Chapter 111: Army Variety Show (3)
“I see the staff over there,” Shin Yu-Bin said while pointing to the right as they were almost at the filming location.
Kang Ra-Eun and Ryu Ha-Yeon turned their heads. The production team was busily setting up the equipment. The opening shoot was planned to be in front of a Korean restaurant at the garrison area instead of the military base.
Because it was a garrison area, tons of soldiers could be seen on the street. Not just soldiers, but vehicles such as the Retona, 2.5-ton and 5-ton 6x6 military trucks, and even the K9 Thunder and KH179. Things that were rarely seen in the cities were all over the streets.
Ra-Eun sighed every time they caught her eyes that she had lost count. Unlike Ra-Eun, Ha-Yeon would have it the easiest during this shoot. Yu-Bin was exhausted after driving all the way to the front lines, and Ra-Eun needn’t even be mentioned. However, as a stylist, all Ha-Yeon needed to do was to pay close attention to the military uniform, the only outfit that Ra-Eun would be wearing. Not just that, the uniform itself was prepared by the production team, so Ha-Yeon had nothing in particular to do.
Ra-Eun asked while glancing at Ha-Yeon, “You’re looking rather happy.”
“No, Ra-Eun. I may look like this, but you have no idea how worried I am for you.”
However, her expression and eyes betrayed her words. This was why one shouldn’t lie half-assedly to an actor.
Ra-Eun, Yu-Bin and Ha-Yeon headed to the filming location as soon as they got out of the car. The pedestrians who had come in hopes of seeing Ra-Eun cheered. The region was so close to the front lines that the people rarely saw celebrities, so Ra-Eun’s appearance was enough to cause a huge commotion.
Ra-Eun nodded and waved at the people who were cheering for her. She was bright on the outside, but she was burning to a crisp on the inside. There was no way that she’d be happy when she was going to appear in a variety show related to the army that she hated so much.
The staff members realized that Ra-Eun was here after hearing the audience’s cheers, and greeted her.
“Good morning, Miss Kang!”
“The program director is further inside, so you just need to go that way.”
“Thank you,” Ra-Eun replied.
She was able to meet Director Joo Seong-Won without issues thanks to the staff members. He greeted Ra-Eun and her party as soon as he saw them.
“Thank you for coming all this way. You’re the first to arrive.”
“Am I?”
No wonder she couldn’t see any other celebrity cars. She recalled the names of the other celebrities who would be appearing on the female soldier special with her. As for actresses like herself, there were Jang Yu-Ha and Seo Tae-Yeon. As for singers, there were Han-Ga-Ae and Choi Hye-Yun. Additionally, there was the model Jo In-Hye, and Min Bo-Yeon, who had been reborn as a sports star through participating in the Olympics as a track & field athlete.
These seven women would spend the next three days and two nights as sisters in arms. Since Ra-Eun had arrived early, she decided to look into the infantry base that she would be in the care of for the next few days. She didn’t know if she should be regretful or thankful, but it was not the base that she had served in the past. As she was getting the details about which base this was and how the shoot would progress, she saw a familiar car pulling up.
“Ra-Eun!”
It was her same-age friend and singer, Han Ga-Ae. She had become a popular singer on the fast track to success after making her solo debut thanks to Ra-Eun’s foresight. Due to this, Ga-Ae couldn’t help but be excited to see Ra-Eun.
After quickly greeting the staff members, Ga-Ae pointed at the stack of papers that Ra-Eun was holding.
“What are those?” she asked.
“Information about the base that we’ll be spending the next three days in.”
“Can I read it too?”
“Sure. They printed it out for the cast to read anyway.”
As the two were sitting together chummily and chatting it up, the other cast members started to appear, starting from Jang Yu-Ha, the 32-year-old and the oldest of the cast. Ra-Eun had never met any of them other than Ga-Ae, but Ga-Ae was acting very familiar to everyone besides Min Bo-Yeon, calling them ‘unnie.’
Everyone except Jang Yu-Ha was in their twenties, and Ra-Eun and Ga-Ae were the youngest as 21-year-olds.
Jo In-Hye, the second-oldest, said while looking at Ra-Eun and Ga-Ae, “Then are you two the youngest?”
“Yes, unnie,” Ga-Ae answered while nodding.
Min Bo-Yeon, at 22-year-old, was the closest to them in age, as well as the one whom Ra-Eun expected to shine the brightest during the female soldier special.
‘I guess she’d do well since she was apparently trained in the Olympic Village since she was a middle schooler.’
She had athlete-level stamina, strength and reflexes; in terms of physical prowess alone, she could be even more exceptional than Ra-Eun. However, the army wasn't something one could get through with physical abilities alone.
‘The most important things are your mentality, and... your wits.’
Although, those things only applied when one was in the army for real.
Director Joo gathered the cast before starting the shoot.
“Okay, we’re about to start. Have everyone eaten?” he asked.
The female cast answered in order.
“I did, but not much.”
“Me too.”
“I couldn’t really stomach any food because I was so nervous.”
Director Joo turned to look at Ra-Eun. “What about you, Ra-Eun?”
“I ate as much as I possibly could.”
Even if it was only for three days, Ra-Eun had experienced first-hand how stressful it was to not be able to eat what she wanted. Hence, she had eaten as much as possible of what she would not be allowed to during her time here. Her diet did not matter since she did not have film shoots scheduled for a while, and she’d lose weight even if she wanted to, since she’d be going through hell for the next three days. Because of this, she had removed her limiter just for today and ate as much as possible.
Director Joo smiled widely, liking Ra-Eun’s response.
“Cameras will start rolling in ten minutes, so please take that time to prepare yourselves. Oh, and we’ll be confiscating your smartphones once we start, so take care of any important business while you still can.”
Ra-Eun wondered whether to use her special skill, ‘Not Submitting Phone on Purpose,’ but she decided not to since this was a TV program. Ten minutes zipped past them in a flash.
“Okay, let’s begin,” Director Joo remarked.
The female cast members got into position.
3, 2, 1.
“Cue!”
The three-day hell had begun.
***
The opening shoot ended simply with the cast members introducing themselves to each other in front of the Korean restaurant. After that, they got on the large bus that the production team had prepared for them. They took their seats at the very back of the bus. While they were having light chats, they could see the army green entrance signboard in the distance.
Jang Yu-Ha, who witnessed it first, reacted excitedly, “Oh my, that must be the place!”
“The base is a lot bigger than I’d expected!”
The other cast members showed great interest in the military base visible from the windows. Ra-Eun almost unconsciously swore; her least favorite color was army green.
‘The black, brown and green are still fresh in my mind, for fuck’s sake.’
She couldn’t help but want to swear whenever the army came up in discussions. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the guardhouse greeted them while standing fully in attention, perhaps because this was going to be aired on TV.
‘They only do stuff like this when an officer of at least regimental commander rank visits the base.’
Broadcasts were perhaps more terrifying than army officers, because they were showing the audience the state of their base. Even the tiniest scandal would cause the commander of the corresponding base to be immediately summoned by their superiors. The soldiers maintained extreme military diligence while confirming entrees’ identities to prevent such a thing from happening.
The doors of the bus opened and a man in a uniform entered. The captain of the guards caused the female cast members to tense up, all except for Ra-Eun.
After a few moments...
“Identities confirmed. They may pass.”
A senior soldier removed the barricade. The cast members sighed in relief only after the bus started moving again. The bus drove through the drill ground and stopped where the staff members were gathered. At the same time, a lieutenant wearing a hat deep down into his head entered the bus and exclaimed.
“Get off the bus right now!”
The female cast flinched from the lieutenant’s powerful voice. Even Min Bo-Yeon, who was used to dorm life, couldn’t help but be overwhelmed. The Olympic Village was clearly different from the army. Not just that, the army was a place where many societally-questionable things occurred. Hence, they could not help but be scared.
The cast hurriedly got off the bus. As the lieutenant was staring at them, he suddenly pointed at Ra-Eun.
“Trainee, marker.”
Most people would be confused if they were designated as a marker. The lieutenant aimed for this and designated Ra-Eun without telling her anything. However, he had designated the wrong person.
“Marker!” Ra-Eun exclaimed while lifting her right arm.
The other cast had no clue about the reason for Ra-Eun’s actions, but the lieutenant, the soldiers and the male staff members who had been to the army couldn’t help but be surprised by her.
The lieutenant who had been planning on flustering Ra-Eun had become the flustered one instead. However, becoming flustered here was a problem; their objective was to beat the cast down.
“Fall in single file.”
The lieutenant wondered if Ra-Eun would be able to understand this as well. He was testing the cast... no, Ra-Eun before he knew it.
Ra-Eun snorted in her head and said to her fellow cast members, “You just need to line up in one line to my side, so don’t rush.”
“R-Really?”
“Okay!”
The cast managed to clear the lieutenant’s second test thanks to Ra-Eun’s lead.
“...”
The lieutenant’s pupils shook greatly because of Ra-Eun’s unexpectedly valiant fight.
1. Kia Retona is a small mini-SUV based on military jeeps. The name is a portmanteau of ‘return to nature.’
2. The K9 Thunder is a South Korean 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, and the KH179 (Korean Howitzer First 79’’) is a South Korean 155 mm 39 caliber towed howitzer.
3. A soldier designated as the marker marks the position in which the formation is regulated.
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