# Chapter 38
Beep beep beep- Beep beep beep-
My stamina is really running out. It’s 3:30 AM right now. If I had to define a celebrity’s schedule in one word, I’d say it’s “hellish.” Today was especially an infernal schedule among them all, with a full 2-day, 1-night outdoor shoot scheduled from dawn to evening.
‘Ugh… I’m already dying.’
The movie Seo Hanryul will be filming this time is [More Stranger Than Neighbor]. It’s a comedy film about a protagonist who disguises himself as a farming neighbor in a rural village and conducts bumbling undercover investigations, which becomes a big hit after release. Here, Seo Hanryul plays a supporting role that appears briefly, taking on the role of a distinctive rural bachelor.
It wasn’t a major role since it was supporting. Still, after the movie’s release, he succeeds in capturing the hearts of many movie fans with his outstanding spice-like role and handsome flower-like beauty.
However, one concerning point is that this movie’s protagonist is Kim Jinha. According to the novel, Kim Jinha is a top star who has walked a solid path since his child actor days. But this bastard has been suffering from an incurable star disease for a long time, and thus has a reputation for having a completely rotten personality.
He has outstanding talent for making film sets awkward, with disrespecting staff and blowing off schedules as basic options. But he has selective personality traits where he sucks up to high-positioned directors and PDs who seem beneficial to him.
He somehow finds fault with and checks rookie actors who are more handsome than him, and throws fits if his makeup is even slightly unsatisfactory. If the novel is accurate, Kim Jinha will definitely give the handsome rookie actor Seo Hanryul a hard time today.
But naturally, Seo Hanryul won’t be able to say anything to Kim Jinha, who is a great senior and tremendous top star. What should I do about this? I was already worried.
‘Right. He’s not even pretty, so what if Kim Jinha gives him a hard time. That would be good for me.’
Thinking I was worrying about everything, I jumped up and took a shower first. Then I slapped my cheeks a few times to wake up and headed to Seo Hanryul’s house.
I arrived in front of Seo Hanryul’s house around 4:30. After waiting about 5 minutes, Seo Hanryul got in the car wearing comfortable clothes. He must not have slept properly either, as his complexion looked haggard. Separately from that, his beauty was still the same though.
As soon as he got in, he took out his script and started reading earnestly, so I left him alone.
“Hey, did you eat?”
When we passed the toll gate and entered the highway, I spoke to him briefly. But there was no answer. Looking in the rearview mirror, Seo Hanryul was dozing off.
‘Well, you must be tired too.’
* * *
After driving for a full 4 hours, we arrived at a filming location in the provinces. How did they find such a beautiful place? I thought there really are many hidden gem-like places in Korea.
‘The location team worked hard.’
“Hey, I’m going to the waiting room, so answer when I call you later.”
Seo Hanryul, having woken up at some point, casually threw out a comment. It was quite annoying that this bastard 2 years younger than me always spoke in a commanding tone while grumbling, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“Yes~ Actor-nim.”
To avoid going against his mood, I spoke formally with a “yes sir” attitude, and he left wearing an arrogant expression.
‘Now what do I do? Do I just wait for a bit?’
The weather was very nice from the morning, so I came out of the car to take a look around the filming site and do some sightseeing. Walking toward where people were gathered like clouds, I could see a massive set.
‘So they’re filming here.’
Dozens of staff members were busily moving around the filming site. Moving filming equipment, setting up lights, prop cars going back and forth… It was so hectic I couldn’t even get involved, but the set harmonizing with nature was truly a spectacular sight.
“Hey, what are you dawdling around for? Won’t you get your act together?”
Turning around, a man who looked to be in his 40s suddenly yelled at me.
‘What?’
He probably mistook me for a new staff member.
“Ah, I’m not staff, I’m—”
“Kid, I’m busy as hell, so stop being dazed and quickly move that stuff!”
He shouted while pointing at some prop boxes nearby. Then after saying his piece, he disappeared somewhere.
‘With so many people, these things happen.’
Looking at the prop boxes the man mentioned, they seemed heavy but there didn’t appear to be many. Since I had nothing particular to do, I lifted a box with the thought of helping move one. Following people discreetly, I entered a tent and put the box down.
“Argh!”
An accident occurred where I jammed my pinky finger while putting down the heavy box in the dark tent. Pain similar to when you stub your pinky toe on a door frame shot up my left hand. As soon as I felt the pain I lifted my hand, but it was already too late.
My pinky nail was slightly cracked, and my poor finger was bleeding profusely.
‘Damn… What great luck.’
I should have just ignored that man’s words. My unnecessary meddling just sacrificed an innocent finger from the morning. I washed my finger with bottled water and bound the nail area with tissue. I treated it roughly, but the stinging at my fingertip still didn’t go away.
‘I should have been more careful…’
As I was about to come out of the tent with belated regret, I heard people presumed to be staff members gathered in groups of three or five outside, badmouthing someone.
“That bastard Kim Jinha is late again?”
“Haa… What an unlucky bastard. How is that guy so consistent even as time passes? What time is he coming this time?”
“How would I know? There’s a scene that must be finished by tonight… This damn bastard…”
“When exactly can we start filming today? Fuck. Is it right for hundreds of people to suffer from the morning because of that one bastard?”
“Damn plague… What, if you’re upset, become a star yourself? Geez, I’m speechless.”
It was a scene of vivid, realistic backstage gossip. As expected, that bastard Kim Jinha must have blown off his schedule.
I was curious too. When would that bastard come? Until he came, it would be an endless cycle of waiting. Thinking about whether we could even finish filming by tomorrow because of him made me angry too.
This bastard. What kind of creature is he exactly? Some people woke up at 3:30 and suffered like hell from dawn, driving for 4 hours to get here.
[Filming seems like it will be delayed more than expected, so rest a bit in the car]
Just then, a text came from Seo Hanryul.
‘What’s this?’
I was slightly moved seeing the text. As expected, this bastard may have a rough mouth but he has some compassion. As soon as I saw the text, I got in the van and immediately dozed off.
* * *
Harsh sunlight came through the car’s windshield. Rubbing my eyes and getting up, about an hour had passed. Taking a brief nap made me feel like my fatigue had somewhat lifted.
Once my tiredness was relieved, I thought I should go out and look around the filming site situation.
‘Should I go out then? I should go to the bathroom first.’
I stepped out with light steps thinking I could find it quickly, but that was a big miscalculation. The bathroom was in an unexpectedly remote place.
‘I searched for quite a while.’
After doing my business and coming out with a refreshed feeling, I heard women chattering happily in a corner of the road.
Just from the sound, they seemed so joyful that I was curious about their identity. Following the sound, I saw three middle-aged women sitting on a wide wooden platform doing makeup.
‘What, it was nothing special.’
“Oh my! Kim-ssi, look over there. Goodness, what a fine young man is passing by!”
“What? Where? Where!”
I tried to quietly slip away from there but ended up getting caught by them.
“Haven’t seen that face before, but was there such a handsome flower boy here?”
“Are you perhaps an actor? I don’t think I’ve seen you on TV…”
The friendliness of the ladies who instantly sat me down in front of them and started talking was frightening.
‘Ah, I need to go quickly…’
“Young man, are you an actor too? We’re also, you know, extras!”
At this point, there was no answer. I had to quickly make something up and escape.
“Nice to meet you. There’s a rookie actor named Seo Hanryul-ssi appearing in the movie here, and I’m his manager.”
“Oh my… Young man, you’re so well-built, don’t you have any business sense? With that face, why don’t you become an actor instead of sitting there being someone else’s manager!”
“That’s right, exactly!”
The ladies began giggling while agreeing with each other.
“Haha, thank you for seeing me favorably.”
“No, no. What celebrity indeed. Most celebrities look like they need a slap. Young man, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Kim-ssi! That kind of question is rude to young people these days!”
“Oh, is that so? Young man, sorry about that.”
“But why is your finger all wrapped up like that!”
“Oh my, goodness, such a pretty hand got hurt, how sad…”
With me in the middle, they were having a conversation among themselves, making me feel like a borrowed barley sack. Moreover, I seemed to have missed the timing to slip away discreetly.
‘Haa… Is it too late to escape now?’
Well, since Seo Hanryul isn’t looking for me yet, it wouldn’t be bad to hang around here. Listening to them, their stories were also interesting, so I half-gave up and settled down.
