Life, Once Again!

ther people next to her also sighed and went to their designated positions.
She wanted to admire the Han river during sunset, but the moment she saw the rail right next to her, she came to her senses.
She had to run again, with all her might, that is.

Initially, after hearing that she just needed to run, she thought that it was something simple that didn’t require her to act, but that was a mistake.
She gulped and exercised her wrists and ankles.
Ever since she saw a boy running with her fall over, she consciously tried to loosen her muscles.
The boy that fell over went home.
The reason was that his injured knees weren’t aesthetically pleasing.

“There, there.
The sun is setting.
If we miss this opportunity, we won’t get another one.
Let’s just work hard for another hour,” the director said.

One hour.
He said those same words when they were running under the scorching sun.
Gaeul closed her eyes before opening them again.
Bring it on.

“It’s so hard,” said a girl standing next to her.

She looked young, but apparently, she was in college.
The school uniform she was wearing was given to her by a staff member.
Around thirty people lined up into lines.
Gaeul was in the front line.

“Over there! Front row! Don’t make a tired expression when you run.
Smile! We only shot for two hours.
You got plenty of rest, so I’m not accepting tired faces!”

It seemed that the director didn’t care that they'd been running for those two hours.
Gaeul re-tied her shoelaces.
She didn’t hear what this advertisement was about.
The only thing she heard about the ad was that the theme was ‘youths energetically running to their future’.
Gaeul looked at instructor Choi Gyeonmi who had a sleepy expression next to the director.
Follow the director as much as possible – her expression seemed to be saying.
She came to her during the break and told her this: Not all shoots treat the actors properly, so try experiencing what it’s like to shoot under harsh treatment.

“I wanna go home!”

That voice was loud enough for all of the thirty people to hear.

Gaeul chuckled and looked at Lee Heewon, who was standing at the far left of the front row.
Unlike everyone else, who was standing up and getting ready, Heewon was still sitting and putting his hands on the ground as though he wanted to become one with the ground.

“Lee Heewon, we’re going to run again now,” Gaeul said.

Heewon looked at the instructor with resentment.
He took the bait of ‘an easy advert’, but it seemed that he might use up a week’s worth of energy here.

“Well then, ready! Cue!”

Along with the director’s cue sign, Gaeul started running.
The camera in front of her slid across the rails as it moved backwards.
The whole shoot consisted of just chasing that camera from a certain distance.
It was simple but definitely not easy.

“Hey, hey, hey! Number three! I told you not to frown, didn’t I!”

The director never used polite speech.
He looked like he was more than willing to swear at a person he never met before.
The runners all stopped and returned to their original positions.

The director, who was sitting in front of the monitor, stood up and walked over.
Gaeul looked at the director while suppressing her panting.

“Front row.
Do you lack understanding? You need to show the vision of looking forward to tomorrow.
You’re going home after passing the test for a famous college exam.
You might be out of breath, but your expressions must look excited.
I passed.
This isn’t a dream, right? What do I say to my family when I get home? How proud will my mom be? – all sorts of emotions must cross your mind making you forget that you’re running out of breath! Also, don’t laugh like a fool.
Who laughs like that when they’re running?”

The director listed a bunch of requirements before turning around.
When the director walked away, people started swearing.
Idiot, why don’t you try running? – these words were the most gentle and nice-sounding out of all of those words.

“Hey, Han Gaeul,” Heewon called.

Gaeul turned to look at him.

“What?”

“I was just wondering if you were still alive.”

“I am.”

“Tell me if you’re too tired.”

Oh? – Gaeul narrowed her eyes before she heard what Heewon added.

“Because I’ll tell you, I have it even harder.
I’m dying, goddammit!”

Heewon was practically about to cry.
Gaeul picked up a small pebble and threw it at Heewon.
Being hit on the calf, Heewon glared at her.

“Don’t say nonsense and just run.
Don’t try to cut corners.”

“Can you run in my stead? I really don’t wanna do this.
Or maybe Haewon can fill my spot.”

“The instructor will never allow it though.”

“Damn that hag.”

“Can I tell that to the instructor?”

“Do whatever you want! I’m going to die running anyway.”

As soon as Heewon started snorting angrily, the director raised his hand.

“Ready!”

Gaeul clenched her teeth.

* * *

-I thought I was gonna die.

Maru got on the bus with a smile.
Gaeul had finished her ‘debut’ in quite a flashy way.

“So, you’re lying down with plasters on you?”

-Yeah.
I can’t budge.
I’ve never run as much as that in my life.
If it was sprinting all the way, it would’ve been refreshing at least.
Running ten meters then back, ten meters then back – urgh, the director looked hateful.

“I would have been the same.
So you’re resting for the whole day?”

-No, the instructor wants us to come.

“Even though it’s Sunday?”

-Yeah.
There’s something she has that we have to watch.

“Must be hard for you.
Should I give you a piggyback ride?”

-I know you aren’t coming.

“That you know well.”

-Are you on your way to the shoot now?

“Yeah.
It’s my first shoot too, I guess.”

-I got our share of bad luck for the shoot with the advertisement, so the drama should go fine.

“I hope so.”

-I want to see you.

She said that in a soft voice after laughing.

“Do you really want me to go? Should I just ditch everything?”

-This is why I can’t say things like that to you.
Just go and shoot! Become big!

She hung up after wishing him good luck.
Maru put his phone inside his bag.
This was his first piece where he would put his name as one of the main cast.
As this was a one-act play, the producer’s preferences would be on full display, but perhaps it would be for the best if it was to bring out his character.
Amidst the buildings that were whizzing past him, he saw a photo of an actor wearing a suit.
He wondered how high he had to climb to shoot an advert like that.

He got off the bus at Suwon station and looked at the clock.
He was 3 minutes later than the appointed time.

“Seonbae, you’re late.”

Those were Yuna’s first words when they met up in front of the ticketing office.

[1]A nickname given to handsome, long-haired men.
Its origins seem to be from a Japanese manga titled ‘Candy Candy’ (The character is “Terrence/Terrius “Terry” G.
Grandchester.”)

KTLChamber's Thoughts

So we don't get to see Gaeul's reaction to the fact that they'll be on the show as a couple? Or is this one of those NDA stuff? Or maybe Maru (or Yuna) simply didn't tell her about it?

Editor's Note:
You know old Maru is gone when the man who used to arrive early now arrives 3 minutes late 🙁