Chapter 283 (1/2)
“You woke up?”
“Yes. Where are we? Have we arrived?”
“We’re in Yeongdeok. We’re almost there.”
Maru had a look at the clock. It was 5:12 p.m. He stretched his neck out.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I just woke up after all.”
“You’ll be able to eat something once we arrive. The contracted food company this time makes some good food.”
Geunsoo smiled as he opened the window.
“You said Yeongdeok, right? Are we near the sea then?”
“Cross that mountain then you’ll see the sea.”
“Then I guess the scene at the sea will be taken here too, right?”
“We can’t keep switching filming locations so they’ll probably shoot that scene here. Guess the elder will kill me in two days time with a hammer.”
“Hahaha.”
Geunsoo grabbed the handle with one hand and started massaging his own shoulder with the other. He had been driving for more than five hours. It was natural for him to get tired.
“Should I drive?”
“Do you want to?” Geunsoo asked as he took his hands off the handle.
Maru grabbed the handle with his left hand. It had been a long time since he felt the touch of leather from the driving wheel. As they were not in an area where people lived, they didn’t have to worry about sudden appearances of people. The only thing in front of them was the endless expanse of fields as well as street lights. It was a straight road ahead, so Maru just had to adjust the handle straight.
Just then,
“Are you crazy! What the hell are you two doing?” Suyeon woke up from sleep and screamed with a tired face.
“Well, driving, of course.”
“I was getting a little tired, so Maru’s been driving in my stead.”
Suyeon signed in forfeit because the two men sounded so calm about it.
The car stopped slightly. The road was narrowing due to the fields getting closer. It was barely enough for a single car to go through. Maru had a look at Geunsoo. Until now, the road was straight, and he pretty much didn’t have to do anything to the handle, but narrow roads like this required him to put in more effort. He thought that Geunsoo would naturally take over the handle, but Geunsoo instead just locked his fingers, put his hands behind his head and started whistling.
“What are you going to do if we fall off?”
“If we fall off, then we fall off. That’s nothing bad. In fact, I’m kinda looking forward to it because I feel like something fun is about to happen.”
“Can I really do it?”
“Sure.”
Hearing such a calm answer, Maru just chuckled and made minute adjustments with his left hand. He had literally driven until he died in his previous life. He watched the roads as he controlled the handle. Meanwhile, his foot was pedalling on virtual accelerator and brake pedals. In about five minutes, the road widened again.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have to call the tow truck,” Geunsoo grabbed the handle as he spoke.
Suyeon, who looked worried all this time while looking outside the window, had become pale and was silent. Maru remembered Miso calling Geunsoo a lunatic before. She said something about how he did incomprehensible stuff from time to time, and he had to agree after seeing this. They say geniuses have a screw loose inside their heads, and it seems that Geunsoo, who is supposed to take over the movie industry by storm, wasn’t a normal person either.
“Looks like they’re gathered over there.”
They were now in a countryside village where they could see a row of old houses. Most of them seemed ghosted, but one of them had lights on. Underneath the light were a lot of people gathered round, and most of them were eating. They didn’t seem to care about a car approaching them and just busily moved their spoons without giving the car a single glance.
Geunsoo parked the car a little away from the vehicle holding the props. Maru opened the door and left the car. Although he couldn’t see the sea, he felt like he could smell the sea in the air. He looked to the opposite side of the setting sun and walked towards the film set.
“You’re here.”
The staff welcomed Geunsoo. Some of them seemed close enough to stand up and give him a high five. Meanwhile, Suyeon smiled at them and just brushed past. The staff also just greeted Suyeon with nods.
“Aren’t you supposed to be here in two days?”
“I should come early. I’m bad at acting, so I’ll be hated if I’m late as well.”
“Who says our dear actor Hong has bad acting?”
“The director does. Are you speaking to him on my behalf now?”
“Uhm, I need to keep earning money, so….”
As they laughed, Geunsoo waved at Maru. Maru walked and stood next to Geunsoo.
“He’s a new member at my company. He’s a smart kid, so please look after him. It’s his first day here today, so do forgive him for any mistakes. Maru, these are people from the lighting team. They’re from a company called Illumination and they’re quite well known in this area.”
“Hello, everyone. My name is Han Maru.”
Maru greeted the three men. Among them, the oldest-looking man offered a handshake.
“Nice to meet you. From how Geunsoo is taking care of you, it seems like you’re a promising rookie. I hope to see you more on sets. I’m Kim Jinhwan.”
“Hwang Junggoo here.”
“And I’m Oh Jihoon.”
Maru remembered the three people from the lighting team. Every relationship started with remembering the other party’s name. Not remembering their names the next time he met any of them would give him a bad image so he had to be cautious on that.
“How about dinner?”
“We haven’t had any since we were planning to eat here. The food truck this time is from Flourish Food Truck, isn’t it?”
“Yeah it is.”
There were people gathered where the middle-aged man was pointing at.
“Let’s go, Maru.”
Maru followed Geunsoo to the food truck. Suyeon, who had been following them all this time, had disappeared from sight. As she wasn’t someone that he missed, Maru did not look for her.
A man wearing a chef hat for hygiene purposes greeted them with a smile. In front of him were various delicious-looking foods. Maru picked up a round plate and started putting stuff onto it. They definitely looked and smelled good.
As there wasn’t an empty table, Maru sat down on the floor like many others. He leaned against a big tree and waited for Geunsoo to come.