Chapter 70

Villain Only Acting 070

Do We Need to Reshoot? (1)

The filming location was Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The staff were busily running around setting up cameras and lights, and Director Jang Seung-won was constantly moving around to check the shooting routes.

In the midst of this, screenwriter Kim Sang-hee was sitting on a folding chair, sipping from a tumbler and watching the scene with ease.

Manager Ha Tae-sung marveled quietly.

"That's the calm of a screenwriter who has met the deadline. Now that the script work is all done, how relaxed can she be?"

"Bro, even during filming, she'll keep changing the later parts."

"Is it incomplete?"

"No, but she keeps coming up with better lines and developments."

"Amazing. If it were me, I'd have thrown the project away after finishing it and immediately started working on something else."

On one side of the filming location, fans and ordinary tourists had gathered in a crowd.

"Seohoon, it looks like your fans are here too? Your name is even on the placards."

"They're all so diligent."

"But the content of the Seohoon Jung fan placards is quite extraordinary."

[Be☆Seohoon Jung☆Rap]

[Hope for 30% Achievement in Episode 1 of 'Hageuk']

[Don't Go to Grad School!]

[Don't Be an Adjunct Professor! Be a Full-Time Actor T_T]

[A Bachelor's Degree is Enough, No More Needed]

As Seohoon Jung waved his hand lightly, the fans squealed, and the placards with messages about not going to grad school shook even more violently.

Amid the general tourists, exclamations in Chinese burst out incessantly.

Female tourists were holding their phones and frantically taking pictures of Seohoon Jung.

"Wow, Actor Seohoon Jung's popularity is no joke? It seems like all the tourists are just staring at you. To them, I must look like a squid."

The staff advised him not to approach the fans, as it could disrupt the scene. Seohoon Jung followed the advice diligently.

Veteran actors Lee Min-soo and Lee Do-geun were seriously reviewing their scripts, and Han Seo-hee was pacing a short distance, deeply engrossed in her role.

The child actors were reading their scripts diligently under the care of their mothers.

"Wow, what's that? Could that person be your fan too?"

Ha Tae-sung suddenly whispered in his ear, startled.

Seohoon Jung, who immediately recognized who he was talking about, chuckled.

"Apparently, he's a fan of Yoo Jeong-a. He comes to check on me sometimes."

"Why you, when Yoo Jeong-a isn't even in 'Hageuk'?"

"I had a scandal with Yoo Jeong-a. They probably think it's a secret romance and are checking up on it."

"Does checking up on you at an open filming location really count as checking up on it...?"

Ha Tae-sung glanced at the muscular giant, who looked over 190 cm tall, with a shudder.

"Is he a gangster? Probably a gangster, right?"

"Apparently, he's a detective."

"Detectives and gangsters are just a piece of paper apart. They say the same thing when they read their horoscopes."

"I don't believe in horoscopes."

The atmosphere on the filming team became even busier.

It seemed the cameras were about to roll at any moment.

The child actors took their positions and checked their scripts one last time, while the lighting and sound technicians set up their equipment.

"Don't you have only a few scenes today?"

"Yeah. I'll only shoot the latter part of Episode 1 and the early part of Episode 2, then go home."

"Seo-ryeon seems pretty busy too. It's a shame. She has a face that could be a celebrity."

"Without good camera angles, it's all for nothing. What's the point of real looks?"

"Huh? Isn't she just making excuses because her acting skills aren't improving and she's quitting?"

"Really?"

Seohoon Jung's strange smile made Ha Tae-sung realize his mistake and shut his mouth.

He had just revealed a critical weakness to Seo-ryeon's nemesis...

"Seo-ryeon said that?"

"Don't say I told you."

"Don't worry, bro. I can keep a secret."

Seohoon Jung glanced meaningfully at his sister and moved to a position where he wouldn't interfere with the filming.

The director and the cinematographer took their places, and the cameras were aimed at the actors.

"Standby, cue."

The marathon of continuous filming, without a break, began.

***

The peaceful era ruled by a wise king.

The royal family, with many princes, was in a festive mood every day.

Amid the bright laughter, tragedy struck.

-The Second Prince has collapsed.

-Immediately send a royal physician to treat him.

The Second Prince, who had a good relationship with his brothers and especially followed his older brother, collapsed with an unknown illness.

A somber atmosphere enveloped the royal family, and the king was so worried that he couldn't properly attend to state affairs.

The queen went to a temple to offer prayers for the prince's recovery, and the entire capital prayed for him to recover quickly.

Whenever people passed by the palace, they bowed and wished for his recovery, and the scholars in the provinces also prayed for the king's worries to be resolved quickly.

-Heaven is also indifferent. What sin did my son commit to be taken away so soon...

The king even offered sacrifices to the heavens, but the Second Prince showed no signs of improvement.

-Your Majesty! When will we see Yu again?

-Crown Prince...

The Crown Prince, who hadn't seen his young brother for months, clung to his mother and asked about his well-being, but she only swallowed her sadness and remained silent.

Just as everyone was preparing to accept the Second Prince's death, a renowned monk arrived in the capital.

-The Second Prince's illness is due to the deep resentment left by the late king. If a deeply devout person carves a Buddha statue from a solitary pine tree by a clean stream and offers prayers, his life can be saved.

-Please, Venerable Master, take on this task. Where else in this country can we find a more devout person than you?

The queen, holding onto the last hope, did everything she could.

A Buddha statue was carved from a solitary pine tree in a deep mountain spring, and the monk knelt for four days and nights, striking the wooden fish.

And a miracle happened.

-The Second Prince has awakened! He has awakened!

-Is that true?

-Yes! Although he is very weak, he has risen up!

The queen, who was overjoyed, suddenly remembered the monk and rushed to find him.

The place where the monk had been praying for four days and nights was empty.

Strangely, the pine tree Buddha statue had turned into a pile of white ash, with no trace of fire anywhere.

-How extraordinary. Truly extraordinary. The Buddha must have pitied our Yu and sent a virtuous person to save him...

The king was greatly pleased and held a grand feast in the capital, pardoning all criminals except for the most heinous ones.

***

Director Jang Seung-won was pushing the schedule at a rapid pace.

He was running three assistant directors simultaneously.

He had additional cameras and equipment rented and sent to the next filming location to be set up in advance, continuously rotating the schedule.

After filming all the necessary scenes at one location, they immediately moved to the next, where the director made final adjustments before starting continuous filming.

"Director Jang, you're really pushing hard."

"I noticed the schedule was very tight."

"Didn't you know? Director Jang hates wasting time and movement the most."

"I'm worried the actors might get tired. There's no time to rest except when moving locations."

"Director Jang probably uses the most energy. I haven't seen him sit down once."

"I've never seen the screenwriter leave the set early because she's tired... This is the first time."

They had mostly filmed the scenes from Episodes 1 to 5 at Gyeongbokgung Palace and were already moving to the third location.

Supporting actors, such as eunuchs, palace maids, and inner palace guards, were all loaded onto a chartered bus for the move.

Usually, they would be told to come to a certain place by a certain time, but for the sake of time-saving, Jang Seung-won controlled everything, including the movement.

As the sun began to set, the filming paused for a moment, and one side of the set became bustling.

"Hey, it's the food truck. The food truck is here?"

"Right. They said the food truck would come from the Seohoon Jung fan club today."

Several food trucks lined up and parked, and grand banners fluttered.

[Be☆Hageuk Success☆Rap]

The staff heading towards the food trucks bowed to the large cutouts.

"Actor Seohoon Jung, let's eat well."

"Thank you, Be Rappers, for providing us with our daily bread."

The supporting actors also lined up to wait for their meals.

"Wow, this bento is so fancy? It must cost more than 10,000 won per box. The Seohoon Jung fan club must be rich?"

"Apparently, when they were collecting donations, someone threw in the entire amount at the last minute. So, they ended up collecting twice the original amount."

"Wow, a big fan must have already attached themselves."

The staff, chatting about the quality of the bento, eventually turned the conversation back to the drama.

"But about the Crown Prince."

"Just call him the Prince. Director Jang will get furious if he hears you call him the Crown Prince."

"Oh, right."

"Also, he probably wouldn't have been called the Crown Prince at that age."

"Anyway, what's his illness? Is it really smallpox?"

"It seems to be smallpox. One of the Crown Prince's younger brothers died of smallpox, so..."

"The screenwriter wouldn't have included the Crown Prince's illness in his childhood without a reason. Hmm... What is it?"

"I'm curious about the role of the monk. Is he just a MacGuffin that appears briefly at the beginning and doesn't come back?"

"Mr. Park Jun-ho is doing a cameo, so he's probably just a MacGuffin, right?"

"I don't know. Who knows? He might have a regular contract even though it's called a cameo."

Even though the script was complete, not all the staff knew the full content.

To prevent leaks, this was a necessary measure.

"Do you know anything, Seo-ryeon? You must have read the entire script, right?"

As the attention of her colleagues focused on her, Seo-ryeon shook her spoon irritably.

"I know, but I can't say. You know why, right? Why are you all like this?"

"Is Mr. Park Jun-ho as the monk coming back or not? At least tell us that."

"No, he's not. He's not coming back."

***

The prince, who seemed to be on the verge of death, miraculously recovered from his illness.

The king was greatly pleased and searched everywhere for the monk who had healed the prince through his prayers.

Meanwhile, the queen searched for another solitary pine tree by a clean stream, but no such tree could be found.

With no other choice, the queen carefully stored the ash left by the Buddha statue in a clean silver container and offered daily prayers in front of it.

"Every day, the prince must offer prayers to the Buddha statue. Only then will the Buddha protect him from the recurrence of his illness."

The young prince followed the queen's advice and offered daily prayers in front of the silver container holding the ash.

One day, the queen fell seriously ill and couldn't offer her prayers, and the young prince, who was guarding her, also missed his prayers.

That night, the young prince suffered from a terrible nightmare and woke up in a fit.

-Prince! Prince! Are you conscious?

-Ah, a nightmare. I had a nightmare.

-Oh no! The prince is spitting blood! Call the royal physician, quickly!

Within a year, the young prince's illness had recurred.