“It is definitely easy, but…,” Joon-gi spoke as he ate a spoonful of rice.

“It leaves a bad aftertaste, right?” Sooyoung added.

They ate an early lunch in front of a rusty bronze statue of King Sejong. They were given some cookies, some fruit salad, and a sandwich packaged nicely with stickers on top of it. Blue-Blue. From what Bangjoo said, it was supposedly the name of Blue’s fan café.

“You find it strange too, don’t you? Is movie acting supposed to be like this?”

Bangjoo spoke with a bored face. His fantasies towards shoots seemed to have been broken as his excitement and cheerful smile were all but gone.

“I wouldn’t know. This is my first time shooting a movie too.”

“Same here.”

Joon-gi and Sooyoung replied respectively.

Maru, who was just eating a cherry tomato, turned his head around when he felt the hot gaze. The three others were staring holes in him. He munched on the cherry tomato. The tomato, which was practically roasted under the heat, squeezed out some sticky juice.

“Director Park Joongjin’s method couldn’t be considered ordinary. But it’s definitely easy on your mind, so there are no problems, are there?”

The shoot was easy. There was no pressure. They were briefed on everything down to their breathing, so why would they worry about anything? The cramming method of teaching was happening here in a shoot as well. There was no ‘understanding’ or ‘application’ and they just had to interpret the director’s words with their bodies. It was quite an easy shoot.

“Seonbae-nim. Do you really think that?”

Hearing Bangjoo’s question, Maru pointed at the lunchbox.

“Let’s talk after we eat, please? These are practically getting roasted under this weather.”

It was possible to see haze rising from the asphalt on the road. Unless someone liked their fruits roasted, it wasn’t wise to let the lunchboxes be in this weather.

They all ate busily and emptied the lunch boxes. The drinks that were given to them were still cool, so they were quite relaxing to drink.

“For now, follow the director’s words.”

“Keep doing what he says? Like a doll?”

Bangjoo looked at the classroom where the other actors were with eyes filled with complaints.

“We need to match the director’s wishes. After all, he’s the one in charge here.”

“I know that, but it’s too boring. In fact, acting in the acting club seems like it would be more fun. At least we get to exchange opinions and change our acts.”

“Bangjoo.”

“Yes.”

“How would you feel if you cleaned your house and your sister suddenly came in and switched the placement of various things?”

“My sister doesn’t really clean. Also, she’s quite meticulous in nature, so she puts things back where she got them from.”

“I’m just using an example.”

“Well, the first thing I’ll do is sigh. After all, I’ll have to clean up again.”

“Right now, the director probably has a well-organized movie in his head. It’s probably something that’s so incredibly refined and elaborate that we can’t even imagine it. That’s why, if someone comes in and wants to change it, the first thing he’ll feel is a sense of rejection. Right now, the only thing he wants from us is to follow the order of things that he said to us. Just that.”

Joon-gi, who was listening this whole time, spoke.

“Then we have to just obediently follow the director’s words in the future too?”

“For now, yes.”

“I don’t really mind since there’s a lot of action scenes, but it’s still such a pity. It’s my first movie shoot, but the only thing I can do is sing nursery rhymes like a preschooler.”

Sooyoung, who was listening, also spoke as he opened the can.

“At least it doesn’t hurt our pride. The problem is them.”

Sooyoung narrowed his eyes and looked at the west entrance of the school. Maru looked there as well. They saw Gwangsoo and Taehoon who walked out as they held a conversation.

“For us, we have action scenes we practiced for, so the director’s method isn’t that bad, but they should have prepared their own acts as well, no? They can’t display any of that and have to listen to the director’s words alone, so how annoyed would they be?”

“Exactly. If it was me, I would’ve jumped in frustration.”

Bangjoo agreed.

“Would he do the same thing to Lee Hyuk as well?”

“No way. Lee Hyuk isn’t like a pebble on the roadside. He’s known as an actor that’s quite skillful in the drama industry, so that can’t be, right?”

“You can’t be sure. Didn’t you see the director’s eyes? He was smiling, but his eyes were hella scary. He really looked like he'd exile someone from the shoot if that person didn’t follow his instructions. If what Maru says is true, he’ll probably tell literally everyone what to do. Don’t you think so?”

“But it’s Lee Hyuk, though. That can’t be right. If it’s like that, why would he need such an expensive actor?”

“I’m probably right, you know? You see how he cast Yoo Joongang and Kwon Dayoon, right? Lee Hyuk may have proved his acting skills through dramas, but what about the other two? From what I know, Yoo Joongang used to be a model, and Kwon Dayoon is an idol. Also, don’t you know that Kwon Dayoon left a drama for her horrible acting skills around a year ago?”

“Ah, I remember that as well. But I heard that it wasn’t because of her acting skills, but because of her busy schedule. Also, she did quite decently back then.”

When Bangjoo stood up for Dayoon, Sooyoung snorted.

“Hey, Bangjoo. Put your hand on your heart and say that again. You might have seen her in a good way since you’re her fan. I saw that drama several times, and I always switched the channel whenever Kwon Dayoon appeared. Kwon Dayoon, she’s pretty alright. But acting? I don’t think so. I felt embarrassed just looking at her.”

Bangjoo opened his mouth as though to say something to retort, but he couldn’t say anything. In the end, he sighed and admitted that her acting was not good.

“Here, listen,” Sooyoung said as he raised his nose a little.

“You remember how the director picked us based on body figure alone and didn’t see things like acting skills?”

“I do. That was a weird audition after all.”

“I remember that as well.”

Maru just nodded.

“Then are we the only ones picked that way?”

Hearing those words filled with suspicion, Joon-gi waved his hand.

“Hey! He might have done that with us, but do you think he did that with the main actors as well? Do you think he wants to ruin the entire movie? Be sensible.”

“You can’t be sure.”

Just then, director Joongjin walked out of the school building. Sooyoung pointed at the director with his fingers.

“That director, I looked him up on the internet, and do you guys know what his nickname is?”

“Genius,” Maru said in a small voice.

Sooyoung said ‘right’ before snapping his fingers.

“A genius director, they said. If he’s really a genius, if he really does know everything about acting from A to Z and can teach them everything, don’t you think it’s plausible that he can pick people based on looks alone? After all, he’ll be able to cover everything else with his own skills.”

“Does that even work?”

Bangjoo spoke with suspicion.

“I wouldn’t know. But from what we saw, it was like that.”

“But if I was Lee Hyuk, I don’t think I would accept such a condition. An actor has their pride too, don’t they? Would they want to shoot a movie where they can’t show off their own acting at all?”

“And I know something about that as well. This is also from the internet.”

Maru rested his chin on his palms and looked at Sooyoung. The self-proclaimed internet detective was speaking.

“Do you know that Lee Hyuk switched agencies?”

“How would I know that?”

“I’m not interested in men.”

While Bangjoo and Joon-gi shook their heads, Maru said ‘Soul’ in a small voice. He found out about this while watching the news about the unfair contract terms with ‘The Five’.

“Maru, you’re quite knowledgeable. Yes. Lee Hyuk’s new agency is Soul. Apparently, he approached JA Production first, but he was rejected and Soul became his next choice.”

Maru did see him back then. Maru thought about Lee Hyuk who he saw in the lobby of the JA Building when he first went there.

“There’s a portion of the idol group named ‘The Five’ in Soul as well, right? The other celebrities that belong to them are mostly people that were involved with not-so-good incidents. That’s why we call Soul a charity among ourselves and….”

“Wait, who’s we?” Bangjoo asked.

“Nothing important. It’s just a calligraphy café where we talk about various things.”

“Why do you talk about celebrities when it’s about calligraphy?”

“Is studying all you do in school? You play ball sports there too, don’t you? Anyway, there’s someone in our ranks that possesses some very credible information sources, and apparently, Lee Hyuk has a lot of debt.”

“What? Isn’t he a popular actor?”

“Who here has seen him on a TV commercial?”

Sooyoung spoke as though to do some fact-checking. Maru shook his head. He didn’t watch TV that much, so he didn’t know.

“Huh? Now that you mention it, I don’t remember one.”

“Who here has seen him in a drama or a movie?”

“I don’t think I saw any since three years ago. Wait, now that you say it, he’s had quite a long rest period.”

“Precisely. Also, he apparently screwed up while trying to open a restaurant, so his bank account is currently negative.”

“Why would he do that instead of doing activities?” Joon-gi asked while crossing his arms.

“This is not verified info, but apparently, his personality is shit so the directors and fellow actors don’t really like him. If he’s godly at acting then there might be directors who might be willing to take the risk, but Lee Hyuk isn’t on that level, right?”

“Rather than his acting, he’s more well-known for his looks.”

“I do remember that he placed first in the ‘men who women want to date the most’ ranking.”

Hearing the two people’s words, Sooyoung clapped his hands.

“There you have it.”

“So he’s shooting whatever comes his way because of his debt?”

“Correct.”

“That does sound plausible.”

It wasn’t entirely believable since it was a combination of rumors gathered on the internet, but there were no contradictions in his words. At that moment, they saw Lee Hyuk walk out the west entrance and kick a trash bucket. When people looked there after hearing the sound of the plastic bucket falling, Lee Hyuk’s manager quickly ran over and started cleaning up. Meanwhile, Lee Hyuk just left.

“See? I told you his personality wasn’t good.”

Sooyoung clicked his tongue.

“If what you’re saying is true, then this is huge news. It means that the director will do everything by himself, right?”

“Right.”

“That’s crazy. Wouldn’t his head explode? I mean, if it was me, my head would have exploded already.”

Joon-gi shook his head in resignation.

“Geniuses aren’t called geniuses for nothing.”

Sooyoung ended the conversation while putting the empty lunchbox in a trash bag. Bangjoo stared at Joongjin, who stood afar before sighing.

“Looks like I have no choice but to be obedient for this movie.”

Maru took out his phone after finishing his drink. Then, he sent a text.

“What are you doing?”

Bangjoo poked his head in and asked.

“Sending a text to your sister.”

“Eh? To my sister?”

A moment later, he got a call. He texted her if it was okay to call her right now, and from how she called back immediately, it seemed that she wasn’t busy.

-This is weird. You sending me a text.

“Is it okay for you to be on the phone right now?”

-Yeah. I’m resting right now.

Joohyun urged him to speak while yawning. Maru looked at Joongjin, who was talking to the actors and spoke.

“Senior, you became famous through Spring Calendar, right?”

-Right. Ah, that’s ten years ago, huh.

“I want to ask you just one thing. How was the atmosphere during the shoot back then?”

Joohyun had experience shooting with Joongjin ten years ago. Was there an actor that knew Joongjin better than her? When he first met director Park Joongjin, he called Geunsoo and Geunsoo replied thus: Joohyun-noona became a star through that work. As a minor actor that gobbled up a lead actor.

If Joongjin’s style was to put everything under his control, then it meant that Joongjin intended for Joohyun, a new actress, to overtake a lead actor from back then.

After he waited for a little, Joohyun laughed in a small voice as she spoke.

-I get it. It’s about director Joongjin, isn’t it?

“Yes. I didn’t know he would direct our every action.”

-That’s how he works after all. At first, I was very confused as well. I was told not to act. The only person that did not hear that must be that unni. Anyway, since the director told us to do it, we had to do it.

“Then did you follow the director’s word as well?”

-At first, yes.

“At first?”

-For now, listen to the director’s words. It might make you feel angry. Why? Because doing things the way he tells you does make a good picture. It also makes you feel frustrated since you don’t think you’ll get a better picture than that no matter what you do.

“What about after that?”

-Naturally, you need to find a better picture than what the director has in mind and offer it to him. If you do that, the director will fall for you.

“How do I do that?”

-How? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself.

“What?”

-I’m hanging up now, okay? I’m still tired since I just woke up.

Joohyun hung up without giving Maru any time to talk back. Maru stared at his phone. He was suddenly reminded of this woman’s career. She debuted in a one-act play, and immediately joined the ranks of stars through Spring Calendar. She spent many years shooting commercials due to an unfortunate event, but she returned and continued participating in works with over 30% viewing rates.

“So she’s the genius type as well…?”

He had no intentions of looking down on her efforts, but he could understand the situation. A good player doesn’t necessarily have to be a good coach.

“We’re moving now.”

The staff shouted from afar. Maru put his phone back in his pocket.

“What did she say?”

“She told me to make the director fall for you.”

“How?”

“That’s up to us.”

“Eh?”

Maru grinned as he stood up.