Yuna grabbed the end of the page with her fingertips and repeated her line as she flipped back and forth. She practiced several times, but she couldn’t get the line to stick.
“I like things the way they are, I just like things the way they are.”
She slightly modified the lines as she repeated them. Although the priority was to digest the lines on the script perfectly, she could edit them slightly if she felt her tongue not being able to cope with them. She couldn’t change the lines outright, but she could change the minor details. Producer Jayeon said that the writer might have written words that aren’t actually spoken even while consciously trying to write speech in written form.
“We’re going to the next scene. Please move the camera.”
The staff in front of the pojang-macha started moving. Yuna also grabbed the script in her hands and stood up. It was her turn now. Although she had become used to it, she still found it hard to breathe within the shooting set for some reason. She wondered when she would feel comfortable. After opening her mouth to take a deep breath in, she spat it out all at once, intending to bring out more energy. Her bangs waved when she breathed out. After touching up her hair, she walked over to the assistant director. Maru was standing next to him.
“I’ll do the rehearsal. Go adjust the schedule for the background actors,” Jayeon came over and said.
The assistant director turned on his phone and stepped aside.
“It feels quite different to shoot when the sun is still up, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. It feels completely different from shooting at night,” Yuna said as she looked around her.
Whether it was the busy staff, the people that came to watch, the cables strewn across the floor, or the heat from the lights, there was nothing different from night shoots, but she strangely found the set to be filled with vitality.
“This is why people need to work during the day and sleep at night. Everyone looks so much healthier when they work during the day. At night, they all act like zombies.”
Jayeon clapped and gestured for her to come. Yuna glanced at Maru before standing in front of Jayeon.
“We’re going to shoot you two running after turning that corner.”
Yuna nodded. This was a scene that was in the script as well. This was the scene where Park Haejoon and Yoon Jihae ran towards the pojang-macha, which was like their secret little hideout, after they got a lot closer. Having arrived at the pojang-macha first, Jihae would tease Haejoon for it, and Haejoon would buy her udon because he lost the race.
She grinned for a while after reading that part of the script. This sweet scene was when the confession happened. They check their own feelings and tell each other they like the other at the same time. She became a little heated. It was like there was a sweet scent in the air. Although this was a shoot and the confession was a part of the drama, she liked the feeling of being able to whisper love with Maru-seonbae.
“Yuna, did something good happen today?”
“Eh? N-no, not really.”
She straightened up her expression quickly, afraid that Jayeon might find out what she was thinking. She could feel the things that made her heart race sinking down below her consciousness. I must not show it in the shoot, especially in front of seonbae – work and personal lives had to be separate.
“If anything good happened to you, don’t just keep it to yourself and tell me about it. I’m busy editing these days, so I have no fun in life.”
After sighing, producer Jayeon walked to the end of the alleyway. The producer, who was hidden behind the corner, shouted at them to watch closely before running out. She ran past Yuna and arrived at the pojang-macha. Seeing her tap down on the stainless steel table, Yuna applauded. Producer Jayeon was fast enough for her to believe that she was a sprinter, and her running posture was really pretty.
“That’s how you run. You see those rails?”
“Yes.”
“The camera will follow and shoot you from the side. Yuna will be in front of the camera, while Maru will run behind you. I mean, Yuna has better looks than Maru does, right?”
Maru chuckled, saying that he was going to consider getting plastic surgery. Yuna waved her hand in the air and said that he looked okay.
“So I’m just okay, huh. Not cool or anything.”
“That’s….”
Maru, whose right eye was twitching as he said those words, soon loosened up his expression, saying that it was a joke. Yuna smiled and tried to grab his arm, but Maru pulled away right at the end, so she swiped empty air. Feeling embarrassed, Yuna retracted her arm as though nothing had happened.
“I’ll say this beforehand, but I scheduled the shoot early in the morning on purpose for this scene. You two are going to have to run to your deaths today.”
Jayeon made a suspicious smile. After the rails were installed, the camera was placed on them. One staff member repeatedly slid the camera across the rail to shoot.
“We’re ready.”
The assistant director’s signal came. Jayeon pushed her on the back, telling her good luck. Yuna re-tied her shoelaces tightly before turning the corner and standing in front of the wall. She put her wireless microphone on and got ready to run.
“Yuna will run out first, and then Maru after that. Watch out not to fall down, but don’t run too slowly.”
The assistant director said into the walkie-talkie that they were ready. Yuna turned her head around to see Maru.
“Are you confident at running?” Maru asked.
Yuna did not respond. Instead, she decided to show him. She liked using her body to the point that she would jump around in excitement on days when there were physical tests during gym class. She also had confidence in her running skills.
“Get ready.”
The assistant director pointed three fingers up. Seeing the fingers fold one by one, she stepped out quickly at the last one. She ran with the intention of leaving seonbae behind in the dust. The camera that slid across the rails entered her eyes. She ran like she was sprinting and touched down on the pojang-macha’s table. While it was a short distance, her breathing was haggard because she held her breath while running.
“You’re quite good.”
Yuna looked at Maru as she calmed down her breathing.
“Seonbae, you’re a good runner.”
“I’m pretty good when it comes to using my body.”
“I was planning to run really fast and surprise you, but I guess I failed.”
After pushing out the hot breath at the tip of her tongue, she stood upright. She dashed with the intention of finishing this shoot on the first take. As she ran with all her might, she expected the outcome to be pretty good.
“Let’s do that once again.”
Jayeon asked for a re-shoot without giving any feedback. Yuna thought that it was plausible and returned to her original spot.
“We might have to keep running like the director said, so control your stamina.”
“Yes.”
Yuna exercised her ankles. Maybe she didn’t like how she swung her arms, or maybe her expression was strange. She started imagining a scene where she and Maru would run playfully. A smile crept onto her face, and her body felt light. She felt that she should be able to get a good reaction if she dissolved that ticklish feeling into her act.
No! – Yuna pinched her waist. She vowed not to harbor personal feelings while working. No, it wasn’t just while working. As long as Maru-seonbae and Gaeul-seonbae were dating, she could not think about bad things. She kept imagining that dream-like scene that made her keep smiling, but it would be rude to the two seonbaes if she showed them that. Yuna did not want to become a bad girl that wanted to steal another’s love. Yes, she had to hide it for now.
She ran with all her might like she was running on the school track. When she arrived at the pojang-macha and straightened her waist, she heard the cut sound.
“Okay.”
Was it enough with just two shoots? While she was running out of breath, her skin was still soft and smooth without any sweat. She was slightly worried when Jayeon told her that they were going to run to their deaths, but from how the okay sign fell after just two runs, she seemed to have said it as a joke.
“Put away the rails!” Jayeon shouted.
Yuna touched her hair that drooped down in front of her and was about to prepare for the next scene.
“There’s no need to redo the setting. You’re going to run again. We just need to fix your makeup.”
“That wasn’t it?”
“We’re just starting.”
The shooting car, which had been waiting on one side, started to move. The car with the camera in the back stopped on the road she just ran on. Jayeon got on it.
“Actors! In your positions!”
Yuna breathed out faintly and returned to the corner.
“We got a side view last time, right? We’re going to get a front view this time. The side view doesn’t show a lot of the facial expression, but it’ll all be revealed when shot from the front, so you’re going to have to watch out,” said the assistant director.
“Also, you’re probably going to have to run quite a lot until we get a good cut since the director pulled the shooting schedule early saying that she wanted to put a lot of effort into the running scene. If you take it lightly because of the short distance, you’re going to have a hard time. Run with the intention to end it as soon as possible. It might feel easy at first because you’re full of energy, but it’ll affect your expression later if you start losing stamina.”
Yuna twisted her body as she listened to the assistant director’s words. She didn’t know that she was going to be shot from the front. Her hair would all go disheveled, and her expression would look weird. Yuna imagined how strange her expression would look.
“Get yourself together, and get ready to run,” Maru said, standing next to her.
Yuna pressed down on her disheveled hair slightly. Although it would soon become disheveled again, she wanted to look pretty even if it was for the first moment she appeared on the camera.
“Get ready! Three, two, one, cue!”
Jayeon’s voice could be heard. Yuna turned around the corner with a smile on her face. She saw the shooting car in front of her. Yuna ran with the intention of catching up to that car. Only after dashing about 50 meters in this commercial district was she able to come to a stop. This was her third sprint already. She was sweating down her back.
“One more time. Don’t look downwards unless you want to show the audience your head.”
“Yes.”
Having returned to their original position, Yuna drank a sip of water. She started to feel that she might actually not have enough energy.
“Are you okay, seonbae?”
“I’m doing okay. How about you?”
“I’m okay too.”
“It’s good to focus on the running and all, but be conscious of the fact that you need to act while running.”
“Yes.”
The shoot continued. Four times, five times, six times. After shouting cut cheerfully for some time, Jayeon started looking at the screen with suspicious eyes after a while.
“Let’s take a break. We still have an hour of leeway.”
Yuna sat down on the spot upon hearing the word’ break’. She didn’t have the energy to walk towards the chair which was only a small distance away from her. The total distance she moved was about 600 meters. Even though the weather was pretty chilly, she was all sweaty. It was unexpectedly quite hard to run while smiling. She had to be conscious of the camera, of the distance between her and the shooting car, and she also couldn’t forget about interacting with Maru, who was following from the back. If running was all she did, she wouldn’t be this tired.
“An actress can’t sit on the floor like that. Here.”
“Thank you.”
She sat down on the chair that Maru brought her. Her knees trembled.
“You’re hardworking.”
“Eh? Ah, yes. I have to be.”
“But Yuna, working hard and working well are definitely different.”
Yuna sealed her lips and looked at Maru. While his voice was soft, he was scolding her. She wiped the sweat on her neck with the back of her hand and faintly smiled.
“I will do well.”
“How?”
“Eh?”
“I was wondering how you are going to do well.”
“That’s….”
She was at a loss for words. She couldn’t think of anything to tell him when he asked for a concrete plan. Yuna was about to smile awkwardly but decided not to. From the way things looked, this wasn’t the time to be smiling.
“You remember what the director said about how you should be conscious of what’s beyond the camera? I understand that it’s hard to act while running. Heck, I can’t do it that well either. But when she doesn’t give you any directions between each cut, it means that her directions haven’t changed. The director chose you for a reason. You must prove to her that her eyes weren’t wrong when choosing you.”
Yuna slowly nodded. Today, seonbae’s presence had changed quite a lot. It was quite a peculiar feeling to feel someone she knew feel unfamiliar to her. He wasn’t waiting for her and being generous to her; he was telling her to see the problem with her eyes and solve it. While it was a reasonable reprimand, Yuna felt rather sad.
As she was thinking that, Yuna saw that Maru was quietly looking into her eyes. His deep eyes seemed to penetrate through her surface and read her mind. Maru took his eyes off her and sighed faintly.
“Give me your hand.”
Yuna put her hand out obediently. Maru grabbed her hand gently.
“You aren’t running forward by yourself. This feeling, the feeling of running together. We might be apart, but you still have to feel like you are leading me while grabbing my hand. The reason you’re looking back from time to time is not because you are trying to discern if you’re going to win or lose; it is to see if the one following you is still following closely. The reason you want to arrive first is not because you want to prove your superiority in physique. It must be to portray it as an advantage; as something to boast about to the person running behind you.”
Seonbae let go of her hand. The words were engraved into her ears. The details of the feelings she had forgotten about momentarily because she was running seemed to all come back to her.
“I think I know what to do. I really do.”
“Actors can only be true to their emotions. Lying will become obvious soon.”
“What?”
“Use what you can for now. You should at least finish work.”
Maru cut out all the details, but Yuna soon realized what Maru was talking about.
“Seonbae.”
“Get ready.”
There were things she wanted to ask him, but she nodded for now.
