Life, Once Again!

Chapter 786. Sequence 6

“Then let’s meet up there, I’m just setting off. Alright, be careful with the equipment.”

Maru hung up and checked the time. It was about the time that Hyungseok would arrive.

“Watch the house well.”

He waved at the shiba-inu that wagged its tail and left the house. He drove his car to Banpo-daero. He found Hyunseok walking around in front of the café they promised to meet at and had him get in the passenger seat.

“I told you I’d treat you to something good.”

“Instead of buying me food, do some work for me for one day instead. You don’t have anything to do on Sunday right? We’re going to be sleeping over.”

“I emptied everything until Tuesday. It’s my first drama shoot in my life, so I should watch out for my condition. Although I’ll be standing still most of the time, who knows? The producer might take a liking to me and keep using me. Anyway, thanks. Thanks to you, I got to show my face on public TV officially.”

“She said you might become a regular appearance. Try hard. Who knows? You might not stop at getting just a line, and will get a whole episode about your character as well.”

“I wouldn’t want things to go that far. I just wish I could talk to the main actors at least once in the drama.”

Stories of catching the director’s eyes while doing a part-time job in dramas and then joining the ranks of stars weren’t that entirely common, but it wasn’t purely something out of fiction either. Acting is said to be the fruit of effort, but talent definitely couldn’t be ignored, and actors who possessed a talent that could lightly surpass other people’s efforts were bound to exist. Hyungseok was a new actor who had less than a year of experience in acting, but from how he got chosen by producer Jayeon, who was known for being picky, he seemed to have potential. His good-looking appearance played a role as well.

“You said it was in Gapyeong, right?”

“Yeah. We’ll unpack near Yongchu Falls and start shooting immediately.”

“But what can I do, when I haven’t even practiced anything?”

“She won’t ask you to do something dynamic when you just received your script yesterday. Since I’m at it, have you read the script?”

“I skimmed through it about three to four times. It wasn’t that long, so there was no difficulty doing that. But I don’t think there’s a role I can play. The main character should be you, and the one getting caught up in the incident should be someone else too.”

“People can be used as props.”

“So, I’m gonna be used as a corpse?”

“Maybe, as a body double.”

“Will I get to put on special makeup? When I went to the drama shoot last time, the one Han Gaeul was in, I watched people putting on special makeup right next to me. It took so long.”

“Do you think we can do something like that when we’re a low-budget indie movie? When we arrive, everyone will take care of each other’s makeup and set up props. Our director isn’t someone who gives actors special treatment.”

“You said it was a girl, right? How does she look?”

Maru showed him a photo of Sora.

“She looks cute. She looks like she’ll act cute as well. She’s quite small too.”

“Once you meet her, you’ll probably take back what you just said. Also, don’t hit on her. She already has a man in her mind.”

“Hey, what do you take me for? I’m not a cheap man who gives out my number on a whim. There are many girls who approach me when I go to nightclubs even now, you know?”

“Sure, I’m envious.”

“Since we’re talking about it, do you want to come with me next week? I’ll help you so you can have an enjoyable night.”

“Maybe later. After I’m around forty-five.”

Maru drove to Gapyeong, the place they promised to meet up at. There were many people who came to play in the mountain streams as it was the weekend. He drove past the camping site at the foot of the stream and eventually found the cabin that Sora scouted out beforehand. He parked his car in the gravel-filled parking lot.

“Maru, look at that car.”

There was a foreign brand car at the entrance of the cabin. Hyungseok got out of the car and walked over to the foreign car.

“I set up a few objectives when I ran my business, and I never knew I’d get to see one of them here. Hey, someone who’s rich enough to drive this should go to a mansion, not a cabin, don’t you think? This car is well-known for practically throwing fuel on the floor.”

Maru checked the number on the car with smooth curves. It belonged to Sooil.

“So he came here before us.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The owner of this car.”

“You know him? I thought this was an indie movie. The definition of indie movie that I know of doesn’t really fit people who drive cars like this, you know?”

“I don’t know how poor the people shooting indie movies are in your mind, but in indie movies shot by famous artistic directors, not people who are doing it as a hobby like us, there are three to four actors who drive cars like this one.”

“Really? But who’s the owner of this car? Our money lord?”

“Yoo Sooil.”

“Yoo Sooil? Who’s that?”

He left Hyungseok behind to think for himself and went into the cabin. He mentioned the name of the booker to the owner who came out to greet him, and the owner pointed towards the stairs, saying that his room was on the 2nd floor.

“Yoo Sooil! You mean that Yoo Sooil!”

Hyungseok shouted in surprise as he followed him inside. Instead of explaining, Maru opened the door and pointed inside. Sooil, who was reading the script while lying down on the floor, waved at him saying ‘you’re here?’ Hyungseok, who was jumping around while repeatedly saying ‘Yoo Sooil’, laughed as though he was flabbergasted.

“You’re early,” Maru said as he took off his shoes.

Sooil put down his script and sat up.

“I had nothing to do. I thought I’d fall asleep if I dazed out at home, so I came early. Who’s the person next to you?”

“He’s Yoon Hyungseok, and he’ll be helping out for the day. You’re the same age, so you don’t have to bother with formal speech, or you can just treat him stiffly like it’s business. Do whatever you want.”

Maru walked past the living room and looked at the rooms. There were three rooms in total. He determined that the ladies should use one room and the men use the remaining two. If that wasn’t enough, they could just sleep in the living room. He unpacked his luggage in the room that had a window facing the mountain. Hyunseok and Sooil seemed to have introduced themselves to each other as they were just conversing among themselves. It was mostly Hyungseok saying that he enjoyed watching the drama that Sooil was in while he was in the military and him praising Sooil for his fashion. He also asked for tips saying that he was participating in a drama as a minor actor for the first time.

As Sooil had learned social skills from a young age, he immediately grasped Hyungseok’s way of talking and guided the conversation forward. He was the textbook example of sociability. It was probably the kindness and refinement that he learned as the offspring of a super company acting subconsciously.

“You’re early. I thought everyone would come around 10 since I said the meetup was at 9.”

Sora, who pushed the door with her foot to look inside, shouted behind her, ‘Ando-oppa, bring the luggage.’ She came inside after taking off her trainers and looked around the rooms as though Sooil and Hyungseok didn’t even enter her eyes. Ando, who followed her inside, put down the luggage while wiping his sweat with the back of his hand. The camera bag, the laptop bag, the backpack on his bag, and even a pink carrier case. He was practically a porter. Maru told him that he worked hard and took out some cold water from the fridge for him.

“We’ll make this the ladies’ room.”

That was the room that had a view of the stream because the window was facing the entrance of the building. The mosquito net on the window didn’t have any holes either, so Maru was desirous of the room as well, but he thought that it’d be taken away from him in the end, so he grabbed the room on the other side.

“Who does the luggage in the other room belong to?”

“It’s mine. I thought you’d use that room, so I gave up on it early.”

“As expected of Maru-seonbae. You’re quite considerate when it comes to things like that. Oh, and who’s that next to you?”

Hyungseok, who was just referred to as ‘that’, introduced himself as Yoon Hyunseok with an embarrassed smile.

“So you’re Mr. Hyungseok. You’re a friend of Maru-seonbae, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Please work hard today. We were lacking manpower, so we’re glad to have you here. How’s your acting?”

“It’s decent?”

“Then that’s fine. You look sturdy too. You pass! I’m Kang Sora. I’m two years younger than you, so you don’t have to use formal speech or anything.”

“Alright, I’ll do that.”

“Looks like Maru-seonbae brought a good-looking friend. With Sooil-oppa here as well, it looks like we won’t be lacking anything in the visual part. Unfortunately, our main character, Mr. Han Maru, isn’t up to par.”

“Sorry for looking subpar.”

Maru leaned against the wall and sat down. As he had expected, Sora had gained control over all the men in this cabin like the strong girl she was. Daemyung and Jiyoon, who came a little later, ended up preparing food for everyone under her command as well.

“We won’t be able to eat anything after this until the shoot ends, so eat a lot. We have to digest all the scenes while the sun is still up if we want to go home in time tomorrow, so bear that in mind as well. Mr. protagonist, you’ve learned the script, right?”

“Why of course. I don’t dare do things half-assedly when it’s your orders.”

“Good. How about you, Sooil-oppa?”

“Perfect.”

“I like confidence like that. Well, then we’ll be going to the mountain behind the cabin after we eat. We’ll first check if anything has changed since last week when we came here to scout this place out and then set up the camera and the microphone before starting. You have spare clothes right? We’re going to have to get mud and blood on you.”

Maru raised his half-scooped spoon to Sora’s eye level and spoke,

“I thought we were going to do it after we ate.”

“Yes, please eat. But Sooil-oppa, can you say some lines? I’ll have to see what you’re like.”

It seemed she didn’t have any intentions of letting everyone eat in peace. They had to answer her questions throughout the meal.

The busy mealtime finished.

“Where are Bangjoo and Aram?” Maru asked as he washed the dishes.

Sora, who had her eyes fixed on the laptop screen, reached out to her phone without looking and replied,

“They said they’ll be here soon. We’re going to start the shoot when they arrive. We can’t afford to waste time after all. Ando-oppa, have a look at this.”

Maru wiped his hands on his pants and left through the door with the script in hand. He read the script while looking around the mountain, which was going to be the stage. Sora should have scouted places that suit each scene already, but there was nothing wrong with having a look to find more candidates. He walked up the path that led up the mountain from the cabin before turning around. The thick trees blocked off the cabin and the stream below. This was nature untainted by human hands. Maru checked the scene number with the pen he was holding in his mouth before taking a photo. He planned to show it to Sora later and ask for her opinion.

-Maru-seonbae, where are you? We’re going to go now.

“I’ll return.”

It seemed Aram and Bangjoo had arrived. Maru took a deep breath. The moist air wetted the tip of his nose. The trees rose tall and blocked off the sun, and there were leaves rotting on the floor. This place had a stench of mud and moist rotten leaves.

“It’s the perfect place to bury someone.”

Maru looked at the cover of the script before walking back toward the cabin.