Chapter 167

Chapter 167

‘Nothing has changed at all.’

I felt the gaze of the director from Myungwoo Corporation watching me from the corner.

His gaze was full of bravado, his reactions were as light as an empty cart, and he had the mannerisms one would expect from a director.

He wasn’t a difficult person to understand. Back then or now.

“Actor. Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m at my best.”

“That’s a relief. The shoot is quite challenging, so don’t overdo it. No matter how well you do, it won’t be a one-take shoot. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I won’t push myself.”

Jin-bae hyung gave my shoulder a light massage, cheering me on, before stepping back.

The first space in the set I entered was ‘a typical student’s room.’

I lay down on the bed in the middle of the room.

The camera on the ceiling captured my messy hair and bare face.

‘Now, I just need to act like a typical student.’

This time, there was no need to focus deeply on immersion or emotional depiction.

The important thing in this one-take shoot was to accurately portray a ‘typical student’ and hit the right timing.

It was all about timing.

Since even a single mistake meant reshooting from the beginning, I spent all of yesterday syncing with the other actors.

‘This is a first for me.’

How could it be this fun the more I did it?

I wondered if it was okay for me to enjoy this so much, yet I couldn’t suppress my rising smile.

“Starting the shoot!”

Alright, let’s focus.

I turned onto my side on the bed and closed my eyes.

“One, two― action!”

With the shout of “action,” the phone alarm next to the bed went off.

I immediately frowned and turned off the alarm irritably.

‘Breathe here.’

I exhaled in annoyance, then sprang up.

As I got up, I grabbed the school uniform shirt at the end of the bed.

While heading out of the room into the second space, ‘the living room,’ I quickly put on the shirt.

I only put on the shirt over my white T-shirt and navy pants.

‘There, uniform complete.’

The cameras followed me along the preset path without me paying any attention to them.

I ran straight to the shoe rack and shoved on my sneakers.

The actress playing my mother hit my back while nagging at me.

‘They’ll cover it with music anyway, so I don’t need to speak.’

I responded with a frustrated look, hastily eating the rice wrapped in seaweed she handed me.

With my cheeks puffed out, I grabbed my bag from the sofa.

Then I opened the door and entered the third space, ‘the street.’

It was crowded with people going to work and students heading to school.

I weaved through the crowd, avoiding people left and right.

‘Here, I almost bump into someone.’

At the preset timing, an extra actor rushed in.

I barely avoided bumping into them, making a surprised face.

I quickly said, “Sorry,” without stopping my movement.

Then I opened the door to the fourth space, ‘the bus.’

The door opened to reveal another space, an unrealistic composition, but I was now a typical student.

To this student, this was routine.

I looked for an empty seat with a nonchalant expression, finding one and approaching it immediately.

Though it was a set, it was realistic enough to be mistaken for a real bus.

‘Of course, this isn’t typical.’

I gave the camera some time to capture the material of the seat I was about to sit on, then sat down naturally.

‘Breathe for two seconds, then get up in three.’

My mind moved quickly, and my body moved even faster.

Before my brain gave the command, my body moved at the right moment.

I hurriedly pressed the bus bell and opened the next door.

Then I arrived at the fifth space, ‘the classroom.’

As soon as I entered, boys rushed to greet me roughly, and I found my seat.

I grabbed the chair and sat down in one smooth motion.

After making a face that said, ‘Barely made it on time,’ I relaxed.

The camera captured the material of the chair I was sitting on.

After confirming it with a side glance, I stood up naturally.

‘Next is the playground.’

I took off my shirt with one hand while opening the classroom door with the other.

As soon as I arrived at the new space, a basketball flew at my face.

I caught the ball instinctively.

‘He threw it too hard.’

He should have aimed for my waist.

The actor who threw it also seemed to realize his mistake, his face momentarily stiffening.

‘Let’s keep going without breaking the flow.’

I shouted with a smile, “I almost died, man.”

It didn’t matter what I said since the video would be overlaid with pop music anyway.

Bounce, bounce, bounce!

I dribbled the basketball quickly.

I stopped at a spot marked with tape, then jumped.

“Yay!”

As soon as I confirmed the ball went through the hoop, the actors playing my friends ran to me.

I pushed back the actors who clung to me like they were about to crush me, then picked up my uniform shirt from the ground.

Then I opened another door.

This time, a new street appeared, and I ran without hesitation.

Fans set up everywhere made my hair flutter gently.

I felt the cool breeze and smiled, continuing to run.

I thought, ‘What kind of student smiles while running?’

‘Well, the advertiser wants a lively feel.’

After running enough to break a sweat, I opened the final door.

What appeared before me was a house.

However, it was completely different from the house I started in.

The same props were in the same places, but the floor beneath them had changed.

I stepped into the living room, which was covered with bed sheets instead of floor mats.

‘This is exhausting.’

There’s a reason it’s so expensive.

The mattress was so firm that it felt heavy whenever I ran on it.

Still, I had to show an image of liveliness.

Like a child jumping on a trampoline, I bounced with a joyful face.

I flew through the living room like I was flying and returned to the bedroom.

I jumped onto the bed again.

“Huff, huff.”

I deliberately breathed heavily and looked at the camera on the ceiling.

The camera lens captured my slightly disheveled hair and flushed face.

Feeling my heartbeat pounding like a freshly caught fish, I closed my eyes.

‘Up to here, 55 seconds.’

I needed to smile gently at 58 seconds.

Even while catching my breath, my mental timer kept running.

56,

57,

58!

With my eyes closed, I smiled.

It had been a busy, typical day.

“…Cut!!!”

“Wow!!”

“That was amazing!! Did we just pass in one go?!”

“Incredible! Yeon-jae, you were incredible!!”

With the director’s call of “cut,” cheers erupted from all directions.

I mirrored the thumbs-up gesture from a staff member giving me one.

‘I need to work out more.’

I was out of breath, too much so.

Panting, I drank the water Jin-bae hyung handed me.

“Are you okay, actor?”

“This is really exhausting.”

“Haha. Saying that with that face makes it hard to believe. You were great yesterday, but today you were really in your element. I didn’t expect you to succeed in one take.”

Right. I didn’t expect it to be done in one take either.

While Jin-bae hyung wiped my sweat, I calmly caught my breath.

The product I was advertising, Myungwoo Corporation’s bed, had a quality befitting its high price.

Using such a good bed only for sleeping seemed like a waste.

So, in the ad, parts of the bus seat, school chair, basketball court floor, and living room floor were replaced with Myungwoo Corporation’s bed.

In other words, it was an ad depicting a day where you could find Myungwoo Corporation’s bed everywhere.

“Good thing we practiced yesterday. Thanks to that, we succeeded in one take.”

At my words, Jin-bae hyung shook his head with a smile.

“No. While practice definitely helped, I think it’s because of whether there’s a camera or not.”

“Sorry?”

“I think you really come alive when the camera is rolling.”

Jin-bae hyung’s childlike bright smile was nice to see. Cute, even.

‘That’s true.’

Since the shoot was very challenging, we synced all day yesterday, but it wasn’t perfect like just now.

I turned to look at the camera.

That red light once looked like the bait a deep-sea fish used to lure its prey.

I smirked at the thought.

I couldn’t imagine a life without acting anymore.

* * *

Team Leader Choi Eun-seok sighed as he watched Lee Yeon-jae smiling.

‘Is there no word stronger than monster?’

At this point, even calling him a monster seemed too weak.

‘Is there really a kid like that? Is he really 15?’

He’s not lying about his age, is he?

Choi Eun-seok pondered deeply.

This commercial’s point was to capture the rich texture using the ‘one-take’ filming technique.

There were plans for two versions: a 15-second edited version for TV and a 1-minute full one-take version.

But Choi Eun-seok was confident.

Most people who saw the 15-second commercial first would search for the full version.

‘For the modern busy society, even 1 minute is a long time.’

But the 1 minute just now felt too short.

‘If we edit it more intensely, it will be more enjoyable to watch.’

This was all possible because of

Lee Yeon-jae’s performance. The planning and acting.

‘He definitely uses his body well.’

I had heard he was learning action recently, but I didn’t expect it to be to this level.

Having seen him dance in the sneaker commercial, I knew he wasn’t an ordinary actor.

‘The fact that he improved even more is what’s amazing.’

His form, adjusting his leg angle minutely as he ran on the firm mattress, was like art.

‘He’s really talented….’

Lee Yeon-jae’s comment at the first planning meeting was also remarkable.

‘Considering the bed’s price, the target audience doesn’t seem to be ordinary citizens, right?’

‘Yes, that’s correct, actor.’

‘But more ordinary citizens watch TV.’

‘…….’

‘If you want to maintain a positive image among the public, you shouldn’t create an ad that excludes some people.’

Choi Eun-seok was impressed by that sharp insight.

So, the concept changed from a fairy-tale-like story to a realistic one.

The bed price remained the same, so not everyone could buy it.

But in the commercial, the bed sheets were integrated into daily life places, like the bus seat where Lee Yeon-jae sat.

In other words, it indirectly conveyed that everyone could enjoy the luck of having this bed.

‘People are fickle.’

Knowing that it’s a high price they can’t easily afford, yet unconsciously feeling generous if they’re not excluded.

In that sense, using Lee Yeon-jae was a good choice.

‘A face that can’t be found anywhere else playing a typical student.’

Lee Yeon-jae didn’t overdo his student look or create an artificially bright expression.

He showed frustration at having to wake up early, spent a hectic day bumping into various people, but eventually returned home as a typical student.

The face full of irritation at the beginning gradually filled with vitality, making the viewer feel good.

‘The timing of his final smile was perfect.’

The previous concept felt like a fairy tale.

A story about luck granted only to a few people.

But Lee Yeon-jae said he wanted this luck to be granted to everyone.

So the final advertising copy changed too.

‘So that luck can be laid in your everyday life. From Myeong-u.’

An ad that lets everyone enjoy the luck, or at least get deceived into thinking so.

A 15-year-old created this.

Team Leader Choi looked at the gently smiling boy.

‘That kid….’

That actor was a genius.