Life, Once Again!

Chapter 795. Sequence 7

“Don’t walk around anywhere and stay here. Also, switch your phones to silent mode. The director is sensitive to things like that. If your bell rings during the shoot, consider your time here over. You can take photos, but you’ll be in big trouble if you upload any photos that contain crucial information about the piece on the internet, okay?”

After a staff member uttered words like a barrage, he went somewhere. Hyungseok switched his phone to silent mode as instructed for now.

“Didn’t I see you at KBS last time?”

“Yes. I was wondering that too. You were that emergency agent, weren’t you?”

Hyungseok exchanged greetings with a man he knew from before. It was the guy he talked to throughout the whole break in the last shoot.

“You’re an emergency agent this time too, huh?”

“But I still have some lines to do: The patient is from a three-way collision. It looks like a simple abrasion, but the patient is expressing abdominal pain.”

The man smoothly said his line before smiling. Hyungseok put up his thumb.

“On the other hand, you’re wearing a doctor’s gown today?”

“After a bit of up and downs, I managed to join the drama.”

“Really? What role are you playing?”

“I would love to play a role with a proper name, but unfortunately, I’m just an intern who’s still the whole time. I don’t have any lines, but I’m still rather fortunate since I will be appearing in many scenes.”

“Someone I know started like that and ended up becoming an actor. Try continuing and who knows? The producer may give you a line. I’ve been doing this for quite a long time, and I saw quite a lot of events like that. They pick out the decent ones and give them some lines. I’m one such case too.”

“If you ever become big like that, then teach me how too. I’m still learning right now.”

At the entrance of the set, there was a voice looking for the emergency agent. The man told him that he’d see him later before running over. From the look of things, it seemed that the shoot was going to begin soon. Hyungseok pulled on his doctor’s gown. His name tag on his left chest collided with the pen inside the pocket and made sounds. There was a time when he was young that he wished to become a doctor, and he never imagined that he’d become one like this. He was smiling in satisfaction while checking on his clothes when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. It was Maru.

“You sure do look good in that doctor gown since you’re so tall.”

Maru showed his own sleeve, saying that it was a little too long for him.

“You just arrived? I was looking for you as soon as I arrived but didn’t see you. I had to walk around awkwardly, you know?”

As he wasn’t participating as a background actor, he was waiting by himself in an awkward fashion, but after a while, he couldn’t help but join in with the background actors. It was fortunate that there was someone he knew. Otherwise, he would have been standing in the corner of the set by himself. Although he wasn’t the type to be shy around strangers, he became nervous whenever he was at a set. The fact that he was in the same space as real actors made him very nervous. Not only that, the director would be there as well.

“You aren’t a kid. You should’ve just greeted anyone who seemed like a superior.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? But there’s something called the atmosphere. If I walk around like I don’t belong here and someone tells me off, I’d be in big trouble, you know? That’s why I stayed still.”

Ever since he saw a minor actor greet the producer at the previous set and get an earful from him, Hyungseok decided to stay quiet until he grasped the nature of everyone present. It wasn’t a joke when people said that half of the industry was filled with sensitive people, while the other half was even more sensitive people.

“Is that the script for this episode?” he asked as he pointed at the script that said ‘Doctors’.

This was the first time he saw a script that was actually used during shoots from up close. The name of the writer and the director were written underneath the title.

“Wanna have a look?”

“Can I?”

Maru handed him the script. He received it with both hands and flipped over to the first page. The appearing characters, lines, and instructions were separated into boxes. Among the numerous mentions of the main characters was the word ‘interns’. Interns circling around the main character, interns running towards the emergency unit, interns being scolded in the office.

“So that’s me.”

It wasn’t like he had any lines to say in the script, but the fact that he was in the script at all made him proud. That was perhaps because he wasn’t doing this as a part-time job as he had signed an official contract with the TV station. His pay per episode could definitely not be called a lot, and how many episodes he will appear in wasn’t set in stone, but what was important was that he made an official debut on public TV. As he had taken his first step, he would be able to come back here not as a minor actor but as a supporting actor or even the lead actor in the future.

“This is your role, right?”

Hyungseok pointed at the role that said ‘Doctor Choi.’

“Yeah, I’m doctor Choi.”

“You have quite a few lines. Are you a comedic character?”

“I’m probably the character that’s there because the audience would be stifled if they had to keep watching medical stuff and political stuff just because it’s a medical drama.”

“But I don’t think it suits you. Han Maru and comedy. These two don’t fit together.”

“I believe myself to be quite humorous, though.”

“You? If I look back at my two years of military service, then definitely not. You’re actually more suited to be the senior who gets involved in bribery or a stuck-up goody-two-shoes civilian. If it’s regarding comedy, I’m more suited for it instead. I even look the part.”

“Looks like I should show you my comedic skits. Watch well. I might get scouted by comedy programs later.”

“Like hell you will.”

He skimmed through the script for the first episode on the spot. From the first episode alone, it didn’t look any different from the medical dramas that aired on TV until now. He could already imagine what the meeting of a surgeon – skilled but uninterested in politics – and a doctor with many different tricks would bring about in the future from the first episode alone.

“Hey, isn’t it pretty similar to the one they’re doing at KBS?”

“Probably.”

“Like this, the latecomer will be at too much of a disadvantage. I know this from running a business, and if the store next to me releases a new, similar lineup to ours before we do, our sales will drop by half you know? If you want to catch up, you need to do one of two things. Either sell the products at a discount or use a really good model.”

“Well, the really good model you’re talking about is coming from there.”

There was a man scratching his head while yawning in the place Maru pointed at with his chin. When he had a closer look, he found that it was the actor Lee Heewon. He looked very shabby and nothing like how a main character of a drama should be. He didn’t look that bad, but his unmotivated face as well as his crooked posture made him look uncool. It was to the point that it made him wonder if an actor could be like that.

“He feels so different. He looked really cool when I saw him in a movie.”

Hyungseok had gotten his hands on all of the movies that Heewon appeared in and played them back several times. He even watched the law movie that was released last year five times over the course of three days.

Heewon, who played the role of a man who had his life ruined because of a false accusation, showed what it meant to be at the depths of desperation through his act. He could still vividly picture the scene where his innocence was proven 7 years later and he could leave the prison. That scene where Heewon screamed towards the door of the prison with dazed eyes was beyond freaky, it was unsettling. He had been too absorbed in Heewon’s act.

“Actors just have to be good at acting. What they’re like usually should be up to them.”

“That’s true but that’s also not. If I was a fan and a girl, I would have started crying already. He always looks so sharp in movies. Why does he look so much like a slob up close?”

Thinking about how Heewon, who looked like he was going to fall down and sleep at any moment, was the one who showed such a freaky act in a movie, he felt amazed and yet simultaneously scammed. He even wondered if Heewon’s face underwent a CG facelift in the movies he watched. Just as he was imagining useless things, Heewon looked at him and waved. He wondered if he was staring too intensely or if Heewon was doing that out of fan service. He waved his hand because he couldn’t just stay still after being waved at, but that was when he realized that something was wrong. The one Heewon was looking at was not him. It was next to him.

“Hey, Han Maru.”

Although he was called out, Maru just continued skimming through the script. Although Hyungseok said that there were a lot of lines, it was just more than he expected and was not something that needed a long time of analysis. While Maru was wrestling with lines that weren't enough to fill up even half a page of A4, Heewon continued waving as he came over.

Hyungseok stood in between the approaching Heewon and Maru, who still wasn’t lifting his head up, before taking a step back. Many people followed Heewon with their eyes. It was to be expected since the main actor had just arrived. The bombardment of eyes also fell on Maru, but Maru’s mind seemed to be holed up inside a bunker or something, and he didn’t budge at all. In the end, Hyungseok moved. He reached out and tapped on Maru’s arm hard.

“What?”

Seeing Maru ask what was happening, Hyungseok looked around; he was indirectly telling Maru to have a look around before asking questions.

“You’re here?”

Maru just greeted Heewon like it was nothing.

“I am.”

Heewon also yawned as he replied. When Heewon stopped, the stylists adhered to him again. They touched up his hair, did his makeup, and put on a watch for him. Hyungseok looked at the two people focusing on their own stuff. On one side was the actor that everyone had their eyes on, and on the other side was just a minor actor. It was curious that the two knew each other at all, but looking at their attitudes was even more surprising.

“Take good care of me today.”

“There’s nothing for me to do to take good care of you. You’re the main actor.”

“That’s how you’re gonna be? I’m actually kinda looking forward to this, you know? We never acted together apart from that time we did it as a practice during high school. It’ll definitely be fun, right?”

“Well, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I don’t have many lines.”

“Should I beg the director to give you some more lines? No wait, I gotta do that to the writer, huh.”

“Why are you being so generous today? Where’s Haewon?”

“I’m free today. He caught a cold, so he’s resting at home.”

“No wonder you look so happy. So you’re enjoying your freedom right now?”

“It’s so good to have no one nag at me. I’m going to go to the PC bang after the shoot today. I’m going to order ramyun, a burger, and even grilled squid legs and stay up the night. Screw diets.”

“You’re going to get beaten up by Haewon like that.”

“He might act like that, but he doesn’t do something as atrocious as hitting his brother.”

“Well, I think he will.”

Maru pointed a finger and Heewon’s eyes followed it. There was a man with a mask walking onto the set. Seeing him, Heewon groaned and took a step back.

“Hello, Maru-hyung.”

“I heard you caught a cold. You should’ve stayed at home.”

“I wanted to, but I had a bad dream. Where’s my brother?”

“He went there as soon as he saw you. He told me that he’s going to go to a PC bang and eat ramyun once he’s done.”

“Thank you for the intel. This is why I can’t take a good rest. The guy who will gain weight as soon as he eats something keeps wanting to eat. When I look at him, he doesn’t look like he likes food that much, but he keeps eating. It’s not like he’s some boy in puberty either.”

“You have it hard.”

The man with a mask seemed close to Maru. Hyungseok looked at the man walking towards Heewon before asking,

“Who’s he? The manager?”

“The little brother, the manager, and someone who is like a mother.”

“What the heck is that?”

“He’s the guy who created the actor Lee Heewon. Looks like there won’t be any trouble during the shoot today. As long as Haewon is around, that guy will do his job,” Maru said as he closed the script.