Episode 64

Yeon-woo didn’t increase the speed just to boast about his horse-riding skills.

As he circled the set on horseback, observing the amount of dust rising behind him, he thought that to create a cool scene, he needed to excite the horse as much as possible, kicking its hind legs vigorously to raise plenty of sand.

Eventually, Yeon-woo intentionally designed the scene to make the horse run as fast as possible according to plan.

Returning to where the staff were, he fed the exhausted horse water and sugar cubes, then handed over the reins to the caretaker.

“You did well.”

He patted the horse’s forehead before heading towards the director.

“Director.”

“Ah, Yeon-woo. The scene turned out amazingly fast. Come and see this.”

With a smirk, Yeon-woo stood in front of the field monitor.

“Did a lot of sand fly? I tried to make as much as possible.”

“It was like a storm. Look.”

As the director manipulated the controller, the recently shot racing scene appeared. It was even more impressive than what Yeon-woo had envisioned.

The footage approached Yeon-woo as he ran in one take, then backed away, showing the landscape.

“Wow, it came out really well.”

“If we leave this scene to the CG team for editing, it will be mind-blowing.”

At that moment, Minsoo approached from behind.

“Um, Director, sorry to interrupt, but is today’s shooting over? It’s very hot today…”

Looking at Yeon-woo, who was sweating profusely.

“Oh my, look at you sweating. Hurry and change.”

“Haha. Okay, got it.”

Yeon-woo smiled and went into the trailer to change clothes.

As he took off his hanbok in the air-conditioned trailer, steam rose from his body.

“Phew.”

“Are you okay, Yeon-woo?”

Minsoo entered the trailer with water.

 

“Oh, thank you, Minsoo hyung.”

Taking the water offered by Minsoo, he quenched his thirst.

Even though Yeon-woo had good stamina, riding a horse at nearly full speed under the scorching sun, with no ventilation in his hanbok and his head wrapped in a gat, exhausted him.

After resting on a makeshift bed inside the trailer for a while, Yeon-woo greeted the filming team and got into Minsoo’s car to head to his lodging.

Checking his smartphone in the car on the way to the lodging, he saw a message from Han Hae-woon through the app.

‘Just arrived.’

Thinking about how well Han Hae-woon was doing while looking at the coastline reminiscent of the deserts of the Middle East, Yeon-woo opened the message.

[Team Leader Ryu. I’ve got a lead on Baek No-ya. We should be able to make contact within two or three months at the latest.]

Already achieving results, it seems.

Yeon-woo relayed some instructions and then put down his smartphone. Minsoo’s car quickly headed towards Seoul, and Yeon-woo, feeling tired, closed his eyes.

After a few days, he heard the news that they had started shooting for ‘The Star Beyond the River’. They would film scenes about Seo Pil, Seo Hee’s father, and his childhood first, and Yeon-woo would join them in about two weeks.

As he practiced the script as usual, his vibrating smartphone interrupted him.

“Yes, Team Leader Jung.”

[Yeon-woo, how have you been?]

“I’ve started shooting for ‘The Star Beyond the River.'”

[Oh, you’ve already started. Then we need to coordinate with you as well.]

Seeing that coordination was necessary, it seemed that the schedule had been set. If the schedule was set now, there was one thing to do.

“Has the master plan screening schedule been set already?”

[It seems that Director Park Chan-hong’s production team handled both shooting and editing. We’re in the late stages now, so it should be on the screen in two or three months.]

“Then the production briefing and preview schedules will be set soon.”

However, since he had experience handling the schedule for ‘Spring Lovers’ before, he was relaxed because he knew the process.

But this time, he was different from being a cameo child actor, now he was a lead actor.

[Yeon-woo, you’ll be incredibly busy soon. You’ll be entering a drama while handling movie schedules simultaneously. Oh, don’t worry about the schedule, it was already agreed upon during casting.]

“Team Leader Jung has always been clear, so I have no worries at all.”

[Haha. Saying that gives me strength. I’ll coordinate and let you know the dates.]

After exchanging pleasantries, he ended the call with Team Leader Jung. But it wasn’t just empty talk, Team Leader Jung had never disappointed Yeon-woo before. Not only did he handle scheduling well, but he also always achieved the best results in fee negotiations.

“Come to think of it, it’s quite a sum.”

When his current drama earnings were settled, he would have enough money to buy a house in Seoul. The officetel provided by his agency was spacious enough to live alone, but if he were to move, it would be better to save up more and move to a luxurious villa like the one Son Jin-yuk lived in.

‘It’s better to consider privacy issues as well.’

Although he felt his popularity rising steadily these days, it was still mainly among the younger generation. However, once ‘Master Plan’, which would be released soon, and ‘The Star Beyond the River’, which was currently being filmed, started airing, his popularity would rise even more.

Of course, how well they would perform was still unknown, but Yeon-woo believed in his ability to choose scripts.

To maintain viewer expectations as they entered full-fledged shooting, a making film of the script reading scene was uploaded to YouTube.

[The Star Beyond the River Making] Romance Changing the Tide of the Era, Script Reading Scene Revealed, KBC1

In the afternoon, he received a message from Seong-sik and finally found out about the uploaded video. Yeon-woo also went to watch the video, which had already surpassed 20,000 views within four hours of being uploaded. This was probably due to Jin Yu-han’s influence.

Many fans who were brought in from the drama ‘Beyond’ finished in the second half of the previous year had commented as well.

– Ppueng (4 hours ago)

Please increase Yu-han’s screen time!

– Mokcandy (3 hours ago)

Why is Jin Yu-han the supporting actor? He is the top in recognition among the three main leads?

ㄴ Ppueng: That’s true.

– Lone kim (3 hours ago)

Looking forward to the actor casting, it seems perfect.

– Drama Lover (3 hours ago)

It’s the most anticipated work of the second half of the year.

ㄴ Alleda: I heard there’s also a big production coming up on MBS.

– Kim Jaekwon (3 hours ago)

Why is Ryu Yeon-woo to keep being the lead?

ㄴ Lants: His face?

There are more comments focusing on Jin Yu-han than Ryu Yeon-woo, probably because he hasn’t been shown much as a lead yet.

“Hmm, it’s fortunate that Jin Yu-han joined.”

The next day, Yeon-woo rode in Minsoo’s car to a gymnasium.

– Clang. –

As he opened the door with the sound of the bell, the distinct smell of sweat wafted over him.

“It’s been a while, this smell.”

It was the smell he smelled every day during training in his past life, but since he started a new life, he usually exercised alone and focused on bodyweight exercises, so he rarely went to the gym.

Stretching in a corner, he noticed Jin Yu-han approaching.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Yu-han, are you here already?”

Although Yeon-woo had arrived about 30 minutes earlier than the starting time, Jin Yu-han had arrived even earlier and was stretching.

“I just got here not too long ago. I was stretching just now after reading the script because my body felt stiff.”

He seemed sincere and diligent, especially when it came to acting.

Other than that, he seemed uninterested in everything else, which was unusual.

Putting aside Yu-han’s words, Yeon-woo looked inside the gym and saw many people practicing together.

It was the special filming team mainly responsible for action scenes.

Then, the martial arts coach, Do Gwang-wook, who he had seen a few times in the media, approached them.

“Hello. I’m Do Gwang-wook.”

Looking at Yeon-woo, he extended his hand. Do Gwang-wook was a well-known figure in this field as a martial arts coach.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ryu Yeon-woo.”

Shaking hands with both hands, Yeon-woo greeted him. Do Gwang-wook and Jin Yu-han seemed to be on friendly terms as he patted Jin Yu-han’s shoulder.

He had seen him on set since he was young, and since ‘Beyond’, Jin Yu-han’s previous work, was a time-slip detective story with many action scenes, he had received continuous guidance during filming.

“Now, since you’re here early, let’s start right away. Yu-han, you probably don’t need separate basic training, and Mr. Ryu Yeon-woo, have you ever done any exercise separately?”

Yeon-woo pondered how to answer Do Gwang-wook’s question. While his current body was that of an ordinary man who mainly did ball games or bodyweight exercises, in his past life, he was considered a master of practical martial arts and various weapon techniques.

“Sure, I’ve learned some weapon and combat skills.”

Yeon-woo’s response seemed somewhat ambiguous, not because he was trying to boast, but because the preparation period for filming wasn’t long, so it seemed necessary to skip some unnecessary basic steps.

Do Gwang-wook, with an unexpectedly intrigued expression at Yeon-woo’s response.

‘Combat skills? Not boxing or taekwondo?’

Uncertain if it was just the enthusiasm of a young man or what level of skill he had, Do Gwang-wook felt the need to test it out.

“Since we can’t gauge your level, let’s do a simple test.”

“Yes, understood.”

Upon the martial arts coach’s instruction, one of the members brought two short foam sticks and mitts used for boxing training.

“First, would you like to try hitting the mitt? Think of it as boxing.”

“Okay.”

Yeon-woo looked at the martial arts coach who held the mitts and he loosened his body and lightly jabbed.

Stepping forward and backward, putting force on his shoulders, he extended his left hand lightly.

Tap, tap.

With a lively step and precise posture, Yeon-woo’s jabs came in. The martial arts coach called for a straight.

“Okay, one-two.”

One-two meant following up a jab with a straight punch in a continuous motion.

Putting force on his pivot foot, he quickly threw out jabs and as he retracted, he twisted his body, extending his right hand like a throw for the straight punch.

– Thud. –

With quite a solid sound, Yeon-woo’s right hand hit the mitt.

‘Wow, that’s solid. His posture is correct.’

The martial arts coach’s eyes slightly widened at the impact that seemed to embed in the mitt.

Continuing to call for jabs and straights, the martial arts coach opened his mouth.

“How much boxing have you learned?”

“I haven’t learned separately. I just trained comprehensively in combat.”

Yeon-woo hadn’t learned boxing separately but had learned a comprehensive combat technique developed solely for lethal purposes for field agents.

If the martial arts coach asked about boxing in detail, he wouldn’t be able to answer. So, while he hadn’t learned boxing, he admitted it ambiguously. However, the martial arts coach seemed to smile at his response.

‘He’s never learned boxing, yet his speed and posture are like this? What kind of training did he do?’

Curious, the martial arts coach also warmed up and raised the mitts.

“Let’s increase the tempo slightly and imagine it as a real fight. There’s no headgear, but the mitts are soft, so there shouldn’t be any injuries.”

Hearing that, Yeon-woo inwardly chuckled bitterly, although he didn’t show it outwardly.

‘It would be troublesome to think of it as a real fight. I should be careful.’