By Zephyria “It’s 10 minutes from now. Shall we go out?”
The manager, sitting in the driver’s seat, checked the clock on the monitor and asked in a calm voice.
Song Hyun-soo, who had been looking at the script, suddenly lifted his head as if startled. He had memorized the script so thoroughly he could recite it even in his sleep, but it was the only thing he could cling to to chase away the tension before the first shoot.
“Yes, Director.”
He closed the script he was forcing himself to read, even though it wasn’t going in, and put on the padding from the passenger seat.
“Oof, it’s cold!”
The manager, who had gotten out first, zipped up his jumper and shivered.
As Yoon Joo-ho had mentioned, the weather here felt like mid-winter, even in early March. Patches of snow lay on the village roofs, along the walls, and in the dry rice paddies spread out before the village.
“Hyun-soo-ssi, here are hand warmers. Put one in each padding pocket.”
“Thank you.”
He took the hand warmers the manager offered and tucked them into his pockets as instructed. He knew intellectually that the air touching his cheeks was sharp as a knife, but he couldn’t feel the cold due to his tension.
“Is that person an actor too?”
“Looking at him, he must be.”
“He seems like a rookie? I haven’t seen his face before.”
“Where’s Yoon Joo-ho? I don’t see hide nor hair of him.”
“The Crown Prince? He already went into that movie house before you got here.”
Leaving behind the murmurs of the few local residents who had come to watch, Song Hyun-soo hurried towards the ‘movie house’ they were talking about.
Around the house of Lee Sol and Lee San, which was the filming location, tension, energy, excitement, and seriousness coexisted. Many staff members were still bustling around inside and outside the house, preparing for the shoot.
The house of Lee Sol and Lee San. The red-roofed house.
One of the empty houses in ‘Myung Hae-ri,’ which he had visited with Yoon Joo-ho, had been transformed into the siblings’ house.
The siblings’ house was situated at the foot of a low mountain, and Baek Kang’s house was very close to the sea. It was a secluded house with the sea visible directly through the living room window. The two houses were about a 20-30 minute drive apart, but such travel was nothing for a film set.
Song Hyun-soo, who had entered the red-roofed house’s yard, stopped abruptly as if someone had pulled him from behind.
Under the eaves, Yoon Joo-ho was talking with Director Bang.
No, it was Baek Kang.
It was Baek Kang’s clothes, Baek Kang’s shoes, Baek Kang’s hair, Baek Kang’s skin, Baek Kang’s hands.
For the role, Yoon Joo-ho had been taking care of his hands and feet himself for about a month. Originally, he had his nails done along with his spa treatments. As a result, his nails were always shiny and smooth, without any hangnails or cuticles. And that could not be Baek Kang’s hands.
To transform into a young fisherman whose daily life was physical labor, Yoon Joo-ho had built up his body, researched his gait, speech, expressions, and gestures, and cut his nails himself in the bathroom. He researched how to erase the penthouse Yoon Joo-ho, who was elegant and refined, as if soaked in niche perfume.
And the fruits of that research and effort stood before Song Hyun-soo now.
His head slowly turned this way. The smile that spread across his face the moment their eyes met was unmistakably Baek Kang, not Yoon Joo-ho.
Instead of urban charm with a hint of annoying nonchalance, it was a deep affection, like a rock warmed by the sun. It was Baek Kang’s smile.
As he approached Song Hyun-soo with Baek Kang’s gait, he scanned him from head to toe.
“You look exactly like Lee San.”
“Who are you to say that?”
“Do I look like Baek Kang?”
Yoon Joo-ho ran a hand through his hair, which had grown considerably longer since the first time I saw him, and turned around. Dressed and made up like Song Hyun-soo, he was truly Baek Kang. He looked like a different person, only with Yoon Joo-ho’s features.
“You look like someone from this town who came to watch the filming.”
Yoon Joo-ho, with a nod to Song Hyun-soo’s manager, led Song Hyun-soo to a secluded spot in a corner of the yard. Despite the busy activity, the on-site staff kept glancing at Yoon Joo-ho. Even to them, who were accustomed to actors, Yoon Joo-ho was a rare top star, a fascinating spectacle.
As they narrowed the distance so their conversation couldn’t be overheard, he asked Song Hyun-soo with Yoon Joo-ho’s face.
“Are you disappointed because I look like an ordinary guy like this?”
“Don’t delude yourself. You’re not ordinary at all.”
“You said I look like someone from this town.”
“You’d be a very handsome young man from this town. If you looked like this, you’d go up to Seoul someday and become an actor.”
Yoon Joo-ho chuckled at Song Hyun-soo’s indifferent remark.
“Sunbae doesn’t seem nervous at all.”
“I am nervous. Just the right amount to feel good.”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Hmm, you do look a bit pale.”
Yoon Joo-ho looked intently at Song Hyun-soo’s face and asked in a serious tone.
“Do you remember what we talked about yesterday?”
Song Hyun-soo nodded.
It was a welcome dinner for three people to greet Baek Kang, who had been released after serving 8 years in prison. It was the first day, the first shooting scene. Yoon Joo-ho and I had already researched and practiced it several times, and upon arriving at the set, we had rehearsed with Shin Hyo-jin as well.
“Sani went to the prison to pick up Kang when he was released. Alone, without Sol. He waited, marking X on the calendar for months before Kang’s release. You need to capture how happy Kang’s release is for Sani. Then Sani’s emotional arc in this scene will naturally follow. Just focus on that.”
As Yoon Joo-ho calmly reiterated what we had discussed yesterday, my tension gradually subsided. Just moments ago, my palms had been sweating and trembling despite the cold.
“Honestly, I’ve practiced more than anyone else. So when you act, don’t think. Your body will remember and move on its own. Just go with the flow.”
Nodding, I glanced sideways at Yoon Joo-ho.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, it’s just that you seem so dependable when you’re like this.”
“So you mean I’m not dependable usually?”
“Usually, I have to take care of you quite a bit.”
As the two of them exchanged jokes and eased their tension, Shin Hyo-jin joined them after finishing her makeup.
“Yay, it’s finally the first shoot.”
Shin Hyo-jin, who offered high-fives to both of them, seemed quite excited. There was no trace of nervousness in her, as she swayed her shoulders as if dancing.
“Isn’t Sol too excited? Kang must have complex feelings after being released from prison.”
Yoon Joo-ho’s remark made Shin Hyo-jin shrug.
“I’m always like this on the first day. I need to get my head straight once I’m on set. Oh, Juyeong oppa is also coming for the night shoot later.”
“Why is someone who doesn’t even have a shoot today coming?”
“It’s the crank-in day, though. He said he wanted to come and see. Let’s all grab a beer at the accommodation later. Sound good?”
“……”
“……”
It wasn’t like they had rehearsed it, but Yoon Joo-ho and Song Hyun-soo simultaneously fell silent, glancing at each other.
“What’s with the reaction from both of you? You don’t know anyone here, and you don’t have anything to do. Do you two have plans?”
“Ah, no. Plans, nothing like that. Sounds good. Beer sounds great.”
“You’ll be exhausted after the first shoot, what beer are you talking about?”
Unlike Song Hyun-soo, who tried to brush it off with a laugh, Yoon Joo-ho grumbled with a displeased expression. However, Shin Hyo-jin seemed unfazed by Yoon Joo-ho’s reaction, as if it were typical.
Since it took over two hours to get to Seoul from the location, the production team had arranged accommodation. The staff rented out an entire complex of pensions nearby, while the actors’ lodging was a tourist hotel about 40 minutes from the set. They could commute from home if they wished, but Song Hyun-soo and Yoon Joo-ho planned to stay at the accommodation for the week.
It wasn’t like they had made a pact to meet secretly in each other’s rooms at night. Shin Hyo-jin’s suggestion made them both feel a pang of guilt.
“You’re all here! Shall we go in if you’re ready?”
Guided by the assistant director, the three of them entered the building.
In the kitchen, separated from the living room, the setup for cameras and lighting was nearing completion. Director Jeong Joon-hee, who had been discussing with the cinematographer while looking at the floor plan, was informed of the actors’ arrival and greeted them.
“Oh, this is really good. It looks even better here on set than in the photos I received before.”
The director’s reaction was positive upon seeing the actors in character. He left the remaining setup to the assistant director and then explained the key points of the scene to be shot to the actors.
“Sani’s role is crucial in this scene. It’s Sani’s job to create a warm and harmonious atmosphere, and most importantly, to contrast with the awkwardness between Kang-i and Sol-i. Hmm?”
“Yes, Director.”
“If Sol-i and Kang-i are close as lovers, then Sani and Kang-i, being the same gender, also have a closeness. They can do anything together. They go to the bathhouse together, sleep together, and went to the same boys’ school. In a way, Sani spent more time with him than Sol-i did. There absolutely cannot be even the slightest awkwardness. Understand? You should be able to touch each other without reservation, like my own skin.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The director looked at Song Hyun-soo with a worried expression at his overly earnest reply.
“He’s supposed to be playful, but if Sani is this stiff, how can that work?”
Yoon Joo-ho subtly moved closer to the stiff Song Hyun-soo. He slipped his hand inside the collar of his padding and massaged Song Hyun-soo’s stiff neck. The hand, which initially felt cold, quickly warmed up as if snow were melting.
Song Hyun-soo was quite surprised, as they had never engaged in such physical contact in front of others. But the surprise was fleeting.
The fact that his hand was touching his skin, and that he was supporting him to the point where he didn’t care that people were watching, quickly put Song Hyun-soo at ease.
“Ah, yes. Kang-i and Sani have become quite close. That’s very good.”
The director nodded approvingly at the sight, but Shin Hyo-jin looked surprised.
“You were still calling each other ‘sunbae-nim’ and ‘Hyun-soo-ssi,’ so I didn’t know. When did you get so close?”
“No, we went back and forth between informal and formal speech.”
Director Jeong Joon-hee shook his head, indicating that wasn’t enough.
“You need to get closer. You absolutely must become close, even if it means living together. This is homework. Understand? Hmm?”