“Mr. Maru. That was so clean that it felt off instead. You were really good, but can you cover the label of the beer with one hand slightly? Even if you cover up the letters, everyone can recognize the brand,” said producer Seok to Maru, who was sitting down and leaning on the sofa.
“Is this good enough?” Maru asked as he wrapped the middle of the can with his pinky.
The producer nodded seeing that it looked natural. The advertis.e.m.e.nt planner, who was also present, said that it was okay.
Before they began the shoot again, he went over the storyboard again. Although he was shooting according to the design that was given to him, he wanted to make a few changes now that he saw the model on the scene.
“It’s really good with Mr. Maru on the set, so don’t you think it’ll be better to have him as the background and insert the product rather than putting the product forward?”
“I think that will be better too, but there’s a design that had already received confirmation, so why don’t we go with an additional shoot instead? We can’t adjust it now, so I think we should suggest the change when we display the outcome.”
“That sounds good.”
Producer Seok crossed his arms and looked at Maru. Maru, the model, showed what it meant to drink appetizingly. Once this commercial went on air during prime hours, people would pick up their wallets and go to the nearby convenience store.
“Mr. Maru. Let’s fill it up with water and do that again,” producer Seok said as he looked at the row of empty beer cans outside the studio.
Maru had been drinking beer nonstop saying that only then would it feel real and had drunk over ten cans already.
“I can’t make the right expression if I drink water.”
“Are you sure you don’t just like beer?”
“There you have it,” Maru said with a smile.
The model said he was okay with it, so he had no reason to refuse. After spraying some water on the surface of the can to make it look chillier, the staff gave a can to Maru.
“Okay, we’ll continue where we left off. Mr. Maru, please exaggerate the chilliness of the drink this time. It was good last time, but I want to see how it looks if you go overboard a little.”
“Okay.”
Maru made various expressions even before the camera started rolling.
Producer Seok had shot numerous commercials until now, but this was the first time he had such an easy time. He got whatever atmosphere he wanted as long as he gave the orders, so there was no easier shoot than this.
“Okay, then, we’ll start now,” he shouted.
* * *
“In my opinion, you have a liver and a kidney that’s three times stronger than other people. That’s why you don’t feel anything after drinking beer throughout the whole shoot,” Yeonjin said as he looked at Maru who was in the back seat.
“Who gets drunk from beer?”
“Well, I do. Even people who can drink a lot will feel tipsy if they drink so much in a short period of time like you did.”
He handed over a strawberry milk that he bought from the convenience store. It was something that Maru always looked for after drinking.
“But don’t you feel sick if you drink milk after drinking alcohol?”
“I used to, but I got used to it after drinking this all the time. At this point, strawberry milk works better than most hangover drinks for me.”
“That’s a strange habit there, relieving your hangover with strawberry milk.”
“I thought the same at first.”
Maru drank the milk while shrugging. Yeonjin started the car and asked,
“You’re going to go back home, right?”
“No, there’s a place I have to visit.”
“Where are you going?”
He inputted the address that Maru said into the GPS navigation. While driving, he checked Maru’s state from time to time. Despite having drunk beer throughout the whole shoot, he was sitting upright in the back seat, reading a book.
“You look like you read at least ten books a month. I can barely read one every year.”
“There’s no better hobby than this. It doesn’t use that much money, it kills time, and it’s easy on the body. You should read some books sometime too. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll start reading out of habit.”
“I think habit means different things for you and me. In my case, habit refers to drinking, smoking, and playing games. I think even the most studious people will rarely say that they read books out of habit.”
“I’m very studious, you see.”
Yeonjin turned the driving wheel and spoke,
“Any books you want to recommend?”
“What’s been your interest lately?”
“Well, it hasn’t changed at all. How to buy real estate for cheap. How to buy stocks that rise. How to found a successful business.”
“You’re interested in the most difficult things in this world, huh.”
“Isn’t everyone like that? They take interest in other things because they feel insecure about the things they’re doing now.”
“Are you quitting your job?”
Yeonjin looked through the rearview mirror and spoke,
“Why does the conversation go there?”
“Because that’s what I felt. Or are you preparing for something else?”
“It’s not exactly something I should keep secret from you, so… actually, I’m planning to set up my own shop. Once you start working in this industry, you realize that you only have two paths ahead of you. One is to leave JA and create your own agency, and the other is to get promoted to team leader level and above. But I don’t like either of them. Though, rather than not liking it, I don’t have the confidence to do it.”
“What kind of business item are you thinking about?”
“For now, a café. I’m not saying that I’ll go all in. I just looked for something that I can do alongside my job, and a café seemed to be the best choice.”
“It should be okay as long as you find a good place, but you should look into it carefully.”
Yeonjin nodded and responded,
“That’s why I plan to receive some consulting. Rather than preparing everything from scratch, I think it would be better to buy an existing one and manage that one. I looked at various websites, and the investment-to-profit ratio isn’t so bad.”
“You received a consultation already?”
“The earlier I prepare, the better. They told me that good items get sold out quickly, so it’s better to proceed as soon as possible.”
“You are?saying that after doing your research, right?”
“Someone reliable recommended it to me.”
Maru closed the book he was reading.
“It might sound unpleasant, but normally, you get swindled by the people you know.”
“No way. He’s not someone who would do that. Also, I had a close look at the contents, and there shouldn’t be a problem.”
The GPS navigation notified them that they were at the destination. It was Daechi-dong, a place full of cram schools and academies. Just as he was about to tell Maru that they were here, his phone made a sound. When he had a look, he saw that he had received a message. It was from team leader Park, whom he had gotten to know through the business consultation company.
The content was about how there was a better place than the café they were originally talking about.
“Maybe I’m getting lucky.”
“What is it?”
“I just got told that there’s a better café out for sale.”
“Hyung, can I have a look at your phone?”
Yeonjin handed his phone to Maru. Maru, who had a look at that text message, spoke,
“Don’t sign this contract right away and bring me with you.”
“Bring you?”
“I’m okay with it, so bring me with you before you sign that contract. You should make use of a celebrity acquaintance at a time like this.”
“I’d be grateful if you do, but…”
Maru got out of the car and told him to delay the meeting with team leader Park by just one day.
Yeonjin said okay. Delaying the meeting by a day wasn’t a problem.
“Be careful on your way back.”
He drove off after seeing Maru enter the building.
* * *
“The beginning part was good, but I think the emotions got too out of hand toward the end. With that, the p.r.o.nunciation was mangled as well. I get what he’s trying to do, but it wasn’t conveyed properly.”
“That’s what he says. Jooyoung, what do you say?”
Bangjoo looked at Jooyoung who was standing in the middle of the practice room. He was just moving his eyes without saying anything as though he was thinking about Jungho’s opinion just now.
After about ten seconds of silence, Jooyoung spoke.
“The exaggeration of emotions was something I intended. I thought that acting that’s too clean doesn’t have any charm. Anyone would lose reason to some extent if they become angry, and that loss of reason would affect their speech as well. I pursue natural-looking acting, so I’m satisfied with it,” Jooyoung said.
“Any other opinions?” instructor Miso asked as she crossed her legs. Both Jungho’s opinion and Jooyoung’s counter-opinion made sense, so Bangjoo didn’t say anything.
“Didn’t I tell all of you before we started? Today, you should be prepared to bite each other’s necks off. Are you going to keep acting like gentlemen?”
“I don’t have anything to retort to Jooyoung,” said another student
Miso tied her loosened hair and stood up.
“You don’t mean that you don’t have anything to retort to, but that you need some….”
Knock, knock
There was a knock on the door. Bangjoo looked at the door to the practice room. If it was any other instructor from the school, they would’ve opened the door without knocking. Instructor Miso also found it strange and called out,
“Who is it?”
The door opened slightly. Bangjoo stared at the person who poked his head inside the door and stood up abruptly in surprise.
“Han Maru, what brings you here so suddenly?” Miso said first.
Hearing the name Han Maru, everyone present slacked their jaws before screeching. Regardless of gender, everyone stood up and rushed towards the door.
“h.e.l.lo. Yes, h.e.l.lo, there. Nice to meet you too,” Maru greeted the students as he came inside.
“I came here to see Miso noo-nim, but Bangjoo’s here too, huh?”
Maru put out the plastic bags he held in both hands. It was fried chicken.
“You should eat before continuing with cla.s.s. Noo-nim, can we do that?”
“If I don’t let them eat here, they will probably kill me. Everyone, get ready to eat.”
A bottle of beer and fried chicken were laid out on top of the acting school’s calendar. Everyone, who would start off by grabbing their chickens, was looking at Maru and not the chicken.
“Stop looking at me and get to eating. It’s not like looking at me will feed you.”
“No, I feel really satisfied. I honestly didn’t believe instructor Miso when she said she knew you. I never thought I’d see you for real like this.”
“I didn’t know Miso noo-nim’s credibility was so low.”
Miso, who was listening, spoke,
“If you know that, then visit from time to time. Seungah comes often, you know?”
“I’m a busy person, you see.”
“That sounds c.o.c.ky, but I can’t really refute that.”
The students, who were awkward at first, all became at ease when Maru treated them comfortably. Just as they were eating and drinking, Maru asked,
“Are you learning well?”
Bangjoo confidently responded with a yes. Miso fitted him with the basics that he had always lacked. He could say with confidence that his breathing and p.r.o.nunciation had become better compared to last year.
“Uhm, senior! Can’t you show us a short act? We were just in a lesson where we were criticizing other people’s acting.”
“That’s fun. I used to do that a lot too.”
Miso wiped her hands and spoke,
“Since we’re on the topic, we should just tell Maru to show us that. Jooyoung, do the act you did before.”
“Right now?”
“A celebrity actor will look at your acting. You don’t want that?”
“Of course I do! No one can take it from me.”
Jooyoung stood up. He displayed the act he had shown off before. He got angry and the act finished off with him screaming.
“That’s very energetic,” Maru said.
Jooyoung grinned at the compliment.
“But the transmission leaves room to be desired.”
Maru pointed out similar things. Jooyoung soon stood up for himself, saying that it was a natural phenomenon from the emotions being amplified.
“You’re right about that. However, actors need to ‘act’ what is natural, not just let go of themselves because that is what’s natural. What is natural and what looks natural definitely have their differences.”
Maru stood up. He repeated Jooyoung’s lines and showed the same emotions. While it looked similar until about halfway through, the latter part was different, where the emotions burst out. His p.r.o.nunciation was clear and his breathing didn’t feel forced. It was neat and yet stuck to realism.
“That’s what I was trying to get at. Okay?” instructor Miso said as she twitched one eye.
Maru smiled and sat down.