Yoon Jooho, standing right beside him, glanced back at Song Hyunsoo.
Song Hyunsoo looked up at him in return.
With an expression as if trying to hold back a laugh, Yoon Jooho raised his eyebrows.
He inhaled sharply, then, with a tone of playful resignation, said, “If the director says we have to get closer, then that’s what we have to do.”
As Yoon Jooho massaged his neck, his thumb lightly brushed against Hyunsoo’s earlobe.
Song Hyunsoo nearly screamed.
No one on set cared, whether one male actor was massaging another’s neck or accidentally touching his earlobe. Even if they saw it, they wouldn’t think much of it.
Still, Hyunsoo felt his heart shrink.
After Yoon Jooho pressed his hands a couple more times firmly on the back of his neck and then withdrew them, a sudden chill spread across Hyunsoo’s nape, making him hunch his shoulders.
He hadn’t noticed the warmth while it was there, but once it left, the cold felt even sharper.
Director Jung Joonhee stared seriously at the two standing side by side.
“This isn’t a joke. If the intimacy between brothers isn’t natural on screen, no amount of acting will make it real. It has to be genuine.”
Hearing the director’s persistent concern, Yoon Jooho draped his arm over Song Hyunsoo’s shoulder this time.
“Don’t worry, Director. From now on, Hyunsoo, I’ll be right by your side all the time.”
“Ah, yes! I’ll stick close to you too, sunbae, and get even closer.”
Though Hyunsoo wasn’t exactly sure how they were supposed to get closer, he had no choice but to shout bravely after Jooho.
“If you’re that worried, should we just share the same room at the dorm?”
The surrounding staff burst into light laughter, taking Yoon Jooho’s words completely as a joke.
Jooho himself looked confused as to why they were laughing.
“And me, Director? Why don’t you tell me and Yoon sunbae to get closer? We’re a couple.”
Shin Hyojin asked with a puzzled expression.
“Male and female actors always end up dating quickly.”
“Then wouldn’t that be better for playing lovers?”
“Does a male-female relationship always stay good? When they fight, it shows right away and disrupts filming. And if they break up mid-shoot, it’s nothing but a disaster.”
Having experienced such troubles a few times, Director Jung shook his head emphatically and added,
“Besides, Sol and Kang-i work better with a little distance. Even in flashback scenes where they were close, they still seemed to treat each other with a sort of shy affection.”
Nodding in understanding, Shin Hyojin agreed.
“All right, before the first cut, let’s have a quick commemorative photo.”
At the assistant director’s words, carrying a large DSLR camera, the actors all took off their jackets and handed them to their managers.
Then they gathered in a row in front of the dining table.
“Director, aren’t you going to take one with us?”
The assistant director asked, and Jung Joonhee quietly shook his head.
“I’m good. Just one with those three.”
Lee Sol and Lee San, the close siblings, stood side by side, and Baek Kang raised his fingers behind San’s head, forming a peace sign.
Director Jung, standing behind the assistant director holding the camera, smiled as he looked at them on the screen.
“It’s not a photo of the actors, just Sol, San, and Kang-i.”
The director turned his eyes away from the camera display to look directly at the three standing before him.
“All right, looks like the actors are ready. Let’s start the rehearsal.”
The makeup team quickly approached to perform a rapid check.
Since this was a recorded rehearsal, everything was done as if it were the real shoot.
“We’ll be rolling Blacmagic¹, but it’s just a rehearsal, so don’t be nervous. Even if someone messes up their lines, we’ll keep going until the scene ends.”²
After the director’s words, all the staff stepped back behind the camera.
The heaters that had been warming the space were all turned off.
Sighing deeply, Song Hyunsoo lightly shook his wrists.
He caught Yoon Jooho’s gaze; Jooho had been watching him the whole time, which was why their eyes met.
To ease the worried look on Jooho’s face, Hyunsoo gave him a wide smile.
The actors took their seats.
Sitting around the dining table, looking at each other’s faces, they found themselves smiling naturally.
It wasn’t a forced smile to break the awkwardness.
It was a genuine, joyful smile that welled up at being together again after a long time with people dear to them.
The fact that Yoon Jooho and Shin Hyojin were playing Baek Kang and Lee Sol, respectively, was palpable.
A light shiver ran down Hyunsoo’s arm beneath his sweater.
At that moment, he had a feeling the shoot would go well.
Like San, Song Hyunsoo settled into a comfortable, relaxed posture.
Leaning back in his chair, he pulled his feet up onto it and bent his knees.
“Everyone, please quiet down. We’re about to start.”
At the assistant director’s call, the set fell silent.
Blacmirror began recording.
“Rolling.”
“Speed.”
The sound team confirmed that the microphones had started recording as the camera began filming.
“Scene number 77, cut 1, take 1.”
The youngest member of the production team clapped the slate and stepped back.
Everything was set.
“Two, three. Action.”
With Director Jung’s calm call, Song Hyunsoo picked up a beer can and opened with his first line.
“Ah, right! That! Remember that?”
“What are you going on about this time?”
At Lee San’s excited outburst, Baek Kang gently scolded him.
A fond smile, like one looking at something beloved, spread across Baek Kang’s face as he looked at San.
“You and Nuna were trying to leave me behind and go to Seoul together!”
“That happened years ago, and you’re still talking about it?”
“I still get upset whenever I think about it.”
“If anyone heard that, they’d think we ran away to Seoul leaving you behind.”
“That’s basically what it was! Planning to hang out for three nights and four days.”
Lee San talked about an event from more than ten years ago as if it had happened just yesterday, pouting his lips.
“Tch, in the end, you went all the way to the train station, then came back to pick me up.”
Baek Kang lightly pinched Lee San’s lips as Lee Sol watched them.
As if no eight-year gap existed between them, the three looked perfectly harmonious at a glance.
The warm orange light from above the table shone on them, and smiles never left their faces.
But if one looked closely, they could see that this harmony was mostly a show created by Lee San alone.
“I still can’t forgive you. How could you even think about leaving me behind?”
“Sometimes we want to go on a date just the two of us. San, you really had no sense about that. Right, Sol?”
Baek Kang’s gaze, which was casual and easygoing when looking at Lee San, grew cautious when it shifted to Lee Sol.
“Uh… huh?”
Fidgeting with the beer can, Lee Sol asked awkwardly with a small smile.
“San was always following us around too much. Whether at the movies or sitting in the back seat of the bus, he always had to sit in the middle. He never let you and me sit side by side.”
Baek Kang rested his elbow on the table, propped his chin up, then lightly placed his hand on the crown of Lee San’s head and ruffled his hair.
Just like ‘Yoon Jooho’ did to ‘Song Hyunsoo.’
An action not in the script.
“See now? He’s sitting next to me.”
Lee Sol smiled faintly across the table as she looked at her brother.
“San did do that. But he was cute.”
“Yeah, he was cute.”
Baek Kang clicked his tongue but admitted it obediently, and Lee San stuck out his chin, acting arrogant.
“I was famous in Myeonghaeri for being cute since I was a baby.”
“That’s right. Like a little puppy following you around, whining.”
Baek Kang laughed again as Lee San, riled by the ‘little puppy’ comment, charged at him.
Baek Kang had returned to Myeonghaeri after eight years.
After eight years alone at the table, the three sat together again.
Everything had safely returned to the way it was before.
No, it had become even more perfect now that the devilish father was gone.
— On this evening, the near-perfect happiness Lee San felt overflowed within Song Hyunsoo as well.
Like Lee San, who wanted to be forever happy with Baek Kang and Lee Sol in Myeonghaeri.
He wanted the experience of acting and breathing alongside Yoon Jooho to continue.
After finishing the scene, the three remained seated, waiting for the director’s signal.
Watching the monitor carefully, Director Jung Joonhee spoke in a quiet voice.
“Keep every cut just as it is.”
The three at the table smiled at each other as if by unspoken agreement.
Yoon Jooho sighed deeply and placed his hand on Song Hyunsoo’s head.
Not as Baek Kang, but now as Yoon Jooho.
Before either of them realized it, all tension had completely vanished.