༺ Requesting Cloud Support from a Shooting Star – 23 ༻
“Hello, Kyung Seo?”
Hee-wook was the first to speak in the chilly, stagnant air. Kyung Seo, who had been standing still with a scrunched-up face, lifted his head and locked eyes with him.
“Yes, hello.”
Seeing Kyung Seo relax his expression, Hee-wook secretly felt relieved and smiled awkwardly. He was wearing a mask, so he deliberately squinted his eyes to show that he was smiling. Kyung Seo approached one step closer with a stiff walk.
“The outfit is a bit revealing; don’t tell me this is today’s costume?”
He had wondered if Kyung Seo was dissatisfied with the clothes, but that was actually the case. Startled, Hee-wook looked down at his clothes and unconsciously stepped back.
“No, it’s just casual wear.”
“Casual wear?”
Kyung Seo tilted his head, furrowing one brow.
“Your taste in clothes is…”
His voice trailed off, and a flustered Hee-wook hurriedly opened his mouth. Kyung Seo seemed to be suspecting that Hee-wook had a tendency to wear revealing clothes.
“No! It’s quite different from my usual taste. They said they’ll provide the outfit on set, so I just wore whatever.”
He denied it breathlessly, and Kyung Seo’s eyes narrowed, then relaxed. He stared intently into Hee-wook’s eyes before shifting his gaze to the void.
“I see.”
A short reply came back. Hee-wook took a sharp breath. It struck him as absurd only after a moment. What did it matter what a near-extra like him wore? He didn’t come naked; it was just a slightly low-cut T-shirt.
‘Does he not even like the fact that I dressed up, just because he dislikes me?’
Hee-wook glared at Kyung Seo’s sleek profile as he stared blankly into space. He sent curses through his eyes, a substitute for the words he dared not speak aloud, when suddenly Kyung Seo sharply turned his head.
“Mr. Sung Hee-wook.”
“Yes, yes?”
Hee-wook’s eyes widened in surprise. He wondered if he had been caught cursing with his eyes. But then Kyung Seo brought up something unexpected.
“Drop the formalities.”
With arms crossed and standing upright, he spoke with a somewhat haughty demeanor.
“You’re nine years older than me, and we even have to be friends in the play. It’s uncomfortable for you to continue being so formal.”
He was right. Kyung Seo was only 20 years old, and Hee-wook was much older at 29. But he hadn’t dared imagine dropping formalities with Kyung Seo, who was a popular star and had an intimidating presence. Especially since he guessed that they wouldn’t become close, as their filming together wouldn’t amount to much.
“Use informal speech, and just call me ‘Kyung Seo.'”
Hee-wook blinked slowly, then nodded his head at the firm words.
“Yes, I shall.”
“That’s still formal.”
Kyung Seo interrupted, his eyebrows furrowed. He looked like a petulant child, causing Hee-wook to snicker without realizing it. He seemed more adorable than he had thought.
“Right. Sorry. I’ll drop the formalities.”
“……”
“Then, Kyung Seo, you should also speak casually to me.”
Hee-wook suggested calmly. Kyung Seo, who had been silently meeting his gaze, looked away again.
“I’m comfortable this way.”
Hee-wook felt deflated at the response. It seemed unfair. But he also thought that insisting on informal speech when the other person was uncomfortable might be burdensome. He regretfully bit his lip at that moment.
The staff members ran up carrying hangers laden with costumes. They organized the clothes neatly on a rack prepared in one corner among the filming equipment, and then one of them poked her head out and called for Hee-wook.
“Mr. Sung Hee-wook!”
“Yes?”
“The shirt size, you wear a 105, right?”
She asked, pulling out a lemon-colored shirt wrapped in plastic. Hee-wook was about to correct the size when—
“Prepare the shirts in size 100, please. For sweatshirts and the like, 105.”
The quick response came not from Hee-wook but from Kyung Seo. Hee-wook turned to look at Kyung Seo, his mouth agape.
“How did you know?”
Kyung Seo’s eyes, which had been slightly annoyed, widened for a moment. As Hee-wook looked at him with amazement, Kyung Seo shrugged his shoulders as if to say, didn’t you know that already?
“You can tell just by looking.”
Hee-wook self-consciously touched his own shoulder. Well, his body was close to the standard size for most men in their twenties, so the size might indeed be obvious at a glance.
Although he felt a bit embarrassed, Hee-wook was impressed by Kyung Seo’s unexpected keen eye. Whether it was pointing out inappropriate clothing for a character or recognizing the size at a glance, he found it all quite impressive. Hee-wook thought to himself that maybe all successful actors pay this much attention, even to the costumes of supporting actors they work with, and felt a newfound respect.
“Kyung Seo, we’ll be ready to shoot soon. Hee-wook, please change and wait.”
The assistant director, who had been busy earlier, approached Kyung Seo and Hee-wook with these instructions. Kyung Seo gave a slight nod and was about to walk away when he looked back at Hee-wook. The moment their eyes met, Kyung Seo pressed his lips tightly together as if chewing on something and then spoke in a soft voice.
“See you later.”
Hee-wook nodded in a daze. Kyung Seo followed the assistant director down the stairs. Hee-wook watched his retreating figure, then self-consciously touched his hair.
Working with Kyung Seo, the acting chemistry, might turn out to be better than he had worried. The thought crossed his mind.
However, the trouble that came to Hee-wook was not the problem of syncing with Kyung Seo. The greatest agony on the filming set was the fight with the ‘endless waiting,’ never knowing when you would be called.
Many supporting actors were participating in the drama filming that day besides Hee-wook. When the work on the first floor was done and the shooting continued on the second floor, those who had been waiting upstairs moved their position to the first floor. Having to step aside here and there so as not to disturb the shooting, they somehow felt like luggage.
Hee-wook sat by a window where the sun shone brightly, looking at his cell phone. Eun-sung had not come to the set that day. If Eun-sung had been there, it would have been less boring. Feeling regretful, Hee-wook typed a message.
[Cheon Kyung Seo told me to speak casually. Isn’t it strange?]
He sent the message, leaning against the wall. Perhaps Eun-sung was also free, for the reply came right away.
[Lee Eun-sung: He told me the same last time]
[Really?]
[Lee Eun-sung: Thought he had no personality, but he seems pretty cool lol]
[Lee Eun-sung: He said it’d be good if you release another album too]
[Lee Eun-sung: He was cheering you on lol]
The words Eun-sung conveyed were truly unexpected, because the word ‘cheering’ didn’t seem to fit with Kyung Seo at all. It was even questionable whether he knew about ‘Two Planet’ in the first place.
‘Empty words, maybe?’
Even if they were empty words, the fact that he could utter them was surprising.
[Unexpected;;]
Hee-wook sent a brief reply to Eun-sung. Eun-sung also answered simply with ‘lol.’
With nothing to do, and feeling his energy gradually waning as time passed, he wanted to hear fans’ cheers.
As he scrolled through his gallery, he saw the pictures he had taken while waiting alone. Thanks to the sunlight coming through the large window, quite a few had turned out well.
Since he couldn’t post a picture of the filming costume, he chose the best-looking selfie taken before changing his clothes earlier and uploaded it to SNS with a short comment.
hhwoogie_
The weather’s good today!
A bit hot? ^^;
Although the outfit earlier was quite different from his usual casual wear, considering that the weather was quite warm, it seemed like an acceptable outfit.
However, he was bothered by the fact that his exposed chest looked unusually pale. It didn’t used to be this white. Regretting the reclusive lifestyle he had led for a few months, Hee-wook touched his now-covered chest.
Perhaps because of the weak Wi-Fi, it took some time to post. As he stared blankly at the screen, a few actors and staff members came down from the second floor.
“We’ll resume shooting in 5 minutes.”
It seemed the previous shooting hadn’t finished yet.
Kyung Seo was the last one to come down. Hee-wook could see sweat on his smooth forehead. As he stared intently at Kyung Seo getting his makeup fixed, the supporting actors waiting beside Hee-wook spoke up.
“The shooting delay is quite serious.”
“The leads must be having a tough time.”
It was understandable. He wondered how many times they had to repeat the same scene. He had glanced from afar earlier out of curiosity, and there were many minor issues, such as an actor making a mistake or props not cooperating.
Hee-wook watched Kyung Seo, who was standing far away, his chin propped in his hand. Kyung Seo pulled out his cell phone with a frown, seemingly busily scrolling through something. Then, his eyes widened.
“Wait, I’ll be back from the car.”
As Kyung Seo spoke, raising his hand, his manager hurriedly ran over. Hee-wook’s eyes followed Kyung Seo as he left with his manager. If he had forgotten something, he could have asked his manager to fetch it. The fact that he was going himself probably meant he was going to smoke.
With Kyung Seo gone, it seemed the shooting would pause anyway. Hee-wook clenched and unclenched his hands, damp with both tension and heat, then stood and headed for the restroom.
He washed his hands in cold water and looked at his face in the mirror.
Having changed into his costume and received makeup right after, quite some time had passed and his face felt stuffy. He wanted to wash his face to feel refreshed, but he couldn’t.
Hee-wook looked in the mirror and opened his mouth wide, saying, “Ah, eh, ee, oh, oo.” After loosening the tired muscles around his mouth, he left the bathroom.
At that moment, he caught sight of Kyung Seo’s back, ascending the stairs. With wide-open eyes, Hee-wook returned to his seat and asked the person next to him,
“Has Kyung Seo come back already?”
“Yes, he just came back.”
A sullen reply returned. Hee-wook watched Kyung Seo’s feet disappear up the stairs with a curious gaze and then checked his phone.
After checking the time, he became curious about the reactions to the photo he had uploaded earlier and logged onto his SNS. Despite the ambiguous timing, quite a few fans had given hearts and left comments.
Among them, one comment caught his eye.
[YK_woogie: No way!!]
Discovering the decisive two words, Hee-wook inadvertently chuckled. The eyes of the actors waiting beside him turned towards him, but he pretended not to notice and hung his head low.
‘Yu-kyung is always the same.’
Upon reflection, Yu-kyung had always disliked clothing that revealed too much. Although Hee-wook himself had thought that the clothing was perhaps not appropriate to show to young children.
But many people liked it too. Today’s outfit wasn’t even that revealing. Hee-wook tilted his head in confusion, then recalled Kyung Seo’s shocked expression earlier when he saw his outfit.
‘Is my figure that unimpressive?’
A wrinkle formed between Hee-wook’s eyebrows. He even considered working out at the gym to improve his body when suddenly,
“Sung Hee-wook, get ready for shooting!”
It felt as if lightning had struck above his head. Feeling a tense chill throughout his body, he quickly rose from his seat.
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