After Story 223

When he was young, a circus troupe once visited his neighborhood. The large tent that was set up in a clearing was the most perfect building to knock the soul out of a child.

He picked up a flier for the circus and ran to his mom. He could only go watch the circus after promising her that he’d be a good boy.

When he went inside, it wasn’t as big as he had expected. Still, though, the performance was impressive. Even though he was all grown up now, he could clearly picture it in his mind if he closed his eyes.

The sparkly clothes of the members, the tall man jumping to and fro between swings in the air, and the small woman who freely played around with sticks that were on fire.

“One, two, three! Jump, land, kick.”

Seeing the action director and Maru’s combat, he was reminded of the circus performance that day. The short spear and the sword clashed at rapid speeds. They twisted, turned, and jumped… the fight scene was on the level of acrobatics.

When Maru struck out his spear like he was fencing, the action director ducked underneath the spear and pushed him back with his shoulder.

Maru was jolted backward and rolled across the ground. Youngsun exclaimed when Maru jumped like there was a mattress on the ground. Wasn’t he scared at all?

Having rolled on the dirt, causing a cloud of dust, Maru pushed against the ground to stand up. The way he sprung up using his back made him look like a martial artist in a movie he saw as a child.

“Director, you’re going to break my ribs.” Maru walked over, swinging around the short spear.

Although there was some dirt on his clothes, he didn’t look injured.

“You’re overreacting. Also, you’re more energetic than during practice.”

“It was the real deal after all. Fighting scenes are just that exciting.”

Joohyuk smiled brightly. He looked really pleased.

Youngsun thought about the audition that happened a month ago and smiled bitterly. Han Maru wasn’t here because JA pushed him. Director Kwon Joohyuk must’ve selected him.

“When he and I are fighting, maintain your distance. As I said before, three paces from the wall. Don’t cross that line I just drew. If your teams properly continue your action, you won’t be able to cross it even if you want to. Focus. The moment anyone gets hurt while trying to stand out is the moment I’m going to send them home.”

Although they were plastic mock-ups, there was a risk of injury when getting hit. This was especially the case with swords because using a sword contained a lot of big motions and could hit someone outside of the user’s vision. On the off chance that a plastic sword poked someone’s eye… that would be terrible.

The rehearsal continued, centered around Maru and the action director. Youngsun focused on each of his actions. The more he practiced, the quicker he became and the fewer mistakes he made.

By the time team 4 and team 3 were almost perfectly in sync, the camera came over. The camera director, holding a steady cam, checked movement paths with the action director. The first camera also ran around busily.

Not to mention the actors doing action acting, even the director had to move at just the right speed down the right path, so it was a picky shoot.

It seemed like they were going to take a long take starting from the end of the alleyway, and if a minor actor happened to make a mistake, the director would get angry.

“This is the first shoot, but it’s so hard already,” said someone from the team.

Youngsun had similar sentiments.

The final rehearsal began. The camera director also moved as well.

When teams 1 and 2 clashed and fell down, the camera director walked right in between the two groups.

Han Maru quickly came out from the left alley. The action director blocked his path and the two entered the combat scene from before.

The wooden short spear and the mock-up sword clashed, creating a crisp sound.

That sound was a trigger for team 4 to jump in as well. They were careful not to get in the way of the other Red Tiger Troops and charged against the soldiers of team 3.

Youngsun dodged a sword that went past his face and spun around. As agreed before, he was attacked at an angle from the left.

Left, left, spin, fall back.

He proceeded with the actions he had memorized without making a mistake and stepped backward. When he was a certain distance away from the wall, Han Maru jumped in.

Even though it wasn’t the real shoot, Han Maru swung around the short spear with a shout. That energy made his body jerk. He watched Han Maru, the captain, as though he was really a member of the Red Tiger Troops.

There was another bout with Joohyuk. As this was the final rehearsal, neither of them held back. The sword and the short spear clashed, making the onlookers worried that one of them might get hurt.

Whether it was Maru swinging the short spear with large leg movements or Joohyuk precariously parrying the short spear, they both looked amazing.

As he had watched this a few times, their movements looked familiar to him. Three clashes later, Maru would let go of the spear.

One above the shoulder, one on the right, and one while defending the shin.

Huff

The action director clenched his teeth and drew his sword upwards. Maru’s short spear flew up and fell down on the ground.

“Everyone get back!”

That line dug into his ears. Youngsun glared at the soldiers opposite him before turning around and running. He did not slow down until he ran past where the staff were standing.

“I think that should do it. But it’s really hard,” said a member of his team, frowning.

The heat was really bad. It was hard to just stay standing, but they had to focus and move violently in a tense scene.

His clothes were already drenched in sweat. Some people had their mustaches fall off and had to stick them on again.

After hearing that the shoot was going to start in ten minutes, Youngsun looked for the staff that handed out the straw shoes.

He didn’t realize when he was practicing, but his toes were not in great shape. It seemed that running around in a pair of straw shoes that weren’t his size had caused blisters.

He went to the van that had all the props, but he couldn’t see anyone there. The doors were locked as well, not that he would be able to rummage through anything even if it was open.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

He grabbed a staff member passing by.

“I need to change my shoes; they don’t fit me.”

“I’m not in charge of that. The items handed out are checked as well.”

“I know, but it’s hard to keep working in these. Do you know where the person in charge is?”

“I don’t. I’m not sure about the details since I was externally contracted just for this project.”

“Ah, okay.”

He waited in front of the van for a while before heading back to the shooting location. When he frowned in pain, someone next to him spoke,

“What is it?”

“The shoes aren’t my size. I thought it would be okay if I kept wearing them, but I guess it’s not.”

“I think they’re going to start the shoot soon.”

It was a shoot that involved over a hundred people. If a minor actor delayed everything, then he would get a lot of resentful glares. Perhaps he might be scolded for not being able to endure and sent home.

“I’ll have to endure just for this scene then. It’s not serious.”

The shoot began. When he stood in front of the camera, the pain from his toes became numb. He felt like he could endure.

He stomped on the ground once. It pricked a little, but it was okay.

“Focus, everyone.”

After the words from the action director, the director’s sign fell. Along with the word action, the members of the team, who were getting ready, stepped forward.

The teams that were shouting moderately during the rehearsal were now shouting for real.

After seeing Maru enter, team 4 also shouted and charged forward. They fought perfectly in sync with team 3 to create a space.

The action director and Han Maru entered the space formed in the middle of the battle.

“If the lord can only endure by extorting the people, what use is that!” Han Maru shouted.

It wasn’t the calm voice he made during his introduction. A sense of frustration could be felt from his shout. He was showing that he wasn’t just an actor who could use his body well.

“Having a mouth does not mean you can say whatever you want.”

“You see, I’m not that educated. I’m different from you lot who get fed by the nation, so excuse me.”

“You lowlife!”

Joohyuk, who was an actor as well as the action director, shouted furiously before charging towards Han Maru.

As a soldier, the action director wielded his sword in a neat and restrained manner, while Han Maru looked very rough, rolling on the ground everywhere.

Seeing the two battling, Youngsun felt his morale going up as though he was actually in battle. His body jerked. He felt like he had to rush forward and fight those soldiers.

Just as the battle between Han Maru and Kwon Joohyuk was finishing up, a bad sound could be heard.

It was a vehicle.

A truck could be seen driving past right behind the shooting location. It probably was caught by the camera as well.

“Oh really, now.”

Everyone stopped. The director started shouting.

Are you not controlling the passage properly, did you not tell the administration here, et cetera.

A young man quickly rushed over to where the truck was.

“I was just thinking that we might be able to finish in one go.”

A team member laughed in a daze. There seemed to be construction within the traditional village as some more trucks went by. There seemed to have been a miscommunication in the process of asking for permission for the shoot.

The shoot was delayed. The talks with the administration of the village seemed to have been finished as the assistant director said that they would start again in ten minutes.

Youngsun looked at his feet while sweating. He couldn’t see because of the shoes, but he could tell that he was bleeding.

He frowned whenever his toes hurt. He felt like he could endure during the shoot, but now that he lost his tension, the pain was several times more intense.

It would’ve been much easier if he was wearing the shoes worn by the soldiers.

He took off his hat and sat down on the ground. He carefully took off his shoes and looked at his toes. His pinky toe had turned red because a blister had popped.

“Goddammit.”

It was a really vague wound. It didn’t hurt like hell, but it was enough to make him frown during the shoot. The shoot was already delayed as it was due to the trucks, so he didn’t want to delay it any longer by saying that he was hurt.

Having no choice, he put on the shoes again and stood up. He thought that he just had to clench his teeth and last.

Just then,

“Are you unwell?”

Han Maru was standing in front of him.

“What?”

“I saw that your expression wasn’t good during the last bit of the shoot. You were slower to react than when we first practiced. Is there a problem with your toes?”

“I just got blisters. It’s nothing serious.”

“The shoes are too small, right?”

“Yeah.”

He felt awkward and spoke while looking at the ground,

“I can endure this much,” he added just in case.

“Even if you endure with your willpower, I can tell from the side that you’re flinching. The camera will go past you as well. Don’t cause trouble later and change them out now. Also, get a band-aid for that.”

“Don’t do that. You’re putting me in a difficult position.”

“Don’t worry. I have to get them changed too,” Maru said as he pointed at his own shoes.

His left shoe had ripped. It seemed that some of the straws had snapped during the violent action.

Maru walked over to the assistant director before saying something. The staff in charge of props, who couldn’t be seen anywhere until now, showed up in no time.

“Let’s go.”

He went to the props vehicle with Maru. He received a band-aid there and put it on his toes. When he put on three layers so that his toes wouldn’t rub against the shoe, it didn’t hurt either.

“Can you walk?” Maru asked.

“Yes, I’m okay now.”

“That’s good. Act cool like how you did during the rehearsal. Your expression looked really good right after I went in, so you might want to bring more of that in. Your eyes looked good.”

He had the time to look around in that chaos?

Youngsun replied yes before going back to the shoot.

“Where have you been?” said a member of the team.

“I changed out my shoes. I feel a lot better now.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes, it’s good.”

Youngsun looked at Han Maru who was waiting nearby.

He looked out for the background actors as well. Was he kind by nature? Or was he being overly kind for the sake of his reputation?

Whatever the case may be, it was true that he received help. It was also true that hearing Maru compliment him made him proud.

Aside from the desire to get noticed, he thought that he should do his best as a member of the team.

“Let’s do this,” Youngsun said to his team before grabbing the mockup sword.

Energy returned to his body. He felt like the heat had subsided as well. He felt like he should enjoy himself and a smile appeared on his face.

“Let’s go again.”

He tightened his grip on the sword.

Then action.

He shouted until his skull started ringing and charged forward.

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