It was as Do Wook thought.
Jung Lee Wook, who went past Ju Min Ah and Do Wook, went straight to the van. It was an outdoor shoot, so there were no designated waiting areas and the main actors were using their own cars as waiting rooms.
Jung Lee Wook, who went into the van that was parked in front of the cafe, didn’t come out of the van even when it became time to film.
“Still?”
Do Wook and Ju Min Ah were each sitting at the innermost table and had been waiting for Jung Lee Wook for 20 minutes.
Director Ahn Chul Hwan looked warily towards where Do Wook was and asked in a slightly troubled tone. The male assistant director shook his head with an embarrassed expression.
“He says he hasn’t been able to get into character yet…”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan shook his head as he checked the time with his cellphone.
The cafe scene wasn’t one where emotion was particularly important. Of course, each scene was important, but this one wasn’t that important. It was the scene where Jung Lee Wook, who visits the cafe with his secretary Ju Min Ah, has a passing encounter with Do Wook, who is drinking coffee.
Director Ahn Chul Hwan loosened his posture and buried himself in his chair.
“This might last one to two hours,”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan muttered in a way that Do Wook’s side, who were at another table reading over the script, wouldn’t be able to hear.
“He won’t say the reason either?”
“No, just that he can’t get into character…”
The Assistant Director answered Director Ahn Chul Hwan’s question. Refusing to get in front of the camera is a tactic actors often use when they’re upset or there’s something they don’t like.
Director Ahn could personally go and deal with Jung Lee Wook, but he didn’t want to unnecessarily cause a fight in their Director-actor relationship from the first day of filming. Director Ahn Chul Hwan’s knowledge about how things work on set taught him that it was better to leave them alone and not start unnecessary bad blood as long as they didn’t cross the line.
He had encountered this numerous times with numerous people, so Director Ahn Chul Hwan was willing to tolerate this to a certain degree.
“Then again, there’s no way for us to know an actor’s ‘regal’ thoughts.”
“Haaa…”
“Still, check on him every 15 minutes. He’ll be upset all over again if we don’t check on him.”
“Yes, sir…He was fine until just a moment ago…”
“Nobody among the staff did anything wrong, right?”
“Yes. He came immediately to the set so there’s nobody who even talked to him.”
“Well, then I guess he’s just throwing a tantrum for no reason because it’s the first day of filming.”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan crossed his arms and shook his head. Still, Director Ahn personally thought that it was better than throwing a ‘tantrum’ after it would start broadcasting and they’d be running around like headless chickens.
“He’s not even the lead, but because he’s the sunbae…Anyways, Kang Do Wook is patiently waiting because he’s still naive.”
It was also a relief that Do Wook wasn’t the kind of star who would escalate things with Jung Lee Wook.
The Assistant Director sighed and ordered the rest of the staff to be on standby for now.
Do Wook glowered as he looked around the staff who left the equipment to go find a place to sit or were crouched on the floor and on their phone.
Ju Min Ah, who was at the next table and had gotten her make up fixed multiple times already, was wary and said to Do Wook,
“What…What if it’s because of me? Because I didn’t greet…”
Ju Min Ah was restless the whole time.
“But it couldn’t possibly be because of that one thing…”
It was burning her up inside, so Ju Min Ah took a sip of the water in front of her. A thick lipstick mark was left on the cup.
More than the fact that they were on standby, she was more worried that she was the cause of it all and had caused the DIrector and staff to suffer.
Do Wook frowned as he looked at Ju Min Ah, who was biting the end of her fingernail.
If he really was upset about the order in which Ju Min Ah greeted them, he could have scolded her and be done with it. However, how Jung Lee Wook decided to act was making not only his fellow actors Do Wook and Ju Min Ah wait, but the entire staff as well.
If he were doing this because there really was a situation or he wasn’t ready to act, Do Wook could easily wait.
‘It’s not only because of the greeting,’
Do Wook thought. Even based on the tone in which he talked to Do Wook on set earlier alone, you could tell that this wasn’t just because of Ju Min Ah’s greeting.
‘I had heard that there are actors like that, but…this is that battle of will I’ve heard about.”
During the filming, various confrontations are bound to occur. There can be various confrontations between directors and actors, writers and actors, directors and writers, and actors and actors.
It’s because their individual interests as well as opinions on the project are different.
However, fighting on set is usually a battle of will to have their opinions heard and get their way on things like details of the filming schedule, who gets more focus from the reflectors and lighting, whose opinion they are supposed to follow when acting, etc.
The Director is the king on set, but Director Ahn Chul Hwan was the type to accommodate the actors as much as he could. Furthermore, the highest position in < Sweetheart from the Universe > could be considered Wang Hee Jin, who is a top star as well as has the most years of experience.
Therefore, right now, Jung Lee Wook wanted to prove his point that, aside from Wang Hee Jin, he was the top person on set.
He was a supporting actor, but he was determined to undermine Do Wook, who is his much less experienced hubae when it comes to acting experience.
Do Wook had intended to respect Jung Lee Wook as his sunbae even if he didn’t do that. That was of course why, when they were planning out the filming schedule, Do Wook was hoping for the most efficient schedule, but he just sat back and never asked for special treatment.
‘But if he’s going to interfere with the filming like this…’
Do Wook stopped Ju Min Ah who was going to go talk to Jung Lee Wook.
If he got pushed around by Jung Lee Wook like this and Jung Lee Wook became the king of the set, Jung Lee Wook would do whatever he wanted like this every time he got offended.
When 40 minutes had gone by, Do Wook got out of his seat. Nam Da Woo, the manager specifically assigned to Do Wook and their youngest manager, who was sitting next to him and dozing off, got startled and opened his eyes.
“Oh, where are you going?”
Nam Da Woo had started doing part-time jobs immediately after graduating high school and became the manager. He was a young man who had just turned 20 years old.
“To Jung Lee Wook.”
Do Wook’s answer made Nam Do Woo, who had the physique of a polar bear but eyes the size of button holes, grow big.
Manager Oh Baek Ho was able to entrust Do Wook to an inexperienced person like Nam Da Woo because Do Wook wasn’t the type of celebrity who acted out or caused incidents. Rather, he assigned Nam Da Woo to Do Wook because he came to the conclusion that if he worked with Do Wook, he would be able to learn a lot about working on set, such as how to behave.
Having been with Do Wook since the Coco advertisement project, Do Wook was exactly as Manager Oh Baek Ho had said. Nam Da Woo only had to learn, he didn’t have anything to do as a manager besides physically guarding Do Wook.
Based on Do Wook’s expression as well as the current situation, Do Wook saying he was going to talk to Jung Lee Wook when it was Jung Lee Wook’s fault the shoot was being delayed was clearly to say unpleasant things to him.
Even Nam Da Woo knew that much.
“Uh, Do Wook…”
“It’s ok. I’ll go by myself.”
Do Wook started heading out after saying that. Nam Da Woo quickly picked up his cellphone and called Manager Oh Baek Ho. He was following Manager Oh Baek Ho’s instructions to call him if he didn’t know something instead of worrying about handling it.
Do Wook knocked on the driver side door of the van Jung Lee Wook was in. The window opened and Jung Lee Wook’s manager popped his head out. Jung Lee Wook’s manager, who thought it was the Assistant Director, was a little taken aback that Do Wook personally came over.
“There’s something I have to briefly talk with him about, could you give us some space?”
He spoke politely as always, but it was different from Do Wook’s usual low voice. The manager looked at Jung Lee Wook who was sitting in the back seat.
Jung Lee Wook pointed with his finger and the manager quickly opened the driver side door and got out.
Do Wook opened the back door, got in, and sat across from Jung Lee Wook.
“What is it? I can’t focus as it is, did you come to bother me?”
It was just the two of them inside the van. Jung Lee Wook blatantly talked down to him and tried to pick a fight. Do Wook raised his eyebrow.
He had no desire to treat someone who was childishly picking a fight as a sunbae.
“If you can’t act, then you shouldn’t be an actor.”
“What?!”
Jung Lee Wook scowled. He did not expect Do Wook to act like this.
Do Wook’s image was that of an upright young man. Furthermore, as an idol, image management was more important than for other actors. Jung Lee Wook had thought that was also the reason why Do Wook had not said anything during the street scene and let it go.
He was also unhappy that this greenhorn brat got the lead because he was a popular idol.
As Director Ahn Chul Hwan predicted, Jung Lee Wook was going to take a break in the van for about 2 hours before getting out. Then everyone would be walking on eggshells around him and everyone on set would try their best to keep him appeased.
“I don’t know the reason why I or the numerous staff have to wait just because of you. Who do you think you are?”
“Get a load of this rude jerk. That was all an act, wasn’t it? If you don’t know, leave. You can just quit the shoot and leave.”
“Ah…we can’t have that. Then ‘It’s been hard because we’re on indefinite standby since Jung Lee Wook can’t get into character…’ Can I post something like that on my social media?”
“What?”
“Posting my honest feelings on my personal social media would be ok, right?”
Jung Lee Wook scowled, utterly dumbfounded. Sometimes a director or actor throws a tantrum on set, but rumors don’t spread for the most part because they’re all in the same boat.
If people started gossiping about the project because of this, it wouldn’t be good for Do Wook either. Jung Lee Wook was dumbfounded that Do Wook said he’d post on social media and cause a stir.
“Go ahead, post it! You want to go up against me? You think you can act snobbish because you’re popular? If you post it, you think I’ll be the only one criticized and you’ll get off scot-free? You’ll be dragged through the mud too!”
“I know. Still, I’d rather get criticized than to keep wasting my energy waiting on you all project long. I’m sure you also won’t be able to stay inside the van like this if people start criticizing you.”
When Do Wook said that, Jung Lee Wook realized that something was wrong. Do Wook, whom he thought was naive, was rather tenacious.
“You punk!”
“Is it out of your league?”
Do Wook took his cellphone out of his pocket. The spotlight would probably be on Do Wook, but Jung Lee Wook would lose a lot too. Those involved obviously would know the details of the situation and he would undoubtedly become a laughing stock for ruining the vibe on set to get his juniors in line.
As Jung Lee Wook hesitated, Do Wook didn’t miss a beat and said earnestly.
“Sunbae.”
His tone, which had been boorish, went back to Do Wook’s usual tone. When Do Wook called out to him, Jung Lee Wook looked at him, grumbling.
“I saw the movie you were in, < Diary >. As I watched you act, I thought to myself that I want to be the kind of actor you are. You were really cool.”
The movie < Diary > was the first movie Jung Lee Wook starred in. Due to a sloppy scenario, the movie suffered a crushing defeat in the box office, and Jung Lee Wook became a supporting actor again.
If
“…Are you messing with me right now?”
“Please stay the cool sunbae even after this project ends. Please.”
“…”
Jung Lee Wook didn’t respond but Do Wook opened the van door and got out.
Less than 5 minutes after that, Jung Lee Wook got out of the car and apologized for making everyone wait.
The staff, who knew Do Wook had gone to the van, knew that Jung Lee Wook had lost in the battle of wills. Nam Da Woo, who had called Manager Oh Baek Ho and was discussing things with Director Ahn Chul Hwan, was rather flustered that it went over so quietly.
Director Ahn Chul Hwan looked at the situation and laughed as he shook his head.
“A main actor has to be at least on that level.”
Director Ahn Chul Hwan really liked Do Wook’s ‘don’t give up’ vibe.
***
The shoot was successfully completed, and Jung Lee Wook left the set the fastest.
Do Wook still said goodbye to him politely and Jung Lee Wook had a slightly annoyed expression as he got in the van.
Do Wook and Nam Da Woo both got in the car. Ju Min Ah then ran towards Do Wook, panting, and started talking to him.
“Do Wook!”
Ju Min Ah said with an aegyo-filled voice when Do Wook turned around,
“The person who was able to get through to Jung Lee Wook~ that was you, wasn’t it?”
“Nono. I just talked to him about other things.”
Do Wook quickly denied it so Ju Min Ah wouldn’t jump to any wrong conclusions, but Ju Min Ah frowned and moved towards Do Wook. When Ju Min Ah started approaching closer, her bare skin was clearly visible through the deeply cut V neck shirt. Do Wook averted his gaze.
“Thank you. I’d like to treat you to a meal sometime, when are you available?”
More than thanking him, having a meal was her goal. As Do Wook was about to decline without giving it a second thought, Ju Min Ah’s cellphone rang. Ju Min Ah excused herself and checked her cellphone.
[Director Seo Joong Won]
Do Wook looked at the cellphone and his gaze became sharp.
“Oh. Ah, Do Wook, let’s for sure grab a bite sometime. I’ll get going then…”
Ju Min Ah urgently said bye to Do Wook then went back.
—
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