Chapter 313 (1/2)

It was just as he said. The atmosphere at the drama set was rock-bottom. Although the shoot was continuing, it was unknown when a battle would erupt out.

The dispute between the camera director and the producer started from the first shoot. Two weeks ago, they were at the point where it made people worry that the drama might end just like that. Although they avoided the worst case scenario thanks to someone’s advice, they were still glaring at each other whenever the opportunity occurred.

When she thought about it, TV media was a happy world covered with lies. The people in the camera frame were all happy with each other, but the moment the camera turned off, they just shut themselves up and glared at each other. Chaerim thought that such was TV media after looking at two people, that were portrayed as being on good terms on a TV show she watched before, shouting at each other off camera. It was a world where stubborn experts were everywhere. Of course, she was also one of them.

“But are you alright, noona?”

“I’m fine. But can you stay quiet? I’m feeling a little dizzy right now.”

“Okay.”

After shutting Jiseok up, Chaerim closed her eyes. She was in a horrible condition today. Sharp gazes were hitting her from all around. Although annoyance was surging within her, she couldn’t express that out loud. After all, she was causing all the NG scenes here.

It was clear that today was just a bad day for her. First, there was the chatterbox, and then she started committing mistakes everywhere during the shoot. The producer from the TV station encouraged her saying that she shouldn’t be nervous, while the staff’s gaze towards her was incredibly hostile. The short break was about to end soon. She would have to stand in front of the camera again. She had no time to worry about things like committing another mistake. She had to get an okay sign this time.

“Let’s resume shooting.”

Chaerim tapped on her cheeks as she stood up. The minor role characters were all smiling at her saying that it was okay, but she thought that they would be insulting her on the inside. They were probably thinking something along the lines of ‘to think that someone like her is the main character’ or something like that. She couldn’t accept such a judgement. She had to not make a mistake this time.

She didn’t want her acting skill controversy that she put out with all of her effort to surface again.

“Good. Don’t get nervous. Stand by, and cue.”

The director spoke while clenching his fist.

* * *

“Right now?”

It was a series of confusion for Maru from the moment he received a call from a number he didn’t know. The one that called was someone with the title ‘liaising writer’. He felt that the voice was familiar, and then remembered the woman with the red cone during the drama. Before he even asked what happened, she asked if he could come to Sangam High School immediately. No, she was saying as though he had to be here. He asked what happened once again, and only then did the liaising writer reply to him that they needed a replacement actor because a problem had occurred.

-Please come immediately.

The current time was 3:21. He was in the middle of practicing the play with his club since today was extracurricular activities day. They were about to put an end to practice since Jiyoon had an appointment with her family, so there was no problem with going there.

“Did an accident happen? It’s not like someone would suddenly be unable to act.”

-Something like that. We originally intended to call someone else because we were in a hurry, but some of the staff here including the camera director recommended you. This is an opportunity for you. You’d be a minor character rather than an extra like before.

“Then do I get a guarantee as well?”

Since this was an important question, he asked immediately. The writer became silent. Following that, a flabbergasted voice came out from the other side.

-Is money important right now? I’m telling you this is an opportunity.

“I’m saying it because it’s not up to me. If there’s monetary gain, I have to talk about it with my agency, don’t I? That’s how it works.”

-You have an agency?

“Yes.”

-Which one?

“JA Production. I get that it’s an opportunity, but things might become problematic if I accept without consulting them first. What are you going to do?”

-JA? You really belong to that place? Phew, wait a moment. Also, give me your manager’s phone number.

She hung up. Maru wondered what happened on the set. From how they were looking for actors, it didn’t seem like the drama stopped entirely. Since they sounded urgent, he sent the woman a message first. It sounded like he had some lines from what she said. Meaning, that this role required prior preparation to do. They were looking for a person that could urgently play such a role. Maru wondered if an accident happened.

“What is it?”

Daemyung asked as he got ready to leave the classroom. Maru explained to him briefly.

“That sounds like a good thing, but it does sound a little disturbing,” Daemyung spoke with a worried expression.

“I think so too.”

“What are you going to do then? We’re planning to go to a meat buffet without Jiyoon.”

“You can go by yourselves for now. I’ll message you if I think I can’t go.”

“Alright.”

After separating from the rest of the members, Maru first went to the bus stop. He sat down on the chair and looked at his phone. He spent about five minutes doing that when he got a call.

-I finished talking with your manager. Please come to Sangam High School as quickly as possible.

“But if I’m playing a minor role, don’t I have lines to do? I haven’t gotten anything though.”

-We’ll get everything sorted once you’re here so come quickly!

It felt as though she would kill someone if he went there late. A loud shout could be heard behind the urgent-sounding woman’s voice. Maru could imagine what was going on there. Since she said that she finished talking with his manager, there was no time to delay. He grabbed a taxi that was just driving past the bus stop.

“Sangam High School in Seoul, please.”

The driver’s eyes shone when he heard the word ‘Seoul’. He pressed a button on his dashboard and started driving. Maru had a look at the horse on the taximeter that was galloping gallantly. Every time the horse kicked off the ground, another 100 won was added to the fare. He messaged Daemyung in the taxi. After a moment, the entire club messaged him ‘good luck’. They were thankful people.

The taxi driver drove proficiently through roads that didn’t get jammed with traffic and thanks to that, Maru was able to arrive at the school before 5 o’clock.

He got off after getting a hand-written receipt. After meeting eyes with the security guard he saw before, he entered the school. There were students gathered around one spot on the school field. It was obvious where the drama shoot was happening.

Maru brushed past the gaps between the students. When he entered a certain range, one of the security agents told him to step back.

“I’m here for the drama shoot.”

Hearing that, the security agent called someone. The one that ran here was the liaison writer with the red cone.

“Quickly.”

Although her speech was short, Maru decided not to mind it since it looked like the situation was urgent. He quickly followed behind the writer who was running. The shoot was happening in a corner of the school field. The guy named Woomin from last time was currently supporting a girl idol wearing a ragged gym uniform. The girl had straight, long hair, as though to represent that she was an innocent young girl. Perhaps she was the Cinderella of the story. Since he only watched the episode with him in it, he didn’t know the story that well.

Woomin grabbed the heroine’s hand and spoke - ‘don’t bully her any longer’. It seems that he had the role of the prince that put the glass heels on the girl’s feet. Another male idol just laughed in disdain and turned around. That was the end of the scene.

“Producer! He’s here.”

Producer Lee nodded and approached Maru. He received a copy of the script from the staff nearby before giving it to Maru.

“There’s no time, so let’s go over the story first.”

Maru listened to the overall explanation while flipping through the script on the spot with the producer. His role was the class president that was bad at talking. This kid was forced into the position by others due to a prank. He was a quiet and shy kid but had a small sense of justice. It was a minor role yet there was quite a lot of detail.

In the scene he had to act in, he was the one that interfered when one of the main girls looked down on another student and was scolded instead. There was also a scene where he got pushed. He had to fall down again. It seemed that he was somewhat entangled with this whole falling character.

“We’re going to go to the classroom and shoot right now, so get ready for that.”

He had a look at the script again. His lines were quite long. He had to reply to the main girl’s every line. There were some lines where he had to say multiple sentences.

“Can you do it? We’ve already delayed it once, so it will be quite troublesome if you can't do it.”

“Time is money after all. I’ll do it.”