“Do I look good?” Ganghwan asked.
The apron he was wearing, which had udon broth splattered here and there, was from the owner of the pojang-macha himself. The navy-blue jersey was apparently Ganghwan’s own. It seemed like there were no sponsored items or anything.
“It suits you. But do you know how to cook? You’re going to have to use a lot of tools during the shoot.”
As soon as Maru said those words, Ganghwan put a ladle in between his fingers and spun it around.
“You shouldn’t underestimate a single man living by himself.”
“But is there anything to cook?” Yuna asked.
As the main menu of the pojang-macha only included udon, dumplings, and soondae, it didn’t seem like there would be a lot of cooking scenes. At most, Ganghwan would just have to put the already-cooked food onto the plates.
Maru looked behind him. The staff surrounding the pojang-macha were all looking at producer Jayeon. She, who was sitting in front of the monitor, was staring holes into a paper in her palm. It was probably the order of contents that she wrote down.
Jayeon stood up. It looked like she was about to begin.
“I’m sorry to say this before we start, but it’s gonna be tight. Be prepared, actor Yang.”
“Yes, yes, director. This is your debut piece, so you should try your best.”
Ganghwan joked around.
“It’ll be quite hard since there will be eating scenes in it. You’re going to have to keep eating until we get a proper cut, so if you feel sick or anything, just put a little in your mouth and continue chewing. I’ll place a trash can next to you, so if you really feel like you can’t do it, you can spit it out.”
Yuna smiled brightly and replied ‘yes’. Maru inwardly sighed. During his shoot of Apgu, there was a scene where all of the minor actors ate boiled chicken soup. People ate the chicken happily during the first shoot, but eventually, they looked like they were chewing on rubber. Maru was the same. There was nothing scarier than repeatedly acting out an eating scene.
“Good, let’s have a go then.”
Jayeon returned to the monitor.
* * *
“That’s two udon for you. Enjoy yourselves. Tell me if you want more.”
Yuna accepted the bowl with both of her hands. She looked at the bowl of udon that was steaming before smelling it. It was a fragrance that made her stomach feel warm. She maintained the smile that crept onto her face before putting some noodles inside her mouth with her chopsticks. The elastic noodles snapped just perfectly and added to the chewiness. The udon was delicious to the point that she didn’t need to exaggerate that it was delicious. It should suffice if she just showed the camera what she felt like right now.
She picked up her spoon and took a spoonful of the broth before blowing on it. From the way there was no cut sound, it seemed to be going well. Was she doing rather well for her first shoot? Just as she thought that and was about to drink the broth, she heard the cut sound which broke her immersion. Following that, she heard footsteps approaching the pojang-macha.
“Yuna.”
“Yes?”
“You’re eating way too blandly.”
“Eh? Me?”
“Look.”
Jayeon picked up some strands of noodles with the chopsticks. She put them inside her mouth with a faint smile on her face before she started chewing. What seemed to be the problem? Yuna kept observing Jayeon before she widened her eyes. The way she chewed looked way too haughty. Her lips were sealed as though it was zipped up, and the movement of her jaws was way too small. Compared to that, her head was nodding way too exaggeratedly.
“Was that how I ate?”
“Wanna look?” Jayeon said as she pointed at the monitor.
Yuna shook her head.
“You’re trying to eat way too prettily. Well, yes, if you’re on a date in a nice restaurant with a romantic atmosphere, then sure, I can take that. You would look around to take in the mood, admire the fragrance, and evaluate the food while nodding. But this place is a pojang-macha. Moreover, isn’t the character known as ‘Yoon Jihae’, that you’re acting out, supposed to be a determined girl? Or am I the only one thinking that?”
Jayeon handed her the bowl. Yuna accepted the bowl with an apologetic expression.
“I’m not telling you to exaggerate it. But you know, how would it look normally? You just need to show that. Think about how you would eat ramyun at home. I don’t think you would nod with your mouth closed like some noble lady, would you?”
“I’ll try again.”
“Yes. I like that you aren’t shrinking back on your first shoot. I also like how you’re trying to show a lot. However, I’m telling you now that that’s not enough. You have to do well, please.”
The word ‘please’ reverberated in Yuna’s mind. The bowl of udon suddenly felt heavy now. She quickly placed the bowl on the folding-out table. The pressure overwhelmed her body.
“We’ll do that again.”
Yuna shook her head and got herself together. This wasn’t the time to daze out. She thought about the director’s instructions. She needed to forget about eating prettily and act normal. But wait, were the chopsticks supposed to go in the right hand?
“Three, two, one, cue!”
Jayeon’s voice woke her up. She picked up her chopsticks as she looked at the broth that was changed out in order to renew the steam. She thought that she should smile and eat like it’s delicious. She opened her mouth moderately and put the udon in her mouth. The udon had become bloated in that short time causing the noodles to just slide down her throat before she could even chew on them. It was much worse compared to the elastic noodles of the first time, but Yuna acted as though she was impressed by the noodles and just kept eating.
“Cut!”
She heard those words when she scoped her third round of noodles. Her tension loosened up, and she let go of her chopsticks. She turned her stiff head around to the monitor. Yuna subconsciously bit the inside of her mouth. Jayeon was approaching her with the same expression as before.
“It wasn’t good, was it? I’m sorry.”
She said those words as soon as she met Jayeon in the eyes. Reality hit her. The fact that this was a shooting set and that many people’s time depended on her pressured her a lot.
“Kim Yuna.”
“Yes?”
“What are you so scared about?”
Jayeon asked her with a smile. Yuna focused on her straight upper teeth before she was startled by the hand that was placed on her shoulder.
“Are you nervous?”
“N-no.”
“Do you remember when you did your audition? I did pick you because I liked your acting, but I gave you high points because you showed yourself without hiding anything. Of course, I get that you’re having a hard time since it’s your first time shooting. I have it hard too. I honestly don’t know where I should start. I imagine that you’re the same.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s not something for you to apologize about, and no one here would feel pleased about your apology either. You know? I just want to see your honest acting. Right now, it feels like you’re trying to show something off. I get that you want to do well, but I want you to rein it in. Also, one more thing. Remember that there are three of you acting right now. Don’t focus on the udon so much. You don’t have to. Just be natural. Of course, I understand how hard that must be, but don’t you think actors should be able to do that?”
Yuna slowly nodded. Nothing Jayeon said was wrong. Jayeon followed on to give her more detailed instructions.
“As I said during the rehearsal, look around when you eat and exchange gazes with Maru. You didn’t realize that Maru was looking at you from the side, did you?”
Yuna honestly nodded. She was so focused on the udon that she was unable to think about other things.
“This time, try having a wider vision.”
Jayeon went back. Yuna apologized to Ganghwan and Maru in a small voice.
“Making mistakes is how you learn. Anyway, Jayeon, she became rather lenient. If it was before, she would’ve slapped you and asked if that’s all you amount to.”
Ganghwan said that while shivering. Maru agreed with those words
“It’ll become like that soon enough. She’s letting her go because this is the first shoot outside, but I think she’ll definitely say something later on.”
Hearing the two say that, she became extremely worried. When she made a dejected expression, Maru spoke to her,
“Don’t be afraid of people swearing at you. It’s normal here. Just like what hyung-nim said, everyone here learns from mistakes. What’s important is to make the director not say the same words twice. Do you remember what she said to you?”
“Yes. I remember them.”
“Try being conscious of that when you act.”
“Can I do it?”
“Well, we’ll see when the shoot starts.”
Good luck – Maru added. Yuna puffed up her cheeks before slowly loosening them. Nervousness left her face after being taut from the puffing.
“Also, don’t forget to turn your head my way after you eat some noodles.”
“Yes.”
While she gathered herself together and muttered her lines, there was another cue sign. Her lips rendezvoused with the bloated noodles. Let’s just eat comfortably – thinking that, Yuna chewed on the noodles that just fell apart. Then she picked up the bowl. She usually drank the soup from the bowl instead of using her spoon. The perfect temperature broth entered her body. The prickly air at the set felt a little softer.
When she put down the bowl, Yuna thought about the rehearsal. I should turn my head – just as she saw the side of Maru’s face, Maru also turned around. He, who had a few strands of noodles in his mouth, hurriedly slurped them down before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He then made an awkward smile as he looked at her.
For a brief moment, Yuna forgot that this was a shoot. Maru, who expressed his embarrassment openly with a pure face, looked nothing like the usual him. She could feel a ticklish embarrassment welling up from inside her throat. She felt like she could feel the exact same thing that Maru was feeling.
For now, she carried out all of the director’s instructions. This was an eating scene without any lines. She wondered what she had to do next. Yuna looked at her own feelings first before she looked into the character’s background. What would love be to a girl who had been living alongside poverty for a long time? What would a ‘normal date’ feel like to a girl who had been handing out leaflets during middle school and was still working four days a week even now that she was in high school?
Yuna couldn’t smile that easily. If it was the real her, she would grin helplessly, but she felt like the ‘Yoon Jihae’ in the drama wouldn’t be so relaxed. Despite that, Yuna smiled. The smile was far from a pleasant one, but she still smiled. It was a smile that was a mix of truth and lies; a mix of the drama character and her own self.
Yuna looked at Maru’s eyes for a while before turning back to her bowl. She then started eating wordlessly. She felt happy but sad at the same time. It was because of the drama background as well as her own feelings towards Maru. She thought that perhaps the character in the drama was in a similar situation to her.
“Would you like some more?” Maru asked.
This wasn’t in the script. After all, there weren’t any lines in the script. Haejoon and Jihae eat udon together at a pojang-macha – this was everything in the script.
Yuna’s thoughts raced. How should she reply? Before she could finish thinking about how she should answer, her mouth gave the answer already.
“May I?”
When her words entered her ears, Yuna thought that this was the best outcome possible. They were words that were from both Yoon Jihae, who had been living a life where she read people’s feelings all the time, as well as her own, who was having a hard time during the shoot.
“Of course. Not that it’s something I’m giving you.”
Maru asked Ganghwan for another bowl. Ganghwan made a gentle smile and scooped out a ladle of boiling broth and a handful of noodles. Seeing that whole process, Yuna felt like this pojang-macha was something real. She was also dissolving into this atmosphere. It was relaxing and comfortable.
“Good!”
The moment she heard that shout coming over from where the monitor was, Yuna felt like she had woken up from a dream. Her eyes were fixed on Maru.
“You did well there, eh?” Maru said.
Yuna felt an indescribable sense of excitement.
“How’s the udon I made? Pretty decent, isn’t it?”
“Hyung-nim, the owner of this place prepared all that, though.”
“But you know, but there’s still the taste of the hand.”
The two laughed at each other. Yuna looked at the two for a while before smiling. If she was by herself, she would have never been able to do anything. These were people who led her into the world of acting just by acting with her. She gained the confidence that she would do well.
“I thought we’d take an hour at least, but 20 minutes was all it took. At this rate, we might be able to reduce the number of shoots and save up some money for eating out, you know?” Jayeon said as she walked over.
Yuna sighed in relief when Jayeon patted her like she had done a good job. It finally felt like she had finished a cut.
“The start is good.”
The director’s voice made everyone feel pleased.
