“Kyaaaak—!”
Behind the studio, there was a garbage dump that collected food waste, recyclables, and general trash. A staff member who had gone to throw away filming site trash came running out with a horrified face.
“Homeless person, there’s a homeless person there!”
“What? What are you saying, why would there be a homeless person here!”
“I really saw a homeless person! When I tried to throw away the trash, they suddenly jumped out from inside!”
When another staff member shouted loudly, those nearby rushed over there. Siyoung’s group was the same. There were large pay-per-volume trash bag collection bins, a recycling area, and a food waste area in order. As if the staff member’s words weren’t a lie, the wheels of that giant green collection bin were rattling as if there was a person inside.
“Who are you!”
A male staff member said loudly and threw open the collection bin lid. When the green lid swung open, a bent back was visible. That back flinched several times before slowly raising its upper body. Then a familiar face appeared from inside the trash bin.
“Oh, it’s you!”
“Huk, Seungun oppa!”
“Hey, Seungun-ah! Man, what are you doing in there!”
Im Seungun was standing inside the giant trash collection bin. And in a state like a homeless person at that. Siyoung’s face, having confirmed Seungun’s presence, stiffened slightly.
“J-just a moment.”
Seungun didn’t care about becoming a spectacle in an instant. He stepped on the trash bags piled inside like stairs, jumped, and escaped. The site staff were flustered and confirmed his identity again.
“You’re Actor Gi Siyoung’s manager, right? What were you doing in there?”
“Ah, I’m sorry for startling you. I was looking for something. I’ll clean up all the mess myself.”
“I thought you were a homeless person. My heart really dropped to the floor.”
The staff member who had first run out from the garbage dump said accusingly.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“But what were you looking for that you’d rummage through this collection bin? Did you find it?”
“It’s a bit of a personal item.”
“Hul. I guess Seungun oppa was looking for the ring.”
“Daebak. His sense of responsibility is crazy. What do we do about that oppa.”
Siyoung’s staff whispered in voices only they could hear.
“Man! Scaring people like that!”
“Ow! That hurts, sunbae-nim.”
“How many calls and texts did I send! Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Myeongwoo, who had rushed out in one breath, smacked Seungun’s back with a look like he’d seen this fool of all fools.
“Contact? I didn’t get any contact… Ah, the battery must have died. I forgot to charge it.”
Seungun said while rubbing his stinging back.
“What time did you text me… Don’t tell me you searched here all night?”
Please no, please no. Myeongwoo secretly glanced at Siyoung, hoping that wasn’t the case.
“Everyone, please clear the area.”
Siyoung, who had been silent, slowly opened his mouth. Myeongwoo, who had been glancing at him, couldn’t add any other words and left the garbage dump. After confirming that people were gradually moving away, Seungun held out his clenched fist. Then he turned it over to show his palm.
“……”
Siyoung gazed at the dirty palm with sunken eyes. The familiar ring was sitting obediently on top of the palm. So that’s why there was a refreshed look on his face when he came out of the collection bin—he had finally found the ring. Instead of taking the ring, Siyoung looked Seungun up and down in his wretched state. There wasn’t a part of his clothes that was intact. His hair was covered in dirt as if it had been dipped in a pile of dirt and pulled out, and his fingernails were caked with grime.
“There’s dirt in the garbage dump too? Why are your clothes covered in dirt?”
“As Gi Siyoung-ssi said, I searched around the trailer first.”
“You must have dug up dirt in the middle of the night.”
“Phone flashlights work well these days. You can see better than in daylight.”
“You couldn’t find it there, so it came out here?”
“……”
As soon as Seungun returned the car to the company, he came back to the filming site studio. As Siyoung had said, he turned on lights and searched all the dirt around the trailer. His clothes became covered in dirt, and his hands became dirty.
If the ring wasn’t visible on the ground around the trailer either, there was exactly one place to look back at. After filming ends, all sorts of miscellaneous trash piles up. He entered the trash collection bin, untied all the trash bag knots, and checked them. When the bag inspection ended, he gathered all the scattered trash again and tied it up meticulously.
How long had he continued like that? The thin ring was discovered among the pile of trash.
As soon as Seungun found the ring, he raised his upper body. The lid opened by itself and a staff member screamed. Startled by that scream, he fell on his backside and the collection bin lid closed again. Before he could even raise his body, people came rushing. Since it was such a remote place, he had been rummaging through trash without realizing how much time had passed, and he hadn’t heard the busy filming preparation sounds either.
“Here, take it. You said it was a family member’s keepsake. Don’t ever lose something like this again.”
“……”
“Aren’t you happy? I finally found it.”
Seungun held out his palm. Siyoung didn’t budge from where he stood.
“You’re telling me to take a ring you’re giving me with hands that touched trash?”
“What?”
“Wash it and bring it. While you’re at it washing it, wash yourself too. I can’t get any closer because of the stench.”
While Seungun was putting his nose to his body and sniffing, Siyoung turned sharply. Yesterday, Im Seungun, who had driven away, returned to the site and searched for the ring all night. The exhilaration he’d felt last night imagining Seungun tossing and turning sleeplessly was gone, and an unsatisfied, uncomfortable feeling unknowingly encroached on him.
As he came out of the garbage dump and walked briskly, Myeongwoo, who had been hiding between the trailers, suddenly popped out.
“I knew this would happen, I knew it! The rumors must have spread to all the staff. What’s going on with our team.”
“……”
Myeongwoo clicked his tongue while looking at Seungun. He’d thought the guys who disappeared leaving their bags behind were crazy, but the true crazies were the term referring to guys just like this one.
“First, I have to go into rehearsal, so either take that human to a sauna or take him to a motel.”
Siyoung gestured with his chin toward the back. Where he pointed, Seungun stood blankly, his fist clenched tight as if he would absolutely never lose the ring he’d found again. Myeongwoo, watching that scene, couldn’t hide his exhilarated feelings. He’d been certain from the moment he saw Siyoung walking over with an uncomfortable expression. This time, Siyoung had undoubtedly taken a hit.
***
Countless staff members. Filming equipment and props. It was a space with so many broadcasting equipment like expensive lights, microphones, cameras that they could trip over them. This place overflowed with energy, where everyone had a walkie-talkie stuck in the back of their pants, busily moving around the wide filming site, but when a signal came, they were busy communicating inside.
The filming site, which civilians couldn’t enter in the first place, was in a region far from the city center. Busy staff members who, like wandering ghosts, couldn’t leave the filming site for long periods passed in front of Seungun countless times.
Seungun, who had quickly finished showering at a nearby sauna and returned, found Siyoung at once in the chaotic atmosphere. His filming must have already finished one time slot, as he was talking with the director.
“How was that blood special effect from last time? I requested it to be made with a sweet strawberry scent too.”
“It was good.”
Siyoung answered halfheartedly while stretching.
“That’s a relief. Since Actor Gi has a weak stomach, I specifically asked them to pay special attention.”
“Director-nim, that amount is fine. It’s not like blood is actually gushing out.”
“Still. We have to pay attention. We cast you with difficulty.”
“……”
Siyoung didn’t add any more words either way. His child actor debut work happened to be a thriller film rated for adults only. There was a scene where he suddenly got drenched in blood.
Though it was fake, Siyoung, who had fainted seeing himself drenched in bright red blood, had been absolutely disgusted by other people’s blood since then. Even knowing it was fake blood, the color was so realistic like real blood that there were times he had an NG during filming from covering his mouth and gagging.
The people involved simply interpreted it as Siyoung having a weak stomach, but it was a kind of minor trauma.
“But the site atmosphere seems a bit different today?”
“Huh? Different? How so?”
“Kind of unsettled.”
“Unsettled, what are you saying. The atmosphere on our filming site is always good thanks to our Actor Gi. The production costs were already high, but thanks to Actor Gi lowering his appearance fee to improve staff treatment, everyone’s enthusiastic saying they have motivation to work. I’ve never seen this kind of thing in all my life.”
“I only did what needed to be done.”
“……”
“Do you have anything else to say? You’re interfering with my warm-up, so I’d like you to move aside a bit.”
Even at Siyoung’s cold dismissal, the director who had been stubbornly persistent cautiously opened his mouth.
“Oh right, Hojun will come later. You already know since you heard about it in advance, right?”
“……”
“So about that… Hojun’s also doing a friendship appearance in our work out of loyalty, so how about we all have a dinner gathering after filming today?”
“A dinner gathering?”
“There’s a private bar nearby, so I put in a group reservation there. Ah, of course I know Actor Gi dislikes this kind of thing, but still, if we wait for Hojun’s filming to end and all have just one drink together, it would be nice. I’m not making an excessive request. It’s just going to eat something delicious, can’t you grant me that one thing?”
“Hojun sunbae contacted you directly saying he wanted to do a friendship appearance, right?”
Siyoung asked expressionlessly. It was obvious without even looking. He caused trouble two years ago and went into hiding, then barely made a comeback last year. He played the lead role on an unknown broadcasting station, but the drama ended early due to poor viewership ratings. Siyoung wasn’t unaware of why the director, who couldn’t answer Siyoung’s question satisfactorily, was trying to squeeze Kim Hojun into this work.
The two had worked on a project together. Kim Hojun was using that connection. Who wouldn’t know the intention of that troublemaker trying to at least get his face in under the pretext of a friendship appearance? That soft-hearted director readily accepted, still grateful that Hojun, who was doing well in his own way during his rookie director days, had played the male lead.
This is why being nice isn’t always good.
It unintentionally affects those around you too.
“No, well… Rather than that, we were having drinks together and the topic came up this way and that. What are colleagues for? Isn’t it about helping each other? Next time, Actor Gi could do a friendship appearance in Hojun’s work too!”
The director made excuses in an attempt to gloss over it.
“Hah, the saying that alcohol is the enemy didn’t just come about for nothing.”
“Huh?”
“The martial arts director is coming over there. Let’s start.”
“Oh, right. The time has already come to this. We should go in.”
The director hurriedly found his place.
