“Thank you so much, really. I almost dug a hole and crawled into it today.”
Director Kim, whose body was permeated with an unpleasant smell from chain-smoking, approached and grabbed Seungun’s hand, shaking it up and down. Then he pointed somewhere with his finger.
“That’s the motorcycle you’ll ride today, that one. How is it? Doesn’t it look killer? Have you ridden something like that?”
Director Kim whispered temptingly. Just then, staff members were slowly rolling a sparkling clean motorcycle onto the set. Seungun’s eyes, which had been secretly grimacing at the cigarette smell wafting over every time the director spoke, widened.
It was a brand that belonged to the top tier among motorcycle companies. Its value and price were at a level ordinary people couldn’t approach. The exterior of the motorcycle with over 200 horsepower was as smooth as if carved with a knife. The frame, which had never received another’s touch and was stamping its mark in the public eye for the first time, had elegant lines.
“It’s a super sports model.”
“As expected! I heard you’ve ridden motorcycles before, you know your stuff!”
“But I wonder if I can ride that. Actually, I’ve never ridden such a good model.”
Im Seungun confessed honestly. He’d always ridden delivery motorcycles. He’d once opened his eyes to bike brands when he started riding motorcycles before driving cars. Among them, the most expensive motorcycle from the top luxury brand was that one right there. It was one of the things he’d thought he’d absolutely never be able to touch in his life.
“Take this chance to enjoy some speed. Opportunities like this aren’t common.”
The action director grinned and patted his shoulder.
“Speed, what speed. Seungun-ah, you ride carefully. The most common accident that ends up in the emergency room is motorcycle accidents. Remember that. Your safety comes first.”
Myeongwoo hurried over and whispered to Seungun.
“How about putting on the helmet?”
Gi Siyoung stood tall holding a round helmet with a subtle luster. He was dressed in the same rider jacket as what Seungun wore, but unlike Seungun who had deliberately bulked up his build by layering clothes underneath, his solid yet sleek physique was revealed as is.
“Of course you have to wear it!”
Director Kim chimed in and snatched the helmet to thrust it at Seungun.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t be nervous!”
“You can do well!”
“Fighting!”
Seungun tucked the helmet under his arm and headed toward the motorcycle. He’d only ridden old delivery motorcycles, and his hands were drenched in sweat as he gripped the luxury sports motorcycle that you might see once in a lifetime, if at all.
“First, can you start it and go around once?”
The action director who approached tapped Seungun’s shoulder.
“I’ll try.”
“Okay, starting it now!”
He gently gripped the motorcycle handle. The director gave the okay sign. Vroom— vroooom—. Seungun started the engine and bent his spine slightly. The action director, who had been holding Seungun’s helmet for him, stepped back as if running and gave a thumbs up. Director Kim, who was watching Seungun through the monitor, rubbed his chin and muttered.
“He looks pretty stylish like that, doesn’t he? Seems like he can move his body a bit too?”
“Are you serious? To my eyes, he looks like an event balloon.”
Gi Siyoung, standing tall with his arms crossed next to him, objected.
“For a first-timer, doing this much is better than an amateur. Manager-ssi! You’re doing well!”
“Thank you.”
Seungun bowed his head in embarrassment. He hadn’t really done anything, but praise came back. Can you do this? The action director suddenly made a request. Seungun gathered a bit more courage and followed the action director’s request exactly.
When he made a big turn, the wheels made a clear and pleasant noise as they smoothly rubbed against the road. Outside, the director monitoring them had his lips subtly curving upward.
“Hey. His face is pretty handsome too.”
“Right. It’s a shame to put a helmet on him, isn’t it?”
The assistant director nodded in agreement. The action director requested several actions from Seungun, and Seungun brought out the sensations ingrained in his body to accommodate all the requests. The action director nodded and gave a thumbs up. Raising his thumb whenever he was pleased was clearly his habit.
“Okay, then we’ll go straight into the shoot after rehearsal!”
Seungun, sitting on the motorcycle, put on his helmet properly and loosened his arm muscles here and there. Just from wearing the leather clothes, sweat was already forming on his body. Until now it had been a test, but from now on he had to do his best not to disappoint all these people.
Countless cameras and eyes were all watching this way. He was newly impressed that Gi Siyoung, who performed different acting in situations like this every time, was amazing.
“Are you ready?”
Key staff members began getting onto the filming truck meant to shoot the running motorcycle from the front. Seungun nodded. He plugged the earphone through which he could hear the director’s voice into his ear and put on his helmet. It had been so long since he’d worn it that he’d forgotten the weight of this thing. He ran his tongue over his dry mouth after carefully lowering the face shield.
“Okay, we’re going in!”
Finally, the director got on the truck.
After the rehearsal ended, Seungun properly engaged in filming. The staff member who had been standing tall between the vehicle and motorcycle hit the slate and disappeared like lightning. Seungun moved the handlebar. Bwaaaang—! An intense noise that shook heaven and earth—his heart pounded at the familiar sensation supporting his buttocks.
Motorcycles are different from cars. When you run fast in a state where all sides are open, you can feel that sense of speed without any filtering whatsoever. There was an exhilarating feeling that pierced right through you in every single strand of fluttering hair.
— Don’t worry about us in front and keep riding! Everyone here is a pro! Just ride fast!
The director’s voice was clearly heard through the earphone. Thanks to wearing the helmet, he didn’t feel the piercing force of the wind hitting his face, but he could fully savor the feeling of his feet floating and racing at high speed.
When Seungun got greedy and rode hard on the motorcycle boasting tremendous specs, the filming vehicle moved that much further ahead to match the distance between the camera and Seungun. Both the driver and the filmers were all veterans.
— Cut! Stop, stop!
The director’s voice rang out loudly. Seungun smoothly grabbed the brake. Perhaps because of the speed he’d been running at, even then he got a bit closer to the truck before coming to a complete stop.
The director took off his headset with a big smile. The action director also seemed pleased after seeing the results that came out in one cut.
“You’re doing well, just keep doing it like this. And I can feel that you’re not going full speed right now, right? We’re completely controlling things here, so feel free to ride fast. Now we’ll move to the trailer here and film, then later we’ll film the whole figure from outside.”
“Yes.”
It was sweltering hot.
Wearing a hot leather jacket and even a helmet, he was already drenched in sweat. Not only that. His movements felt sluggish because of the clothes layered underneath. As Seungun panted while taking off his helmet, Myeongwoo, who had run over from somewhere, held out water to him.
“What kind of hardship is this? They say you follow your friend to Gangnam, but you followed an actor and ended up filming a drama.”
It was ice water cold enough to make his bones ache. Seungun gulped it down greedily and put his helmet back on. Filming resumed. Since the one being filmed was clumsily following along to match the requirements, the desires of those filming grew stronger and stronger.
— What was that manager friend’s name again? What? Seunggwon? Ah, Seungun? Okay. Now, Seungun-ssi! We’ll film once more, please suffer through it one more time!
At the director’s voice ringing in his ear, Seungun drew a circle sign above his head. Since they were continuing to film with only a few staff members while increasing the distance, now even Myeongwoo wasn’t visible.
The ice water that staff had handed over when cuts ended had now reached the bottom. Now it had reached the point where no matter how much he drank, his thirst wasn’t quenched. The staff moving together did look after Seungun here and there, but it was exhaustingly difficult, to the point where cramps seemed about to strike his whole body from the increasingly strong blazing sun and heavy helmet.
The shoot sign dropped again. Seungun, who was thinking that they really weren’t pros for nothing, put the helmet over his head again. Only after repeating the same section several times could he satisfy the director’s subtly demanding temperament.
As soon as the director sent the okay sign, Seungun quickly took off his helmet, got off the motorcycle, and plopped down on the spot. From maintaining the same posture for quite a while, his muscles cramped up. Still, the peak was right before his eyes. As they approached the point of filming the last scene, the filming vehicle slowly headed toward the garage.
“Hey, look at this sweat.”
Myeongwoo, who had been waiting at the last point, hurriedly approached holding an umbrella. Then he held out new ice water. Seungun wanted to pour the ice water on his face right away, but he couldn’t make a mess of the clothes.
