The First Night Shoot

10 p.m., somewhere near the Han River.

Yeo Ri, Park Jung Ho, and Won was at the centre of a crowd, with at least four cameras pointing at them. The setting of the scene was as such—

—Three teens were lugging around their baggages as they ran away from the patrolling police officers who had caught them loitering around after getting kicked out of a communal bath and sauna.

It was nighttime, and because they were underaged, they couldn't stay overnight at the sauna without a guardian. Not even 'Ji Soo', who was nearly legal, could save their backs. In the end, they could only try to brainstorm on places where they could sleep in safely.

"'I swear, if we have to sleep under a bridge or in a tunnel somewhere—'"

"'Well, what can we do? It's not like we have a lot of money. We need to save up if we want to survive for at least the next few days,'" Won sighed. He looked annoyed as if he was thinking about how much farther he had to go along with the farce that was their situation.

"'Or... or maybe... we can just give up and go to the school field trip like we said we would?'" Park Jung Ho raised his tone as if he was hopeful that the other two would agree with his proposal.

"'No!'" Yeo Ri immediately rejected. "'It's only been a day and you want to give up?! We're supposed to be running away; how could we ever change something if we just go back with tails between our hips!'"

Won sighed. "'It's legs—tails between our legs,'" he corrected the bimbo. "'And fancy hearing that from someone who decided to run away just because daddy won't buy you the thing you want.'"

"'You—!'" Yeo Ri flared, pursing her lips angrily.

"'Guys! Guys, guys, guys! Stop fighting! C'mon, we're all in this together. We should be sticking together and take care of one another instead of fighting. It's us against the world now, c'mon, don't be so mean to each other, please?'" Park Jung Ho coaxed his two friends pleadingly.

The two frenemies glared at each other for a few moments before deciding to harrumph and look away. The two mirrored each other, both crossing their arms across their chest and turning their bodies away.

"'Guys...'" Park Jung Ho sighed.

"'Geez! No phone, no money, and I can't even use my credit card! This sucks!'" Yeo Ri cried out her grievances.

"'And you still don't wanna go home! B*tch!'" Won snapped. He displayed a frustrated look as if he was sick and tired of her unreasonableness.

Park Jung Ho, too, seemed tired of their bickering. He moved to placate them. "'Gu—'"

"'—Hey, you kids! What are you doing loitering around at 2 a.m.?!'"

A patrolling policeman caught sight of them. Judging from their obviously young faces and the bright pink suitcase the young girl had by her side, it was clear that these were impressionable school kids who decided to stay out for the night... or many nights. Adding to that, it was even more suspicious that the trio was a mix of two boys and a girl, making it seem as if they were up to no good.

"'You wait right th—hey! Stay there, you hooligans! You're all coming with me to the station and I'll call your parents! Stop—!'"

Noticing the policeman, the three immediately bounced on their heel, running away again for the second time that night.

As soon as they ran out of the main camera's frame, the director yelled, "Cut!"

"Alright, we're gonna take a break then move to Scene 72," the man informed.

Yeo Ri heaved a sigh of relief as the physical part of the night's shoot came to an end. She had been running so much—up and down a hill and over flat concrete—and despite her increased stamina thanks to her martial arts and self-defence classes, she was still not strong enough to withstand the laborious activities the actors were subjected to. 

A stylist came over to help fix her makeup and her bun as she trotted over to her reserved seat.

Won trailed behind her, stretching his limbs in exhaustion.

"I'm so tired~" Park Jung Ho yawned. He sat down on his seat, resting briefly for a few moments before pulling out his script to review the next scene.

"I can't believe we had to do so many running takes... it's not like they actually needed that many," Won complained.

"Watch it be a thirty second montage," Park Jung Ho laughed emptily, knowing that the few hours of their efforts would only amount to ten minutes of screen time at most.

Yeo Ri smiled helplessly at his words. However, instead of adding into the conversation, she changed her focus to the two men who had just flanked her side with a bottle of water and a face towel.

"Yeo Ri, are you okay? You've worked hard," Gun asked worriedly as he gently wiped away the thin layer of perspiration on her face. He fretted about the fact that Yeo Ri might catch a cold due to the cool summer night's air.

"Miss, please have a drink and rest up," Secretary Kwon readily handed her a bottle of water with its cap already twisted open.

"..."

Won and Park Jung Ho stared at the scene speechlessly. Even though the two of them also had their managers to assist them on set, their guardians weren't as devoted as the two men by the beauty's side.

"...Wow, why can't my manager treat me that nicely. Noona, bring me a drink too," Park Jung Ho turned to look at the woman who stood behind him, busily speaking to her phone.

The woman raised her head to look at him with dead fish eyes.

"Tsk."

Almost begrudgingly, the older woman walked over to the concession table and gingerly picked out a bottle of mineral water. The woman, with a face full of unwillingness, handed the bottle to her charge.

"...I'll really fire you. I really will." Park Jung Ho threatened weakly at the woman's apparent discourtesy.

"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue again before ignoring the younger boy and returning her attention to her phone.

On the other hand, Won turned to look at his kind and portly uncle-like manager. The older man smiled wryly as he, too, handed him a bottle of water with the words, "Good work, Won-ah," with a tone that was neither too distant nor too close.

"Hyung, you're the best. Just stay the way you are," Won said gratefully, his eyes darting over to the two overprotective bodyguards and the coldhearted lady.