Life, Once Again!

After Story 40

A fixed key light scattered light onto the actress' face. The actress, who was walking back and forth on the terrace of the cabin, hurriedly took out her phone.

"What happened?"

Outside what the camera could see, the partnering actor put his phone against his ear and responded to her act. Maru could see the responding actor put emotions into his words so that the actress' emotions didn't fall out of line.

"No, it's not me! Please don't do this. Let's have a talk first. Hello? Team leader Choi? Team leader Choi!"

The actress looked around with her eyes out of focus before throwing her phone with a scream. She flipped the chair around on the terrace and pushed the table before falling to the ground. Her eyes, which were out of focus, suddenly sparked.

She walked on her knees to grab her phone that had fallen on the ground. Her nervousness was conveyed through how she dropped the phone.

Her face turned malicious.

"Head manager Park, go find team leader Choi right now. No, forget about that bitch and look for team leader Choi first! Find him and take the CCTV footage away from him. How, you ask? Do whatever it takes! Once that falls into Hanbyul's hands, both you and I are done for. So if you don't want to die, then go get that stuff, even if you have to kill team leader Choi!"

The veins popping out on her neck did not disappear at all. The actress gulped as though to swallow her fury and then stood up from her seat, straightening out her clothes. She put the chair upright and straightened the table. She calmed down and put away her anger.

The actress regained her intellectual image in a few moments. She tapped on her chest as though to console herself before turning around.

"Cut."

The director shouted cut when the actress entered the cabin again. The actress, who had a chilly fury in her eyes, fell down on the spot. It was probably physically taxing because she violently let out so much emotion.

Maru looked at the staff members darting up towards her. There were two or three members taking care of just one actress.

While she had her makeup and hair fixed, the props team repositioned the table and the chair.

The director approached her and walked on the terrace with her. They seemed to be revising the scene.

After the actress had some water and regained her composure, the shot began again. It was a hard scene, where she had to keep shouting. It was exhausting enough that most actors without a lot of stamina would have given up already.

Maru had a look at the actress' acting. He quite liked her way of putting on expressions and producing her voice. She had no trouble expressing fury. She was good enough that he would show her as the prime example to actors who didn't know how to express anger and just simply raised their voices.

The position of the camera switched. While the setting was being done again, people started flocking to the boom mic.

"Now, start murmuring."

When the assistant director gave out instructions, people started literally murmuring. The people seemed to have been told what to say beforehand, as they uttered words like 'oh my', 'look at that', 'look at her' and the like from multiple people. This was a common technique used in dramas that didn't have a lot of time for any kind of post-recording in the recording room.

The shoot resumed. The actress did not let go of her tension until the end.

Maru kept moving his facial muscles while looking at the actress. He also tried becoming head manager Park to converse with her in his mind.

The shoot which lasted nearly two hours ended after getting an insertion shot.

"We're going to move right away," shouted the assistant director. The staff members, drenched in exhaustion, started moving around busily.

Maru took out his phone and searched for the title of the drama that was being shot. He could find the date of the last episode with the information provided by the web portal. It was this Saturday.

Today was Wednesday, so considering that this was a Friday-Saturday drama, then there were about two days left for the shoot. He could guess what the atmosphere would be like at the shoot for the remaining two days.

"Hurry up." The director urged the staff members with a big yawn. He was probably very tired since he slept just enough not to die, which was probably the same for the other members of the crew. Maru could see why the director practically begged him through the phone.

When they arrived at the set in Namyangju, the sun was already setting. When the coach entered a parking lot, groans started erupting inside, which was only filled with breathing noises for a while.

The staff members got off like zombies. Maru was also mixed among them as he got off. If there was a young aspiring director looking at this scene, they would probably be flabbergasted.

The production crew with exhausted eyes walked into the set with their respective luggage. People walking towards the entrance of hell after their deaths might have more vitality than they did.

"This is how it was, yeah." Maru entered the set while reminding himself of the terrible reality of last-minute shoots. He was instructed to get changed into a suit.

The props team gave the background actors a microphone each with the logo of the TV station on it.

"Please use them carefully. Some of them are actually still in use."

The staff that gave out props left. It was then followed by a call from the leader.

Every background actor walked onto a set with the lights on. Rows of two-people desks were lined up in a pretty big meeting room. Maru could see laptops, paper cups, and disposable plastic cups.

On the giant TV at the front was a presentation that had 'Development Plans for Gwangchang City' on it. That was the imaginary city that was the background of the drama. From the composition of the set, it seemed that this was a press conference.

"Mr. Han Maru," the director called for him. When Maru walked over, he gave him a script.

"You see this, right? You just have to be journalist 1. I'll leave this to you just like last time, so please do well for me."

Maru had a look at the script. This was a press meeting where journalists asked a congressman about a scandal that he was involved in. There was an instruction for him to 'pick up a call midway' as though he was going to receive information that he didn't know already.

The background actors sat down in their seats. The actors started coming into the press room as well. Among them was actor Bae Jungwoon. The old gentleman who had his white hair combed back in a neat style started joking around with the junior actors as soon as he came in. The atmosphere at the set became quite a lot brighter once he threw a few jokes around.

"Clean up the cables. What's that below the desk over there? Put it away."

The preparations for the shoot were finishing up. Maru hid the script he was looking at under the laptop. Just as the staff told him to, he put up a word processor on the screen and waited.

The director and the actors did their rehearsal. After that, the director raised his finger to point at Maru before he went over to the monitor. Bae Jungwoon, who was next to the director, nodded. It seemed he was being notified about who the journalist was that would ask him the question.

Maru, who made eye contact with him, stood up and greeted him. Jungwoon, who frowned and tilted his head, faintly smiled and waved his hand. He seemed to have recalled that they exchanged a few words in the shoot last time.

Next to the camera fixture, the camera director signaled that he was ready.

"Please speak loudly when you say your lines, and well, we'll start now." The shoot began along with the cue sign.

Jungwoon started explaining the problems in the city and the improvements that would be made in the future with a deep voice. His gentle gestures and amicable smile would make him look like a fair and just governor to those who did not know the story of the drama. Even then, however, there was a hint of arrogance when he looked at the journalists from time to time.

It was a charming way to act out a villainous role. He was showing a prime example of what it meant to pretend to be good.

The director shouted cut. They took the full shot, so now they had to reshoot it from various different angles and sizes.

The cameras moved. The lights also changed as well.

"You're him, aren't you?"

There was no context at all, but Maru had no problems understanding that. He greeted Jungwoon again, who approached him.

"I probably told you before, but my memories aren't that good. But you, young man, I remember. Did you lose some weight?"

"I lost a lot of fat."

"Being agile is definitely better than being slow. I heard from director Lee. You're the human cure, aren't you?"

"Well, I seem to be."

Jungwoon slapped him on the shoulder and told him to try his best. From how he kept talking to young actors, he seemed to be quite caring of others despite his stingy tone of speech.

The camera was finished being adjusted while Maru waited in his seat. The camera was right in front of him, facing directly at him. The director did mention to him that there was a scene with just him in it, so Maru wondered if this was it.

"Well then, you just have to pick up the phone once you get the signal. Once you're ready, then…."

Cue.

As he was typing and looking forward at the same time, he saw a staff member to the right of his vision signaling him.

Maru took out his phone from his pocket and picked up the call.

"Okay, I'll check right now."

He put his phone down and grabbed his mouse. He didn’t receive any instructions, which made him think that they’ll probably shoot an insert shot later.

In a short period of time, he created a character. He pictured the order of expressing different emotions based on logic and continued acting. He thought about the time it would take to open up a browser and then the email as he moved the mouse. He quickly scanned the empty word document with a blinking cursor from the top to the middle.

He then leaned forward and looked at the screen again. He reached out to the right of the desk for his phone. He raised his head and looked at the congressman who was doing a presentation.

“Congressman.” He carefully raised his hand.

Although this was a matter that was handed down to him by his superiors, his target was a congressman who was gaining fame. It was not easy to ask him questions. The fact that he would be in trouble if he got on this man’s bad side flashed in his mind. However, he could not stay silent. It was his job to ask questions.

After waiting about two more breaths, he spoke again, “I’m sorry to ask you something like this in the middle, but do you happen to know Mr. Choi Donggi from Damhwa Constructions?”

Jungwoon, who was outside the screen, responded to his question — Damhwa Constructions, Choi Donggi, nope, doesn’t ring a bell.

Maru looked outside the monitor for a while before speaking again,

“I have just been notified that Mr. Choi Donggi has reported you for attempted murder.”

Maru gulped as he looked at Jungwoon’s widened eyes. At the same time, the assistant director gave the signal. The other background actors in their seats took out their phones. The press meeting room became chaotic in an instant.

Jungwoon, who was outside the frame, crossed his arms and nodded, as though to compliment Maru that his acting was pretty decent.

“Okay! We’ll flip around and do the scene where all of you enter the conference room.”

It ended in one go without any trouble. Thanks to senior Bae’s response, it was a lot easier. While the actors got ready, a camera approached him. A staff member also came over and put up a document on the screen. It was the email he got from the virtual TV media. There was a brief mention of the congressman being reported.

“Put your hands on the mouse and the keyboard.”

The camera took a shot of him and then went away to the entrance of the conference room.

The leader walked around and emphasized that they could absolutely not touch the props placed in front of them, mentioning that it would be a flaw if the positions changed.

“That was clean,” the director told him in passing.

The happiest person when the director had a happy face was naturally the actor. Maru smiled and leaned against the chair. Considering that he was a young journalist, he placed more weight on hesitating rather than acting boldly. The director didn’t cut him off midway as though it was the right interpretation.

“There are seven scenes left. Let’s hold on a little longer.”

The set was still bright, but the moon should be hanging high outside right now. While the assistant director consoled the exhausted staff members, the director exchanged words with the camera director.

The scene looked definitely messy, but there was definitely some form of order within.

Maru took out the script for his short film. He had to focus on getting into the character prior to the first shoot, just like how the drama production crew was moving towards perfecting the drama.

“So mind your own business,” he said his line in the bustling press room.

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