Jung Lee Wook accepted Do Wook’s greeting by giving a nod without shaking Do Wook’s hand. Do Wook was a little taken aback, but casually pulled back his hand and gave an awkward smile.
If they were shooting on set he would have said something, but since it was an outdoor shoot there were lots of people watching, including support actors. It was better to not make a scene.
Still, Jung Lee Wook had accented Do Wook’s greeting with a gentle smile even until the recent script reading.
It was a pleasant atmosphere even up to the table reading. Of course Ju Min Ah, who Do Wook was uncomfortable around, was on set too, but it wasn’t the actress herself that he was uncomfortable around, he was just uncomfortable that her agency was Ara Entertainment.
Furthermore, it was Jung Lee Wook who had called Do Wook “Mr. hubae” in front of the reporters at the press conference after the table reading and praised him, saying he was a good actor.
However, when they actually got on set, Jung Lee Wook was cold to him. Do Wook couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
They hadn’t personally talked since the press conference nor had they met up, so there was no way of knowing if Jung Lee Wook had had a change of heart since then or if he was just in a bad mood today.
However, what added to Do Wook’s ominous intuition was that Jung Lee Wook, who brushed off Do Wook as he passed by, was talking with Wang Hee Jin with the biggest smile.
“Did you get makeup done to make you look drunk, nuna?”
“Nuna? No, I told you not to call me nuna!”
“Haha. Ok. Sunbae.”
“No, not sunbae either! Call me Hee Jin.”
“How could I dare say my sunbae’s name…”
“You little …”
Wang Hee Jin glared at Jung Lee Wook in a friendly way. The two of them became close after doing a drama together about 5 years ago. They were around the same age, but Wang Hee Jin’s birthday was the previous year so Jung Lee Wook playfully called her nuna.
‘Hmmm…’
Do Wook glazed at Jung Lee Wook once then quickly went over his lines in his head to get ready for the shoot.
Once filming started, Wang Hee Jin, who had been talking with Jung Lee Wook, was scarily focused.
Of course Do Wook was feeling pressured about < Sweetheart from the Universe >, but it was greatly affecting Wang Hee Jin. She wanted to do everything she could to be in tip top shape and give the best performance she could. Despite the fast filming schedule, her beauty was shining every day. She seemed to shine more than she did in her prime before she got married.
Wang Hee Jin stumbled, pretending to be drunk, and people gathered around.
The support cast said their one line, “It’s Han Song Hee,” awkwardly so they had to do a retake, but Wang hee Jin’s portrayal of being drunk was so real that you’d think you could smell the soju on her. Director Ahn Chul Hwan was satisfied and gave the OK signal.
Next was the scene where Do Wook acts like Wang Hee Jin’s manager.
Do Wook and Wang Hee Jin already had perfect chemistry from filming the first and second episode. Wang Hee Jin was very proud, saying that Do Wook knew how to adapt to his partner better than most experienced people, even though he had little experience filming dramas.
Wang Hee Jin was already fond of Do Wook since their first meeting. Furthermore, Do Wook was perfect on set too, so she had a lot of faith in him.
The two of them were in perfect sync and finished the scene without any mistakes. The bust shot, the close-up shot, movements down to their fingers, facial expressions. Everything was perfect.
There was even a scene where Do Wook used a little bit of his superpowers, which could have been a ridiculous scene to act out since there was no CGI overlaid and it only involved him moving his fingers in the air, but Do Wook did it without blinking an eye like he really had superpowers.
Cut, Cut, Cut―!
Director Ahn Chul Hwan’s voice cheerfully rang throughout the set as he yelled “Cut!”.
When he heard “cut”, Do Wook wiped the sweat off his forehead.
To act out the role of a ‘manager’, Do Wook wore a shirt, pants, and a beige trench coat that office workers might wear. It felt a little too warm to wear under the autumn sun.
“Good, good! We should be able to shoot everything before the sun sets!”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan said pleasantly before they moved on to the next scene. If the shoot ended early, it would benefit the staff members who got a daily wage too. The support cast and spectators all gathered and were busily praising Wang Hee Jin and Do Wook’s appearance and acting.
The next scene was when Jung Lee Wook appears. The scene where Jung Lee Wook would stop Do Wook, who was trying to lead Wang Hee Jin to where there were less people.
“Song Hee?! Han Song Hee! It’s dangerous if you leave alone like that…”
Jung Lee Wook looked like a model walking down a runway as he approached. It felt like that even more because he was decked out in luxury items befitting of a third-generation chaebol.
He was a supporting actor, but, as an actor who is loved by many people for his looks, he definitely held his own when he was in the same scene as Do Wook. In fact, when the two of them were captured on camera together, the female supporting actress, who had been looking through the monitor, was impressed.
Jung Lee Wook, who came towards Wang Hee Jin and grabbed the stumbling Wang Hee Jin, saw Do Wook and caused a scene.
“Who the heck are you? What are you doing next to Song Hee?!”
“Then who the heck are you?”
Do Wook raised both his eyebrows, irate. Jung Lee Wook scowled.
“Let go of her!”
“Even if I were to let her go, I’ll let her go when I feel like it.”
“Ah, that’s…Ugh, my head hurts. Be quiet…”
Wang Hee Jin was drunk so she was rambling about her head hurting. Jung Lee Wook, scowling more because Do Wook’s stiff voice only aggravated him more, pushed the shoulder of Do Wook, who was holding on to Wang Hee Jin’s wrist.
“Ughh―!”
Do Wook, who was defenseless, was pushed and tension rose between the two.
“Cut! NG*!”
(TL Note: Stands for “No(t?) good”, the take is not good and they need to shoot it again.)
Director Ahn Chul Hwan gave the NG signal.
At Director Ahn’s signal, the three of them, who had been acting, relaxed and looked towards the Director.
“Do Wook, that was good, but I think it was a little too exaggerated.”
Do Wook nodded his head to what Director Ahn said. He wasn’t pushed that hard, it was a light push enough to let go of Wang Hee Jin’s wrist. The main point of the shot was that he would narrowly let go of her wrist. However, the exclamation of pain Do Wook gave was too loud, enough to be caught on the audio.
“DId you push him too hard?”
Wang Hee Jin asked Jung Lee Wook jokingly. Jung Lee Wook gave a polite, gentle smile and replied in a soft tone,
“Eh? No way. Don’t be silly. Do Wook, did it hurt?”
Jung Lee Wook asked him while smiling with his eyes. Do Wook stood there blankly and couldn’t respond.
Actually, he wasn’t acting when he screamed. Jung Lee Wook pretended to push him lightly but actually pushed him incredibly hard. Do Wook, who wasn’t expecting that much strength, felt pain and frowned.
While Do Wook hesitated to answer, filming resumed.
“…!”
He wondered if it would happen again and sure enough, it did. It was on purpose.
He was expecting it this time so he didn’t make a sound but he couldn’t help but wince as a reflex.
‘Why in the world…’
Do Wook thought to himself as he got feedback from Director Ahn Chul Hwan. Director Ahn Chul Hwan thought it was strange that Do Wook, who had been doing well until now, was messing up at a part that wasn’t even that difficult..
“Do Wook, it was a bit much this time too. The character isn’t a very expressive character, so…”
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
“Yeah. It’d be hard for him to push you any softer!”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan pleasantly added a joke. From the outside, it didn’t look like Jung Lee Wook was pushing Do Wook with any power, so it was hard for them to imagine that Do Wook was really in pain.
Wang Hee Jin winked at Do Wook in an attempt to say that messing up this much was ok, then briefly got her makeup fixed by the coordinator while standing upright.
Do Wook looked at Jung Lee Wook, who was standing in front of him. Jung Lee Wook’s expression was normal. It had a calmness that was difficult to believe belonged to someone who was pushing Do Wook hard.
“Wincing doesn’t make it good acting. You need to have a more subtle expression,”
Jung Lee Wook advised Do Wook in a quiet voice. It was called advice but, in the current situation, it was no different from picking a fight with him. Do Wook held back a sigh.
It was difficult to know the reason behind it, but he was purposely goading Do Wook. If something bad happened on a set that had a lot of people around, Do Wook, who was very popular, would have taken more damage.
Also, the other party was older, his sunbae in acting, and a supporting actor. Despite him being in a position of respect, it was easy for the public to see him as an underdog.
Thinking to himself that once the filming was over he should either have a talk with Jung Lee Wook or hash it out. Do Wook took his gaze off Jung Lee Wook.
After multiple retakes, they finished shooting the scene.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
Do Wook gave a deep bow. The staff, who were packing up the filming equipment, reciprocated the greeting.
The next scene was going to be filmed at the cafe right across the street.
The cafe was one of the locations for a franchise cafe that Do Wook was newly picked to shoot a commercial for. ‘Bonjour’, a major national franchise cafe, provided production support for < Sweetheart from the Universe > as well as picked Do Wook as a model for their company.
Wang Hee Jin wasn’t part of the cafe scene, so she got in the van after the street scene and left. The cafe scene involved Do Wook and Jung Lee Wook, as well as the sub female lead, Ju Min Ah.
Ju Min Ah was brought on to < Sweetheart from the Universe > as Jung Lee Wook’s assistant. Her character also had a crush on Jung Lee Wook and was jealous of Wang Hee Jin.
Ju Min Ah, who was waiting nearby and came to the cafe when she was informed that the street scene was over, rushed to Director Ahn Chul Hwan as soon as she got out of the van.
“Directooorrr~!”
“Oh hi, you’re here, Min Ah!”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan’s expression became visibly brighter.
Do Wook and Ju Min Ah already got their acting rhythm down while working on ‘Get Ready 1999’. She was a talent with Ara Entertainment so Do Wook was personally wary of her, but even right now, Ju Min Ah was beloved by the Director and especially much older male actors for her bright and friendly personality.
“Hello~ Mr. Assistant Director!”
Her words full of aegyo*, Ju Min Ah greeted the male Assistant Director who was next to Director Ahn Chul Hwa. The Assistant Director blushed and accepted her greeting.
(TL Note: aegyo is acting cutesy, kind of like baby talk)
Ju Min Ah had gotten even more beautiful than during ‘Get Ready 1999’. Wearing a deep V-neck t shirt that showed a little cleavage, a short formal skirt, black stockings that you could see her skin through, and high heels, she looked very sexy.
The person Ju Min Ah greeted after greeting the production staff was none other than Do Wook.
“Do Wook! It’s good to see you~!”
“Ah. Hello.”
This was definitely the first time seeing her on this set. Once Do Wook accepted her greeting, Ju Min Ah went on and on about various things like she did during ‘Get Ready 1999’ and tried hard to be closer with Do Wook.
Do Wook kept the conversation with her to a polite amount, but kept a certain amount of distance.
“Hmmm.”
Jung Lee Wook, who was behind them and waiting for Ju Min Ah’s greeting, pretended to cough. Ju Min Ah, who noticed Jung Lee Wook belatedly because she was eager to get closer with Do Wook, realized her mistake and, with a surprised expression, greeted Jung Lee Wook.
It was impolite to greet Do Wook first over Jung Lee Wook, who was their senior by a lot.
“Sunbae! Hello! How have you been~?”
Jung Lee Wook looked at Ju Min Ah with cold eyes and replied.
“Not well. Because of you.”
Jung Lee Wook’s response immediately made the atmosphere among the three of them very cold. Ju Min Ah tried to laugh it off but Jung Lee Wook walked past Ju Min Ah and went to his van. Ju Min Ah was taken back and called out, “sunbae,” but Jung Lee Wook didn’t look back.
At that moment, Do Wook understood Jung Lee Wook’s intent perfectly.
—
Next chapter: There’s some drama on set with a fellow actor