PD Song sat down at the monitor, narrowed his forehead and raised a hand.
"Action."
The red light came on, and Im Ha-na and the supporting actress playing her friend came running.
Tae-il stepped into their path.
"Hello there. It's the festival today. Come work off some stress."
Tae-il smiled at them from behind the glasses.
Im Ha-na and the supporting actress looked up at him with blank faces.
"Cut. Ha-na."
"......Ah! S-sorry."
Im Ha-na had been watching Tae-il and missed her line, and she shook her head hard.
"Going again."
The second take followed.
Tae-il blocked their way exactly as before and smiled, unhurried.
"Hello there. It's the festival today. Come work off some stress."
"Ah. Um......"
A light "Sure!" was supposed to come out of them.
It did not come easily out of either mouth.
"Hoo...... Ha-na."
"Y-yes!"
PD Song pressed at his temples.
"Director, get a reflector on Ha-na for......"
Looking from Tae-il with his script to the monitor and back, PD Song stopped short.
'Am I imagining it? What kind of visual is......'
'They call him a Face Genius, all right. The visual alone is genuinely......'
It was not only PD Song. The AD beside him could not get his eyes off the monitor either.
Eun Tae-il had a single reflector on him, and he stood out more than Im Ha-na, who was plastered in light.
'Eun Tae-il catches the eye more than Ha-na does.'
The one who felt it most was the camera director, watching Tae-il through the viewfinder.
"Director Yang. The angle is sliding onto Eun Tae-il."
"Ah, sorry."
The camera director scratched the back of his neck and brought the frame back around Im Ha-na.
"Going again. Action."
Im Ha-na's line came, and the camera angle drifted over toward Tae-il.
"Cut. Director Yang."
PD Song raised a hand at the movement of the frame.
The camera director took his eye off the viewfinder, looking sheepish.
"Hahaha. Today is really......"
"Going again."
PD Song snorted and sat back down.
An eye for the better picture was a kind of instinct in a camera director.
"Right, going again. Action."
The red light came on.
Im Ha-na came into frame on her line, and Tae-il stepped in front of her.
"Hello there. It's the festival today. Come work off some stress."
Looking up at him, Im Ha-na froze again.
The basis of acting is meeting your partner's eyes.
And with Eun Tae-il, holding his gaze was the hard part.
'This is too much. I can't get used to it.'
Eun Tae-il met her eyes so gently that a laugh escaped her before she could stop it.
She could look at the pretty-boy seniors at her own agency and feel nothing, and Eun Tae-il she could not get used to at all.
"Um...... um......"
Im Ha-na stared blankly at Tae-il, blinking.
Another NG.
"......Cut."
Even at PD Song's call she did not react for a moment.
"Ha-na."
Tae-il moved her shoulder lightly.
Only then did her whole body jolt, and she bent hurriedly at the waist.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm so sor......"
PD Song got slowly to his feet and came over to her with a sigh.
"You're not in middle school. Ha-na. What is this?"
"I just...... I'm sorry."
Im Ha-na kept glancing at Tae-il.
To a rookie, his face was simply not something she could get used to.
PD Song shrugged as though he understood perfectly.
"Well...... we've got the wide shot roughly. Let's change the setup."
While the camera moved, they were given a short break.
Tae-il used it to speak to Im Ha-na.
"Ha-na. Are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine! And senior, I'm sorry! All because of me......"
She was talking in circles.
Rookies with little set experience often did.
Tae-il shook his head with a smile.
"There's nothing to make hard work of. This scene is about showing what kind of person the youngest daughter is."
"Ah...... that's right. It is. I'm sorry, senior."
Had she forgotten her partner was a bit-part actor?
Im Ha-na lowered her head, looking thoroughly deflated.
"Don't be. Shall we take it slowly and find it together?"
Tae-il kept the conversation calm.
The setup finished soon after, and the shoot resumed.
It had been going for a while when someone appeared behind the monitor.
"I was worried, so I came by."
PD Song turned, and there was Writer Lee of the weekend drama "Families Are All Like This," waving at him.
"Writer Lee. You've finished already, I see."
"Rushed it through and came running. I called him in for the face, but the face is the face."
Writer Lee's eyes went to Tae-il, who was bowing to her.
PD Song came to stand beside her and shrugged.
"See for yourself. Ready, action!"
At PD Song's signal the shoot started up again.
"Why are we going over there? If we don't leave now we'll be late."
"Let's just throw one and go. Hm?"
Im Ha-na shook the supporting actress off with visible impatience and followed Tae-il with a bright, open face.
Tae-il looked down at the youngest daughter, shy and shining-eyed, and turned toward the water balloons.
'Maybe we should have given Eun Tae-il a few more lines. What a waste.'
The moment Eun Tae-il's face would be in close-up was when the balloon hit him.
Before that he would be faceless, like the other extras.
It was all funnelled into the one cut, and the regret could not be helped.
"Okay. Changing the setup."
The camera setup changed again.
While the crew moved busily about, Writer Lee walked over to the actors standing in frame.
She looked them over carefully, then turned to PD Song in a confidential tone.
"PD Song. Listen. I'd like to draw this a bit more interestingly......"
"No."
The muscles of PD Song's face moved.
When she got like this, strange things tended to happen.
PD Song threw up a wall, and Writer Lee paid it no attention at all.
"Oh, come on. At least hear it."
"There's no time for that. We're short on time as it is."
"Come on, just listen to me say it."
PD Song pressed at his temples, then nodded with a sigh.
Writer Lee smiled and turned to Tae-il and Im Ha-na.
"Tae-il! They said that face of yours was a thug, and the picture really is good. The expressions especially."
"Thank you."
"Ha-na was good too. So, how about you two bring it to life a bit tastier?"
PD Song shook his head as though it were giving him a headache.
Tae-il met Writer Lee's eyes.
"Bring it to life tastier. What do you mean?"
"You don't have to stick to the lines exactly. You know......"
"You're saying an ad-lib would be all right."
"Yes. That's it. Don't overdo it."
Tae-il looked back at PD Song.
Unlike PD Song, who loathed an ad-lib, Writer Lee often made use of what came out of an actor sunk into a character.
'This is the opening.'
Another bit-part actor would have been frightened. For Tae-il it was an opening instead.
His eyes lit as he turned to Im Ha-na.
"As it stands I just take the water balloon and it's over."
"Right?"
"So after the water balloon hits, the youngest daughter feels sorry for me and buys a lot of tickets. How about that?"
At his words, PD Song's eyes hardened.
"Tae-il. Wouldn't that make the youngest daughter look a bit stupid?"
"No, it isn't bad."
Writer Lee cut in.
"That's good, isn't it? The youngest has that dopey side to her."
"I apologize for overstepping."
PD Song made a coughing sound and turned away, and Tae-il bowed his head.
Im Ha-na added, carefully.
"I also...... I think going the way Senior Tae-il says would be fine."
"Ha-na. Not you as well......"
"If it were me, I think I could give a senior like this about 500,000 won. The face is right there......"
With everyone taking Tae-il's side, PD Song made an uncomfortable coughing sound.
But he knew it too.
That Tae-il's read on the character held.
'He came in having worked the script hard. And this is Eun Tae-il.'
CLAP—!
With a clap of her hands, Writer Lee smiled at Tae-il.
"Good! Then we'll change it and go."
"I'll get ready."
PD Song headed for the monitor, and Writer Lee smiled at Tae-il as he went off to prepare.
"Tae-il. You put some preparation in this time, didn't you?"
"Thank you."
Tae-il answered with a smile full of confidence.
The water balloon stall went up, and the shoot resumed.
POP— SPLOOOSH—!
The balloon burst, and Tae-il took the water full on.
The waterproof makeup meant not a trace of it came off.
If anything, the hair knocked slightly out of place and the water running off him set that sculpted face off better.
'This is going to cause a riot.'
The camera director, holding tight on Tae-il's face, knew it in his gut.
When today's cut went out, things were going to get loud.
The crew behind the camera, the women especially, had shining eyes.
'Wow...... he's so, so good-looking......'
'God, he's so handsome. He's so damn pretty.'
'Goddamn. Why am I, a man, smiling at this?'
'Insane. Even up in the god tier he'd take best looks.'
Whether or not he knew they were muttering, Tae-il pushed his wet hair back and carried on with the line.
"You're buying all of these?!"
"Yes. I'll take them."
"You really don't have to! All of this comes to more than 500,000 won......"
Im Ha-na pressed the cash into Tae-il's hand, blushed faintly and smiled.
'I'd have regretted it if I'd just let him go.'
PD Song watched Im Ha-na escape the scene like a girl running away, and rose easily to his feet.
"Okay."
"Thank you, everyone!"
PD Song stood, and the crew all moved at once.
Tae-il's shoot was over.
Greeting the crew around him, Tae-il walked over to PD Song, who was sitting by the monitor.
"PD Song. Thank you for today."
"Yes, well. Eun Tae-il."
"Yes, PD Song!"
Climbing onto the crew bus, PD Song spoke in a low voice.
"You did well today. Let's see each other again."
PD Song and the crew broke the location down fast and left.
Tae-il had made his goodbyes and was turning to go when someone blocked his way.
"Eun Tae-il. Leaving?"
He turned. It was Writer Lee.
"Writer Lee. Thank you for your work."
"You too, Tae-il. Wow, do they give you handsomeness training or something?"
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Oh ho, your character is supposed to start with a snort, isn't he? What's going on? You're not terminally ill or anything?"
Writer Lee's joke rode the line, and Tae-il only smiled.
She dropped the banter and looked him over with slightly more serious eyes.
"I liked that your expressions have more range now. Part of me wants to keep working on it, but...... it's a shame."
"Call me and I'll come running, any time."
"Sure. If the connection's there we'll meet again. Next time, work with me longer."
Tae-il waved at Writer Lee's back as she went.
The crew had drained away like a tide, and the heat of the location was still there.
'I really am acting. Really......'
Tae-il watched the crew bus pull away and put a hand on his chest.
His heart was beating hard enough to shake it.
***
A few days passed after the shoot.
It was the night the episode with Tae-il in it aired on the KVS weekend drama "Families Are All Like This."
'It's been a while since the ads felt this long.'
Monitoring not some celebrity on his roster, but himself.
[KVS Weekend Drama "Families Are All Like This"]
The ads ran out, and the drama began.
The main story was carried by the eldest and second daughters and their partners.
The youngest daughter's share was small by comparison.
'Im Ha-na is a rookie. She isn't an outstanding actress, and she can't expect much muscle from her company.'
He watched on, and the scene he had been waiting for arrived.
-You're buying all of these?!
It came three-quarters of the way through.
On screen were the youngest daughter and himself, turned into a university student.
-SPLOOOSH—!
The Tae-il on screen took the water balloon, and his soaked hair settled and ran down.
'Wow...... they caught it well.'
It was as it had looked on the monitor. Better, in fact.
The sight of himself hit by the balloon brought to mind a man who had just stepped out of a shower.
Then the youngest daughter bought 500,000 won of tickets, took a smack on the back from her sisters, and the drama ended.
His screen time did not come to five minutes, and a smile came up on Tae-il's face.
'The signal went out, definitely. And now......'
Now what mattered was how people reacted.
Tae-il went through the articles and social media, then went into the viewers' board on the drama's homepage.
-Is Face Senior coming back next week?
-Day 1 of praying for Face Senior to appear......
-he's so fuuucking handsomeee......
-Get a grip, people. That is THE Eun Tae-il.
-With that face I'd pay 5 million, not 500,000. Face Senior is so damn fine......
-With that face he could say he passed green poop and I'd still swoon.
-Eun Tae-il really was fine...... that wasn't a water balloon that was a shower T_T
-look the balloon burst from swooning too T_T
-lol this place is all Face Senior lololol
There was no need to ask who Face Senior was.
The viewers' board, where hardly anybody usually posted, was filling up with talk about Face Senior.
There were anti posts scattered here and there, but not many.
'Fast reaction. Hm?'
Bzzzt— Bzzzzt—
Tae-il checked the screen and picked the phone up with a smile.
-Eun Tae-il. It's PD Song Yeong-tae.
"Ah! PD Song. Good evening."
PD Song of "Families Are All Like This."
Having confirmed it was Tae-il, PD Song went on in a stiff tone.
-It's late, so I'll be quick. Eun Tae-il. Can you come out for us this week as well?
"If you call me, of course I'll come. The same role this time?"
-That's right. The...... Face Senior.
The smile on Tae-il's mouth deepened.