Life, Once Again!

After Story 36

He stopped running at the entrance of the park. When he took off the training clothes stuck to his body, it was quite cool. After heaving a heavy breath, he finished cooling himself down by doing some stretches. He took out his phone from his armband and checked the time: 58 minutes 20 seconds. His body was finally like a decent man’s. Maru headed home with the training jacket in his hand.

Going inside his house, he prepared some food for the cat first before going into the bathroom. He checked his body figure through the mirror. He had lost some weight, but the asymmetry in his shoulders and waist still remained. It seemed that he would need some more time in order to set his skeletal structure back.

He straightened his back, feeling like he was pulling his neck out, and pulled his shoulder bones down. His chin was pulled inward and his shoulder was straightened. Straightening his posture was something he had to maintain from a young age, but now that he was trying to get back to it after his body had become all stiff, there were all sorts of things he found uncomfortable. However, he had no choice but to put his mind to it since he was starting again late.

He left the bathroom after taking a shower. He had a light breakfast and was taking out the strands of cat hair stuck on the sofa when the laptop he placed on the table lit up. He got a notification that he received an email. He put his finger on the touchpad and checked the email.

-We’re Blue Star.

It wasn’t spam mail. Blue Star was the company he auditioned for last time. He recalled the playful Golden Retriever as he looked at the contents. He took his time reading the few lines in the email. When his eyes reached the final period, the cat walked over and rubbed herself at his feet.

Maru picked up the quadrupedal fur generator and spoke, “Looks like you’ll be able to get some expensive food this time.”

He put down the struggling cat and picked up his phone. He typed in the phone number written in the email.

“Hello. This is Han Maru. I’m calling you after getting your email.”

* * *

He took out a stripe-patterned dress shirt from his wardrobe and put it on. He then reached out for his perfume out of habit before stopping. Today, he was meeting a fellow with a sensitive nose, so he also went with a lotion that didn’t have a strong scent. He put on his watch before leaving.

A delivery truck for a large grocery mall drove past the front of his house. Extra Special Sale for the first week of September — Maru thought of some things that he needed to buy as he walked to the bus stop.

“Then I’ll think that the 13th will be the date of the first shoot. You’re not fixing the script anymore?”

-I can’t be sure of that until I see you at the shoot, but I plan to stop here for now. I now know that it won’t get any better by staring at it after all. Oh, right, hyung, you said you were shooting a commercial today, right?

“Yeah. I just left my house.”

-You said it’s a public service advertisement, so are you going to be on TV?

“I heard it was for the internet, about 3 months of exposure. I heard it could be aired on regional television, but the specifics are for the marketing department to decide, so I wouldn’t know.”

Yoonseok hung up after wishing him good luck. He seemed rather excited as though he produced some good results.

Like most directors working on their first piece, Yoonseok was grinding his time and effort into making it. However, a lot of time and effort didn’t always produce good results. Though, that was something Maru would only be able to tell on the first day of the shoot when he would look at the final script. Did Yoonseok’s passion dissipate into thin air, or would it have dissolved into the script?

When he arrived at Yeouido Park, his appointed place, he saw a shooting team that was getting ready. He approached the director he saw during the audition and said hello.

“Mr. Han. Welcome.”

He lightly shook hands with the director.

“We’re going to start the shoot as soon as we’re ready, so go play with him for a while. He’s even more energetic than when he was in the studio, so you’ll have to get used to that.”

The director pointed at the Golden Retriever with a smile. Collie was his name, from what Maru could remember.

Maru walked over to the dog owner. The owner, who was being dragged around by Collie, greeted him warmly.

“He seems to have taken a liking to the park.”

“Tell me about it. This is the first time I’ve seen him jump around like this. I told him to stay still, but he’ll stay still only for a little bit before running again. Collie, hey, Collie!”

Even when the owner pulled on the leash, Collie didn’t mind and ran over all the grass. Its round eyes were filled with mischief. It clearly seemed like it wouldn’t be satisfied until it stepped on all the patches of grass in the park.

Maru approached Collie. As expected of a breed known for being gentle and amicable, Collie wasn’t wary of him.

“We met last time. I wonder if you remember me?” He said as he tickled Collie’s chin.

Collie walked circles around him while sniffing with its wet nose. It seemed to be observing this newfound toy.

“He’s still young, isn’t he?” he asked the dog owner.

“He’s three this year. I heard that dogs become a lot more docile after three years, but this one just couldn’t sit still ever since this kid was a pup.”

“So he’s one curious boy.”

Maru showed Collie that he was talking to Colli’s owner.

Golden Retrievers, while they looked rather gentle, were not cowards. Not only that, they were very loyal. Maru had to show that he was very close to the owner in order to prevent any unforeseen accidents.

“Can I hold the leash?”

“Sure.” The dog owner gave him the leash.

Maru grabbed it and started walking with the owner. He pulled gently whenever the dog tried to rush ahead so that it wasn’t hurt. After a few tries, the smart dog seemed to have discerned his scope of freedom and started walking slowly.

“My, Collie’s being obedient.”

“He’s smart. If you tell him sternly, he’ll understand.”

Maru asked the dog owner about Collie, mostly about what it hated than liked. The dog was very patient and would usually put up with mistakes committed by the owner, but in a special environment that was the shoot, it was probable that Colile would bare his canines without accepting mistakes. Maru had to know Collie in depth for the smooth progress of the shoot.

“He doesn’t care what you do to him when he’s in a good mood, but you shouldn’t touch his legs when he’s sensitive, especially his left back leg.”

While he was talking to the dog owner, the preparations for the shoot were finished. This one-day shoot was going to be shot throughout various places in this Yeouido park.

Maru had his makeup fixed by the makeup team.

“We should go with the clothes you’re wearing now. They look good.”

Having finished preparing, Maru walked over to the bronze statue of King Sejong.

“Mr. Han. You’ll be running around a lot today.”

“Running around is my specialty.”

Ever since it became September, the sun wasn’t as scorching anymore. There was an occasional cool breeze as well, so Maru had no qualms with running.

The director told him how he should move.

“Running around is important, but you should watch out for your expression. You’ll have to be smiling, but it can’t look too forced. Just don’t mind the camera and run around to your heart’s content.”

He stood in front of the statue with Collie. He had run around numerous times while acting. Running alongside a golden fur generator was in fact on the easier side. It was definitely a lot easier than having to do an act of running away from a murderer with a limping leg.

“We’ll start now.”

The director gave him the cue sign. Maru exchanged gazes with Collie once before running forward. Collie followed right up to him as though it had been waiting. His ears were flapping joyfully.

“Good. Let’s do that one more time.”

Maru returned to the bronze statue again with the huffing Collie. Collie had already finished preparing to run again, as though running was the most joyful thing in the world. His butt was jerking up and down. Fortunately, there was no sign of stress.

“Thanks to you, I’m having an easy time,” Maru said to Collie.

As though it understand that compliment, Collie responded with a short ‘woof.’

“Now then, run!” the director shouted.

* * *

Director Choi checked the time. It was only 2 in the afternoon. He did think that the shoot would finish early since the theme was so clearly set, but not this fast.

“Yes, that’s enough.”

He even shot extra footage. He was actually satisfied with the first shoot, but he repeated it about three times just in case. After all, video footage would sometimes look fine on the scene but turn terrible once they were viewed in the editing room.

He checked the video that he took across all of Yeouido park. The composition was great as though it came straight out of the storyboard. It didn’t look like he needed to do any post-processing here, especially with the cut where Maru and the dog were looking at each other — that one could just be used as its own poster. Maru’s eyes looked really good. He looked like he was deeply interacting with the dog. The two pairs of eyes intersected almost at an artistic angle.

While they finished all the scenes that Maru had to do, he found it a pity to end the shoot here. The dog was still in great condition, and above all, the model was doing way more than he expected. Maru looked so natural that he couldn’t believe that Maru was just an aspiring actor.

‘Naturally’ — There was probably no instruction given out besides that word. That was just how hard it was to loosen up. Being able to express ‘naturalness’ in a shoot, which was the epitome of fabrication, meant that the actor had the basics down. Director Choi thought that it was a luxury to expect such a thing from an aspiring actor, but Maru was so perfect in what he was asked to do that it was to the point that he didn’t have to give out any detailed orders.

“Mr. Han. We’ll do one more cut.”

This was a scene where he would have to cry while hugging the dog. An entirely new storyboard started forming in director Choi’s head. The advertiser probably wouldn’t make an issue with an additional scene like this. After all, it wouldn’t disrupt the flow of the advertisement. Even if it did, there was no problem either. He could just scrap it. However, director Choi was convinced that this young actor’s face would make the message of the advertisement a lot clearer.

He explained that this wasn’t in the schedule and then started explaining the directionality of the acting. Maru asked a few questions. They were questions that could only be asked if he had a good understanding of the concept.

“Rather than just purely sad, the joy of returning should be the focus.”

“Okay.”

They switched places to under a tree. He had the dog lie down with Maru in the camera. The dog sat still as though he was tired after running around all morning. That was good since this scene didn’t need energy.

“Tell me once you’re ready.”

Why was it that he was getting this sense of expectation from an actor who never worked on something before? He did not think that this would be a waste of time at all. He was more and more convinced that this would be even better than the existing storyboard. His conviction became even firmer when he saw Maru place the dog’s head on his shoulder and hug the dog. His eyes looked sad. They were filled with longing. An actor who was running around with energy for hours on end had suddenly changed his mood in an instant.

Was he an actor hidden away by some agency preparing his debut? Or was he just a natural talent? Director Choi looked at the monitor with his breath abated. There was a faint smile on the expression submerged in sadness. Maru started saying words that he wasn’t ordered to do, but he sounded so natural. They were words filled with endless worry and affection.

Director Choi did not shout cut.

As though having felt the actor’s emotions, the dog also looked at Maru with pitiful eyes.

Then, a moment he didn’t expect, arrived out of nowhere. The dog started rubbing his face against the actor’s cheek like it was caressing a newborn pup. Then it started licking the actor’s cheeks carefully, as though to console him.

When the emotions that started from sadness turned into relief and joy, director Choi shouted cut.

This, this was it.

This was something way beyond his original plan.

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