Chapter 77:
"Props team, please double-check this list!"
"Change the battery on the second camera, please~"
Yooil slowly looked around the bustling set.
It's really the end.'
The moment when he first met Director Won Heesu felt like just yesterday.
Because of the Background Immersion' training, it felt like he had lived as Kiwoon for much longer than the actual acting period.
Today was indeed Yooil's last shooting day for <Jinhee>, but it wasn't the final day of the entire shooting. Precisely speaking, it was the last shooting day for Kiwoon.'
There were still scenes left for Seo Hyunju and Gu Ilhwan to shoot, but the atmosphere on set was as if it was the very last day of shooting.
"Come on, you guys~ We still have a long way to go~ Get energized, okay?" Director Won Heesu encouraged the production team.
Yooil felt the same sense of farewell but didn't show it.
"Yooil, let's do our best until the very end~"
At Director Won's words, Yooil nodded.
After the camera setup was complete, Won Heesu looked at the monitor and shouted loudly.
"Action~!"
* * *
As soon as Jinhee opened the gate, she stepped back at the sight of the young man before her.
A wave of emotion gradually swept over Kiwoon's face as he faced Jinhee.
"You've been waiting for me."
Kiwoon's eyes began to quiver slightly, his face filled with joy.
The intensity of his gaze was enough to leave the onlookers breathless.
The deep, burning emotions hidden in his eyes began to stir, emotions flowing out like sparks catching fire one by one.
Kiwoon's face, struggling to swallow his nervousness, was captured perfectly by the camera.
Kiwoon, who had been acting like a shattered mirror' due to Jinhee's tumultuous emotions, finally began to find his own voice as the end approached.
"What exactly do you know about me?"
At Jinhee's question, Kiwoon replied as if he had been waiting for this moment, with a dreamy expression.
"When you're happy, you hum Autumn Mist.' You write in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep."
Kiwoon continued passionately.
"If you see a cat while passing by, you can't leave its side for a while."
Listening to Kiwoon's words, Jinhee's vision began to blur.
"You"
Jinhee, barely catching her breath, continued. Her eyes, on the verge of tears, looked at Kiwoon.
"Whenever you make that face, I feel like I, as a person, am being bleached away."
There it was.
The most famous line from <Jinhee>.
The assistant director, watching from beyond the camera, bit his lip to not sigh at Seo Hyunju's delivered line. It felt like reading someone's intimate diary, even though it was clearly an act.
It's amazing every time.'
Before the camera rolled, they were polite rookie actors and elegant leading actors, but once the shot began, it felt like watching two individuals living in the 1980s.
Then, Kiwoon reached out his hand.
"I have already disappeared. From the moment I met you."
Jinhee did not avoid his pale hand.
"Please, don't cry."
Kiwoon's hand gently brushed Jinhee's face, and sparkling tears clung to his fingertips.
And then, their shadows overlapped as one.
The production crew, as if on cue, held their breath.
Their love was not bright and cheerful.
Rather, like a dimming light hanging in their background, it was about to disappear, poignantly fleeting.
The assistant director felt an involuntary twinge in his nose. Knowing the ending of the story only intensified the poignancy of the moment. The love story of the two characters was never meant to be a walk through blossoming flowers. After their hearts finally met, Kiwoon disappeared, and Jinhee was left with her own novel where Kiwoon' was the protagonist.
I can't wait to see the edited version of the film.'
The assistant director was already excited about seeing the finished film, though he knew the editing process would be more grueling than the shooting itself.
To hell with it. What's the big deal?'
By now, the assistant director had grown accustomed to the rigors of the process.
* * *
"Yooil, you really did a great job~"
Everyone nodded at Director Won Heesu's words.
At the beginning of the pre-production for <Jinhee>, many had been skeptical about who could possibly take on the role of Kiwoon.' But the man standing before them had put all those doubts to rest.
"Actor, you're coming to the after-party, right?!"
"Or just come to the set to hang out!"
Yooil warmly acknowledged the staff, exchanging greetings with each one.
"Yooil."
Seo Hyunju, watching Yooil from a distance, called out to him with her deep, resonant voice.
"You've really worked hard, truly."
She didn't add anything else, but Yooil knew what she meant.
"It's all thanks to you, senior."
It wasn't a lie; it was Seo Hyunju who had led him to start training with Background Immersion.'
However, Seo Hyunju firmly replied,
"That can't be true."
She looked at Yooil with soft eyes.
There was so much she wanted to ask him. Questions that were difficult to voice right then.
"You're coming to the after-party, right?"
That's all she could ask for now.
"Of course."
Yooil replied with a refreshing smile.
"It's been an honor to act alongside you, senior."
"Likewise."
Seo Hyunju watched Yooil walking towards his van and muttered,
"He still doesn't know."
He didn't realize the extent of what he had achieved.
* * *
Min Woojin, who had been waiting at the set, greeted Yooil with a relieved expression.
"You've worked hard on the shoot, Yooil!"
He started the car and handed Yooil an iced Americano.
Progress towards the 3rd phase goal: 73.1%
As Yooil sipped his coffee and looked at the progress rate, Woojin suddenly spoke.
"It's a relief."
"What is?"
"Now you can get some rest!"
"Hmm."
Seeing Yooil's expression, Min Woojin narrowed his eyes.
"What's with that reaction?"
Just as Yooil was getting used to Background Immersion,' he felt too reluctant to take a break from it.
"I'll read some scripts during my break, hyung."
Min Woojin looked at him with a weary face.
"Just so you know, reading scripts isn't really taking a break."
Yooil had to spend quite some time soothing Min Woojin, who was almost tearful, complaining about how everyone from the CEO to the manager would make life difficult for him.
"By the way, Yooil, your phone kept ringing, so I turned it off. It seemed like MiTalk notifications."
"Ah thanks, hyung."
Yooil turned on his phone and checked MiTalk.
The flood of notifications was from his classmates' chat group.
Korean Studies Kang Hana: (emoticon of dying)
Korean Studies Hwang Riu: (emoticon of soul leaving body)
The classmates' chat was filled with Kang Hana and Hwang Riu competing in posting groaning emoticons.
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: What's this?
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: 693 notifications and they were all from you guys?
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: Why are you doing this to me?
Kang Hana and Hwang Riu were buried under their term projects, so it was somewhat natural for the chat to be filled with tears and worn-out emoticons.
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: I wish I could do my projects instead of going to the gym
Korean Studies Kang Hana: Ah..^^ Sorry
Korean Studies Hwang Riu: Hang in there
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: ..
While Kim Jinwoo was sending various types of curses to his two classmates, Kang Hana asked Yooil a question.
Korean Studies Kang Hana: Yooil! Have you done your assignments? What about the screenplay?
Yooil left a brief reply.
Yeah.
Korean Studies Hwang Riu: Curious about the screenplay
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: Me too!
Maybe it's okay to send it.'
He was a bit embarrassed, but it was a screenplay he had worked hard on, staying up nights.
Yooil uploaded the screenplay file he had saved on his phone to the chat.
(The Day Without Hands.pdf)
It was a two-page outline and a short screenplay of about 15 pages.
Immediately, the number 3 disappeared.
Korean Studies Hwang Riu: Huh
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: ????
Korean Studies Kim Jinwoo: Did you write this?
Korean Studies Kang Hana: How did y wr ths
?'
While Yooil was trying to decode Kang Hana's message, his phone rang. It was a call from Kang Hana.
As soon as he answered the call, a loud voice blasted through the phone.
Did you really write this?!
"Yeah."
He had received Brion's help in outlining the plot. But the subject, the protagonist, and the ending were all his own ideas.
You, you've never written a screenplay before?
"No. Never."
More incomprehensible words came through the phone, including some swear words, which were rare coming from Kang Hana.
Is it that bad?
Yooil, feeling a bit deflated, replied.
"Feel free to give feedback. I was planning to revise it anyway."
What?! No, it's not that. It's just I feel like trash no, that's not what I mean.
Kang Hana cleared her throat and then said,
The subject is really good. I had a similar story in mind, but yours is better.
Yooil's eyes widened a bit, not expecting such positive feedback.
The protagonist sees a ghost in the house where they lived, and it turns out the ghost is their unjustly deceased friend and then the protagonist starts to unravel the mystery to help the friend. It's intriguing, not awkward at all. The characters are vivid. The hook could be a bit better, but that's something that can be improved with a few more details This is just about a quarter of the whole screenplay, right?
Kang Hana continued to list the positives for a while before adding with a sigh,
You're lucky, Yooil.
"If you like it, you can write it."
It's so good even after reading it again huh?
Kang Hana's voice cracked.
Yooil continued calmly,
"It's just an assignment I submitted. I don't mind. I wasn't planning to write the full screenplay anyway."
But!
"I mean it."
It was a screenplay he wouldn't use anyway.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy writing. Yooil did find fulfillment and pleasure in doing the assignment.
But it wasn't the same as acting.
After a brief silence, Kang Hana cautiously spoke,
Really?
She asked Yooil several times.
And then she hung up the phone, emphasizing that she would never omit Yooil's name from the screenplay if she decided to finish it.
That's not necessary.'
Well, if that made Kang Hana feel better, then so be it.
After ending the call, Yooil was startled by Min Woojin's gaze through the rearview mirror.
"You
Min Woojin looked like he had a lot to say, his lips twitching, but then he shook his head.
"Never mind"
Why is he acting like that?
Yooil, confused, put down his phone.
But soon, he had to pick it up again.
Yooil hyung!!!
"Yooil is getting a lot of calls today."
Min Woojin laughed and turned the steering wheel.
Yooil focused on Harang's voice coming through the phone.
"What's up?"
I'm really sorry to ask you this all of a sudden, but
A favor?'
Yooil's brows furrowed at the unusually subdued tone of Harang's voice.
Can you help me out just this once, hyung?
And the next words out of Harang's mouth made Min Woojin react even before Yooil could.
"What?! What did you say?!"
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