As Muyoung, who had checked the scheduled time, changed clothes and tidied his appearance, left the waiting room, the outside of the studio was somehow lively. Curiosity suddenly arose, but thinking going out and poking around might rather be more of a hindrance, he turned his steps to where filming was being prepared.
“Oh, Muyoung-ssi, thank you. It was just hot, so I’ll enjoy it!”
“What?”
The camera director who usually exchanged greetings frequently showed a takeout cup full of ice and smiled broadly toward Muyoung. Muyoung, who absolutely couldn’t understand why he was suddenly greeting him like that, finally saw the staff going out from inside the studio in small groups. It was strange since filming would start soon. With a bewildered feeling, as he followed them out, he saw a white coffee truck he hadn’t discovered when he had just arrived at the studio, and people were gathered cozily in front.
“……No way.”
At the top of the truck’s exterior decorated quite luxuriously, a banner with the phrase ‘We support actor Lee Muyoung’s filming’ along with his face was hung largely. Moreover, on both sides of the truck were banners with somewhat embarrassing phrases like ‘Have cool drinks and snacks on a hot day and cheer up!’, ‘Director-nim, please look prettily at our Muyoung actor!’ and even simple snack lunch boxes were prepared.
He had occasionally seen support trucks from other cast members or companies, so he wasn’t completely ignorant about such things. But this was too different even if the scale was different. At a glance, there seemed to be at least three employees attached working inside and outside the truck. The sight of continuously making drinks ordered and distributing lunch boxes from the truck with his name attached had no sense of reality.
“I’ll enjoy it well, Muyoung-ssi. Thank you.”
“I’ll eat it deliciously, Actor Lee-nim!”
“Thank you for the lunch box! It’s really delicious.”
“I’ll work hard on filming today, Muyoung-ssi!”
Muyoung was dazed when a sudden situation struck. Because he couldn’t ignore the people who laughed playfully and patted his shoulder or asked for handshakes, he accepted them one by one and reached near the truck. It was a coffee car where Muyoung’s name seemed like a fantasy even from afar, but even up close it didn’t feel real either. He had never even dreamed he would receive support like this where people lined up to receive it, even though he wasn’t the lead actor.
Did Section Manager Kim know? No, he definitely didn’t know. If he knew this, he would have made a fuss from morning and told Muyoung. He would definitely have been someone who wouldn’t have thought of leaving his spot and would have gone around every corner of the filming site bragging instead of him, saying they should promote on this occasion and would have taken hundreds of photos of the coffee car and Muyoung.
While checking several times, he felt awkward approaching the place where his face was attached, so he looked from a few steps back and waited until the filming staff cleared out a bit. Looking closely, the inside of the truck was moving cleanly and systematically, no less than any decent cafe. Moreover, the menu wasn’t monotonous either, so the expressions of people taking drinks and snacks were very good.
“Welcome. Ah, you’re actor Lee Muyoung. Could you wait a moment?”
“Yes?”
As he was looking at the menus at the ordering place, the staff inside recognized him and hurriedly came outside. And he inadvertently accepted what was handed over in front. It was a large bouquet and a shopping bag that looked like a gift.
“They asked me to definitely deliver it to the actor directly and get proof, so could you take a certification shot?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. How should I……”
“If you stand next to here, I’ll take it. Is that okay?”
“Then, of course. I’ll do that.”
Muyoung, who had been continuously nodding, stood next to the banner holding the bouquet and gift as the staff who delivered the items pointed. Even while wondering if it was being taken properly, he made an awkward smile.
From the appearance of showing him the photos taken with the phone several times and asking if it was okay, he only thought this person wasn’t doing this kind of thing once or twice. Rather, he just accepted receiving it after they organized the gift and bouquet he had been floundering with into a large shopping bag and handed it over at once.
“Could I possibly know who sent it?”
He grabbed them urgently thinking he should ask before the staff went inside. Although he felt bad as if holding onto someone who looked busy, he thought he should at least know who sent the support that came in his name.
“Hmm, people who order support like this mostly don’t reveal their real names. Moreover, today’s request came in really urgently, so I couldn’t check that far.”
“I see……”
But it seemed it wasn’t a case where he could know even by asking directly. The staff who hurriedly went back inside the truck put snack lunch boxes and drinks in a carrier and packaged them for easy carrying, placing them on the shelf.
“This is my first time actually meeting you, but you’re really handsome. This is ade and tea made with pear juice and bellflower syrup, so if your throat is bad, have the warm one, and if you’re a bit thirsty, have the ade. It’s better for your health than coffee and also tastes good.”
Listening attentively to the words explaining each cup contained in the carrier, he looked at the fruits and snacks visible through the transparent lid of the lunch box. The contents neatly trimmed for comfortable eating in one bite looked appetizing just by looking.
“Ah… Is this drink on the menu too?”
As he listened, Section Manager Kim, whose bronchial tubes tended to swell first when overworked even on summer days, came to mind. Today too, he would come to pick him up late, chased by a tight schedule, so he thought it would be good to have him drink at least a beverage and asked.
“No, the person who ordered this asked to give it especially only to the actor.”
“I see……”
“Wouldn’t it be a fan? When they take care so meticulously like this, it’s not the company and it’s almost always like that.”
With regretful feelings, he fiddled with the handle, but to wish for more, this coffee car sent by someone he didn’t know was too excessive. He received a couple more cups of cool coffee and held them together tightly so they wouldn’t fall.
“Thank you so much. I’ll enjoy them. You worked hard.”
Even while killing his curiosity with effort and returning to the studio with an armful, he received people’s greetings and turned back to check the truck several times. Even though he directly saw people moving busily inside, he still felt dazed.
In that state, he entered the waiting room and unwrapped the things he brought in one by one. The drink was so thick in concentration to the extent of feeling close to medicine and very delicious, as the staff proudly explained. Moreover, the lunch box too had substantial contents as confirmed with his eyes.
Above all, his feelings became stranger at the tremendous size of the bouquet and the gift contained inside. The gift didn’t have any excessively expensive items. Just comprehensive nutritional supplements packaged in small portions for easy eating, a tumbler, and tea bags written as caffeine-free were neatly packed and prettily contained. Despite the hot season, the flowers with outstanding presence boasted vivid colors and scents without any withered corners. The flower scent that held plenty of moisture immediately filled the waiting room.
Then, the vibration of the phone placed in front of the mirror rang. Muyoung, who was looking at the gift in detail then sat in his seat while holding the box as it was, answered the phone while looking at the screen.
“Yes, this is Lee Muyoung.”
─ Is this still not saved, or is my timing bad?
“……It’s not like that.”
It was Dowon. Although he still hadn’t saved it, Muyoung responded as if he didn’t know and pushed the gift box in front of the mirror, then leaned his body against the chair.
─ I’ll have to definitely check.
“You must be very busy.”
Although he wasn’t unaware of the intention to pay attention to such things, that didn’t mean he could embrace it all either. If he could have not been entangled with the man at all from the beginning, he would have chosen that method.
─ Was the tea delicious? I heard that company pays quite a bit of attention to drinks to the extent of making syrups by hand.
“What?”
─ It’s a bit regrettable that I couldn’t even fill my greed because I prepared and sent it urgently.
“What are you talking about right now……”
─ Oh my, you haven’t seen the card yet? For a surprise, you should have opened the gift first.
Only then did all doubts resolve, and Muyoung couldn’t say anything for a while, then approached the gift box he had left while holding the phone as it was and rummaged between the items. A small card that hadn’t been visible before came out.
Dear. Actor Lee Muyoung
Hoping this will be a small rest in summer when it’s easy to get tired
From. Han Dowon
“What on earth is this……”
A voice that couldn’t hide confusion flowed out as if groaning.
Although he was a subject encountered unexpectedly who was poking him here and there, he treated him without reserve, but thinking about it, he was the CEO of a company in the top position in the industry. It meant he was someone who could sufficiently find out quickly about drama filming locations whether the scale was large or small. Could Dowon’s words saying he liked him be sincere? No, it wasn’t. But could he provide this scale of support to someone who was nobody?
By Muyoung’s standards, the favor shown to someone he had only known for a mere few days was too excessive. But again, if his words saying he had been watching him as an actor were true, it also seemed like something not impossible to do.
─ There was advice saying there’s nothing but gifts when expressing favorable feelings, so I tried it. Don’t you like it?
“No, it’s not. It’s sufficiently excessive.”
─ Then let’s meet after you finish filming today.
“……Today? It seems like it’ll take a long time. It’s just the studio now.”
─ It’s okay. Since everyone doesn’t work these days and I don’t know where they play, I, the CEO, have a lot of work.
“……I’ll contact you.”
Without a justification for refusal coming to mind, just nodding and finishing his answer, only then satisfied, he said “then” and the call ended as it was. After fiddling with the card for a while, he neatly organized it inside the gift box and put it in the shopping bag again for easy carrying.
While thinking for a moment, at the consecutive vibrations, he quietly held the phone and looked at the screen as it was. This time, a message arrived instead of a call. When he dragged open the notification window, it was photos sent. The certification photos taken earlier outside, led by the staff’s hands. There were photos of himself awkwardly smiling while holding gifts and bouquets in both hands and photos taken in front of the truck holding a cup.
> H.dowon
> Photos are good but I want to see you in person more.
He couldn’t stop the embarrassment that heated up even to his ears. Even so, he sat blankly and kept looking at the photos until he heard the voice calling him for filming. He was flustered and his face was hot, let alone guessing what the person sending him photos with himself in them was thinking.
Could the words saying he liked him really be true? Was he someone who had consistently watched him as an actor as he said?
Even knowing he should write and send at least one word in reply, Muyoung, who had been looking at the message window where only the cursor blinked for a long time, ultimately couldn’t enter any words.
Just entering Han Dowon’s name where numbers had been listed and saving it in the address book was all he could do.
* * *
The filming that proceeded had a surprisingly good atmosphere. Or perhaps he himself, who had experienced a dazed event, was looking at the world a bit more softly. Normally, there would have been at least one complaint heard from the director or staff, blaming the hot weather. However, today the filming was smoothly wrapped up without significantly bothersome things.
So when wrapping up, he came back to his senses enough to smile and respond with thanks even to the playful greetings of the old directors who said they didn’t know he had that much popularity as they came and went. Normally, all he would have done was quietly struggle with the script alone while waiting for his turn, but today there were especially many people talking to him and many giving greetings with smiles.
That was the actor’s work. Even though he worked hard with all his sincerity and passion, obtaining a position wasn’t easy. He had been feeling that from the start. There were times when roles barely obtained went to other people right before his eyes. He had heard countless times that it was something experienced large and small not just by himself but “in this field.”
If he was lucky and people’s attention was added, he could suddenly become famous, and if attention disappeared, work could suddenly be cut off, so he thought it was grateful to have work consistently. And it seemed that was absolutely not his realm.
But there was awareness that it was the result of the affection of people who worked hard together and effort that absolutely didn’t give up. Even if not famous, there was always work, and if lucky, he sometimes filmed commercials too. Even if he couldn’t receive tremendous appearance fees like those doing well, he thought it was enough to faithfully do his best in the given work. Because if greed was excessive, it could rather become poison.
“Filming’s done, right? But did something happen today? What did you do for everyone to praise you?”
At Section Manager Kim’s words entering the waiting room after arriving on time before he knew it, Muyoung let out a small sigh.
“……I wonder.”
Even at the bland words, the person who had been packing luggage to take out together without any particular response finally discovered the bouquet and gift package and looked back and forth between him and it without hiding a puzzled expression.
“Flowers and gifts… What’s all this? Really, did something happen?”
“Just, someone gave them. A coffee truck came earlier too.”
“What? Whose coffee truck gave you even gifts?”
