Chapter 92: The Day the Village Turned Into a Festival

The filming site of “Country Three Meals.”

“Hello~ Hello!”

“Oh~ Hyunjae, you’re here?”

Youngjae greeted me warmly as soon as he saw me.

“Let me put on the mic.”

“Yes!”

It was already our third shoot, so everything felt natural now.

“You came here after filming a drama until morning?”

“Yes, the schedule has been a bit tight…”

I had filmed until dawn, gone home, slept for about three hours, then came straight here.

“So you basically pulled an all-nighter?”

“I did manage to sleep a little at home.”

“Today’s going to be tough. You okay?”

“Of course!”

No matter how tired I was, I was getting paid for this. I had to give it my all.

“And filming ‘Country Three Meals’ is fun.”

Honestly, there wasn’t a shoot more comfortable than this. 

Helping the villagers was only natural, yet they paid me for it.

“Then I’m glad. But you pulled an all-nighter—how is your face still brighter than mine?”

“Haha.”

I didn’t know how to react, so I just laughed awkwardly. 

The PD who had been holding the camera beside us spoke up.

“PD-nim, who are you comparing yourself to right now?”

“It’s a bit much, right?”

Youngjae smiled with an embarrassed expression.

“We have a guest today?”

“We do.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

Except for the first meeting, guests kept appearing in every episode. 

Last time, a renowned actress had come and worked with us.

“Go see for yourself.”

“Who is it?”

I was curious, but Youngjae wouldn’t tell me until the end.

“Take these and come.”

Youngjae handed me four pairs of rubber boots, and we headed into the actual filming location.

“Hello~”

“Oh~ Hyunjae’s here?”

“Come quick.”

Seungkwon and Haejin welcomed me warmly.

“Your eyes look a bit sunken. Did you film all night?”

“E|LFÅ?”  

“A little, but still much better than us.”

“Of course~ Back in our day, we shone even after three all-nighters.”

“Did you eat lunch?”

Seungkwon, who was in charge of cooking, immediately took care of my meal.

“No, I only slept a little and came straight here.”

“Wait a second, we have to feed the kid something before working him…”

“I’m fine!”

“Still, that’s not right. Just wait a bit. Junhae~”

Junhae?

Seungkwon called someone’s name into the house, and a voice full of military discipline answered.

“Yes, hyung!”

Then a man wearing comfortable T-shirt and shorts appeared.

Why is this person here…

The moment I saw his face, I instantly knew who he was.

“This is our youngest.”

“Ah, hello.”

“Hello, sunbaenim. I’m Jung Hyunjae.”

“I’m Ryu Junhae.”

Ryu Junhae.

A late-debut actor who had secured his place in the film industry with outstanding acting skills. And…

“I really loved ‘Glory Day’.”

He was the other lead actor in the movie that Jaehyun had filmed, ‘Glory Day’.

“Ahaha, thank you.”

“Hyunjae acts too.”

Seungkwon and Haejin introduced me in my place.

“Oh, really?”

“You know, right? ‘Blue Sky Spring’.”

“Ah! Isn’t that the drama with Jaehoon sunbaenim? I’ve been so busy filming that I haven’t watched it yet.”

“You haven’t watched it yet?”

“Watch it quickly.”

“I’ll definitely make sure to watch it.”

After finishing a short greeting with Junhae, Seungkwon made me simple kimchi fried rice in the kitchen.

“Thank you for the food!”

“Eat slowly, slowly~”

“Are you trying to buy time by feeding Hyunjae right now?”

Youngjae threw the comment casually, but Seungkwon, clearly stung, raised his voice.

“The kid’s here to work—how can you not feed him?”

“That’s exactly why we do all this to survive. You should feed him and work him at the same time!”

As longtime friends, their bickering was perfect.

“I was just saying… Why are you so sharp today? I can’t even speak.”

“Because you’re making the kid feel awkward.”

“I’m really fine…”

“But looking at those rubber boots brings back nightmares from last time.”

“Rubber boots again?”

The two shook their heads at the boots I had brought.

That day was indeed pretty intense.

“Last time?”

“Have you ever heard of rice planting?”

“Ah…”

At the mention of rice planting, Junhae immediately nodded as if he understood.

“I’ve only heard about it. They say it’s the hardest farm work.”

“I thought I was going to die.”

“After that day, I never leave a single grain of rice.”

“People who waste rice should try rice planting themselves.”

That whole day of rice planting had made us passionately realize the greatness of farmers and the preciousness of rice, and the aftereffects still lingered.

“But don’t they use machines for that these days?”

…Exactly. These people are evil.

“That’s true.”

Even the village used machines, but to create footage they made us do it by hand, so I had grumbled inside. 

Of course, I still planted diligently.

“What we’re doing today can’t be done by machine.”

“What are we doing?”

***

“What is it?”

Youngjae explained today’s task in exactly four syllables.

“Weeding.”

“These people are definitely trying to kill us.”

“Aigoo~ Aigoo~”

For about three hours, we wore rubber boots and entered the rice field, pulling out every single weed that had grown around the seedlings we planted last time.

“Ah, my back… Being a celebrity is seriously sweet.”

Those words came from Seungkwon, a 30-year veteran of the entertainment industry after three hours of weeding labor.

“I think so too.”

“I’m going to act even harder from now on.”

Haejin and Junhae agreed completely.

“Normally, even the villagers don’t work continuously for three hours. They usually work 30 minutes or an hour and rest.”

At my words, all three glared at Youngjae simultaneously, and Youngjae pretended not to notice and looked away.

“Are you okay?”

Seungkwon asked me while I sat next to them as they lay collapsed.

“I’m fine.”

Of course it was tough, but this much was bearable.

“As expected, being young is great.”

“Definitely different.”

“It’s not that. Before, when manpower was short, I used to go around helping sometimes.”

“That’s really amazing.”

Just like Seungkwon and Haejin had done at first, Junhae couldn’t hide his surprise upon learning that I lived in this village.

“Haha, it was just coincidence.”

“Hyunjae and I were destined.”

Youngjae added on.

“Wow~ He never told us that story even once.”

“Exactly. Look at the favoritism.”

“It’s different with you hyungs. So what are we doing for dinner tonight?”

“Ah, dinner.”

At the mention of dinner, Seungkwon, who had been lying down, shot up.

“Is there anything to eat?”

“We probably finished everything last time… What do we do?”

Last time after working hard on rice planting, we devoured everything in reward psychology and had a huge feast.

“Sigh~ What to make for dinner again~”

While we were worrying about the dinner menu as usual, the slow dragging sound of slippers approached.

“Hm?”

When I suddenly raised my head and looked outside, every gaze in the room fixed on me.

“Why?”

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

I jumped up and went out of the room, and at my reaction, everyone else followed me in a rush.

“Grandma!”

The grandma who lived downhill was climbing up with a basket in her hand. 

I quickly ran over, took the basket from her, and held her hand.

“I thought you might be here.”

“You were looking for me?”

“I wanted to pass this to you…”

“What is it? Let’s talk inside.”

“No~”

Grandma seemed burdened by the people holding cameras and only looked at my face, turning her head away.

“My son caught this today and told me to share it with your friends.”

“Really?”

“I put this and a few side dishes.”

“Wow! We’ll enjoy it!”

“Ma’am~”

Youngjae tried to speak friendly to the grandma from downstairs, but she quickly told me how to eat it and scurried away.

“We’ll eat well~”

After greeting her, I went to the yard, and the cast members and Youngjae, who had been watching from afar, approached me.

“Wow, your ears are really sharp. How did you know and run out?”

“Seriously. I thought you saw a ghost or something.”

It was an animal instinct.

“I heard footsteps. Grandma gave us food to share.”

“What is it? What is it?”

“This is mungtigi…”

“Mungtigi?”

Junhae tilted his head at the word mungtigi.

“It’s similar to yukhoe…”

“I know, I know. This is precious stuff.”

“Ugh~ Looks delicious.”

Seungkwon and Haejin swallowed their saliva, eyes sparkling at the meat.

“Grandma’s son runs a butcher shop in town. So whenever good meat comes in, he brings it over.”

“What’s this?”

“Ah, these are side dishes Grandma made…”

“Whoa!”

Haejin, who was checking the side dishes in the basket, screamed when she saw a red bottle.

“You startled me!”

“This can’t be…”

“It can’t be.”

Seungkwon looked at the camera and left one sentence.

“Today is a party.”

With the food Grandma gave us plus a few dishes Seungkwon made, a delicious table was set, and the crowning touch was none other than omija liquor.

“Ahh~ This is great.”

After enjoying the party to the fullest, the three people thoroughly marinated in omija liquor and I squeezed into a narrow room together. 

The staff left us to rest comfortably among ourselves, turned off all cameras except one.

“Honestly, I never imagined ‘Glory Day’ would be that big of a hit.”

“I never even dreamed it would reach ten million viewers.”

When four actors gathered, talk about acting naturally came up, and the topic was the movie ‘Glory Day’ that the guest Junhae had starred in.

“You suffered too. Didn’t you film a lot with Jaehyun?”

“We shot about a third of it and then reshot everything.”

“Wow~ Reshoots sound horrific.”

“Huh? Hyung, you’ve never done reshoots?”

“I’ve never had that happen.”

Since it was off the record, the conversation flowed freely.

“Honestly, it was tough, but that’s why the acting came out even better.”

He had already been recognized for his acting, but this work raised his level once more.

“Who would have thought Han Jungwoo would succeed this much.”

“Ah! You filmed a movie with him, hyung.”

“Yeah, I really thought, is there really a guy like this? You really see everything if you live long enough.”

Seungkwon let out a hollow laugh remembering Jungwoo.

“That was the moment my belief was shattered.”

“Hyung, what was your belief?”

“If you don’t have talent, effort. If you don’t have effort, personality. You need at least one to survive in this industry.”

That’s right. That guy had nothing. I quietly nodded in agreement inside.

“That’s true.”

“But what can you do? A guy like that is succeeding.”

“Han Jungwoo has something else.”

Something else?

“Connections. The president of DreamN is his uncle, right?”

“Ah, right.”

“As far as I know, DreamN actively pushed for ‘Glory Day’ too. Otherwise, there’s no way the director would have cast Han Jungwoo.”

“That director is famous for being extremely grade-conscious.”

“He seems famous for that.”

I already had bad feelings about the ‘Glory Day’ director, and now I got to hear an unexpected story.

“He’s a director famous for only using popular actors.”

“Ah~”

“I felt uncomfortable and couldn’t join any of that director’s works.”

Seungkwon brought up another story about the director.

“Ah~ Because of that?”

Haejin nodded as if she knew the reason.

“Why?”

“What happened?”

Not only me, but Junhae also looked on with eyes that knew nothing.

“Huh? You don’t know either?”

“He debuted late too.”

“When did you debut?”

“It’s only been seven years for me.”

Haejin nodded as if she understood after hearing Junhae’s years in the industry.

“Only that much? Then it makes sense you don’t know.”

“Yeah, it’s that kind of story. Only old-timers like us know.”

“What is it?”

I urged them because I wanted to hear quickly, and Seungkwon opened his mouth.

“Yoo Byunghyun, Hong Changho, and Jin Taesang—those three used to be under one director long ago.”