I Will Live As An Actor

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 114

The night sky was filled with stars. 

The dense trees reached up as if to catch the falling stars. 

The remote mountain village in Gangwon Province was unusually bright. 

It was because a broadcasting crew had gathered here for a night shoot. 

A fire burned in a halved drum, and people gathered around it to warm their hands.

“Director Yoo, when will they arrive?”

“They said it will take another hour or so.”

“What a bad day. Of all days, the ENG camera breaks down on the night of the shoot. Can’t we just use the spare one?”

“I’m afraid the quality is not good enough. It will be hard to fix the image in post-production.”

“I’m sorry, I should have told the assistant director to prepare everything thoroughly. Who would have thought that the camera would suddenly stop working right before we left?”

“Hey, it’s not your fault, sunbae. I told Young-min to bring the equipment as soon as Team B finishes shooting at the folk village.”

It was a sudden camera malfunction. 

And it happened on the day they were shooting in a mountain village in Gangwon Province. 

The folk village in Yongin was quite far from here, so they were stuck in a dilemma. 

It was a disaster.

“Director Yoo, I think we have to stand by until dawn. There’s no way we can install the track on the frozen ground, and the lighting team can’t light up the faces with tungsten and reflectors. And it’s too dark to proceed like this. It could lead to an accident…”

“We have no choice. When the camera arrives, we’ll first shoot the background and then the actors when the sun comes up a bit. But are you and the other sunbaes okay?”

“We’re fine. We’re used to eating and sleeping outside. It’s like a routine for us. Lately, my wife has been asking me if I’m slacking off because there’s no night shoot. I used to hate staying up all night, but now it’s fun and nice when it happens once in a while. But Director Yoo, are you okay? I saw that Cha, the actress, was very upset earlier.”

It was a common thing that happened when you did a night shoot. 

If you went to the actual shooting site, you would find that the shooting conditions were not as good as you think, or that the shooting equipment broke down or the shooting was delayed. 

That was why the staff and the actors had to stand by. 

They didn’t know when the shooting would start. PD Yoo gave a bitter smile and moved on.

“How long do you want me to stand by?”

Actress Cha Hye-jin’s cheeks are flushed. It had been two hours already. 

She heard the news that the camera broke down and the stand-by was delayed. 

The inside of the van was full of warm heat from the heater, but her face was cold as ice. 

Her manager was afraid that she would throw a tantrum any minute, so he couldn’t say a word.

“Cheol-min, turn the car around.”

“Yes? Noona, what do you mean?”

“Are you deaf? Turn the car around. Do you think I’m going to wait here all day? The sun will rise soon, it will rise. Let’s go back to Seoul for now.”

“Should I tell Director Yoo?”

“He’ll tell me to go ahead. Just turn the car around!”

That was when it happened.

“Actress Cha?”

He was a bad guy. 

PD Yoo Myung-han knocked on the window of the van. 

Cha Hye-jin swallowed her rising emotions and opened the door. 

The hot air inside the car met the outside air and soon the window was covered with dew.

“Director Yoo, how long do I have to stand by? It looks like the shooting is canceled today, so I’ll just go back to Seoul first. You know how long I’ve been waiting, right?”

“I’m sorry, it’s not anything else. They said the equipment will arrive soon.”

“I’m done. To be honest, Director Yoo, you too. I see that Jang Young-guk is doing the night shoot at the folk village. Why do I have to come all the way to this mountain village in Gangwon Province?”

‘That’s because the picture we need is different.’

How could you compare Jang Nok-su and Yeonsan-gun? 

The king who inspected the people could shoot at the folk village, but Jang Nok-su’s case was different. But that wasn’t the only reason why Cha Hye-jin was angry.

“And Jang Young-guk, you take him out of the schedule when he does the night shoot, but why can’t you adjust mine? I’m busy too. Are you already ranking us as A and B just because Jang Young-guk got a little famous?”

PD Yoo Myung-han couldn’t take it anymore and snapped.

“I had no choice but to go to Young-guk. He had to take the college entrance exam and we tried to accommodate his schedule as much as possible. And you, Actress Cha. You should know that if you do a night shoot, the filming will continue until the next morning. The staff are struggling outside to fix and set up the equipment, and you’re complaining about waiting in a warm car? If you’re going to whine all the time, just go back.”

“Excuse me?”

“Go back to Seoul.”

Did he think she couldn’t go back if he said that?

Actress Cha Hye-jin was about to close the van door with a pout on her face.

“PD-nim!”

A familiar voice came from somewhere. 

PD Yoo Myung-han and Cha Hye-jin looked in the direction of the voice at the same time. 

There, they saw Young-guk walking with AD Kim Young-min, who had brought the filming equipment from Team B.

****

It was a night when Young-guk craved hot soup. 

He wished he could rent a food truck, but there was no such thing in this era. 

In the future, there would be all kinds of food truck businesses, from snack carts to coffee carts, but now only a few filming sites used rice carts. 

So he settled for chicken, and took out the boxes of fried chicken he had prepared in advance.

“Young-guk, what’s all this?”

“I bought it for the filming team. They must be hungry. There’s nothing to order around here in the countryside.”

“Wow, Young-guk, you’re the best!”

Director Kim Deuk-yoong’s excited voice echoed in the quiet mountain village. 

The filming team gathered around the drum barrel where the firewood was burning. 

They all grabbed a chicken leg and tore into it. 

PD Yoo Myung-han asked AD Kim Young-min, “How did you come with Young-guk?”

“Young-guk contacted me first. He asked me where the filming team was in Gangwon-do. He said he had a problem and had to go to the site, so he suggested we go together. I had no idea he bought so much chicken.”

“Huh.”

PD Yoo Myung-han rolled his tongue at Young-guk’s goblin-like appearance. 

How did he know exactly what the filming site needed? 

This was not something he could know by being observant. 

It was something he could only know after gaining a lot of experience in the filming site. 

And even if he knew that, how many actors could actually do it?

“Young-guk, didn’t you say you have a graduation ceremony tomorrow?”

“Why, are you going to send me a wreath?”

“I wouldn’t mind. It’s our Young-guk’s graduation. How about we all go together after the morning shoot?”

“No, thank you. I appreciate your thoughts. Everyone wants to congratulate me, but it seems too complicated, so I told only my mother to come.”

It was not a lie. 

There were so many people who wanted to come to the graduation ceremony. 

From the head of the agency Kim Sung-hwan, to Actress Park Soo-young, and even Grandpa and Uncle, not to mention the broadcasting station’s filming team and reporters. They all contacted Young-guk saying they wanted to film it. 

In the end, he decided to have a party with everyone after the graduation ceremony, fearing it would be a mess. 

Young-guk also invited Grandpa and Uncle.

“How are you going to sleep if you go back to Seoul at dawn tomorrow when you’re busy with the graduation ceremony?”

“It’s okay. PD-nim, the other directors, and the staff are the ones who are suffering. I’m the only one who can sleep on a soft bed while doing a night shoot. By the way, I see all the other actors, but one is missing?”

“Who?”

“Cha sunbae.”

At that moment, Actress Cha Hye-jin’s face turned red from afar. 

Was it because of the cold winter night, or because she was embarrassed? 

No one would know except her.

***

Graduation.

The buds that had been holding their breath all winter had not yet raised their heads, but the campus was already full of spring energy. 

The school gate was crowded with vendors selling flower bouquets made of fresh flowers. But as the saying went, there were more people than flowers, and the place was already crowded with broadcasting station staff and reporters.

‘They didn’t listen to me.’

Young-guk knew the TV station people were ruthless, but he didn’t expect them to go this far. 

He had already told them through his agency that he wouldn’t allow them to film his graduation ceremony. But they ignored his words as if they were nothing and shoved their cameras in his face. 

And with the reporters joining in, the school gate was like a battlefield.

‘I’m glad the principal stopped them.’

People were greedy, weren’t they? 

They wanted to gain fame and reputation by showing my face on national TV. 

And they thought it would boost the school’s name as well. But the principal made a decision for the sake of the students, who were the main characters of the graduation ceremony. 

He banned anyone except the parents and relatives from entering. 

So the TV station people and the reporters were left to film the school gate in vain.

“Young-guk, do you want to take a picture together?”

His classmates came up to him. 

They were all smiling as they reminisced about the last memories of the school. 

Young-guk got up from his seat and took pictures with them. 

They were his friends who played soccer and basketball with him.

“Guk-ah!”

Just then, his mother came into the classroom with a bouquet of flowers. 

Next to her was a familiar face Young-guk hadn’t seen in a long time. 

His mother proudly introduced her as if she had brought her here herself.

“Oppa, hurry up and take a picture with Mom.”

It was Yeon-su.

Yeon-su grabbed a film camera and took a picture of Young-guk and his mother. 

She adjusted their poses like a skilled photographer. 

She told them to move closer. 

His mother’s face was full of smiles. 

She was so happy to attend her son’s graduation ceremony in his uniform. 

Young-guk could tell by her expression.

“Guk-ah, take a picture with Yeon-su too.”

“Okay, but I want to take one with the class president too.”

He gestured to the class president who was peeking out from the back of the classroom. 

They had become close when they were the class president and vice president in the second year, but they hardly saw each other after they changed classes and grades. 

Young-guk didn’t know when he would see her again after today.

“Class president, let’s take a picture for the last time.”

They took a picture in the classroom and then headed to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was held. 

The students’ faces were flushed with the heat of the ceremony, and behind the auditorium, the parents and relatives were holding bouquets of flowers and looking at their sons and daughters graduating from high school with emotion.

‘I’m glad I didn’t have to give the graduation speech.’

Before the ceremony, the homeroom teacher and the principal asked Young-guk to give a speech after the student council president. 

They thought it would be nice if he went up to the stage and said something. But he refused with a wave of his hand. 

Young-guk had spent a meaningful time in school, but he didn’t feel qualified to give a speech as the representative of the graduates.

“First of all, I would like to thank the people who came to this place to congratulate us on our graduation. For the past three years at Sehwa High School…(skipping)…I will try to be a proud sunbae and a student to my hoobaes and teachers, and to my friends who spent the high school days with me, I hope this farewell is not a permanent one…”

The student council president read his speech on the stage and burst into tears. 

The graduates also clapped with tears in their eyes, knowing that this was their last day of high school. 

Young-guk was no exception. 

He had so many memories in this place for the past three years. 

He looked around the auditorium with a shadow in his eyes, feeling the traces of time.

Someone said. 

They wanted to graduate as soon as possible and become an adult and step into society. 

After the ceremony, Young-guk held a bunch of flowers and looked at the school that was getting farther away. 

He smiled. 

He was grateful for the romantic season that he would never return to.