ate about half of hers and left the rest. She seemed to have a small appetite to begin with. Or maybe she was managing her figure?
“Here are the scenes we’ll shoot this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
After the meal, the director handed me the script. I took it and skimmed through it quickly. There was a scene of the protagonist staying behind at school after failing a test to study alone, a one-on-one tutoring session with the teacher, emotional acting while looking at each other, and then… a kiss scene?
There was a kiss scene?
Han Yugyeong is going to lose her mind when she sees this… No woman would be happy about her man filming a kiss scene with her own mother. Personally, I was thrilled at the thought of kissing the beautiful actress Ha Juyun, but still.
“Alright, everyone~! Let’s start the after-school scene!”
At the director’s call, I pushed thoughts of the kiss scene out of my mind and focused on the immediate shoot.
The set was the same classroom as before, but the lighting had been changed to give the warm glow of sunset after school. I sat in the empty classroom, stared at the test paper, crumpled it up, and clutched my head. It was a scene of frustration over poor grades. This kind of acting was easy for me. I’d worried about bad grades plenty of times, so I fell into the role naturally.
I sighed, collected myself, and pulled out a book. Just then, the classroom door opened and Ha Juyun walked in.
“Oh my, why haven’t you gone home yet?”
“My grades aren’t good… so I wanted to study a bit more before leaving.”
“Then shall the teacher take a look? What part don’t you understand?”
Naturally, Ha Juyun sat in the seat next to me and began teaching the difficult parts like a tutor. Since she was playing an English teacher, she explained grammar, and surprisingly, she seemed to know English well and taught it clearly.
Following the director’s instructions, I nodded as if I understood at times, tilted my head in confusion at others, and captured the scene of listening to her explanation. I also showed the student’s admiration for his teacher by occasionally blushing while looking at her face.
Whether it was because I was immersed in the acting or because the scent of a mature woman kept tickling my nose, my face actually turned slightly red. When Ha Juyun saw my flushed face, she let out a soft “huhu” and smiled. The director called it too seductive and made us reshoot, which caused a bit of a commotion.
During the short break, Ha Juyun looked into her hand mirror and grumbled.
“Tsk, I was going for pure and innocent…! Yongtae, did my smile seem seductive to you too?”
“Um… it did feel a little sexy.”
When she asked, I changed the word from “seductive” to “sexy” to avoid sounding rude.
“Hohoho! I am quite sexy, aren’t I? Oo~♥”
Apparently pleased with my answer, Ha Juyun laughed brightly and we resumed filming. Fortunately, everything went smoothly afterward without any more hiccups.
After finishing the one-on-one tutoring scene and a few minor shots, it was finally time for the kiss scene I’d both anticipated and dreaded. The protagonist, having been accepted to the university he wanted, visits his teacher with a bouquet and kisses her. Ha Juyun, who was about to kiss her daughter’s boyfriend, looked completely calm, as if she weren’t nervous at all. Was this the composure of a veteran actress?
On the other hand, because I’d been immersed in the role the whole time, I genuinely felt like I was going to confess to the teacher I’d been secretly in love with. I changed out of my school uniform into the outfit prepared on set, picked up the bouquet, and headed to the set.
The set was designed to look like an apartment hallway. I stood in front of a door and pressed the doorbell. My heart was already pounding.
The door opened, and Ha Juyun, dressed in casual home clothes, looked at me with surprise. To me, already deep in character, she looked incredibly beautiful.
“Here, teacher.”
I smiled as I handed her the bouquet, and she accepted it happily. Then I showed her the acceptance letter in my other hand.
“I… I got accepted.”
“Oh my, congratulations—mmph!”
I didn’t even wait for her to finish saying congratulations before kissing her. In the context, it was supposed to be an innocent boy’s kiss, and since it was for broadcast, I wasn’t supposed to use tongue…!
Wait, Miss Ha Juyun! Why are you using your tongue?
Because Ha Juyun slipped her tongue in, what should have been a bittersweet, innocent forbidden love scene instantly turned into something straight out of an adult film.
“Cut! Why do you keep doing this? Let’s go for pure and innocent rather than erotic, okay?”
Of course the director called cut, forcing us to reshoot the kiss scene.
“Sorry~. It’s been so long since I’ve kissed anyone that my tongue just went on its own.”
“It’s already done, so there’s nothing we can do about it… Let’s just keep the tongue part a secret from Yugyeong.”
“I think it might already be too late?”
Ha Juyun pointed somewhere, and when I looked, Han Yugyeong was staring at us with thick veins bulging on her forehead.
Yeah… I’m definitely getting scolded.
After the kiss scene, we shot a few more scenes and filming finally wrapped up. The singer’s album was releasing in four days, so there was no after-party. They said it would go straight into editing. Even with AI editing technology speeding things up, certain parts still needed human touch, so it seemed the industry remained busy no matter how much the times changed.
“Sorry~ Yugyeong, baby~.”
“I didn’t know…”
“Mom, be quiet for a second!”
We were all riding in Ha Juyun’s large van. She was acting cute and apologizing to Han Yugyeong, while I kept insisting I had no idea what was going on. Han Yugyeong still seemed unable to shake off the shock of seeing her mother kiss her boyfriend on set. She pressed hard on her temples with both hands.
“Sigh… If it was going to be something like this, you should have told me in advance, Mom.”
“It’s just acting, acting. Instead, Mom will buy you something delicious today. Forgive me~.”
“No! I’m not a child. Why would I calm down over food?”
Luckily, I seemed to be off the hook. I stepped back a bit and watched the two of them argue. Well, it was less of an argument and more like Han Yugyeong getting angry while Ha Juyun tried to soothe her with aegyo.
“Haa… Fine. Since it was for the shoot, I’ll let it go this time.”
“Thank you~! What does our daughter want to eat? Should we get some eel for Yongtae to build up his stamina? Yoon-gi~! Head to that eel restaurant.”
“Mom! What are you saying now?”
In the end, it wrapped up with Han Yugyeong forgiving her, which was a relief. But “eel for stamina”…? Do I look like someone who lacks stamina? I’m plenty capable even without eel. Come to think of it, both Shinoe and Misano used to buy me eel often too. Maybe recommending eel is a characteristic of mature women.
“Since it wasn’t Yongtae’s fault, I’ll let it go this time.”
“Got it. In that case, I’ll eat plenty of eel and work hard tonight.”
“Mom’s right here~. Keep it down.”
At my playful remark, Han Yugyeong blushed and lightly smacked my forearm. Since she’d calmed down, we chatted about various things on the way to the eel restaurant.
“So what was the contract issue about?”
“The other side keeps nitpicking problems with our contract. They’re demanding alimony. It hasn’t been fully resolved yet, so I left it to the working-level staff and came here.”
So it was a contract problem. This feels like an event that happened in the game too… Something’s trying to come to mind, but I can’t quite remember. What was it again…? Since it’s not coming to me immediately, it probably wasn’t a major event. I can think about it while eating eel.
Before long, we arrived at the grilled eel restaurant and took our seats. Ha Juyun told Hwang Yoon-seong he could go home for the day, and after saying goodbye, he left. Still, as her manager, he made sure to have some eel packaged for her to take home.
“This place is delicious, so eat as much as you want. Nuna will treat you.”
“Yes, I’ll enjoy it, Nuna.”
“You’re calling her Nuna?”
The atmosphere grew chilly for a moment at Han Yugyeong’s question after hearing our conversation, but Ha Juyun didn’t seem flustered at all. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was an actress skilled at ad-libs or if Ha Juyun herself just had a lot of guts.
“Do I have to be called Mother or Mother-in-Law outside? Me, Ha Juyun? Look at the two of us. The age difference doesn’t even look that big. Calling me Nuna is perfect.”
“Sigh… Fine.”
Han Yugyeong let out several deep sighs as if trying to calm her anger, then nodded in agreement. She then aggressively picked up the grilled eel from the iron plate and piled it onto my plate. Nearly two-thirds of the eel ended up in a huge mound in front of me.
“To relieve all the stress I got today, it looks like you’ll really need to work hard tonight, Yongtae.”
“I don’t need the eel for that… but I’ll eat well.”
I can always work hard when it comes to that. We stopped chatting and focused on the grilled eel. As Ha Juyun had boasted, it was an incredibly delicious place. Grilled over charcoal and rice straw, it had a strong smoky flavor while the oil content was just right. Even Han Yugyeong, who had been slightly irritated, opened her eyes wide and said it was delicious as she ate heartily.
Beeeep♪
We were all enjoying the meal when Han Yugyeong’s phone rang. She checked the number, sighed, and answered.
“Yes. Do we really have to meet in person for the negotiation again?”
It seemed to be about the contract issue from earlier. Han Yugyeong frowned with an annoyed expression, then stood up as if she had no choice.
“I’ll head out first. Yongtae, finish eating and take a taxi back to our house.”
“Oh my, you’re leaving already?”
For some reason, Ha Juyun’s voice carried not disappointment, but clear anticipation.