Chapter 302 (1/2)

“We’ll take a short break,” the woman with the red cone glanced at the director before speaking. Her eyes looked scary.

“How desolate.”

Everyone seemed to be at the mercy of director Choi. Regardless of whether they had an employee card hanging around their neck or not, everyone seemed to be wary of this director Choi. The difference was that the people with the employee cards were expressing their annoyance at their boss, while the ones without were clearly hostile.

A weak-hearted person would’ve gone crazy due to all the attention, but this director Choi didn’t seem affected at all. He was like a lion being surrounded by rabbits. Even if the others bare their teeth, they were, in the end, just rabbits. They weren’t capable of hurting a lion.

“Oh my, my dear actors. Have you all had a good meal?”

Director Choi delightfully greeted the idols that came back from lunch. Even though he had slight disdain in his words when he talked to the staff, he was very servile towards the idols. Is it uncomfortable in any way? Is acting going well? I’ll treat you to something later - kind words such as those were spoken. It looked like the atmosphere was becoming warmer at a first glance, but it was warmer only around that area. The other places were still as cold as ice.

Maru saw that Woomin had an awkward smile on his face as he talked to director Choi. From how he was giving glances to other people, it seemed that he realized that the mood wasn’t good here.

“I can’t keep you tied with me any longer. Let’s get to the shoot.”

Director Choi was especially mindful about the girl idol with short hair. Perhaps he was asked to take care of her specifically by someone else, or perhaps he had other intentions towards her, what he had in his mind was unknown. The girl with the short hair greeted director Choi with a smile.

“I’ll take my leave now. Director Lee, have a drink with me after the shoot. I’ll treat you.”

“Uhm, director Choi.”

Director Lee stopped director Choi from leaving. He dragged director Choi by the arm to a corner, and he looked very desperate. The gazes of the staff followed him. Director Lee started explaining something desperately with gestures involved, and director Choi firmly shook his head to express his rejection.

Director Lee clearly seemed to be in the weaker position, and that quarrel ended in a brief time. Director Choi pulled on his suit jacket and twitched his nose to replace his greeting.

“It feels heavy.”

The air was filled with frustration. No one had the motivation to create something. Director Lee put a cigarette in his mouth before he snapped the cigarette in half. It was forbidden to smoke at school.

“It looks like the shoot will get longer.”

“No, it probably won’t,” Woojoo replied to him.

How were they supposed to continue shooting in this atmosphere? The results were clear. Director Lee gestured with his hands. The staff started moving all the equipment outside the gym. He said that they’ll be moving over to the cafeteria for the next scene.

“Because they need to pay more if the shoot gets longer,” Woojoo said as he stood up.

Maru understood it instantly. Just like with movies, time was money when it came to shooting dramas as well. Just the human resources fee was considerable if they were mobilizing this many people. Also, there was the equipment as well.

“This drama is outsourced, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“But I see that the people holding cameras or lights all have employee IDs on their necks. Their logo is from the TV station as well.”

“It is indeed the subcontractor that produces the drama, but the expensive equipment is all rented from the TV station. I mean, they cost quite a lot. Also, it’s not easy finding people that can actually use them. The TV stations supply the subcontractor with the production budget and the equipment.”

“That makes it easier to understand.”

The TV station provided the budget, the equipment, as well as the human resources. No wonder the subcontractor was in a servile position.

“You’re quite knowledgeable.”

“This is my third year working in this field now. Three years is enough to find out about most things.”

The supplementary actors also headed towards the school cafeteria upon the leader’s instructions. The cafeteria was not that far away from the gym, which was to the west of the main school building.

They stepped into the building while stepping on the shiny marble floor. Wooden tables greeted them just like a high-class restaurant. The cafeteria consisted of two floors, and it was large enough to host the entire school. The back mountain could be seen outside the glass window. Maru’s mind was not filled with the scenery of the school, but questions about how much the tuition was here. It was an independent school, so it was probably at least a million won per quarter.

“This is one nice school.”

“So this is what money gets you. How nice.”

The supplementary actors all commented as they looked around.

They understood why they picked this school as the set for the drama. The view was very good no matter where you went. It wasn’t the ‘square and boring’ school like ordinary schools after all. They could see students doing sports through the glass window. They were running freely around the sports field covered with natural grass. A camera was capturing that scene. This was supposed to be a youth drama featuring ‘ordinary high school students’, but the very environment screamed ‘fantasy’.

“You sit here. You two walk around with food trays in your hand at the back there. Sit down and talk about whatever. If you really don’t have anything to say, sing the national anthem or something.”

They sat down according to the leader’s instructions. The camera director adjusted the positions after glancing around. He seemed to be pushing the supplementary actors to the outside more so that the faces of the main actors could be emphasized more.

They spent around 10 minutes sitting. The shoot was just about to begin when director Lee walked towards the supplementary actors. The leader immediately approached the director.

“Yes, director.”

“Uhm, leader. Is there someone with experience? I need someone that can make a servile face. This scene wasn’t originally in the script, but we got an extra script just now.”

“If that’s the case… Woojoo. You can do that, can’t you?”

“M-me?”

“Yes, you. You can do it. Producer, this kid is quite good.”

Director Lee looked at Woojoo’s face before nodding. Maru raised his thumbs up and told him ‘good luck’. Around twenty minutes after he was called away, one of the staff entered the cafeteria. In his hand was a cardboard box. What came out of the box was a pair of trainers. The short-haired idol wore those shoes. Director Lee mentioned something about an extra script, but it seemed that they fixed the script so they could put the trainers as product placement.

In the end, it all came down to money.

The rehearsal began. When the short-haired girl put her foot forward, Woojoo bowed and apologized. He had a line, and his face was on camera as well. He had much more weight compared to extras.

“Good.”

Director Lee seemed to have taken a liking to Woojoo. The cameras were placed and the staff started preparing for the shoot as well. Maru started talking with the actor in front of him as he picked up his spoon. He didn’t talk about anything serious though.

“That restaurant we went to for lunch was quite good, wasn’t it?”