“Ten minutes to go. Shall we head out?”
The manager sitting in the driver’s seat checked the clock on the monitor and asked calmly.
Song Hyunsoo, who had been staring at the script, suddenly snapped his head up as if surprised.
Although he had memorized the lines so well he could recite them in his sleep, there was nothing else to cling to in order to shake off the nerves before the first day of shooting.
“Yes, Chief Manager.”
He closed the script he had been forcing himself to look at despite not absorbing anything and slipped his arms into the padded jacket on the passenger seat.
“Whoa, it’s cold!”
The manager got out first, zipped up his jumper, and hunched his body.
Just like Yoon Jooho had mentioned earlier, despite it being early March, the weather here felt like midwinter.
Snow was scattered here and there on the village roofs, beneath the fences, and across the dried-up rice paddies stretching before the village.
“Hyunsoo, here’s a heat pack. Keep one in your jacket pocket.”
“Thank you.”
Taking the heat pack from the manager, he shoved it into his pocket as instructed.
Although his mind registered the air hitting his cheek was as sharp as a blade, his nerves kept him from feeling the cold.
“Is that guy an actor too?”
“Judging by the looks, probably.”
“Must be a rookie. I haven’t seen his face before.”
“Where’s Yoon Jooho? Haven’t spotted him at all.”
“His Highness? He already went into that film house before you came.”
Ignoring the murmurs of the few curious villagers gathered nearby, Song Hyunsoo quickened his pace toward the so-called ‘film house’ they mentioned.
Around the houses of Lee Sol and Lee San, where the shooting was taking place, tension and excitement coexisted with a lively yet serious atmosphere.
Many staff were still busily moving inside and outside the house, preparing for the shoot.
Lee Sol and Lee San’s house—the red-roofed house.
One vacant house in Myeonghaeri had been transformed into the siblings’ home since the last time Yoon Jooho had visited.
The siblings’ house was nestled against a low hill, while Baek Kang’s house was very close to the sea. Baek Kang’s house had a living room window that overlooked the ocean directly and stood alone without neighbors.
Though the two houses were about 20 to 30 minutes apart by car, that was nothing unusual on a film set.
As Song Hyunsoo stepped inside the red-roofed house’s fence, it felt as if something tugged at him from behind, making him stop dead in his tracks.
At the eaves, Yoon Jooho was talking with Manager Bang.
No—It was Baek Kang.
The clothes were Baek Kang’s, the shoes were Baek Kang’s, the hair, skin, and hands—Baek Kang’s hands.
For the role, Yoon Jooho had been taking care of his nails himself for about a month.
He usually went to his regular spa for manicures and pedicures, which kept his nails always glossy and smooth without a single hangnail or cuticle. That look could never become Baek Kang’s hands.
To transform into a young fisherman whose work was physical labor, Yoon Jooho bulked up, studied his walk, speech, expressions, and gestures, and even clipped his nails himself in the bathroom.
He worked hard to erase the sophisticated, penthouse-drenched-in-niche-perfume image of Yoon Jooho.
And the result of all that study and effort stood right in front of Song Hyunsoo now.
His head slowly turned this way. The smile that met Song Hyunsoo’s eyes was unmistakably Baek Kang’s, not Yoon Jooho’s.
Not the urban charm layered with a teasing leisure but a rough yet steady warmth, like a sunbaked rock. Baek Kang’s smile.
Approaching Song Hyunsoo with Baek Kang’s gait, he scanned him from head to toe.
“You’re totally San-i.”
“Who says that?”
“Do I look like Baek Kang?”
Brushing back his hair, now longer than the first time they met, Yoon Jooho made a full turn.
Having changed into costume and finished makeup like Song Hyunsoo, he was the perfect image of Baek Kang.
Apart from their facial features, they looked like completely different people.
“Looks like a local came out to watch the filming.”
Yoon Jooho signaled the manager with his eyes, then led Song Hyunsoo to a secluded corner of the yard.
Despite their busy movements, the staff kept stealing glances at Yoon Jooho.
To those familiar with actors, Yoon Jooho was a top star and a fascinating sight.
As the distance between them closed to a point where others couldn’t hear, Yoon Jooho’s face shifted back to his own as he asked Song Hyunsoo.
“Does seeing me like this disappoint you? Like I’m just a regular guy?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. You’re not ordinary at all.”
“You said I looked like someone from this town.”
“A really handsome young man from here. Someone who’ll probably go to Seoul someday and become an actor because of looks like that.”
At Song Hyunsoo’s indifferent words, Yoon Jooho chuckled.
“You don’t seem nervous at all, senior.”
“I’m nervous. Just enough to feel good.”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Hmm, maybe you look a little pale.”
Yoon Jooho scrutinized Song Hyunsoo’s face with a serious tone.
“Remember what we talked about yesterday?”
Song Hyunsoo nodded.
The first day, the first scene of shooting was the dinner where the three welcomed Baek Kang after his eight years in prison.
Yoon Jooho and he had already practiced and studied the scene several times, then arrived on set and adjusted with Shin Hyojin.
“San-i even went to the prison to meet Kang after his release, alone without Sol-i. He had been marking the calendar with X’s for months before Kang’s release, waiting. You have to capture how much that means to San-i. Then the emotional line for San-i in this scene will flow naturally. Just focus on that.”
As Yoon Jooho calmly repeated what they had discussed yesterday, Song Hyunsoo felt his tension slowly ebbing away.
Until just moments ago, his palms had been sweating despite the cold.
“I’ve honestly practiced enough to beat anyone. So when you act, don’t think. Your body will remember and move on its own. Just go with the flow.”
He nodded and glanced sideways at Yoon Jooho.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No reason, it’s just… I feel reassured when you’re like this.”
“So you don’t usually?”
“Usually, I need a lot of attention.”
While the two joked and relaxed their nerves, Shin Hyojin finished his makeup and joined them.
“Finally, the first shoot.”
Shin Hyojin looked quite excited. She bounced her shoulders as if dancing, showing no signs of nervousness.
“Isn’t Sol-i too excited? Kang’s release must be complicated for her.”
At Yoon Jooho’s words, Shin Hyojin shrugged her bouncing shoulders.
“I’m always like this on the first day. Once we’re on set, I get serious. Oh, Jooyoung oppa is coming later for the night shoot too.”
“Why would someone with no shoot today come?”
“It’s still the crank-in day, so he wanted to come see. Later, let’s all have a beer at the lodging. Sounds good, right?”
“……”
“……”
Without planning it, Yoon Jooho and Song Hyunsoo closed their mouths simultaneously and eyed each other.
“What’s with both of you? There’s no one you know here and nothing to do. Do you have some kind of plan?”
“N-no. No plan, really. Beer sounds good.”
“You’ll be exhausted after the first shoot. What beer?”
Trying to brush it off with a laugh, Song Hyunsoo was met with Yoon Jooho’s dissatisfied expression.
But Shin Hyojin didn’t mind, acting like it was just another usual thing.
Since the trip from the set to Seoul took over two hours, production had arranged nearby lodging.
The staff rented out a whole large pension complex, and the actors’ lodging was a tourist hotel about 40 minutes from the set.
If they wanted, they could commute from home, but Song Hyunsoo and Yoon Jooho planned to stay at the lodging this week.
They hadn’t promised to secretly meet at each other’s rooms at night, but Shin Hyojin’s suggestion made Song Hyunsoo’s heart skip a beat.
“Everyone’s here! Shall we go inside if you’re ready?”
Following the assistant director, the three entered the house.
In the kitchen separated from the living room, the camera and lighting setup were nearly finished.
Director Jung Joonhee, discussing the floor plan with the cinematographer, greeted the actors after hearing the assistant director’s report.
“Oh, this is great. Even better than the photos I got before.”
The director’s reaction to seeing the actors in character was good. He left the final setup to the assistant director and soon explained the scene’s key points to the actors.
“San-i’s role is important in this scene. He’s the one who creates the warm and harmonious atmosphere. Above all, he has to contrast with Kang and Sol-i’s awkwardness. Understand?”
“Yes, Director.”
“If Sol-i and Kang are a couple, San-i and Kang are close as same-gender friends. They do everything together. They go to the bathhouse together, sleep together, even went to an all-boys school. San-i has spent even more time with Kang than Sol-i has. There can’t be any awkwardness, not even the smallest. You should be able to touch each other without hesitation, like it’s your own skin.”
“Yes, understood.”
At Song Hyunsoo’s tightly packed answer, the director looked at him worriedly.
“You’re supposed to be playful, but how can San-i be this frozen?”
Yoon Jooho quietly came closer to the stiff Song Hyunsoo.
Sliding his hand inside the collar of Hyunsoo’s padded jacket, he rubbed the tense back of his neck.
At first, the hand felt cold but quickly warmed like melting snow.
Since they had never had this kind of skinship with others around, Song Hyunsoo was quite surprised. But the surprise lasted only a moment.
The fact that his hand touched his skin, that people were watching, and yet he didn’t care because Yoon Jooho was supporting him—those facts rapidly calmed Song Hyunsoo.
“Yeah, Kang and San-i have gotten really close. That’s great.”
The director nodded in approval at the sight, but Shin Hyojin looked surprised.
“I didn’t realize since you still call each other senior and Hyunsoo-ssi. When did you get this close?”
“No, we switched back and forth between formal and informal speech.”
Hearing this, Director Jung shook his head.
“That’s not nearly enough. You need to get closer. You have to get close no matter what, even if you have to stay together. This is homework, got it? Hmm?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.